'Meet the Robinsons' holding pretty strong

The Easter crowds gave "Meet the Robinsons" some strong legs at the box office. The pic earned $17 million domestically this weekend. It dropped 32 percent from its opening weekend. That's not too shabby given the current economic climate for features. If a mainstream movie retains two-thirds of its business from week to week, it's basically a hit.

In total, "Meet the Robinsons" has earned $52.2 million in the U.S. and $61.7 million in total from screens worldwide.

Unofficially, the movie has until May 4 to make its money. Why? "Spider-Man 3" comes out and will annihilate the hopes of every movie on the planet. Whatever survives will be swallowed whole by that pig "Shrek the Third" on May 18.

Personally I pine for the days when movies had much longer shelf lives. I remember seeing ads in my local newspaper that read, "'The Empire Strikes Back': 37th week!"

I swear I remember seeing "Star Wars": 82nd week," but my memories from age 3 get a little fuzzy.

I'm not stupid enough to forget how the advent of the video store destroyed the longevity of new releases. But I am stubborn enough to believe movies should last longer than a skin cell.