AVATAR filmmakers challenge you to ask them anything.

On December 3rd, MTV will host a live webcast of a roundtable with the makers of AVATAR, including director James Cameron, producer Jon Landau and actors Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington. The event will last 30 minutes and will include footage from the movie. Visit the movie's official facebook page to submit your questions for the roundtable (you could ask, for example, why AVATAR took 14 years to make).

THE NEW YORK TIMES' story on Jason Reitman, the director of JUNO, talks about his latest Oscar-worthy film, UP IN THE AIR. Based on a novel by Walter Kirn (see also: THUMBSUCKER, also based on a Kirn novel),Reitman's movie focuses on a man (George Clooney) who fires people on behalf of companies who don't want to do it themselves. The filmmakers decided to hold on open casting call for those who were recently fired in St. Louis and Detroit;  even reading the script aloud became unexpectedly emotional for unemployed auditioners. “The second they heard the language of firing, you could just see it,” Mr. Reitman said. “Their eyes would turn, their posture would change, their face would go sallow. One girl broke into hives. It just happened, and they would be in the moment" (more). The L.A. TIMES also writes about UP IN THE AIR as a huge marketing challenge for Paramount, given how touchy the subject of layoffs has become in 2009 (more)

INDIEWIRE released a list of the top-grossing foreign language films of the 00's, which includes films like Austria's THE COUNTERFEITERS and China's KUNG FU HUSTLE. France had the most films on the list with AMELIE, BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF, LA VIE EN ROSE, THE CLOSET, A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT, and TELL NO ONE, while director Pedro Almodovar is included twice in the list with
VOLVER and TALK TO HER. Another Almodovar movie, BAD EDUCATION, just barely missed the cut (more).