Kimberley French / Summit Entertainment The vampire craze has yet to peak if the latest film installment in the Twilight series is any indication. Several thousand New Moon showtimes have already sold out in anticipation of its Friday release, according to Fandango, AMC, and MovieTickets.com, which say the film has broken advance ticket sales records set by the likes of Revenge of the Sith, Dark Knight, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter. Today is all about the ladies, though, and they're not afraid to get their dork on. MovieTickets.com reports that 87 percent of its ticket buyers are women, while Fandango reports that ten percent of fans plan to dress up as film characters. Those lucky enough to score tickets to a Thursday night advance screening may be deaf this morning—Fandango reported that 51 percent of fans were prepared to scream as the lights went down. Eat your heart out, Frodo. (Entertainment Weekly)

Xtra Insight: Galleries, tattoos and clips: Our full New Moon coverage.

Tweens may be screaming over Edward and Jacob, but the critics are showing The Twilight Saga: New Moon much less love.

 Roger Ebert, The Chicago Sun-Times

“The characters in this movie should be arrested for loitering with intent to moan. Never have teenagers been in greater need of a jump-start. Granted, some of them are more than 100 years old, but still: Their charisma is by Madame Tussaud.

“The Twilight Saga: New Moon takes the tepid achievement of Twilight, guts it, and leaves it for undead. You know you’re in trouble with a sequel when the word of mouth advises you to see the first movie twice instead.”

 Claudia Puig, USA Today

“The werewolves have it all over the blood-suckers in The Twilight Saga: New Moon. When these oversize, hirsute creatures burst onto the screen, they inject life into a rather inert story.

What bogs down this tale of teenage Belle (Kristen Stewart), her vampire beau Edward (Robert Pattinson) and werewolf buddy Jacob (Taylor Lautner) is the morose nature of Bella and Edward’s romance. Though an improvement over the first Twilight film, this sequel (both based on Stephenie Meyer’s best-\selling books) drags and sputters, even in scenes meant to be infused with passion.”

 Kenneth Turan, The Los Angeles Times

“Constrained by the plot of the novel, the film keeps the two lovers apart for quite a spell, robbing the project of the crazy-in-love energy that made Twilight, the first entry in the series, such a guilty pleasure. New Moon… marks the franchise’s entrance into the self-protective, don’t-rock-the-boat phase of its existence, which is inevitable but a bit of a shame.”

 Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

“Swooning tweens of all ages and sexes will work themselves into a lather deciding whether to join Team Edward (that’s sometimes shirtless vampire Edward Cullen, played by Robert Pattinson), or Team Jacob (that’s perpetually shirtless werewolf Jacob Black, played by Taylor Lautner). Sign me up for Team Confused, since this is now the second film in Stephenie Meyer’s four-book Twilight saga that fails to ignite the flame of Meyer’s overheated prose.

“Chris Weitz, the director of New Moon, pumps up the action as Jacob turns into an unconvincing digital wolf. I can’t comment on the acting because I didn’t catch Pattinson, Stewart and Lautner doing any. They basically primp and pose through the same humdrum motions they did before.”

 Ty Burr, The Boston Globe

“Sorry, girls: The thrill is gone. The Twilight Saga: New Moon, the second installment in Hollywood’s adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s mega-selling vampire romance series, is an anemic comedown after the full-blooded swoon of last year’s Twilight. Where the first film’s director, Catherine Hardwicke, plugged into Meyer’s vision of supernatural teenage lust with abandon, Chris Weitz is stuck with a sequel that’s a morning-after mope-fest…

“In most…respects, the movie’s a drag—paced like a dirge and cursed with dialogue and a goopy musical score (Alexandre Desplat, how could you?) that bring out the book’s worst daytime-soap tendencies.”

After telling WWD that one of her mottoes is "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels," Kate Moss may have to eat her words. Anti-eating disorder activists are criticizing the model for propagating what they see as a "dangerous" and "very unhelpful" saying that's been widely reproduced by pro-anorexia websites. "She probably doesn't realize how dangerous such comments can be," said a spokeswoman for Beat, an eating disorder charity. "It's difficult enough for young people who are struggling to beat eating disorders, without comments like this, which are very unhelpful." Moss's agency, Storm, said that her comments had been "taken out of context" and that Moss "does not support this as a lifestyle choice." (BBC News)

Chris Pizzello / AP Photo

What will daytime television do without its queen? The president of Harpo Inc., Oprah Winfrey's production company, has announced that the woman with the gift of gab will share with viewers on Friday the decision to discontinue what has been a daytime staple for 25 seasons, The Oprah Winfrey Show. The program turned Oprah into a household name, and stands as the most successful syndicated talk program, reaching 7 million viewers daily The last episode is scheduled to air September 9, 2011. "Oprah’s personal comments about this on tomorrow’s live show will mark an historic television moment that we will all be talking about for years to come," Harpo's president wrote. Oprah will concentrate on her cable network, OWN, which she is starting with Discovery Communications and will debut in January 2011. Oprah will appear on-air and have a behind-the-scenes role at her new home. The network hasn't commented, but Oprah is expected to have a daily show, though one that's different from the one she has now. (WIBV.com)

Xtra Insight: Six Oprah scandals

John Kerry's daughter Alexandra, a film producer and director, was pulled over in Hollywood and arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol early Thursday morning. According to police sources, Alexandra was pulled over on a traffic violation, and after failing a field sobriety test was taken to the station and found to have a blood alcohol content of .06. Though the legal limit in California is .08, drivers whose BAC is lower can still be prosecuted for unsafe driving; according to TMZ, Kerry is unlikely to be prosecuted, since her driving was not that "crazy." (TMZ.com)

AP Photo Perhaps there’s an open slot on the next edition of The Celebrity Apprentice? The New York Post reports that former Miss California USA Carrie Prejean recently called pageant owner Donald Trump for advice on what to do since her sex tape surfaced. Apparently, Trump said Prejean has no credibility or reputation left. "Maybe," Mr. Trump said only half-jokingly, "she should become a major porn star, make millions of dollars, and give it to worthy causes. (New York Post)"

A few weeks ago, the company that made Crazy Heart thought it so unpromising that it was refusing to put it in theaters; now, buzz is that its lead actor, Jeff Bridges, could win an Oscar. The film stars Bridges as a washed-up country star. The film was originally made by Viacom, but the company’s Paramount Pictures division did not want to distribute it. The movie’s writer and director, Scott Cooper, got permission to sell it to Fox Searchlight, which pushed up its release until December and now finds the film generating Oscar Buzz. Bridges has been nominated for an Oscar four times but has never won. (New York Times)

Martha Stewart may have been down, but she's far from out. "I was hurt, and I was sad, but I was never, never broken," Stewart tells Nightline in her first television interview since serving five months in prison for perjury and insider trading in 2004. Stewart's lifestyle business is at a crucial point of growth, reports ABC News, and after multi-million dollar losses during and since her stint in the big house, the famous homemaker is readying a bounce back, largely through the development of craft supplies, which she says are a $32-billion business. Always frank and success-driven, Stewart's in depth interview covers everything from Rachel Ray, whom she dismisses as an "entertainer," to her defense of powerful women like Hillary Clinton (and herself, of course). "I don't think Hillary ... is a broken woman, and I don't think I was a broken woman," Stewart said. "I did what I had to do. And came back right into a company that had not failed." (ABC News)

Joel Ryan / AP Photo Move over Hugh Jackman. Johnny Depp was named People Magazine's 2009 "Sexiest Man Alive" on Wednesday, nabbing the magazine's much sought-after annual honor for the second time. (Depp's first win was in 2003.) Though the number of double-winners is limited to a small handful that includes Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and Richard Gere, it is unsurprising that the 46-year-old has been ushered into the elite club given his ability to stay fresh and relevant for decades through a variety of quirky, quality roles from Edward Scissorhands to Captain Jack Sparrow. Ryan Reynolds, Robert Pattinson and Jake Gyllenhaal were among the 15 dreamboats honored by People in this year's awards. (Associated Press)