Photo: Summit

As soon as the third and final "Twilight" trailer made its way to MTV News on Thursday, Twilighters reacted in droves.

Most fans, like Esther, found the trailer to be "made of awesome!!!!!!!!" and can't wait for the film's November 21 release. A lot of the comments in Larry Carroll's shot-by-shot analysisand in the MTV Movies blog contained multiple OMEs and ahhhs, but it seems that most Twilighters couldn't find the words to describe just how great they though the trailer was.

Stargirl could hardly contain her excitement for the trailer, writing, "I've always liked to think that I am a very articulate speaker, even when things of great excitement and importance happen. However, in light of this recent trailer, I must depart from this standard of writing. AHHHHHH!!!!!! Oh, my gosh!!!! I cannot believe that trailer!!! It is by far the best one yet!!"

"This trailer is so good that I can't even spell," Elaine added.

It's rather difficult to transcribe most of the screams and gasps from the videos fans uploaded on YouRHere. But a few managed to calm down enough to speak. "I must say how excited I am to see this movie," Stephanie Briskey said in her video. "My heart is clenching in agony thanks to trailer number three. The cast is phenomenal. I love this book! Stephenie Meyer is amazing!"

Emsters326 didn't want to wake up everyone in her house, so she whispered her commentary. "That was unbelievable," she said. "I am speechless right now. I had to bite my hand so I wouldn't scream. ... I am at a total loss for words. This movie is going to be amazing."

Back in the blog, Alexandra described her very physical reaction to the film's trailer. "I stopped breathing. Like really actually stopped," she said. "I think it's because I forgot how to. That has never happened to me before with a movie, let alone a TRAILER. Wow. Just woww. Everything I hoped for and wayyyyyyy more."

"I had goose bumps watching it the first time," Ashwo915 wrote. "And the second, third, fourth ... and yeah, the million times I've watched it. Love the kiss, love the apple part, love everything. I cannot wait for November 21!"

"I could not breathe. The trailer is utterly amazing," Mandy said. "This just makes me more anxious to see the movie."

Cullenista described an even more visceral response: "I think my heart stopped (or should I say spluttered?); then when it started up again, it was pounding in my ears. My word! A fantastic trailer. I was going to see the movie for absolute sure, but now I can't believe how far away November 21 actually is. WOW! Wow! WOW!!!"

Try as we did, we were hard-pressed to find any negative reactions to the trailer. But in the face of such enthusiasm, does anyone dare?

Every Tuesday is "Twilight" Tuesday here at MTV News! Check back here each and every week for the hottest scoop on the film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's beloved vampire series, and we'll still bring you breaking "Twilight" news throughout the rest of the week. And make sure you check out the MTV Movies Blog for our ongoing "Twilight" discussions each and every day.

Check out everything we've got on "Twilight."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

• The 'Twilight' Trailer Is Made Of Awesome

• "Twilight"
• "Twilight" Cast
• On The "Twilight" Set
• "Twilight" Stars At The 2008 MTV Movie Awards

Harry Treadaway and Saoirse Ronan in "City of Ember"
Photo: Walden Media

Ember is a city that glows like a coal deep beneath the surface of the Earth, a refuge for the survivors of a cataclysm that wiped out all life above more than 200 years ago. The architects of Ember reckoned that exactly 200 years was the length of time this last remnant of humanity would have to stay here, and they designed the city to sustain subsequent generations. They also drew up instructions for leaving Ember one day and returning to whatever remained of the above-ground world. These instructions were locked in a box that was passed down secretly from one mayor of Ember to the next. Unfortunately, the box was lost at some point, and now the city's enormous generator is failing and food is running out. The box has been long forgotten, but clearly it must be found.

This is the story elaborated in Jeanne DuPrau's 2003 fantasy novel, "The City of Ember," and now the English director Gil Kenan has made an ambitious attempt to translate the book into a movie. Kenan, whose first feature was the mo-cap animated film "Monster House," has created some gorgeous sequences involving the towering generator (which powers a skein of electric lamps that serve as both sunlight and stars for the skyless city) and a pair of giant water wheels turned by a river that runs beneath the town. And the bowels of the city in which he locates the picture's more frightful doings are vividly dank and clankety.

Kenan has also cast a pair of very appealing actors, Saoirse Ronan ("Atonement") and Harry Treadaway ("Control"), in the lead roles of Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow, two young rebels who are determined to spearhead an escape from Ember before the lights go out forever. Bill Murray is on hand, too, as the latest mayor, and so are Tim Robbins and Mackenzie Crook (the one-eyed dimwit in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies).

In short, "City of Ember" would seem to have all the makings of a kid-flick classic. Whether kids will actually flock to see it seems iffy, though. For one thing, up until the end, the picture is glacially paced (it's been edited with a remarkable lack of propulsive flair — although who knows what the editor had to work with), and it's hard to imagine the average hyperactive youth being willing to stick with it when "Eagle Eye" beckons elsewhere in the multiplex. Much of the story is confined in the village-y streets and dwellings of Ember, which looks like a toy-town London (there's even a Harrods). The sets are elaborate, but very stagy, and when thronged with jolly Emberites, they suggest an Off-Broadway production of "Brigadoon."

There are also a few problems in the supporting cast, chief among them, believe it or not, Bill Murray. Murray is an actor who could wilt a building with his rheumy gaze, and his presence here is so insurmountably satirical that he throws the movie out of whack — he always seems to be putting us on, which is not really what we need in a suspiciously devious mayor, however comically potbellied he may be. A different sort of problem crops up with Robbins and Crook, who play key characters (Robbins' Loris Harrow is Doon's inventor father) but are barely in the movie. Such odd marginalization may indicate that this 95-minute picture once existed in a rather longer version. Given the pokey visual rhythms on view in this one, though, ruthless compression may have been well advised (or, more likely, enforced).

"City of Ember" comes to us from Tom Hanks' Playtone production company, which reportedly has also optioned "The People of Sparks," the second in DuPrau's quartet of Ember novels. Possibly a mini-franchise was envisioned. Judging by this picture, though, I think all involved can probably make other plans.

Don't miss Kurt Loder's reviews of "Body of Lies" and "RocknRolla," also new in theaters this week.

Check out everything we've got on "City of Ember."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

• MTV Rough Cut: Bill Murray

• "City Of Ember"

Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio in "Body of Lies"
Photo: Warner Bros.

Russell Crowe is always an interesting actor to watch, even in the oddly uninvolving "Body of Lies," his fourth film with director Ridley Scott. Crowe plays Ed Hoffman, a bluff, baggy CIA strategist with an earpiece permanently wired to his head to allow constant contact with Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio), his on-the-ground anti-terrorist agent over in the badlands of the Middle East. Hoffman — for whom cell-phone connectivity is never a problem — goes about his devious long-range shot-calling from his Langley office, from his front lawn, even in the midst of tending to his kids; and Crowe, with 50 extra pounds and an Arkansas accent packed onboard for the part, plays him as a win-at-all-costs cynic, but also as a man who has his reasons, some of them very good ones. It's a complex and entertaining characterization, and the movie could have used a little more of it.

Instead, the picture sticks mainly with Ferris as he dodges explosions, trades gunfire, and fends off savage attack dogs and blood-thirsty torturers — the usual action-spy stuff — in his quest to nail a bin-Laden-like terror chieftain named Al-Saleem (Alon Aboutboul), with Hoffman second-guessing him from afar (and sometimes, with puzzling suddenness, from up-close, too) every step of the way. DiCaprio brings his intense squint and some new beardage to the role, but even after we've been told that Ferris speaks fluent Arabic, knows and respects the local culture and can thus pass as a jihadi for undercover purposes, it's still difficult to imagine this particular star passing as anyone other than Leonardo DiCaprio.

The movie gets a welcome shot of fresh charisma, however, when Ferris is assigned to take over the CIA shop in Amman, and has to coordinate with the Jordanian intelligence boss, an unexpectedly elegant figure named Hani (the excellent Mark Strong, currently fighting an uphill artistic battle in "RocknRolla"). Hani is a cosmopolitan with a taste for Savile Row suits, seductive women and decidedly un-Islamic nightlife; but he's also a cold-eyed pro, and he agrees to cooperate with Ferris on one condition: "Never lie to me." Naturally, with Hoffman pulling the big strings, a major lie is soon forthcoming when it's decided to try to lure Al-Saleem out of hiding by setting up a fake rival terrorist ring using a blameless local architect as a fall guy. Ferris, a spook with an unfortunate and not especially convincing tendency toward humanist idealism, is appalled by the plan — the architect will surely be marked for death. But orders are orders (he's not that much of an idealist). Hoffman, for his part, couldn't care less about the architect; Al-Saleem is his only concern.

In the midst of all this, Ferris becomes smitten with a beautiful nurse named Aisha (the charming Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani). Given that any physical contact between an unmarried man and woman — even a handshake — is forbidden in Aisha's society, and that an awkward dinner overseen by her disapproving sister would seem to promise little romantic future, Ferris persists in coveting her. This is the sort of plot contrivance that gives plot contrivances a bad name.

Ridley Scott knows his way around an action sequence, and he brings off the big ones here with a gratifying minimum of CGI. But despite the plenitude of roaring fireworks and hell-bent chases and all-seeing eye-in-the-sky technology (yet again!), the movie suffers from a strange lassitude: no matter how energetically the characters tear around the desert or barrel through the teeming souks, we remain underwhelmed. The picture itself never goes anywhere.

Don't miss Kurt Loder's review of "RocknRolla," and "City of Ember," also new in theaters this week.

Check out everything we've got on "Body of Lies."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

• "Body of Lies"

Robert Pattinson as Edward in "Twilight"
Photo: Summit Entertainment

Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed, Ashley Greene and Jackson Rathbone in "Twilight"
Photo: Summit Entertainment

Just one month before the eagerly anticipated "Twilight" hits theaters, the third and final trailer for the flick has leaked online. The longest and most epic of the previews we've seen thus far, every shot is pure candy for a Twilighter's eyes.

Naturally, MTV News has once again put together your exclusive, definitive, shot-by-shot analysis of the new "Twilight" trailer. As you watch the clip again and again, read along to see what you may have missed, and then post your thoughts in the comment section below. These two minutes and 22 seconds of bliss have us every bit as excited as you are — so stay tuned to MTV for more "Twilight" news, and we'll see you at the theater November 21!

0:01: The MPAA warning card tells us that the preview is appropriate for all audiences and that "Twilight" will be rated PG-13 for "Some Violence and a Scene of Sensuality." Really? Just one scene? Because if there's one thing Stephenie Meyer fans want, it's more scenes that include the words "sensuality" and "Robert Pattinson."

0:06: Cool, ominous-looking, time-elapsed photography of the Pacific Northwest region, where Forks is located. Moody chamber music sets the scene.

0:10: The blue "Twilight" font reveals the words: "On November 21 ... "

0:13: We see the still-viewed-as-an-outsider Bella (Kristen Stewart) sullenly making her way through the school parking lot, listening to her iPod. Check out the way Bella's old, beaten-up truck stands out from all the blandness that surrounds her.

0:17: " ... Nothing will be the same."

0:20: The still-creepy Cullens stare Bella down from afar, as Jasper (Jackson Rathbone) and Alice (Ashley Greene) congregate under an umbrella. Edward, looking very James Dean in his leather jacket and T-shirt, is already unable to take his golden eyes off her.

0:22: A key moment in the "Twilight" universe unfolds as Tyler Crowley's blue van comes careening out of control through the Forks High parking lot. Robert dashes over to save Bella before she knows what's happening, thereby revealing his powers. Fans of the series have already seen this footage in previous trailers, but these shots are a bit more extended.

0:28: They make eye contact, each knowing that something just happened that they'll have to discuss later. A brief, new shot shows Edward leaping over the back of Bella's truck like an animal, eager to escape. All she can do is sit on the ground and stare at the indentation his hand put in the van.

0:38: "You're impossibly fast," Bella questions him as we watch them stroll along the river's edge. "And strong."

0:40: Our first glimpse at the beloved Port Angeles scene has some twinkling lights in the background as Edward and Bella discuss their situation over an Italian dinner. "You've got to give me some answers," she says.

0:42: "I'd rather hear your theories," he replies. So far, what we've heard of Pattinson's American accent has been impressive — but am I the only one who had to rewind the trailer four times to understand the word "theories"?

0:43: We see Edward giving his spider monkey a ride up a tree, frolicking throughout the forest while their romance blossoms. His strength is shown when he rips a branch off a tree. Bella looks appropriately afraid, yet intrigued. "I have considered radioactive spiders and kryptonite," she says in a cute line that references Spider-Man and Superman. Paraphrasing Meyer's novel, this exchange shows the film's willingness to go beyond the page — and, quite frankly, it works.

0:47: "That's all superhero stuff, right?" Edward replies as we see footage from the baseball scene of him running and jumping.

0:51: "What if I'm not the hero?" he asks, as we see footage of the duo getting stares as they walk around school together. "What if I'm ... the bad guy?"

0:56: If that first part of the new trailer deals with their blossoming romance, this shot begins the dark consequences Edward and Bella have to deal with if they remain together. Starting with a full moon, we see some meadow footage from the day MTV was on the Portland set, followed by a quick shot of the apple-catch referenced recently by writer Melissa Rosenberg during our interview. Fans will undoubtedly cheer when they witness the moment, which ends with Edward presenting the rescued Red Delicious in an homage to the book cover's depiction of forbidden fruit. Three letters come to mind: O, M and E.

1:02: "I know what you are," says a breathless Bella. "Your skin is pale white and ice cold. You don't go out in the sunlight!"

1:04: "Say it, out loud," Robert urges Bella while standing behind her in the forest. "Say it."

1:05: A cool close-up of Kristen Stewart's lips as she utters the word that must not be spoken: "Vampire."

1:07: The trailer merges two shots of the leads over each other, while Pattinson asks, "Are you afraid?" Her response? "No."

1:09: As the music swells, we see more of the ominous forest that surrounds Forks. "This is not real," Bella says. "This kind of stuff just doesn't exist."

1:13: "It does in my world," Edward responds, as we see the two of them near the top of an impossibly tall tree. The screen goes black.

1:19: "I just want to try one thing," Edward says, before leaning in to kiss his true love. Look, it's the scene of sensuality!

1:23: A very brief shot has Edward in a tuxedo and Bella in a blue dress, standing in the middle of a gazebo. It's our first official glimpse at the prom scene.

1:27: The final act of the new trailer hints at the impending dangers facing the couple. As a police vehicle pulls up, Bella asks, "What's going on?" We see Bella's father, Charlie Swan, for the first time, responding: "A security guard at the mill got killed by some kind of animal." Check out the name, "C. Swan," on his police jacket!

1:30: Enter the Nomads. We see shadowy figures killing the guard, while Bella asks, "An animal?"

1:33: A shirtless James (Cam Gigandet) jumps into frame, with bloodlust in his eyes. I'm still amazed by how different he looks in the film than in real life.

1:34: "My family, we're different from others of our kind," Edward explains while sitting in a tree.

1:36: The Nomads enter frame, walking on the "flying carpet" prop that several castmembers have alluded to, and which we saw in the early behind-the-scenes clip.

1:39: James smells Bella's blood and remarks: "You brought a snack." While Cullens such as Carlisle (Peter Facinelli) and Rosalie (Nikki Reed) can be glimpsed in the background, a furious Edward rushes toward his nemesis. As the infamous baseball-scene confrontation occurs, Carlisle rushes to the middle of the pack in an attempt to keep the peace. Esme pushes Bella back to protect her.

1:42: "Wait, now he's coming after me?" Bella asks Edward as they ride in the Cullen Jeep moments after the garage scene that MTV saw on set. "The hunt is his obsession," Edward replies while speeding away. "He's never going to stop."

1:45: A furious James is on the hunt.

1:46: Edward and Bella regroup in the forest. "I'd rather die," she says, "than stay away from you."

1:48: The blue, glowy "Twilight" words return: "From the worldwide bestseller ... "

1:49: We see James tracking them down as Laurent (Edi Gathegi) stands before Carlisle and warns: "He's got unparalleled senses. Absolutely lethal."

1:51: As Edward drives Bella's truck, Emmett leaps on top of it. Action scene!

1:54: Edward makes his pledge to Bella: "I'll do whatever it takes to make you safe again."

1:55: We see a very brief shot of Emmett, Alice and Jasper springing into action. Is that the ballet-studio scene?

1:56: It's no secret that the big climax is the ballet-studio showdown, which we've been seeing snippets of since the scene first premiered way back at the MTV Movie Awards. This trailer gives us quick, familiar shots from that clip — James tossing Bella to the floor, brandishing his video camera and smashing Edward's head against the mirror — while the "Twilight" lettering reads: "Forever ... begins ... now."

2:04: "You're faster than the others," James growls as he wrestles with Edward. "But not stronger."

2:07: His face pressed against the shattered glass, Edward responds: "I'm strong enough to kill you."

2:10: The music swells as Edward soars across the studio and attacks James, tearing up the floorboards as they do battle.

2:14: Edward looks at Bella, in another shot from the garage scene as they get ready to escape. Staring deeply into her eyes, he pledges: "You are my life now."

Every Tuesday is "Twilight" Tuesday here at MTV News! Check back here each and every week for the hottest scoop on the film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's beloved vampire series, and we'll still bring you breaking "Twilight" news throughout the rest of the week. And make sure you check out the MTV Movies Blog for our ongoing "Twilight" discussions each and every day.

Check out everything we've got on "Twilight."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

• "Twilight"

50 Cent
Photo: Scoopt/ Getty Images

Biggie might have kicked in the door with a .44, but 50 Cent makes his entrance with a shotgun in the just-released trailer for his new movie, "Before I Self Destruct," which will accompany his album of the same name.

50's Scott Storch-produced track "Get Up" plays in the background as we get glimpses into the chaos that Fif has in store for us.

He starts out getting a 'hood lesson from an O.G., played by character actor Clifton Powell ("Menace II Society," "Dead Presidents," "Friday After Next"). Powell tells him that most hustlers either fall in love with fast women, money or action — and it looks like there's plenty of action going down in Fif's neighborhood. We see a local store get blown up and 50 running through the projects with a huge firearm, drawing his weapon and finally putting a humungous hole in some poor schlep's apartment door.

And, oh yeah — we even see 50 rocking a new hairstyle: cornrows. (D'Angelo has nothing on the South Side Queens rap enforcer.)

"Before I Self Destruct" is being advertised as Fif's directorial debut. Besides 50 and Powell, model Angel Lola Luv and Naughty by Nature's Treach also star.

Before I Self Destruct the album has found 50 Cent working with the likes of Swizz Beatz, Dr. Dre and Eminem. The LP is scheduled to drop December 9, and the movie — according to the G-Unit camp — will come out the same day.

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

• 50 Cent

Odette Yustman in "The Unborn"
Photo: Platinum Dunes

David Goyer's latest film, "The Unborn," follows a young girl fighting an ancient, deadly spirit that wants to overtake her body. But it's Goyer himself who seems possessed these days, excited beyond measure about the trailer for his next leap into horror, which you can view exclusively here on MTV News.

With the trailer playing in front of him, we went through the footage shot by shot to find out what some of the images and themes mean for the work as a whole. Read below to find out what we discovered.

-2:22 to -2:15: Casey Beldon (Odette Yustman) reclines on a couch, trying to relax while talking on the phone.

(And saying hello to a very special guest star! Find out who on the Movies Blog.)

Suddenly, a strange voice comes from the baby monitor. It sounds foreign ... or backward?

"It is backwards," Goyer explained, "but not a backwards loop. We figured out what it would sound like backwards and had the young actor record a bunch of lines like that. We did a lot of that in this movie, not only with dialogue but also with music. Like, originally we had these women sing the notes that are supposed to be the theme in normal fashion, and then we just said, 'Screw that!' So what I had them do, we had our composer write the notes backwards, and then they sang them backwards and then we played them backwards so that they're forwards. Does that make sense? The end result is that if you're speaking English or singing, you can recognize the theme, but it's got this different quality, because like the inhalations and the exhalations are backwards."

Is the boy possessed?

"Yes," Goyer said. "The idea of a dybbuk is that there's an entity of spirit that's trying to find a human body where it can fully live. It's been caught in between the worlds, and it's got its eyes set on our lead, Casey, but it sort of attempts any point in the storm to get in a couple of other bodies intermittently in this sort of way up the ladder towards her. It actually gets into a number of people and animals and things like that over the course of the movie."

-1:55: Casey's eyes suddenly change colors, a condition she thinks is benign but quickly leads to troubling discoveries.

"She was born brown-eyed, and then she developed this true sort of medical situation called heterochromia. Some people are born that way, but in vary rare occasions, you can develop it in the middle of your life. That was sort of the starting point for this," Goyer said. "Normally, heterochromia can be one of the primary reasons for this thing called genetic mosaicism — that's all true. Sometimes placentas will become fused, and sometimes chromosomes from one of the twins will sort of get into one of the other twins, and that's something that medically happens. That's what leads her to suspect, 'Wait a minute, maybe I wasn't an only child.' "

-1:20: Casey screams in anguish and terror, but no sound is heard. She is seen watching herself from the ceiling.

"Silence can be really scary. That's something that happens a lot in dreams," Goyer said. "I actually got the idea for this nightmare from ... a Jewish prayer, where real Orthodox Jews believe that when they sleep, their souls actually leave their bodies, and what you do is, when you wake up — and one of the characters does it in the movie — you say a prayer to thank God for not letting something unwanted enter your body while you were awake. So they view anytime you go to sleep is potentially a place where you're very vulnerable. I thought that would be really scary."

But wait, Casey lies on her bed in a blue shirt. When appearing on the ceiling, however, the shirt turns red.

"I employed color theory in this movie so that the color blue — anytime she's wearing that color, it's significant, and anytime that specific red shows up on her from the ceiling, it's significant as well. It shows up in all sorts of different ways in the production design," Goyer said. "The blue is what we call 'Barto Blue.' That's the name of the little boy, actually. And it's actually the color of his eyes. So anytime that color shows up in the movie, it means the spirit is around, whether he's onscreen or not. That red links to one of the other characters, played by Jane Alexander, named Sophie, and I don't want to fully give away what that red color is. It's a good game for people."

-:57: A monster of some sort walks up a staircase, twisting his head.

"That's a f---ed up image. I love that image!" Goyer enthused. "We call him the Twisted Old Man pursuing one of the characters, and so what they did is, it's actually a contortionist wearing an upside-down mask of this other character. The shot was supposed to be crawling towards us as the camera's pulling back at the same time. So what we did was we actually had him crawl backwards and had the camera chase him, and then we reversed it all. That's what you see in the trailer."

-:46: Surrounded by Gary Oldman and others, Casey straps herself to a gurney, agreeing to an exorcism. The lights flare bright and then extinguish.

"The idea with the spirit is, although this is never explicitly stated in the film, it's that when the spirit is around, the lights fluctuate," Goyer revealed. "I just want to point out, the reason I like that [overhead] shot is because we are shooting anamorphic, and if you look at that shot, you'll see that it's an eye. She forms the pupil, and there's this circle of 10 people around her, and they form the iris, and the frame itself is the horizontal field of the eye. The eyes are the window to the soul, and the eye is the way she first feels the effect of the dybbuk trying to come into her."

Check out everything we've got on "The Unborn."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

• Exclusive: 'The Unborn' Trailer

• A Shot By Shot Look At "The Unborn" Trailer
• "The Unborn"

Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio
Photo: MTV News

BEVERLY HILLS, California — We've all been there: It's reunion time, and everybody is nervously eyeballing one another to see who's aged poorly, whose career is in the toilet and whether the old chemistry is still there. Luckily, Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe found their reunion to be more pleasant than most — and they didn't even need to spike the punch.

"Yeah, it was 1994," Crowe remembered of the first time they worked together, on the flawed-but-underrated Sam Raimi western "The Quick and the Dead."

"I think he's remained the same kind of guy that he was back then," DiCaprio said of Crowe, who was similarly in the early stages of his career (neither was an above-the-title star in the flick, with both taking a backseat to Gene Hackman and the then-red-hot Sharon Stone). "I mean, back then, he was just sort of starting out. He did 'Romper Stomper,' and he was a great new talent that exploded on to the scene."

It was Crowe's first American film, and he was still a good three years from breaking out with his intense-yet-tender "L.A. Confidential" performance; DiCaprio would explode with "Titanic" that same year.

"He's taller," Crowe said with a grin, looking his co-star up and down as they reunited recently for interviews about their second collaboration, the new Ridley Scott spy film "Body of Lies." "[DiCaprio] has matured considerably in terms of his intellectual outlook and what he understands about the world. And that's wonderful — that's reflective in his work. He always was a wonderfully instinctive performer, as his work as a young man attests. But it's been great for me, because you have that connection to someone that you worked with, and when you see them flare and mature and handle great commercial success and not let it destroy them, and then come up with the performances given in the past few years like 'The Departed' and 'Blood Diamond' and in this — it's been great."

Back then, Leo was a 17-year-old kid best known for an Oscar-nominated supporting role in the Johnny Depp film "What's Eating Gilbert Grape." But since their "Quick and the Dead" team-up, the two have yielded nearly a dozen now-classic films and hundreds of millions at the box office.

"We had a friendship back then, which was almost about the environment we were in," Crowe recalled of the "Dead" set, whose Stone-related tensions became a media sensation at the time. "Everybody else had so much of an agenda going on that we just sort of became mates, because we weren't part of that. And so, to get back on [the 'Lies'] set after 15 years and know within two minutes that all of that stuff we had as friends is still available? It was great."

Finally, the two were reunited not as the bit players they once were, but as heavy-duty leading men in a ripped-from-the-headlines drama. Based on an acclaimed 2007 novel, "Lies" casts Crowe as a surly CIA pencil-pusher and DiCaprio as his man in the field who teams up with him on a plan that could make an underground terrorist stick his head up just long enough to be put out of commission.

"There are so many, now that I think about it," Crowe laughed when asked whether there were similarities between being a spy and an actor. "That was Eddie Murphy's thing, right? 'I get paid to bullsh--.' "

"We're becoming other people and trying to play other characters every time we walk up onto set," DiCaprio said of the similarities. "But we have no idea the kind of focus and attention and guts it takes to do the kind of jobs these guys do."

"And on the set, I just try and hide from them all the time," Crowe added with a grin. "If I hide from them, I think, 'He's gonna have to try and find me now. I'm being a superspy!' "

Now that they're both grown-ups, however, the duo were able to have a lot more fun together between takes.

"[We have] a shared sense of humor, and that's basically what we do. We try and make each other laugh," Crowe said of the friendship both hope to maintain for years to come.

"We talked about the rip-roarin' times that we were gonna have in Morocco," DiCaprio remembered of their "Body of Lies" conversations between takes. "Because that place is crazy!"

"Get jiggy with it, baby!" Crowe added with a smile.

" 'Get jiggy with it'? That was, like, the late '90s, buddy!" DiCaprio teased his friend. "Come on!"

"I'm old," Crowe added with a grin and a sigh.

Check out everything we've got on "Body of Lies."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

• 'Body Of Lies' Reunites Russell Crowe And Leonardo DiCaprio

• "Body of Lies"

Bill Murray
Photo: MTV News

It's been said before, and it will be said again: Whether he's doing comedy or drama, Bill Murray is some kind of twisted genius. You never really know how true that is, though, until you can see it up close.

Murray recently sat down with MTV News for an exceedingly rare interview to talk about his new film "City of Ember," where he plays the duplicitous mayor of a town about to lose its power. Read below to find out what he has to say about "Ember," "Ghostbusters III," how he almost became Batman, what he actually said to Scarlett Johansson at the end of "Lost in Translation" and more.

MTV: This is not a figment of my imagination, right? I am actually talking to Bill Murray, correct?

Bill Murray: Yeah, yeah.

MTV: Can you assure me of that?

[Murray kicks our reporter.]

MTV: That was a Bill Murray kick. That kind of hurt!

Murray: It's a good hurt.

MTV: So you've played a mob boss, you've played a Ghostbuster — I think this is your first politician though, correct? Did it give you a taste for politics after playing this guy?

Murray: I've just been getting a taste for politics lately, 'cause it's all around us. We're swimming in the soup right now. [But] playing a politician — they're kind of easy. They're kind of clichés, you know? They say one thing and mean another. They talk out of both sides of their mouth — everything you could say horrible about them. And yet they're always challenged by this ideal that, "Oh, what if I really were good?"

MTV: Do you have a horse in this race?

Murray: I'm interested in the race. It's like going to see a basketball game where it's not your home team, either one, you just really want to see a great game. I really would love to see a great race, and I don't think they are giving us the great race I thought they might. If you'd have said Obama and McCain, who in the Bush years was probably the one light I could see in that world, I thought they'd give us a pretty good fight. Maybe they'll come up with something now.

MTV: There's a mystique about getting you to sign onto a film, that you don't have the representation. There aren't the usual channels to get you. There's been talk that there's a phone number that if I'm really nice to you, you will give me, and maybe you'll call me back, maybe not. True?

Murray: Something like that, yeah. When I had representation, they would just call. They have secretaries who would call you. If you're in your home and the phone rings, the phone rings three, four, seven times — I can't get that now. I'm either cooking something or I'm doing this or I'm doing that. I'm not gonna answer the phone right now. Well, I don't have an answering machine, so the phone would just ring. It would ring 100 times.

MTV: That's a lot of patience on the other end!

Murray: Well, it's a secretary who was told, "Get me so-and-so." And so the phone rings, and they don't want to hang up and say, "I didn't get him." They're on the clock! It's hourly. Phone's ringing. They're doing a crossword. It really infuriated me that someone would do that. Would you ever think that maybe someone wasn't answering the phone? So that's when I started with this.

MTV: I want to run through a couple things in the course of my research I found out about you. Apparently, your trademark is a deadpan expression —

Murray: [Murray tries to deadpan and cracks up laughing.] I couldn't even do it. It's too early.

MTV: "Oklahoma" is your favorite musical?

Murray: Yeah, I think "Oklahoma" is my favorite musical. I can't think of anything that's better. Great songs.

MTV: You travel without an entourage?

Murray: No, I don't have any entourage. I'm a martial artist. I don't need anything.

MTV: Is that a threat?

Murray: No, no. We never attack. Only [when backed into] a corner.

MTV: You were once considered to play Batman?

Murray: So I hear. I would have been a fine Batman. You know, there have been a number of Batmen. I like them. ... I thought Mike Keaton did a great job as Batman. It's obviously — it's a great role.

MTV: As any Bill Murray fan worth their salt, I'm a big "Ghostbusters" fan. So the guys from "The Office," I guess, are writing a new one. Have you talked to them directly about this?

Murray: I don't even know who these guys are, but I know there's two guys from "The Office" that are writing a "Ghostbusters" script.

MTV: You don't know what their take is or anything like that?

Murray: No, I have no idea. But it's great, and I hope they go back to the original version. The first "Ghostbusters" was such a funny movie, and the first 45 minutes of it or so — there's only maybe one or two special effects. It's just these guys being funny, and the characters were really funny, and the situations were funny. I mean, Danny had a really fantastic idea, and, you know, he and Harold [Raimis], they wrote some funny scenes. They left room for improvisation, and we made a funny movie.

MTV: Do you like the idea of potentially passing on to a new crop of Ghostbusters?

Murray: Well, I think it'd be funny to have a girl Ghostbuster. We don't have a girl Ghostbuster. I mean, they say like, "What if you passed it to Chris Rock?" And I go "Well, I dunno. Is Chris Rock gonna save us?" You know, I guess. He's funny.

MTV: You want Dana Barrett to have a proton pack — is that what you're saying?

Murray: No, I just think there's some funny girls I'd love to see be Ghostbusters.

MTV: Finally, just between us, can you tell me what you whispered to Scarlett in "Lost in Translation."

Murray: I said, "I want my MTV."

Check out everything we've got on "City of Ember."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

• MTV Rough Cut: Bill Murray

• "City Of Ember"

Josh Brolin
Photo: MTV News

Over the last few elections, a new post-debate tradition has sprung up as fact-check teams jump on air mere moments after the candidates say goodbye, eager to tell us why candidate X won't save us as much money as he claims, or candidate Y is lying about his voting record. After seeing next week's Oliver Stone film "W.," you might wish those guys were standing in the theater lobby, eager to walk you to your car.

Although the film proudly walks the line of bipartisanship, several scenes depicting our current president contain background details sure to raise some eyebrows. Did George W. Bush really once get a girl pregnant? Did he drive his car into a garage door in a fit of anger? And is his favorite piece of theater really one of the goofiest musicals of all time?

Below are several assertions presented in "W.," as well as the real-life facts.

W. Once Got a Woman Pregnant

Film: A young, still irresponsible Bush (Josh Brolin) gets caught up in a relationship with a woman named "Fran" (Marley Shelton), promises to marry her, then jumps up onto a bar with her to dance in celebration. Later, W. goes to his father for help, and George H.W. Bush (James Cromwell) says he'll "take care" of it.

Fact: The rumor has haunted Bush for decades but most closely resembles an allegation made by Hustler publisher Larry Flynt, who claimed in 2000 to have uncovered a 1971 relationship between Bush and an old flame. Flynt has alleged that the pro-life Bush arranged for an abortion, which at the time was illegal in Texas; the president has not commented either way.

W. Loves "Cats"

Film: When Bush gets down over the state of the country, Laura (Elizabeth Banks) cheers him up by saying that she'll get tickets to his favorite play. In early screenings, Los Angeles audiences have been chuckling over the revelation that it's "Cats," the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical often viewed as something less than high art.

Fact: " 'Cats' was one of his favorite plays," Stone insists of a fact uncovered by his research team. "I think this movie is better than 'Cats,' but I don't think he's going to see this." In 2006, Bush paid tribute to Webber at the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors ceremony.

Rumsfeld Doodled During Staff Meetings

Film: While Bush's advisers are discussing their 9/11 response and coining the infamous "Axis of Evil" moniker, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (Scott Glenn) is obliviously sketching a cartoon of Condoleezza Rice, who is sitting nearby.

Fact: "Whether he doodled Rice is an issue, but he doodled," Stone admitted. "He would express his arrogance and indifference [often]. He hated meetings with people he did not see at his level, and he was famous for his doodling, among other things."

W. Regretted Trading Sammy Sosa

Film: During a flashback conversation with his father in 1990, Bush cites his approval of the trade involving baseball star Sammy Sosa as an example of his poor judgment.

Fact: Although Bush did allow the trade of Sosa (who would go on to hit 609 home runs) while serving as owner of the Texas Rangers, the future slugger didn't become an above-average player until 1993. In 1990, Bush would have likely been proud of unloading a man who would only hit .233 that season.

Jack Hawk Loves the Administration

Film: During scenes depicting George W. Bush's notorious "Mission Accomplished" speech, Stone cuts to a program called "Spinball" hosted by a right-wing, full-of-praise talking head with the too-hilarious-to-be-real name Jack Hawk.

Fact: "It's a condensed character of the American reporters," the director said, denying that fake names were used because Bush-friendly channels like Fox News may have been unwilling to help Stone's movie. "[It was the way] many of them were at the time."

W. Crashes His Car

Film: After stumbling during an early campaign, a furious Bush rams his vehicle into a garage door, frightening Laura.

Fact: According to a 2000 USA Today article, "After a few speeches, he asked [Laura] — coming up the driveway on the way home from one — how his delivery was going over. Terrible, said the forthright wife. George W. drove his Pontiac Bonneville right into the garage wall."

Check out everything we've got on "W."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

• The Stars Of 'W' Discuss The Person And The Movie

• "W."