• Only one man in Hollywood would dare step on the toes of Steven Spielberg in the venerable American historical Ken Burnsy territory and that man is Robert Redford, who set into motion his own Abraham Lincoln bio-pic, competing with the Jurassic Park helmer's long announced, long gestating Lincoln film. [Variety]

• Fashion designer Tom Ford's directorial debut was the big news in Toronto last night. His film A Single Man received generally favorable reviews, with Hitfix calling it a near home run. [Hitfix]

• The LA Times reports that Carl Icahn's shareholder agitation against Lion's Gate appears to have been quieted by the company's rising share price. With the company's board meeting scheduled for today, Icahn seems not to have followed through with his threat to nominate a competing slate of directors. [LA Times]

• Helen Hunt will take the lead of Parenthood, a sitcom based on Ron Howard's 1989 film. Maura Tierney had played the role in the pilot but pulled out due to breast cancer treatments. [Hollywood Reporter]

• One more thing that hasn't changed about the new Jay Leno — his role as punching bag for America's critics. [The Wrap]

• Betty White will receive the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award when at the Guild's big trophy show in January. [The Wrap]

Apparently so. Lopez Twittered the revelation last night, noting that: "Nice guy.Very shy and quiet. Loves moose hunting. Told me he's a half Mexican! Whoa." Woah, indeed. We're not going to imply that Sarah Palin's family - who reportedly gave daughter Bristol a car to breakup with Levi - are racists or anything, but, uh, wonder if they knew this, right?

Latino blog Guanabee tried to do some deductive research on the matter: his mother's name is Sherry, so they doubt that she's the Mexican half, and according to them, his father hasn't made any appearances since Levi started hitting the press circuit. It's a little hard to believe that this hasn't come out or been a headline until now, because the fact that Levi's mom raised her kids single is a pretty significant point in the whole Palin-Johnston child-rearing saga: a vice-preisidental candidate, and (incredibly) possible future presidential candidate - who ran a platform of traditional family values - gets her daughter to dump the father of her baby (and raise the kid "single") for a car.

Palin's conservative and right-leaning on family welfare issues, and some of the most in-need citizens in this country facing a welfare crisis are single parents. And Johnston, the teenage father of Palin's out-of-wedlock-born granddaughter, was raised by one. I'm not sure what the exact idiom on family issues being cyclical is, but feel free to pipe in with one: this is kind of the perfect example.

Levi Johnston Is Half Mexican. SARAH PALIN'S GRANBABY IS MEXICAN. [Guanabee]

For the mom and dad who harbor secret kangaroo fantasies. Or just love the stomach-bursting scene in Alien. [Peekaru via Daily Mail UK. Oh shoot Daily Intel had this earlier. Oh well.]

"Birkhead bought a pink bustier for $1,800 and a white negligee for $1,000 at the auction, run by Julien's Auctions and held at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip.

"He was awarded custody of Danielynn after Smith died from an overdose of prescription drugs in February 2007. She was 39. Birkhead said he hoped the items would help his daughter learn her mother's life story—when she's old enough.

"'You know, it's not something I can show today, but something down the road,' Birkhead said. 'It's not going to be in any bedtime stories anytime soon.'" [AP]

Across the [Tri-State] area, McDonald's employees are encouraged to bring their parents to work and show them the fun and the variety of experiences that go into a day at McDonald's. Not only do parents have the chance to see the work their children do, but they can be a part of the McDonald's team for a day and learn how each restaurant functions as a whole from food prep through the work of McDonald's supportive managers.

Jesus. Though we suppose this idea is actually less depressing than the idea of McDonald's employees participating in the traditional "take your child to work" scheme.

McDonald's New York Tri-State Area Restaurants Celebrate Take Your Parent to Work Day [PRNewswire via BlogOfHilarity]