Big news in Carrie Bradshaw Land today: The full-length “Sex and the City 2″ trailer hit the web, and fashion lovers and Middle East enthusiasts were all over that. What could the Middle East possibly have to do with the SATC ladies, you say? Well, the city is no longer New York; the city is now Abu Dhabi. Er, the city is an emirate. It’s confusing, and neither one of us is in the mood for a geopolitical lesson, but dude, my sister works for the Abu Dhabi International Bank, so I HAD to shout out.

Let’s just move on to the shoes and watch the trailer in silence.

Today was the big day folks– the trailer for “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” the third of five Twilight franchise movies, hit the web. Feast your eyes, because all of your faves are back: Kristin Stewart, Robert Pattinson, barely-legal Taylor Lautner, Dakota Fanning, and introducing Bryce Dallas Howard as Victoria. The movie will be in theaters on June 30, but November’s recording-breaking “New Moon” is on dvd next Saturday. Enjoy…

Flickr/Dave_B_

The big day has finally arrived! Feast your eyes on this year’s big Oscar nominees:

Best Picture
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

Actor in a Leading Role
Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

Actor in a Supporting Role
Matt Damon in “Invictus”
Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

Actress in a Leading Role
Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious”
Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”

Actress in a Supporting Role
Penelope Cruz in “Nine”
Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
Mo’Nique in “Precious”

Animated Feature Film
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up

Cinematography
Avatar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The White Ribbon

Directing
James Cameron for “Avatar”
Kathryn Bigelow for “The Hurt Locker”
Quentin Tarantino for “Inglourious Basterds”
Lee Daniels for “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
Jason Reitman for “Up in the Air”

Music (Original Score)
Avatar
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Hurt Locker
Sherlock Holmes
Up

Music (Original Song)
“Almost There,” from “The Princess and the Frog”
“Down in New Orleans,” from “The Princess and the Frog”
“Loin de Paname,” from “Paris 36″
“Take it All,” from “Nine”
“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart),” from “Crazy Heart”

Visual Effects
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
District 9
An Education
In the Loop
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
Up in the Air

Writing (Original Screenplay)
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Up

Visit Oscar.com for the full list of this year’s nominees. And let the games begin!

Flickr/Rob & Jules

Actress Brittany Murphy was found dead Sunday morning at her home in Los Angeles after suffering cardiac arrest, police said. Murphy was most famous for her role in “8 Mile” with Eminem and for her “I’ll never tell” catchphrase from 2001′s “Don’t Say a Word.”

In 1995 at just 18 years old, Murphy became a pop culture icon when she portrayed Tai in “Clueless” opposite Alicia Silverstone. The actress also starred in “Girl, Interrupted,” “Riding in Cars with Boys,” “Just Married,” “Uptown Girls,” “Sin City” and “Happy Feet.” She has voiced Luanne Platter on Fox’s “King of the Hill” since 1997.

Murphy dated Ashton Kutcher in 2002 after costarring with the actor in “Just Married.” She had broken engagements in both 2004 and 2006, and ultimately married screenwriter Simon Monjack in May 2007.

Although foul play is not suspected, an autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday.

(Photo: Summit Entertainment)

Fangirls came out in full force this weekend, proving the biggest box office successes don’t always have to be based on comic books. “New Moon” has taken in $140.7 million since Friday, officially giving it the third highest grossing opening weekend of all time, just behind “The Dark Knight” ($158 M) and “Spider-Man 3″ ($151 M). “New Moon” also captured the biggest opening day ever, earning $72.7 million on Friday and topping “The Dark Knight”‘s previous opening day record of $67.1 million.

“New Moon” is in good company, as every single film on the top ten highest grossing opening weekends list is part of a franchise: Batman, Spider-Man, Pirates of the Caribbean, Shrek, Transformers, Star Wars, and now Twilight. In fact, the only two films in the entire top 25 that are stand alone movies are “The Passion of the Christ” ($83.8 M) and “I Am Legend” ($77.2 M). As the Twilight Saga continues, consider the box office bar officially raised.

Alexis Neiers (left) is among those accused of theft. (Photo: Sharky/Splash News)

In case you ever wanted to be famous, just so you know, these kids have got the right idea. Hang out in Hollywood looking fabulous, rob from the rich on the sly, and oh yeah, by the way– get your mug shot on TMZ and land a reality show by any means possible. Sound like rich kids gone bad? It is, and we love it.

The New York Times reports:

The group, most 18 and 19 years old, used celebrity Web sites, according to investigators, to figure out when their victims — a roster of young Hollywood that also includes Rachel Bilson of “The O.C.,” Ashley Tisdale of “High School Musical” fame and Audrina Patridge of “The Hills”— would be attending premieres and other events and would therefore not be home.

In the stars’ homes, burglars helped themselves to Rolex watches, Louis Vuitton bags and other baubles featured in celebrity magazines, authorities say.

Six accused members of the ring have been charged with residential burglary and other crimes, including one, Alexis Neiers, who was arrested on the set of a reality show pilot she is filming for E! with her sister Tess Taylor, a Playboy model.

Seriously, you gotta read the whole story for this one– it’s gonna blow your mind. These kids may be fame-chasing spoiled thieves, but we have a real soft spot for them. Go on with your bad selves, you Bling Burglars you.

Flickr/Ron Dauphin

A war over low dvd prices began last night between Wal-Mart and Amazon, as the two companies dropped their online costs in order to compete with one another. It started with Wal-Mart (which did the same to its book prices last month), an organization that strives to be the leader in low prices both in stores and on the web– and strives to make sure shoppers know it.

Wal-Mart started the price dropping Thursday by announcing it would lower online preorder dvd prices to $10, and Amazon followed by lowering their prices to $9.99. This morning, Wal-Mart further lowered its prices to $9.98 per dvd. Target got in on the action this morning too, and all three companies have said dvd shipping will be free.

Since it’s Friday, we say shop up– and happy weekend.

Flickr/SpreePiX - Berlin

Flickr/pvera

It’s not just the upcoming Christmas release “It’s Complicated” that Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin are about to costar in– these two comic classics are planning to share the stage in March at the 2010 Academy Awards. While we here at The Take Three usually anticipate the Oscars for months, we’re a little uneasy with the announcement that 10, count them, 10 films will be nominated for Best Picture. Hopefully Martin and Baldwin will show up with their A-game that night and the awards will be saved.

But, we still hope Oscar will consider reverting back to just five coveted slots for Best Picture come 2011.

Flickr/SpreePIX

Big news for Chicago film buffs this morning: You get to meet Quentin Tarantino– so long as you’ve got 200 bucks. Cinema/Chicago, the 45th Chicago International Film Festival and The Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures are teaming up to celebrate the director’s career next month at the AMC River East near Navy Pier. The August 18 event will include red carpet arrivals, a Tarantino film montage, a career achievement award presentation, a screening of Tarantino’s new film “Inglourious Basterds” followed by a Q&A session with the director, and a post-party at theWit Doubletree Hotel just outside of the Loop. All of this can be yours for just $200, but act quickly– tickets go on sale this morning at 10 a.m. and are sure to sell out fast. Visit ChicagoFilmFestival.org to buy your tickets…and hurry!

One of the largest movie prop shops in the world is closing. Since the 70s, 20th Century Props has been supplying set decorations for films from Moulin Rouge to Blade Runner. The economy, the last writers strike and productions leaving Hollywood for cheaper locations are all reasons why the shop is closing.

To listen to the audio story and learn more about Schwartz’s movie memorabilia, see “Hollywood Prop Shop Going Out Of Business.”