Movies
It's hard to think of two bigger stars right now than Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. And both star in "The Tourist," out this Friday. Depp plays an American tourist who thinks his meeting with Jolie's character is just random chance, but really it's part of a complicated swirling mystery that neither one of them fully understand. (Opens Dec. 10)
Hollywood is fascinated with boxing. From "Rocky" to "Million Dollar Baby," movie cameras have pored over every aspect of the sweet science. In "The Fighter," which is based on a true story, Mark Wahlberg plays aspiring boxer Micky Ward, with Christian Bale as his brother-trainer, who once had ring dreams of his own. (Opens Dec. 10)
Want to brush up on your Shakespeare? Helen Mirren, Russell Brand, David Strathairn and Djimon Hounsou star in a new version of "The Tempest," one of the Bard's most popular works. Sure, half the audience may be kids there for an English class assignment, but combine the cast with the playwright and there's some heavy star power here. (Opens Dec. 10.)
TV
"Tabatha's Salon Takeover" doesn't get a lot of attention, but it's that rare reality show that combines an oh-no-you-DI'N'T quality with an actual feeling of satisfaction at the end of the show. Tabatha Coffey takes her Australian accent and her severe platinum haircut into troubled American hair salons where most of us wouldn't even want to sit in a styling chair. Like Gordon Ramsay with restaurants, she shapes up the often lazy, sometimes just ignorant stylists and owners and gets the scissors clicking again. (Third season premiere, Dec. 6, 10 p.m., Bravo.)
It's hard to get past the title of "Left at the Altar," the new show from Discovery Health. (Health? How is this a health issue?) But it's also hard to imagine not wanting to watch at least one segment for its train wreckish quality. (Premieres Dec. 7, 9 p.m., Discovery Health.)
"Mythbusters" is almost always worth a tune-in, but this week President Obama makes a cameo appearance. The president shows up to challenge hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman to tackle the belief that ancient Greek scientist Archimedes set fire to an entire invading Roman fleet using mirrors and the sun's rays. (Dec. 8, 9 p.m., Discovery Channel.)
Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding plans have captured headlines worldwide. BBC America is capitalizing on this royal resurgence by planning a day of royalty programming on Dec. 11. "William & Kate: Modern Monarchy" will look at the famous couple themselves. "Art of Diana" will look at portraits of the late princess. "All the Queen's Horses" goes inside the Royal Windsor Horse Show. "Memories of a Queen" traces Elizabeth II's life, while "William and Harry: The Brother Princes" was filmed during the princes' recent African trip. The day concludes with a showing of the award-winning movie "The Queen," starring Helen Mirren as the monarch stumbling to deal with Diana's death, and Michael Sheen as British prime minister Tony Blair, who all but forces the family to face up to the loss publicly. (Programming starts at 1 p.m. Dec. 11, BBC America.)
DVD
"Inception" earned rave reviews, but Leonardo DiCaprio's dream world thriller could be a little hard to follow. Fans will want to pick up or rent the DVD, out this week, to see if they can pick up on nuances and different interpretations that they may have missed in the theater. Roger Ebert gave it a perfect four stars, but even he admits it's confusing in a way that other filmmakers won't be able to duplicate, writing "I think when (director Christopher) Nolan left the labyrinth, he threw away the map." (Out on DVD Dec. 7.)
So many movies aimed at kids are really quite scary. The Sea Witch in "Little Mermaid"? Cinderella's evil stepmother? CRUELLA DE VIL? The fourth and final Shrek film, "Shrek Forever After," saves parents from having to soothe little nightmares — it's funny, entertaining, and even the villain, Rumpelstiltskin, is just never terrifying. Spoiler: Shrek wins in the end. And farts and burps a lot along the way. (Out on DVD Dec. 7.)
Gael Fashingbauer Cooper is TODAYshow.com's movies editor.