The trailer for Will Smith's latest Oscar bait film, Seven Pounds is out. The movie's about an IRS agent (Smith) who knows a secret that will affect the lives of seven strangers. Also starring: Rosario Dawson, Woody Harrelson, and Conner Cruise (son of Tom) as a younger version of Smith's character. [SF]

When Spike Lee set out to make the Miracle at St. Anna, he wanted to make a film that highlighted the oft-ignored contributions made by black soldiers in World War II. He succeeded in making a black war movie, yes, but will the message come across if no one goes to see it? Because if potential movie-goers are putting a lot of stock in the film's terrible reviews, that's exactly what will end up happening.

The critics? They aren't loving Spike's Miracle. At all. Most of them appreciate the concept and intent, but most of them also think the execution was all wrong. Flaws and all, some, including Roger Ebert, still think it's worth the cost of a ticket. Will you see it?

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The trailer for the new Biggie biopic, Notorious, has finally arrived. It looks more like a music video than a movie trailer, and that's probably not a good sign.

Glitter was a mistake that needn't ever be replicated. That's why some fans and foes of Mariah Carey were nervous when they heard she had a meaty role in Lee Daniels' new film, Tennessee. As it turns out, some critics say, she isn't half bad. Daniel's was so impressed with her that the Monster's Ball producer has also cast her in Push, an upcoming film in which she'll play "a Harlem social worker ministering to an obese, HIV-positive woman impregnated twice by her father." Sounds…ambitious. No baby steps for Mariah Carey! [NYDN]

Lakeview Terrace the new angry-black-cop-hates-interracial-couple movie from Will Smith's production company, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Wilson, and Kerry Washington, premiered last night in New York.

The trailer's out for the The Soloist, a new film starring Robert Downey, Jr., as the down-on-his-luck journalist who befriends a schizophrenic, cello prodigy played by Jamie Foxx. Foxx's wardrobe and hair are… hard to look at, but I guess the whole look is integral to the part.

Andre 3000 is heading back to the big screen with his new film, Battle in Seattle, and he's hoping to school a large audience about a 1999 World Trade Organization protest in Seattle that turned "into full-scale chaos."

"When I saw the title 'Battle in Seattle,' I thought it was catchy," André Benjamin told us last week. "I thought, 'Hey, this may be some kind of rap movie.' You know, they want some kind of battle. They want me to do the kind of '8 Mile' battle thing. 'Cause that's the roles they give to rappers anyway. So once I read it, I was like, 'Hey, OK, this is something serious.' And then, the bigger picture, it was something I didn't know about. I knew if I didn't know about it, I knew a lot of people didn't know about it. So I said, 'Let me bring this to the world … through my people, through people in the rap world.' So at that point, I felt like I was doing a good deed bringing light to it."

[MTV]

Wherein you, the readers, talk amongst yourselves.

Many old movies that are considered classics were made when racism was the accepted norm and non-white characters usually embodied negative racial and ethnic stereotypes (uh… even more so than in contemporary movies, I mean). Many of these movies — think Gone with the Wind, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Birth of a Nation, which is an important part of cinema history but one of the most racist films ever made — reflect those attitudes and stereotypes. Recently, a planned public screening of Breakfast at Tiffany's in Sacramento sparked protests from the Asian-American community. How do we deal with these films? Should we not watch them, screen them, or show them to our kids? Should they be sold with disclaimers? Or are people smart enough not to get sucked into attitudes of the past in the two hours it takes to watch a film?

Wherein you, the readers, talk amongst yourselves.

What's your favorite movie of all time?

Happy Weekend!

• Here's a sneak peek of Kanye West's new clothing line, Pastelle. Don't say anything bad about it. He's sensitive. [Clutch]

• Anyone who takes medical advice from Grey's Anatomy needs to see a doctor. [Jossip]

• F. Gary Gray has signed on to direct the film version of Julius, an urban graphic novel based on the story of Julius Caesar. [DS]

• Of course Britney's back to perform at the VMAs. [MG]

• Oh, Laurie Ann. That's so unfortunate. [NB]

Welp, with Prince of Persia, you've done it again, Hollywood! You've toyed with history in order to cast a very white person in a heroic role probably more suited for a person of color, just so that other white people will be comfortable spending their money to see it.

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The 12th Annual American Black Film Festival went down this weekend in L.A., and it attracted black actors and filmmakers from across the celebrity spectrum. At the top was Halle Berry, who participated in the festival's opening. Also seen in the photo archives: several Obama shirts. Surprise, surprise.

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