Alfred Hitchcock said a movie should play the audience like a piano. “Death Race” played me like a drum. It is an assault on all the senses, including common. Walking out, I had the impression I had just seen the video game and was still waiting for the movie.

With disruption from two major sporting events and fewer slam-dunk franchise pics, the overseas numbers weren’t expected to duplicate 2007’s stunning performance. But a variety of films that weren’t sure bets — notably “Mamma Mia!,” “Sex and the City,” “What Happens in Vegas” and “Kung Fu Panda” — managed to dazzle outside the U.S.

“Australia” was slated to release Stateside Nov. 14, about 48-hours after its November 13 world preem Down Under, but now the Oz date will also shift to tally with the U.S. Recently, Warner Bros. moved its next “Harry Potter” movie from Nov. 21 to next summer.

A dark goofball comedy about assorted doofuses in Washington, D.C., only some of whom work for the government, this short, snappy picture from the Coen Brothers - of ‘No Country for Old Men’ fame - tries to mate sex farce with a satire of a paranoid political thriller, with arch and ungainly results.

“Hellboy II: The Golden Army” is in every way the equal of the original “Hellboy” (2004), although perhaps a little noisier. The film is another celebration of director Guillermo del Toro’s love for bizarre fantasy and diabolical machines.

‘Tropic Thunder’ is a send-up of Hollywood, actors, acting, agents, directors, writers, rappers, trailers and egos, much enhanced by several cameo roles, the best of which I will not even mention. It’s the kind of summer comedy that rolls in, makes a lot of people laugh and rolls on to video.

The $90 million Ben Stiller sendup of Hollywood had a stellar Saturday, jumping 25% over its Friday level to gross $6.5 million. That propelled it past Sony’s female-skewing “The House Bunny,” which finished second at $15.1 million.

While download sites like Apple’s iTunes offer recent releases and scads of library titles, there’s a void when it comes to some of Hollywood’s greatest — “The Wizard of Oz” and “Schindler’s List” among them — and some of its top-earners. Disappointed fans can either buy the DVD or troll underground peer-to-peer networks.

These days, any independent seller hoping to land a distribution deal at a festival or market like Toronto in September realizes that only a few lucky winners will land a seven-figure minimum guarantee. Only the most commercial, accessible and Oscar-worthy Toronto offerings will be cherry-picked by the studios’ specialty divisions.

The 684-page report’s conclusions singled out advertising/marketing as well as movies as likely influences on youth smoking. With regard to films, the chief recommendation made in the report is that “anti-tobacco advertisements” should be included before feature films “to partially counter the impact of tobacco portrayals in movies.