Ice Age

Film franchises that make it past three movies don't tend to be known for the fourth - "Batman and Robin," anyone? "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"? - and critics' reviews indicate "Ice Age: Continental Drift" won't be one to buck the trend. The 3-D animated adventure follows a group of prehistoric animal pals (voiced by Ray Romano, Denis Leary and John Leguizamo) adrift on an iceberg, but many critics say the film itself is equally directionless. The Los Angeles Times' Betsy Sharkey pens one of the more positive reviews, calling this fourth installment "an improvement over No. 3, 2009's 'Dawn of the Dinosaurs,' which completely lost it when the Ice Age went tropical.

First the good news: In the last 11,300 years, humans have endured a planet warmer than today's, even as they set about building their earliest civilizations. Now the bad news: That will no longer be true 87 years from now, according to scientists who have conducted a comprehensive analysis of the planet's climate history since the world's ice sheets began their most recent retreat from North America and Europe. New research into Earth's ancient climate is providing a clearer, more detailed view of how the planet's average surface temperature fluctuated over the period known as the Holocene epoch, which continues today.

'Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas' Where: Fox When: 8 p.m. Thursday Rating: TV-PG (may be unsuitable for young children)

Nearly 200 years after Charles Darwin wondered how a fox-looking wolf came to live on South American islands hundreds of miles from the mainland, scientists think they have the answer. The Falkland Islands wolf, the only land animal believed to have occupied the Falkland Islands before it was hunted into extinction in the 19 th century, trekked to its final home over ice sheets during the last ice age, researchers concluded. The wolf, Dusicyon australis , became isolated from its sister species, Dusicyon avus, on the South America mainland about 16,000 years ago, according to the study published Tuesday in Nature Communications.

"Ice Age: Continental Drift" will float to the top of the box office chart this weekend, as the animated 3-D sequel is expected to freeze out all of the competition. The fourth installment in the popular series featuring a group of prehistoric mammals will probably debut with a solid sum of between $50 million and $55 million, according to those who have seen pre-release audience surveys. Twentieth Century Fox is predicting a softer domestic opening of $35 million to $40 million.

The head-to-head battle of two animated giants in China turned out to be a rout. Twentieth Century Fox's "Ice Age: Continental Drift" destroyed Universal Pictures' '"The Lorax" at the box office after both opened Friday -- the first salvo in an effort by the country's largest film distributor to depress ticket sales of Hollywood movies. Released through China Film Group, the fourth "Ice Age" film grossed $15.7 million, while "The Lorax" took in only $964,000. Fox was helped by securing far more theaters: 3,500, compared with just 1,060 for Universal.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs 20th Century Fox, $29.98/$34.98; Blu-ray, $39.99 At times, this third go-round for the prehistoric mammals of the "Ice Age" franchise feels like a sitcom nearing the end of its run. Some characters are settling down and starting families, others are feeling jealous and shut out . . . it's all a bit of a bummer for a kid flick. The movie improves, though, once the titular giant reptiles show up and the "Ice Age" crew discovers a lost world below the ice. The special edition DVD and Blu-ray come loaded with extras, including a commentary track, deleted scenes, interviews with the voice talent and bonus shorts featuring the slapstick character Scrat.

There are so many things going on in "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," what with Scrat getting a girlfriend, Ellie about to deliver a mini-mammoth, Sid contemplating adoption, Diego dealing with age issues and Manny worried about everything, to say nothing of the huge tropical world of dinosaurs that they've just discovered under the ice, you'd think the movie would zoom by in a Paleozoic flash.

20th Century Fox can chill out now, as the fourth installment of the studio's animated "Ice Age" franchise easily debuted in the No. 1 spot at the box office this weekend. "Ice Age: Continental Drift," the only new movie to hit theaters nationwide this weekend, opened with a solid domestic sum of $46 million, according to an estimate from Fox. The 3-D picture reunites the series' beloved band of prehistoric mammals and features a number of celebrities in its voice cast, including Queen Latifah, Nicki Minaj and Ray Romano.

A plant that was frozen in Siberian permafrost for about 30,000 years has been revived by a team of Russian scientists - and borne fruit, to boot. Using tissue from immature fruits buried in fossil squirrel burrows some 90 feet below the surface, researchers from the Russian Academy of Sciences in Pushchino managed to coax the frozen remains of a Silene stenophylla specimen into full flower, producing delicate white blooms and then fruit. The findings, published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, describe what is a record for reviving presumably dead plant tissue - and may provide clues as to what makes some plants hardier and longer-lived than others.

Click here to download TV listings for the week Dec. 16 - 22 in PDF format This week's TV Movies     SERIES The Voice:   Finalists Cassadee Pope, Terry McDermott and Nicholas David perform in this new episode (8 p.m. NBC). Gossip Girl: After six seasons, Serena (Blake Lively) and her high-living Upper East Side friends and relatives bid farewell with the two-hour series finale (8 p.m. KTLA). Nick News With Linda Ellerbee:   This newest installment of the kids' news show looks at "Top 10 Annoying Things Siblings Do" (8 p.m. Nickelodeon)

Among the year's major animated releases (and award contenders) are sequels in billion-dollar franchises, an expansion of a beloved Dr. Seuss book and an irreverent claymation pirate adventure. There are prehistoric animals battling other pirates who sail ships of icebergs; New Yorker animals joining the circus to escape an indestructible, Edith Piaf-belting Frances McDormand; and a moonstruck loser named Charles Darwin. 'The Pirates! Band of Misfits' The stop-motion pioneers at England's Aardman Animations made their first foray into high-tech, with 3-D and extensive computer-generated imagery, for "The Pirates!

It's not a tie-in with the animated-film franchise (man, how sweet would that be?), but "Ice Age," the new video from Trent Reznor's How to Destroy Angels, is a relatively heartwarming affair from a guy known for his less-than-rosy worldview. Posted to YouTube on Wednesday, the clip finds the L.A.-based electro-rock outfit -- which in addition to Reznor includes Atticus Ross, Rob Sheridan and Reznor's wife, Mariqueen Maandig -- jamming on the prettiest cut from this month's " An Omen " EP inside what appears to be somebody's weekend lake house.

Fox Filmed Entertainment co-chairman Tom Rothman, who has led the News Corp.-owned studio together with partner Jim Gianopulos since 2000, is leaving his post on Jan. 1. The unexpected move ends long and largely successful run atop the studio for Rothman, who first came to Fox in 1994 when he founded the specialty label Fox Searchlight Pictures. He previously worked as president of the independent studio Samuel Goldwyn Pictures. With Rothman's exit, Gianopulos will become the sole chairman of Fox, the studio behind "Avatar," "Ice Age," and "Prometheus.

The head-to-head battle of two animated giants in China turned out to be a rout. Twentieth Century Fox's "Ice Age: Continental Drift" destroyed Universal Pictures' '"The Lorax" at the box office after both opened Friday -- the first salvo in an effort by the country's largest film distributor to depress ticket sales of Hollywood movies. Released through China Film Group, the fourth "Ice Age" film grossed $15.7 million, while "The Lorax" took in only $964,000. Fox was helped by securing far more theaters: 3,500, compared with just 1,060 for Universal.

After the coffee. Before seeing if 'Breaking Bad' beat 'Political Animals' in the ratings. The Skinny: Sorry Nickelodeon and Comedy Central fans, Viacom doesn't have a deal with DirecTV yet. The standoff enters its second week Tuesday night. Monday's headlines include a look at how the latest "Ice Age" dominated the box office, a peek behind the rope at Comic-Con, NBC buys out Microsoft's stake in the MSNBC website, and an appreciation of Richard Zanuck. Daily Dose: There was no shortage of plugs for MSNBC in the USA series "Political Animals.

When a woolly mammoth cops an attitude and smirks, "It's not like it's the end of the world," there is certain to be trouble ahead. Or in the case of the 3-D animated"Ice Age: Continental Drift,"a whole lotta trouble. A whole lotta shakin' too, especially after Scrat, that acorn-obsessed saber-toothed squirrel (voiced by Chris Wedge), manages to crack the ice, which creates the continents and triggers the breakup of the polar icecaps. So much for global warming. The film was co-directed by Steve Martino ("Robots")

20th Century Fox can chill out today, as the fourth installment of the studio's animated "Ice Age" franchise easily debuted in the No. 1 spot at the box office this weekend. "Ice Age: Continental Drift," the only new movie to hit theaters nationwide this weekend, opened with a solid domestic sum of $46 million, according to an estimate from Fox. The 3-D picture reunites the series' beloved band of prehistoric mammals and features a number of celebrities in its voice cast, such as Queen Latifah, Nicki Minaj and Ray Romano.

20th Century Fox can chill out now, as the fourth installment of the studio's animated "Ice Age" franchise easily debuted in the No. 1 spot at the box office this weekend. "Ice Age: Continental Drift," the only new movie to hit theaters nationwide this weekend, opened with a solid domestic sum of $46 million, according to an estimate from Fox. The 3-D picture reunites the series' beloved band of prehistoric mammals and features a number of celebrities in its voice cast, including Queen Latifah, Nicki Minaj and Ray Romano.

20th Century Fox can chill out today, as the fourth installment of the studio's animated "Ice Age" franchise easily debuted in the No. 1 spot at the box office this weekend. "Ice Age: Continental Drift," the only new movie to hit theaters nationwide this weekend, opened with a solid domestic sum of $46 million, according to an estimate from Fox. The 3-D picture reunites the series' beloved band of prehistoric mammals and features a number of celebrities in its voice cast, such as Queen Latifah, Nicki Minaj and Ray Romano.