According to Bruce Springsteen himself, the album is created from material that is much in the same vein of 2007’s Magic album, material that more feasibly would make up a whole new album rather than another couple songs on Springsteen’s previous album. Although Springsteen has been known to slowly produce his albums in the past, Working on a Dream is the fruit of a remarkably quick period of labor for the beloved singer. By January 12, 2009, the album had already leaked onto the internet, but the official release of the music will not occur until January 27, 2009. The release of the album was preceded by a Golden Globe Award for Springsteen for his song, “The Wrestler” and will be followed on February 1, 2009, with a halftime show performance from The Boss himself.

Bruce Springsteen was born in Long Branch, New Jersey and he spent his high school years in Freehold Boro, attending Freehold Regional High School. His father was a bus driver and his mother a legal secretary, while both of his sisters, Virginia and Pamela, are photographers. When Springsteen, raised Roman Catholic, attended parochial school, he often did not get along with the nuns and the rest of the students, but a heavy Catholic influence is present in much of his music regardless. Throughout high school, Springsteen never quite felt comfortable with his peers and his surroundings, to the point where he even opted to skip his own graduation as to not have to go through with the ceremony. As a teenager, Springsteen spent much of his time learning to play the guitar and sing, and his self-teaching paid off in 1965 when Springsteen met with two music patrons who would help Springsteen to become the lead guitarist and singer of his own band, The Castiles.

From there, Springsteen continued to play the local circuit, next with a power trio known as Earth. Around this time, Springsteen earned his nickname, “The Boss” because of his practice of collecting the band’s money and dividing it among the band members. His big break came in 1972 when talent scout John Hammond signed Springsteen to Columbia Records, along with many of Springsteen’s New Jersey colleagues. In January 1973, Springsteen released his debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., to much critical acclaim, but sales were not as quick as would have been desired. His second album received a similar response from critics and the public alike: while the album was lauded by many, the sales of Springsteen’s sophomore album were less than stellar. Regardless, Springsteen’s sound, along with that of his E Street Band, continued to evolve as they created larger songs in form and scope. Springsteen’s next effort, Born to Run, proved to be difficult to produce, with Springsteen growing more and more frustrated and unhappy with the results of the recording. He would be cast into the public eye, though, with his legendary five-night, ten-show stand at New York’s Bottom Line club, and the widespread publicity this caused made Born to Run a massive critical and respectable popular success. Soon, Springsteen was in the forefront of the rock and roll community, a household name and an iconic figure.

Bruce Springsteen’s sound continued to evolve into the 1980s, much of it having to do with his personal life. His Nebraska album, a solo acoustic depiction of American life, was said to have been influenced by deep depression and disenchantment. The album would not sell much, but it went on to achieve massive critical acclaim, named the album of the year by Rolling Stone magazine. In 1984, Springsteen would release Born in the U.S.A, which became one of the biggest-selling albums of all time. Selling 15 million albums, Born in the U.S.A. would spawn seven hit singles, the most successful of these “Dancing in the Dark”. International megastardom would follow the release of the album as well as the extensive touring, consisting of the height of Springsteen’s mainstream visibility. Throughout the 1990s, Springsteen continued to tour and release albums, but this period marked a spat of rare disappointment of fans and critics alike, but by the turn of the millennium, Springsteen was back into the hearts and minds of the world with a sold-out ten-night engagement in Madison Square Garden in 2000. His 2002 album, The Rising, was a critical and popular success, and Springsteen’s fan base across the world continued to grow. In the mid-2000s, Springfield would become more politically active, participating in the Vote for Change tour. Springsteen would debut his new song, “Working on a Dream”, at a November 2, 2008 political rally in support of Barack Obama.

The Working on a Dream album was recorded with the E Street Band during breaks on the 2007-2008 Magic tour, finishing most of the songs in just a few takes. This stood in contrast to Springsteen’s attempts to record Born to Run in the 1980s, for example, as he had come to be known for taking his time on his albums. One of the songs from the album, “What Can Love Do”, was written, according to Springsteen, as a “love in the time of Bush” meditation, while the bonus song, “The Wrestler”, first appeared in conjunction with the release of the film, The Wrestler, at the 65th Venice International Film Festival. On January 11, 2009, the song would win a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, the album version having been released on iTunes on December 16, 2008. Springsteen introduced the title track at a Barack Obama rally, and then a chopped-up airing of the recorded version of the song appeared at halftime and an NBC Sunday Night Football airing. On November 21, the song began appearing on radios, and on November 24, the song was made available for a free download on iTunes. Several other songs have been released as free downloads throughout the course of the album’s production.

According to the track listing, the songs on the album greatly vary in length, with “Outlaw Pete” clocking in at eight minutes and other song just under three minutes. The New York Times has called the released work “more hopeful, less bleak” reflecting a lyrical departure from some of Springsteen’s previous efforts. Springsteen, throughout his long career in music, has explored many different moods and styles of music, with most of his works receiving extensive critical acclaim and a strong reaction from fans all around the world. The Boss has become one of the most notable names in rock and roll history all around the world, and as his expected upcoming tour should show, his fan base shows no sign of dwindling with time. If you count yourself among the almost innumerable lovers of Bruce Springsteen, from casual listener to the hardcore fan that attends every stop on the concert, you owe it to yourself to have a listen to Working on a Dream, due to be released on January 27, 2009.

The plot of Inkheart focuses on twelve-year-old Meggie Folchart who realizes that her father, Mortimer, has the magical ability to bring characters from books into the real world by reading aloud. This unusual ability takes Meggie and Mo on many adventures throughout the world, particularly Europe, and allows them to meet several unusual and fantastic characters. On January 23, 2009, a film adaptation of Inkheart will be released in the United States and Canada. Eliza Bennett and Brendan Fraser will star as Meggie and Mo, while actors Paul Bettany, Rafi Gavron, Jim Broadbent, Helen Mirren, and others will play several of the characters that come out of the books. Director Iain Softley, known for such films as 2005’s The Skeleton Key, will direct the film.

One night, as twelve-year-old Meggie Folchart listens to the rain, a stranger approaches her house. The man is an acquaintance of Meggie’s father, Mortimer, and his name is Dustfinger. The reason for his visit is to warn Mortimer that somebody is searching for him, causing the three of him to leave the home, even though Meggie and Mortimer have not been there long due to the fact that are constantly moving. They depart to Italy, where Meggie learns that she and her father are fleeing a mysterious man named Capricorn. Meggie and Mo will live with her mother’s aunt Elinor, even though Meggie has never seen her mother. Meggie seeks solace in the strange transition through books, but despite the fact that Mortimer, who works as a bookbinder, and Meggie both love books, Mo refuses to read aloud to her.

While Meggie and Mo are staying at Elinor’s house, Capricorn’s men come and take Mo to Capricorn’s village as Dustfinger entertains Meggie, a move that eventually turns out to entail Dustfinger betraying Mo in order to save himself. Perhaps swayed by his guilt, Dustfinger joins Meggie and Elinor on a quest to follow Mo and his captor in order to return Mo to Elinor’s house and to keep him out of Capricorn’s grasp. Mo’s captor is an evil servant of Capricorn named Basta and he will not easily let Mo go. Meggie eventually learns that the reason her father never read aloud to her is because Mo has the strange power to read characters in and out of books, and that in a freak accident, Mo sent Meggie’s mother into the book Inkworld and brought Capricorn, Basta, Dustfinger, and Gwin out of the book. Although Mo eventually chases away all of the villains and attempts for several years to read his wife, Theresa, out of Inkworld and into the real world, he fails, and must live life with Meggie constantly on the move. Capricorn wants to use Mo’s powers to further his own evil plot, and in order to avoid being caught by Capricorn, Mo and Meggie must always keep moving.

Capricorn gets the leg up on Mo by capturing Meggie, Elinor, and Dustfinger, intending to use them as hostages in order to force Mo to read aloud. Despite fearing the repercussions of his reading, Mo agrees to do as Capricorn bids, with the stipulation that he will only read if he is holding Meggie. This is because he cannot read Meggie into the book world as long as he is touching her, and he would rather not have a situation similar to the one he faced with his wife Theresa. Mo successfully reads a passage from Treasure Island, filling the room with gold, but when he reads a passage from One Thousands and One Nights, all that emerges from the book is a boy named Farid. Swayed by his remorse at betraying Mo and realizing how drastic of a mistake he made, Dustfinger helps to free Meggie, Mo, and Elinor. Meggie convinces Dustfinger to bring along Farid, and the five of them steal one of Capricorn’s cars in order to get away. The crew speeds away to the Italian Coast where they begin to formulate a plan to put an end to Capricorn’s evil plots. Mo realizes that the only way to stop Capricorn is to find a copy of Inkworld and read Capricorn and Basta back into the book, and in order to do so, he must find the author of the book, Fenoglio.

When the crew finally finds Fenoglio, they discover that he lives in a small village. Although Dustfinger is horrified to learn that he is actually a character from a novel and that he is slated to die at the end of the book in the original plot, Fenoglio seems like he will help Mo. Unfortunately, he and Meggie are captured by Basta, who brings them back to Capricorn’s village to use them as bait. Mo and the rest of his entourage sneak back to Capricorn’s village, where they try to figure out how to save Meggie. Meanwhile, Meggie discovers that she has the same powers as her father and can also be used by Capricorn to aid him in his evil plot. Together with the rest of the characters from Inkheart, as well as with her father and Fenoglio, Maggie figures out a way to thwart Capricorn’s plans through the clever usage of her power.

As early as summer 2007, author Cornelia Funke is quoted as saying that the movie had had its second screening and that she was extremely pleased with how the movie was turning out. Originally, production of the movie progressed very slowly, as with The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, and several delays have pushed the film back significantly. Slated to be released on Christmas 2007, the release date was then pushed back to March 19, 2008, but the writers’ strike pushed the release of the movie back even further to its current date of January 23, 2009. Inkheart was filmed near London, England at Shepperton studios from 2006 to 2007. New Line Cinema will distribute the film, hoping to avoid any situation similar to the writers’ strike that would delay the release of the film even further. Several differences between the movie and the book exist, which might make a purist cringe, but otherwise, the film looks to be a faithful adaptation true to the style of the Inkworld trilogy.

The “German J.K. Rowling,” Cornelia Funke, has brought her award-winning series of books to a global audience, garnering much critical acclaim, popularity, and commercial success in the process. New Line Cinema will release the film adaptation of the first book of the Inkworld trilogy, Inkheart, on January 23, 2009 in the United States and Canada. Stars Brendan Fraser and Eliza Bennett will bring the characters of Mortimer and Meggie Folchart to life in a feature film that is sure to be a hit with the whole family.

Coming out on January 9, 2009, Bride Wars is a romantic comedy film directed by 13 Going on 30’s Gary Winick, and written by SNL’s Casey Wilson and Greg DePaul. Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway star as the titular brides in a movie about the worst kind of conflict, one centered on two brides-to-be that have planned their perfect day since they were little girls. The two brides, who are slated to be each others’ maids-of-honor in their perfect wedding ceremonies, discover that they have planned their weddings for the same exact day, and when neither can move the day of the wedding, war erupts. The two brides go from best friends to rivals as each tries to outdo the other on their happy day. Billed as “Mean Girls for Women,” Bride Wars is slated to be a film about a good old-fashioned best friend rivalry as the two happy brides go head-to-head in an attempt to have the more elaborate, popular, and memorable wedding ceremony.

Liv, played by Kate Hudson, and Emma, played by Anne Hathaway, are best friends. Like many little girls, the two best friends played “Here Comes the Bride” in their attics as little girls, planning every aspect of their glorious wedding, right down to the colors of the flowers. Even as little girls, the two knew that, without a doubt, their weddings would be held at New York’s ultimate bridal destination, the Plaza Hotel. No other venue would do for the elaborate ceremony that the girls planned. Fast forward to age 26: both women are about to get married, realizing the dreams that they have held so dear since they were little girls. Finally, after years and years of waiting, Liv and Emma get to invite their whole family to the ceremony that they have been dreaming about for all of their lives, the wedding that marks the beginning of happily-ever-after. Of course, it will not be that easy. A minor clerical error turns out to be the most major error of either of the two women’s lives as both of their weddings become planned for the same exact day. Learning about this error turns two bright, reasonable best friends completely against each other in an explosive revelation that almost completely dissolves whatever best friendship they may have had before.

Liv is a successful lawyer that is completely used to getting what she wants. She has the perfect job and she found the perfect man, and the only thing left for her to have is the perfect wedding. Her best friend, Emma, is a schoolteacher who has always been gifted with a sense of compassion and kindheartedness. While Emma is very good about caring for others and making sure that they get exactly what they want, she is not very good about taking care of herself. For that reason, it is not quite in her nature to contest Liv’s designs on having the wedding at the Plaza Hotel, or at least that is how it seems. Sure enough, the outrageous situation brings out the inner beast in Liv, fueling a frightening desire to get exactly what she wants when she thinks her wedding day is at stake. What starts as a relatively reasonable conflict escalates into a no-holds barred wedding fiasco that tests a best friendship through what becomes an all-out war.

Director Gary Winick is known for directing “13 Going on 30”, and the live-action, computer-animated feature film “Charlotte’s Web” based on the book of the same name by E.B. White. Before embarking on his film career, Winick taught at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts for seven years. In 1999, Winick teamed up with John Sloss and IFC Productions to create Independent Digital Entertainment to produce digital video feature films for theatrical release. Winick produced “Final,” directed by Campbell Scott, “Chelsea Walls,” directed by Ethan Hawke, “Tape,” directed by Richard Linklater, “Women in Film,” directed by Bruce Wagner, and a variety of other notable film projects. Screenwriter Casey Wilson joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in the 07-08 season, while the other screenwrite, June Raphael, has closely worked with Wilson and other comedians in producing a variety of women’s sketch comedy shows.

Kate Hudson’s breakout role came in 2000 when she played “band aid” Penny Lane in Cameron Crowe’s much acclaimed film “Almost Famous”. Winning a Golden Globe Award and becoming nominated for an Oscar, a Screen Actor’s Guild Award, and a BAFTA award for her work in the film, Kate Hudson was propelled to fame, winning many honors from critical groups around the country and elevating her to near household name status. Subsequent roles in Robert Altman’s “Dr. T and the Women,” “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” Rob Reiner’s “Alex and Emma,” and Merchant-Ivory’s contemporary comedy “Le Divorce,” among several other successful movies, have cemented Kate Hudson’s status as one of the most acclaimed actresses in Hollywood today. In Bride Wars, Kate Hudson plays smart, successful Liv, as well as producing the film.

Anne Hathway’s rise to fame began with the 2006 film “The Devil Wears Prada,” acting opposite Meryl Streep in the critically-acclaimed blockbuster. She also recently received much critical acclaim for her work in the challenging role of Kym in “Rachel Getting Married,” directed by Jonathan Demme. This year, she has starred opposite Steve Carrell in “Get Smart,” as well as in Rodrigo Garcia’s “Passengers” with Patrick Wilson. Among other successful film credits, Hathaway has lent much of her time to community service across the world, contributing to Angelina Jolie’s documentary “A Moment in the World” about Cambodia, as well as to the Step Up Women’s Network, a group that increases the amount of community resources available to women and girls. She is also a member of the advisory board for Lollipop Theater Network, which screens movies in hospitals for pediatric patients suffering from chronic or life-threatening illnesses. Hathaway has contributed to this organization on a variety of levels. Since 2000, Hathaway has maintained a strong presence in Hollywood, and she brings a great amount of experience to the role of Emma, the schoolteacher.

Other members of the cast include Candice Bergen of Murphy Brown fame, Chris Pratt of Everwood fame, Bryan Greenberg of One Tree Hill and October Road, Steve Howey of Reba, and Kristen Johnson from 3rd Rock from the Sun. Writers June Raphael and Casey DePaul completed the shooting script for the film before the 2007-2008 Writer’s Guild of America strike began. Some of the principal photography for the film took place at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, while the rest of the film has been mainly filmed in Boston, Massachusetts, New York City, and the city of Salem, Massachusetts. Bride Wars will be released in theaters on January 9, 2009, and it promises to be an entertaining romp through the frightening territory of the Bridezilla. Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway play two brides who will do anything to make sure that their wedding is the best wedding possible, even if it comes at the expense of their former best friend’s happy day. The two talented actresses will bring their massive talents to Winick’s film to make a movie experience that every bride-to-be can enjoy.

Shop Around the Corner

By day, Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan are bickering coworkers. By night they’re conducting a romance–on paper. And it all takes place at the Shop Around the Corner during the busiest time of the year. The final scene comes Christmas Eve, which is reason enough to include it in this list.

There have been two remakes–as a musical starring Judy Garland and updated for the Internet age as “You’ve Got Mail”. But nothing can match the charm of the original.

Old movie buffs love to talk about the great couples of the silver screen of old: Hepburn and Tracy, Bogie and Bacall, Fred and Ginger. Stewart and Sullavan have the same great chemistry. The couple starred in four movies together; it’s time for us to recognize their place together in the pantheon. “Shop Around the Corner” is the best of the best.

Holiday Affair

Janet Leigh is a single mother who makes her living as a commercial spy. During the course of her duties, she causes salesclerk Robert Mitchum to lose his job. Romance follows, aided by Leigh’s son Timmy, who desperately wants an electric train for Christmas and desperately disapproves of his mother’s relationship with a buttoned up lawyer.

Also known as “The Gift” and “The Man Who Played Santa Claus,” this 1949 movie provides a welcome change for those of us who have vowed never to sit through another showing of “It’s a Wonderful Life” as long as we live.

Meet Me in St. Louis

Not a Christmas movie, you say? This one makes the list for Judy Garland’s version of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” one of the gold standards of Christmas pop. Plus, the climax of the movie comes at Christmas when the family’s dreams come true. How much more Christmas-sy can you get?

Scrooged

Everyone and his brother’s brother has done some sort of spin on the Christmas Carol, Bill Murray’s modern day Ebenezer Scrooge as a heartless TV executive is the best of a generally bad lot. You gotta give props to a show with a movie within a movie that’s a musical version of the original starring Buddy Hackett as Scrooge and Mary Lou Retton as Tiny Tim. “She won’t just throw away her crutches. She’ll do a double somersault!”

A Christmas Carol

Speaking of Ebenzer, the straight up version played by Alastair Sim is the one to watch this or any year. It’s been done to death, but this is the best.

A Christmas Story

“You’ll shoot your eye out, kid.” This tale of a boy’s lust for an “official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock” has become a cult classic. But don’t let that stop you from watching it.

Miracle on 34th Street

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. And he works for Macy’s. Another flick that’s being constantly remade; accept no substitutes. “Miracle” stars Natalie Wood as an unbelieving child and Edmund Gwenn as the jolly old elf. It’s the movie that made the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade world famous.

Holiday Inn

The movie in “White Christmas” debuts has got to make the cut. Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire are one-time partners and romantic rivals. After Bing loses a girl to Fred he opens a club that’s only open on holidays. Conveniently, Irving Berlin writes the songs for the club.

Berlin’s “White Christmas” went on to become one of the most popular recorded songs in history. For many years it remained the largest-selling single in history, only to be supplanted by Elton John’s rerecording of “Candle in the Wind” in honor of Princess Diana. Which just goes to show you what a degraded age we live in.

White Christmas

Not to be confused with “Holiday Inn,” on which this 1954 film is loosely based. Crosby’s back with Danny Kaye as his partner. The two fall in love with a pair of singing, dancing sisters–Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen–and they all band together to put on a show.

The Santa Clause

When divorced father Tim Allen inadvertently kills St. Nick, he finds out he’s got to take the fat man’s place. Though Allen kicks and screams against fate, he suddenly develops a white beard that will not go away, an alarming propensity for seasonal sweaters and a diet of milk and cookies. A kid’s movie that grownups can enjoy.

Christmas in Connecticut

Barbara Stanwyck plays a magazine writer with a popular column titled “Diary of a Housewife” that details her life with her husband and children on a small farm in Connecticut. Chock full of recipes and homespun wisdom, it catches the eye of a wounded war hero who wants only to spend Christmas at this real-life Eden. Too bad Stanwyck really lives in New York, is single and can’t boil an egg. Hijinks and romance ensue as the magazine’s editor corrals Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan and a pair of infant twins into a borrowed farm for a manufactured Christmas. Add Sydney Greenstreet and you’ve got the perfect present for Christmas.

Elf

Will Ferrell’s performance really raises this fish-out-of-water tale above the commonplace; Bob Newhart, Ed Asner, Zooey Deschanel and James Caan help, too. But it’s the sincerity of Ferrell’s character that makes it work. Buddy is a human raised as an elf on the North Pole who goes to New York to meet his real Dad, a denizen of the “naughty list.”

Home Alone

An eight-year-old’s fantasy come true. McCauley Culkin’s parents forget to take him on a Christmas trip to Paris, leaving the kid free to eat sundaes for breakfast, stay up all night and booby trap the house in an effort to stop two burglars from getting in.

One of the big advantages of big city life is the variety of cultural events on offer and that’s doubly true for the holidays. Here’s a look at some of the hottest holiday shows in the big metropolitan areas.
New York

Chanticleer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
The world’s number one male chorus gives an annual concert in the museum’s Medieval Sculpture Hall for an event that delights the eyes and the ears. The concerts are presented in front of the Museum’s Christmas Tree and a Neapolitan Baroque Crèche.

Holiday Brass
The New York Philharmonic’s principal brass quintet teams with the Canadian Brass Orchestra for an evening of carols. Another annual tradition in NYC, tickets for the December 14 concert run from $45-$75.

The Vienna Boys Choir at Carnegie Hall
A staple of the New York Christmas experience, the December 14 program includes traditional sacred music and folk songs from around the world. The boys range in age from 10 to 14. They have made more than 20 Carnegie Hall appearances since 1937 and have performed annual holiday concerts since 1990.

Radio City Christmas Spectacular
It’s got music, it’s got Santa, it’s got dancing girls. A 75-year-old tradition, the Radio City Christmas Show features the world-famous Rockettes, a chorus line of 150 high-kicking girls. Although it varies slightly from year to year, the show hasn’t changed much over the years. Over a million flock to the show each year, both in New York and in other cities across the US. In New York, the show runs for nine weeks over Christmas.

Nutcracker
Adorable children, marching toy soldiers, a glowing one-ton Christmas tree, mischievous mice, waltzing snowflakes, the Land of Sweets and beautiful dancing by beautiful dancers. This is the gold standard, the version choreographed by George Balanchine and put on annually by the New York City Ballet Company. The ballet runs through January 2. Tickets range from $20–$215.

The Yorkville Nutcracker
This version of the ballet takes the audience on a whirlwind tour of NYC circa 1890 going from the the mayor’s house at Gracie Mansion to the Dakota building to the Pond at Central Park and the New York Botanical Garden, which doubles as the Kingdom of Sweets. The show runs Thursday through Sundays in December.

Gay Men’s Chorus Holiday Spectacular
The 250-member chorus has been performing traditional Christmas music for 29 years at Carnegie Hall.

A Simply Barbra Holiday Spectacular
Steven Brinberg pays homage to Barbara Streisand in this holiday-themed drag show with help from cabaret singer Julie Wilson.

Winter Solstice Concerts at St John the Divine
Mark the longest night of the year in the world’s largest gothic cathedral with a theatrical concert featuring gongs, giant balls, dancers and the music of saxophonist Paul Winter.

Chicago

Caroling at Cloud Gate
Fridays throughout December 19, listen to and sing along with different Chicago choral groups, including the Apollo Chorus, the Wooten Choral Ensemble, the Chicago Chamber Choir and the Chicago Children’s Choir.

The Hipmas Carol
A retelling of the Dickens classic told through rhyming couplets and the guitar of Ritch Valadez. Tyler Bohne and Patrick Zielinski play 26 characters and narrate the tale in a “Lord Buckley meets Dr. Seuss beat story scat,” without changing costumes or leaving the stage. The show opens Thursday, December 4 and runs through December 20.

Dance-Along Nutcracker
Young and old alike take center stage as the audience is encouraged to don tutus, tiaras and ballet slippers alongside professional dancers. The story will be narrated by Chicago’s own Mia Park.

Holiday Pops
The best loved holiday music and songs performed by the 140 member Holiday Pops Chorus and the the Southport Symphony Orchestra.

Tidings of Tap
Features seasonal standards and lesser-known songs as well as the spectacular dancing of Chicago Tap Theater. Covers Christmas, Hanukkah and the snowy season.

A Reasonable Facsimile’s Chicago Christmas Spectacular
A politically incorrect Christmas show with carols–all written by visitors to the repertory company’s website who were in turn inspired by pictures of the cast members celebrating Christmases past.

Los Angeles

Grinchmas
Visitors to Universal Studios Hollywood who ride the back lot tram tour will stop at the original “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” movie set were they can watch residents of Whoville reenacting scenes from the movie. The event will run weekends beginning Dec. 6 and will be available daily from Dec. 22 until Dec. 31.

A Mulholland Christmas Carol
A musical that tells the story of turn-of-the-century L.A. water services engineer William Mulholland through the lens of the Charles Dickens classic.

Judith Owen and Harry Shearer’s Holiday Sing-A-Long
Joining the couple will be Julia Fordham, Julianna Raye and Steve Poltz in a show that has become a staple in LA.

The Cherry Tree: Medieval English Carols and American Christmas Tunes
Anonymous 4 topped Billboard’s classical chart for 76 weeks with their “American Angels” album; their program features songs, ballads and carols for Christmas, and includes both medieval European and early American tunes. The concert takes place in the sanctuary of St. James Episcopal Church, a 1924 landmark known for its Gothic design and Judson Studios stained glass windows.

A Christmas Thrance
A cabaret/comedy ensemble that pokes fun at the stresses of the holidays. An eclectic mix of traditional carols and contemporary songs, the show features music by Duke Ellington, Lawrence Welk, Chandler Travis, Lou Rawls, The Barenaked Ladies, The Beach Boys, The Pogues, Andy Williams, Amy Mann & Michael Penn, Alton Ellis & The Lipsticks, Natalie Merchant, The Jackson 5, among others.

Santasia
An all-male cast in drag a lá “Kids in the Hall,” parodies the most sacred of holiday stories. Written and performed by alumni of Chicago’s Improv Olympic, Chicago’s Second City, and L.A.’s Comedy Sportz.

A Tuna Christmas
The citizens of Tuna, the 3rd smallest town in Texas, cope with seasonal traumas.

Twas the Week Before Christmas
The LA Philharmonic and members of the Westside Ballet perform the Nutcracker Suite, ’Twas the Night Before Christmas with narration and other holiday music.

Soweto Gospel Choir
Christmas carols plus gospel and traditional African music from the world renowned choir.

The sheer number of films that have been made over the last century is staggering. Some of these movies become massive hits with the audience and the box office, remaining within the public consciousness for decades to come, while others fade away into obscurity after their brief stay in the limelight. In recent years, re-makes of classic movies has become more and more popular. With re-makes, filmmakers take an older film and place it within a more modern context.

This is exactly what director Scott Derrickson hopes to do successfully with The Day the Earth Stood Still, a remake of the 1951 film of the same name. The original film, directed by Robert Wise and starring Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Sam Jaffe, and Hugh Marlowe, was a black-and-white science fiction film that depicted an extraterrestrial being and his visit to earth. Derrickson’s version hopes to update the concept of the film to make it more applicable to a modern audience while maintaining the same eerie charm of the original. The movie will be released in theaters on December 12, 2008.

The 1951 version of The Day the Earth Stood Still begins with a flying saucer landing in President’s Park in Washington D.C., from which an alien named Klaatu emerges. Frightened and surprised by Klaatu’s sudden appearance on Earth, the soldiers that respond to the situation are wary of Klaatu’s actions. When Klaatu brandishes a mysterious-looking device, a nervous soldier shoots and wounds the alien, but it is later discovered that Klaatu, in fact, is on a visit of goodwill to the United States. Taken into hospital care, Klaatu tries to figure out how to gather the world’s leaders together to deliver his message, but when he is told that such a feat would be impossible, he instead escapes so that he may live among the people and get to know them better. Realizing that he cannot go around and blend in with the name “Klaatu”, the alien decides to assume the name “Mr. Carpenter”.

As Mr. Carpenter, the alien goes to a boarding house where he meets Helen and Bobby Benson, a mother and son. Helen, who is a widow, and her boyfriend Tom plan to take a day-trip getaway, so Mr. Carpenter agrees to take care of Bobby. Together with Bobby, Klaatu visits the Arlington National Cemetery where, much to his dismay, Klaatu learns that all of the graves at the cemetery belong to soldiers killed in the line of duty. They also visit the Lincoln Memorial and the remains of Klaatu’s spaceship. Suddenly, Klaatu becomes curious of who the greatest American is, inspired by the Gettysburg Address, and when he asks Bobby who this might be, Bobby names Professor Barnhardt, who is a leading American scientist. They quickly make their way to Barnhardt’s home, but when the scientist is not there, Klaatu solves one of Barnhardt’s advanced mathematical problems on Barnhardt’s study and leaves his name and address with the housekeeper.

Eventually, a group of government agents comes to retrieve Klaatu and bring him to Barnhardt, where Klaatu finally reveals his mission: Klaatu has come to warn the people of Earth that if atomic power is overused, Earth will be destroyed. Barnhardt believes Klaatu, but also begs him to demonstrate his power. To do so, Klaatu returns to the spaceship so that he can recover some of his belongings. Bobby, who trailed Klaatu to the spaceship and saw him interact with the wreckage, excitedly reveals to Helen and Tom that Klaatu is the spaceman, a claim that the pair initially does not believe. Helen comes to believe Klaatu, though, when the two share an elevator that suddenly stops. Klaatu reveals that he has shut down electricity all over the world, except for critical uses like in hospitals and on airplanes, and gets Helen to pledge her help to him. When Tom discovers this, he threatens to tell the government of Klaatu’s disguise, and Helen runs to Klaatu to tell him of Tom’s plot.

Sadly, though, a group of government officials see Helen and Klaatu together, and despite Klaatu’s attempt to flee, they shoot him dead. Before he died, Klaatu told Helen to utter a special phrase to Klaatu’s robot companion should anything ever happen. When she does this, Klaatu’s robot companion momentarily revives Klaatu, and with his last bit of life, Klaatu explains to an assembled group of scientists that man’s penchant for destructive war has been the concern of neighboring planets for many centuries. He also informs man that Klaatu’s people have made a race of robot enforcers that have absolute power to deal with any violence, and that if the people of Earth do not abandon their violent ways and join the rest of the peaceful nations, they, along with the planet, will be destroyed. Klaatu then hops aboard the spaceship and departs, leaving the decision to continue warfare with humanity.

Director Scott Derrickson’s version will obviously be similar to the 1951 version of the film, but one of the most notable differences is the fact that Klaatu will come to warm man about global warming and the threat of destroying the Earth through unwise decisions rather than the threat of warfare. Also in the upcoming version of the film, Klaatu will have a negative perception of man to begin with, and when he is barred from meeting with the United Nations and the rest of the world leaders, he will have already decided that Earth’s inhabitants should be destroyed so that the planet can be saved. Instead of acting as an accomplice, Dr. Helen Benson and her stepson Jacob have to work to convince Klaatu that humanity is worth saving and that they can change their ways.

An excellent cast of actors is slated to appear in Derrickson’s version of The Day the Earth Stood Still. Keanu Reeves, known for his starring role in the hit movie The Matrix, will star as the human form of Klaatu. Although Reeves expressed his dislike for remakes of older movies, he was reportedly impressed by the script and classified more as a reimagining than a remake in the sense of the word. Jennifer Connelly, known best for her roles in Requiem for a Dream and A Beautiful Mind, will play Helen Benson, who in the Derrickson version of the movie is an astrobiologist at Princeton University rather than a tenant at the boarding house where Klaatu winds up. Child actor Jaden Smith will make his acting debut as Jacob, Helen Benson’s rebellious stepson, while Monty Python actor John Cleese will make a cameo as Professor Barnhardt.

All in all, if you have ever seen the original version of The Day the Earth Stood Still, you will most likely be interested in what Scott Derrickson has done in regards to reimagining of the plot. Rather than a world torn by war, Derrickson’s conception of the world that Klaatu is sent to salvage is one of environmental ignorance. With a talented cast of actors and huge names in the industry working on special effects, cinematography, and sound, The Day the Earth Stood Still looks to be an exciting science-fiction adventure that will do the original justice. Although the plot has been altered a bit to make the whole experience more dramatic, the essential concept behind the film remains the same.

The Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable television channel that focuses on popular science, history, and technology through the lens of documentaries and other interesting programming that delves into the “why?” and “how?” of many of the world’s most fascinating topics. As far as United States programming goes, many of Discovery Channel’s most popular shows revolve around a variation of reality-based television that follows a person or group of people as they attempt to shed light upon a certain topic or to discover intricacies about the chosen topic. Such shows include Mythbusters, Unsolved History, and Best Evidence. The Discovery Channel also has certain shows that delve deep into the topic of interesting jobs around the world and offers insight into the ins and outs of these jobs. These shows include Dirty Jobs, where some of the most unpleasant jobs are highlighted, and Deadliest Catch, a reality show based on the lives of Alaskan fishermen on the boat. Each of these shows involves a man or group of men that takes the viewer through the journey of discovery.

Without a doubt, Mythbusters is one of Discovery Channel’s most popular television shows. Produced by the Australian firm Beyond Television Productions, Mythbusters is a science show that aims to debunk widespread myths, urban legends, internet rumors, and popular beliefs through methodical testing and experimentation. More often than not, these myths are “busted”, which means that they cannot actually happen. For example, one episode focused on the myth that if an object were wedged into the tailpipe of a car, the car would explode or the engine would be destroyed. The myth was proven false since every object shot out of the tailpipe when the engine was started. Leading the experimentation are Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman. Adam Savage is an industrial design and special effects engineer and he has worked as an animator, graphic designer, carpenter, projectionist, film developer, television presenter, set designer, and in many other occupations throughout his life. Jamie Hyneman is a visual effects expert as well as the founder of M5 Industries, a special effects workshop in which Mythbusters is filmed. Similarly to Adam Savage, Hyneman has held a staggering host of occupations throughout his life, from pet shop owner to linguist. Together, the pair courageously test myths that are often quite dangerous to test, and because of their intrepid nature and fascinating programming, the two are most certainly some of the most important men on the Discovery Channel.

Imagine waking up every day and heading off to work as a sewage technician or a roadkill collector or another such job that requires plenty of face-to-face interaction with things that are truly disgusting. Dirty Jobs is a television show on the Discovery Channel that is devoted to shedding light onto the jobs that some brave men and women do every day so that the rest of us do not have to. The brave host of Dirty Jobs is Mike Rowe, a television personality that began his television career selling items on QVC in the 1990s. Although he certainly made the most of his time as a QVC host, Rowe eventually found his way into hosting gigs with TBS’s Worst Case Scenarios, On-Air TV for American Airlines, The Most for the History Channel, and other such hosting jobs. From 2001 to 2005, Rowe hosted Evening Magazine in San Francisco, in which he starred in a special segment called “Somebody’s Gotta do It”, a segment that eventually evolved into Dirty Jobs. Although the nature of Dirty Jobs seems to be a bit derogatory to those who hold the jobs in question, Mike Rowe and the rest of the production team assert that they are never making fun or belittling those people in the workforce. Rather, while Mike Rowe may poke fun at the job itself, he shows respect for the people who do these jobs so that the rest of us can live in relative comfort. For the amount of times that Mike Rowe has come face-to-face with disgusting jobs all over the country, he is certainly one of the main men of the Discovery Channel.

Another popular show on the Discovery Channel is Cash Cab, a quiz show that takes place in the backseat of an inconspicuous taxi cab in New York City. In each episode, an unsuspecting player or group of players hails the Cash Cab, thinking they are hiring a driver to take them where they need to go. Although the Cash Cab does, in fact, take the players to their destination, the players are also asked questions by host Ben Bailey. If they get three questions wrong, the Cash Cab drops them off wherever they may be. However, if they get to their destination without getting any questions wrong, they can either take the money they have earned or opt to double it with a video bonus challenge. Host Ben Bailey is a comedian that also has a license to drive a taxi cab. Standing at six feet, six inches tall, Ben Bailey was offered a job as a bouncer upon borrowing a cigarette from a man in a parking lot, and after sharing several stories with some of the comedians at his club, he was offered a chance to do stand-up comedy. As the host of Cash Cab, Bailey is responsible for impressive multitasking, and for such an accomplishment, he is certainly one of the men of Discovery Channel.

One of the most fascinating men of Discovery Channel is Bear Grylls, otherwise known as the Born Survivor. As the host of his own show Man vs. Wild, Grylls travels throughout the world both demonstrating and narrating specific survival techniques for any climate and situation. From ice fields and mountain ranges to swamps and deserts, Grylls uses a wide range of survival techniques to beat the odds. Every episode has Bear Grylls becoming stranded in a certain location much like a tourist or an explorer would become stranded, and then without any help from the production team, Grylls must then find his way back to civilization while surviving in rough climates and lack of supply. In his attempts to survive, Grylls will do things like eat raw meat and fish, drink the fluids of elephant feces to stave off dehydration, and chomp on enormous grubs. Although one sequence forced Grylls to wear a survival vest beneath his clothes, he has since stated that he wants to carry out his survival attempts without any outside help, and although such a claim has been contested, Grylls is actually doing all of these things to survive.

The Discovery Channel provides a large variety of compelling television programs that delve into many fascinating topics. From debunking popular myths to exploring just what it is that a worm dung farmer actually does, Discovery Channel programming tends to be interesting for the entire family. Although much criticism has been levied towards the Discovery Channel for a perceived “dumbing down” of the subject matter so that it can pertain to the entire family rather than to the scientifically minded, nobody can argue that it is fascinating to watch a man survive in the Rocky Mountains by foraging shrubs and eating the raw meat of animals.

Brad and Kate are a couple who gloriously revel in the fact that they are unmarried. They do not have to deal with the hassle that comes when two people get married and have to share all kinds of responsibilities like a house and children – they can just enjoy themselves and have fun like two kids. Every Christmas, instead of going home to see their families, Brad and Kate invent some kind of excuse to get out of celebrating the holiday with their chaotic families. Both Brad and Kate’s parents are divorced, and visiting each and every one of the families would involve four separate visits. Needless to say, Brad and Kate would rather get on a plane and escape to some sunny locale where they can sit by the pool and sip margaritas, toasting the fact that they once again escaped having to see their parents. Every Christmas since they first met, they have been able to indulge in this ritual, escaping all of the hassle that would come with having to visit each of their estranged parents together. After all, they not only have to contend with their parents being divorced: screaming kids, awkward conversation, and simmering resentments all come to appear during these family get-togethers, and Brad and Kate relish the fact that they can avoid these horrors.

Of course, this Christmas will not be quite so easy for Brad and Kate. With shorts and sunglasses tidily packed away, Brad and Kate are all ready for their journey to their sunny vacation hotspot when all of the sudden a fogbank rolls into the San Francisco airport and forces every outbound flight to be cancelled. Suddenly their ritual of escaping San Francisco and their feuding families is cut short, which is already bad enough, but things certainly manage to get worse when a TV camera catches Brad and Kate, making their whereabouts known to anybody watching a television in San Francisco. To make things worse, all four of their parents happen to be watching the television, and each and every one of them expects their son or daughter to be with them for Christmas. This means Brad’s father, Kate’s mother, Brad’s mother, and Kate’s father all want to see them, no escape and no excuses this year. Brad and Kate brace themselves for the whirlwind of homecomings they can expect to face.

Considering the way that both sets of parents divorced, Brad and Kate only expect the worst on their homecomings. Every individual subset of their family has all kinds of things for both Brad and Kate to be ashamed of, whether it consists of embarrassing family secrets or bizarre relatives on either side of the family. Throughout the whole experience, Brad cannot wait for it all to be over, but Kate finds herself contemplating something else: perhaps a commitment would be good for Brad and Kate to have, rather than their uncommitted relationship where either of them can come and go as they please. As the two lovebirds get to know themselves better through their respective families, they begin to appreciate each other more and to see each other in a different light, one that they had never been able to appreciate considering their troubled family lives up to that point.

With Reese Witherspoon playing Kate and Vince Vaughan playing Brad, the movie is slated for excellence. The role of Brad’s brother will be played by Jon Favreau, most famous for his roles in Rudy and Swingers and for directing Iron Man, while Brad’s father will be played by Robert Duvall, an Academy, Emmy, and Golden Globe Award winning actor that has appeared in films such as To Kill a Mockingbird and The Godfather. Academy Award winning actor Jon Voight plays Kate’s dad, while Academy Award winning actress Mary Steenburgen plays Kate’s Mother. Rounding out the esteemed members of Hollywood that are appearing in Four Christmases is the Academy Award winning actress Sissy Spacek. The star-studded cast with revered actors spanning several generations makes for a very talented backdrop for the charming story, and if director Seth Gordon’s work on The King Kong: A Fistful of Quarters is any indication, the film is sure to be a hit with viewers.

The world premiere of Four Christmases will take place on November 20, a Thursday. Red carpet arrivals will take place in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater while film talent and celebrity attendees will follow shortly. There are trailers and TV spots of the movie up all over the internet, so if you would like to get a taste of the movie before it comes out in theaters, you need only to type the title of the movie into a search engine or check it out on YouTube. Much of the buzz around the movie results from the interesting pairing of Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughan as an on-screen couple, as the two do not seem to superficially have as much chemistry as one would imagine necessary for roles like these. If the script makes their chemistry believable, though, the movie will be a delightful story playing to Vince Vaughan’s comedic strengths and Reese Witherspoon’s acting talents. The plethora of stars involved in the making of the movie, including cameos by country singers Tim McGraw and Dwight Yoakam, makes it a must-see if only for the fun of seeing some of the entertainment industry’s most colorful characters on-screen together.

Due to the strike by the Writers Guild of America, no changes could be made to the script after production began in December 2007 – whether that adversely affected the movie or not will have to be decided once the movie is released to the general public. Even if it did, the acting talents of the star-studded cast, the charming plot, and the feel-good nature of holiday-themed films in general will most likely propel Four Christmases to success. For many families, gathering to watch a delightful holiday-themed film is one of the highlights of the whole season, and Four Christmases, with its all-too-true take on the holiday season in America may be just what families want to see today. Four Christmases will be released in theaters on November 26, 2008.

On November 21, 2008, Disney’s 48th animated feature film will be released in the form of Bolt. Although the film was originally meant to be directed by Chris Sanders, director of Lilo and Stitch, Sanders was removed from the project and replaced by Chris Williams and Byron Howard. With Sanders’s replacement, the plot and the concept behind the movie changed drastically, becoming the movie that is now anticipated by Disney fans all across the world. Starring the voices of John Travolta and Miley Cyrus, Bolt is about a small white German Shepherd that has lived its whole life on the set of a television show, and when he is faced with the real world, things quickly get out of hand for the little dog. Accidentally shipped to New York City instead of Hollywood, Bolt must travel across the country in order to reunite with his former owner and co-star, Penny. Along the way, Bolt assembles a quirky cast of friends, including the jaded housecat named Mittens, voiced by Susie Essman, and a TV-obsessed hamster named Rhino, voiced by Mark Walton.

Like many Disney protagonists, Bolt does not lead the average life. The small dog is the star of a hit television show, a position that leads the dog to believe he possesses immense superpowers, when in fact the dog cannot fly or do anything that a normal superhero can do. Bolt’s journey will prove to him the reality of his situation – rather than being a superhero, Bolt is actually just a normal dog with the powers that any other dog possesses. Of course, that does not mean that Bolt is powerless: Bolt slowly begins to discover that a dog’s power does not necessarily have to be manufactured in the television studio. Penny is Bolt’s owner, a smart twelve-year-old girl that is consumed by the hectic life of a television star. Despite the fact that Penny’s relationship with Bolt is mostly scripted and acted out in front of the camera, Penny also spends plenty of time with Bolt off-camera, taking solace in her time with Bolt as a time when she can escape from all of the pressure of her television job. When Bolt goes missing, Penny is forced to move on by everything around her, but she does not lose hope that one day Bolt will return.

Along the way, Bolt runs into Mittens, a cunning housecat that sees the glass as half empty. Mittens does what she has to do to get by, even if getting by should involve stealing from others or lying to get what she wants. Because of her tough attitude, Mittens hardly believes that making friends is in any way essential to her survival and she does not find it easy to trust in anyone but herself. When she meets Bolt and experiences his undying loyalty to Penny and his unwavering commitment in returning to her, Mittens realizes that she does, in fact, have the capacity to believe in someone besides herself. Bolt and Mittens also come across Rhino, a hamster that knows everything about Bolt and all of his TV undertakings. Rhino knows everything about all of Bolt’s missions, owing to the fact that is life consists of eating woodchips and watching television, so when Bolt shows up at Rhino’s doorstep, the hamster is all but flabbergasted. Because of Rhino’s longstanding devotion to Bolt as a television character, it is only natural that the hamster jump into his hamster ball and help Bolt to return to Penny as a loyal and trustworthy sidekick.

The film was originally going to be called “American Dog” and it would have told the story of a dog named Henry, a famous TV star, that one day finds himself stranded in a Nevada desert with a one-eyed cat and a radioactive rabbit and still believes he is on television. While the original plot, conceived by writer and director Chris Sanders, bears several similarities to the plot that has been decided upon, Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter decided to remove Sanders, stating that he had given Sanders several ways to improve the story and that when Sanders was unable to cooperate, Lasseter had no choice but to remove him because Sanders could not take the story where it needed to be. In addition to this change, Lasseter also decided that the animation department would only have 18 months to finish the film and get it ready for publication, rather than the four years which is usually reserved for computer-animated feature films. Although these factors may seem to mar the quality of the film, there are several reasons why Bolt will be a great movie to take the whole family to go out and see.

As if bridging generational gaps, the movie stars John Travolta and Miley Cyrus, stars of yesterday and today that are certainly heavy hitters in Hollywood. Travolta is best known for his leading roles in films such as Saturday Night Fever, Grease, and Pulp Fiction. The former two films were among the highest grossing films of the 1970s, and as such, John Travolta has been a member of the Hollywood elite for several decades. One of the hottest stars among young people today is Miley Cyrus, who may be better known under the name Hannah Montana. The immense popularity of the Hannah Montana franchise shows no signs of slowing down, and under either name, Miley Cyrus is one of the most recognizable people in show business today. The look Bolt is said to be inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper and the cinematography of Vilmos Zsigmond, a Hungarian-American cinematographer known for his work on films such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Black Dahlia. New techniques will also be used in the film to give it a special visual appearance, a technique known as non-photorealistic rendering. Patented technology designed specifically for the movie will give the movie backgrounds a hand-painted look that will be difficult to replicate, so for fans of computer animation as well as Disney fans in general, Bolt will be a fascinating experience.

Walt Disney Animation Studios has been around for decades, creating wonderful films for the young and the young at heart to enjoy. Bolt, with its charming characters and intriguing plot, is sure to be a hit with the whole family, so if you are looking for a film that the whole family can go out and watch, Bolt will be the perfect fit come November 21, 2008. The MPAA has rated Bolt with a PG rating for mild action and peril, but that should be no reason to stop you from bringing your kids and the entire family to watch the movie. If previous Disney entries in the computer animation field are any indication, Bolt will be great fun to watch and, if anything else, you can say that you saw Disney’s 48th animated feature film the day it came out in theaters, an honor that will be shared by thousands of others. With talent like John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman, and Malcom McDowell, among other Hollywood notables, Bolt promises to be the perfect blend of humor and adventure for which almost every Disney animated film is known.

Think about it: whenever any woman gives birth to a baby, everybody on the block, every relative, and strangers on the street want to see the baby, pinch his or her cheeks, and try to make the baby laugh. When celebrities give birth to babies, this want is magnified immensely, especially when the child is the offspring of a beautiful star like Angelina Jolie. Coincidentally, she and her husband Brad Pitt are at the middle of the controversy surrounding the supposed exploitation of celebrity children for monetary gain. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt received the handsome sum of $4.3 million as payment for the exclusive rights to the first baby pictures of their first biological child, Shiloh. Then, when Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt had twins on July 12, People magazine, along with the British Hello! Magazine, paid a sum of about $14 million to run the exclusive baby pictures. Sure enough, the publication that featured the baby pictures was People magazine’s best-selling edition after the 9-11 edition, selling about 2.2 million copies. Of course, there would be more outrage at Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s actions had they not donated the proceeds to an African charity, but nevertheless, one must wonder if these actions are ethical.

Brangelina is not the only star-studded couple to offer pictures of their newborns to the highest bidder. People magazine reportedly purchased rights to the first pictures of Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony’s twins for $6 million. Matthew McConaughey and his girlfriend Camila Alves were able to fetch $3 million for the first photos of their newborn son from OK! Magazine. Singer Christina Aguilera received $1.5 million for the first photos of her newborn son Max. Jessica Alba and Cash Warren’s were able to sell the first photos of their child for $1.5 million to OK! Magazine. Reportedly, Jessica Alba did not want to sell the pictures of her baby to the weekly magazines, but facing an immense amount of pressure from all sides, as well as perhaps being allured by the six-figure sum, she eventually caved in and offered the baby pictures up to the highest bidder.

There is plenty of controversy surrounding the practice of selling baby pictures to the highest bidder. CNN’s Anderson Cooper blogs that although selling these baby photos remains perfectly legal, doing so is still wrong. Just because we have the legal right to do something, Cooper writes, that does not make the action morally right. He also says that parents who sell photos of their children are compromising the safety and security of these children and instantly denying them the right of a normal life since they are already in the public eye upon birth. Anderson Cooper also makes the case that infants are not yet able to consent to having their picture taken and sold to tabloids, and a child in this sort of position may grow up to distrust his or her parents because of this breach of trust. As the controversy has brewed, many people have expressed similar opinions to those of Anderson Cooper, as is evident from the comments left in response to Cooper’s blog.

Of course, there are two sides to every issue, and the opposing side is taken by the tabloid industry as well as by those who do not see what is inherently wrong about selling baby pictures. The tabloid industry would rather not be in this situation, but the fact remains that exclusive baby pictures transfer to sales, and more sales means more profits for the struggling tabloid industry. After all, the paparazzi, the tabloid writers, and the rest of the magazine staff need to put food on the table, and if the weekly publications are not compelling enough to get people to buy them, the whole industry begins to shrivel. Although most celebrity picture purchases thus far have not been instantly profitable for the magazines involved, their ability to procure exclusive baby pictures gives them more credibility among the tabloids, increases their exposure, and draws in more long-term profits by the rise in popularity and subscriptions. Basically, the weekly publications are forced to bid on baby pictures to stay afloat, but even then, they have difficulty affording the outrageous costs that these baby pictures can eventually accrue.

This begs the question: why do celebrities sell the pictures in the first place? Many child psychologists have expressed great concern about the practice, stating that the sale of baby pictures to the highest bidders instantly skews the focus of the parent-child relationship. Although babies are not yet aware that their photos are all over the world on the covers of magazines in every supermarket, once they are aware of what their parents did, they may become extremely troubled and resent their parents’ decision. As far as the stars’ decisions to donate most of the money to charity, probably as a means to justify taking the money in the first place, it is difficult to imagine a mega-star that does not already have the ability to give large amounts of money to charity without exploiting their child. Even if the money goes to a good purpose, one could question the means by which the stars acquired the money.

Although the storm of controversy surrounding celebrity moms selling their baby pictures to tabloid publications continues to range, there are plenty of opportunities to look at the practice from both sides of the fence. The tabloid magazines are just trying to stay afloat in a market where people are struggling economically and there is not much disposable income to be spent on tabloid magazines. For these publications, investing in exclusive baby pictures is a way to increase the popularity of the magazine in the hopes of profiting. A large portion of America, though, sees the practice as something that should end because of the disturbing exploitation of babies. Nevertheless, we will most likely continue to see the offspring of celebrities adorning the covers of the most popular tabloid publications in the country, so if you are a sucker for baby pictures, you need not look any further than People magazine and OK! Magazine.