The best family films aren't only for the kids; they look like a kiddie package but pack enough of an adult punch to make everyone happy. It looks like Monsters vs. Aliens might be just that. It is, and I quote from the new goodie extravaganza over at USA Today, "a throwback to those B-movie glory days of the '50s when Martians invaded our backyards and rubber monsters stalked the Earth."

This even includes specific references, such as the heroine Susan Murphy. She's a regular California girl who gets hit by a meteor and becomes 49' 11" tall (Attack of the 50-Foot Woman!), gets taken by the military, and renamed Ginormica. She's also being voiced by Reese Witherspoon. But that's not the only big name attached -- Rainn Wilson will handle the evil alien Gallaxhar, and Ginormica will be joined by Dr. Cockroach, Ph.D. voiced by Hugh Laurie, jelly-like B.O.B. handled by Seth Rogen, and the half-ape/half-fish Missing Link voiced by Will Arnett. Plus, there's Kiefer Sutherland as the aptly-named Gen. W.R. Monger and Stephen Colbert as the "plays it on steroids" president. (Some of them you can spot in the pic on the right, which you can see full-size at USA Today.)

But there's also a twist in this. Since the feature will be the first CG movie shot in 3-D, rather than converted to it, it has an extra $15 mil added to its budget, which will find its way out of fans' wallets. The tickets will cost more, although the price hasn't been determined. Jeffrey Katzenberg is hoping we'll all pay for "a premium experience." This sounds cool and all, but paying more for this movie sounds silly, esp. if it ends up killing at the box office. What do you think about this monetary twist?

So, IMDb has two stories about do-gooder celebs up this morning, one about Cameron Diaz calling the Oprah Winfrey show in support of her friend and fellow Angel Drew Barrymore, who was on the show to present a check for $1,000,000 to the United Nations World Food Program, and the other about Reese Witherspoon. Witherspoon is the cosmetic company Avon's "global ambassador for women's empowerment," and in that capacity, she kicked off Avon's partnership with the United Nations Development Fund for Women by announcing that Avon will be selling $3 "Women's Empowerment Bracelets" online to benefit the fund.

The slogan for the partnership is "Empower women, change our world," and if you go to the Avon website to the bracelet, it tells you to "wear the bracelet that could change the world." A sidebar on the bracelet's product page blithely tells you that the bracelet will "go great with the Speak Out Against Domestic Violence Keychain!" No, I'm not making that up.

Reese Witherspoon has come a long way since The Man in the Moon in 1991. She's hopped in a Thing and taken a desperate, mail-stopping road trip, lived in black and white, scored the heart of the most infamous and lascivious teen heartbreaker, been rabid for an election, dated a psycho, spent some time in lots of romantic comedy, and then became June Carter in Walk the Line and won an Oscar.

But did you ever see her as an action star? She told Sun Media recently that she's a big action fan, frustrated with the current state of affairs: "there aren't a lot of female characters women can look at and go, 'I want to be like that.' I go to movies and get frustrated - 'Shoot him! Shoot him!' Why does the guy get to shoot him - why can't the girl shoot him?" Eh, at least it's not like the old days where the woman would slink back into the corner and watch the action without helping, even when it was needed. I remember an episode of The Mod Squad where the good guy gets thrown over a railing, and struggles not to fall to his death while the woman watches him struggle his way up. Gee, thanks for the help!

Anyway, she'd like to get involved in an action film some day, but says that it might be as a producer. Cop out! Really, Reese, go for it. I think it would be great to see her as a cross between Linda Hamilton and Sarah Michelle Gellar -- meaning that it would be great to see her get ultra-buff and then become a pint-sized butt-kicker. Even if it doesn't work out, at least it will offer some variety.

Welcome friends to what has to be the most exciting Insert Caption in the history of caption contests around the world! This week, we have something so special for you that I can hardly write about it without watching the jealousy literally pour out my body. Seriously. It's disgusting. The jealousy just pours out into this liquid goo that sticks to everything. This week, we're wrapping our caption claws around Summit Entertainment's Penelope, starring Christina Ricci, James McAvoy and Reese Witherspoon. Now check this out -- one Grand Prize winner will ride away with a brand spanking new yellow Vespa LX 50 (pictured right, and courtesy of Vespa -- click on the image for a larger version).

That's right! And all you have to do is come up with the wittiest caption for the photo of Christina Ricci on a park bench below. The contest officially begins right now, and you have until 12:01am on Wednesday, February 27th to enter. For more on Penelope, check out the film's official website, and sound off below!

Read the official rules for this contest

Last week, we asked you to come up with captions for a photo from Charlie Bartlett -- and as much as we loved your toe-tapping toilet humor, we ultimately decided that Josh B. provided all the right caption-winning ingredients.

1. "So I definitely think your daddy issues stem all of the way back to potty training." -- Josh B.

See full image and all captions

I almost wrote up a fan rant this week about Paris Hilton. After a paragraph, I realized that I was stating the obvious and backed away from it all. See, she recently had an interview with MTV/VH1 where they actually noted that it was a "word-for-word" transcript in case you didn't believe it. The discussion started with Christine Lakin (her Nottie co-star) trying to explain what a primary was. Irk #1, not having the slightest clue about the political process -- and not even potentially remembering any bit of schooling I assumed she had. Why am I surprised? I don't know.

From there, it went through a bunch of b-s, and then we get to Irk #2. Farts came up, and when asked: "So, Paris, even when you're at home by yourself, you don't occasionally let one rip?" she responded with: "No! Girls don't do that. Ew." Oh yes, that's right. Our skin is always perfect, we never fart, we don't grow excess hair, and when we go to the bathroom, it's just to powder our noses, not to deal with anything unsightly. Good lord. Is it wrong of me to want to send over some flatulence fiends to torture her for days with dutch ovens?

Anyway... I need a little reassurance that the world isn't doomed when women like Paris are popular, so this double feature is about women who discover their brains and put them to good use. They're both blonde, and both have lots of success, so Paris, this is me hoping that there is still hope for you, and giving you a hint about where to start: a double feature of Clueless and Legally Blonde.

It would appear that tensions on the set of Four Christmases are at an all time high, as the off-screen feud between stars Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon continues to heat up. Last month we told you how both actors were a bit peeved over the other's work ethic. Witherspoon didn't like the fact that Vaughn would show up to the set unprepared, laid-back and ready to improv (after a long night at the bar), while Vaughn seemed pissed that Witherspoon refuses to lighten up and go with the flow. Perhaps that's why pal Jon Favreau was brought in for a late inning role, so that he could keep Vaughn in check and not let the guy ruin the entire flick?

Now, Digital Spy tells us that things on set aren't getting any better. Witherspoon apparently has a problem with one of the scripted love scenes between her and Vaughn, and doesn't want to go through with it. Says a spy: "Reese has an issue with the scripted love scene. It is meant to be a funny, American Pie-style romp, full of bumps and laughs, but Reese is of such a prude, she thinks it's just too much." And this is the girl who was just named the most-liked celeb in 2007? Granted, I wouldn't blame Witherspoon for not wanting to get dirty between the sheets if her partner reeks of alcohol and refuses to go strictly by the script. Who knows what he would do once they were in bed together; for all we know, he could go crazy with the improv, whip out his Johnson and start wagging it around. Sheesh, no Oscar winner deserves that sort of disrespect.

Then again, a scene like that would probably go down as one of the funniest of the year. Poor Reese. If you slack off on set, you get reamed, and if you show up every day on time, with your ultra-professional cap on, you still get reamed. I guess you're damned if you do, and you're damned if you don't. Hopefully the film won't suffer because of this feud (though the press junkets should be very interesting).

According to JoBlo, Reese Witherspoon has signed on to produce and star in a film called Nice, which is an adaptation of Jen Sacks' darkly comedic novel. The book itself sounds great, and definitely the kind of material we need to see Witherspoon taking on again. Nice is said to center on a gal who is overly nice. She's so nice, in fact, that she can't even break up with her boyfriend. So, instead, she decides to kill the guy -- and when she gets away with the murder, she decides to keep doing it. Um, nice!

Witherspoon first showed she could really act in the dark comedy Election, which, if you haven't seen, I might need to kill you myself. But ever since she became a household name, the gal has pumped out dull romantic comedy after dull romantic comedy ... with a random drama thrown in to show you she's got the acting chops. Don't get me wrong, people love to see her locking lips with whatever actor is hot at the moment, but I personally have been itching to see her go back to her dark comedy roots and get a little daring with a role. What say you? Anyone read the book?

And for your viewing pleasure ...

There may be trouble with the on-set paradise between Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn in Four Christmases, but for the film as a whole, things just got kookier. The Hollywood Reporter says that old Vaughn friend Jon Favreau has joined the mix, along with Tim McGraw and Dwight Yoakam. Yeah, not exactly the two names that I expected to follow. But it gets even better. McGraw and Favreau will play Brad's (Vaughn) brothers called Denver and Dallas. Talk about feeling on the outside -- not getting another Texas name like Austin or something. Anyhow, they're "siblings who delight in tormenting their brother" over the holidays.

As for ol' Yoakam, he'll play "Pastor Phil, the overly zealous partner of Brad's new wife Kate's (Witherspoon) mother (Mary Steenburgen). He persuades the young couple to act in his church's nativity play, one of the many chaotic events during their visits to different sets of parents." Okay, now considering my own history with the holidays, and other people I know, one or two house/party visits makes for a hectic holiday, let alone visiting four different parents and acting in a nativity play. Hopefully all of this craziness stays on the comfortable side of comedy, and doesn't become a Meet the Parents sort of film where stupid character decisions leads to just as much discomfort as laughs. Still, this is sounding like it could actually be some Christmas fare that's worth the time.

Just the other day, Christopher Campbell posted that Mary Steenburgen and Sissy Spacek had signed on to play two of the moms in next year's holiday pic, Four Christmases. The movie stars Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn as a couple who try to see their four divorced parents on Christmas day. This latest piece of news isn't who the other father is (Robert Duvall is playing Vaughn's dad), but rather some rumored trouble on the set between the two stars -- who play the couple that's supposed to be sticking together.

According to the Daily News' Gatecrasher, the screen couple definitely haven't been getting along, and won't be the follow-up to Vince's romance with past co-star Jennifer Aniston. Just like her production company's moniker (Type A Films), Reese is coming to set ready to put in lots of work, while Vaughn wants to be laid-back. "Vince rolls onto set in the morning looking like he just came in from a night out, while Reese will arrive early, looking camera-ready. Then, Reese tries to force Vince into blocking out each scene and running through their lines as Vince tries to convince her that he's an ad-libber and wants to play around and see where the scene goes."

So far, however, this clash hasn't stopped production, but the source also says that Vaughn sometimes looks like "he just wants to kill her." Honestly, I can see both of their points. I'm sure it must be aggravating for Reese to have to fight to get cooperation in how she prepares, just as it's probably infuriating to Vaughn to deal with a Tracy Flick-type and not be able to just go along as he wants. Hopefully it won't lead him to the fate of Matthew Broderick in Election. We'll have to wait 12 months and see whether we can spot all that anger in their characters; if the rumors are true, we'll see just how good the two actors really are.

[via AOL]

It must be a lot of fun casting veteran actors as parents of current stars. Thanks to past casting decisions we got to see Sean Connery play Harrison Ford's father, Barbara Streisand and Dustin Hoffman play Ben Stiller's mom and dad, and Keith Richards (wait, he's not a veteran actor) as Johnny Depp's pirate papa. Now, somewhat similar to the parental stunt-casting of the Meet the Parents movies, we're getting some interesting casting choices for the roles of both Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn's parents in next holiday season's Four Christmases. It's a comedy about a married couple attempting to visit with all four of their parents -- who are all divorced and live in four different locations -- on Christmas Day.

We've already learned Robert Duvall is one of the fathers (now we find out he's playing Vaughn's). Now, according to the Hollywood Reporter, Oscar-winning actresses Sissy Spacek and Mary Steenburgen are hopping on board as the moms. Can you imagine which one goes with which of the movie's leads? Immediately I thought "Loretta Lynn" should be mom to "June Carter" and tall(er) "Clara Clayton" should be mom to super-tall "Fred Claus". Alas, the casting went the other way: "Carrie" is the mother of "Norman Bates" and "Hannah Nixon" is the mother of "Tracy Flick". To be more specific, "Spacek will play the slightly spacey, New Age mother of Brad (Vaughn). Steenburgen will play the chameleonlike mother of Kate (Witherspoon), whose personality changes depending on whom she's married to or dating." We still don't know which Academy Award winning actor (he has to have an Oscar, like the other parents) will play Witherspoon's dad -- may I suggest Chris Cooper? or Alan Arkin? The only other role cast is the part of Witherspoon's "controlling, type-A sister", to be played by Kristen Chenoweth.

Yesterday we told you that Ricky Gervais was in talks to reprise his character from the first Night at the Museum for its sequel, now titled Night at the Museum 2: Escape from the Smithsonian, and that whether or not he joined the film depended upon his very busy upcoming schedule. I told him he has to do it (seeing as he was the best part of the first film), and he definitely wants to do it, but we'll see. Now Variety tells us today that Night 2 will take Avatar's release date of May 22, 2009, with the highly-anticipated James Cameron 3D film shifting over to a December 18, 2009 release. This kinda sucks, as I'm sure a lot of you were looking forward to Avatar kicking off the summer of 2009 with a bang. Instead, it will arrive shortly before Santa does. (Am I the only one who would rather the big films come in summer? December is always so ... hectic. Shopping, lists, fat men in suits ... I could go on.) Then again, Avatar will now be released on the same weekend that saw Titanic back in 1997. So perhaps it's a lucky weekend for Cameron.

Now that Night at the Museum 2 is swapping locations, they can also include some more historical figures. Variety tells us that Reese Witherspoon has been approached to play Amelia Earhart. The trade also indicates that other cast members from the first film might return (like Gervais), but we won't hear about those moves for another few weeks. Ben Stiller is already attached to reprise his role from the first film. As a straight-up kids film, I kinda enjoyed the first Night at the Museum. While the plot was cruddy, and the bad guys weren't all that scary, the flick was very alive and entertaining ... for kids. I'm curious to see what they do with the sequel. On another front, Fox also announced that it will release Ice Age 3 in digital 3D on July 1, 2009.

There should be two lists: Which actress makes the most and which actress deserves the most. The Hollywood Reporter released their annual list of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood, and leading the pack is Reese Witherspoon, who commands a whopping $15 to $20 million per film. Since winning an Oscar for her performance in Walk the Line, Witherspoon has starred in Just Like Heaven, Penelope and Rendition -- all of which did poop at the box office (save for Penelope which never opened). Will she still be demanding this much next year? God, I hope not. Geez, friggin' Carrot Top entertains more people than this gal.

Number two on the list, of course, is Angelina Jolie (though she only earned $8 million for lending her voice and body to Beowulf). Next up are Cameron Diaz ($15 million per film), Nicole Kidman ($10-15 million), Renee Zellweger ($10-15 million), Sandra Bullock ($10-15 million) and Julia Roberts ($10-15 million). Drew Barrymore, Jodie Foster and Halle Berry round out the list with around $10 to $12 million each per film. Out of all those names, unfortunately, I believe Jolie was the only one to turn in a great performance this year in A Mighty Heart (we'll see if Kidman redeems herself in both Margot at the Wedding and The Golden Compass come awards time). The rest? Blah. So blah. Might as well take all their photos and slide them next to the word 'overrated' in the dictionary. So, in your opinion, who deserves the most? And feel free to list someone not mentioned here.

Did you enjoy watching Vince Vaughn in a Christmas setting over the weekend? Well, don't forget, you'll have another chance to see him in a holiday film next year, as the actor is starring with Reese Witherspoon in Four Christmases, due in December 2008. Now, according to Variety, there's an excellent addition to the cast: Robert Duvall. Ah, nothing says obligatory Christmas comedy like Oscar winners slumming it. Well, at least Vaughn could learn a few tips from either Duvall or Witherspoon. More from Duvall, though. In addition to his win for Tender Mercies in 1984, Duvall has been nominated another five times (he's also won four Golden Globes out of six noms) and definitely should have received more noms (my pick: Falling Down). In turn, maybe Vaughn can teach Duvall a little something about light-hearted comedy. The elder actor hasn't done so well in the family film department (even if I enjoyed him immensely in Secondhand Lions and Newsies), and while he can certainly deliver funny performances at times (loved him and his mint julep in Thank You For Smoking), none of those roles could be considered "hilarious" or "broad" comedy.

Considering the plot of Four Christmases, Duvall will probably only get less than a quarter of the movie's screen time. The story follows Vaughn and Witherspoon's young married characters as they attempt to visit all four of their divorced parents on Christmas Day. It's highly likely that Duvall plays one of the fathers. Now, who will play the other parents? Could we get some more prestige, a la Meet the Fockers? If New Line can get three more Oscar winners (to completely flank odd-man Vaughn), then I might actually have to put this film on my next year's wish list. Four Christmases was written by Matt Allen and Caleb Wilson and is being directed by King of Kong's Seth Gordon.

I bet that when Reese Witherspoon took on the role of June Carter Cash, she never imagined that Heather Mills would be looking to approach her for another biopic (just as I imagine Scarlett never dreamed she'd be the object of Jenna's biopic dreams). Believe it or not, the Daily Mail says that Mills is heading to Hollywood to get a biopic in the works, and she wants Witherspoon to star. I can kind of see it, in that they're both blonde and thin, and I guess aging Reese would be easier than trying to wipe years off Heather Locklear, Mills' original choice.

But why a biopic? The Daily Mail is framing it as some sort of revenge scenario, noting that her divorce settlement deadline has passed, and that she's now going to fight ugly not only in court, but in the media. Sources say she's heading for Larry King for an interview where she "will not hold back," and she's also going to meet with writer/producer Robert von Dassanowsky about a biopic. Another source says she's been working on it for a while, and was going to forget about it when a settlement looked likely, but "the script was dusted off pretty rapidly over the weekend."

This could all be nonsense, as Mills has been the target of a myriad of fabricated stories, but if it isn't, I really hope this doesn't get made. Be scorned, be ticked, but don't go the tell-all route on film. That's just tacky. Besides, if this project is real and isn't being made out of revenge, there could be a decent story in there -- her younger struggles, the world of modeling, the car accident, marrying an ex-Beatle -- it's not like she goes to a 9-to-5 job, has a TV dinner, watches television, and goes to sleep every day.

When we commit acts of terror in the name of fighting terrorism, have we in fact become as bad as the bad guys we're supposed to be fighting? That's the question director Gavin Hood addresses in Rendition, which tackles the controversial practice of "extraordinary rendition," whereby suspected terrorists can be whisked off to other countries where "enhanced interrogation techniques" (electrocution, beating, and the ever-popular simulated drowning) are considered acceptable, so as to glean information from the suspected terrorist that might end up thwarting plots and saving countless lives.

The basic premise of Rendition: Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally) is an Egyptian citizen with a green card who's been living and working in the United States since he was 14 years old. He has a lovely American wife, Isabella (Reese Witherspoon), a cute little six-year-old kid, and a baby on the way. He coaches his son's soccer team. He's a chemical engineer with a $200K salary and a nice house in the suburbs of Chicago. He could be you or me or someone we know. And one day, on his way home from a business trip to South Africa, Anwar is taken aside by security at the airport and secreted away for questioning about his alleged involvement with a terrorist whose cell phone number has been traced making phone calls to Anwar's cell phone. How does Anwar explain this? Unfortunately for him, he can't.