UP: Nicole Kidman, Akiva Goldsman

Big ups to Nicole Kidman, who -- according to The Hollywood Reporter -- is the highest paid female actor, with about $16.5 million per film. Rounding out the top five were Reese Witherspoon, Renee Zellweger, Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz, who all receive approximately $15 million for every bad movie my girlfriend drags me to (just kidding, ladies!). I've always been a big Kidman fan from way back. Why, I remember watching BMX Bandits about four billion times on cable. If you're not familiar with this early Kidman film, it is a masterwork (and by "masterwork," I mean great movie to watch after about ten shots of tequila). For those who didn't grow up in my living room, it's a 1983 Australian offering that cashed in (or tried to, anyway) on the BMX bike craze of the '80s. Yeah, I fancied myself a BMX bandit back in the day. I had a BMX magazine subscription, I saw Rad in the theatres, I had hubcaps on my bike ... you know, bandit-stuff. I also did wheelies like they were going out of style (which they eventually did).

Anyway, Nicole is positively yummy in the movie. For all of you college kids, a shot every time you see Kidman's stunt double is an incredibly fun drinking game. Just be sure you have a designated driver before you begin.

I just read this story, and apparently Akiva Goldsman, the screenwriter who forced Batman & Robin on us (okay, he also won an Oscar for A Beautiful Mind), is set to receive $3.8 million to pen the The Da Vinci Code sequel, Angels & Demons. Angels is actually the first Robert Langdon adventure author Dan Brown wrote, but I'm sure it will be treated as a sequel in movie world. There's no official word if director Ron Howard, Tom Hanks or the actor's mullet will return.

This deal has some people scratching their heads, but I think it's great. Akiva, who also penned The Da Vinci Code, is a solid writer who did a decent job adapting a book with a rabid fan base. The film got trashed by the critics, but audiences dug it enough to turn it into a smash hit. And no, I don't care that he's getting paid this amount of money simply for an adaptation. I applaud any writer who is able to suck as much money out of a studio as they can.

DOWN: Immaculate Conception

I thought about mentioning Danny DeVito's drunk appearance on The View or Lindsay Lohan's bizarre statement following Robert Altman's death, but these things seem kind of insignificant in the long run. I was, however, a little surprised at the pretty weak opening of The Nativity this weekend (about $7.9 mil). The film got knocked around by the critics, and the same audiences that amassed at all of those Passion of the Christ screenings didn't come through. Heck, Mel Gibson came out and expressed support for Michael "KKKramer" Richards, but nary a word about The Nativity. Memo to the studios: you can't just try to cash in with Christians because The Passion of the Christ was the biggest hit since Christ was in knee-pants. This may come as a shock, but you have to put out a good product too (like Mel did).

Now, there's always a chance the film could experience a bump in ticket sales in the next few weeks, but I don't think they'll be green-lighting Jesus Christ! ... The Early Years any time soon.

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Dre writes five times a week for Film.com, covering Movies and DVD with his Floridian flare. You can scream at him here