The Entertation Index: February 17

Atlas Shrugged — This week saw the release of the full motion picture trailer for the upcoming film adaptation of Ayn Rand’s socially and industrially epic novel Atlas Shrugged. The trailer has reportedly surpassed 500,000 online views in the past four days alone — but this being Ayn Rand, you know that 450,000 of those people are only saying they watched it.

Link: “Atlas Shrugged” Trailer (SlashFilm)

Barrino, Fantasia — The former American Idol winner told The Hollywood Reporter that she didn’t attend this past Sunday’s Grammy ceremony as a boycott because she wasn’t asked to participate in the show’s tribute to Aretha Franklin. “I felt like, you know, at the end of the day I should have been on that stage,” Barrino told no one who was asking why she wasn’t at the Grammy Awards.

Link: Fantasia Barrino — Grammy Boycott Over Aretha Franklin (Hollywood Reporter)

Conrad, Lauren — The Hills star, author and fashion designer claims that her new reality series was passed on by MTV for being “too high brow,” but that she’s fielding a number of offers from other networks. I don’t know which news is more troubling: that MTV now thinks Lauren Conrad is “too high brow”  or that there are “a number of offers from other networks” who really, really want a reality series about Lauren Conrad. Either way, it’s never been clearer that the Mayan apocalypse is nigh.

Link: Lauren Conrad Says She’s Fielding Network Offers For Her Reality Show (The Live Feed)

Kelly, R. — During a pre-Grammy, Clive Davis tribute concert featuring artists like the Foo Fighters, Mumford and Sons and Jennifer Hudson, R&B singer R. Kelly  performed a twenty-minute medley — which kicked off with “The Star Spangled Banner” and featured his hit song “Ignition” — and reportedly left the Grammy crowd wowed. And by “wowed,” I mean “relieved that he didn’t pee on anybody.”

Link: R. Kelly’s STar Spangled Banner Highlight of Clive Davis Event (Reuters)

Spider-Man — After many major newspaper critics ripped into the end product of Julie Taymor’s expensive and belabored Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark this week, rumors abound that the production has hired a script doctor in Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, a playwright who has actually penned Spider-Man stories for Marvel Comics. Aguirre-Sacasa is not to be confused, however, with the hundreds of actual medical doctors the musical keeps on call for each night’s performance.

Link: “Spider-Man” Producers Have Their Eye on a Script Doctor With Superhero Credentials (NY Times)

Did You Mean: ass-kicking?

Watson — Watson, the IBM computer which played former Jeopardy champs Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, tied its human competitors on night one and handily blew its competition away on night two of the series, scoring more than $30,000 more than its opponents. To be fair, though, the categories were “11010101110,” “1110101011110,” 110100010101,” “1110001010101” and “Google Searches.”

Link: Watson Wins Jeopardy Day 2 Easily, with One Strange Stumble (Tecca)