Angelina Jolie says she'll work 'a lot less'

Angelina Jolie is getting ready to join the ranks of the unemployed.

The "Changeling" star and mother of six says that while she'll be in front of the camera early this year, she plans to lie low — at least until twins Vivienne and Knox are toddlers. The twins were born last July.

Says Jolie: "I've had a year off, and I may work for a few months. But if I do, I'm probably going to take another year and a half or two. I'm going to work a lot less."

The 33-year-old actress didn't say what projects she may be working on.

Jolie and her partner Brad Pitt attended the 14th annual Critics' Choice Awards at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on Thursday night. - AP

Brad Pitt says he was faithful to Jennifer Aniston

Brad Pitt is extracting himself from the tabloid love triangle: The actor says his relationship with current flame Angelina Jolie began sometime after splitting from Jennifer Aniston.

In October, Jolie revealed that she and Pitt fell in love while making the 2005 film "Mr. & Mrs. Smith." In November, Aniston called Jolie's comments "really uncool," because she was married to Pitt while the movie was in production.

Pitt sets the record straight in a story posted on W magazine's Web site Wednesday, defending both women and insisting that his relationship with Jolie didn't begin until after he and ex-wife Aniston split in 2005.

"Jen is a sweetheart," Pitt tells the magazine for its Jan. 20 issue. "I think she got dragged into that one, and then there's a second round to all that Angie versus Jen. It's so created.

"What people don't understand is that we filmed ("Mr. & Mrs. Smith") for a year. We were still filming after Jen and I split up," he continues. "Even then it doesn't mean that there was some kind of dastardly affair. There wasn't. I'm very proud of the way that it was handled. It was respectful."

Pitt says he and Aniston "still check in with each other."

"She was a big part of my life, and me hers," he says. "I don't see how there cannot be (that). That's life, man."

The 45-year-old Pitt, who has six children with Jolie, was nominated for a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award for his starring role in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." Jolie was nominated for those same awards for her starring turn in "Changeling." Aniston can currently be seen in the family film "Marley & Me." - AP

'Dark Knight' sweeps People's Choice Awards

Holy, People's Choice Awards, Batman! "The Dark Knight" soared away with every trophy it was nominated for Wednesday at the 35th annual fan-favorite CBS ceremony. The caped crusader flick won five awards, including favorite cast, superhero, action movie and on-screen matchup for Christian Bale's Batman and the late Heath Ledger's Joker.

"On behalf of all of the cast from the movie, thank you very much to the fans," said Bale. "Here's to Heath."

The CBS ceremony was hosted by Queen Latifah and returned to the Shrine Auditorium for its typical star-studded live show format, following last year's writer's strike-friendly, pre-taped program. Stars such as Adam Sandler, Kate Hudson, Robin Williams, Hugh Laurie and Reese Witherspoon showed up to accept thier awards at the slightly subdued ceremony.

"It's such a great way to start the new year," Witherspoon, the "Four Christmases" star who won an Oscar in 2005 for portaying June Carter Cash in "Walk the Line," said as she accepted her award for favorite female movie star. "A couple years ago, I won a great award for singing in a movie. This year, I won an award for having a baby throw up on me."

Other recipients selected by Internet voters in categories spanning movies, television and music included "Dancing With the Stars" as favorite reality show, Carrie Underwood as favorite female singer, "House" as favorite TV drama, Brad Pitt as favorite leading man, Angelina Jolie as favorite female action star and Ellen DeGeneres as favorite talk show host.

"I wish I could share this with you," DeGeneres told the audience while clutching her trophy on stage. "I could throw it on the ground and smash it into a million pieces, and give each one of you a little piece of it, but that's violent, and that's probably why you voted for me, because I'm not violent." - AP

Taylor Lautner back as Jacob Black in Twilight sequel

Taylor Lautner will be back to morph into the monstrous Jacob Black in the "Twilight" sequel "New Moon."
There had been talk that a bigger, buffer, more menacing actor might play the role when the second of Stephenie Meyer's hugely successful vampire novels hits movie screens come Nov. 20. Lautner, by comparison, appears lean and sweet-faced in part one. But distributor Summit Entertainment and director Chris Weitz confirmed Wednesday that Lautner would be returning.

Stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson will also be returning as the saga's doomed young lovers, high schooler Bella Swan and brooding vampire Edward Cullen.

Catherine Hardwicke's "Twilight" opened at No. 1 with a whopping $69.6 million at the box office in November, the biggest opening ever for a female director. It has since grossed about $177 million domestically. - AP

Top 10 Box Office Movies of 2008

In 2008, superheroes, spies, and animated animals dominated the box office, with moviegoers flocking to theaters to see a little bit of everything, from new heroes to old favorites. Here are the top ten highest grossing films at the domestic box office this year.

10. HORTON HEARS A WHO
Total Gross: $154,529,439

Featuring the voice talents of Jim Carrey and Steve Carell, and based on Dr. Seuss' storybook classic, the computer-animated Horton hit it big in March with one of the top spring opening weekends ever.

9. QUANTUM OF SOLACE
Total Gross: $166,800,000

Picking up where 2006's "Casino Royale" left off, Daniel Craig returned to action as 007 and raked in a cool sum in ticket sales, making James Bond the second most successful movie franchise behind "Star Wars."

8. TWILIGHT
Total Gross: $176,815,000

Fueled by an enthusiastic fanbase, Stephanie Meyer's hit literary phenomenon jumped from the page to the big screen to take a bite out of the annual box office, grabbing the number 9 spot during the last weeks of the year.

7. MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA
Total Gross: $176,934,000

In the sequel to 2005's animated animal hit, Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra and the rest of the zoo crew crash landed in uncharted territory, and "moved it, moved it" at the box office, kicking off the holiday movie season.

6. KUNG FU PANDA
Total Gross: $215,434,591

Armed with all the right moves and an all-star voice cast, DreamWorks' unlikely kung fu hero battled his way to box office greatness, nabbing the animation studio one of its biggest, fattest, fuzziest hits yet.

5. WALL-E
Total Gross: $223,749,872

The animation wizards at Pixar rocketed to critical and box office success again with the biggest family movie of the year, an out-of-this-world tale of a lonely little robot with a really big heart.

4. HANCOCK
Total Gross: $227,946,274

Once again, Will Smith proved to be king of Independence Day, starring as a high-flying superhero with some really bad public relation problems, and smashing his way to his biggest summer opening weekend ever.

3. INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
Total Gross: $317,023,851

Nearly twenty years after his last Crusade, Harrison Ford returned as everyone's favorite whip-cracking archaeologist to don the famed fedora once more, raiding a large trove of box office treasure but falling short of record-breaking expectations.

2. IRON MAN
Total Gross: $318,313,199

Director Jon Favreau and star Robert Downey Jr. brought Marvel Comics' popular armored superhero to the big screen, kicking off the summer blockbuster season, defying expectations and blasting off all the way to the number two spot.

1. THE DARK KNIGHT
Total Gross: $530,917,814

Christian Bale faced off against Heath Ledger for the highly-anticipated, action-packed follow-up to 2005's "Batman Begins," conquering the box office with not only the biggest movie of the year, but also the second highest-grossing movie of all time -- behind "Titanic" -- sending the Joker laughing all the way to the bank.

yahoomovies

LG unveils 3G-enabled Mobile Wrist Watch

LG Electronics just unveiled in South Korea the world’s first 3G-enabled wrist watch. Yup, that’s a phone embedded in a watch with 3G for video-calling (sort of a James Bond thing).

The wrist watch has a touchscreen display with has a videocam and speakers for video-calling over 3G.

The watch also features voice recognition, text to speech and an MP3 player. Details on this will be released during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas from January 8 to 11, 2009 {via AFP}.

Rihanna: Diva of the year

A diva, as defined by Beyonce, "is a female version of a hustler." And though there's no denying B's claim in her new single, "Diva," that she's "been the No. 1 diva in this game for a minute," you certainly can't knock Rihanna's hustle in 2008. After scoring four hit singles with 2007's Good Girl Gone Bad, her third CD in less than two years, she re-issued the disc last summer with three sizzling bonus tracks ("Disturbia," "Take a Bow," "If I Never See Your Face Again") that quickly soared up the charts as well. Now, after honing her live act on the road with Kanye West's Glow in the Dark extravaganza, and more than a year after Good Girl's original release date, Rihanna remains on the charts with her eighth single, "Rehab," featuring Justin Timberlake, plus a cameo on T.I.'s "Live Your Life." For a pop star who was once dismissed as being incapable of yielding more than one hit song per album, Rihanna's newfound staying power is nothing short of remarkable--and proof that there's room for more than one diva in this game.

http://margeauxs-mix.ew.com/2008/12/rihanna-diva-of.html
by Margeaux Watson

Britney Spears: Comeback of the year?

Is Britney back on top? Or has her career gone the way of Lindsay Lohan's? It's hard to say. First, let's consider the pros: Though her new CD, Circus, isn't a revelation on par with, say, Mariah Carey's 2005 lifesaver, The Emancipation of Mimi, it was good enough to open at No. 1 with 505,000 copies sold; her music videos for "Womanizer" and the title track are satisfactory, much like the songs that inspired them; and she's finally got her svelte pre-baby body back. Still, there are cons to consider as well: As an entertainer, Brit's no longer the electrifying dancer she used to be--her lackluster moves are stiff and sluggish; during interviews, she exudes apathy and indifference while remaining curiously vague about the details of her notorious meltdown; and her messy personal life continues to overshadow her work. So, what's the verdict? Well, she's certainly no longer capital F fierce, but I wouldn't call her a has-been just yet. In fact, I'm keeping hope alive that the old Brit will magically reappear when she goes on tour next year.

http://margeauxs-mix.ew.com/2008/12/britney-spears.html
by Margeaux Watson

‘Ang Tanging Ina N’yong Lahat’ Hits P102.5 Million

Star Cinema’s “Ang Tanging Ina N’yong Lahat” rakes in a whopping P102.5 million on its 8th day run in the 2008 Metro Manila Film Festival to be the year’s 4th biggest movie after “A Very Special Love”, “Caregiver” and “For the First Time.”

Iskul Bukol: 20 Years After, on the other hand, entered the Top 10 with a haul of P72.6 million on the same period.

2008 MMFF BOX OFFICE GROSS
(as of January 2, 2009)

1. Ang Tanging Ina N’yong Lahat - P102.5M
2. Iskul Bukol… 20 Years After - P72.6M
3. Shake Rattle and Roll X - P45.7M
4. Desperadas 2 - P27.3M
5. Baler - P24.5M
6. One Night Only - P5.7M
7. Dayo - P4.1M
8. Magkaibigan - P1.6M

Video Link: MMFF 8th Day Gross

Will Smith Voted Top Money-Making Star of 2008

According to the 76th Quigley poll, an annual survey among movie theater owners and film buyers, Will Smith (Hancock, Seven Pounds) is the top money-making star of the year dethroning Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean).

Smith is voted the Box-Office King, if you must, by generating the most box-office revenue for theaters for his two films Hancock and Seven Pounds.

On the other hand, it was Christian Bale’s “The Dark Knight” which ranked-in the most box-office money as it was hailed as the no. 1 movie in America for 2008 but Bale was only ranked third by Quigley this year. The Dark Knight earned a whopping 1 billion US dollars worldwide as of this writing.

Princess Diaries star Anne Hattaway was named a star of tomorrow, along with Chris Pine, who appeared in “Bottle Shock” and will play Captain Kirk in 2009’s “Star Trek” movie.

TOP 10 MONEY-MAKING STAR OF 2008

1. Will Smith (Hancock)
2. Robert Downey, Jr. (Iron Man)
3. Christian Bale (The Dark Knight)
4. Shia LaBeouf (Indiana Jones 4, Eagle Eye)
5. Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones 4)
6. Adam Sandler (Bedtime Stories)
7. Reese Witherspoon (Four Christmases)
8. George Clooney (Burn After Reading)
9. Angelina Jolie (Wanted)
10. Daniel Craig (Quantum of Solace)