Rooney Mara

What exactly separates a lead role from a supporting one? Some argue screen time. Some say it’s the extent to which a character carries a film. And when it comes to the studios’ opinion, the actor with the bigger name tends to get campaigned as lead despite a co-star’s equal-if-not-greater-than prominence in the film. But the lack of strict guidelines in Oscar categories and the unusual number of performances that challenge typical categorization this year have led to a lot of talk about category fraud, two words you’ve probably heard a lot this year.

By now you’ve heard of Carol, the latest film from Todd Haynes that’s left a huge impression on critics since it began screening a few months ago. The latest trailer opts out of dialogue, letting a haunting score and the film’s beautiful imagery speak for itself — well, that and a few choice quotes from noted film critics reinforcing the idea that Carol is mandatory viewing.

Few actors have done half as many crazy things as Sarah Paulson, but for her, it’s all about balance. The American Horror Story actress recently turned down notch on her outlandish roles to portray one of her most human characters yet in Carol, this year’s most universal love story.

Few films create a sumptuous experience you want to live in and soak up. They give off a swirl of emotions that you long for, like breathing in the scent of a lover’s sweater, filling your lungs and hoping to save a piece of that memory. That’s the kind of experience Carol concocts, a love story of sublime subtlety where the smallest encounters have the most consuming impact.

We recently learned that Sony is planning a semi-reboot of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, skipping the second and third books in author Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series and moving right ahead to the fourth novel, The Girl in the Spider’s Web. But the studio is reportedly planning on making the film without director David Fincher and stars Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara. There’s just one little issue, though: Mara says as far as she knows, she’s still supposed to star in it.

After David Fincher’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo remake you were likely expecting an adaptation of the sequel to Stieg Larsson’s book, The Girl Who Played with Fire. While it doesn’t look like Sony will be playing with fire any time soon, they do have a new Lisbeth Salander in mind.

After the blockbuster offerings of summer we have the fall and winter movie season to look forward to, which offers some very exciting prospects — and while many (us included) are looking forward to new Star Wars, Quentin Tarantino and Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, there’s one film that’s a little less showy and perhaps a little under your radar: Carol, the upcoming drama from acclaimed director Todd Haynes, which has just unveiled a new official trailer.

Director Todd Haynes has not made a feature film since 2007's I’m Not There, although he did direct the excellent five-part Mildred Pierce miniseries for HBO back in 2011. Fans of the director will be thrilled to watch this new trailer for Carol, Haynes’ first film in eight years — and it looks like a real stunner.

After the previous promotional images and trailers for Joe Wright’s slightly-delayed Pan movie, you probably don’t even need to see these new character posters to have an idea of what they’d look like. But here they are anyway, in all their vibrant, well-lit and detailed glory. And wouldn’t you know it, but Hugh Jackman is still rocking that sick cartoon villain mustache.

A few weeks ago, David Fincher seemed to drum up trouble with HBO, as the future of both his music comedy Video Synchronicity and U.K.-adapted Gillian Flynn collaboration Utopia came into doubt. Now, Utopia has officially been shelved at the network, simultaneously revealing its cast of Rooney Mara, Colm Feore and more.