Hot Topic

The Church of Scientology -- more famous for attracting celebrities than for its actual beliefs -- has experienced a bit of a publicity nightmare as of late. After 35 years, two-time Oscar winner Paul Haggis ('Crash') exited the group due to its anti-homosexuality stance. France declared the organization guilty of organized fraud. And Will Smith and wife Jada Pinkett Smith -- who have donated money but say they are not Scientologists -- recently came under fire for instituting the Study Tech teaching methodology (developed by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard) in the New Village Leadership Academy they founded.

So who among Hollywood's A-list can wield their celebrity clout in the church's time of need? Here we track Scientology's biggest devotees.

Few celebrities represent the outrageousness of celebrity journalism like 'Twilight' stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart -- and by association, their co-star (third wheel?!) Taylor Lautner. And if you believe everything you've read about these -- well, you must wonder how they've managed to survive various "other" men/women, a failed engagement, and a two pregnancies (one for her, and yes, one for him). Not to mention Pattinson's horrendous body odor.

Individually the actual reported stories below tend to be either harmlessly amusing or laughably absurd, but sliced together, one after the next? Pure comic gold.

And to think ... Pattinson and Stewart have never even confirmed their relationship.

Yesterday Johnny Depp was officially named People's Sexiest Man Alive 2009, which got us thinking -- who are the UNsexiest male celebs in Hollywood?

The following fellas are the least in danger of causing a female stampede -- no matter how much Axe body spray they put on.

(Editor's Note: We still love you, guys.)

'James Cameron's Avatar: The Game,' based on the upcoming sci-fi film 'Avatar' (opening Dec. 18), is scheduled for release on Dec. 1, but gamers won't have to wait that long to get a taste of the mind-boggling spectacle. Our good friends at PC gaming site BigDownload have a playable demo for gamers and 'Avatar' fans to download for free. The preview will offer a peek at the game's cutting edge visuals and some of the 'Avatar' story.

Last weekend, Congress approved the historical health-reform bill. Now it has to make a metaphorically long trek across Washington DC to the Senate.

Senators will be bogged down in debate and literature from lobbyists and activists -- possibly for months to come. While they cannot escape their duty, they will need occasional movie breaks for sanity -- or at least we'd highly recommend them.

Here are eight films they can watch and still technically be working on health care reform.

Oh, boy. Sharon Stone, a (quite literally) firm believer in the "any publicity is good publicity" dictum, is working it topless on the cover of Paris Match this month. And, of course, the blogosphere is all over it, with "Sharon Stone Paris Match" rising to the top of the Google search list today.

For those of you highbrow types, you can read the actual Paris Match article here ... in French. And we'll be sure to tell all your friends you only have that Playboy subscription for the articles. The rest of you can see the NSFW photos at the Huntington Post.

Robert Pattinson is People's sexiest man alive for 2009! Well, possibly.

The Hollywood Gossip has posted a People cover that the magazine (via Twitter, how very Twihard of them) has insisted is not real. Still, the brooding 'Twilight' hunk (who's currently on the cover of Vanity Fair) definitely sells magazines. We can only imagine the uproar if he isn't named Sexiest Man Alive.

Racism or marketing tactic?

Universal is facing a potential PR mess for its decision to digitally remove the names and images of the only black couple in 'Couples Retreat' on the film's UK movie poster.

Those Twihards mean business. Despite the fact that there are still four more days till its release on Nov. 20, 'New Moon,' the second movie in Stephenie Meyer's 'Twilight' saga, has already surpassed 'Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith,' 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,' and 'The Dark Knight' as Fandango's top-selling advance ticket seller.

According to the online site, the 'New Moon' tickets, which have been available for advance purchase since August 31, had recently been making up 86 percent of Fandango's weekly sales.

As of Monday at 11 a. m. PST, that figure has surged to 92 percent.

If you were one of the many who helped make '2012' into the weekend's box-office champ, you may have gone to see the film despite, rather than because of, its viral marketing campaign, whose seemingly real end-of-the-world alarmism may have sent more people scurrying to hide in their basements than out to the theaters.

That's often the problem with gimmicky viral marketing stunts for movies, according to an article in The Guardian: for people who aren't already clued in to the movie's plot, these campaigns tend to be more deceptive and scary than enticing.