Hasta La Gadget!

NEW YORK (AP) — “Mockingjay, Part 1” didn’t catch fire like the previous installments of “The Hunger Games,” but it still had the biggest opening of the year with $123 million at the weekend box office, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Lionsgate’s “Mockingjay” opened well below the $158 million debut of last year’s “Hunger Games: Catching Fire” and the $153 million opening of the 2012 original. But even with a $30-million-plus slide in the franchise, “Mockingjay” far surpassed the previous top weekend of the year: the $100 million debut of “Transformers: Age of Extinction.” The result made for some unusual ironies. The biggest opening of the year (and by a wide margin) was seen by some as a disappointment. After initial box office receipts of “Mockingjay” rolled in Friday, forecasting a weekend below expectations, Lions Gate Entertainment’s stock dipped 5 percent.

But the decision to split the final book in Suzanne Collins’ dystopian trilogy into two films was clearly lucrative for Lionsgate. “Mockingjay” did even better overseas, where it made $152 million over the weekend, accounting altogether for a $275 million global opening.

“It’s the biggest opening of the year, so it really illustrates the strength of the franchise,” said David Spitz, head of distribution for Lionsgate, noting the North American opening was the 15th best ever.

Spitz declined to answer questions about Wall Street’s reaction to the opening, or what the effect may have been of splitting the third book in two.

“It speaks for itself,” Spitz said of the result.

Dividing the book pushed much of the big drama of “Mockingjay” to the second film, scheduled for release in November 2015. On the same November weekend in 2010, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1” — which similarly split the series’ last book into two — opened almost identically with $125 million. A year later, the second “Deathly Hallows” film debuted bigger than all previous “Harry Potter” films with $169 million.

“A little perspective is in order here,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box office tracker Rentrak. He called the “Mockingjay” results “still an astonishing feat.”

“I’m not worried about this franchise,” Dergarabedian said.

The release calendar made way for “Mockingjay,” as no other new wide releases hit theaters. In its third week of release, the Disney animated adventure “Big Hero 6” moved into second place with $20.1 million. Christopher Nolan’s space epic “Interstellar” came in third with $15.1 million, also in its third week.

Last week’s top film, the long-in-coming sequel “Dumb and Dumber To,” slid considerably. The Universal comedy dropped to fourth place with $13.8 million.

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Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak. Where available, the latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1,” $123 million.

2. “Big Hero 6,” $20.1 million.

3. “Interstellar,” $15.1 million.

4. “Dumb and Dumber To,” $13.8 million.

5. “Gone Girl,” $2.8 million.

6. “Beyond the Lights,” $2.6 million.

7. “St. Vincent,” $2.4 million.

8. “Fury,” $1.9 million.

9. “Birdman,” $1.9 million.

10. “The Theory of Everything,” $1.5 million.

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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by 21st Century Fox; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle at http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP .

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With all the public interest in Alzheimer’s disease these days it wouldn’t be unusual for you to fear you are getting it. When you have what we refer to as ‘a senior moment’ you may laugh about it with your friends, but you may also be among the numerous people who are secretly afraid it may be an early sign of dementia.

Ed, my Romanian soul mate, was very concerned he might have dementia. He, too, reacted by joking about it. He concluded every medical visit – regardless of what type of physician he was seeing that day – by loudly pronouncing, “At least it isn’t Alzheimer’s!” Then he laughed heartily. The unfortunate fact, however, was that he did indeed have Alzheimer’s.

Two groups of people are especially vulnerable to the fear they are getting dementia – those who have a loved one with dementia and those who work with dementia patients, say at a nursing home or assisted living memory care unit. If you belong to one or both of these groups, you witness signs of dementia daily and as a result, become highly attuned to them. You may be so familiar with the symptoms that you begin to interpret some of your own behaviors and memory issues, no matter how minor or infrequent, as an early warning that you, too, are becoming a victim.

I currently have a friend who is worried about her mental state. She works in the field of Alzheimer’s and her spouse died from the disease. She’s experiencing some bothersome symptoms and has consulted four different healthcare professionals. They all told her they don’t think anything serious is wrong. And they all said they think she’s over-reacting because of her experience as an Alzheimer’s family caregiver and professional caregiver. She tells me that some days she thinks the doctors are right, but on other days she’s convinced that she really is developing dementia.

Most of us have had moments of concern after being unable to remember someone’s name, forgetting why we went into a room, not being able to find our car keys, or stopping mid-sentence and not being able to remember what we were going to say. How are we to know whether it’s a normal sign of aging or whether it may be something far more ominous?

The Alzheimer’s Association has addressed this issue in a 17-page PDF, Basics of Alzheimer’s Disease – What It Is and What to Do. This document includes a section on the 10 warning signs. The important feature of this PDF is that it doesn’t just list the signs of Alzheimer’s. After a brief description of each there is a statement about “What’s a typical age-related change?”

After studying the above document in detail, one could conclude that generally speaking it isn’t what signs of dementia we have that matter. Rather, it’s typically their frequency, severity and the extent to which they interfere with our daily activities that count.

The American Health Assistance Foundation states that Alzheimer’s can only be diagnosed with 100 percent accuracy during an autopsy. But according to the Alzheimer’s Association, experts estimate that a skilled physician can diagnose it with more than 90 percent accuracy.

The Alzheimer’s Association states:

“Having trouble with memory doesn’t mean you have Alzheimer’s. Many health issues can cause problems with memory and thinking. When dementia-like symptoms are caused by treatable conditions – such as depression, drug interactions, thyroid problems, excess use of alcohol or certain vitamin deficiencies – they may be reversed.”

If you have serious concerns about your mental state it is advisable to see a primary care physician or a neurologist as soon as possible. That’s the only way to put your mind at ease – one way or the other. It’s the only way to find out if it’s just normal aging, some other health problem, or if it’s in fact Alzheimer’s.

Marie Marley is the author of the award-winning Come Back Early Today: A Memoir of Love, Alzheimer’s and Joy. Her website contains a wealth of information for Alzheimer’s caregivers.