At The Movies

Extraordinary Measures
From his working class roots, John Crowley (Brendan Fraser) has finally begun to taste success in corporate America. Supported by his beautiful wife Aileen and their three children, John is on the fast track. But just as his career is taking off, Crowley walks away from it all when his two youngest children, Megan and Patrick, are diagnosed with a fatal disease. With Aileen by his side, harnessing all of his skill and determination, Crowley teams up with a brilliant, but unappreciated and unconventional scientist, Dr. Robert Stonehill (Harrison Ford). Together they form a bio-tech company focused on developing a life saving drug. One driven to prove himself and his theories, the other by a chance to save his children, this unlikely alliance eventually develops into mutual respect as they battle the medical and business establishments in a fight against the system and time. But, at the last minute, when it appears that a solution has been found, the relationship between the two men faces a final test, the outcome of which will affect the fate of John's children.

On DVD

The Hurt Locker
Director Kathryn Bigelow's critically acclaimed war drama takes you into the pulse pounding center of one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, the Army's elite Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) squad. Jeremy Renner stars as Staff Sergeant William James, whose team battles insurgents and each other as they seek out and disarm a wave of roadside bombs on the streets of Baghdad. They have only 38 days left in their tour of Iraq, but with each new mission comes another deadly encounter, and as James blurs the line between bravery and bravado, it seems only a matter of time before disaster will strike.

The Buzz...

James Cameron's Avatar had a $41.3 million weekend to shoot past Star Wars as the No. 3 movie on the all time domestic box office charts. No. 1 for the fifth straight weekend, Cameron's sci-fi saga raised its domestic total to $491.8 million and should top $500 million after revenues are counted on the Martin Luther King Day holiday. Worldwide, 20th Century Fox's Avatar lifted its total to $1.6 billion, second only to Cameron's last movie, 1997's Titanic, at $1.8 billion. Avatar now is closing in on The Dark Knight, No. 2 domestically with $533.3 million. After that, only Cameron's Titanic at $600 million will remain ahead of Avatar domestically.

Will the third time be the charm for CBS and Alex O'Loughlin? Undeterred by the back to back failures of Moonlight and Three Rivers, The Eye net is courting O'Loughlin to headline the freshly greenlit remake of Hawaii Five-o. The original Five-o, which starred Jack Lord as Det. Steve McGarrett, ran on CBS from 1968-1980.

Now that Simon Cowell's future has been determined and this is his last season with American Idol, his head is really into the next phase of his life, Fox's The X Factor. With that in mind, it doesn't come as a surprise that Simon would like Paula Abdul as a judge on The X Factor. We've actually written about it before and it seems more than likely to come to pass now. It makes perfect sense, too. Simon would be drawing viewers from American Idol to The X Factor from the start. There would be both a curiosity factor, seeing Simon and Paula shoulder to shoulder together again, and there would also be a familiarity factor. It would look and feel like Idol, making fans settle in to the newer show no what matter the differences in the competition.

George Miller isn't sticking any old voices in his follow up to Happy Feet, he's going to the likes of Matt Damon and Brad Pitt to voice the penguin sequel. The actors have signed on to voice unknown characters in the new film. Elijah Wood and Robin Williams are, somewhat naturally still attached, and Miller is deep into getting the thing made ready for a release in November 2011.

Rob Zombie's latest project as a director will take him to the small screen. Zombie will direct an episode of CSI: Miami, set to air on March 1st. The episode deals with secret tapes and evidence tampering. Production on the episode began on Wednesday.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have donated $1 million towards relief in Haiti. The couple’s Jolie Pitt Foundation made the donation towards Doctors Without Borders, whose three hospitals were seriously damaged during the earthquake.

Jay-Z and Beyonce have the number one spot on Forbes’s list of top earning couples. Together, the Knowles Carters earned $122 million between June 2008 and June 2009, according to the magazine. Brad and Angelina were number three with $55 million in combined earnings.

While the Super Bowl is one of the biggest parties of the year, Justin Bieber, Rihanna and a bunch of other artists are looking to get the party started early this year. The stars will gather to perform at the Pepsi Super Bowl Fan Jam on February 4th and 5th in Miami. Other performers include Ne-Yo, Keri Hilson, Jamie Foxx and Ludacris.

Usher was robbed of $1 million dollars in jewelry. The R&B star says his car was jacked and stripped of $1 million in jewels, as well as $50,000 dollars in furs, a computer with unreleased songs and some Christmas gifts. The robbery occurred in the parking lot of an AT&T store in Atlanta.

George Clooney says the Hope for Haiti benefit for victims of the earthquake in Haiti will include performances from Bono, Sting, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera and Alicia Keys.