Sandra Bullock

Oscar-winner Sandra Bullock has purchased a Beverly Hills-area estate for $22.95 million, the Multiple Listing Service shows. Set on more than 4 park-like acres and surrounded by an expansive lawn, the stately two-story house looks more East Coast than Westside. The main house, built in 1940, has a screening room, a library, a basement, five bedrooms and seven bathrooms. Grounds include a swimming pool and a pool house, and 270-degree views run from city lights to the ocean. Among previous owners of the house is Hard Rock Cafe cofounder Peter Morton, who sold the property late last year for $15.5 million, according to public records.

"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" is a handsomely polished, thoughtfully wrapped Hollywood production about the national tragedy of 9/11 that seems to have forever redefined words like unthinkable, unforgivable, catastrophic. It has also redefined our expectations of filmmakers who try to examine the still aching wound — and perhaps explains why most films about 9/11 haven't resonated with audiences. Mindful of that, director Stephen Daldry has taken great care in looking at it through the eyes of a precocious New York City boy in a film filled with both sentiment and substance.

Could it finally be Sandra Bullock's time for recognition of her dramatic efforts? Other than her ensemble work in the drama "Crash," she's largely been singled out for her comedic films, and she's had a string of People's Choice awards and nominations for favorite female movie star. But this year could be a milestone for her with "The Blind Side." GOLDEN GLOBES 2001: Nominated for performance by an actress in a motion picture comedy or musical, "Miss Congeniality."

Jesse James had it all. The Hollywood A-list wife. A top-ranked cable-TV show. He'd built his Long Beach shop, West Coast Choppers, into an empire, wrenching custom $80,000-plus motorcycles for a celebrity clientele -- an endeavor he spun off into a mass-market clothing line for Wal-Mart, a glossy gearhead magazine and an eco-friendly burger joint he hoped to franchise. That was early 2010. Two months later, he'd thrown it all away with a string of extramarital affairs that made James a household name for all the wrong reasons.

Sandra Bullock, America's sweetheart of popular movies, has suddenly become Oscar's sweetheart too. One of Hollywood's most beloved comic actresses, Bullock walked off with the Academy Award for playing true-life Southern power mom Leigh Anne Tuohy in the unexpected blockbuster "The Blind Side." Based on the nonfiction bestseller by Michael Lewis, and written and directed by John Lee Hancock, the film told the story of how Tuohy and her family adopted and nurtured homeless black teenager Michael Oher, who became a star Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman.

Inside a stark white West Hollywood studio, Sandra Bullock was between personas. She'd spent the last four hours posing for a magazine cover, an experience that left her feeling a little too vulnerable. She'd traded the ball gowns for a pair of worn blue jeans and a loose-fitting sweater and sneakers, and she couldn't wait to get home to wash her face and walk her dogs. It was a demure presentation for an actress having the best year of her career. Her summer blockbuster, "The Proposal," made more money domestically than any film in her repertoire, and that's really saying something.

Is 45 the new 25? Maybe, if you consider the career of Sandra Bullock, who this year pulled in the biggest box office bonanza of her career, powering both the romantic comedy "The Proposal" ($163 million domestically) and the inspirational sports drama "The Blind Side" ($150 million and counting). On Tuesday, the films also earned Bullock, a perennial audience favorite, double Golden Globe nominations -- one each for lead actress in a comedy film and a drama film -- giving her a legitimate shot at her first Oscar nomination.

The Blind Side Warner, $28.98; Blu-ray, $35.99 Sandra Bullock's Oscar-winning lead performance is the best part of "The Blind Side," a maudlin, feel-good melodrama that takes the real-life story of NFL lineman Michael Oher's tough upbringing and turns it into the story of a saintly Southern woman who plays patron. The movie is effective as a tear-jerker, but as charismatic as Bullock can be, her character doesn't make sense unless the kid she's taking care of is just as fleshed out, and Oher, as played by Quinton Aaron, remains a blank throughout "The Blind Side."

Give Bullock and Bridges some credit. The key to a box-office boost from the Oscars this year, it seems, was winning a lead acting trophy. Lead actress Sandra Bullock's "The Blind Side" and lead actor Jeff Bridges' "Crazy Heart" both posted very strong performances this weekend after the stars won Academy Awards the previous Sunday. Ticket sales for "The Blind Side" grew by 24%, despite a small drop in the number of theaters where it played, bringing total receipts to $252.

A roundup of this morning's arts and entertainment headlines: Report claims Jesse James' kids are staying with Sandra Bullock. (TMZ) NBC.com uses the Filter to figure out users' tastes. ( Los Angeles Times) Former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren has died. (Los Angeles Times) Is Lindsay Lohan the next person to undergo Quentin Tarantino Career Rehab? (Daily Express) The "Lost" finale pre-show gets expanded to two hours -- giving us five hours of "Lost" farewells on May 23. (The Wrap)

Oscar-winner Sandra Bullock has purchased a Beverly Hills-area estate for $22.95 million, the Multiple Listing Service shows. Set on more than 4 park-like acres and surrounded by an expansive lawn, the stately two-story house looks more East Coast than Westside. The main house, built in 1940, has a screening room, a library, a basement, five bedrooms and seven bathrooms. Grounds include a swimming pool and a pool house, and 270-degree views run from city lights to the ocean. Among previous owners of the house is Hard Rock Cafe cofounder Peter Morton, who sold the property late last year for $15.5 million, according to public records.

Oscar-winner Sandra Bullock has purchased a Beverly Hills-area estate for $22.95 million, the Multiple Listing Service shows. Set on more than 4 park-like acres and surrounded by an expansive lawn, the stately two-story house looks more East Coast than Westside. The main house, built in 1940, has a screening room, a library, a basement, five bedrooms and seven bathrooms. Grounds include a swimming pool and a pool house, and 270-degree views run from city lights to the ocean. Among previous owners of the house is Hard Rock Cafe cofounder Peter Morton, who sold the property late last year for $15.5 million, according to public records.

Actress Sandra Bullock sent a $1-million donation to the American Red Cross this week to help with earthquake and tsunami relief efforts in Japan, the Red Cross said Thursday. It is the largest celebrity donation to the Red Cross to be announced since the disaster struck last Friday, although the charity may have gotten large contributions that were kept confidential at the donors' request. Dozens of celebrities used their social network accounts, including Twitter, to urge fans to support the Red Cross with small donations.

Update: Motorcycle manufacturer and reality show star Jesse James, the ex-husband of actress Sandra Bullock, has sold his Sunset Beach home for $4.5 million. The Mediterranean sits along the sand in Orange County on a corner lot with ocean views. The great room features stone floors, coved ceilings and an oversized fireplace with a stone surround and mantel. A crescent-shaped island with bar seating separates the living and dining areas from the kitchen. A master suite, a media/game room, a wet bar, an office and a guest suite complete the second floor.

In 1962, the year she was nominated for an Oscar for playing a grotesque has-been in "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?," 54-year-old Bette Davis placed an ad in Variety. "Thirty years experience as an actress in Motion Pictures," the ad read. "Mobile still and more affable than rumor would have it. Wants steady employment in Hollywood. (Has had Broadway). " Davis would be shocked to see what middle-aged actresses are doing in 2010. Naomi Watts spies on terrorists, Diane Lane raises a champion racehorse, Julia Roberts decamps to an ashram.

The MTV Movie Awards are typically an exercise in frothy Hollywood film promotion but on Sunday night they were a ritual of redemption for two of Hollywood's biggest stars, Tom Cruise and Sandra Bullock. The show was jammed pack with popcorn commercials but if you paid attention there were also surprisingly emotional moments, none more than the 21 Century survivor declarations by the stars of "Top Gun" and "Speed." Cruise opened the show in the hairy-chested, Tinseltown mercenary persona of Les Grosssman from "Tropic Thunder" and by channeling his inner Fly Girl with his dance moves.

The MTV Movie Awards are typically an exercise in frothy Hollywood film promotion but on Sunday night they were a ritual of redemption for two of Hollywood's biggest stars, Tom Cruise and Sandra Bullock. The show was jammed pack with popcorn commercials but if you paid attention there were also surprisingly emotional moments, none more than the 21 Century survivor declarations by the stars of "Top Gun" and "Speed." Cruise opened the show in the hairy-chested, Tinseltown mercenary persona of Les Grosssman from "Tropic Thunder" and by channeling his inner Fly Girl with his dance moves.

When confessed tax fraud promoter Jerome Schneider handed the Internal Revenue Service a list of his clients, there was at least one well-known name on the roster: actress Sandra Bullock. Bullock, the vivacious star of "Miss Congeniality" and other films, paid Schneider for advice on how to buy an offshore bank, said her attorney, E. Howell Crosby. But, he said, she never cheated on her taxes by moving money overseas.

Extra points "The Blind Side" is no blockbuster overseas. The inspirational football drama that won Sandra Bullock an Academy Award shocked many in Hollywood by racking up $255.6 million at the domestic box office after its November debut. After several weeks in key foreign countries, however, it's performing much more modestly, selling $38.9-million worth of tickets. Top markets have included Australia, where it has grossed $11.4 million over seven weeks; Great Britain, where it collected $7 million in three weeks; and Germany, where it brought in $5 million over three weeks.

A roundup of this morning's arts and entertainment headlines: Report claims Jesse James' kids are staying with Sandra Bullock. (TMZ) NBC.com uses the Filter to figure out users' tastes. ( Los Angeles Times) Former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren has died. (Los Angeles Times) Is Lindsay Lohan the next person to undergo Quentin Tarantino Career Rehab? (Daily Express) The "Lost" finale pre-show gets expanded to two hours -- giving us five hours of "Lost" farewells on May 23. (The Wrap)