Ever since the heyday of Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, country stars have tried to broaden their base by gunning for movie stardom too. Those icons mostly passed their time roping, riding and locking away the bad guys. But times change. The latest chapter in this ongoing story comes courtesy of Tim McGraw, who adds to an already impressive film resume with a dramatic role alongside Sandra Bullock in 'The Blind Side.'

With apologies to fans of Trace Adkins, Waylon Jennings and Billy Bob Thornton (whose band the Boxmasters hit the scene well after his screen career was launched), here are our top 10 twangiest movie stars.

Is 60 the new 50 -- or even 40 -- for certain Hollywood actresses? It sure looks that way for at least one star who spent the early part of her career mainly playing serious, Oscar-worthy roles; who has never relied solely on her looks; and who has an effortless sexiness that comes with not taking herself too seriously. We're talking, of course, about Meryl Streep, arguably the best American actress of her generation. In the new (January 2010) issue of Vanity Fair, which explores her continued box office success, the screen veteran exclaims, "It's incredible -- I'm 60, and I'm playing the romantic lead in romantic comedies!"

She's referring to the much-anticipated 'It's Complicated,' opening Christmas day, which co-stars Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. In the movie Streep is a divorcee with grown children who has a torrid affair with her ex (Baldwin), now married to a much younger woman; it's all further complicated by her burgeoning relationship with a sensitive architect (Martin). Who better to carry off such a delicious role (and its witty repartee) than Streep? Yet, as she herself noted, it's almost unheard of for a mature woman to play such a part in a rom-com, one of the most traditional movie genres.

To a genuinely illustrious list that includes Linda Evans, Melanie Griffith, Laura Dern, Joely Fisher and Freddie Prinze, Jr., the name Mavis Spencer may now be added. The 18-year-old daughter of Oscar-nominee and four-time Emmy winner Alfre Woodard and her longtime husband, writer-producer Roderick Spencer, has been named by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to the post of Miss Golden Globe.

On Monday, I woke up to a strange circumstance in Los Angeles. What, exactly, was coming down from the sky? Where was the eternal sunshine? Oh my god. It was raining. I thought I gave up precipitation when I left Toronto. It doesn't rain here. What was going on? It was as if I had woken up in a bizarre, alternate world. Though, that made sense. After all, I woke up early to get downtown to meet Pee-wee Herman (a.k.a. Paul Reubens) and to talk about his upcoming Broadway style stage extravaganza, 'The Pee-wee Herman Show', opening in LA in January.

As I drove through the rain to Club Nokia @ LA Live venue, where the play is going to be staged, I witnessed three car accidents during my 15-minute drive. Amazing. Thank goodness these people don't have to deal with snow. I entered the venue, took my seat in the press section and waited to listen to Pee-wee and the show's production team talk about the play. Though Club Nokia is only one year old, there was a continuous drip of rain water leaking down from the ceiling and landing on the stage. LA seriously can't handle rain. Everything floods and people freak out. More importantly, my hair frizzes.

Want to see the entire 'Lord of the Rings' cast return for 'The Hobbit'? Well, that's not going to happen, producer Peter Jackson revealed to MTV.com. The director of the epic 'LOTR' saga announced that only three characters will return: Gandalf, Elrond and possibly Galadriel.

That's actually great news to fans hoping the 'Rings' prequel stays loyal to the J.R.R. Tolkien novel: "The world of 'The Hobbit' takes place 60 years before 'The Lord of the Rings,'" Jackson noted. "So, not a lot of the characters [such as Aragorn, Frodo, Legolas and Gimli] actually feature, because they weren't around yet."

Jennifer Aniston is in talks to appear opposite Adam Sandler in the upcoming 'Pretend Wife,' according to the Hollywood Reporter. The pairing of the 'Friends' actress with the former 'SNL' funnyman could be romantic comedy gold for Columbia. The project is likely to be helmed by Dennis Dugan ('Happy Gilmore,' 'You Don't Mess with the Zohan') with a script by Allan Loeb and Tim Dowling that was once known as 'Holiday in Hawaii.' Shooting is set for early next year with an anticipated release date around Valentine's Day 2011.

When fans of C.D. Payne's young adult novel 'Youth in Revolt' found out that Michael Cera ('Juno''s fangless, quippy Paulie Bleeker) would play the title role in Miguel Arteta's upcoming film adaptation, the biggest concern wasn't if Cera could pull off the fangless, quippy Nick Twisp, but rather Francios: the car-exploding, mustachioed alter-ego Twisp invents to capture the attention of a girl (Portia Doubleday) who likes her men a little more dangerous.

The early trailers seemed to confirm fans' worst suspicions, with Cera's Francois appearing too cartoonish and nonthreatening and the jokes a little too, well, PG. But the new red-band trailer exposes a far more versatile (and vulgar) Cera, who appears to have carved out a set of split personalities that play well not just off one another, but off of Cera's own as an actor. Watch the red-band trailer after the jump.