Sad news to report today: Director and actor Sydney Pollack died on Sunday at the age of 73. He had been diagnosed with cancer nine months ago. The hard-working actor and highly respected director is known for a variety of accomplishments. Older generations might recognize him as the Oscar-nominated director of Tootsie and the Oscar-winning director of Out of Africa. He also directed The Way We Read more

From now until the 2008 Oscars air on Sunday night, I'll be breaking down the five contenders for Best Picture, giving you the scoop on why each film could win and why it might not stand a chance. I started off with There Will Be Blood, and today I'm turning my sights to Michael Clayton. The plot description on IMDB is most succinct: "An attorney known as the Fixer in his law firm comes across Read more

As the title character of Michael Clayton, George Clooney is stunning as a conflicted lawyer, and as that lawyer, he's outfitted appropriately with the latest gadgets and technology. Most notable is his BlackBerry, which is glued to his hand and ear and provides the picture of a modern, hardworking attorney on the case of his life. Happily for me, the BlackBerry wasn't the only tech eye-candy — Read more

No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood led the field this morning when the Oscar nominations were announced in Hollywood. Each film snagged eight nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. After it raked in a huge number of Golden Globe nominations, Atonement made less of a splash here, scoring nods for Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress but Read more

Warner Bros. has announced today that the George Clooney drama Michael Clayton will get a re-release in approximately 1,000 North American theaters starting January 25. The film was originally released in October and didn't do too well at the box office — but this was before all the awards buzz started up. Apparently the movie has made "more than 100 critics' top-ten lists." It also nabbed Read more

Nominations were announced today for the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the only major awards ceremony guaranteed to still happen now that the writers' strike is threatening the Golden Globes. Into the Wild dominated the film side with four nominations, followed by No Country for Old Men and Michael Clayton with three each. On the TV side, 30 Rock, Ugly Betty, and Mad Men were among the recognized Read more

Atonement came up big this morning when the nominations for the Golden Globe Awards were announced in Hollywood. The film snagged seven nominations — three for the acting of stars James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, and Saoirse Ronan and four more for Best Dramatic Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Score. Also getting a lot of attention from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association: Read more

Not a lot of folks are going to the movie theaters lately, but those who are seem to be most interested in the super scary vampire flick 30 Days of Night, which came in at No. 1 at the box office with $16 million. What with all the highly dramatic dramas coming out, maybe it's understandable that people are drawn to the fun unreality rather than checking out movies that address the starkest Read more

This past weekend at the box office was one of the most surprising I’ve seen in a long time. Tyler Perry’s play-turned-movie Why Did I Get Married? took the No. 1 spot by a long shot, finally knocking The Rock’s Game Plan into second place. The George Clooney starrer, Michael Clayton, leapt up the list to No. 3 as it expanded to wide release. Clayton just barely came in above the Read more