Oscar Watch: George Clooney, The Coen Brothers And More

As the calendar page turns to October and the last of the summer blockbusters fade into the distance, it is time to cleanse our palate. That's right, folks, awards season is here once again, and this weekend's release of "A Serious Man" indicates that it's time to put away remakes, roman numerals and TV adaptations and instead expect movies that are — gasp! — smart.

Naturally, we here at MTV will be all over the 2009 awards season, right up to our annual coverage backstage at the Oscars. But who will be the next "Slumdog," "Brokeback" or "Little Miss Sunshine"? Below you'll find a list of 10 films we'll be watching closely between now and Oscar night.

"Up in the Air"
Over the last few years, the only more surefire way to receive an Oscar nomination than being in a George Clooney film (Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson, David Strathairn) is to be named George Clooney ("Syriana," "Michael Clayton," "Good Night, and Good Luck."). This bodes extremely well for Clooney's November 25 drama about a corporate downsizing expert, directed by Jason Reitman ("Juno") and starring fast-rising "Twilight" scene-stealer Anna Kendrick. Wanna know another thing that bodes well for the film's Oscar hopes? We saw it recently, and it delivers the goods.

"A Serious Man"
Remember the days when the Coen brothers were the most criminally neglected filmmakers in Hollywood, cranking out classics like "Raising Arizona," "Miller's Crossing" and "Barton Fink" while being ignored by Oscar? Well, "Fargo," "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" and "No Country for Old Men" righted those wrongs, and now the most diverse and acclaimed filmmaking siblings in history are continuing the trend with "A Serious Man." Another dark, brilliant instant classic, this one follows a Midwestern professor whose life is falling apart. Look for a Best Picture push as well as acting and screenplay possibilities.

"The Lovely Bones"
Based on a beloved 2002 novel about a murdered teenage girl who watches her family, friends and killer from heaven, this film would have all the dramatic heft to warrant Oscar consideration — even if wasn't being overseen by "Lord of the Rings" awards juggernauts Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens and produced by some dude named Spielberg. The buzz is that nominations for Stanley Tucci and Saoirse Ronan ("Atonement") are a given, and the eye-popping footage we've seen of the film so far makes it look like something unforgettable — especially come Oscar night.

"Amelia"
It seems like every time Hilary Swank takes the lead role in a movie late in the year ("Boys Don't Cry," "Million Dollar Baby"), the Academy takes notice. Based on the true story of the 1937 disappearance of famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart, "Amelia" places Swank in this biopic adventure with co-stars Richard Gere and Ewan McGregor. It also won't hurt that the film is directed by revered international director Mira Nair, and the script was written by Oscar-winner Ronald Bass ("Rain Man"). With all those factors in play, the Million Dollar Lady might want to start clearing another space on her mantel.

"Biutiful"
Three years after getting an Oscar nod for "Babel," director Alejandro Gonzбlez Iсбrritu is back, directing a story about a lifelong friendship between two men. "No Country for Old Men" Oscar juggernaut Javier Bardem returns as one of the lead roles, opposite "Che" actor Rubйn Ochandiano. Such prestige will catch the attention of the Academy — at that point, all the movie has to do is be good.

"An Education"
An army of journalists left Sundance raving about this independent film and its lead actress, Carey Mulligan, who is already drawing comparisons to Audrey Hepburn. The coming-of-age story follows a bright, young girl who's having an affair with a much older playboy, played by actor Peter Sarsgaard. Directed by Denmark's Lone Scherfig and written by Nick Hornby ("About a Boy"), could it be this year's "Juno"?

"Pirate Radio"
Oscar-nominated writer Richard Curtis ("Four Weddings and a Funeral") returns with this comedy about an offshore pirate station in the swinging '60s. Phillip Seymour Hoffman (an Oscar-winner for "Capote") stars as the American DJ behind the radio station's antics and is opposed by Kenneth Branagh, a four-time Oscar nominee himself. Although some U.K. critics have been harsh on the film so far, the Academy may have its own opinion.

"Broken Embraces"
Some critics wonder if it's even possible for Pedro Almodуvar ("Volver," "Talk to Her") to make a bad film. This old-fashioned melodrama, which once again pairs the director with his longtime muse, Penelope Cruz, is a modern-day film noir about a blind writer. Although it's always harder for a foreign film to get many nominations, this one has a better shot than any.

"The Hurt Locker"
The only film listed here that has already played in theaters, Kathryn Bigelow's gripping film about an elite group of soldiers disarming bombs in the heat of combat in Iraq has achieved the rare feat of sticking with critics — but can it hang in there for another five months? Stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty all shine, and will be hoping Oscar has a long memory this year.

"Sherlock Holmes"
Arthur Conan Doyle's iconic character is finally back on the big screen, directed this time by the former Mr. Madonna. In case you haven't heard, Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law and Rachel McAdams star in the flick that hopes to bring the magnifying-glass-wielding super-sleuth back as a modern-day franchise. Could Downey's Sherlock be the next offbeat character to get a Jack Sparrow-like Oscar nomination? With the streak RDJ has been on lately, such a feat seems elementary.

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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'Capitalism: A Love Story': Money Jungle, By Kurt Loder

In his new movie, "Capitalism: A Love Story," Michael Moore casts a fiery eye at the U.S. financial system — a rich and appalling subject at the moment — and comes, alas, to the usual loopy conclusion: Hateful capitalism is dead; time now for government to step in and take charge. This mad idea has worked out so badly so many times in the past (has it not been just 20 years since Soviet communism collapsed?) that one is always startled to see it exhumed as a cutting-edge nostrum. So I'm not a Mike fan.

And yet — and yet! — there's a section of this picture, wonderfully well-edited and powered by raw fury, that made me want to leap up and cheer. Or leap up and throw stuff, actually. It's the section in which Moore focuses on the current economic collapse — the heedless Wall Street financial machinations, the unconscionable corporate bailouts, the rampant political scumbaggery. Naturally, George W. Bush, the man who unleashed the flood of taxpayer money into the hands of incompetent finance weasels, takes some well-deserved lumps here (to the predictable accompaniment of out-of-context file footage showing him doing silly things). But then, to his credit, Moore trains his guns on the other side of the political aisle and starts whaling on some equally deserving Democrats: the Fannie Mae-shielding Barney Frank; the Countrywide-cuddling Christopher Dodd; and the egregious Timothy Geithner, brazen tax-dodger and now — somehow! — secretary of the Treasury.

Moore also clearly illustrates the revolving door between the executive suites of high finance and the halls of government. (The name of Goldman Sachs, the big investment banking firm, crops up a lot here. And while in another part of the picture the director lapses into predictable Obama adoration, here he pointedly notes that Goldman Sachs was the biggest contributor to Barack Obama's presidential campaign.)

This is rousing stuff. Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with the legal and financial system called capitalism. What it does have to do with is corruption. And no matter how loudly businessmen and politicians may proclaim their reverence for free-market precepts, once corrupted, they're no longer capitalists.

The rest of the picture suffers from Moore's usual mixture of populist demagoguery and string-pulling sentimentalism. We're shown several families who are being evicted from their homes — by the same banks that are simultaneously Hoovering money out of the federal treasury. Some of these scenes are heartbreaking. But they'd be more compelling if Moore let us know why these people are being kicked out into the street. Presumably, they couldn't make their mortgage payments. Did they yield to the lure of government-mandated easy credit and refinance their mortgages in order to refinance their lifestyles — and then get caught short? Or were they genuinely snookered? (Moore is convinced that one of these families, the Hackers, was robbed, and he says he's hired a lawyer to get to the bottom of their case.)

Then there's the deplorable story from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in which a private company, PA Child Care LLC, was hired to run a pair of juvenile-detention facilities and kept them filled by paying more than $2 million to two local judges, who obligingly remanded hundreds of kids — many found guilty, without benefit of lawyers, of the most piddling offenses — into extended custody. But again, this has nothing to do with capitalism. The judges and the company were flagrantly corrupt; both judges have been removed from the bench and are now facing a sizable if not sufficient number of years in jail.

There's lots more, some of it riveting, some of it bordering on vaudeville. Moore once again labors to hold the movie's sprawling elements together with his familiar lovable-schlub persona — part homespun Marxist, part wisecracking provincial — and the look of sly mock bafflement on his face as first a Wall Street executive and then a Harvard professor try (and fail) to explain the financial mystery of derivatives is one of the more entertaining things in the film.

Moore has taken a lot of stick in the media following the New York premiere of his movie last week, and no wonder — one needed hip boots to wade through all the hypocrisy on display. It was held, first of all, at Lincoln Center, the gleaming uptown high-culture temple, every square foot of which appears to have its own corporate sponsor. (There's even a "Bank of New York Box Office.") Inside the theater where the picture was to be shown, stylishly attired people milled around the "Morgan Stanley Lobby" sipping champagne and murmuring about the length of the lines in which they were being obliged to stand for their free VIP tickets. The premiere was sponsored by Esquire, one of the many bibles of yearning upward mobility, and the magazine also threw the afterparty, which was held in an ultra-luxe Soho penthouse stocked with free drinks, tasty high-end tidbits, and apparently even a hot tub equipped with cute rent-a-babes. (I'm afraid I missed the afterparty. Well, skipped it.)

Moore dismisses critical carping about this sort of thing by claiming it's just an unavoidable shoal in the sea of irony he's forced to navigate for professional purposes. I don't know who he thinks he's kidding. Actually, I think he's kidding himself. Consider: Hardworking filmmaker delivers new movie to powerful studio for distribution; deals are struck, promotion is planned. No one is coerced, no one is cheated — it's a textbook demonstration of voluntary economic behavior. Can Moore really not recognize what's going on here? Can he somehow not see? It's capitalism. The real thing.

Be sure to check out Kurt Loder's reviews of "Zombieland,""Whip It" and "The Invention Of Lying," also new in theaters this week.

Check out everything we've got on "Capitalism: A Love Story."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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'Toy Story 3' Will Be More Than 'Just A Repetition,' Stars Insist

BEVERLY HILLS, California — You'd be hard-pressed to find an upcoming film more shrouded in secrecy than "Toy Story 3," the summer 2010 sequel that will have Pixar revisiting its beloved characters while showing off how far computer animation and 3-D have come since Woody and Buzz first began their adventures in 1995.

This weekend, the first two "Toy Story" films return in dazzling three-dimensional glory, reminding us old-timers why it might be the greatest family-friendly series of all-time and indoctrinating a new generation who've never seen the movies on the big screen. And according to the series' returning stars, we'll all be glad the toys are back in town.

"They've remastered [the first two films] in 3-D, and they look spectacular," marveled Tim Allen, the voice behind endearingly egotistical space adventurer Buzz Lightyear. "We just want to remind you where we stand, so that '3' will make a lot of sense in June."

Here's what we know so far: "TS3" opens with our old pal Andy heading off to college, deciding which of his beloved toys he's going to keep and which he'll donate to a local day-care center. After his mother mistakenly tosses the storage bag in the trash, the only one not destined for the city dump — Woody — sets out to free the others from the trash truck. Somehow, a brand-new toy glimpsed in "Up" features into the plot, as does Barbie's boyfriend Ken, who will be voiced by Michael Keaton.

"Storage," shuddered Estelle Harris, the 77-year-old voice of Mrs. Potato Head. "That's a dirty word. They're in the dark. They're crushed together. And it's a terrible fate."

"Toys want to live," agreed Wallace Shawn, the voice of Rex the dinosaur, explaining one of the themes of the film, which will also deal with what it means to grow up and put your toys away. "It's definitely not going to be just a repetition. It'll be something that goes in a new direction."

"This is even prettier; it's great. The story is better," Tim Allen agreed. "I don't like taking away from 'T1' — I just love 'Toy Story.' The original 'Toy Story' is delicate and natural and fresh and authentic, because we had nothing to compare it to. 'Toy Story 2,' because Pixar and [John] Lasseter are so wonderful and honorable, it's just the next episode. I wish they didn't have a '2' on there; it's just 'Toy Story Again.'

"And '3' really expands the emotion," Allen insisted. "You'll be startled with what they've come up with; really startling imagery, emotion and humor in '3.' It's just a wonderful experience."

But, alas, many of the "Toy Story 3" plot lines still remain top-secret. "I'm not saying whether the dinosaur is interested in Mrs. Potato Head or not," Shawn grinned. "She may not even know."

"We like each other," Harris teased. "But she loves her husband."

Check out everything we've got on "Toy Story 3."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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Lauren Conrad Excited To Work With 'Twilight' Team On 'L.A. Candy'

If you pair Lauren Conrad with the producers behind the "Twilight" flicks, then you'll most likely have a hit film on your hands. So when Conrad decided to work with the executive producers of the vampire series, Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey, she knew that she had found the perfect situation to turn her novel, "L.A. Candy," into a film.

"I mean, you can't do much better, right?" she remarked to MTV News at the launch of her Kohl's LC Lauren Conrad clothing line.

She went on to explain that the book was never meant to be a movie. Instead, Conrad had envisioned it as a TV show. As you know, the former "Hills" star knows a thing or two about TV. "Originally, when people started talking to me about turning the books into television, I was really excited," she explained. "Then we got approached about the movie and I wasn't really sure it would work. The story is supposed to take place over a couple of years and it's hard to do with a movie."

With doubts of a movie deal in her mind, she went on the book tour, and that's when inspiration hit her. "I was sitting in a room and then it just came to me," she explained about why she finally decided to turn it into a film. "I came up with a format that worked and discussed it with them. They really liked it."

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Ellen Page's 'Whip It' Character Is More Of A Rebel Than She Ever Was

Despite her breakout role in the comedy "Juno," Ellen Page has apparently earned a reputation for only being interested in darker fare. That misconception almost cost Page her starring role in the roller-derby flick "Whip It."

"I was at Sundance with a movie of a much, much darker tone called 'An American Crime,' and one of the producers came up to me and was like, 'Oh, I have this project that I want to talk to you about, but I hear you only like dark things,' " Page told MTV News. "And I was like, 'What? I don't know who told you that, but please, I am thirsty for whatever.' "

Her thirst was quenched by "Whip It," the tale of Texas girl Bliss Cavendar, who is trying to break free from the beauty-pageant circuit and find something that makes her happy. Eventually, she nabs a rocker boyfriend and new friendships with the girls on the Austin roller-derby circuit. "I was like, 'Please send this script to me right away,' and I read it and loved it and met [director and star] Drew [Barrymore], and that was that," she explained.

While Bliss is a bit of a rebel in the flick, Page said she didn't exactly draw from experience for the role. "I don't know if I would characterize myself as that," she said. "I always kind of did my thing and was always very much myself and didn't necessarily become attached to the idea of being any sort of rebel, 'cause I think that can become an attachment in itself."

Growing up in Canada, Page said she was too busy to join any one clique: "I was never in any sort of group and thus had a perspective from each quadrant and saw the judgment from each side."

Check out everything we've got on "Whip It."

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New 'New Moon' Posters Spotlight Edward And Bella, Volturi, Wolf Pack

Twilighters, ask yourself this: If you can't yet have Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart living and breathing up on the big screen in "New Moon," would you take some larger-than-life stills from their November 20 sequel?

Summit Entertainment is betting you will, which is why the studio released three brand-new outdoor banners that feature Pattinson's Edward Cullen, Stewart's Bella Swan, Taylor Lautner's Jacob Black and other key players from the "Twilight" universe.

 

 

 

 

 

 New "New Moon" Photos 

 

One poster focuses on an embrace between Edward and Bella. In the background are other vampires from the Forks, Washington, area, including Alice Cullen (Ashley Greene), Rosalie Hale (Nikki Reed), Jasper Hale (Jackson Rathbone), Emmett Cullen (Kellan Lutz), Dr. Carlisle Cullen (Peter Facinelli) and Esme Cullen (Elizabeth Reaser).

The Volturi, those ruthless bloodsuckers who have become something of a royal governing authority in the vampire world and who make their big-screen debut in "New Moon," get their own poster. Standing front and center is Jane (Dakota Fanning), innocent-looking yet absolutely deadly. Her special ability is to inflict devastating pain on others using only her thoughts. Behind Jane stands Aro (Michael Sheen), the founder of the Volturi, who can read a person's thoughts simply by touching them. Encircling these two are Caius (Jamie Campbell Bower), Marcus (Christopher Heyerdahl) and Jane's brother Alec (Cameron Bright). The background calls to mind the ancient Italian city of Volterra, where the coven resides.

The third poster presents the wolf pack of Northwest Native Americans. The focus, obviously, is on Lautner, showing off his shoulder tattoo and jacked-up musculature. Hovering in the hazy woods behind him are Sam Uley (Chaske Spencer), Embry Call (Kiowa Gordon), Paul (Alex Meraz) and Jared (Bronson Pelletier).

We're told the posters will primarily be used for outdoor bus shelters and other spots, primarily in New York and Los Angeles, that feature outdoor posters. There's no word on the exact locations of the posters, so for now you'll just have to soak it all in on the Web.

Check out everything we've got on "The Twilight Saga: New Moon."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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