DreamWorks

REVIEW -- Two of the principal plot drivers in "The Croods" are an athletic Neanderthal chick with a wild titian mop top and a rockin’ bod packed into a tiger-fur sheath and a brainy boy babe with skater-dude hair, perfect pecs and the waistline of a supermodel, not to mention a pioneering flair for accessories. But the core audience for DreamWorks’ 3D animated prehistoric family adventure is probably less the tweens and teens those adolescent lovebirds would suggest than the younger tykes who flocked to a comedy franchise situated elsewhere on the paleontology chart, "Ice Age."

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The humor and charm in Chris Sanders and Kirk DeMicco’s film is too uneven to help it approach that series' mammoth market share. But its mostly fast-moving roller coaster of kinetic action and its menagerie of fantastic creatures – from cute to menacing – should keep kids entertained. They’ll also have no trouble grasping the simple message to face your fears and embrace change.

The film evolved out of a project first announced at Cannes in 2005 under the title "Crood Awakening," which was to reteam DreamWorks with artisanal British toon shop Aardman Animation after successes like "Chicken Run." That earlier version was being co-written by DeMicco with John Cleese, who retains a story credit here.

While his neighbors steadily have succumbed to the perils of the Stone Age, Crood brood patriarch Grug (Nicolas Cage) has kept his family safe by sticking to the simple rules mapped out in the cave paintings. His credo is: “Fear keeps us alive. Never not be afraid.” (Grammar obviously isn’t his strong point.) “No one said survival was fun.” Curiosity, for Grug, equals danger.

The hell they have to go through for sustenance is outlined in a dizzying hunting sequence near the start that’s like an over-caffeinated pro football game with a giant bird egg in place of the pigskin. Everyone in the family plays a role on the team, from wife Ugga (Catherine Keener) to plucky teenage daughter Eep (Emma Stone), lunkhead son Thunk (Clark Duke) and leathery Gran (Cloris Leachman), Grug’s barely tolerated mother-in-law. Even the feral infant, Sandy, is deployed on cue with the battle cry, “Release the baby!”

But despite their tight synergy, the Croods’ world literally is crumbling around them. Eep’s growing rebellion against the physical and mental darkness of cave life also is causing friction with Dad. When she follows the light one night and meets Guy (Ryan Reynolds), with his mysterious invention of fire and his warnings of the destruction to come, Eep propels the family onto a quest toward the higher ground of tomorrow. Once she’s seen fire and she’s seen rain, there’s no looking back.

Aside from the earth opening up beneath them, the boulders flying and the predators at every turn, the chief conflict is between brawny Grug’s belief in his strength and Guy’s revolutionary reliance on ideas. The protective father’s anxiety over his daughter’s first crush adds to this still-somewhat-undernourished friction. Guy has a de rigueur animal sidekick in a sloth named Belt (“voiced” by co-director Sanders), who serves to hold up his pants as well as bring a cheeky sense of the dramatic.

Sanders and DeMicco’s script doesn’t have the robust plotting, consistent wit or flavorful character development of the best family animation. And some of the voice actors have too little to work with. Keener’s Ugga, for instance, is a strictly standard-issue caring Mom, while much of the humor built around Thunk’s obtuseness is soft. And like Betty White’s raunchy oldsters, Leachman’s ornery crones are starting to get as tired as those funky rapping grannies from ‘90s New Line comedies.

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With his weary rasp, however, Cage makes Grug a touching figure -- a knuckle-dragger at first and then steadily more resourceful as he sees the light. Stone’s smoky-voiced sweetness is nicely paired with the character’s butt-kicking physicality (it’s refreshing to see an animated teen girl more strapping than the cookie-cutter slender-princess model), and Reynolds brings the right note of earnestness to his forward-thinker.

Basically a journey tale with its erratic momentum pumped up by Alan Silvestri’s hard-working score, "The Croods" has its share of rambunctious episodes and frantic narrow escapes. Notable among them is the threat of a tornado-like flock of vicious Piranhakeets, razor-toothed birds that can strip a beast to its bones in seconds. “Stay inside the family kill circle!” warns Grug as they descend.

There’s a large assortment of fantasy animals to keep the merchandise division busy, among them parrot-hued giant felines, dogs with crocodile jaws, land-dwelling whales, monkeys with killer right hooks and owl-headed bears that owe a debt to Maurice Sendak. These critters give the film more in common with the slapsticky Looney Tunes era than with animation of recent vintage.

"The Croods" mercifully refrains from leaning too hard on anachronistic dialogue for laughs, settling for the occasional “awesome” or “sucky.” And it’s light on pop cultural cross-referencing, which also is a blessing. But especially after so many animated movies have raised the bar, the shortage of sophisticated humor likely will narrow the appeal here chiefly to the 4-to-10 age range.

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There are some decent gags built around inventions and accidental discoveries, such as snapshots, shoes (“Aaahhh!!! I love them,” squeals Eep in her prototype Uggs) and popcorn, in a crowd-baiting wink to the multiplex populace. Other touches, like the birth of the hug (rhymes with Grug), tap into an innocuous vein of schmaltz. But another polish or two to punch up the script wouldn’t have hurt.

Aside from teen dreamboat Guy, the character animation is not the prettiest; even Eep is slapped with rough-hewn features on an ultra-wide face. But there’s considerable imagination in the rendering of the landscapes, ranging from barren rock to lush jungle vegetation full of vibrantly exotic flora. Cinematography luminary Roger Deakins is credited as visual consultant, his influence perhaps discernible in the glow of stars, sun and fire, which is fitting given the thematic centrality of stepping into the light after hiding in darkness.

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If you missed Thursday's live Oscars announcements, you missed out on the first time that the announcements "show" has ever been worth watching. 

To be fair, the Oscar announcements typically get a lot of flack. The broadcast is at an ungodly hour -- 5 a.m. -- for the west coast (where many, if not most, of the nominees live), and at its core, the "show" is just a recitation of a bunch of lists of names. Neither, on the surface, sound like things that make for good television.

But what this year's Academy Awards host, Seth MacFarlane, put together Thursday, with an assist from the ever-lovable Emma Stone, was a live announcement show for the record books. It was snappy, funny, and brought an air of levity that the entire Oscars process so desperately needs.

MacFarlane kicked things off by telling those in attendance and watching on TV, "If you don't know who I am, just pretend I'm Donny Osmond." He said he couldn't understand why the announcements couldn't wait until noon, since "the only people up right now are either flying or having surgery."

Stone and MacFarlane opened with the nods for best actor in a supporting role, a category where it just so happens every nominee has actually won an Oscar before. And that is what MacFarlane and Stone reminded us of at every turn. "Robert DeNiro in 'Silver Linings Playbook,' he has won before ... "Alan Arkin in 'Argo.' He has won before ..." You get the idea. It was a fun way of tossing in a little trivia for the Oscar wonks keeping track out there, but it also drove home the point that hey, we've been down this road before. For once, maybe that tired "it's truly just an honor to be nominated line" might be applicable.

After naming all of the supporting actress nominees, MacFarlane got his biggest laugh by saying, "Congratulations, you five ladies no longer have to pretend to be attracted to Harvey Weinstein."

Stone and MacFarlane had another bright moment during the nominations for writing, best adapted screenplay. Screenwriters for "Amour," "Django Unchained," "Flight," "Moonrise Kingdom," and "Zero Dark Thirty" all received nods, an achievement Stone and MacFarlane could be accused of downplaying. But in good fun. "The writers just basically copied stuff from Microsoft Word, and pasted it into Final Draft," MacFarlane said, teasing the writers for adapting content that was already out there.

The directors weren't spared, either. Normally, a crop of people given the lion's share of praise for an Oscar-worthy film's success, this years nominees were taken down a small notch. The directors for "Amour," "Beasts of the Southern Wild," "Life of Pi," "Lincoln," and "Silver Linings Playbook" were informed by MacFarlane that they'd just been nominated for being the "very best at sitting in a chair watching other people make a movie."

Not entirely true, but the jabs and lack of utter reverence for the Oscars drive a point home. This stuff is supposed to be fun -- it is an honor for the entertainment industry, after all. And thanks to MacFarlane and Stone's playful treatment of the nominations, we were reminded of just that.

Slideshow: 2013 Oscar nominees

Launch slideshow

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Encounters with the paparazzi are a way of life for A-listers, and there are myriad ways of dealing with the intrusion -- some more effective than others. Actress Emma Stone and her actor boyfriend Andrew Garfield found a great way to deal with the ever-present photographers.

Said Elatab / Splash News

Actress Emma Stone and boyfriend actor Andrew Garfield used the paparazzi to their advantage by holding up cardboard signs to promote some charitable organizations.

Effectively turning the game on its head, Stone and Garfield used the images they were finding themselves in to do a little charitable promotion. The signs they're holding say it all. On Stone's: "We just found out that there were paparazzi outside the restaurant we were eating in. So ... why not take this" with an arrow pointing to Garfield, whose sign continued, "opportunity to bring attention to organizations that need and deserve it www.WWO.org www.gildasclubnyc.org Have a great day!"

The paps get their picture and Gilda's Club New York City and Worldwide Orphans Foundation get some attention. Stone and Garfield come out as the most likeable celebrity couple, maybe ever. So, wins all around.

It's a good lesson for stars who tend to take a more aggressive approach to having their privacy invaded. The Alec Baldwin method, for example, generally involves yelling, and can feature some mild shoving, too. Effective? Not Very. The paps still get their photos, and Baldwin gets another rant (however understandable) captured on camera.

Rocker Marilyn Manson tried a creative approach to dissuade shooters by scrawling a message across his face in grease pencil, hoping to make the pap's photos unsellable. Here, you can easily make out “[Expletive] You” across his face and neck.

In case you were a passenger at LAX that day, please know the missive wasn't meant for you; Manson tweeted that it was squarely aimed at the paparazzi. Effective? Not at all. Instead of making the photos unsellable, they are totally sellable! Even for a face as distinct as Manson's often is, the mean message took the images to a new level.

The tried and true method of flipping the bird or pulling some piece of clothing over your face proves equally ineffective. Miley Cyrus tweeted images of her new hairdo for the world to see, but when the paps tried for their own shot, all she did was make it look like her 'do was a don't.

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The Hollywood Reporter

Shia LaBeouf, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska and Tom Hardy on the cover of The Hollywood Reporter.

Call it the $10 million kiss. That's how much Kristen Stewart stands to lose if Universal decides not to go ahead with a sequel to "Snow White and the Huntsman," which has earned $389 million globally -- and the actress' now-infamous tryst with director Rupert Sanders may be a large factor.

Stewart is one of the few rising stars to have reached the $10 million mark. (At press time, Jennifer Lawrence was close to getting roughly $10 million for "The Hunger Games" follow-up, "Catching Fire"; while "Snow White's" Huntsman, Chris Hemsworth, boosted by his roles in Marvel's "Thor" and "The Avengers," also will earn $10 million if the "Snow White" sequel goes ahead.) But Stewart's precariousness at the top -- despite the global punch of the "Twilight" franchise, which brought her $25 million as well as healthy backend deals for the series' final two films -- shows how vulnerable she is, like most of those on Hollywood's new A-list.

The era is long past when a star like Tom Cruise could launch a career with "Risky Business" and "Top Gun," then stay in the stratosphere for decades. None of the new stars gets the once-standard "20-against-20" deal -- that is, $20 million upfront and 20 percent of the studio's take from exhibitors, after they make that $20 million back. Today, stars are seen as disposable, or at least interchangeable. As one top studio executive ruminates, "What major star has emerged in the past five years?"

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Aside from Channing Tatum -- who weathered a bunch of flops before scoring with "The Vow," "21 Jump Street" and "Magic Mike" -- the answer just might be none. Rather than an A-list, it might be better to think of a "hot list," in the words of one mega-agent: "That's what it is -- the guys you hope will last because nobody's shown they can do that just yet."

Asks "Twilight" producer Marty Bowen: "How many times have we anointed actors and actresses stars before they've actually become stars? People said Brandon Routh would be a superstar after "Superman Returns." Well?" (Routh is starring in one of CBS' fall sitcoms, "Partners.")

Executives, producers, lawyers and agents interviewed for this article -- many speaking off the record -- agree that Tatum, 32, stands at the pinnacle, able to command $10 million for Roland Emmerich's actioner "White House Down."

"I don't know that anyone else has kicked into that kind of gear; the 'Twilight' and 'Harry Potter' stars haven't," says producer and former Fox Filmed Entertainment chairman Bill Mechanic. "But movies make movie stars; very few actors can rise above that."

While many studios have individual preferences for actors (Warners is betting on Tom Hardy for the new "Mad Max," while Sony is happy to be in bed with "Spider-Man's" Emma Stone), every studio wants Tatum -- so much that he's booked solid for the next year.

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In some ways, Tatum defies the rules that have become de rigueur for most actors aspiring to join this quicksilver new A-list: First, make sure you have critical credibility, either through an art house hit or an Oscar nomination; then link yourself to a franchise; and finally, prove your movies can deliver in the overseas market, which now attracts 69 percent of the overall box office.

Lawrence has done all of that, getting an Oscar nomination for the tiny film that propelled her to fame, "Winter's Bone." She then boosted her standing with "X-Men: First Class" and finally defined herself as a fully fledged star in "The Hunger Games," which has earned $684 million worldwide. The $10 million or so she'll make for the sequel is 20 times the $500,000 she got paid upfront for Games-- a figure that has become a benchmark for actors taking the lead in launching most non- Marvel franchises.

Many of those are near-unknowns, like Andrew Garfield when he was signed for "The Amazing Spider-Man." Insiders say Garfield, who was best known for co-starring in "The Social Network," received the now-standard $500,000 upfront while Stone might have earned as much as $2 million. The actress has followed a similar path to Lawrence -- breaking out in 2007's "Superbad" and hitting it big with 2009's "Zombieland" and 2010's "Easy A" before landing in "The Help" and "Spider-Man."

One actress who has taken a different route while still making it to the new A-list is Jessica Chastain, who has been Oscar-nominated for "The Help" and has worked with "Terrence Malick" in The Tree of Life" but has never been in a blockbuster, nor appears to desire one; she even turned down a sci-fi epic -- "Oblivion," opposite Cruise -- and pulled out of "Iron Man 3." "Her career choices are different," says one executive. "She just doesn't seem to want to make those films."

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In fact, Chastain illustrates how A-lists -- whether new or old -- contain two distinct subcategories: those who demonstrate box-office prowess and those who attract top-tier talent. "Sean Penn and Daniel Day-Lewis are A-listers, but they are not bankable," explains Bowen. "They are lightning rods for attracting other talent."

Although franchise gigs such as "Twilight" and "Potter" can help a star rack up hits, they also can lead to his or her decline. In the wake of "Spider-Man 3" -- and the $20 million payday ­-- Tobey Maguire hasn't had another big hit. Indeed, he dropped his fee to less than $2 million for Warner Bros.' summer 2013 release "The Great Gatsby."

All of these actors are trying to navigate an environment that has become increasingly challenging, with studios and directors in such ascendancy that stars often seem like an afterthought.

Read the full story on THR.com.

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Columbia Pictures

Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) and Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) share a tender moment in "The Amazing Spider-Man."

REVIEW: "The Amazing Spider-Man" is a reboot of the classic comic-book franchise, and this summer, it risks getting lost in a deluge of superhero movies. But Spidey’s story of a parentless teen endowed with great strength and responsibility will always have significant drawing power -- it just needs a team that can mine its remaining gold.

Thankfully, director Marc Webb (“(500) Days of Summer”) knows how to do just that. Casting Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone was a superpowered decision. Their witty dialogue and bantering romance brings pleasure to a film that's otherwise a rehashing of superhero clichés. Webb also adds in a greater sense of mystery about Peter's vanished parents, opening the film with a fast-paced sequence that shows their frantic, curious departure.

You know the basics: High-school science prodigy and photographer Peter Parker (Garfield) is bitten by a genetically altered spider, affording him great strength and web-slinging abilities. (In a slight departure from the 2002 "Spider-Man," he must invent his own web technology; it's not organically produced). Then, Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), a friend of Peter's missing father, mutates into The Lizard, wreaking havoc in Manhattan after Peter gives him an algorithim he found in his father's files that he believes will allow the doctor to regrow his amputated arm.

The plot, while it contains a few diversions and interesting turns, is mainly a device for moving the film along to explore the characters of Peter and pre-Mary Jane Watson girlfriend Gwen Stacy (Stone). 

Garfield and Stone's real-life romance clearly shines through, especially when Peter can’t find the words to ask Gwen on a date. She helps him through it, nodding her head and leaning forward as if to coax the question from his mouth. Their relationship is an exercise in clever nonverbal gestures, and, likewise, the film’s success lies not in the excited cries of Peter as he web-slings through the city during his cartoony chases, but in the understated stakes and tension that are set between Peter and Gwen.

It’s never a question that Peter will prevail in the action sequences or that he’ll win Gwen (a sequel is already slated for 2014). It’s Garfield’s ability to don an American accent and embody a character who’s earnest and humble yet overconfident and extremely able that’s most pleasing and surprising. Like Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark in “Iron Man,” the layers of carelessness, seriousness, light romance and sense of duty make Peter magnetic.  

While the requisite bad guy chases and a subsequent death of an important character carry a certain weight, Webb generally keeps the film breezy. Peter quietly takes photos of Gwen from afar, exclaims “Mother Hubbard!” when flustered, and gets smashed against a locker by his school nemesis before humorously humiliating him. It's not so much an in-depth look into the meaning of responsibility and manhood as Sam Raimi's 2002 forerunner seemed to be. Rather, it’s a tale of young love, fun and impossible adventure framed by a good-versus-evil story that’s grown increasingly dull.

What we love about superheroes now is how their peculiar personalities shine brighter than their super abilities. It's empowering and enjoyable to watch Tony Stark/Iron Man sip whiskey and crack jokes before facing Loki in "The Avengers," or to see Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow take care of Russian thugs while chatting on the phone and tied to a chair. "Amazing Spider-Man" falls right in line. 

A perfect couple if there ever were one, Peter and Gwen's witty, smart and charming chemistry outdoes the tired mad-scientist plot, rendering the routine action sequences more superfluous than super.  

How do you feel about Hollywood's reboot of the Spider-Man franchise? Planning to see it? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.

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Carlos Alvarez / Getty Images

Emma Stone has had a slew of red carpet appearances and interviews lately to promote “The Amazing Spider-Man,” but it’s been nothing but a breeze for the charismatic actress.

It seems no one is immune to her understated beauty and self-deprecating charm. In fact, her New York Magazine profile was so glistening that some article commenters lambasted its “girl crush” tone. Her fashion sense has been the center of envious attention, and her off-screen relationship with her "Spider-Man" co-star Andrew Garfield (which she’s reticent to publicly discuss) seems to be going swimmingly.

Clearly, Stone is doing something right. Taking a page out of Dale Carnegie’s famous self-help book, “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” she’s smiling, listening and appreciating her rise to the ("Easy") A-list, making us fall deeper in love with her one step at a time.

From her PowerPoint-fueled Hollywood start to her humble rise to success, here are six ways that Emma Stone has won us over:

Ambitious adolescence
At 14, Stone enrolled as a freshman at Xavier College Preparatory in Phoenix, Ariz., but she wanted to go to Los Angeles to be in the movies. So, as she recounted to Blackbook Magazine, in her freshman year she made a PowerPoint entitled "Project Hollywood 2004," set it to Madonna’s “Hollywood” and used it to convince her parents to let her drop out of school and move to L.A. to audition for film and TV. Her mother stayed with her, homeschooling the Scottsdale, Ariz., native through high school.

Discerning choice of roles
Although “The Amazing Spider-Man” will likely be the role that reaches the biggest audience, her success has been climbing ever since she starred as the heart-meltingly hot high-school dream girl Jules in “Superbad.” She honed her comedic chops alongside co-star Jonah Hill before showing that con artists can be silly and sexy in “Zombieland,” and then, drum roll please, “Easy A” and “Crazy, Stupid, Love” helped perfect her smart, sexy, wry sense of humor which she followed with a serious turn in "The Help," establishing a hilarious, serious, various persona for the Emma Stone we now know and love.    

Self-deprecating humor
The way Stone combines her sarcastic humor with real vulnerability has proven to be her siren song. Her turn as Olive Penderghast, a high-school student who video diaries her misunderstood "Scarlet Letter"-inspired life in "Easy A," allowed Stone to showcase a witty, cultured, willing-to-be-humbled character who's nothing but unforgettable. We hope she won’t use her siren song to crash us into a cliff, though, because when she turns on the comedic charm, it’s impossible to look away.

Approachability
Between press tours, filming, photo shoots, interviews and maintaining some semblance of a personal life, the natural blonde seems nothing like the average 23-year-old. But compared to the likes of Angelina Jolie or Sean Penn -- who are off doing good in Cambodia and Haiti, respectively -- her stateside sensibility lends itself to greater approachability and relatability. We're sure she'll take up a cause or two when she's older and more firmly entrenched in the Hollywood elite, but for now, Stone’s youthful, live-in-the-Hollywood moment sensibility is a surprisingly appreciated repose from the busy, hyperaffluent, seemingly out-of-touch movie star we're used to.

Understated (yet unbelievable) looks
Sony Screen Gems president Clint Culpepper noted that with red hair, Stone looks less like “someone who will steal your boyfriend,” according to New York Magazine. But whether she’s a redhead, blonde or brunette, the actress, who’s now the new face of Revlon, could steal a boyfriend or two sporting any hair color. “The pretty thing ... it was never a value to me growing up,” she told the magazine, adding that she signed with Revlon so young girls would know they don’t have to look like models to be beautiful. To judge for yourself whether she doesn't have the looks of a model, here are a few of her "Spider-Man" red carpet looks. (For the record, yes, she's model material.)

She’s not the center of the world (but she is)
Perhaps the most refreshing -- although most difficult to believe -- quality of Stone is that she isn’t too interested in herself or in sharing her stories. “I freak out having a Facebook” she told New York Magazine, noting that she only wants her closest friends to know the most personal details of her life, specifically concerning Garfield. Yet, considering the fact that her face seems to dominate the newstand (now on the July Vogue cover), if she wanted to tell story after self-centered story, we're sure millions would be glad to perk up and listen.

Tune into the TODAY show Tuesday for an interview with Emma Stone. Check your local listings for air time.

What's your favorite Emma trait? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page and follow us on Pinterest.

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Emma Stone is not a typical Hollywood celebrity. Sure, she's got the looks and the personality, but there's a twinkle in her big eyes that says she's never taken this whole being famous business too seriously. And as she told TODAY's Ann Curry Tuesday, there are other career paths she has considered.

"I would have loved to be a journalist," she said. "I realize now as I get older I really would love to be an editor. I think that maybe I would be better at editing than actually writing the stories. ... But acting is so different than that, so it's funny. I guess I kind of like both sides of it."

Editing is a considerably less-glamorous profession than being a movie star in films like the upcoming "The Amazing Spider-Man," so perhaps Stone made the right decision after all. She plays Gwen, Peter Parker's first love in the movie, and says it was about trying to "really get into the humanity" of the teen who would be Spider-Man. "She obviously sees a heroic quality in him even before he becomes Spider-Man."

Still, if the acting thing loses its luster one day, Stone does have that fallback passion for editing -- or possibly cooking, which is something she did during the making of the movie to relieve pressure. "While we were shooting 'Spider-Man' I was baking a lot," she admitted. "I think the control factor was very therapeutic. (There's a) scientific element to baking."

"The Amazing Spider-Man" opens on July 3.

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Our readers continue to contribute some funny, smart and incisive comments to our Today Entertainment Facebook page. Every Friday, we'll highlight those that really stood out. If you see a great comment throughout the week, click the “Like” button underneath it to draw it to our attention.

On "NPR intern has 11,000 songs, paid for few"
Barbara Scaff: "(Musicians) deserve to get paid, but do they deserve millions upon millions upon millions? NOPE. The rest of us schlubs have to deal with min. wage or being underpaid, why should people who SING for a living get a break from that? And please keep it real, they are still raking in money from perfume sales, magazine covers, movies, selling pics of their babies, and other ridiculous JOBS. I'm supposed to feel sorry for someone who might not have AS MUCH money as they use to but still wears shoes that cost as much as a house payment WHILE people fighting for our freedom, putting out fires, doing backbreaking labor all have to deal with $23,000 or less a year? Get real."

On "Could Alec Baldwin face criminal charges in photographer incident?"
Alison Parson: "(Paparazzi) are low-life divas that think they have the right to go as close to people as they want.  Celebrities ask for you to listen to their music, see their movies, etc.  Not violate their personal lives and camp out every single place they may be.  GET A REAL JOB!"

On "Jon Gosselin to ex-wife: I'm sorry"
Laura E. Platte: "Though I do think it is overdue ... I also feel that sometimes people really need to hit rock bottom before they realize what they have done, and there is nothing left but to apologize for their wrongdoings."

On "Check out Emma Stone's 'Amazing' looks"
John Bales: "Cute, pretty and perky looking but I wouldn't include her in a list of the great beauties of the ages. She's part of a crop of pretty ingenues in Hollywood that have a brief time in the spotlight before fading into bit parts in movies."

This is a message for Emma Stone: Maybe Jim Carrey, in all his creepy, close-up goodness, was onto something when he called her "all-the-way beautiful" in his YouTube love letter.

John Macdougall / AFP - Getty Images

Emma Stone at a photocall for the Berlin premiere of "The Amazing Spider-Man" on Wednesday.

The actress has been casting her web of attraction around the world as she helps roll out the much-anticipated "The Amazing Spider-Man." Alongside her onscreen superhero and real life boyfriend Andrew Garfield, we've seen Stone walk the red carpet for premieres in Tokyo, Seoul, Moscow, London, Paris and Berlin so far.

Stone, a natural blonde who sometimes goes red, is the cover subject of the latest New York magazine. Her "Spidey sense is tingling," says a promo for the article, "she knows you're watching her." Great, now we really feel creepy. But the 23-year-old actress says of that Carrey video, "I was so flattered I can’t even tell you. Honest!"

That doesn't mean she's buying all the attention she gets for her looks. "The pretty thing ... It was never a value to me growing up," Stone told New York mag. "I always thought I was like the goofy, wonky one.

"I don’t actually recognize the person that’s out there," she says of her red-carpet persona. "It's like there’s this outside person, and there’s me."

Reuters, Getty (2), AP

EPA, Getty (2), Reuters

In a business full of stars and wannabe stars who can't wait for the next flashbulb to go off in their face, Stone's take is a refreshing one. And now, our bottom lip is quivering, just like Jim Carrey's at the end of his video.

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Related content:

• Video: Watch 'The Amazing Spider-Man' trailer
• 'Spider-Man' swings into Tokyo for premiere