An alien version of Keanu Reeves (which is different from the normal version how, exactly?) overcame a world of bad reviews in The Day the Earth Stood Still, which rocketed to the top of the weekend box office with $31 million, knocking Four Christmases out of its two-week reign. Christmases managed to stay in second, though, taking in another $13.3 million.

I have quite a list in my head of headlines I never thought I would type without irony or a punch line. Among them, "Brett Ratner Directs Masterpiece," or "George Clooney Proposes to Moviefile Blogger," but "Jerry Lewis to Get Oscar" was somewhere really close to the top of the list. But the headline, my friends, is true. At this year's Academy Awards celebration, Jerry Lewis really will take home a golden statue.

My mom always tells the story of when she was a kid and had to walk home from the theater after seeing Hitchcock's The Birds. She grew up on a small town on the shores of Lake Michigan, and she had to cross a bridge that always had seagulls on or around it in order to get to her house. My mother is a strong woman, but I think that scarred her for life, and me in turn. I know it can be said for a lot of people, but Jaws screwed me up. Even pools freaked me out as a kid. The only thing that tempered me and has allowed me to function as a normal, swimming adult has been Shark Week. Seriously, I mean, you learn about what you're afraid of and it helps calm the fear. Unfortunately, there's probably not going to be a Discovery Channel show that is going to help calm the nerves of those few folks that are bound to be freaked out by the deep in the upcoming screen adaptation of comic Atlantis Rising.

New Line is getting musical-happy. The studio, who just announced they were planning a sequel to last year's hit, Hairspray, have won a studio bidding war for the rights to the rock musical Rock of Ages, an off-Broadway show that pairs '80s rock ballads with an on-stage love story (a la Mamma Mia!) that's currently rocking out in New York.

That sound you just heard was a bunch of fingers crossing and teeth clenching coming from the general direction of Hollywood. That other sound you just heard was all of those same people saying simply, "Oh, shit." The Screen Actors Guild announced on Wednesday that it had set January 2nd as the date to send out its strike authorization ballots to its 120,000 members. The result of the vote will be announced on January 23rd, and if 75% of SAG members vote yes, then Hollywood could face its second major work stoppage in just over a year.

It's a good year to be Kate Winslet. At least, it is in the eyes of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. This morning, the nominees were announced for this year's Golden Globes, and the actress not only has a nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture (drama category) for Revolutionary Road, but a Best Supporting Actress nod for The Reader, as well. Oh, and both films are also up for the Best Picture award. Kate Winslet is the fricking 2008 Midas with a Golden Globe touch. The awards show, known best around these parts for serving booze throughout the evening (thus making for slightly more colorful acceptance speeches, from which everyone benefits, really) and also for snarling traffic at Wilshire and Santa Monica on an otherwise Free Ride Sunday Night, passed out nominations -- at least, for the most esteemed award of the night, Best Motion Picture, Drama -- to a handful of movies that 99% of the population hasn't seen yet. Almost all of the films open in the theaters in the future, with the exception of two (Frost/Nixon and Slumdog Millionaire) that opened only recently and to very limited release. Rejoice, movie-lovers! At least it'll give you something to look forward to. A list of those noms, after the jump.