With Oscar season fast approaching, two big-name Hollywood actors have just become top contenders for awards thanks to their emotionally raw performances in the new movie

Hugh Jackman stars as Keller Dover, the father of one of two kidnapped girls who turns to a detective, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, for help. But when their only suspect, Paul Dano's creepy Alex Jones, comes off clean, Keller takes matters — and Alex Jones's life — into his own hands. The ensemble cast, which also includes Maria Bello, Viola Davis and Terrence Howard in standout roles, all ride a moral roller coaster as the hours without their young children stretch into days.

While critics went into "Prisoners" expecting it to be the typical Hollywood revenge film befitting such a star-studded cast, they left emotionally ravaged by the film's grisly twists and turns. Director Denis Villeneuve and cinematographer Roger A. Deakins devote their detail-oriented touch to accurately recounting every excruciating detail of this hellish ordeal, providing a film-going experience that is as engaging as it is horrifying. Critics have heaped praise on every member of the cast, calling this Jackman's best work to date. The film's subject matter may not be for everyone, but the talent on display here is impossible to ignore.

Read on for a sampling of "Prisoners" reviews.

Mainstream And Artful
"French-Canadian director Denis Villeneuve, who made 2010's captivating Oscar-nominated 'Incendies,' has fashioned a film that is both mainstream and artful. 'Prisoners' is infused with a poetic intensity that's rare in American thrillers. The closest cinematic comparisons would be 'Zodiac,' 'In the ...

Britney Spears is already hard at work promoting her upcoming Las Vegas residency, And in her latest interview, she's telling her Britney Army to prepare for "everything."

"Every time I do a show, I like to bring it. I love to be really entertained. Coming from the show aspect and coming from theater, I love to really put on a show, so we're going to have all the works... there's going to be snow, water, rain, everything," she told Ryan Seacrest on Friday (September 20) about the show kicking off December 27.

Spears will perform exclusively at Planet Hollywood for the next two years, meaning she cannot perform anywhere else in North America during that time. On Thursday, Kurt Melien, VP of entertainment at Caesars Entertainment told Billboard that the show will probably run upwards of 90 to 100 minutes, include both new music and 21 of her greatest hits, and have "Vegas-style production show, married with a dance club environment."

In addition to her Vegas show, Spears is also readying the December 3 release of her eighth studio album, which she described as "one of the most personal albums I've ever done." While she doesn't necessarily use the term in her everyday life, she gave fans a taste of what's to come with the album's lead single

"I think usually I tend to lean towards fun music. You want to listen to something that puts you in good spirits and I think most of my music is uplifting," she said of why fans ...

Wedding bells will soon be ringing for Big Time Rush's Carlos Pena and his fiancée, "Spy Kids" star Alexa Vega. The happy couple, who have been dating since last year, announced their engagement via Twitter last week, with Vega proudly showing off her stunning engagement ring. But little does Vega know, she's actually not the first person to sport the canary diamond stunner.

"I had it for a solid month," Pena told MTV News of the ring. "But one night we were all hanging out and Logan [Henderson] is like, 'Show me the ring,' and I'm like, 'Again?' So I go and get it out of my safe spot. I'm like, 'Here,' and Logan puts it on his pinkie and Logan is taking pictures with the ring on. I'm like, I can't wait to show her, and then all these guys are holding it."

Following the boy band's Big Time Summer Tour, Vega, who has previously been married, and Pena, along with his Big Time Rush bandmates and 25 friends and family, boarded a cruise to Jamaica and Cozumel, and it was there, on the first night, that Pena popped the question.

"I just have to say Carlos had a very nice speech and it started out with his dad giving a speech," BTR's Kendall Schmidt said. "And it was so cool, and he was like, 'Dad ...' and they had planned it, 'Dad, Dad, sit down, I'm going to finish it,' and then he did the speech."

Pena continued, "She had no idea, and then I called her ...

There were a lot of opinions flying around following Miley Cyrus's 2013 Video Music Awards and unapologetic trailer for her MTV documentary — now it seems that something has happened that rivals that event in buzzworthiness: the newest iPhone software update. And Miley, in addition to a passel of other stars, is primed to weigh in.

"I hate the iPhone update," Cyrus tweeted Thursday (September 19) after presumably updating her Apple device. The tweet spawned more than 14,000 retweets and 13,000 favorites.

Cyrus is referring to iOS 7, the latest iPhone software update, which includes a brand-new, cartoon-bright design as well as a variety of other tweaks and features. When it dropped on Apple devices Thursday, the update spawned a bevy of reactions on social media — some as vitriolic as Cyrus's, some more complimentary.

Techie actress Alyssa Milano, for one, was a fan of the update, tweeting: "It is beautiful but going to take some getting used to. #iphoneupdate." Christina Milian agreed: "I love this new #iOS7 software!!!!"

Chloë Grace Moretz fell more in the Cyrus camp in a tweet that rising star Lorde favorited: "I'm really frustrated with this iPhone update. It's. Too. Bright."

Ariana Grande live-tweeted her update experience, at first expressing trepidation — "terrified to update my iPhone" — then confusion, "Can someone please help me... How do I update my iPhone I can't even figure it out I'm so behind." Finally — after a plethora of fans came to her aid and she mastered the update ...

Before he descends upon Earthly theaters as the Asgardian Avenger Thor, Chris Hemsworth will surely turn heads with his portrayal of real-life Formula One driver James Hunt, who — alongside his main competitor Niki Lauda — grabbed national headlines during the high-stakes 1976 racing season. Daniel Brühl stars as Lauda, the Austrian driver that racing fans loved to hate. In contrast, Hemsworth portrays Hunt, a big, blonde, English playboy that you might end up hating to love. Behind the camera is Ron Howard, who takes Formula One racing — a subject that's failed to grab America's attention for nearly four decades — and uses it to expertly dive into the psyches of two incredibly nuanced and incredibly opposite individuals.

Critics are united in their praise for "

Read on for a sample of "Rush" reviews.

Full Color Characters
" 'Rush,' which is serious without being self-serious, fun without being trivial, feels like the movie that he has been waiting to make his whole life — it's no wonder that he climbs into the cockpits with the camera again and again. Having a good script makes a difference, as does a brilliant cinematographer like Anthony Dod Mantle, who, shooting in digital, paints the screen in stunning, saturated colors that put the story's extremes into vivid terms. There are no washed-out tones or characters here." — Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

Ron Howard At His Best
" 'Sexy' and 'stylish' are not the adjectives that usually come to mind when describing the blandly middlebrow output of director Ron Howard. But whether it's the racing ...

Thursday started out like any other tour day for Ed Sheeran. The British singer is currently wrapping up his opening gig on the U.S. leg of pal Taylor Swift's Red Tour, and just before showtime, he snapped a pic — like he always does — of the crowd. But at some point ... things began to go downhill.

"Last 3 days in America," Sheeran tweeted before sharing a photo of all the fans that had filled Nashville's Bridgestone Arena for the first of three nights at the venue.

After the show, Sheeran hit up a karaoke bar with Gavin DeGraw, joining the "I Don't Wanna Be" singer for a duet. But not long afterward, Ed uploaded two photos showing his bloody, bandaged hand. He didn't explain the cause of his mysterious injury, other than to tweet "oops." Apparently the red-haired singer was taken to a hospital emergency room, which he noted using the British abbreviation, A&E.

Sheerios took to the Instagram comments section, leaving notes that ranged from baffled ("How the f---'d you manage that lad ?") to humorous ("I guess that's what you get for being on the 'Red' tour") to concerned ("ED BBY ARE YOU OKAY LEMMI KISS IT").

Then as if that wasn't enough, the "Lego House" singer was dealt another setback. "And now a flat tyre. This night is epic," he wrote.

"Epic" might not be the best way to describe Sheeran's streak of bad luck, but it definitely captures what we thought after seeing the photo of Ed and none other than Rick Ross hanging out earlier this ...

On December 13, 1993, Nirvana performed at Seattle's Pier 48 for MTV's a concert that would more than live up to its name.

Sets were destroyed, cameras spat upon, and, at the end of 70-odd minutes, amidst all the carnage, Kurt Cobain invited the hometown crowd onto the stage, resulting in pure chaos. To this day, it remains one of the most raucous, raw performances ever captured by our cameras ... a definitive Nirvana show that has never been seen in full.

That will change on September 24, when "Live and Loud" is released both as a standalone DVD and as part of the deluxe, 20th-anniversary reissue of In Utero. And in celebration of that, MTV News is bringing you the never-before-known stories behind the now-legendary show, as told by the folks who made it happen (and for a minute there, it looked like it wouldn't.)

This is the oral history of Nirvana's "Live and Loud."

Eddie Vedder Gets The Flu
Beth McCarthy-Miller, director: "It was going to be this big hometown concert, with Pearl Jam, Nirvana, the Breeders and Cypress Hill on the bill, it was our big New Year's Eve show. We were going to shoot it in New York City, but Pearl Jam wanted it in Seattle, so we found this awesome warehouse right on the Puget Sound, and we were all set until the day of the show, when almost everyone from Pearl Jam showed up, except for Eddie Vedder."

Amy Finnerty, director of talent relations: "Actually, I had been traveling with the guys before we got to ...

It's been almost been a year since Disney and Lucasfilm announced plans for a new trilogy of "Star Wars" movies, and we still know next to nothing. Sure, we know that Michael Arndt is writing the first film, composer John Williams will score, and J.J. Abrams will direct. But Abrams, of course, hasn't been much of a sharer when it comes to details about the mysterious project.

So it was a welcome bit of news when the director recently opened up to Entertainment Weekly about his intentions for the films, including what he's learned from the endless stream of online speculation and think pieces that published shortly after he joined the project.

While he wouldn't name a specific film in the series that's being used as an exemplar of what he's trying to do, Abrams elaborated on the mood he's trying to bring back to the series. "I would say we are working really hard to make a movie that feels as emotional and authentic and exciting as possible," he said. "Whatever your favorite 'Star Wars' movie is, and how to compare it, is really sort of subjective."

Everyone has had their own opinion about how to make a great new "Star Wars" movie. (We did, too, obviously.) And in the outcry from fans, one idea really stuck with Abrams and affected how he wants to approach the film.

"It's been nice see that how important it is and to be reminded how important it is to so many people. We all know that [creator George Lucas'] dream has ...

Both Hugh Jackman and Chris Brown can sing and dance, but the man best known as Wolverine has the edge at this weekend's box office.

should top the box office with a debut of about $20 million, according to industry forecasts. The well-reviewed drama generated much buzz at the Toronto International Film Festival thanks largely to its pairing of Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal. Jackman plays the father of a missing child and Gyllenhaal costars as a cop assigned to the case to find her.

Brown stars alongside Josh Holloway, aka Sawyer from TV's "Lost," in Most box-office prognosticators project the 3-D dance flick won't do more than $10 million this weekend. The Los Angeles Times put the figure at $5 million.

In a 2010 interview with MTV News, Brown noted his admiration for the diverse acting careers of rappers T.I. and Common, as well as the rapper-to-actor transition of megastar Will Smith. "I didn't just wanna do movies that had consistent dancing and singing," he said of his career path. "I wanted to do stuff that pushes me as an actor at the end of the day."

Gyllenhaal is similarly interested in new challenges. French Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve directed Gyllenhaal in another TIFF favorite, the doppelgänger-driven "Enemy," before casting him alongside Jackman. "He offered me this film saying, 'I know you can do this,' " Gyllenhaal recently told MTV News. "I went, 'I'm going to trust this man and this relationship.' "

A majority of film critics embraced the gritty thriller. " 'Prisoners' is the best ...