As the end of the year draws close, the inevitable year in review pieces are starting to roll out. The first, from Twitter, however, shows what the hot shows, music, movies and actors were with the Twitterati – and it holds some pretty big surprises.

While it's not exactly shocking that Charlie Sheen led the actor category, Elizabeth Taylor was the most talked about actress (and Raven Symone topped both Natalie Portman and Jennifer Lopez). And of all the shows on TV, ABC Family's "Pretty Little Liars" was the hottest topic.

YouTube sensation Rebecca Black was the year's hottest subject in music, while "Thor" was the most talked about movie. It's worth noting that the year's top four grossing pictures (year to date) – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2," "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" and "Kung Fu Panda 2" – were all absent from the list.

The hottest topics in select areas were:

TELEVISION

1. Pretty Little Liars
2. Two and a Half Men
3. The Craigslist Killer
4. Golden Globe Awards
5. People's Choice Awards

MOVIES

1. Thor
2. The Dark Knight Rises
3. X-Men: First Class
4. Fast Five
5. Green Hornet

MUSIC

1. Rebecca Black and Friday
2. Nate Dogg
3. FEMME FATALE
4. Gerry Rafferty
5. Gil Scott-Heron

ACTRESSES

1. Elizabeth Taylor
2. Mila Kunis
3. Anne Hathaway
4. Raven Symone
5. Natalie Portman
6. Elisabeth Sladen
7. Jennifer Lopez
8. Nina Dobrev
9. Emma Watson
10. Fernanda Vasconcellos

ACTORS

1. Charlie Sheen
2. Macaulay Culkin
3. Ryan Dunn
4. Ricky Gervais
5. Pete Postlethwaite
6. Tracy Morgan
7. Jake Gyllenhaal
8. Ashton Kutcher
9. Colin Firth
10. James Franco

Activision turned heads last year with its eye-popping "There's a Soldier in All of Us" campaign for "Call of Duty: Black Ops". Now it's upping the ante.

Jonah Hill ("Superbad") and Sam Worthington ("Avatar") headline the campaign's new installment – with a quick cameo from Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard. And it's just as heart pounding as the original.

The first ad in the campaign mixed Kobe Bryant and Jimmy Kimmell with roughly a dozen "average" players, emphasizing that the series appealed to everyone from superstars to concierges to what appeared to be a mild -mannered librarian.

The common folk are gone this year, but the comedy levels are higher (as you might expect from Hill's involvement).

The increased level of Hollywood talent demonstrates how big an entertainment property the "Call of Duty" franchise has become. The game is expected to set new records as the largest entertainment launch of all time. Pre-orders are at a record high – and Wall St. analyst Michael Pachter expects Modern Warfare 3 will generate $1.1 billion in revenue in its first six weeks.

Richard Kerris, the former chief technical officer of Lucasfilm who hopped over to Hewlett-Packard in February, is on the move again.

Kerris, who was head of worldwide developer relations at the Silicon Valley firm, "has decided to leave HP to pursue an opportunity outside of the company, effective immediately," according to a company spokesperson.

The departure isn't a complete shock. Kerris, who was named by Variety in 2008 as one of the entertainment industry's 10 Innovators to Watch, joined HP to boost developer interest in creating applications and programs for the company's webOS platform – including the now-infamous TouchPad and Pre 3, devices that were cancelled within months of their launch and less than six months after Kerris' arrival.

While at Lucasfilm, Kerris led an effort to streamline the way the company's divisions worked together – sharing assets and, in essence, getting filmmakers, animators and game makers to speak the same language.

It was his Apple experience that HP coveted, though. While at that company, Kerris was responsible for convincing developers who were working on other platforms to make the move to Apple's operating system.

No word, as yet, on where he's headed next.

Taking on the undisputed leader in online search might seem like a fool's mission for any company, regardless of size, but MC Hammer says when it comes to searches that go beyond keywords, Google can't touch what he has planned.

The 80s rapper, real name Stanley Burrell, has spent the past two years working on WireDoo, a search engine he recently introduced at the Web 2.0 summit in San Francisco – and hopes will become the new standard for web inquries.

WireDoo, Hammer told attendees of the summit, adds relationship information to search results, meaning searches for cars would also pull up information on insurance, pricing and consumer safety.

On his shift from music to tech, he mentioned "no one is playing for singles anymore".

The site is currently in pre-beta and is accepting signups. 

An unidentified actress is suing the parent company of the Internet Movie Database for over $1 million for revealing her age and refusing to remove it after she requested the site do so.

The actress, who is using the alias Jane Doe in the suit, is seeking $75,000 in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages from retail giant Amazon, which owns the popular Hollywood database.

The suit describes the actress as being of Asian descent and using an Americanized stage name. She testifies that she subscribed to IMDB Pro in 2008, which required the use of a credit card, which included her legal name. Shortly after that, she noticed that her actual birthday had been added to her profile. She says she notified the site and requested that it be removed, but IMDB refused and the date of birth is still available for anyone to see.

The actress said she has taken pains to keep her legal name and date of birth hidden and there was no way IMDB could have learned of it independently. She accuses the site of misusing her credit card information "to perform unlawful records searches and then added personal and confidential information" to her public profile.

The suit claims the actress "has experienced a significant decrease in credits, earnings, and employment opportunities" since her birthday was posted.

"In the entertainment industry, youth is king," the suit reads. "If one is perceived to be 'over-the-hill,' i.e., approaching 40, it is nearly impossible for an up-and-coming actress, such as the Plaintiff, to get work as she is thought to have less of an 'upside,' therefore, casting directors, producers, directors, agents/managers, etc. do not give her the same opportunities, regardless of her appearance or talent."

Ricky Gervais' biting (some might say mean-spirited) hosting gig at last year's Golden Globes probably guaranteed he won't be asked back in the near future in any official capacity. But that doesn't necessarily mean he's through with the awards show.

Gervais, on his blog, has floated the idea of live-streaming a podcast during this year's show, offering his own brand of commentary and ego-deflation to the proceedings.

The comedian stopped short of saying he would absolutely do the live-stream, but noted a few friends he'd love to have join him if he did. See the (obscenity filled) post below:

I've had one of my big ideas. 

What do you think of this?

A live 3 hour podcast during The Golden Globes. Me and a few chums (like Louis CK, Chris Rock, Karl Pilkington, John Stewart, Larry David popping in and out) doing our own alternative commentary.

People at home can have the telly on with the sound down listening to us online say things that no broadcaster could get away with.

No one could do a fucking thing.

The biggest live webcast ever? Who knows? Who cares? What's fun is the shit we might come out with. No money. No sponsor. No guide lines. Fuck me I can't wait.

Gervais ruffled feathers in 2011 by attacking the Golden Globes own dubious history and suggesting that some nominations were made solely to boost ratings.

That said, he made it clear from the beginning that he refused to acknowledge any sacred cows as host, with one pre-show ad that aired on Comedy Central ending with him saying "I'll be there, insulting them, throughout," Gervais says at the end. "Trying to make 'em cry. That's good to watch."

Intel is taking a page from Polaroid’s playbook: Grab a hot musician, give them an official sounding title and hope the PR blitz surrounding that will result in something good.

With the camera company having already snapped up Lady Gaga, the chip maker went with Black Eyed Peas front man will.i.am. His title: Director of Creative Innovation. His duties: No one seems to have any freaking idea.

The company says the agreement is "a multi-year, hands-on creative and technology collaboration" which will see the musican "collaborate and co-develop new ways to communicate, create, inform and entertain".

A press conference with will.i.am and Intel’s chief marketing officer Deborah Conrad was a rambling half hour that avoided hard answers and incorporated talk of the singer’s shoes, his new Intel ID badge and some of the strangest apropos of nothing comments to be heard in an Intel call.

“I’m not a race car driver, but the content I create races around the internet. It’s racing through you right now,” said will.i.am in describing how he began working with Intel.

While his role beyond brand ambassador is still unclear, it was hinted he might tinker with the company’s long standing jingle. And, judging by some of his comments, he might even be helping out the futurists at the company.

“Why do I have to use a microphone nowadays?,” he asked rhetorically. “Just because that’s what they did yesterday? Why can’t you use a smartphone and upload your performance?”

(Note: This is a longer version of a story that's running in today's Daily Variety)

With consolidation sweeping through the film industry and indie shingles closing down at a rapid clip, it’s harder than ever for budding filmmakers to get a break. But a new Website that counts three members of the Academy among its ranks is looking to make it a little easier.  

Openfilm.com emerges from its beta period Thursday with a series of grants for filmmakers, its own distribution company and an advisory board that includes actors James Caan, Robert Duvall and Scott Caan, along with director Mark Rydell.

“There are certain people [whose films] I’ll go see and certain ones I won’t,” says James Caan, who is also chairman of Openfilm. “We need more of those people you’re going to go see. And that’s what we’re trying to do.”

The site, which has been in beta mode for a little over a year, aims to be a community for independent filmmakers, letting them upload short works and get feedback from peers and pros. Auteurs can also sell downloadable versions of those works through the site, with Openfilm taking just $0.69 per sale, regardless of the film’s price.

20,000 people have already signed on as registered members and Openfilm has over 5,000 short films in its library. As it expands, it’s looking to not only boost those numbers, but also to give additional exposure to members.

Already in place is a deal with Tivo, which syndicates three or four films per week from the site. Openfilm also plans to award $1 million in grants over the next 20 months. Four filmmakers will receive $50,000 in cash and $200,000 in financing. Any film uploaded to the site is eligible for the award. The six films that receive the most votes from the community will be viewed by the advisory board, which will select the winner.

“It’s sort of an ‘American Idol’ thing,” says Caan. “I hate to use that example, but I know there are people out there who are capable. This just opens things up for them.”

Just how mainstream is Netflix? One of the oldest school of old-school directors is using it to promote his newest movie.

Francis Ford Coppola is now online with his first viral short promoting "Tetro," his upcoming film starring Vincent Gallo. It's no sophisticated filmmaking from a great director or an ironic take on the quality of most videos on YouTube. It's just Francis Ford Coppola, holding a camcorder in one hand, walking alone through his office in the Napa Valley showing us his home office where he works, which basically consists of several laptops and some blueprints (no idea why).

FFC's agenda seems quite simple. He's just saying "hi" and telling us a little bit about his upcoming movie.

The video is apparently meant to serve as an introduction to the new website for "Tetro," which just launched here. As of this writing, only 519 people have watched Francis Ford Coppola's first directorial effort since 2007's "Youth Without Youth." Here's hoping the Internets can show a little more respect:

(via LA Times tech blog)