Arthur Kipps (Daniel Radcliffe) is a young lawyer who lost his wife during the birth of his son. He’s had a difficult time readjusting to his life ever since her death, and his bills continue to pile up. His firm sends him to a small town to handle the final affairs of Alice Drablow, and it’s made clear that it’s his last chance to straighten out his career. When he arrives in town he finds the majority of folks to be standoffish and rude. It’s apparent the he’s not wanted there, and that they want him gone as soon as possible. He plans on obliging them after he finishes the paperwork out at Eel Marsh, a large manor on the outskirts of town where Alice lived. While there he hears strange sounds and encounters a mysterious woman in black. Every time he sees her a child in town dies, further infuriating the townsfolk against him. Determined not to leave before he finishes his work Arthur stays, and as he does he tries to solve the mystery surrounding the ghost and the estate.

The Woman In Black is one of the best horror movies to come out in the last couple of years. It’s chilling and creepy thanks to not only the atmosphere the director creates, but also the story. There is no gore, and very little cheap thrills. There’s just good direction, a spooky house, and scary ghosts. Daniel Radcliffe plays his role really well, and brings a real sadness to it. Sure the story isn’t the most original thing out there, but that also prevents it from becoming too convoluted in explanations. It’s simple, and that’s all it needs to be. A true, scary ghost story can be hard to come by, but this one definitely succeeds.

If you are looking for a good scare, go watch The Woman In Black now. It’s worth the money, and you’ll leave finding yourself not wanting to walk a dark hallway when you get home.

Original Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor have joined Adam Lambert on stage before.  The first time was during his last performance on 2009′s American Idol, and the second during November’s MTV Europe video awards.  Taylor said back in Decemeber that “He has grown into a really great performer with an astonishing voice… We would like to work with him again. There’s nothing signed just yet but we’re talking about live dates.”

Lambert himself came out yesterday and confirmed that he plans on touring with May and Taylor throughout the year. He tells Britain’s Daily Star that “the intention is to pay tribute to Freddie and the band by singing some f–king great songs. It’s to keep the music alive for the fans and give it an energy that Freddie would have been proud of.”  He insists however that he’s not about to replace Freddie Mercury, and will just be himself.  ”After the EMAs, I heard faint little slithers of a backlash from people saying: ‘You can’t replace Freddie Mercury.’ But I already knew that. There’s no intention in my mind of replacing Freddie. That’s impossible. The way I’m choosing to view it is that it’s a great honour and one I’m in no way going to shirk… Being asked to front Queen is the best thing that can possibly happen.”

The Superbowl show is sure to be an interesting one considering her track record of being a perfectionist with her performances, and in case you haven’t heard she’s dedicated it to her dad, because as she said in a press conference yesterday “I’m sure of all the things I’ve ever done in my life this will be the thing he’s most excited about.”  This may be your best chance at seeing her perform live too, because ticket prices for her concert tour are reportedly extremely expensive.

The music video for Madonna’s Give Me All Your Luvin’ single, the first official released track of her forthcoming album features M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj was released yesterday.  The song was leaked a few months ago, much to Madonna’s ire, but it has changed a bit since them.  The video features a football theme, including cheerleaders and players.  What do you think?  Is it original, or does it remind you of Gwen Stefani too?

[Photo via © HFPA]

The Woman In Black has been getting a fair bit of press, especially since it’s Daniel Radcliffe’s first post Harry Potter role.  It’s a remake of a late 80′s movie of the same name, which in turn was based on a novel.  Radcliffe plays a young lawyer who travels to a small town and finds a ghost terrorizing them.  It looks creepy, but then again they can make anything look scary these days in the trailers.  Read our interview with Daniel Radcliffe at the Toronto opening.

The second ghost flick has been hitting the film festivals for about a year now, and has attracted a fair bit of buzz.  The Innkeepers is about a pair of hotel employees looking to find proof of a ghost in the hotel before it closes for good.  This is definitely a good example of a trailer looking scarier than the movie actually is.  If anything it’ll put you to sleep early on with it’s slow pace, and uninteresting plot.  Read our review here.

Chronicle is about three high school friends who gain superpowers after making a discovery in an abandoned field.  At first all three students are mischievous and use their powers to pull pranks, but one of them goes too far and starts embracing his dark side.  This movie looks interesting, and could very easily have been made by J.J. Adrams.  Should be an interesting one.

And finally this weeks sees the release of Big Miracle, a story about a Greenpeace volunteer trying to save a trapped whale.  John Krasinski and Drew Barrymore star in this based on true events flick that could be the feel good movie of the year.  At least so far.

On the show Bell says “The day of my birthday, we’re sitting in the living room and I hear a knock at the door. [Dax Shepard, her fiance] says, ‘Your present is here. Why don’t you go grab the dogs and go in the back room?’ I had no context for knowing what it was, but I grabbed the dogs and walk into the back room of the house and I was immediately overcome and I thought, ‘There’s a sloth near. There’s a sloth here; it’s close; it’s going to happen.’”

Bell then proceeded to break down.  She’d wanted to meet one for so long that she didn’t know how to process it’s arrival, and ended up crying on her bed before going out to meet it.

After Bell played the video and told her story Ellen got in a kick as well, saying “lets bring out the cutest sloth” and freaking out Bell before letting her in on the prank.  Bell replied “my heart is beating so fast”.

Photo Courtesy of:  David Shankbone

Gale Anne Hurd started out as an assistant to Roger Corman after graduating from Stanford.  It was while working with him that she met James Cameron, whom she later made several movies with including The Terminator, Aliens and the Abyss.  She told the crowd that she was a geek before there was even a word for it, and if you look at the variety of projects she’s worked on you’ll see that she has a history with speculative fiction pieces.  She’s even has a few comic books movies to her credit, including both Hulk movies and the two most recent Punisher flicks.  It’s no wonder that she ended up working for the Walking Dead.

Mrs. Hurd told the crowd that before she was involved with the project the series had been pitched to NBC.  Unfortunately a pilot was never made, and the series idea was left for dead.  When she heard that Frank Darabont held the rights for the series she talked to him about it, and even though he said nothing was going to come of it, she was determined to make it happen.  In comes AMC, who were looking for an original series to air during their Fright Fest in October.  Mrs. Hurd pitched them the Walking Dead, who had all ready heard of the comic book series by Robert Kirkman.  They green lit the series without a pilot every being made, and they signed on to make 6 episodes.  According to Mrs. Hurd working with AMC has been great, and they’ve never told them to change anything in any of the episodes.

Each episode is shot in 8 days in a location about an hour south of Atlanta.  Jon Bernthal (Shane) was the first of the male leads hired, while Andrew Lincoln (Rick Grimes) was the last.  Andrew was actually the last man to audition for the role of Rick.  The only role that anyone had an actor in mind for was Dale, who Frank Darabont wanted to hire Jeffrey DeMunn for since he’d worked with him a couple of times previously.  Mrs. Hurd talks about comic book fans being upset with the changes that are made from the comic book, such as the addition of new characters and plot changes, but in her view in order to keep things fresh and interesting they have to write for more than just comic book fans.  They have a worldwide audience to write for.  The most important thing in Mrs. Hurd’s mind for a successful series are the characters.  Strong characters are what draw her in, and strong characters make the story.

If there is a theme to take from her question and answer session it’s to never give up.  Mrs. Hurd says that she’s had plenty of doors slammed in her face, but she has never given up on a project and never will.  She says even though 100 doors may close, the hundred and first may be the one that opens.

The Walking Dead returns February 12th on AMC.

Judges Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger will not be returning.  Neither will host Steve Jones.  EW confirms that sources have told them that all three are out the door, though FOX has only officially acknowledged that Jones and Scherzinger won’t be back for season 2.  This leaves on Cowell and L.A. Reid as the only returning personalities.

Steve Jones took to Twitter to comment on the news.  “I won’t be hosting next seasons X Factor which is a shame but I cant complain as I’ve had a great time.  Good luck to everyone on the show.”

E!News states a source told them that it was Scherzinger’s decision to leave, and that she wasn’t asked to leave.  ”She wants to focus on her music career. She’s spoken to Simonand he’s given her his blessing. X Factor took a lot more of her time than she ever expected. She didn’t have any time really to work on her music.”

Paula Abdul released a statement to EW as to why she left the show.  “Yes, it’s true; I won’t be returning to The X Factor next season. I’ve learned through my longevity in this industry that business decisions often times override personal considerations.  Simon and I, along with Fox and Fremantle, have been communicating about this for a while now, and I have absolute understanding of the situation. Simon is, and will remain a dear friend of mine and I’ve treasured my experience working this past season with my extended family at Fox and Fremantle. I want nothing more than for The X Factor to exceed ALL of their wildest dreams. This truly has been a blessing and I am most grateful.”

The question now is who will be replacing the trio of departed talent?  At this point there is only speculation based on nothing, but in order to get more viewers Cowell will probably have to try something drastic.  Perhaps younger, or even more popular talent.

“I’m immensely proud to have been asked to perform at this year’s GRAMMY Awards,” said Adele in a press release. “It’s an absolute honor to be included in such a night, and for it to be my first performance in months is very exciting and of course nerve-racking, but what a way to get back into it all.”

Adele has six nominations for this year’s awards show including Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year and Best Short Form Music Video for “Rolling In The Deep”, Album Of The Year, Best Pop Vocal Album for 21, and Best Pop Solo Performance for “Someone Like You”.

Photo ©2012 Columbia Records Photo Credit: Lauren Dukoff

The 100th episode of Gossip Girl begins with Serena doing a musical number of ‘Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend’ dressed as Marilyn Monroe. It was a strange starting. It’s so unlike Gossip Girl and not done very well either. Once Serena awakens, it’s time to get back to normal because we have a wedding to attend. Blair is at her fitting, Louis is ecstatic, Dan is awaiting the moment he can stop his fake relationship, and Chuck  is preparing for the moment he can object during the ceremony.

Chuck isn’t the only one in New York hoping to ruin Blair’s big day. Georgina is back in town! She wants to ruin Blair the same way Blair has ruined her. She planned on teaming up with Chuck to cause havoc. Only it looks like Chuck has turned a new leaf. He tries to stop the priest from ruining the wedding, by giving him food poisoning. He says he wants Blair to be happy (we’ve heard that before). Georgina swoops in to join the priest in sabotage.

While Blair and Serena get dressed, Blair offers some words of wisdom. She tells Serena to cut the act and admit her feelings for Dan. Blair is getting wise as she gets older. Serena could learn a thing or two.

It doesn’t last because Blair is a nervous wreck. All of her emotions force her mother to take matters into her own hand. Blair’s mother goes to the Empire to see Chuck. Why? What could she be up to? She’s wants to bring Chuck back to the church to stop the wedding. She knows that Chuck is the only one who could truly make her daughter happy. Mother does know best after all!

The guests begin to arrive. Georgina hides in Louis chambers hoping to seduce the prince. Her plan is to get it on film and send it to Gossip Girl. Before she can cause any trouble, Lily and Rufus step in to stop her in her tracks. Georgina slips out of the back door before she gets caught.

Chuck is delivered to Blair’s chambers. He begs her to stop the wedding. Blair admits that she loves him and it’s killing her to be away from him, but she sticks to her promise to God. She refuses to give in. Why won’t she go to him? She can’t marry Louis! She’s the only person who doesn’t realize that. Blair leaves, but it doesn’t end there. Georgina recorded their whole conversation. Now she has the evidence she needs to ruin Blair’s wedding. When Louis sees that tape, he will be crushed.

Everyone tries to convince Blair one final time that she doesn’t need to do this. Blair insists she is ready to walk down the aisle and marry Louis. She leaves Serena no choices and she tells Chuck the truth about Blair’s pact with God.

The wedding begins. The bridesmaids look sweet in pink. Louis is strapping in his white suit. Blair is stunning walking down the aisle in her Vera Wang gown between her two fathers. When the priest asks if anyone objects, Chuck steps out, but doesn’t speak. He’s willing to let Blair do what she feels is best. Then every phone in the place starts buzzing. Gossip Girl has posted Georgina’s video. Everyone watches Blair’s confession of love for Chuck. Blair runs without a word, down the aisle towards Chuck.

Blair thinks Chuck was behind it. Georgina says it wasn’t her. She blames Blair’s best friends for sabotaging the wedding. Only the wedding isn’t over.  Blair tells Chuck she still won’t be with him and turns to Louis for forgiveness. The pair return to the alter to say “I do.” What? They got married? This doesn’t make sense. Blair can’t marry Louis! As they feed each other cake it’s painfully obvious.

Love is in the air at the reception. Serena confesses her love to Dan. She doesn’t even let him respond before running away. Nate sweet talks a cute waitress (its the real Charlie Rhodes which is sure to develop in the future) hoping to find a girl who might actually love him for real. Louis and Blair share their first dance. But the love here is fake, Louis has a horrible surprise for Blair. He doesn’t love her anymore. He has only married her for show. He only wants her to be the public face, but in private he feels nothing for her. Louis’ cold hearted side has shown its face. Now Blair is trapped.

Blair calls someone for a quick escape. She needs to run. Is it Chuck? No. Blair called Dan to help her escape her reception. Where will this trapped princess go?

As if that wasn’t bad enough, as we close the episode, we see Gossip Girl typing away. The camera pans to show… Georgina typing a Gossip Girl post. Georgina is Gossip Girl! It can’t be! Has her identity been revealed? We can’t wait another week to find out the truth.