The blind vigilante in Daredevil kept the box-office crown for the second week but lost about 54 per cent of altitude. Still, the critically panned movie starring Ben Affleck has done impressive business, seizing an estimated $18.9 million over the weekend. Its gross reached $70 million.

The film, which cost about $80 million, is certain to bring in a decent profit for 20th Century Fox, which has already started working on a sequel.

Critics point out that Affleck looks uneasy playing the dual roles of attorney by day and avenger by night. For the record, this is his third hit in a row, following the spy thriller The Sum Of All Fears and Changing Lanes .

The medium-budget comedy, Old School, aimed at the teens and young crowd, got decent grades at the box-office with an estimated $17.4 million three-day gross, promising producer DreamWorks a midlevel hit. The film tells the often funny story about three men in their 30s who try to relive their old college glory days by moving into a large house near their old campus.

While publications like Chicago Sun-Times and Los Angeles Times called the film a lame and clumsy effort, in New York Post, Megan Lehman thought the film 'scores points for its refreshing lack of cheap gross-out humour' and Tom Giatto called it 'excellent' in People magazine.

Three other newcomers were DOA: The Life of David Gale, Gods And Generals and Dark Blue. The first, a passionately-made but extremely silly thriller about capital punishment, grossed about $7.1 million.

Despite a standout performance by Kurt Russell, the overdone and often ridiculous police drama Dark Blue seized about $3.7 million. Based on an arresting story by James Ellroy (LA Confidential), Ron Shelton's film takes place in Los Angeles in 1992, set just days before the acquittal of four white officers in the beating of black motorist Rodney King and the subsequent LA riots. The external chaos and violence in the city led by blacks and Hispanics is as horrifying as the corruption and evil lurking in the police department.

The film received far better reviews than The Life of David Gale starring Kevin Spacey and Kate Winslet but they were not strong enough to bring in significant numbers. Entertainment Weekly gave it an A grade but People magazine complained it 'never jells, lurching from scene to scene.' The film was less than arresting complained the critic.

Purporting to be a sweeping epic charting the early years of the Civil War and how the campaigns unfolded from Manassas to the Battle of Fredericksburg, the 3 hour, 49-minute long Gods And Generals is a prequel to the much respected Gettysburg made about a decade ago. Both films were directed by Ronald Maxwell.

The film, about one of the bloodiest wars in history, was overblown, overspoken and ill-acted, with wonderful actors like Robert Duvall, Jeff Daniels and Stephen Lang wasted throughout.

Overheard at a screening: The Civil War lasted for a few years but the movie felt like it lasted for a century.

Oscar-nominated films continued to gain at the box-office. The sizzling musical Chicago, with 13 Oscar nominations, is fast dancing toward a $100 million gross. Even without a major Oscar haul, the film which grossed $8.5 million (it totalled $94.3 million), now looks poised to gross $140 million. If it captures the top Oscars, it may even earn $200 million.

Another heavy Oscar contender The Hours has clearly gained by its nine nominations though it is still struggling to click with the suburban and small city audiences. It came down from the 10th position last week to 12th, losing 30 per cent of box-office clout and clocked $2.4 million, reaching $30 million.

Among the holdovers on the top 10 list, How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days, is still potent. With about $11.8 million grossed over the weekend and a total of 64.9 million, it may reach $100 million. Shanghai Knights is still potent, having collected $6.4 million over the weekend and is heading for a decent $60 million gross.

The low-budget sequel to Jungle Book got nasty reviews, with The New York Times saying that Walt Disney would turn in his grave seeing the badly made film. But kids are enjoying Jungle Book 2 in decent numbers. With a $8 million weekend take and $25 million total gross, the film is headed for a $50 million gross.

The animated adventure featuring Haley Joel Osment as the voice of the wolf-reared youngster Mowgli and John Goodman as his bear friend Baloo, could have a stronger gross from video and DVD sales and rentals.