Inside Movies The Place Where Movies and Stars Align

As old boys clubs go, the collection of people who've either won the Oscar for best directing, or have at least been considered, is not a very inclusive group, with only three female directors getting nominated for the prize in Academy Awards history.

As Variety noted Monday, that number could increase significantly this year, with at least half a dozen movies with women directors being promoted by their respective studios for Oscar consideration.

Are you a fan of 'The Office'? More importantly, do you need some dating advice? Fret not -- there's a feature in the works just for you. 'Office' star-writer-executive producer Mindy Kaling and writer-producer-director Brent Forrester have linked up with the team who brought us 'Juno' to write the romantic comedy 'The Low Self Esteem of Lizzie Gillespie.'

The 'Harry Potter' franchise may be a massive cash cow for Warner Bros., but the studio is not resting on its laurels when it comes to looking for its successor. With 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II' bringing that venerated series to a close in late 2012, WB execs have already signed on a new fantasy saga that they hope will rake in more green: 'Beautiful Creatures,' the first in a five-book series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.

This year gave us some great movies, as well as some fantastic movie trailers.

When you think about it, a trailer has a big job to do. It has to grab us with a few short clips, tell us what the movie's about, and make us want to gallop to the theater and plop down our hard-earned cash for a couple hours of entertainment. Even better if we call our friends on the way home and tell them to go see the movie.

It's a tall order, and not every trailer is up to the task. But the ones who get it right shine big time. Here are our picks for the top ten movie trailers of 2009.

The rain in Spain might fall on the plains for director John Madden.

The Brit director, perhaps best known for 1998's 'Shakespeare in Love,' could take on George Bernard Shaw if he does indeed direct the Columbia Pictures remake of 'My Fair Lady,' as reported by Variety. Madden is in talks to come on board the reboot, which does not have a Prof. Higgins or an Eliza Doolittle attached. Keira Knightley's name has been oft repeated to play Eliza, but -- as she told Moviefone earlier this year -- nothing so far has been signed.

You can practically hear the narrative of the trailer: "... a place where nothing ... not even light ... not even energy ... not even time ... can escape." We're talking about a black hole -- specifically, a remake of the 1979 cult-classic sci-fi film 'The Black Hole,' which established Disney as a major player in special effects.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the duo behind Disney's upcoming 'Tron: Legacy' -- director Joseph Kosinski (who is also behind 2010's 'Logan's Run' remake) and producer Sean Bailey -- have been tapped alongside screenwriter Travis Beachem to breathe new life into 'The Black Hole,' presumably for a 2011 or 2012 release.

Usually taking place beach side with guests often wearing their best casual attire, the Independent Spirit Awards have always been the antithesis to the high-glam, self-important Oscars -- shining a light on low-budget fare often overlooked by the public and other, more commercial, award shows.

In this morning's announcement, Academy award nominee Taraji P. Henson and two-time Spirit award winner Matt Dillon read off the nominations for Film Independent's 25th Independent Spirit Awards.

'Precious,' now a usual suspect when it comes to awards attention, was fully spoken for with five nominations, while 'The Last Station' surprised with five nominations as well. Both pictures are firmly represented in the Best Picture, Director and Actress categories.