2010: Hollywood Roundup

Harry Potter: The Magic Continues

Hollywood's top prize for 2010 was taken by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1: the first half of the final installment. The darkest Potter movie so far, it made millions on it's opening weekend despite the first 36 minutes being leaked 48 hours before release. Pottermania increased seven-fold with the latest movie, which begins with not 1 but 7 Harrys

Andrew Garfield Takes Over as Spidey

Little known actor Andrew Garfield found himself on the Hollywood A-list when he joined the all-new cast of the Spiderman reboot. Garfield, who has a hit with the recent The Social Network, will wear the superhero suit last worn by Toby McGuire in the next installment of Spiderman, slated to release in 2012

Twilight Saga Eclipses the Box Office

Twilight: Eclipse, number 3 in the series, took a Potter-sized chunk out of the box office, setting a new record for the biggest midnight opening in USA and Canada. The Bella-Edward-Jacob undead love triangle made Eclipse the second highest moneyspinner of the Twilight franchise

Lindsay Lives La Lohan in Jail

Wayward starlet Lindsay Lohan finally landed in jail for a long list of misdemeanours related to her DUI arrest. The mixed-up Mean Girls actress found herself in tears in a court room where a judge sentenced her to 90 days in prison. After the predictable drama that followed, Lindsay was out in about a month. Currently, the troubled star is at the Betty Ford Center for drug and alcohol treatment, and is scheduled to be free on January 3, 2011. What a way to bring in the New Year!

MJ's Kids Keep His Memory Alive

A few months after the death of the Legendary King of Pop, Michael Jackson's children: Michael Joseph Jackson Jr or Prince, and Paris, accepted the Lifetime Achievement Grammy on behalf of their father. The 12 year old Paris, heartwarmingly said, “Daddy was supposed to be here. Daddy was going to perform this year, but he couldn't perform last year. Thank you. We love you, daddy.” A year after his death, the children spoke out in an exclusive interview with Oprah Winfrey, where Prince and Paris 'lifted the veil' for Oprah about their relationship with their father

Inception: Box Office Dream

Inception emerged from director Christopher Nolan's ingenious mind as a dark and deadly mindbender. Leonardo DiCaprio led a pack of stars through a dream labyrinth, where nothing is real, straight to the top of the box office chart. Or did he?

Burton, Depp and Alice in Wonderland

This is not the bedtime tale you read when you were young. This is Tim Burton's dark vision of a frightening Wonderland and a 19 year old Alice's struggle to make sense of the world she inhabits and the one she blunders into. Guiding her through the journey is Johnny Depp's madder than Mad Hatter

Shrek Forever After: Colour Us Green

The fourth, and last, of the Shrek series, the 3D film focuses on what life in Far Far Away would have been like if Shrek had never been born, courtesy the nasty Rumpelstiltskin. The makers did say “It ain't ogre, till it's OGRE”! But all good things must come to an end.

Toy Story 3: Come Out and Play

Another 3D film to hit the big screen was Pixar's animated Toy Story 3. Woody the cowboy and astronaut Buzz Lightyear were back with another barrel of laughs in the highest grossing Pixar film so far

Gaga Wears Meat

We can't let 2010 pass us by without taking another dig at Lady Gaga's ridiculous meat dress at the MTV music awards. Known for her bizarre sense of dressing, the pop diva left her lobster hat and horse-hoof heels far behind as she opted to wear a skinned animal and even carry a meat clutch. The cherry on top, in this particular situation, was a steak worn as a hat.

Mixed Bag at the Oscars

The Oscars gave us one wild surprise party. Small budget movie The Hurt Locker beat crowd favourite Avatar to the Best Film award. Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow went head to head with ex-husband James Cameron, director of Avatar, to win Best Director – the first woman ever to do so. More surprises were in store as Sandra Bullock beat Helen Mirren and Meryl Streep to take Best Actress for her role in The Blind Side. As for the hosts: funny man Steve Martin meets part deux Alec Baldwin, an act that surprisingly failed to inspire with forced humour.

Paris Hilton in Handcuffs

2010 was all about DUI arrests and drug possession for Hollywood's party girl Paris Hilton. From pleading guilty to one set of misdemeanors, to arrested shortly after on account of cocaine possession, Paris was given a one-year probation period. Due to Japan's strict entry laws for those convicted in drug related instances, the Hilton sisters were rejected entry and sent back to the States. She goes to prove that even when high up there, you can still hit rock bottom.

Iron Man 2 Shows it's Metal

Tony Stark knows how to make an entry and so did Iron Man 2, quickly climbing the box office lists to become one of 2010's biggest moneymakers. Robert Downey Jr returned as the not-so-secret superhero, and Gwyneth Paltrow was Pepper Potts was given some sleepless nights by Scarlett Johannson's catsuit-clad Black Widow

Hollywood Flop ShowFlops: Salt (Angelina)/Knight and Day (Tom Cruise)/Sex and the City2(Jennifer Aniston)/Eat Pray Love (Julia Roberts)

The many ups of the box office graph were accompanied by an equal number of downs. Among them were some of the year's most talked about films: Salt starring Angelina Jolie; Knight and Day with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz; Sex and the City 2's gang of girls; and Julia Roberts' Eat Pray Love.

Katy Aur Russell Ki Shaadi

American Teenage Dream Katy Perry became Brit funnyman Russell's Brand new missus in a low key but glamorous Indian setting in the jungles of Ranthambhore.

The Social Network Friends the Box Office

Just as Facebook took the world by storm, so did sleeper hit The Social Network, based on the life of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake, the film has already won more than its share of accolades.

Freida Pinto Takes Hollywood

She may have made it big after Slumdog Millionaire, but we can safely say that Freida Pinto arrived in 2010. With Miral and You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Freida has been spotted all over the globe on the red carpet.

Hollywood Dances to Rahman's Tune

Another Slumdog Millionaire alumnus, A R Rahman has chosen to project his talent on a world-wide scale. The critically acclaimed composer ventured into a bigger, badder world of music and is there to stay. This year he made another benchmark with his musical score for 127 hours and has been nominated for a number of prestigious awards.

Anil Kapoor Goes West

Slumdog also proved lucky for Anil Kapoor who joined the cast of adrenaline-pumping TV show 24. He will alsoappear with Tom Cruise in the next Mission Impossible

Mel Gibson Comes Undone

The Thunder from Down Under added domestic violence to his list of crimes.Post being written up a few DUI's and small misdemeanors, this was clearly the last straw for Oksana Grigorieva. Their sordid saga continues

Oprah and Larry King Live No Longer

As the decade ends, so do 2 of the biggest shows in the history of television. The Oprah Winfrey Show goes off air and 77 year old Larry King will be replaced by British journalist Piers Morgan. An era ends.

Miley Grows Up Too Fast

Barely a week after her 18th birthday, there appeared photos of Miley Cyrus smoking a hallucinogenic in a bong. The Disney Sweetheart turned Party Girl with a vengeance, as Miley was determined to show the world she was all grown up. The year even saw a leaked tape of a 16 year old Miley giving The Last Song producer, Adam Shankman, a lap dance. We have two words for her: Lindsay Lohan

Johnny Depp: Hollywood's Most Valuable Player

With Alice in Wonderland and The Tourist this year, and Public Enemies carried over from last year, Johnny Depp emerged as top dog in Hollywood. He was named Most Powerful Celebrity by Entertainment Weekly, not a small honour given that he pipped the likes of Brad Pitt and George Clooney to the post