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Yahoo! Movies recently compared the film careers of Hollywood golden couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and they came to the conclusion that, although it was a close race, Brad Pitt comes out on top when it comes to success on film. The stats that were compared included number of feature films, total domestic box office gross, highest grossing film worldwide, most recent film gross, and awards won. Even though Angelina Jolie has the highest grossing film, a higher gross in her most recent movie, and more awards, Yahoo! declared Brad the winner. Which got me thinking, how would other Hollywood couples compare? Here you have the top ten successful celebrity couples, and which spouse wins the success war.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie

The rule here will be that the couple has to be together right now, no going back to find classic couples of decades past. And since we’re comparing film careers, they both have to be actors.

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes

We’ll start with Tom Cruise’s stats. He has 32 feature films, his total domestic box office gross is $3.1 billion, and his highest grossing film worldwide is “War of the Worlds”, which brought in $591.7 million. His most recent film was “Tropic Thunder”, which grossed $109.9 million in the US. However, his role in that movie was a mere cameo, and if you look at the previous film, “Lions for Lambs”, that grossed only $15 million in the US. Cruise has been nominated for 3 Oscars, though he’s never won, and he’s got 3 Golden Globes on the mantle and 3 more nominations.

This might not be the fairest comparison considering Tom’s superstar status and the headstart he’s had considering the age difference and Katie’s stint on “Dawson’s Creek”. But for her part, Katie Holmes has appeared in 15 feature films, her total domestic box office gross is $411.5 million, but over half of that comes from “Batman Begins”, which gives Katie her highest grossing film worldwide at $371.85 million. Her most recent film was “Mad Money”, which brought in $20.6 million in the US. Katie has never been nominated for an Oscar or a Golden Globe, and she doesn’t have any movies in the works at the moment, while Tom has two (”Valkyrie” and “Men”).

Based on the comparisons, Tom Cruise is the more successful half of this celebrity couple. His films bring in much more, and he’s got the awards to prove it.

See the rest of the top ten successful celebrity couples below.

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Here is the first full-length movie trailer for Clint Eastwood’s “Gran Torino.” The movie will be released in theaters December 17, 2008. See photos and the trailer here.

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“You’re glib.” Remember that Tom Cruise quote? Flashback to June 2005, when Cruise first started showing signs of scientology brain and verbally attacked Matt Lauer about psychiatry. Well the two were reunited yesterday at Lauer’s roast and I think Tom was in a better mood this time. Photos and videos below.

Matt Lauer and Tom Cruise

The Friars Club annual celebrity roast in New York City, consisted of Katie Couric, Meredith Vieira, Brian Williams, Martha Stewart, and NBC Universal president and CEO Jeff Zucker. No reporters allowed. Jeffrey Ross, Bob Saget, Richard Belzer, and Gilbert Gottfried made up the fiesty comedic crew and last but not least a little surprise by the name of Tom Cruise. Now, like I said, these two got into it three years ago when Matt mentioned Brooke Shields and her need for anti-depressants. Well according to Tom, who is a self-proclaimed expert in psychiatry, no one needs anti-depressants and Lauer must be advocating the use of these drugs and ritalin. Sounds crazy right? Yeah, he’s a scientologist. Anyway Cruise got pretty heated during the conversation and made a complete fool out of himself.

Totally different Cruise at the roast though. He poked fun at their standoff several times, turning the infamous “you’re glib” comment into a joke: “Lose my number, you glib putz.” He even accused Lauer of advising him to put on that whole undying love for Katie, jumping on the couch outburst on Oprah. Man Tom is really losing it isn’t he? The best part was when he was leaving, Al Roker said something about Cruise not being able to stay because his spaceship was about to leave! Awesome.

Meredith Vieira was next on the podium and she is way cooler than I thought! Vieira reminded us who was being honored, “that motherf—– Matt Lauer.” She added that his former coanchor Katie Couric squeezed his balls so tight that there’s nothing there for her to grab. Also when people ask if she and Matt really get along, she answers: “F— no!” She also said that she now knows what NBC stands for “Nothing But Crap.” Her final words? “Congratulations on this honor. I’ll see you Monday, a——.”

Katie Couric wasn’t so bad herself. She read a list of the Top 10 Little Known Facts About Matt Lauer. No. 7 was when she got her on-air colonoscopy, the first thing the doctor found was Matt’s head! Ha! But No. 2 was the best: He loves to eat curry. As she clarified, “Indian food,” the camera got a closeup of a mortified Ann Curry. Our news ladies really know how to roast with the best of them, I love it!

More photos plus video clips of the Matt Lauer roast and the infamous Lauer / Cruise interview below.
Photos and Videos

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Here is a new movie trailer for “”Notorious,” a biopic of legendary Brooklyn rapper Christopher Wallace a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G. and Biggie Smalls. The movie will be released in theaters January 16, 2009. See photos and the trailer here.

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Seth Rogen is the classic overweight funnyman in all of his movies. In “Knocked Up”, he played a sloppy, weed-smoking, internet entrepreneur who made a website that pinpointed the exact moment when nudity occurred in a movie … and it was funny. In “Superbad”, he played a fun-loving police officer who couldn’t chase the high school kids … and it was hilarious. In “Pineapple Express”, he played an unmotivated process server that gets caught up in a drug war … and it was pretty comical. So what’s this about Seth Rogen losing weight?

Seth Rogen

Seth Rogen is losing weight for his upcoming comic book role of the Green Hornet. The film isn’t set to release until June 25, 2010, and it’s only in pre-production, but already Rogen is feeling the pain of shedding the pounds. In fact, he considers himself a sell out for conforming his body to the role.

“I’ve been eating better and training - and hating myself for it. I feel like a sell out, I feel lame, I feel like a guy I would make fun of.”

It’s particularly interesting that Rogen feels so bad about the weight loss, because he’s the one who wrote the screenplay. But don’t worry, pounds or no pounds, he insists that the film will be funny.

See more photos of Seth Rogen and a video of the actor below.

Photos and Video

Here is a new movie trailer for Zack Snyder’s “The Watchman”, based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. The movie will be released in theaters March 6, 2009. See photos and the trailer here.

“The Watchmen” is based on the groundbreaking 12-issue limited comic book series of the same title created by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins, originally published in the mid-1980s and later republished as a graphic novel.

“The Watchmen” is set in alternative 1985 which finds Richard Nixon still president as the United States verges on nuclear war with the Soviet Union. When a government-sponsored superhero, The Comedian, is found murdered, the vigilante superhero Rorschach comes to believe this is a government conspiracy to kill superheroes and he warns his former colleagues. As the story progresses, the Rorschach and his superhero colleagues discover that the conspiracy is much deeper and could completely alter the course of history.

This second trailer for “The Watchmen” (in July 2008 a teaser trailer was shown with “The Dark Knight”) had its premiere on the Spike TV Scream 2008 Awards, broadcast on October 21, 2008. Director Zack Snyder and stars Malin Akerman, Carla Gugino and Jeffrey Dean Morgan were present at the awards ceremony to introduce the trailer. Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley, Billy Crudup, and Matthew Good also star in the movie.

“There’s a feeling that film and comic books and all these genres that didn’t used to get respect are having this truly dynamic moment right now,” said Zack Snyder. “Just look around tonight and you get this feeling things are going into interesting places.”

Approximately one-third of the trailer is comprised of previously unseen footage; WatchmenComicMovie.com has the new screen shots.

The new footage, with mesmerizing special effects and cinematography, captures the spirit and the essence of the graphic novel. We hope that writers David Hayter (”The Scorpion King,” “X-Men,” “X-Men 2″) and Alex Tse have done justice to the storyline.

One of the most anticipated movies of 2009, it is exciting to see “The Watchmen” finally making it to the big screen despite two decades of development hell, and a lawsuit brought by Fox against Warner Bros. Zack Snyder has proven success in this genre, with his popular and critically acclaimed movie “300,” an adaptation of Frank Miller’s graphic novel of the same title. We hope that watching “The Watchman” will be well worth the wait.

Photos: WENN

I wouldn’t call this weekend the best movie weekend ever, but there are some new movies coming out, so I should tell you about them. The movies releasing Friday include “High School Musical 3″ and “Saw 5″ - yes, it’s a night of sequels.

High School Musical 3 Releases Friday

High School Musical 3: Senior Year

If you’re heading to the theaters this weekend, prepare to battle the tween crowd, because they’re going to be out in full force to see “High School Musical 3: Senior Year”. In this third installment of the franchise, Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens will reprise their roles to dance and sing all the way to box office success. This time around, Troy will have to decide between basketball and Juilliard, Gabriella is trying to go Standford, and Sharpay still aims for the spotlight. Hilarity and several musical numbers ensue.

Saw V

The synopsis of this latest of the “Saw” films reads,

In the fifth installment of the popular SAW franchise, Hoffman is seemingly the last person alive to carry on the Jigsaw legacy. But when his secret is threatened, Hoffman must go on the hunt to eliminate all loose ends.

If you’ve seen the first four movies, you know what to expect, and it looks to be just as good.

Pride and Gloy

I feel like I saw the preview for this movie ages ago, and for some reason the release date was delayed. Some might guess that it was it’s proximity in site to the release of “We Own the Night”. But it’s finally here. “Pride and Glory” stars Edward Norton and Colin Ferrell in a cop drama about how to deal with the realization that you’re brother-in-law might be cheating the system. The movie is being referred to as a “solid piece of work”, but the same person wrote,

There’s no telling why anyone thought this movie was necessary to make, but now that it’s here, we may as well enjoy it for what it is.

See the trailers for the movies below.

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Robert Downey Jr. costars in “Tropic Thunder” (2008)

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Harvard-Westlake School in LA has the luckiest freshman football team ever! They have been blessed with Ashton Kutcher as assistant coach. It should be a piece of cake for the world famous actor but he admits that he was afraid to do it. Photos and video below.

Ashton Kutcher

So while the wife, Demi Moore, is on site filiming “The Joneses,” Ashton Kutcher is coaching a freshman football team in LA and he’s loving it. He has actually said that he is learning more from those kids than they from him. So cute. Anyway, Ashton performed as Micheal Kelso on ‘That 70’s Show’ for years, punked people on camera and acted in a plethora of movies. So why would he be so afraid to coach a highschool football team? He explains it himself:

“I was afraid of the time commitment. I was afraid that I would look stupid. I was afraid that the players wouldn’t listen to my football advice, I was afraid that the advice that I gave wouldn’t be very good.”

Ashton decided to coach because it was something he always wanted to do but especially because he was afraid to do it. The whole face your fears mantra has him on the field with the team five days a week. Can we stop for a minute and focus here people? The man is hot, rich, talented and famous yet he was terrified of what these boys would think of him….no wonder Demi grabbed him when she did. He’s adorable! He even has a MySpace blog where he writes all about his team, who is having a winning season by the way.

“I’m pleased to report that my Harvard Westlake football team is 4-2. I am blessed to step on the gridiron every week with a great group of individuals that understand that the collective force is greater that any individual can ever be,” he writes.

Who knew Kelso could be so smart and compassionate?

More photos of Ashton plus a video of him in his coaching glory below.
Photos and Video

Gemma Arterton is the latest Bond girl. She can be seen in the upcoming “Quantum of Solace”, which releases November 14, 2008. But there is something that you won’t see on Gemma that used to be there - fingers 11 and 12.

Gemma Arterton

Gemma was born with the condition known as Polydactyly, which means she was born with six fingers on each hand. About 1 in 500 children are born with this condition. As a baby, the extra fingers were “tied”, so that they fell off with time. She describes the superfluous digits as,

“It’s my little oddity that I’m really proud of. It makes me different.”

But that’s not the only oddity Gemma was born with. Her ear was also crumpled, which required surgical correction during her childhood. She explains, “I was born with lots of deformities.”

I don’t think anyone is saying that Gemma has deformities now. The newest Bond girl is set to blow us way with her with her M16 skills. She plays Agent Fields in the upcoming 007 film, who works for the British Consulate in Bolivia and is charged with keeping Bond under control. Good luck with that, Gemma.

See more photos of Gemma Arterton and the preview for “Quantum of Solace” below.

Photos and Video

Now this story wouldn’t have phased me had I not just watched “Iron Man” the other day. Let me tell you, Terrence Howard, who plays Colonel Jim Rhodes, was awesome and he absolutely won over the audience with his tough yet loyal character. So now “Iron Man 2″ is in the works and he is being replaced? Photos and video below.

Terrence Howard and Don Cheadle

In a recent interview with National Public Radio, Terrence admitted he was shocked when he heard the studio had replaced him with Don Cheadle in the sequel. The reason? Its reported that he demanded too much money to play Rhodes, who actually becomes a fellow “armored super hero” just like in the comic book. But it seems he found out about this mess when we all did.

“I read something in the trades implicating that it was about money or something, but apparently the contracts that we write and sign aren’t worth the paper that they’re printed on, sometimes,” Howard continued in his interview. “Promises aren’t kept, and good faith negotiations aren’t always held up… [The contract] just… up and vanished.”

Poor Terrence was so excited when “Iron Man” first came out. Going on about how he’s never been part of a big budget film before and that there will be a sequeal and maybe even a spin-off for his character. While Howard may be out, the rest of the film’s characters are expected to be back — Robert Downey, Jr. will return as Tony Stark/Iron Man; Gwyneth Paltrow returns as Stark’s assistant Pepper Potts; and Jon Favreau will once again direct the film.

So did the producers think that we weren’t going to notice that one of the main characters would be a totally different person in the sequel?? I hate when they do that. Marvel really screwed this one up.

More photos and an interview with Terrence Howard about “Iron Man.”
Photos

Pearl and Dean hosted an online poll in which they asked fans to name the top tear-jerker movies of all time, and 1942’s “Bambi” was named number one. Only about 3,000 movie fans participated, so it might not be the most scientific poll ever created, but it’s what we have.

Bambi

The top ten list goes like this:

1. Bambi (1942)
2. Ghost (1990)
3. The Lion King (1994)
4. E.T. (1982)
5. Titanic (1997)
6. Beaches (1998)
7. Philadelphia (1993)
8. Watership Down (1978)
9. Boys Don’t Cry (1999)
10. Steel Magnolias (1989)

Not a bad list, considering it spans all of time. But I would have replaced a couple. I bawled like a baby in “Life Is Beautiful”, and cried again when Roberto Benigni won the Oscar and jumped on all the chairs. It was such a beautiful but tragic story about a father’s love.

And this might be too soon, but I’m pretty sure I cried start to finish in “P.S. I Love You”. Seriously, start to finish. If you’ve got some pent up tears you’re looking to drain, rent this one. And you can go back to back Hilary Swank sob stories if you rent “Million Dollar Baby” with it. Now that calls for some Ben and Jerry’s and a fuzzy blanket.

See the video of Roberto Benigni from the Oscars below.

Videos

Tim Burton’s latest project is a revamped version of “Alice in Wonderland”. After what we’ve seen him do with classics like “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” as Burton called his, “Alice in Wonderland” looks to be a great film.

Tim Burton

And we can’t have a Tim Burton film without Johnny Depp, right? So this time Depp will play the Mad Hatter. Alice will be Australian newcomer Mia Wasikowska. Burton says Depp is looking forward to the role and seems to like the script he’s been working with.

When comparing Burton’s upcoming Alice with the 1950s version, they say that “as with ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,’ it appears his mission is to reclaim a children’s classic, resharpen its edges and remind everyone that sapping the weirdness out of a tale often renders it flat and forgettable.” Burton agrees,

“it’s just, ‘Oh, this character’s weird’ and ‘Oh, that character’s weird.’ I can’t really recall a version where I felt really engaged by it. So that’s the goal, just to try to give it a gravity that most film versions haven’t had. … The goal is to try to make it an engaging movie where you get some of the psychology and kind of bring a freshness but also keep the classic nature of ‘Alice.’ And, you know, getting to do it in 3-D fits the material quite well. So I’m excited about making it a new version but also have the elements that people expect when they think of the material.”

See more photos of Tim Burton and a video below.

Photos and Video

The DVDs releasing Tuesday include “The Incredible Hulk” and “The Strangers”. Looks like it’s a week full of action and scares.

“The Incredible Hulk” releases Tuesday on DVD

The Incredible Hulk

Edward Norton and Liv Tyler star in this remake of the comic book classic, “The Incredible Hulk”. Unfortunately it’s only 5 years after that other remake that bombed, so no matter how good this new one is we all still have the bad taste of Eric Bana as the Hulk in our mouth. But apparently we should overlook the 2003 version and give the Ed Norton one a chance. The critics and comic book fans seemed to like it,

“In the end, The Incredible Hulk is exactly what it should be: An all-out action romp that resets the comic book icon’s big screen continuity and paves the way for future installments (both in the Hulk franchise, as well as in that of the Avengers) in the newly unified Marvel movie universe.”

The Strangers

Two Liv Tyler movies in one week! But this one is sure to make you jump off the couch at least once or twice. “The Strangers” is a film about a couple who stays at a cute bed-and-breakfast after a friend’s wedding, but it turns out to be anything but cute when they get some unexpected visitors. These three uninvited strangers make life a living hell for Tyler and Scott Speedman, but it makes for a great horror flick. The New York Times says,

“[The Strangers is] raising the stakes with a bloody preview of the ending before flashing back to the horrors that precede it. But this is no splatter movie: spare, suspenseful and brilliantly invested in silence, Bryan Bertino’s debut feature unfolds in a slow crescendo of intimidation….”

Flight of the Red Balloon

“Flight of the Red Balloon” is a French film about Paris life starring Juliette Binoche. The movie is based on a children’s book by Albert Lamorisse, but the movie takes a much more serious tone than the book that inspired it, focusing not on the boy and his balloon, but the boy, his mother, and his new nanny. The director makes a beautiful movie out of this story about a struggling family,

All the sounds and movements of the characters co-mingle, interact, climax, and then gently descend: You won’t see anything as rapturous as this in any film this year.

See the trailers for the movies below.

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