Sometimes, I find myself at odds with the rest of this country. Sure, I spend every election year writing in Kodos for government positions and many claim I’m “abusing my rights” or something. But when a film by the guy who did both Scooby-Doo live-action flicks and Big Momma’s House ranks first with $17.5 million?

It’s no wonder I vote for a fictional green alien.

Variety’s got the basics from this weekend, when new Ridley Scott film Body of Lies came in third with $13.1 million,but still behind the shaky-cam non-zombie zombie flick Quarentine which snagged second at $14.2 million.

Warners had their sheilds up to defend against the surprising performance by Lies:

“I think the state of affairs in our country are such that it was a tough weekend for a movie about terrorism and geopolitics,” said Dan Fellman, Warners prexy of distribution.

I dunno, Dan. I’ve been enjoying the heck out of everybody making Depression Playlists. But WB is hurting since it was the sole financier for Lies, with a production budget floating between $100 million and above or below, depending on which flack has your ear.  This weekend also marks the first time the almost-funny An American Carol and Flash of Genius fall off the Top Ten. Good night, sweet princes, and may you live on as DVDs.