
Now that the
Twilight series's popularity has reached a deafening pitch with the release of
Breaking Dawn, there is starting to be a bit of blowback, particularly concerning the messages it might be sending to young, female readers. Many
have noted Bella's
low self-esteem, stating that she may not be the best role model for the young tweens captivated by this tale of vampire love.
But Twilight is not the first young adult series to cause a stir.

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and
Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in
What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue. In addition to the titles below, you can now rent or own the
fourth season of Beverly Hills 90210, which — according to Netflix and my memory—includes moments like Andrea finding out she's pregnant and Brandon meeting Bill Clinton!
Feb 21 2008 - 2:00pm by
Molly

Nicole Kidman went from
sheer and black at the press conference to long and white for the Tokyo premiere of
The Golden Compass today. Her baby bump is still barely noticeable, but the mom-to-be definitely had that certain glow about her. While she's all the way over in Asia, Keith is still on tour with Carrie Underwood here in the states.

Nicole may be five months pregnant, but there was hardly any hint of a bump under her crazy-looking dress at a press conference for
The Golden Compass in Tokyo today. Once the baby arrives there will be lots of big changes for Nicole of course, including the kinds of projects she will be tackling. The mom-to-be said that having children helps her look forward to taking on more kid-friendly films like this one.

Every week up until the
Oscars, I'll be featuring the nominees in the various visual categories. This week, I'm looking at the nominees for Best Art Direction, which encompasses the entire look and feel of a film from the scenery to the lighting. So far we've looked at stills from two other nominees in this category:
American Gangster and
Atonement.

There were smiles all round on Sunday night, as the
British Academy of Film and Television award winners were announced in London. Jonathan Ross presented the award ceremony, in place of the familiar Stephen Fry, and the gongs were split fairly evenly over the best films of last year. Out of its massive haul of fourteen nominations, Atonement picked up only two awards – although one of those was the top award of Best Film, and La Vie En Rose picked up four awards.

It seems to be all the rage to find fodder for movies within books these days, and 2007 featured a good number of book-to-film adaptations. Aside from the beloved Harry Potter movie, this year's projects were met with varied success.
The Golden Compass, based on the first of Philip Pullman's series
His Dark Materials was not exactly praised by either those who read the book or those who had not.

Nicole Kidman kept it simple in a
LBD and a
much-sleeker hairstyle at a charity screening of
The Golden Compass in Sydney today. Spending time with the kids from the Children's Hospital is obviously one of Nicole's passions — this time last year she
shared her Happy Feet with the kids, and she's already talking about coming back next year.
She said, "This is a small gesture and I would just like to say I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Nicole Kidman shined in her silver Balenciaga pantsuit in Sydney on Sunday at the premiere of
The Golden Compass. Nic had her parents and sister by her side and spoke about how she was thrilled to be home despite the rainy weather and her latest film
losing the top spot this weekend. Remaining in good spirits,
Nicole said, "It is nice to be able to come and say, 'Thank you' to the fans, especially since I've been here for nine months now filming Australia."