The Day the Earth Stood Still

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue. In addition to my selections below you can take home The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Tale of Despereaux, and Beverly Hills, 90210: Season 7.

Yes Man
I'm a little baffled as to why the DVD cover for Yes Man doesn't include Jim Carrey's costar, Zooey Deschanel. She's a major selling point for me! Anyway, this movie is actually pretty cute and a great choice if you're looking for some laid-back, feel-good entertainment at home.

The story follows divorced loan officer Carl (Carrey) who lives life turning down everything from invitations to parties to the loan requests he hears every day. One day Carl finds himself at a self-help-type meeting all about the power of saying "yes" to every opportunity and it completely turns his life around. While he's in the process of becoming a "yes man" he starts up a romance with the free-spirited Allison (Deschanel), and soon learns that there are some negatives to his new lifestyle.

Special features include "Downtime on the Set of Yes Man with Jim Carrey," and "Jim Carrey: Extreme Yes Man — The Outrageous Physical Stunts the Star Performs."

Two more up next so read more

• There is supposedly conflict over who would accept Heath Ledger's Golden Globe award on his behalf if he wins. His father wants to do the honors, but the studio would like Michelle to accept it and represent Matilda. — Rush & Molloy
• The Day the Earth Stood Still debuted at the top spot at the box office this weekend, earning $31 million as Four Christmases took second place. — BuzzSugar
• NHL player Sean Avery was cut from the Dallas Stars after he made inappropriate comments calling Elisha Cuthbert his "sloppy seconds" in an interview. Avery is currently in a treatment center while the team decides what to do with his contract. — Us Weekly
• Madonna and Guy Ritchie might be spending Christmas in London together for the sake of their children, despite all of the drama surrounding their divorce. — Daily Mail
• Mad Men's Christina Hendricks announced that she is engaged to Geoffrey Arend, an actor in an upcoming series called Trust Me, which is also about ad men. — People
• Scarlett Johansson is taking legal action against UK's Cosmopolitan for manufacturing an interview with Scarlett including quotes about Ryan Reynolds she claims she never said. — E! Online

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

The Day the Earth Stood Still may not have been a critical hit but it is now officially a box office success, earning $31 million over the weekend and topping Four Christmases, which slid into second place. Twilight, Bolt, and Australia followed in third, fourth, and fifth places respectively.

Meanwhile, Variety is reporting that smaller, independent films "delivered one of the best weekends ever for the specialty box office." Movies like Doubt, The Reader and Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino all enjoyed strong debuts, while movies like Milk and Frost/Nixon continue to draw good sized audiences in theaters.

Photos courtesy of 20th Century Fox

The last time I chatted with my boyfriend about movies here we discussed Brendan Fraser, mummies, and Yetis and it was a lot of fun. So, I recruited him again for The Day the Earth Stood Still, a remake of the 1951 sci-fi classic of the same name.

I had a feeling that despite a pretty neat-looking cast (Jennifer Connelly, Keanu Reeves, Kathy Bates, Will Smith's kid Jaden, Mad Men's Jon Hamm, and John Cleese — John Cleese!) this movie might not turn out to be all that great. My male companion was skeptical as well but we both agreed to keep an open mind going in. Now I'm here to report that we immediately came to the same conclusion upon exiting the theater: Lame.

To see our thoughts on the film, including a debate about seeing Brendan Fraser movies for the rest of your life versus Keanu Reeves movies, just read more

The Smith family all came out to support Jaden at the big premiere of his movie The Day the Earth Stood Still. He was joined by the movie's big name stars Jennifer Connelly and Keanu Reeves who looked like they were having a blast at the premiere...ha. Sexy Jon Hamm had his longtime girlfriend Jennifer Westfeldt on his arm, though methinks Mad Men fans might be disappointed to see he's not playing Don Draper this time. It's hard to match the enthusiasm of the Smith family when they get on a red carpet and it sounds like they should get used to cheering Jaden on considering he may be the next Will Smith.

To see more from the premiere just read more

Greetings from sunny San Diego! And I'm not kidding about the sunny: Though I'll be spending most of the weekend indoors, I at least got to bask in the rays (or, OK, sweat next to other sweaty people) while waiting in line for this morning's 20th Century Fox panels.

Frankly, it's been a pretty insane trip so far. The morning's big events (panels for Max Payne and The Day the Earth Stood Still and surprise appearance by Wolverine himself!) were delayed because of collapsing curtains and rods. I did have some time to wander the floor, as well as to catch a Disney panel where some of the studio's storyboard staff took us through the creation of a sequence from the upcoming Bolt, which looks like it could be pretty clever. You can check out some of my initial observations — and a whole lot of photos from the floor, including a super-geeky sequence with this year's special Comic-Con My Little Pony — if you read more

The modern remake of the 1951 sci-fi film The Day the Earth Stood Still attempts to update the older version, shifting its themes from Cold War political tension and the threat of human violence to the imminence of environmental retaliation from an abused Earth. Keanu Reeves, who plays the protagonist in this new version, explains:

The first one was borne out of the cold war and nuclear détente. Klaatu came and was saying cease and desist with your violence. If you can’t do it yourselves we’re going to do it. That was the film of that day. The version I was just working on, instead of being man against man, it’s more about man against nature. My Klaatu says that if the Earth dies, you die. If you die, the earth survives. I’m a friend to the earth.

The movie joins a few other recent films with possibly green messages. This one, with its apocalyptic setting, also stars Jennifer Connolly, Will Smith's kid Jaden, and Mad Men's Jon Hamm. I love most of the cast (though not all of it), but I don't know how I feel about the trailer for this one; it's just not pulling me in. The Day the Earth Stood Still opens December 12. To check out the trailer, read more

• The American Idol premiere was its lowest rated in four years, TV Week reports — but it still got more than 33 million viewers.
• Variety has more details on Apple's new iTunes movie rental service.
• Studios have canceled dozens of deals with producers as a result of the strike, writes The Hollywood Reporter.
• While the Grammys and Oscars are in question, the NAACP Image Awards will go on as planned, the New York Times reports.
• Forest Whitaker may star in Patriots, a post-Katrina sports drama directed by Tim Story, writes ComingSoon.
• According to Billboard, Alicia Keys' album returns to its No. 1 spot on the charts, though the Juno soundtrack is up there, too, coming in as the No. 3 bestselling album in the country.
• The Hollywood Reporter has news that Will Smith's son Jaden Smith will star in the sci-fi thriller The Day the Earth Stood Still.
• According to ComingSoon, the director of 27 Dresses, Anne Fletcher, has signed on to direct Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock in the romantic comedy The Proposal.
• The Decemberists' Colin Meloy will release a live solo album in April, Pitchfork reports.

Photo courtesy of Fox