O'Brien's new LA digs

Conan O'Brien has gone from Brookline to the big house - the really big house. The talk show host, who'll take over for Jay Leno in 2009, has just bought an LA compound. The 44-year-old O'Brien (inset), a Brookline native and Harvard grad, paid nearly $10.5 million for the gated house in LA's Brentwood neighborhood. It has six bedrooms, including a master suite for O'Brien and his wife, Liza, that includes a sitting room, balcony, and two bathrooms. The home, which the Multiple Listing Service notes was "just completed on one of Brentwood's most prestigious streets," has a screening room; a 1,500-bottle wine room; a paneled library with a bar; a 60-foot veranda; a pool; a spa; a pavilion with a fireplace; an outside kitchen; and canyon views. Inside are gracious public rooms, 10-foot ceilings, and six fireplaces. (People)

Chris Noth's longtime girlfriend, Tara Wilson, gave birth to a baby boy, a rep for the actor told People magazine. Orion Christopher Noth was born in LA on Friday. "Chris and Tara are thrilled, and all are doing well," says the rep. Wilson met the 53-year-old "Sex and the City" star while working at his New York bar, the Cutting Room. The couple will soon appear on the big screen together as well, in the indie drama "Frame of Mind," in which Noth plays a journalist. (AP)

The creature-feature "Cloverfield" was a monster hit with moviegoers this weekend, debuting with a $41-million take at the box office, a record opening for January. The tale of a giant reptile that wreaks havoc in New York City surpassed the $35.9 million premiere weekend of the "Star Wars" special edition in 1997. Opening in second place was the romantic comedy "27 Dresses," starring Katherine Heigl as a perpetual bridesmaid. It pulled in $22.4 million. The weekend's other new wide release, "Mad Money," with Katie Holmes, Diane Keaton, and Queen Latifah, opened at No. 7 with $7.7 million. Overall, business surged, with the top 12 movies taking in $135.3 million, up 39 percent from the same weekend last year. (AP)

Cambodian police blocked Mia Farrow from holding a genocide memorial ceremony yesterday at a Khmer Rouge prison, forcefully pushing the actress's group away from a barricade. Farrow, who's working with the US-based advocacy group Dream for Darfur, was in Cambodia as part of a seven-nation tour of countries that have suffered genocide to call atten- tion to the humanitarian crisis in Sudan. (AP)

Britney Spears's new habit of speaking with a British accent has some questioning her mental health. In the past several weeks, Spears, 26, has been videotaped numerous times trading her Louisiana twang for UK inflections. On a shopping trip to Macy's in LA the other day, the singer screamed at the paparazzi, "Get out of my [expletive] face!" -- in a British accent. Psychologist Renee Cohen isn't treating Spears, but wonders if someone should be. "When Britney uses the British accent, or appears to take on another identity, does she know she's Britney Spears?" Cohen said.(People)