In “The Lovely Bones,” slain 14-year-old Susie Salmon isn’t in heaven or hell. Rather, she’s in “the in-between,” that bright blue horizon line where the setting sun touches the earth. Like in the film directed by Peter Jackson), for a little more than two hours, I felt very much in limbo.

Nothing tugs at the heart as effectively as sick children, especially those with catastrophic illnesses. And, unfortunately, Hollywood knows this. Exploitative doesn’t even begin to describe the callousness of the suits that equate ailing kids with healthy profits. We saw it last year with the unctuous “My Sister’s Keeper,” and we’ve seen it dozens of times before, especially on the tube. Which, not so strangely, is where the roots of the new Harrison Ford vehicle “Extraordinary Measures” take hold. It’s the first release from a little upstart called CBS Films, which is part of the vast Viacom empire governed by multi-billionaire Sumner Redstone.

Concerts, plays, children’s programs, and the sixth annual Smyrna Opera House Arts Cotillion featured in 2010 winter/spring schedule

Jackie Chan may wield a nasty kung fu kick, but the martial arts master boots his street cred in the lame kiddie flick, “The Spy Next Door.”

GateHouse New Service movie reviewer Dana Barbuto previews the films set for release in 2010, including "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I,"  "Iron Man 2," "Twilight: Eclipse," "Sex and the City 2," and "Toy Story 3."

“Daybreakers," the newest anti-“Twilight” film to hit the screens, comes from brothers Michael and Peter Spierig, who gave us the excellent but little-seen zombie tale “Undead” a few years back. This time they’re setting their story a decade into the future, where men and women live a “normal” life – getting a good day’s sleep, waking each night and wiping that sleep from their yellow eyes, brushing their fangs and dressing nicely to go to their jobs. They likely can’t tell if their hair is neat because they have no reflections. And, oh, yeah, they’re all immortal.

Dan Kane from GateHouse News Service picks his 10 favorite films of 2009, his honorable mentions, and the biggest disappointments.

Director Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes is a badass bare-knuckle boxer. More Bond than Basil (Rathbone), this Holmes is no bumbling gumshoe sporting a deerstalker and spouting lines like “It’s elementary, my dear Watson.” Instead, Holmes is cunning and scruffy, a tempestuous fellow who insults women, shoots off guns in his London flat and practices chemistry experiments on the dog. He’s brought to life by Robert Downey Jr., an actor who is the antithesis of stuffy.

All are welcome to sing or bring an instrument to play or just enjoy the music at the Gospel-Bluegrass Jam Session at Peace Lutheran Church in Smyrna this Friday, Jan. 22 from 6 to 9 p.m.

Wow! Most movies don't blow me away, but this one did. For one thing, this was the first movie I’d ever seen in 3-D, and it was awesome.

Colin Firth is everybody’s favorite Mr. Darcy – both in the TV version of “Pride and Prejudice” and in the movie “Bridget Jones’s Diary.” He’s also the guy who made audiences squirm in “Shakespeare in Love,” and he had to suffer through trying to act and sing with a straight face in “Mamma Mia!” Firth, 49, turns inward and shows a whole different side of his acting chops in “A Single Man,” which opens Dec. 25. Receiving a Golden Globe nomination for best dramatic actor, Firth’s performance in "A Single Man" is being hailed a knockout, even career-defining and is generating Oscar buzz.

If the folks responsible for “Did You Hear About the Morgans?” were a little more timely, they could have slightly altered their troubled-marriage comedy and called it “Did You Hear About the Woodses?” And if golf’s first couple harbors any hope of Tiger getting back on the green (as in cash), they’d be wise to heed Lawrence’s odd but simple advice: Wyoming. Yes, Wyoming! Turns out one of the nation’s least populated states is one of the most fertile for saving marriages.

GateHouse Media music reviewer David T. Farr gives his choices for the best albums of 2009. Jay-Z, The Fray, and even Britney Spears all made his Top 10 list.

The Quarter Auction originally scheduled for tonight, Feb. 5, at the Hartly Firehouse, has been postponed because of the forecast for snow until Friday, Feb. 12.

Mel Gibson is back on the big screen. The Winter X games features "extreme" sports. Sunday is "Inspire Your Heart with Art Day." The Grammy Awards will feature top stars from the world of music, while the stars of the NFL can be seen in the Pro Bowl.