As one of the outspoken teen starlets of the 1990s, Christina Ricci made her mark in Hollywood at the age of nine in "Mermaids," in which she played the daughter of a self obsessed mother -- played by Cher. We've watched her career sky-rocket through the years with films such as "The Ice Storm," "Pumpkin" and "Prozac Nation."

The beautiful Miss Ricci dropped by the RT studios recently to chat with Jeffrey about one common theme in her movies -- masks.

Check out the interview snippet after the jump.

If you're tired of watching reruns of "Sex and the City" and avoiding spoilers about the movie, check out the new trailer for the long-awaited feature. "Sex and the City: The Movie" arrives in theaters May 30th.

Check it out after the jump.

Here are the first photos released from 'Donnie Darko' director Richard Kelly's thriller "The Box." Cameron Diaz and (friend of Reel Talk) James Marsden star as a married couple who receive a box with a button inside. If they press it, they get a million bucks. Only catch is, someone they don't know will die.

What would you do?

"The Box" opens early 2009.

So I just watched “Eastern Promises” for a second time. I still very much enjoyed the David Cronenberg, Russian mafia thriller, but found myself shocked that it ended when it did. It seems to cry out for a follow-up!

Doesn’t everyone want to know what happens to Viggo Mortensen’s character, Nikolai? He gets where he’s needed, to bring down the Vory V Zakone crime cartel, and the film ends!! The last shot is Viggo sitting in the restaurant, smoking contemplatively, thinking about what he has sacrificed to be at this point.

Will David Cronenberg revisit this character? A film taking us further inside the story could be excellent. I’d like to see it.

Every time I see a photo of Katherine Heigl or Jessica Simpson or any other dazzling-looking blonde actress (giving Ms. Simpson the benefit of the doubt), I think of Marilyn Monroe, who once again is back in the news.

First, Lindsay Lohan did a photo spread for "New Yorker" magazine inspired by Marilyn. And, the other day a returned Bronx mechanic recently discovered a photo of Marilyn Monroe taken 45 years ago. A Las Vegas retiree worked on a Ford Sunliner convertible at a Bronx gas station in 1962, but the car was never claimed.

Unloading the trunk, the mechanic sorted the items over, it was among those things that the photo was discovered.

Sounds like a plot from a "B" movie, but it's true. She was posing as a hitchhiker in a 1960 photo taken during the shooting of her last movie, "The Misfits."

"Here is a face that burns with more kilowatts than any other" said the great director Billy Wilder after he'd directed "Some Like It Hot." Her drama coach, Constance Collier once said “she possesses that quality which no amount of lessons can give to anyone. She's a born star."

My father knew her and we have photos of them together. My 16th birthday present, in fact, was a congratulatory phone call from her, a few years before she tragically and mysteriously died.

As an unknown she came to New York to promote her first film, "Love Happy" which featured the Marx Brothers. The studio installed her in a huge hotel suite to meet film exhibitors. That night she forgot to cancel room service in the small room to which she'd been moved.

" I didn't care," she said, " I kept ordering caviar. That's what I first remembered about New York; caviar for breakfast."

When she returned from entertaining the troops in Korea, she told her husband Joe, "It was great. They cheered and cheered. You can't imagine what that's like."

"Oh yes, I can," smiled Joe.

There isn't a college dorm which doesn't have her poster up somewhere, lo these many years after her time.

Today's stars, those who can act, and even those who can't, owe her an eternal debt.

I don't know what it is about these Pixar films that I can't get enough of. And I know I am not the only sailor in this boat when I say this either, especially with the recent Oscar win of Ratatouille this past weekend.

I'm not sure if it's the 3-D animation that makes the animated films of today so much more appealing than the cartoons I used to watch as a kid, or if it's the adult humor/innuendo that's often found in a lot of these films (i.e."Shark Tale").

But now from the same masterminds of "Toy Story," "A Bug's Life," "Monster's Inc." and "Finding Nemo" comes one of my most anticipated fun-films this summer "WALL-E."

If you couldn't get enough of Boo's adorability in Monster's Inc., just wait until you see WALL-E. Too cute! Disney/Pixar already anticipates everyone to fall for him. A few weeks ago the animation company unleashed a line of Wall-E toys. Do a simple Google search and you'll see. Perhaps we shouldn't call this a 'toy' but rather a 'Robot Action Figure'?

It hit me the other day that it feels like two lifetimes ago that Will Ferrell was making a name for himself spoofing Pres. Bush on "Saturday Night Live." Several years and a handful of comedy smashes later, his career is firing on all cylinders.

To think he once had plans to go into sportscasting!

He's back in a new comedy with another sports theme, the retro-basketballer "Semi-Pro" which should be another slam-dunk hit with the 18-24 demo that worships Ferrell.

Alison asked him if it's strange for a 40-year-old father of two to have such a young fan base .. and they also commiserated over the lousy existence of a sports TV intern.

Hear more of Alison's interview with Will Ferrell this weekend on RT.

Earlier today, I asked Jeffrey & Alison if they had received screening info from New Line about "Pride & Glory," an Ed Norton/Colin Farrell police corruption movie that was supposed to come out March 14th. They told me there had been no word from the studio about screening the film. Now we know why.

It's been put on the shelf indefinitely, and according to an article in yesterday's Variety, the principals behind the picture aren't happy.

You can't really blame co-writer/director Gavin O'Connor for being upset. He thinks he's made a good movie, and one that's very personal to him, since his dad's a veteran of the NYPD. He wants answers from the studio as to why they're not releasing his film, and the article suggests he's not going to turn in his next script until "Pride & Glory" is taken care of.

Norton & Farrell have a right to be upset too. Not only do the stars sound like they're proud of the picture, but they've been around long enough to know that whenever a movie gets pulled from release -- no matter WHAT the reason -- it looks bad. Top-shelf stars like these two don't want their images sullied by hints of sub par work.

This is bad timing for Farrell in particular, since 2008 is shaping up to be a banner year for the Irishman with "In Bruges" and "Cassandra's Dream" already out.

One of the films we're reviewing this weekend is the modern-day fairy tale "Penelope." This one really sparked some debate with Jeffrey for our show this week.

Christina Ricci stars as a girl who has been sequestered in her family's mansion due to her very large, porcine nose. Victim of a family curse that's damned her with a pig's face, she's understandably not eager to step out into the world.

To end the curse, she must await a suitor who will overlook this affliction and truly fall in love with her. James Mcavoy comes a-calling, but he's not all he's made out to be.

See, he's hired by a vengeful paparazzo, played by the marvelous Peter Dinklage. Mcavoy has been enlisted to obtain photos of the unfortunate girl to sell to the tabloids. Deceits and deceptions follow. Reese Witherspoon has a supporting role here and is also the film's producer. Of course there's a happy ending, but this unmagical fable lacks charm or whimsy.

Tune in to this weekend's REEL TALK to hear Jeffrey and I share our vastly different opinions on this movie. Then you can decide for yourself whether to check it out.

This is good or bad news depending on your POV, but according to Variety, Justice will be served in 2009 after all. Warner Bros. has kick-started the "Justice League of America" movie that was supposedly stalled a few weeks back due to the writers strike. The pic is apparently going through some screenplay revisions from writers Kieran and Michele Mulroney while director George Miller ("Mad Max", "Happy Feet") works on pre-production in Australia.

The casting on this film has been the subject of much debate online, as fans of the JLA comics and cartoons argue over who's filling which set of tights. Adam Brody from "The O.C." is supposedly in as The Flash, which sounds good to me since that character is a smart-mouth. Hip Hop star Common is apparently cast as John Stewart/The Green Lantern -- not bad, but I'm a Hal Jordan GL guy and to me, that's the character who should be wearing the green ring in a JLA film.

Armie Hammer is rumored to be Bruce Wayne/Batman -- this is where I part ways with this project. No one, I mean NO ONE, should be playing Bats other than Christian Bale in any movie until or if Mr. Bale decides to hang up the cape & cowl. Besides the fact that any other actor will suffer in the comparison between portrayals, it's too confusing to have two Batmans running around multiplexes!

I haven't even discussed the issues regarding the casting of Superman ... ugh!

I hope they pull this off but this project has trouble written all over it. WB expects this to be one of its 2009 blockbuster hopefuls, but no specific release date has been set.

Seems like comic to film adaptations are the theme-du-jour in Tinseltown. And that’s a good thing.

We’re not talking about Archie's Gang type comics. It’s serious, independent and at times deep, graphic novel to film adaptations we will soon see on the big screen.

Slated for release in the next two years:

Warner Bros will produce, along with Leonardo DiCaprio, the live-action adaptation of Katsuhiro Otomos’s six-volume graphic novel “Akira.” The movie studio has also recently mentioned plans to role out the “Justice League of America” film by early 2009.

The graphic novel “Black Hole,” based on Charles Burns’ visionary masterpiece is now being crafted into a feature length film by Paramount. David Fincher (“Panic Room,” “Zodiac”) is set to direct.

Columbia Pictures and producer Neal H. Moritz (“I Am Legend”) have recently acquired the rights to Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s flawed superhero comic, “The Boys.”

These adaptations are well worth the trip to the cinema when they premiere. I only hope this is not just a fad, but a set trend we'll see more of in the distant future. There are just too many awesome, one-of-a-kind GNs out there that need to be thwarted to a larger audience!

Since he always seems to be working on a new movie, it was surprising at first to hear Will Ferrell was involved in an online comedy venture, FunnyorDie.com.

Not because I didn't think the comedy genius behind "Anchorman" and "Talladega Nights" couldn't handle transferring his brand of laughs to the 'Net, but where would he find the time??

During a recent visit to our studios to talk with Alison about "Semi-Pro" for this weekend's RT, Ferrell says all it took for him to be able to get involved with FunnyorDie.com was a little sacrifice:

See more of Alison's interview with Will Ferrell this weekend on RT.

Producing a movie show isn't all fun and games, but, it's a good gig, I won't lie. Some days are better than others.

I went over yesterday morning to the TODAY SHOW studios across the street to escort this week's Top Billing guest Will Ferrell over to our place.

For those of you who don't know, REEL TALK's home base is 30 Rock in Midtown Manhattan. Most people are familiar with Rockefeller Center because of the Christmas Tree lighting, also SNL tapes here as does NBC Nightly News and the hilarious "30 Rock" is obviously based here (but not shot here).

We're also across the street from THE TODAY SHOW studio and plaza, where there's always a big crowd of people who get up at an ungodly hour to hold up signs behind the talent and say 'Hi Mom!'

Anyway, inside their downstairs green room, I greeted New Line publicist Nicole Kalish and Will's personal publicist Matt Labov, who's the Grand Poobah of publicity for Hollywood's comedy stars.

Then I stopped and surveyed the scene.

"Semi-Pro" co-star Woody Harrelson was walking around barefoot in a Flint Tropics warm-up suit, getting ready for a 2-on-2 pickup game on the plaza against Meredith Vieira and Knicks guard Nate Richardson.
Two feet away, Gary Coleman (yes, THAT Gary Coleman) was putting shmear on a bagel and talking with Pat Harrington ('Schneider' from the old sitcom "One Day At A Time"). Check out a segment from the pickup game.

Bonnie Franklin, the star of 'One Day', was putting her coat on to leave since their TV reunion segment was over. Meanwhile Valerie Bertinelli was rushing back to the studio to talk about her new book (she looks GREAT after the weight loss, BTW). Oh, and Mackenzie Phillips was chowing down on a donut, a bagel and what looked like a turkey wrap. There were also a couple of gorgeous twin girls who were doing something on the show, and legendary sportscaster Bob Costas. I felt like I was stuck in a Nick at Nite fantasy sequence!

Like I said, some days are better than others here at RT. Yesterday was one of the better ones.

Congrats To Lisa! She guessed correctly on Marketa Irglova's quote

Looks like we need to make these harder!

Hard to believe I'm actually writing this, but the long, long, long-anticipated, much-discussed and often-delayed "Watchmen" movie is actually done shooting! Zack Snyder posted on the official Watchmen movie site last week that principal photography was wrapped. Now, the post work begins -- and considering how much greenscreen is involved, I imagine that there is a substantial amount of work to be done to get the film ready for its release next year.

But think about it-- this is a movie that's been in development for nearly two decades! More than a dozen directors have tried and failed to get the project off the ground.

Longtime comic book fans should enjoy this as much as any of the great comic book adaptations we've been treated to in recent years. Because this shows more than anything we're in a Golden Age for Fanboyism.

If Zack Snyder pulls off the adaptation of a near-impossible comic series to adapt, then he may nudge aside Peter Jackson as Ruler of All Things Geeky. Judging by his writings on the production process, it sounds like he's confident they've got something good on their hands. And with a cast that includes Patrick Wilson, Billy Crudup, Carla Gugino and Jackie Earle Haley (who's playing Rorschach, who you see in the latest image from the movie) ...can you blame him?

"Watchmen" arrives in theaters in March, 2009.

We just told you about a movie opening May 22, 2009. Now there's news that the big movie opening May 22nd of this year may actually debut in France.

Word is "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" may have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.

This makes perfect sense, if you think about it, for both sides. Even though I think "Indy 4" is a sure-fire smash, after a 19-year hiatus I'm sure senors Lucas & Spielberg want to take no chances and intend to pull every promotional maneuver they can to ensure their beloved franchise blows up (in a good way).

Cannes, meanwhile, gets a film premiere GUARANTEED to earn them maximum exposure in industry and mainstream press. Can you imagine on how many media outlets will use the pictures and video of Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Shia LaBeouf, Ray Winstone, Karen Allen, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg on the red carpet?

Now if we can only get another trailer ...

May 22, 2009. That's the official date the 'Terminator' film franchise returns to theaters, we've learned today. Directed by McG and more importantly toplined by Christian Bale, "Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins" will focus around the plot line fans have been waiting for almost since the original "Terminator" back in 1984 -- the future war against the machines.

No more of those tantalizing teases in each film (and in the current Fox TV series) about the machines battling the human uprising. This time John Connor (Bale) will be front-and-center. Lots of people are a bit worried that McG is a bit of a lightweight to properly handle 'T4' but he did some interesting action scenes in the Charlie's Angels franchise. Let's see what he can do with the mega-budget Warner Bros. is dropping in his lap to revive Gov. Schwarzenegger's most famous character.

BTW, "Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins" will have a bit of competition May 22, 2009 from another sequel -- "Night At The Museum 2" also opens that day.

- In case you missed it, or were too bored to sit through the entire telecast; here's a list of all the Oscar winners.

- Oscar winner Diablo Cody sleeps with her award.

- Wanna win free DVDs and a spot on our site as a guest writer? Enter our contest.

- The WWE has signed a deal with Fox to generate a feature and few straight-to-DVD flicks. This time, focusing on a soft PG-13 rating rather than their usual hard R. Had no idea WWE's films were a hard R. Aren't most of their viewers under 13? Shouldn't they have thought about this when they first started making films?

- Opening this week:
"Semi-Pro" (We just interviewed Will -- interview will be up ASAP) | "The Other Boleyn Girl" | "Chicago 10" | "Penelope" | "Bonneville"

- New on DVD:
"The Darjeeling Limited" | "30 Days of Night" | "Goya's Ghosts" | "Death at a Funeral"

- FOUND: Here's a little something, something for all you Star Wars Fans. Probably the cutest film critic yet!

- Kudos for North Korea. The country has shown a gaining interest in Western arts. Reuters reports they have recently invited Eric Clapton to rock the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.

- Everyone should get a Chumby. What is it? According to the company's press release, Chumby is " hassle-free way to enjoy [the] most out of the Internet at a glance and wake up to thousands of different streaming Internet radio stations, custom “alarm tones,” videos and more."

Sign me up, I'm sold.

Wow, you guys are fast! Mark R. was the first to send us the answer to the 'Who Said That' game.

Congrats Mark and thanks for playing.

We'll add another quote today -- hopefully a much harder one!

I know, we're A bit late with our weekend box office tally. Blame the Oscars. You see the exact numbers on the right side of this page. "Vantage Point" overcame an annoying plot device and pretty bad reviews to debut with a strong $22.9M. That was about it for the week's new movies, as Jack Black's "Be Kind Rewind" and "Charlie Bartlett" both flopped badly.

But a couple films showed decent staying power in their sophomore weekends.

"Jumper" dropped just over half its audience -- not bad for an action pic opening wide -- and looks on pace to earn close to its $85M budget back. "Step Up 2 The Streets" and "The Spiderwick Chronicles" did even better at holding on to their audiences, both losing less than half their opening weekend crowds. With a pretty weak slate of movies on the immediate horizon, both stand to do respectable business.

And just when you thought romantic comedies were dead in the water, "Fool's Gold" proves good chemistry sometimes matters more than good material. It's at $52M after 3 weeks. "27 Dresses" meanwhile, is probably going to make Katherine Heigl alot of money on her next picture. That one's inching close to $75M ... nice profit considering it only cost $27M to make. Looks like Hollywood's found its latest successor to Julia Roberts as America's Sweetheart (except on "Grey's Anatomy," where Izzy really annoys me).

I suspect "Juno" will start to fade since it failed to win Best Picture or Best Actress for Ellen Page. Of all the nominated movies, "No Country for Old Men" seems the obvious choice to benefit from its four Oscar wins. How much of an Oscar boost it gets remains to be seen, since its been around theaters for awhile now.

We talked with movie poster artist extraordinaire Drew Struzan the other day about his collaborative effort with his son Christian on this year's official Oscar poster.

Drew took off from his busy schedule wrapping up his work on the final poster for this May's "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" to talk with us. He's also working on the poster for Guillermo Del Toro's "Hellboy 2."

Listen as Drew talks about his long relationship with George Lucas & Steven Spielberg and about returning to the Indy franchise.

REEL TALK's with you for your Oscar fix. From the red carpet to the teary-eye speeches, here's our up-to-the minute Academy Awards commentary.

9:38: So far no big surprises - except for how lame Jon Stewart's jokes are. Javier Bardem finally claimed the award he basically won 3 months ago. Biggest shocker so far? The Golden Compass winning visual effects over "Transformers." What a travesty!!

9:39 - Alison Bailes: It's so typical that the Oscar for best animated feature went to "Ratatouille." Not that it wasn't a great film, but wouldn't it have been great to see "Persepolis" win? Something different than the usual Disney/Pixar effort. Makes me wonder how many of the voting members actually saw "Persepolis."

9:44: "Peter and the Wolf?!?" Drat. My Oscar pool is collapsing rapidly. I thought any film with 'Walrus' in the title was a shoo-in. BTW, anyone else sick of "The Bee Movie" tie-ins? Ugh.

9:49: The first surprise of the night - Tilda wins out over Cate and Ruby Dee. Dont think too many people picked her. And even fewer would have thought the funniest acceptance speech would come from her. Go Tilda!

9:52: It took almost until 10 P.M. to get our first Jack Nicholson cutaway and joke.

9:55: The "No Country for Old Men" caravan keeps rolling. The Coen brothers just grabbed Best Adapted Screenplay. The first of several for the brothers, we suspect.

10:00: Mixed reaction in my apartment for the Kristin Chenoweth version of 'That’s How You Know' from Enchanted. I liked it but my wife Cindi thought it stunk.
And was I the only one hoping Miley Ray Cyrus would fall while walking to the mic?

10:05: Seth Cohen and Jonah Hill save the day! Their 'im halle berry, youre dame judi dench' routine was priceless!! And whats the difference between Sound Editing and Sound Mixing?? Isn't it the same thing?? Why have two categories???
My head hurts.

10:18: How great was it to see Marion Cotillard win in a category full of superb performances? Her speech will lead all the news packages, just watch. That was pure joy on her face. Good for her. Marion's any absolute babe, inside and out. I'm just sad my personal fave Cate Blanchett is going home empty-handed.

10:18: When I spoke to Tilda Swinton at Sundance this year, she expressed relief that there might not be any big awards shows due to the writers' strike. She said she was daunted at the thought of the red carpet and having to dress up in a posh frock. I love that honesty, and a woman who doesn't bow to the ridiculous standards of Hollywood's idea of beauty. How refreshing to see an actress comfortable enough in her own skin to go to the Oscars without makeup!!

10:18: The two leads from "Once" had the best performance so far. Simply perfect almost makes me want to root for them - except i picked 'That’s How You Know' in the pool.

10:40: Strange seeing Jack Nicholson doing such an early segment. I always expect him to do Best Picture or at least Best Director. Doesn't the Academy realize "The Bucket List" has made over 85 million at the box office??

10:50: Three nominations for the same movie and still, Disney's Enchanted came up empty in Best Original Song.
The couple from 'Once' were just as deserving and a win certainly does more for them career-wise than another win for the Disney empire.

11:00: When people look back on the 80th annual Oscars, the most memorable moment will be when he decided to amend the Academy's mistake of cutting off Markéta Irglová's speech after winning Best Original Song by giving her a chance to say her thanks. And what a touching speech, saluting the spirit of indie filmmaking. Classy move by Stewart.

11:05: I can't believe the Academy's production team couldn't find a way to insert five seconds of video at the end of the obit piece to salute Roy Scheider. Disgraceful oversight of an actor who was not only a 2-time Oscar nominee but just a tremendous actor. He also muttered one of the most famous lines in history - one so famous that I’m not even going to write it here because if you’re reading this you should know it.

Cant believe he didn’t get the proper respect, considering he passed away so recently. Shame on you, Academy!

11:45: Daniel Day-Lewis was the easiest call of the night.

The Coen Brothers for Best Director was a close second.

This year's Oscars has turned out to be very predictable. How much that impacts the ratings, who knows? I bet they’re lower than usual.

12:00: The biggest surprise of the night for me was that the show wrapped before midnight.

But aside from that, it was pretty by-the-book, with few surprises since most of the major winners were correctly forecasted.

There's nothing the producers can do about that. But hopefully next year, with no writers strike going on, they can work on jazzing up the show a bit. Just felt a bit...I don't know. Stale. Maybe it's just me. I'm bitter because I lost my Oscar pool, AGAIN.

Some of these Oscar pre-shows are a bit more entertaining than the actual award show. Think about it. You get short, succinct interviews with most of the nominees, a comical host, and various clips from the awarded movies. It's a win-for-all for those of us with short attention spans.

But I have to say, out of all the celebrities from the red carpet, Helen Mirren is one of the best dressed celebrities by far.

Check back for our footage from the Oscars' red carpet.

Anyone who's up for an Academy Award tonight will reap some kind of benefit from Oscar exposure. Be it a flurry of offers for new projects, a bump in salary, a nice new gown or tux designed by a top-shelf designer ...just about every nominee has benefited already.

A few people stand to gain more than most, though.

In the Best Supporting Actor category, Casey Affleck and Javier Bardem could catapult to leading-man status with a win. Affleck's halfway there after "Gone Baby Gone" but a gold statue gets him out of the 'Ocean's 13' supporting cast-type roles and starts getting him lead offers. The industry needs under-30 leading men with range, and Ben's little brother has shown plenty of it this year.

A win puts Bardem in the books as the first Spaniard to win an acting Oscar. It should also put him in position as Hollywood's favorite Latin Heartthrob. He's proven he can play any type of part. If he wins (as expected) tonight, his asking price probably goes through the roof. And he'll have the pull NEVER to have to endure a haircut as bad as the Chigurh ever again.

Best Supporting Actress is interesting because a lot of winners in past years, like Marisa Tomei and Juliette Binoche, haven't turned Oscar victory into longterm career success, either by choice or by just picking bad roles. But a win tonight puts Tilda Swinton in the position to start cashing in the great work she's done over the years and get more high-profile roles like "Michael Clayton."

Cate Blanchett is the favorite -- I think -- to win, but she's already considered the best actress working today. With a blockbuster in the wings, "Indy 4", and an upcoming reunion with Brad Pitt in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", I don't think a win for Supporting or Best Actress will do anything except solidify her standing as an A-Lister. Now, if she wins both ...who knows?

Speaking of Best Actress, no one could gain more from winning than Marion Cotillard. The French beauty is so unknown here people kept calling her a rising star -- even though she's been acting for more than a decade! But a win here puts her in great position for mainstream success.

Cotillard has two BIG projects due in '09. She's co-starring with Johnny Depp and Christian Bale in the upcoming John Dillinger drama "Public Enemies" and she's also in the cast of the Broadway musical adaptation "Nine." She's working hard on her English, so a win here gives her great momentum for those 2 high-profile films.

A win by Laura Linney would be a huge upset, one of the alltimers. But she doesn't need a trophy -- she's earned a rep as an actress' actress. But rep doesn't pay the bills. A win would put her in position to do more commercial work -- if she wants it. Somehow, I can't see her signing up for a part in "Transformers 2."

As for Best Actor, none of the nominees will get much a boost from winning tonight. There's no AA-List for Clooney or Depp to move up to .. Day-Lewis isn't exactly looking to pick up more than his usual 1 part-every-2-years .. the same for Tommy Lee. But Viggo Mortensen ... if he pulls off a shocker, that could put him in position to jump to superstardom. He wasthisclose after "LOTR: Return of the King" but he regrettably chose "Hidalgo" as his follow up. I'm guessing his agent will have better scripts for him to choose from after his killer Russian Mobster in "Eastern Promises."

As for the behind-the-scenes folks, Tony Gilroy could jump to the head of the directors list if he wins for "Michael Clayton," his debut as a helmer.

And Brad Bird, the genius behind "Iron Giant," "The Incredibles" and "Ratatouille" and a Best Original Screenplay nominee for the latter movie, could see his profile rise even higher with a win. Someone needs to give this guy a chance at a big-budget LIVE ACTION movie.

Fans and collectors of movie posters know Drew Struzan. He's like the Da Vinci of one-sheets. Even if you don't know his name, you know his work. The classic movie poster images he's created include the Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Harry Potter series, Back To The Future, The Muppet Movie, First Blood, The Goonies, the list goes on and on.

Hear a snippet of the interview after the jump.

Struzan designed this year's official poster for the 80th Annual Academy Awards along with his son Christian, an accomplished artist himself. REEL TALK producer Michael Avila talked with him while he works on his latest project (a little film called "Indiana Jones 4" or something) about how he split the work with his son .. and how he came up with the look for the poster.

I was disappointed above all that "The Kite Runner" got short shrift, either in the Best Foreign Language Film or even Best Picture category. It got some obscure nomination in the Best Score category, which is short shrift for one of the most amazing films of recent years.

Ben Affleck, for directing and kid brother Casey, for Leading Actor in "Gone, Baby Gone" was overlooked. It opened in Boston and nationwide the week the Red Sox were playing in the World Series. It's no wonder it tanked at the box office.

How could the Academy overlook Josh Brolin for "No Country for Old Men?" That is the most egregious omission. I told his wife, Diane Lane, he got "hosed," in the vernacular. Of course you can't nominate everyone. But still, superb work is superb work.