We’re used to seeing Mariah Carey all glammed up, like she was on the red carpet premiere of “Precious” at Cannes last week. But in the movie itself, she is anything but glam. No makeup, dowdy hair, the whole works.

“Precious” tells the story of an overweight teen (Gabourey Sidibe) in Harlem who’s pregnant with her second child. But when she’s invited to enroll in an alternative school, it just might turn things around for her.

“Precious” has already scored three wins at Sundance, and looks to be a darling of the film festival circuit. It opens in theaters (limited) on Nov. 6, 2009. Hopefully, the movie will inspire others in that situation to try and better their circumstances – and people who can make a difference to step up and MAKE a difference.

Photo credit: Anne Marie Fox, Lionsgate

Check out the trailer for "Veronika Decides to Die," starring Sarah Michelle Gellar as a girl in her mid-20s who appears to have everything: good looks, good job and a great life ahead of her. Yet she decides to end her own life, and ends up in a mental hospital where she learns she has 5 days to live.

We learn that the reason tried to kill herself is because she felt constrained by the rules and expectations of ‘normal’ society and decided she’d already experienced all that life had to offer. (I’ll interject my 2 cents here and beg Gellar to do a romantic comedy!) But at the hospital, she meets people who are only ‘insane’ because they don’t always follow society’s rules.

With little left to lose, Veronika embarks on a journey on which she frees herself to experience relationships and emotions and ultimately discovers what it means to live. In theaters March 2009. Official Site

I saw “Australia” today and loved it! In this clip, actor Hugh Jackman and director Baz Luhrmann talk about what they learned from working with Brandon Walters, the young aboriginal boy who narrated the story. That kid was fantastic!

Ooh, “Revolutionary Road” looks dramatic. How fun to see Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio on screen together again, and I love the music and 1950s stuff. This movie hits theaters in limited release Dec. 26, 2008. Rated R for language and some sexual content/nudity.

It’s not often that the words “I [heart] someone” spring to mind, but that’s exactly what I thought about “Nobel Son.” Specifically, I [heart] Alan Rickman. One of my favorite roles of his was in “Quigley Down Under” - he played the bad guy to Tom Selleck’s good guy. Anyway, here’s the trailer for “Nobel Son,” a movie about family dysfunction and the Nobel Prize. It’s due in theaters Dec. 5, 2008 (though the movie’s been in the hopper for a couple of years).