Yeah, it looks like she got hers back pretty quickly. In clips from her upcoming film Salt, Jolie showed off her flat abs in a lingerie scene that was shot just six months after she had twins Knox and Vivienne.

Since her head isn’t in the shot, there have been accusations that she used a body double. Her trademark tattoos are visible in the shot, but the makeup room could have whipped those up without any trouble whatsoever.

In Salt, Jolie plays a CIA agent on the run after being accused of being a Russian spy. The film was initially supposed to star Tom Cruise as agent Edwin Salt, but the screenplay was rewritten to incorporate a female lead, and Jolie replaced Cruise. Check out the trailer below.

Maurice Sendak was sitting in on a panel discussion with Newsweek plus the film’s director, Spike Jonze, and screenwriter Dave Eggers when the subject turned to parental concerns.

The book itself, now a classic, was dubbed “too scary and weird for children” when it debuted in 1963, and last year there was talk that the film version was being re-shot to make for a more kid-friendly flick.

But fear is supposed to be part of this movie. Just check out the tagline: “Inside all of us is hope. Inside all of us is fear.” And let’s not forget the book that started it all — a story of facing monsters only to end up safe and sound in our own bedroom with supper waiting for us. Teaching kids to befriend their monsters in a literal sense, it’s more figurative interpretation is (to borrow a phrase from an old president) that there is nothing to fear…except fear itself.

In honour of fears faced and fears overcome, we’re with Sendak: “I would tell them to go to hell. That’s a question I will not tolerate … If they can’t handle it, go home … Do whatever you like, but it’s not a question that can be answered.”

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Via Page Six

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Access reports that, “The 28-year-old actress would play an attractive pharmaceuticals rep whose sheer presence wreaks havoc on the film’s male stars.”

The film is slated to come out in July 2010 and will probably focus on the main characters new offspring, the last film “Meet the Fockers” ended with a pregnant Teri Polo. But with a kid/baby cast, having Alba’s daughter Honor hanging around the set would be probably be easy peasy, much better than the set of Sin City.

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Photo: Just Jared

Like many people—dare I say most people?—one of my favourite books as a child was Maurice Sendak’s Where The Wild Things Are. And, like most people, I would hate to see it cheapened by Hollywood trying to make it into some sort of blockbuster action-comedy-love story. Such a powerful, extraordinary book would need an exceptional filmmaker who would put Sendak’s stunning imagery and timeless story ahead of box office returns.

Apparently, Sendak himself felt he found such a filmmaker in Spike Jonze, whose big screen rendition is set to open in theatres next month.  Jonze is very aware of the responsibility that goes with making a book like this into a movie.  He’s loved the book since he was a child and says the book is a part of who he is.  “When you love something from that age,” he explains, “you end up loving it really deeply because the images are there way down inside you. As you’ve grown, you’ve grown around them and they’ve just gotten deeper into you.” Totally.

If you’re curious about his take on the movie or what it took to make it, check out this interview at the Vice Magazine website.  I have to say that after reading this interview, I’m optimistic about the film. So who wants to go see it with me?

Image: Amazon

As weird as it seems, Johnny Depp seems to be genuinely enthused to play Captain Jack Sparrow for the 4th time. For $64 million, I guess JD should be pretty enthusiastic.

Still, it strikes me as kinda odd that Depp would be willing to do cheese-ball publicity stunts for the latest POTC movie—it doesn’t even open until 2011. He must just love doing children’s movies that much.

At this point, a pretty huge chunk of Johnny’s work is kid-friendly. Apparently, that’s one of the biggest reasons he continues to play Capt. Sparrow—because his son Jack, 5, loves the character.

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The Daily Telegraph reports school officials are concerned with the “sexual themes” in the books.

They do realise the characters in the first three books never actually have any sex, right?

Mormon writer Stephenie Meyer makes a point repeatedly of bringing up abstinence until marriage. And it’s only after main characters Bella Swan and Edward Cullen wed in book four (Breaking Dawn) that they consummate the relationship.

So no sex, m’kay?

Next up: they want the kids to understand that it’s fiction.

Considering we’re not talk about four- and five-year-olds here, I think it’s a pretty safe bet that kids know vampires don’t exist. Except Count Chocula, natch (do they have crappy cereals in Australia too? Must ask friend who used to live there stat).

The school officials were also quoted by the Telegraph noting that the popularity of the movies is pushing the kids to read the books, and they’re not able to handle them. Having read them all and seen the movie, it’s the latter I’d keep from a tween because of the intensity of the violence in certain scenes. The movie was graphic. The book not so much. And what are you doing letting your kid watch a movie based on a book you wouldn’t let them read? Talk about putting the cart before the donkey.

I’m aware it’s fluff at best, so we don’t need to add Twilight to the curriculum anytime soon. But I’m going to fall back on the same old mantra: it’s up to the parents to determine whether their kid’s book choices are appropriate and discuss them with the kids.

Ban Twilight, and you just created a piece of forbidden fruit they’ll love to sink their teeth into.

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He’s so adorable with those blue eyes and blond hair! David’s wife Chrysti was on set as well to take over parenting duty when the time came.

Can’t wait for this sequel – Carrie will be *spoiler*…

See one more pic at the source.

Hollywood loves casting kids as the bad guy.

Think Macauley Culkin in the Good Son. The Bad Seed. Drew the Firestarter. The Children of the Damned. And who can forget Chuckie (OK, he wasn’t a “real live boy” but close enough)?

Pondering the fate of kids in horror flicks in particular in an AP article this week, Josh Heuman of Texas A&M University suggests that the movies play “on the dirty little secret that kids aren’t sweet and innocent, and the anxiety that it provokes.”

Fair enough. Because who ever suspects the kid is behind the whole thing when they’re reading a really good murder mystery? Maybe if you’re especially cynical, you do, but I’m not yet that far gone. And when I walk into a movie, I confess I prefer to think the kids are ultimately good-hearted. Which probably accounts for the handful of horror movies I’ve been able to stomach versus the hundreds of films in other genres I rent, own, etc.

Yes, I’m a total wuss. Or a total sucker – depending on how you look at it. Because there are evil kids out there – think Willie Bosket, whose homicidal crime spree as a teen changed New York State law to allow kids as young as thirteen to be tried for murder. So why should the movies be any different?

Orphan and its adoption issues aside, do kids really deserve a bye in the movies? They might not start fires with their minds in real life, but there are some pretty freaky kids out there!

I’m also totally wowed by how an adorable kid (a la Drew Barrymore) can look so incredibly evil, and make some of us wake up in cold sweats (what did I tell you – wuss).

Child actors get a lot of flak, but you’ve got to hand it to these kids – they’re working against the stereotype Heuman describes and totally creeping us out.

What movie monster kid gave you nightmares?

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1. Shrek

Didn’t know this was based on a book, did you? You’re not missing much. The 1990 version written by William Steig is crudely drawn, and its ogre is missing the sweet inner onion layers of everyone’s favorite curmudgeon. Shrek onscreen makes a good show of being a beast, his gruffness aided and abetted by Mike Myers’ spot-on Scottish brogue. Shrek on the page is simply beastly, and proud of it. Stuck in the palace hall of mirrors, Steig’s ogre is shocked by the hideous creatures all around him — until he realizes they’re all him. “He faced himself, full of rabid self-esteem, happier than ever to be exactly what he was,” Steig writes. Bring back our self-effacing swamp settler and give us a double dose of donkey.

2. Bambi

If you thought mama deer getting blown away in the movie was harsh, try reading Bambi as told by Felix Salten. While Mom’s busy dying, Bambi is scrambling to get away and meets “a dying pheasant, with its neck twisted,” as well as Friend Hare’s wife, whose “hind leg dangled lifelessly in the snow, dyeing it red and melting it with warm, oozing blood. . . In the middle of her words, she rolled over on her side and died.” True to nature? Yes. Child appropriate? If you’re a fan of the “give my kids nightmares for a month” canon, then yes. Something stinks about this book, and it isn’t Flower.

3. Cinderella

The poor little orphan girl in the Disney movie has it rough there for awhile, but try being the Cinderella in the original Grimm’s Fairy Tale. Her dad was very much alive and totally blind to his witch of a second wife. When dad asks his daughter and stepdaughters what they want from one of his trips, he takes Cinderella’s wishes at face value and brings the stepmonsters pearls and jewels while the little cinder girl gets the branch from a hazel bush. Gee, thanks Dad, but the mice made better benefactors.

4. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966 version)

Now before you get your Dr. Seuss-loving panties in a bunch, it’s not that the book was bad. But we’re hard-pressed to imagine a time when the mean one wasn’t voiced by Boris Karloff. The animated flick redefined one of our Seussian favorites, and helped our heart grow two sizes. The Jim Carrey version, however — and we quote — “stink, stank, stunk.”

5. The Little Mermaid

Ursula the sea witch was a kind-hearted old soul next to the enchantress in Hans Christian Anderson’s original tale. He cut the tongue out of the mouth of the Mer-King’s youngest daughter and treated her with a potion that would let her retain her “graceful movements,” but make “every step [she took] cause [her] pain all but unbearable.” That Ariel of the Disney tale let go of her precious voice for the love of a boy is hard enough for parents of little girls to bear, but the lengths the original mermaid went to hook herself a man are best left in the 1800s, when the Anderson tale was written.

6. How to Eat Fried Worms

The 1973 book is a goofy send-up of little-boy antics, but Billy Forrester’s tender tummy and worm-eating quest finds real meaning in the 2006 flick about a new kid at school faced with an impossible quest: He has to eat ten worms by seven p.m. on Saturday — or end up wearing worms in his pants to school on Monday. Instead of noshing on nightcrawlers for a measley $50 like his written counterpart (who ate fifteen, and ended up being “the first person who’s ever been hooked on worms”), the live action Billy is a hero for new kids everywhere. He shows up the bully, realises girls can be good friends, and starts getting along with his little brother.

7. The Neverending Story

A movie based on a book about a book that takes a kid on an adventure worthy of the movies? If you can follow that, you can follow the story of Bastian’s journey to Fantasia and back. This is another case of a book that isn’t exactly bad (it has its own cult following), but for kids who grew up fantasizing about their own fluffy, puppy-headed Luck Dragon in the ’80s, the movie is still the best option for sharing the story with their kids. The book is just too long, made for reading in installments to younger kids, and its twists and turns are — while fantastical — sometimes hard to follow on the page. The original was written in German, and the English translation can be awkward going. It’s also plagued by a moral that does not translate to younger kids; Bastian turns from the fat kid with no friends to a powerful one, but in the book all his changes and all his abilities cannot completely conquer unhappiness. The author (Michael Ende) was so angry at the film that he sued for the production of the movie to be changed, but he lost. Rumour has it another film adaptation is in the works. And that, folks, is why they call it neverending.

8. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Ian Fleming has had his fair share of books loosely adapted for the silver screen (”James Bond” ring any bells?) — the word “loosely” being the operative word when it comes to his children’s tale of that marvelous flying machine. Hollywood threw in a love story that’s Truly Scrumptious, exing out old Mimsie (the mum, who was very much alive on the page). In doing so, they gave Professor Caracatus Potts, the kooky widower trying to do right for his kids, a higher purpose.

9. Mary Poppins

Julie Andrews made her sweet, but the real Mary was anything but. Strict, vain and kind of cranky, P.L. Travers’ carpetbagging nanny was not going to sing out explanations about the world around Jane and Michael Banks (and their twin siblings in the book). This excerpt from the original Poppins book sums her up quite well: “Michael sighed happily. He loved the story and was never tired of hearing it. ‘And it’s all quite true, isn’t it?” he said, just as he always did. ‘No,’ said Mary Poppins, who always said ‘No.’” Sounds like someone could have used a spoonful of sugar. Author Travers, by the way, hated the movie.

10. Old Yeller

A Newberry Award winner, it’s been reprinted and branded as a “perennial classic.” In other words, another book that isn’t bad… Still, we find the heart-wrenching loss of Travis’ dog more moving onscreen. Is it the baby face of Kevin Corcoran (the little boy who played the youngest Coates boy in the 1957 Disney film) or the sweet disposition of Tommy Kirk (who played Yeller’s bonded-for-life best boy, Travis)? More likely it’s Spike, the canine actor who brought to life the joyful friendship of a boy and his dog. He made you believe a mutt could fend off a bear and a bunch of wild hogs to save his family. Spike made us sob hysterical tears when we were kids, and then brought on another gushing river when we sat down as adults to watch it with our own kids.

Disney have now released new DVDs of three of these titles - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Detective Minnie, My Friends Tigger and Pooh: The Nature of Things and Little Einsteins: Animal Expedition.

They’ve been on rotation in our house over some very rainy weeks, so with the help of my trusty 2-year-old reviewer I give our verdict.

My Friends Tigger and Pooh: The Nature of Things

Winnie the Pooh has changed a little since the books we read as kids. Christopher Robin has been replaced by a 6-year-old “tomboyish” red-haired girl named Darby, who is now the star of the show, along with her two main buddies Tigger and Pooh and back up characters Piglet, Eeyore and new friends Lumpy and Buster (an elephant and dog respectively).

The stories on the DVD (which runs for about an hour) are all about teamwork as the friends explore Hundred Acre Wood. Simple facts about nature are revealed, like why snow melts and what is an echo. My son loved the various songs sprinkled throughout the episode and in fact I’ve got the theme tune stuck in my head right now! This was our favourite DVD out of the three, as I suspect it is the one best aimed at under 3s.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Detective Minnie

Mickey and Minnie have also changed substantially over the years. The current incarnation of the cartoon is all shiny, reflective and rainbow-coloured, and with CGI technology appears almost 3D. Similar to Dora and other modern shows aimed at the 3-5s, the series focuses on interacting with the viewer to stimulate problem solving, like identifying shapes and counting through ten. In this headline story, Minnie has to locate 12 party hats that have gone missing.

Australia has never shared the obsession with all things Mickey as the US does, and I struggled to engage with the characters and story here. My son was also less than impressed and has not requested a repeat viewing! Nevertheless the show should be commended for interactivity and encouragement of early leaning skills.

Little Einsteins: Animal Expedition

This educational preschool series was developed by a team which includes Emmy Award-winning director Olexa Hewryk and Dora the Explorer co-creator Eric Weiner, and is co-produced by the Baby Einstein Company.

So with that kind of pedigree, as you’d predict it’s a quality show with  many educational elements. The ‘cast’ of four Einsteins are entertaining and their expeditions are interesting. In this show, the four set out with their trusty rocket ship to explore animals around the world – from Indian elephants to Australian kangaroos. I think this is a DVD my son will enjoy more and more as he gets older.

All three Playschool DVDs are rated G and include a Fast Play feature, so kids can pretty much pop the DVD on and wait for it to play – no more looking for the remote to find the menu buttons. This was a great addition, as we all find it frustrating to sit through ads and various intro reels waiting for the main feature to start.