The line from Variety and Box Office Mojo is that Hurricane Irene kept folks home and that's why the box office this weekend was so lousy. I find more to blame with recent August releases.

Here, for example, are the no. 1 movies for the current weekend, the 34th weekend, from 2005 to 2010:

• 2005: The 40-Year-Old Virgin *
• 2006: Invincible
• 2007: Superbad *
• 2008: Tropic Thunder *
• 2009: Inglourious Basterds
• 2010: The Expendables *

* second weekend of release

With the exception of last year's aptly titled “Expendables,” these are all good movies that I could see again right now.

This year? The no. 1 movie for the 34th weekend is the third weekend of “The Help,” the controversial, starry-eyed, 50-year-old view of racism that women can't seem to get enough of. But it only grossed $14 mil. It was no. 1 because this is what's been wide-released in the last two weeks:

• Spy Kids: All the Time in the World
• Conan the Barbarian
• Fright Night
• One Day
• Colombiana
• Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
• Our Idiot Brother

“Fright Night” has good critical numbers (88% among top critics), as does “Our Idiot Brother (67%). The others are all certified rotten. Some extremely so: ”Conan“'s 23%; ”One Day“'s 27%. ”Spy Kids"'s 27%.

Here are the helpless totals.

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