The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens with an expected (and record) $84 million

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (review/teaser/trailer) basically opened like a Lord of the Rings film, give or take various variables. Its $84.7 million estimated debut clobbered the December record, which is the $77 million earned by Avatar ($77 million, $80 million adjusted for inflation) and I Am Legend ($77.2 million, $89 million adjusted for inflation) in 2009 and 2007 respectively.
It soundly thumps the various other Lord of the Rings films, but this is where it gets tricky. The prior Peter Jackson Middle Earth pictures opened on the weekend before Christmas week, which I’ve long argued is the best weekend of the year to open your picture. So the fact that The Hobbit opened a week earlier makes this number a little more impressive, although the pre-Christmas weekend is more about legs than opening weekend. On the other hand, the prior films all opened on a Wednesday, meaning that their would-be opening weekend was spread out of five days. And of course, we have to take into account nine years of inflation and the whole 3D/IMAX price bump. So purely looking at inflation and comparing the Fri-Sun portion, this opening is about on par with The Two Towers ($62 million, but $84 million adjusted for inflation) and well ahead of Fellowship of the Ring’s ($72 million, but adjusted-for-inflation $66 million) and King Kong ($50 million, and $62 million adjusted for inflation) for what that’s worth. It’s a bit behind the $72 million/$95 million opening of The Return of the King.

Richard Gere to Receive the Chairman’s Award

The 24th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present Richard Gere with the Chairman’s Award on January 5 at the Awards Gala. Presented by Cartier, the Awards Gala will be held at the Palm Springs Convention Center. Hosted by Mary Hart, the Gala will also present awards to previously announced honorees the cast of Argo, Bradley Cooper, Sally Field, Helen Hunt, Helen Mirren, Naomi Watts and Robert Zemeckis. The Festival runs January 3-14.
“Throughout his career Richard Gere has established himself as an accomplished actor and producer and yet still finds time to support crucial cultural and humanitarian causes,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “Over the years we’ve seen Mr. Gere in many memorable roles, however with Arbitrage, he turns in one of his strongest career performances to date, bringing to life a hedge-fund magnate whose world is upended amid personal and professional turmoil that threatens to spiral wildly out of his control. To this star of many talents the Palm Springs International Film Festival is proud to present the 2012 Chairman’s Award to Richard Gere.” Past recipients of the Chairman’s Award include Ben Affleck, George Clooney, Dustin Hoffman and Nicole Kidman.
Richard Gere stars in Arbitrage from Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions. Gere plays New York hedge-fund magnate Robert Miller, who on the eve of his 60th birthday is desperate to complete the sale of his trading empire and makes an error that forces him to turn to an unlikely person for help. The film is written and directed by Nicholas Jarecki and stars Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Tim Roth, Brit Marling, Laetitia Casta and Nate Parker. For Arbitrage, Gere received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama.
Richard Gere is known for his diversity of roles, from his Golden Globe winning performance in Chicago to the critically acclaimed Pretty Women, An Officer and a Gentleman, American Gigolo, and Primal Fear. His other film credits include Amelia, Brooklyn’s Finest, Nights in Rodanthe, I’m Not There, The Hoax, The Hunting Party, Shall We Dance, Bee Season, Unfaithful, The Mothman Prophecies, Looking Mr. Goodbar, Blood Brothers, Breathless, Beyond the Limit, The Cotton Club, Power, No Mercy, Yanks, Looking, Miles From Home, Internal Affairs, Runaway Bride and Dr. T and the Women. Gere’s motion picture debut was the Oscar-honored Days of Heaven, for which he received the Italian equivalent of the Academy Award.

Jessica Alba & Honor Wear Matching Outfits Again, Are Adorable (PHOTOS)

Here's a new pattern we're loving: Jessica Alba and her daughter, Honor, dressing in matching outfits.
The ombre-haired actress and her 4-year-old daughter were seen taking a walk in Beverly Hills on Wednesday wearing adorably coordinated black leather jackets, gray tights and scarves. (Honor went rogue with her silver booties, which we actually prefer to her mommy's.)
This may have been a coincidence, but Jessica and Honor have done the matchy-matchy thing before in denim vests, white tees and patterned bottoms.
If this mother-daughter matching is going to become a trend, we're so on-board... as long as it's limited to cute celebrity kids and Hollywood moms with stylists. Otherwise things could go seriously awry.
Check out the stylish Alba ladies, below.
PHOTOS:

On the Road (***) Film Review

After what feels like just about an eternity, I finally saw ‘On the Road’ back in early October at one of the first screenings post Toronto. This is a film that’s been on the verge of release so long it’s almost become an annual joke between Clayton and myself about including it in predictions at the start of each season. Well, this is the year that we can finally talk about the adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s legendary book and where it stands in the Oscar race. The verdict on the awards front is that it’s a long shot at best in most categories.
Aside from that though, this is a pretty good, if difficult, road trip drama with some notably strong acting from Garret Hedlund and Kristen Stewart especially. Sam Riley is very solid too, but those first two really shine. Walter Salles has shot an absolutely beautiful movie and along with scribe Jose Rivera has captured the words of Kerouac about as well as one could have hoped for (by using the original scroll, actually), even dating back to the days of Francis Ford Coppola seeking to adapt the seminal novel.

Celebrities Without Makeup: Who Needs It and Who Doesn’t?

Left: Katy Perry Without Makeup (Source: Twitpic) Right: Katy Perry With Makeup (Source: Nylon Magazine)

Who can forget the photo on the left? Katy Perry’s husband, Russell Brand, tweeted this picture of his lovely bride a few months back and deleted it not long after, probably due to protests from his wife. In all honesty, I don’t think she looks that bad. Granted, she doesn’t look great but she doesn’t look all that bad. Let’s not ignore the fact that she’s sort of got a weird expression on her face and has probably just gotten out of bed. Even so, it’s hard to argue that Katy doesn’t look a lot better with makeup.

Left: Lisa Rinna Without Makeup (Source: Twitter) Right: Lisa Rinna With Makeup (Source: exposay.com)

I wanted to put a better-without-makeup picture here, but I thought that was best left for later in the article. I couldn’t pass up the chance to give serious props to two lovely and fearless Hollywood babes who took to their Twitter and Facebook accounts respectively to show the world what they look like without makeup. First, Lisa Rinna. Sure she looks more glamorous with makeup but honestly, I think she looks pretty good without makeup too – better than I do, anyway.

 

Left: Teri Hatcher Without Makeup (Source: Facebook) Right: Teri Hatcher With Makeup (Source: sofeminine.ca)

Teri Hatcher took to her Facebook account to strike back at claims that she uses too much Botox by posting pictures of herself that she took just after getting out of the shower. Along with the pictures, she posted a message admitting to using fillers and injections in the past but also telling women that they are beautiful. Does Teri look better with makeup? Yes. Much, much better, but having the guts to post those pictures on her official Facebook page knowing the media would pick them up and broadcast them around the world made her far more attractive to me than most of the celebrities on there. Note to Megan Fox: this is how you shut the critics up. Sure Megan’s pictures showed she probably hasn’t had Botox, but the layers of makeup she had on in those photos really took a lot of punch out of the message. Teri took this picture completely barefaced and natural and I still think she looks beautiful.

So who else looks lovely with a natural face? Who really needs the time in the makeup chair to look their best? Let’s take a look at some of Hollywood’s most famous female celebrities without makeup broken down into the categories I think they belong in. Don’t agree? Make sure you let me know in the comments section at the end of the post.

Better With Makeup

Looking better with makeup doesn’t necessarily mean you look bad without it. It just means that wearing a little makeup brings out your natural beauty. That’s the case with most (but not all) of the ladies I’ve included in this section.

Left: Britney Spears Without Makeup (Source: amazingdata.com) Right: Britney Spears With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Charlize Theron Without Makeup (Source: amazingdata.com) Right: Charlize Theron With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Christina Applegate Without Makeup (Source: withoutmakeup.com) Right: Christina Applegate With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Courtney Cox Without Makeup (Source: withoutmakeup.com) Right: Courtney Cox With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Debra Messing Without Makeup (Source: withoutmakeup.com) Right: Debra Messing With Makeup (Source: fanpop.com)

Left: Drew Barrymore Without Makeup (Source: amazingdata.com) Right: Drew Barrymore With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Emmanuelle Chriqui Without Makeup (Source: foxnews.com) Right: Emmanuelle Chriqui With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Gisele Bundchen Without Makeup (Source: withoutmakeup.com) Right: Gisele Bundchen With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Gwyneth Paltrow Without Makeup (Source: amazingdata.com) Right: Gwyneth Paltrow With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Heidi Klum Without Makeup (Source: amazingdata.com) Right: Heidi Klum With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Janice Dickinson Without Makeup (Source: foxnews.com) Right: Janice Dickinson With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Jennifer Garner Without Makeup (Source: amazingdata.com) Right: Jennifer Garner With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Jennifer Love Hewitt Without Makeup (Source: amazingdata.com) Right: Jennifer Love Hewitt With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Jessica Alba Without Makeup (Source: withoutmakeup.com) Right: Jessica Alba With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Kate Hudson Without Makeup (Source: withoutmakeup.com) Right: Kate Hudson With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Katherine Heigl Without Makeup (Source: amazingdata.com) Right: Katherine Heigl With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: LeAnn Rimes Without Makeup (Source: foxnews.com) Right: LeAnn Rimes With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Marcia Cross Without Makeup (Source: foxnews.com) Right: Marcia Cross With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Molly Sims Without Makeup (Source: foxnews.com) Right: Molly Sims With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Pamela Anderson Without Makeup (Source: amazingdata.com) Right: Pamela Anderson With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Reese Witherspoon Without Makeup (Source: withoutmakeup.com) Right: Reese Witherspoon With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Rihanna Without Makeup (Source: withoutmakeup.com) Right: Rihanna With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Better Without Makeup

A little makeup can go along way but there are some women in Hollywood that just look better fresh faced and natural. This section is fairly small because there just aren’t many women that can claim makeup takes away from their natural beauty. Many of the women I’ve included here have a special something about them that makes them stand out and all too often, makeup takes that ‘something special’ and makes it ‘something typical’.

Left: Cindy Crawford Without Makeup (Source: withoutmakeup.com) Right: Cindy Crawford With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Diana Agron Without Makeup (Source: foxnews.com) Right: Diana Agron With Makeup (Source: foxnews.com)

Left: Ellen Pompeo Without Makeup (Source: foxnews.com) Right: Ellen Pompeo With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Jessica Biel Without Makeup (Source: foxnews.com) Right: Jessica Biel With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Jessica Simpson Without Makeup (Source: amazingdata.com) Right: Jessica Simpson With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Kate Winslet Without Makeup (Source: withoutmakeup.com) Right: Kate Winslet With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Kendra Wilkinson Without Makeup (Source: withoutmakeup.com) Right: Kendra Wilkinson With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Beautiful Either Way

I was a little surprised to see how many women fit into this category. I was one of those somewhat jaded people who thought most of the gorgeous faces I see on the red carpet would look much different without a hair and makeup team and in a lot of cases, I was wrong. They don’t really look better with makeup or without makeup. Their natural beauty shines through no matter what they do.

Left: Adriana Lima Without Makeup (Source: withoutmakeup.com) Right: Adriana Lima With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Alyson Hannigan Without Makeup (Source: foxnews.com) Right: Alyson Hannigan With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Amanda Peet Without Makeup (Source: foxnews.com) Right: Amanda Peet With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Amanda Seyfried Without Makeup (Source: withoutmakeup.com) Right: Amanda Seyfried With Makeup (Source: fanpop.com)

Left: Anne Hathaway Without Makeup (Source: amazingdata.com) Right: Anne Hathaway With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Ashley Green Without Makeup (Source: foxnews.com) Right: Ashley Green With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Beyoncé Without Makeup (Source: withoutmakeup.com) Right: Beyoncé With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Calista Flockhart Without Makeup (Source: foxnews.com) Right: Calista Flockhart With Makeup (Source: buddytv.com)

Left: Ciara Without Makeup (Source: foxnews.com) Right: Ciara With Makeup (Source: fanpop.com)

Left: Eva Longoria Without Makeup (Source: amazingdata.com) Right: Eva Longoria With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Hilary Duff Without Makeup (Source: foxnews.com) Right: Hilary Duff With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Isabel Lucas Without Makeup (Source: foxnews.com) Right: Isabel Lucas With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: January Jones Without Makeup (Source: withoutmakeup.com) Right: January Jones With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Jennifer Hudson Without Makeup (Source: withoutmakeup.com) Right: Jennifer Hudson With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Jennifer Lopez Without Makeup (Source: withoutmakeup.com) Right: Jennifer Lopez With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Jordana Brewster Without Makeup (Source: foxnews.com) Right: Jordana Brewster With Makeup (Source: foxnews.com)

Left: Kim Kardashian Without Makeup (Source: foxnews.com) Right: Kim Kardashian With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)

Left: Mila Kunis Without Makeup (Source: withoutmakeup.com) Right: Mila Kunis With Makeup (Source: fanpop.com)

Left: Vanessa Hudgens Without Makeup (Source: amazingdata.com) Right: Vanessa Hudgens With Makeup (Source: askmen.com)