In preparation for our upcoming Top 50 Hottest Young Actors list, we have made the rounds of upcoming movie listings and selected the 10 young actors with the most exciting and challenging roles - from independent films to foreign productions and even some big budget feature films!

Here are our choices (in no particular order):

Jake Gyllenhaal - two upcoming roles: as Tommy Cahill in Brothers and as Prince Dastan in Prince of Persia.

Based on Susan Bier’s film, also entitled Brothers, Jake Gyllenhaal plays Tommy Cahill, the brother of Sam Cahill (played by Tobey Maguire). Tobey’s character is a soldier who goes missing in Afghanistan, and Jake’s character tries to comfort his older brother's wife Grace (played by Natalie Portman) and her children.

The original Bier film is a drama about a UN-soldier who is in a helicopter crash somewhere in Afghanistan and is believed to be dead. His wife and younger brother both deeply mourn him, but eventually finds comfort in each other's company, leading to the two of them falling in love. Months later, the soldier reappears alive but deeply traumatized.

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In Prince of Persia, based on the 2003 video game of the same name, Jake plays the title role. The film is directed by Mike Newell and also stars Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley and Alfred Molina. Filming is taking place in the United Kingdom and Morocco. As Prince Dastan, Gyllenhaal is a 6th century prince of Persia who teams up with Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton) to rescue the Sands of Time, a gift from the gods that controls time, from the hands of the villainous nobleman, Nizam (Ben Kingsley).

Fox 2000 has emerged from a competitive bidding situation with the rights to "Water for Elephants," Sara Gruen's best-selling historical love story.

Francis Lawrence is attached to direct, and Richard LaGravenese is writing the adaptation, which will be produced by Andrew Tennenbaum, Gil Netter and Erwin Stoff. The book centers on a 90-year-old man reminiscing about his life and is set during the Depression, when he found work at a B-level circus taking care of the animals. He sees the brutality of circus life while falling for the wife of an abusive animal trainer. The book spent 12 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list in 2006 and hit the list again last year when it was released in paperback. More than two million paperbacks have been sold, according to the studio.

Fox 2000 beat out Warner Bros., Universal and Paramount for the project, in part because the producing team and director were won over by the company's passion and track record with literary adaptations and the attention it gives them.

Sara Gruen is a best-selling author. Her books deal mainly with animals and she is a supporter of numerous charitable organizations devoted to animals and wildlife.

If you ask IMDb viewers, then the answer is yes. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial was indeed better than eventual Oscar winner Gandhi. If I remember correctly, our Film Review Admin Jeremy Welsch launched his tMF Top 5 lists with a feature on Best Oscar Losers and he put Spielberg's film at Number 3.

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Says Jeremy:

At the time, E.T. was Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece. 25 years later it still might be. Gandhi may have featured a great impression, er…, performance by Sir Ben Kingsley, but E.T. has withstood the test of time. It is the science fiction movie for non-science fiction fans. A fantastic story dealing with the simple theme of loss, this was the first film I remember seeing that actually moved me to tears.

Richard Attenborough, the director of Gandhi, recently admitted that his film was inferior to Spielberg's 1982 box office hit:

Steven Spielberg film ET: The Extra-Terrestrial was a better film than Gandhi and should have won more Oscars, its director Richard Attenborough says. His biopic about Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi won eight awards, including best director and picture, at the 1983 Oscars compared with ET's four. Lord Attenborough told BBC Radio Five Live Gandhi was a wonderful story "because it's about a wonderful man".

ET was "extraordinary" as it "depended on the concept of cinema," he added. In an interview with presenter Simon Mayo, Lord Attenborough said ET was "an infinitely more creative and fundamental piece of cinema" than Gandhi.

One of our top 50 book to movie adaptation picks was Richard Yates’ Revolutionary Road, the story of a young couple living in a Connecticut suburb during the mid-1950s and struggling to come to terms with their personal problems while trying to raise their two children. The upcoming adaptation stars two of cinema’s most popular and talented actors: Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

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Say the actors:

''Revolutionary Road is so painful and beautiful to read, simply because of the brutality of the honesty that Frank and April end up experiencing together," Kate told Entertainment Weekly.

''I looked at it almost like doing a play,'' says DiCaprio. ''It was one of those situations where it just focused on these two characters, the degradation of their marriage, and who they think they are. I just thought, Wouldn't it be a wonderful experience to do it with Kate?''

The excitement about and anticipation for the Sam Mendes film is mounting. Entertainment Tonight is about to show a segment featuring Di Caprio and Winslet, looking back at the Titanic couple and discussing the new film, their roles and the Oscar buzz.

One of Di Caprio’s fansites posted the video featuring the special ET segment.

There's an unspoken sadness in each character throughout the entire film, but things are rarely talked about. That's essentially what the film is about - the disconnect between people in the wake of a tragedy - and I hope that comes across to the viewers, says filmmaker Matthew Nourse.

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There are certain movies that I watch that linger with me for weeks or even months after the viewing. There is a sense of identity and connection. It's like travelling with your best friend:  you don't have to entertain him or worry about him getting bored. You simply carry on thinking your own thoughts and at times, you can even forget he's there with you. True intimacy allows us to be ourselves. I think that's what some films do - they allow us to identify with the characters and share with the filmmakers in their journey...

Then there are times when you watch a movie without any sense of expectation. Then, as the film rolls, you just knew you're gonna love it. That's The Pacific And Eddy for me. In this interview, tMF talks with filmmakers Matthew Nourse (director) and Thomas J. Rasea (producer)...

Updates! Screen Daily reports that Martin McGartland has settled his case and will not pursue any legal actions anymore:

I have today been given a copy of the film, which I have also viewed. As a result, I can now confirm that I am happy with the film. Furthermore I have today entered into a confidential agreement, with filmmakers (and other third parties), and I have also waived my moral rights.”

“The matter is now concluded and no further statements will be made by me on the matter, nor will any of the parties disclosed any further details concerning the agreement.

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Last time, we reported that Jim Sturgess is one of Hollywood's most sought-after young actors. This time, his latest movie - Fifty Dead Men Walking and reportedly, his finest performance yet - may encounter a hitch as a lawsuit has been filed by Martin McGartland, the man who is the focus of the story.

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Over at Filmstalker, the controversy was revealed. Says Richard Brunton:

The story of a British agent who worked for years undercover in the terrorist group the Irish Republican Army (IRA) has been stopped from being shown on Friday, just a week before the film première at the Toronto International Film Festival .

The organisers of TIFF are adamant that they will go ahead with the screening, despite the man who is the subject of the story refusing to waive his rights over his life story.

On Friday British lawyers for Kari Skogland's Fifty Dead Men Walking met in London with the man who is the focus of the story, Martin McGartland, and offered him GB £10,000 and the waiving of his moral rights over his life story to allow the film to be shown. However he refused the deal and the discussions have ceased. [ read more ]

It will be a shame if we don't get to watch this movie from Canadian filmmaker Kari Skogland, who made her directorial debut with The Size of Watermelons in 1996. Her latest two features are The Stone Angel (released in 2007) followed by the controversial Fifty Dead Men Walking.

My persona doesn't really work without fame. Without fame, this haircut could be mistaken for mental illness. says Russell Brand.

I don't know about the mental illness issue, but Mr. Brand certainly knows how to make a gimmick and become controversial. The only problem is, he went too far. If you've watched the 2008 MTV Awards, then you know what I'm saying...

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There are two sets of jokes- one that is really funny, even if it takes a stab at someone, but there remains some semblance of decency from whoever made the joke. Another type borders on the profane and comes from someone dying to get some much-needed attention, without regard to the people he made the joke for.

The latter one is what has happened during the 2008 MTV Awards. The culprit, an unknown amateur from the UK named Russell Brand. Aside from some rather uncalled for political remarks, he also insulted some of America's young stars including the Jonas brothers and brushed aside the Twilight cast, directly cutting off Robert Pattinson's lines. I have to admire Pattinson for being the professional that he is, not even bothering to steal the scene from that showoff!

So, who is this guy anyway? Reports Times Online:

Russell Brand first came to notice as a stand-up comic at a Hackney Empire new talent competition in 2000. His unique personal style, evoking the notion of Dickens’ Artful Dodger auditioning for The Cure, was evident even then. By the end of the following year he had already won and lost a job as a presenter on MTV Europe. The dismissal was triggered by Brand’s decision to turn up for a day’s filming dressed as Osama Bin Laden on the day after the September 11 attacks

I don't know about you, but for the last few years or so, I have lost interest on who's winning at the MTV Awards. They used to be cool, but now, it seems they lost touch.

Starring: Morgan Spurlock
Director: Morgan Spurlock
DVD Release Date: August 26, 2008
Running Time: 93 min
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Distributor: The Weinstein Company

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Review by Jeremy Welsch

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In 2003 Morgan Spurlock did a little experiment. For 30 days he ate only food served at McDonald’s to test the human body’s adaptability to an all-fast food diet. The experiment was filmed and became the Oscar-nominated documentary Super Size Me. In addition to being a funny but grim commentary on our country’s state of overindulgence, it accomplished a couple of other things along the way. On a personal note, I stopped eating fast food completely for almost two years after seeing it. I wouldn’t so much as slow down near a fast food chain after watching Spurlock binge and purge his way to infamy. More importantly, and although they’d never admit it in a million years, the McDonald’s Corporation actually removed the“Super Size” option from their menu and started making more health conscious options available. Not bad for one guy and a camera. Of course it didn’t really prove much other than eating 5,000 calories a day of anything and without exercise will make you fat and lethargic, but it goes a long way to prove that David still has a chance against Goliath when he sets him mind to it.