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Scarlett Johansson went home from Hugh Jackman's concert shirtless. Er, not that way.

Maybe Scarlett Johansson was in need of a last-minute holiday gift. But if someone on her list was longing for a sweat-drenched Hugh Jackman sweatshirt, they're going to be disappointed.

According to a much-too-short and hilarious item in the New York Post, Johansson attended "Hugh Jackman Back on Broadway” Tuesday night. In the concert series, which runs through Jan. 1 at the Broadhurst Theatre in New York, Jackman is joined by an 18-piece orchestra as he sings and tells stories.

According to the article, Johansson and Uma Thurman were both there Tuesday, and at the end of the show, Jackman auctioned off his sweaty undershirt for charity. ScarJo ran onto the stage, the Post reports, and bid $3000, but lost out.

The shirt was finally sold for a mind-boggling $30,000, and we feel the Post really fell down on its journalistic duties by not reporting who bought it and what their plans are for the grimy treasure.

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LA County Sheriff's Dept

Nick Nolte's infamous 2002 photo.

It might be the most infamous celebrity mug shot ever. But was it really a mug shot? Nick Nolte says no, the California Highway Patrol says yes.

After the actor was arrested in Los Angeles in 2002 for driving under the influence, perhaps the best (if best means "horrifying") celebrity mug shot of all time was released. It shows Nolte in a loud Hawaiian shirt, looking battered and worn-out, with hair that seems to have gone unwashed since he walked off the set of "North Dallas Forty" in 1979.

But in an article in the January issue of GQ, Nolte claims the much-gasped-at photo wasn't actually his mug shot.

The actor says the photo in question was a Polaroid taken by a young officer at the police station and that he allowed the photo to be taken hoping the cop and his friends could make money by selling it. Seems a generous, if oddly self-punishing, thing for the actor to do. Nolte told GQ that his actual mug shot had never been released.

But after GQ published the article, the California Highway Patrol disputed Nolte's claim. GQ has added a footnote to their online article noting that a CHP spokesman told ABC News that Nolte was wrong. The crazy-haired photo is and always has been his real mug shot, Officier Leland Tang said.

GQ went back to Nolte, but really, is a guy who passed out while driving and veered into the other lane likely to recreate the events of that night with fastidious accuracy? Nolte's spokesperson told the magazine that the actor stands by his version.

It's unclear, at least to us, why Nolte feels he needs to put forth a different version, but he doesn't seem ashamed of the photo. It's used in the opening sequence of NickNolte.com, which begins with a black-and-white mug shot of Nolte's 1961 arrest for selling fake draft cards and then melts into the infamous photo.

In the GQ article, Nolte also details the day of his arrest, saying he drank a large amount of cranberry juice spiked with GHB (known as Liquid Ecstasy) and tried to go to an AA meeting, but didn't go in because he was too intoxicated. While driving home, he fell asleep at the wheel and crossed into the oncoming lane, where he was spotted and arrested.

Nolte also told GQ he won't give up GHB but will take it while "medically supervised," and that he thinks it's an "excellent painkiller."

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Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn) plots an elaborate scheme to try and understand his father's 9/11 death in "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close."

REVIEW

Emotional fluency and literary pretense go hand in hand in "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," an affecting, well-acted tale of 9/11 trauma and a boy's effort to piece things together after his father's death. A self-conscious prestige project with weighty thematic elements, a tony literary pedigree and top-tier actors, director Stephen Daldry's fourth film is dominated by the performance of a 13-year-old with no previous acting experience, Thomas Horn, who enables his character's pinball intellect and inchoate emotions to pulse through every scene. While the subject matter will keep some prospective viewers away, many who do come will be emotionally wrenched by the treatment of loss and the interplay between parents and child, indicating good commercial prospects in most markets.

PHOTOS: Warner Bros.' Fall 2011 Movies

“The worst day” is how young Oskar Schell (Horn) understandably refers to 9/11, the day his jeweler father perished in one of the twin towers while there for a meeting. As seen in multiple flashbacks, Oskar and his father Thomas (Tom Hanks) shared an unusually close relationship, with the dad concocting all manner of intellectually challenging games and propositions his son happily took up. His mother (Sandra Bullock) played no part in this and their distance from one another has not diminished in the year since his death, the vivid memory of which is preserved by a series of six progressively agitated phone messages from Thomas on the fateful morning that his son continues to play.

On the basis of his first two novels, "Everything Is Illuminated" and this one, which was published in 2005, Jonathan Safran Foer is a word wizard partial to bulgingly significant material and highly contrived narrative constructs of a sort that would never occur to a writer plotting an original screenplay. In this case, said invention is an odyssey on foot Oskar embarks upon throughout all the boroughs of New York to track down every individual with the last name “Black” (472 of them in all), for the reason that he found a key among his father's possessions with that name attached to it. He is convinced that, if he can find the matching lock, he will find or learn something of great significance about his father.

PHOTOS: 10 Biggest Book-to-Big Screen Adaptations of the Last 25 Years

This trek is something one can more readily accept on the page than onscreen, especially as in a book you don't actually have to listen to Oskar carrying a tambourine everywhere he goes or see him wearing an Israeli gas mask in the subway. Fortunately, at a certain point he begins to be accompanied by a mysterious old man who has recently moved into a room across the way at the apartment of his grandmother (Zoe Caldwell). The man, known only as The Renter (Max von Sydow), doesn't speak, and instead writes down anything he has to communicate on slips of paper. Oskar does manage to learn that the rangy old fellow was born in Germany and that his parents died in the bombing of Dresden, but the man won't address the reason for his silence. Oskar reasonably suspects The Renter is his grandfather but proof is not forthcoming.

The pair's road trip to the nooks, crannies and far-flung outposts of New York City represents the film's highlight. From Queens to Staten Island and everywhere in between, parts of the city are seen that represent the astounding range and variety of its inhabitants. None of them, of course, knows anything about the key, but the odd relationship between the two temporary companions is a delight, as Oskar rattles on about this and that and The Renter reacts with everything from bemusement to angry annoyance. Best of all, von Sydow is absolutely wonderful, with the great veteran actor clearly relishing this very unusual role as he darts, skulks and, in a stealthy way, mugs across town. Without saying a thing, he dominates the middle part of the movie.

The other adult actor who's terrific here is Jeffrey Wright, as the figure who unsuspectingly awaits Oskar toward the end of his journey. Portraying a man harboring his own pain and disappointments, Wright has one long scene of incredible emotional delicacy and transparency in which he once again proves his position among the very top American actors.

Screenwriter Eric Roth and Daldry shuffle the chronological and emotional deck, slipping in past moments between father and son as well as incremental revelations of what Thomas experienced the morning of 9/11, all the while building to flashback revelations by the mother that, again, are harder to believe when depicted on film than when merely described in a book. More important, however, is the the crescendo of feeling the filmmakers have deftly engineered, a wave of such cumulative weight that, when it breaks, it will wipe a lot of viewers out. Whatever reservations one might have about various elements of the story, it's clear that such an effective climax can only have been achieved through the very skillful balancing and timing of elements by the writer, director and editor.

Through it all, the dominating presence is Horn as Oskar. A non-professional discovered when he won "Kids Jeopardy" on television (he has also been a repeated finalist in the National Geographic Geography Bee), Horn has torrents of complicated, verbose, highly charged dialogue to reel off, is paired with a host of extremely accomplished actors, is in virtually every scene and must be entirely convincing as a bright, driven, emotionally convulsed kid who is likely on the outer edges of the spectrum of either austism or Asperger's Syndrome. For all these reasons, it is entirely possible that some will find him annoyingly precocious. Given his real-life accomplishments, it's likely Horn is just as articulate and intellectually advanced as Oskar is supposed to be and is therefore a perfect fit for the role. Whatever the case, it's an exceptional natural performance, entirely convincing and exhilarating to experience.

The elimination of the Schell family's Jewish background, reportedly a result of casting decisions, feels unnatural, given their history and the context. Some repeated images of the father's likely fate on 9/11 are also jarring.

Top-billed but filling what are actually supporting roles, Hanks gives the father an eccentric side that aptly complements his son's personality, while Bullock necessarily cuts an opaque figure as the disconnected mother until very close to the end. Viola Davis is very good in her brief role as one of the “Blacks” Oskar encounters on his rounds.

Production-wise, the film is immaculate, from Chris Menges' lustrous cinematography and K.K. Barrett's spot-on production design to Alexandre Desplat's multi-flavored score.

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Sauli Koskinen, left, and Adam Lambert in New York last month.

"American Idol" runner-up Adam Lambert was released from a Finnish jail Thursday, having spent several hours there for brawling with his boyfriend outside a Helsinki bar, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The police investigator handling the incident, Petri Juvonen, told THR that Lambert was arrested with his Finnish boyfriend (and fellow reality show contestant) Sauli Koskinen in the wee hours of Dec. 22 outside the gay club DTM ("Don't Tell Mama"). They were held for questioning in four possible assault offenses.

Media reports say the two men began arguing inside the club. Koskinen (who won the Finnish version of "Big Brother") and Lambert were kicked out, but continued the fight in the street. A former Miss Helsinki, Sofia Ruusila, who had been out partying with them, tried to break up the incident but told a Finnish entertainment channel that she got hit by Lambert -- by mistake -- in the process.

Internet rumors had been speculating that Lambert would actually be in the United States to perform on Thursday's "The X Factor" finale, but there's no chance of that now, and a show spokesperson has denied the booking.

Investigator Juvonen told THR that he released the two men on Thursday afternoon, having completed his interrogation.

Koskinen has since blogged about the incident, saying: "Celebrities are people too and fame is not easy. Love is not always easy either, but it's forever." (Translated from the Finnish by Google.)

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Tina Fey, left, and Julianne Moore in character as former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Who's the best Sarah Palin impersonator?

Well, until recently, Tina Fey -- of course! The "30 Rock" star practically wrote the book on the former Alaska governor, who lost her bid for the vice-presidency in 2008, running alongside John McCain.

Fey's impersonation alongside "Parks and Recreation" star Amy Poehler (as Hillary Clinton) on "SNL" went huge as a viral video, and Fey even earned the Associated Press Entertainer of the Year award for the portrayal.

But ... Fey may have some serious competition. HBO has recently released a clip of its upcoming "Game Change" film, which looks at McCain's presidential campaign -- and, of course, his pairing with the surprisingly telegenic Palin. But rather than hire Fey, the filmmakers went with ... four-time Oscar nominee Julianne Moore. And really, the appearance is truly striking.

So we ask you: Who is the better Sarah Palin?

Have a comment? Share with us on our Facebook page!

MGM via Everett Collection

There aren't that many holidays that get a ton of their own movies. You're not going to see an "Arbor Day" comedy, and outside of the creepy "Leprechaun" horror series, there aren't a lot of St. Patrick's Day films either.

But Christmas movies are as abundant as snowflakes at the North Pole. From the old classics ("It's a Wonderful Life") to the gut-busters ("National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation") to the delightful surprises ("The Nightmare Before Christmas"), there's truly something for everyone.

We've got a slideshow of great Christmas movies, and here are a few of our staff favorites. You're encouraged to share your favorite in the comments, and by voting in our poll.

'A Christmas Story'
The classic. The great Jean Shepherd not only wrote the story, he offers the narration as adult Ralphie. It's so quotable, so memorable, so much a part of our culture. "I want an official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle!" " You'll shoot your eye out, kid!" "Only I didn't say 'Fudge.'" "It's a major award!" "A crummy commercial?" "Fra-gee-lay. That must be Italian." The tongue stuck to the pole, the leg lamp -- the movie is about none of that as much as it's about family. I'll take a 24-hour marathon of the Parker clan over any time spent with the Kardashians any day.    -- Gael Fashingbauer Cooper

'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation'
"Christmas Vacation" is often overlooked due to all the attention given the original "Vacation," but it's just as much of a classic. Clark Griswold is every person who's ever longed to recreate a wonderful family Christmas with all the perfect trimmings, even if that dream was forever out of reach and it never really happened that way in the past, either. And the lines rival "Christmas Story" for humor. Some of my favorites involve doofus cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid). When he asks Clark if he's surprised to see him, Clark's classic response is: "Oh, Eddie... If I woke up tomorrow with my head sewn to the carpet, I wouldn't be more surprised than I am now."    --G.F.C.

'Die Hard'
This one's for the less-traditional holiday movie watcher in all of us. But 1988's introduction of John McClane (Bruce Willis) and his oft-quoted catch phrase that begins "Yippie-ki-yay" is sure to warm the cockles of your heart. It kicks off at a holiday party, introducing the gloriously Scroogey Alan Rickman in one of his earliest American roles as the greedy Hans Gruber. Then there's the careful slaying of Gruber's gun-toting elves by McClane (who adds a little "ho ho ho" to a sign he tapes to a robber's body that also reads "Now I have a gun"), and the most creative use of holiday packing tape in all of cinema (who knew it could strap a piece to a sweaty, oily cop's bare back?) Ultimately, this is a film about family, about a guy who flies all the way across the country to be with his wife and children, and discovers he's going to have to jump off the top of a building with just a fire hose strapped to his waist to be able to hold them in his arms again. There's even snow, of a sort, in the form of negotiable bearer bonds twinkling in the night sky. Spike your egg nog and punch a reporter in the face: It's showtime!  -- Randee Dawn

What's your favorite Christmas movie? Tell us in the comments, and vote in our poll.

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Warner Bros.

Showing Tolkien fans "The Hobbit" trailer is like dangling a choice Christmas present in front of their eyes for two minutes and thirty seconds and then snatching it away for another year.

We're going back to Middle Earth, and it's gorgeous once again. Fans are already raving about the trailer's sneak peek back into the magical world, even though the movie won't hit theaters until Dec. 14, 2012.

It may be blasphemy, but as a reader, I preferred "The Hobbit" to "Lord of the Rings." Maybe it was because I read it as a kid and it seems to be the simpler, lighter, more kid-friendly read. But that's not meant to dismiss it -- it's every bit as compelling a tale and as fascinating a world, and the movie looks to satisfy and delight fans just like the "LOTR" trilogy did.

What do you think of the trailer? Tell us in the comments.

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Historians are usually able to look back and pinpoint the factors that caused the greatest of nations to fall into decline. If it ever comes time to dissect what happened to the United States, they will likely boil it down to one word: WINNING.

Yes, folks — when a Charlie Sheen manic outburst becomes an inspirational motto for a nation, it's the beginning of the end. Sadly, historians will likely have other moments to illustrate our cultural collapse, including Kim Kardashian's blink-and-you-missed-it marriage, which generated more money than some cities' annual budgets, and the fact that some people took Donald Trump's possible presidential candidacy seriously.

No wonder the Occupy Wall Street protest avoided the 1 percent's crazy sibling — Hollywood.

KEEPING IT KLASSY: Some things are meant to last one season: bright pink flip-flops, a relationship with George Clooney, the McRib at McDonald's. But not marriage. And while celebrity marriages can flame out quickly, the implosion of Kim Kardashian's 72-day union with Kris Humphries was all the more spectacular because of the hype that preceded it: the 20.5-carat diamond engagement ring, the engagement party, the three wedding-day gowns, the two-part TV special — even Kate Middleton would have said, "Enough already!" It was more distasteful because it was filmed for her reality show, garnering her more cash than gifts. By the end of the year, the backlash was so strong, she headed to Haiti for charity work, looking to improve her bruised image. Or, perhaps, to find hubby No. 3.

IF THIS IS WINNING, LOSING MUST REALLY SUCK: Celebrities have meltdowns in public all the time, yet we hadn't had a really epic breakdown since Britney Spears shaved her head bald. Maybe that's what made Charlie Sheen's collapse so transfixing. He gave us everything we expected in a train wreck — and more: Custody battles! Jittery interviews! Goddesses! And of course, "WINNING!" Watching his daily dose of acting crazy was more entertaining — and addictive — than any episode of "Two and a Half Men." But we overdosed when Sheen went on his stand-up tour, which basically gave him a pass to go on rambling diatribes on foolish people's dimes. Sadly, even as pathetic as it was, it still had more live vocals than a Britney tour.

TODAY'S WORD OF THE DAY IS "EWWWWWWW": We didn't realize Justin Bieber had reached puberty, so it came as a shock when Mariah Yeater claimed he was the baby daddy to her months-old son following an alleged romp after one of his concerts — when she was 19, and he was just 16. A paternity suit was filed, DNA tests were bandied about, all while Maury Povich salivated from the sidelines. But, alas, we never got a chance to see Bieber do the customary pimp-walk strut to the phrase "You are NOT the father!" Yeater withdrew her paternity claim as her story started to collapse and Bieber took a paternity test. We would have preferred that Biebs prove his manhood with a passable mustache.

THE DONALD WOULD RATHER BE EMPEROR: Donald Trump got the media buzzing when he announced his intention to run for president — maybe. To burnish his credentials as a conservative Republican, he seized on the so-called "birther" bandwagon by stoking doubt about President Barack Obama's U.S. citizenship. In the end, Obama released his Hawaiian "long form" birth certificate proving he is indeed a "natural-born citizen," as the Constitution requires. And, unfortunately, so is Trump.

WHY CELEBS SHOULD FLY IN PRIVATE JETS: Because they cannot behave themselves on commercial flights. Alec Baldwin was kicked off a flight for refusing to stop playing a cellphone game while the plane was parked at the gate. Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong was denied a seat because of his sagging pants, and Gerard Depardieu urinated on a plane ahead of takeoff, apparently unable and/or unwilling to hold his bladder until he got the OK to move about the cabin. Next time you see a celebrity on your plane, instead of asking for an autograph, ask for a seat far, far away.

PROOF THERE ARE NO SURPRISES IN LIFE: Kat Von D broke up with Jesse James, saying she was shocked — yes shocked! — that James, who was unfaithful to Sandra Bullock during her Oscar campaign, had also allegedly cheated on her — with 19 women.

TONE DEAF: At just 13, Rebecca Black became a sensation — and laughingstock — of the Internet, thanks to her hard-on-the-ears tune, "Friday," which her parents paid producers to make, along with the now infamous video on YouTube. Seemingly oblivious to the wonders of Auto-Tune, Black's nasally warbling became embedded in the brain like a bad virus. And yet she sounded better than any LMFAO tune.

LOOK, IT'S CHRIS BROWN — DUCK!: Chris Brown's star, seemingly forever tarnished after beating then-girlfriend Rihanna, was on the rise when he decided to go on "Good Morning America" to perform and talk to host Robin Roberts. But Roberts' decision to ask about the Rihanna incident got under Brown's skin. After the interview, he trashed his dressing room, even breaking a window. Yet people continued to buy copies of his comeback album. Apparently, fear is the best motivator.

WAS THIS SUPPOSED TO BE THE SEQUEL TO THE FILM "TWINS"? When Maria Shriver announced that she was divorcing Arnold Schwarzenegger after 25 years of marriage and a stint in the California governor's mansion, we thought it was because she'd finally seen those tiny Speedo pictures. But then we learned that not only did he cheat on her with the family housekeeper, but he and the housekeeper had a son together around the time Maria gave birth to their child, also a boy. Guess it wasn't the wisest decision to let Schwarzenegger be in charge of giving out the employee bonuses.

What do you think about the wacky/tacky year just past? Let us know in the comments.

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Msnbc.com readers who posted comments on our site Monday mostly enjoyed the "Saturday Night Live" skit in which Jesus visits Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos.

Evangelist Pat Robertson was not laughing.

"There's an anti-Christian bigotry that is just disgusting," said Robertson on CBN, the Christian Broadcasting Network. “If this had been a Muslim country and they had done that, and had Muhammad doing that stuff, you would have found bombs being thrown off ... and bodies in the street. And we think it's OK."

Robertson went on to praise Tebow for his public display of faith. "This man has been placed in a unique position and I applaud him, God bless him."

It's unclear if Robertson saw or just heard about the skit, in which Jesus (Jason Sudeikis) delivers the line "Tim's doing his best, Dad bless 'em." We're going to guess no.

You can watch the video, which was posted by Mediaite.

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Was it an especially rebellious year in Hollywood? The Hollywood Reporter thinks so. The magazine this week puts the spotlight on some of the key players in the industry, the actors who took risks, saved shows and made the biggest splash in pop culture.

"We were really trying to celebrate and honor those people who bucked convention this year, go against the grain and take a risk," Leslie Bruce,  Hollywood Reporter senior writer said on Wednesday's TODAY.

So who made the cut? George Clooney's work in the last year as actor, director and producer of various projects got him attention; the movie "The Help," also made the list; so did Zooey Deschanel for her "breakout" role in "New Girl." 

Who should have made the list, and who should have been left off? Watch the segment, then take it on over to Facebook and share your thoughts.

Paramount Pictures

Captain Haddock, Tintin and Snowy are determined to solve a mystery sparked by a clue in a model ship. It's about as exciting as that sounds.

REVIEW

Many European traditions are making their way to our shores. Soccer keeps trying to kick its way onto our list of accepted sports, and Simon Cowell's brought "The X Factor" to U.S. TV.

But it may take a while longer for a redheaded boy journalist-detective named Tintin to capture American hearts.

"The Adventures of Tintin" began as a comic strip drawn by Brussels-born author Georges Remi, known as Herge, in 1929. With faithful fluffball dog Snowy at his side, Tintin and pals, especially boozy Captain Haddock, travel the world solving mysteries. The character is so popular in Belgium that several museums and cafes are reportedly devoted to him.

Perhaps the charm was lost in the translation. Tintin's honest and loyal and Snowy's cute as can be, but they're just not very interesting. Watching the new "Adventures of Tintin" film is a little like reading one of the duller "Hardy Boys" books -- no one really feels endangered, there's nothing much at stake, and Snowy is the only character you really want to spend time with.

There are elements here that could make this a good kid flick, but too much exposition and a winding backstory about a pirate curse didn't keep the kids at my theater engaged. It's also in 3-D, which didn't seem necessary and doesn't draw you further into Tintin's world.

Some have criticized the look of the characters. They're animated, but motion capture is used so they look almost real. Carrot-topped Tintin looks like Prince Harry was thrown in a blender with a special ToonTown setting. The look is fine for what it is, hearkening back to the character's comic-strip roots, but can't make up for the film's other flaws.

Steven Spielberg directs, and that creates some hope that Tintin is to be a junior version of Indiana Jones. But Indy had spark, attitude, and more drama than placing three scrolls together to find lost treasure from a sunken ship. In "Tintin," there's a lot of emphasis on the journey -- the main trio are seen rowing, flying planes, and staggering through the desert -- but not a lot of the adventures promised in the title.

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Merrick Morton / AP

Rooney Mara plays the titular "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" who helps a journalist (Daniel Craig) solve a very cold case.

REVIEW

In the end, there's not much extra even David Fincher can bring to "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." This fastidious, technically stellar Hollywood telling of one of the great literary sensations of recent times is highlighted by a bewitching performance from Rooney Mara as the punked-out computer research whiz Lisbeth Salander and remains an absorbing story, as it was on the page and in the 2009 Swedish screen version.

But for all the skill brought to bear on it, the film offers no surprises in the way it's told (aside from a neatly altered ending) and little new juice to what, for some, will be the third go-round with this investigation of the many skeletons in the closet of a powerful Swedish corporate family. Dedicated Fincher fans are likely to find this redo rather more conventional and less disturbing than "Seven," "Fight Club" and "Zodiac," all of which end far less reassuringly. Box office returns for this dark Christmas offering will certainly be big, although it will be interesting to gauge if "Tattoo" is still as major a part of the zeitgeist as it was a year or two ago.

PHOTOS: 10 Biggest Book-to-Big Screen Adaptations of the Last 25 Years

Although Niels Arden Oplev's Swedish adaptation, which ran 152 minutes (180 in an extended version), was perfectly solid, if not particularly stylish, and boasted a fine cast, there was cause to suspect that one of the best American directors now working would bring something extra to this exactingly lurid tale of a disgraced journalist and his kinky accomplice who chart the untold depths of depravity, old Nazi sympathies and serial murder in the vaunted Vanger clan.

From the outset, it's unmistakably a Fincher film; the superlatively sharp visuals, the immaculate design, the innate knack for melding sound and music, the chill and menace evoked from both modern cities and open spaces, the beautiful people marked by deep scars and flaws -- all feel part of his habitual landscape.

The director and his crafty scenarist Steven Zaillian skate through the exposition so fast that, if one weren't already familiar with it, it might be difficult to absorb it all. Very quickly, we learn (or are reminded) that seasoned journo Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) has his reputation and bank account wiped out by losing a libel case brought by scammy big bucks investor Wennerstrom; that Mikael has a long-term casual thing going with Erika (Robin Wright), his editor at the now-imperiled maverick journal Millennium and that, with the inducement of a hefty payday and a promise of helping him nail Wennerstrom down the road, he accepts a job from the Vanger family patriarch, Henrik (Christopher Plummer), to privately investigate the disappearance, and presumed murder, of his beloved 16-year-old niece Harriet way back in 1966.

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With the feeble cover of writing a biography of the courtly Henrik, Mikael hunkers down in a chilly cottage on Henrik's vast estate in the north of Sweden just after Christmas, surrounded by piles of documents and a quickly filling wall of Post-Its, notes and photos. He also meets assorted family members, most of them suspicious of Mikael and some of them not on speaking terms with one another. The most affable of them seems to be Martin (Stellan Skarsgard), the missing Harriet's brother, who now runs the vast company, which “built modern Sweden” with its industrial initiatives but is now in a downward slide.

Back in Stockholm, Vanger attorney Dirch Frode (Steven Berkoff, now resembling a cross between Anthony Hopkins and Otto Preminger) has used wild girl rogue researcher Lisbeth to check out Mikael, whose computer skills are as impressive as her manners are atrocious. Festooned with multiple piercings, tattoos, a haircut that might pass muster in Borneo and an anti-social attitude that could clear a wide path for her through any crowd, the slightly built Lisbeth remains a ward of the state whose new piggish guardian coerces her into sexual favors, then rough rape, in exchange for the money she's due. Her astonishing revenge, clearly depicted here but not lingered over, is already one for the annals.

The film pushes through all these preliminaries, not with haste, exactly, but in such a compressed way that there is little sense of lullingly enveloping the viewer into the narrative web; it just rushes you into it, like the fast train that shuttles the characters between Stockholm and snowy Hedestad. Lisbeth doesn't arrive there until after the halfway point, 85 minutes in, enlisted by Mikael to make sense of some Biblical references and the unsolved murders of several women many years earlier while he continues to piece together the mystery of Harriet's disappearance.

VIDEO: 'Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' Extended Trailer

As readers will know, things get very hairy in the basement of one of the Vanger homes, although Fincher stops short of making this as horrific as it might have been. On the other hand, there is the fresh pleasure of a key interlude from the book that the Swedish film omitted, that of Lisbeth's eventful trip to Switzerland in disguise, and the new resolution of the Harriet story is clever and plausible enough.

Often unkempt and largely stripped of the political core with which Larsson equipped him, Mikael is a fractionally less interesting character here than in the previous film, and Craig, while entirely watchable, doesn't reveal much that's going on inside him beyond what's already called for on the surface. His mild Swedish inflections in early scenes soon give way to a straight English accent, even as the speech of others remains consistent in a mid-North Sea sort of way. Craig and Wright play well together, sparking the wish they shared more scenes.

So it's Mara's movie for the taking, and she snatches it up in dramatic fashion. Unforgettable in the opening scene of "The Social Network" last year, she remained untested in a demanding role, but Fincher's belief in her is borne out in a dominating performance of submerged rage, confidence and defiance. Baring all in the several sex scenes, both coerced and consensual, she goes all the way in a performance that compares favorably to that of Noomi Rapace in the Swedish version and its two sequels. She comes across here as the real deal.

STORY: "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" Producer Bans New Yorker Critic From Future Screenings for Breaking Review Embargo

In the astutely selected cast of largely British and Scandinavian actors, Skarsgard crucially gives Martin a sociable surface, Plummer exudes the required charm as the cultivated gent in charge, Yorick van Wageningen has just the right piggish bulk for the loathsome rapist, Joely Richardson shines as a daughter long estranged from her unsavory relatives and Berkoff handles legal and expository details with aplomb. It almost goes without saying that all the craft contributions, visual and aural, are exemplary.

There was never any question that Fincher was the perfect director for this job; the material is right down the middle of the plate for him. But in his best and most unnerving films, there's the sense of him pushing deeper, darker and beyond where most filmmakers go, into the unknown, areas you enter at your own risk. As the only intrigue and unanswered questions here involve Lisbeth herself, Dragon Tattoo is too neatly wrapped up, too fastidious to get under your skin and stay there.

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Evan Agostini / AP file

Sean Penn was in no mood to talk politics with his former "Colors" co-star Maria Conchita Alonso.

Don't get between Sean Penn and his politics. The actor got into an intense verbal altercation at Los Angeles International airport Sunday with actress (and former co-star) Maria Conchita Alonso after she confronted him about his support for Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.  

In a radio interview with WMAL in Washington, recounted by Gossip Cop, Alonso, who last year condemned Penn and his support for Chavez in an open letter, said when she approached the actor in the airport, he told her, "I don’t wanna talk to you. You speak badly about me."

The actress responded, "I just say the truth ... That you are a friend of Chavez and that he’s a good man. And that’s a lie ... How can you do that?"

Alonso said she then accused Penn of supporting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which he denied before calling her, "a pig," to which she retorted, "And you are a Communist, Sean Penn."

The actress, who played Penn's lover in the 1988 film "Colors," admitted to calling Penn a "Communist a--hole" in front of a large crowd at LAX. Alonso says she regrets the a--hole part, but not calling him a Communist.

Listen to Alonso on WMAL:

Fox

Hugh Jackman stars in 2009's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," which was pirated before its release.

A New York man has been sentenced to a year in federal prison for illegally uploading and distributing a copy of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" before the movie's premiere.

Forty-nine-year-old Gilberto Sanchez was sentenced Monday in Los Angeles federal court. The judge also imposed a year of supervised release and numerous computer restrictions.

Sanchez pleaded guilty in March to one count of uploading a copyrighted work being prepared for commercial distribution. Prosecutors say he admitted uploading a "workprint" copy of the 2009 film about one month before it was released in theaters, then publicizing the upload on two websites.

Prosecutors said in court documents that the film proliferated like wildfire throughout the Internet, resulting in up to millions of infringements.

Sanchez has a prior conviction for a similar offense.

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Jason Merritt / Getty Images file

Actor Gerard Butler, pictured in September in Toronto, got a serious scare surfing off the Northern Califronia coast on Sunday.

Gerard Butler, who's been sporting a leaner, more golden-locked look for his upcoming role as a big-wave surfer in "Of Men and Mavericks," got a taste of what it's really like to tempt the waves at Northern California's legendary Mavericks surf spot.

On Sunday, Butler was filming a scene that required him to paddle out with fellow "real" surfers Greg Long, Zach Wormhoudt and Peter Mel when the group encountered a series of bigger-than-expected waves on the inside of the break.

"They were steering clear of a set of waves in the 15-foot range when a much larger set loomed and broke in front of the four of them," Wormhoudt told local media. The set broke on top of the group and Butler was held underwater then washed through to nearby rocks, all while tethered to his surfboard, reportedly a big-wave gun about 10 feet long. 

After the actor surfaced, he was scooped out of the surf by a rider on a Jet Ski and ultimately taken to the hospital, where he was later released.

Butler was not an experienced surfer before taking on this role, which required him to confront one of the most dangerous wave breaks in the world. To give some perspective of the danger that looms at Mavericks, one of the most accomplished big-wave surfers in history, Mark Foo, died there in 1994.

Wormhoudt said that Butler had been working hard to improve his surfing skills, and the group took a "conservative line" while paddling out Sunday. They talked about what to do if they got mowed down by big waves. 

"Everything he was doing was within reason," Wormhoudt said. "We took like four to five pretty big waves on the head. Basically there's nothing you can do."

Mitt Romney had a few things he wanted to share with potential voters, and like all good politicians, he took to the late night circuit to do so. Monday night on "Late Show with David Letterman," the Republican presidential candidate deliverered his list of the "Top 10 Things Mitt Romney Would Like to Say to the American People."

Among them:

• "Isn't it time for a president who looks like a 1970s game show host?" (Letterman's reply: "Yes. Yes it is.")
• "What's up, gangstas -- it's the M-I-Double-Tizzle" (Letterman: "No, it's not.")
• "Live from New York, it's Saturday night!!!"
• "I just used all my campaign money to buy a zoo with Matt Damon."

Check out the rest in the clip.

Tell us what you think in the comments.

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Warner Bros.

The long-awaited trailer for "The Dark Knight Rises" is out, and it reveals that football is a more dangerous game than we ever thought.

In the trailer's best scene, villain Bane (Tom Hardy) booby-traps a football stadium (reportedly Heinz Field in Pittsburgh), and as a receiver races to the end zone to score, the entire gridiron slowly blows up behind him, with the defenders chasing him just falling into nothingness. Apparently the end zone itself is sacred ground, because the player scores safely, turns around, and sees just a gigantic hole where the field once was. Talk about running for daylight.

It also turns out that gazillionaire Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) is among the one percent (as if prefacing his name with "gazillionaire" didn't clue us in).

In a dance scene, Selina "Catwoman" Kyle (Anne Hathaway), teases Wayne with these words: "You think this can last. There's a storm coming, Mr. Wayne, and when it hits, you all are going to wonder how you ever thought you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us." Sound a little Occupy Wall Street to anyone else?

Other scenes feature Bane rasping in an utterly creepy but very difficult to understand voice, loyal Alfred expressing his love for Bruce, some hints at trouble for Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) and an overwhelming sense that this film is going to break some major movie attendance records come summer.

Bane is one terrifying villain. Heath Ledger's Joker's insane mind games were hard to surpass, but here we have a villain (known as "The Man Who Broke the Bat" for his spinal-cord smashing antics) who is sheer physical power with his own blend of complete insanity. For those who thought Batman movie villains would head downhill after Ledger's death, think again. Seven months to go.

Tell us what you think in the comments.

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Kim Jong Il, in marionette form, had a major role in 2004's "Team America: World Police."

Admit it: If you're a moviegoer, one of the indelible images you have of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, who died recently at age 69, is not really of him, but of his puppet version in 2004's "Team America: World Police." In the wake of the death, the film became a trending topic on Twitter.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone of "South Park" made "Team America," and Parker voiced Kim Jong Il. He's portrayed as a lonely insane dictator who leads a world terrorist plot and is later revealed to be an alien cockroach. Some would say not far off from reality.

The character has numerous great scenes, including one where his deadly black panthers (black house cats) are set loose on two of the film's puppet heroes. (They eventually change course and devour actors Sean Penn and Danny Glover.) Warning: Clip includes gruesome, if fake, puppet innards.

But the most memorable moment is probably when Kim Jong Il sings "I'm So Ronery," in which the lyrics mock his "R" for "L" accent. He sings the sad tune while wandering through his elaborate palace. At one point, he pauses by his tank of man-eating sharks, who swim past the briefcase-clutching skeleton of U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix.

"I work rearry hard and make up great prans, but nobody ristens, no one understands, seems like no one takes me serirousry, and so I'm ronery," he sings. (Warning: Clip begins with one line of adult language.)

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Jesus visited Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos locker room on "SNL."

Turns out God is on Tim Tebow's side after all. At least, according to "Saturday Night Live."

In a sketch on Saturday's show, Jesus (Jason Sudeikis) shows up in the locker room of the Denver Broncos to take credit for their six-game win streak (snapped by the New England Patriots a day after the episode aired).

Quarterback Tebow (Taran Killam) is thrilled that God's son is paying him a visit, so much so that Jesus has to keep warning the famously religious player to keep his distance, using the language of 1950s Catholic school nuns chaperoning a school dance. "Leave some room for the Holy Ghost," he scolds a too-close Tebow.

Jesus 'fesses up to saving the Broncos game after game, saying he only assists in the fourth quarter. He suggests that Tebow cut back on the pre-game praying and Bible reading and increase his stretching and playbook study. "I could throw better, and I'm 2010 years old," he chides the QB. But he isn't all negative about Tebow: "Tim's doing his best, Dad bless 'em," he says.

Jesus then finds out the Patriots are the Broncos' next opponent, and all but backs off on helping them with that game. "If I'm the Son of God, Tom Brady's gotta be the guy's nephew," he says, later comparing New England coach Bill Belichick to the devil.

Oh, and on his way out, Jesus has one more revelation. Let's just say the Osmonds are right.

Watch the sketch below.

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Jeremy Irvine plays young Albert, the first person of many to love Joey, the "War Horse."

The Hollywood studios are rolling out plenty of big movies this week, knowing many moviegoers will have a few days off for the holidays.

Movies:

Steven Spielberg has been busy -- he has two films in this roundup. The first, "War Horse," is based on a children's book, in which Joey the horse must leave the boy who loves him so to do his duty for England (and a few other countries) in World War I. It's Spielberg through and through, with breathtaking scenery, crashing war scenes, and a horse and characters you come to love. And it opens on Christmas, optimized for family viewing. (Opens Dec. 25.)

One of the year's most-anticipated films is the American version of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," starring Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist and Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander. Some fans of Stieg Larsson's novels were angry at first that an English-language film was being made of the book, since the trilogy has already been made into well-reviewed Swedish movies. But that buzz has quieted down a bit, and now moviegoers just seem interested in seeing how this one has come together. (Opens Dec. 21.)

No, not Rin Tin Tin. Tintin. The character is well-known in Europe, but many Americans have never heard of him. They will now. With Steven Spielberg directing and Peter Jackson producing, "The Adventures of Tintin" can't help but be huge. In the film, young goofy-haired journalist Tintin and his dog Snowy find themselves caught up in a mystery. The 3-D film was made with performance capture, giving the characters that eerie not-quite-human, not-quite-animated look. (Opens Dec. 21.)

You may have to seek out an arthouse theater to see it, but spy drama "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" looks to be worth it. Gary Oldman plays author John LeCarre's famed spy, George Smiley, who's pulled back into service to help hunt down a Soviet spy. The cast is an Anglophile's dream, as it includes Colin Firth, Tom Hardy and Toby Jones, among others. (Opens wide Dec. 23.)

People have different ideas about what to spend big on, but few families would think as Benjamin Mee did. Mee and his family bought a dilapidated English zoo, and the book he wrote about it is now a film, "We Bought a Zoo." Matt Damon plays Mee, and Scarlett Johansson and Thomas Haden Church also star. (Opens Dec. 23.)

TV:
When Simon Cowell left "American Idol" for his new show, "X Factor," some didn't know what to think. Would "Idol" go under without Cowell's bitter tongue, and would "X Factor" replace it in viewers' hearts? "Idol" appears to have outlived Cowell's departure, but his new show has its loyal fans as well. The "X Factor" finale airs this week, and Mariah Carey reportedly is scheduled to perform a new song on the episode. Remember, the prize here is huge: A $5 million recording contract. (Dec. 21 and 22, 8 p.m., Fox)

DVD:
In Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris," Owen Wilson plays a screenwriter who suddenly finds himself wandering that magical city with the long-dead writers and artists who are his heroes. Cole Porter, Salvador Dali, Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway are among the famous who spring back to life in this well-reviewed film. (On DVD Dec. 20.)

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Roman Polanski's "Carnage" puts four talented actors in one room and lets them circle each other, moving from polite to friendly to hateful and drunk in just over an hour. There are some great performances and a few memorable moments, but mostly, when it's over, you feel as if you've just eavesdropped on a fight between nasty strangers that you won't really remember a few hours from now.

"Carnage" is based on Yasmina Reza's popular play, "God of Carnage," and its theatrical origins are obvious. On the stage it would make sense that the actors would stay in one room, here, that's less so. Several times, Alan (Christoph Waltz) and Nancy (Kate Winslet) attempt to leave the New York apartment of Penelope (Jodie Foster) and Michael (John C. Reilly), but somehow never make it out. The first time, that seems plausible. But by the third, you're thinking that unless someone had broken a leg, there's just no way these people would still be together at this point. Even the characters themselves point it out.

The actors play two sets of parents discussing a fight between their sons, and their overinvolvement in their kids' lives is purely ripped from the book of Rich New Yorker problems. Why do they need to discuss this in person, with all four present? Why do they need to type up a statement agreeing on what happened? When the actors' patter is going well, you don't think about these questions, but when it drags, they loom large.

Of the four, Foster perhaps has the toughest role. Her Penelope is horrid and hateful from the first minutes of the film, when she declares that the other couple's son was "armed" with a stick, then puts on a false and cheery sense of accommodation as she changes it to "carrying a stick."

Reilly and Foster never seem like a couple. She's all about her art books, he's a blue-collar boob who's more than familiar with cleaning up vomit when a tormented Winslet lets fly.

It's easier to buy Waltz and Winslet together, and he especially is fun to watch. Hints of his Oscar-winning performance as a mind-game-loving Nazi in "Inglorious Basterds" come through in Alan, a lawyer defending a drug company that's aware its product is hurting patients. When he's not on the phone directing the public-relations chaos, he's the one who's most interested in the conflict as a game, needling each player, even his own wife, in turn, and especially making a dent in pompous do-gooder Penelope's self-image.

It occasionally seems that there must be a big plot point we haven't yet learned -- that the boy with the stick was actually the victim, that the injured child's family plans a whopper of a lawsuit, or something else that would change the lay of the land. Spoiler alert: That never really happens. The stakes are exactly what they seem to be, and they just don't seem worthy of such dramatics.

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A 13-year-old British girl shocked her mother by asking Santa Claus for a bunch of presents — including "the real-life Justin Bieber" — and threatening to kill Santa if he refuses to deliver.

Metro UK reported this week that the girl, Mekeeda Austin, who lives in Brickhill in Bedford, also threatened to "hunt down" Santa's reindeer so she could "cook them and serve their meat to homeless people on Xmas day." 

Bieber stages concert at Las Vegas school

The girl said she was mostly joking.

2011's most searched person? Justin Bieber

"I don't really believe in Santa anymore, but I was angry because I thought I wasn't going to get all the presents I wanted this year," she said. 

Read the full story at Metro UK

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Getty Images file

Phil Spector's lawyers have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review his murder conviction, arguing that his constitutional rights were violated by the trial judge. According to attorney Dennis Riordan, Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler became a witness for the prosecution by offering his opinion on an expert's testimony during the trial.

Photos: Phil Spector -- before the fall

Spector, who is currently serving 19 years to life in prison for the 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson in his Los Angeles mansion, has failed in previous attempts to overturn Judge Fidler's ruling. The California Supreme Court shot down an appeal on the decision twice over earlier this year.

The legendary record producer's attorneys ultimately hope to obtain a third trial for their client. His first trial, back in 2007, was declared a mistrial after jurors deadlocked.

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