He may be viewed as a fresh face, but Christian Oliver is more than qualified to become Hollywood's next "It" boy. The German native has quite an impressive resume to back the title

TORONTO (AP) - If there's a do-it-yourself movement in Hollywood, George Clooney could be its leader.After years of taking what was offered, including bad movies such as ''Batman & Robin,'' Clooney took charge of his career.

As the foundation of the Mayan civilization begins to crumble, one man's previously idyllic existence is forever changed when he is chosen as a sacrifice needed to appease the gods in director Mel Gibson's mythic, end-times adventure Apocalypto. Also on DVD: Epic Movie, Letters From Iwo Jima, Venus, The Good German and Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker.

The Good German director Mike Nichols had to double up as a dialect coach, because the expert hired for the movie couldn't speak German. The coach was fired after the film was shown to German speakers and they couldn't understand what was being said.

Director Steven Soderbergh was asked to report for jury duty at Manhattan Supreme Court yesterday but was shocked when the judge refused to believe his esteemed Hollywood status. The Good German and Traffic filmmaker was called in to listen to the statutory rape case of an Upper East Side teacher accused of seducing two male students.

Director Steven Soderbergh feels bad for movie studio Warner Bros. because its decision to take a risk on his quirky new movie The Good German proved to be a wrong one. The $32 million budget film, which stars George Clooney, Tobey Maguire and Cate Blanchett, has become a critical and commercial flop in the United States and Soderbergh fears Warner Bros. will stop taking risks because of failures like "The Good German."

Academy awards for outstanding film achievements of 2006 will be presented on Sunday, February 25, 2007, at the Kodak theatre at Hollywood & highland center, and televised live by the ABC television network at 5 p.m. PST (8 p.m. EST), beginning with a half-hour arrivals segment, “The Road to The Oscars.” Babel is nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture. Nominations By Category - 79th Awards

Critically acclaimed film Babel triumphed at the 2007 Palm Springs International Film Festival Gala Awards on Saturday night, winning multiple honors. Stars Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi took home the Ensemble Performance Award while Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu won the best director award.

"The first time you taste it, you're like, 'What's this?' After a few more tastes, you're like, 'Delicious! I want more of that. I can't stop!'" Gwen Stefani on the "flavor" of her new album, The Sweet Escape.

George Clooney has blasted pretentious actors who stay in character off set and wishes they would be more like Cate Blanchett. Blanchett plays a German agent in new movie The Good German, and while she perfected the accent quickly she would slip back into her native Australian accent as soon as the cameras stopped rolling.