The addition of 3D to Meet the Robinsons apparently hasn't succeeded in making the film the equal of Pixar's best, according to the critics. (Actually, the film was already nearly finished by Disney when the company's acquisition of Pixar occurred. It was then reworked by Pixar's John Lasseter, who was installed as Disney's chief creative officer.) Ann Hornaday in the Washington Post poses a salient question: "Has a movie ever really benefited from being shown in 3D?" On ABC's Good Morning America, critic Joel Siegel suggested, "If you've been selected designated chaperone, my advice: trade the 3D glasses for reading glasses and bring a book and a flashlight." Most other reviewers also appear to have adopted a ho-hum attitude towards the movie. "Zippy if forgettable," is the way Dennis Lim describes it in the Los Angeles Times. Claudia Puig in USA Today writes that the movie "is sweet, entertaining and amusing. And though the story is rather slight, there is still significant excitement." The film does receive a handful of outright raves. Phil Kloer in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution calls it "a family movie that everyone can enjoy, one with a real story and characters that don't empty out of your brain faster than movie soda moving through a 6-year-old." But the movie also receives some heavy-handed drubbing as well. Writes A.O. Scott in the New York Times: "Meet the Robinsons is surely one of the worst theatrically released animated features issued under the Disney label in quite some time."

So long as the shenanigans in Blades of Glory are taking place on the ice rink, the movie succeeds in evoking almost uninterrupted laughter, most critics agree. but, as Kevin Crust observes in his review in the Los Angeles Times, it "skates on thinner ice outside the rink." Wesley Morris in the Boston Globe writes similarly, "As long as it's near the ice, Blades of Glory ... sticks a lot of its landings." Like Meet the Robinsons, Blades of Glory also has garnered wildly opposite reviews. On the one hand, Joe Morgenstern in the Wall Street Journal calls it, "blissfully silly, triumphantly tasteless, and improbably hilarious." Eleanor Ringel Gillespie in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution comments that it's "the sort of dumb-and-dumber comedy that keeps topping itself." Many suggest that the pairing of Will Ferrell with Jon Heder was nothing short of inspired. "Will Ferrell and Jon Heder execute their act wonderfully," writes Rafer Guzman in Newsday.On the other hand, Kyle Smith in the New York Post begins his review of the movie by writing: "You know those one-joke Saturday Night Live sketches that start to age after six minutes? Blades of Glory is one joke that lasts 93 minutes." Geoff Pevere in the Toronto Star describes it as "the lamest studio comedy since Wild Hogs." And Misha Davenport in the Chicago Sun-Times calls it "unclever and mostly unfunny."

Two new comedies, Disney's animated Meet the Robinsons and Paramount/DreamWorks' Blades of Glory, will be competing for the top spot at the box office this weekend, but few analysts expect either will be able to match the $68-million opening of Ice Age: The Meltdown over the comparable weekend a year ago. Nevertheless, analysts observed, they might together surpass that amount and thereby preserve the winning streak of the past month, which has seen each weekend besting box-office results for 2006. Glory is expected to have an opening in the neighborhood of $40-45 million, while Robinsons is likely to come in second with $25-30 million, analysts are predicting. (They may have neglected to take into account the premium prices being charged for Robinsons by the more than 600 theaters showing it in 3D, the largest number of theaters to display a film in 3D since the 1950s.)

Disney is planning to keep its Pirates of the Caribbean franchise alive even after wrapping up the current trilogy with Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, which opens on May 25, the Los Angeles Times reported today (Friday), citing unnamed insiders. The newspaper said that star Johnny Depp has already made it known that he would like to return for another pirate adventure, and said production director Rick Heinrichs, "If Johnny's interested, why wouldn't they?" However, contacted by the Times, co-star Orlando Bloom remarked that although he had heard rumors of a fourth Pirates film, "they haven't said anything to me ... so I guess I'm not coming back."

The recently fired editor of the Los Angeles Times said Wednesday that he would not have okayed an opinion page of the newspaper supervised by a guest editor as his successor had done. Last Sunday's opinion page, guest-edited by producer Brian Grazer, was yanked after it was disclosed that editorial page director Andrés Martinez was engaged in a romantic relationship with an employee of the public relations firm that represents Grazer. "I understand what they were trying to do," former editor Dean Baquet said at a Bank of America conference in New York. "I wouldn't have done it because it invites conflict [of interest]."

In an unprecedented action, the MPAA on Wednesday suspended the ratings process for 30 days for After Dark Films's horror flick Captivity after unapproved ads for it appeared on billboards and taxi tops in Los Angeles and New York. The film would then fall in line at the end of April with other films waiting for a rating, making it doubtful that it could receive a rating before its scheduled May 18 release. Referring to the unauthorized ads for the film, Marilyn Gordon, the MPAA's senior VP for advertising, said in a statement: "The sanctions in this case are severe because this was an unacceptable and flagrant violation of MPAA rules and procedures."

TV news correspondents in Baghdad were at odds Thursday with Arizona Senator John McCain over his assertion that the news media are misrepresenting the effectiveness of the so-called surge in Iraq. "There are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through those neighborhoods today. The U.S. is beginning to succeed in Iraq," McCain had said on a radio show hosted by former drug czar William Bennett. On CNN, Baghdad correspondent Michael Ware remarked, "To suggest that there's any neighborhood in this city where an American can walk freely is beyond ludicrous. ... I don't know what part of Neverland Senator McCain is talking about when he says we can go strolling in Baghdad." On the CBSNews.com website, Allen Pizzey, the CBS correspondent in Baghdad, wrote: "No one in their right mind goes on the streets here without security. ... For Senator McCain to claim there are places here where all is well is to woefully minimize the dangers faced by the troops he otherwise so admirably supports. ... Any time Senator McCain wants to walk the streets of Baghdad, unarmed and without a serious security detail, we'd be glad to lend him a camera so he can record his experience."

After only one week on the air, ABC's Great American Dream Vote has received a no-confidence vote from ABC executives and has been dropped from the network's schedule. Hosted by Donny Osmond, the show offered hope to contestants that they would be able to realize their dreams. But Tuesday's debut, coming out of the ABC hit Dancing With the Stars, lost two-thirds of Dancing's viewers. On Wednesday, in what was supposed to have been its regular time slot, it landed in fifth place, beaten even by the typically lowest-rated CW. ABC plans to air two episodes of George Lopez next week in the Wednesday time period.

Miss America is homeless again. Two years after being dropped by CBS, then picked up by cable network CMT, the Atlantic City beauty pageant has again been given walking orders and is looking for a new suitor. CMT General Manager Brian Philips said in a statement that the cable network wanted to focus on building its existing series and launching more original series and music specials. Meanwhile NBC announced Wednesday that it has renewed its contract with the Donald Trump-controlled Miss Universe organization to air the Miss Universe contest through 2011.

Sirius, the satellite radio company, is getting into the television business with Chrysler. The two companies announced Thursday that Sirius will broadcast the programs of three children's cable TV networks, Disney, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, to several Chrysler models equipped with Sirius Backseat TV setups, beginning with the 2008 model-year lineup. Models include the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans, the 2008 Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, Dodge Magnum, Jeep Commander and Jeep Grand Cherokee. In a statement, Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin said, "I am pleased to have the three most original family-centered programming providers in TV."

A MySpace blogger who had vowed to go on a hunger strike so long as American Idol contestant Sanjaya Malakar remained on the show touched off expressions of concern Thursday when she failed to update her daily blog. On the TMZ gossip site, an editor wrote, "Let us know you're OK. And have a steak or something -- Sanjaya isn't going anywhere any time soon." Later in the day, the anti-Sanjaya blogger, known only as "J," posted a message apologizing for not keeping her website current, then concluded: "I am still feeling kind of weak but okay. not at the point of hospitalization yet, thank goodness. it won't be long now until Sanjaya is gone!"