Just recently, a short list of Oscar-nominated young actresses were in the running for the female lead in the adaptation of The Hunger Games, including 14-year-old Hailee Steinfeld. Eventually the role was awarded to Jennifer Lawrence, but now Steinfeld is already attached to star in a new take on the tale of Sleeping Beauty.

The budding star — who somehow found a way to steal almost every scene she was in with Academy Award winners Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and fellow nominee Josh Brolin in the Coen brothers’ True Grit — is only “attached” at the moment because the entire project is just a spec package at the moment, which is being sent out to various potential buyers right now.

When it all came down to casting the pivotal role of Katniss Everdeen, the female lead in Suzanne Collins‘ popular book The Hunger Games, it came down to three Academy Award-nominated actresses — not a bad decision to be faced with as a filmmaker.

The final three hopefuls were Abigail Breslin (nominated for Little Miss Sunshine), Jennifer Lawrence (just nominated for Winter’s Bone), and Hailee Steinfeld (also just nominated for her performance in True Grit), but now only one remains. Lionsgate Entertainment has officially announced that Miss Lawrence will be playing the role of Katniss, a 16-year-old girl who participates in an annual event among 12 districts where teenage boys and girls from each district are forced to fight to the death on live TV.

The Social Network over the past couple months has been unabashedly accepting every award and congratulatory remark that has been sent its way. It seemed the film was determined to be held in eminence amongst other films that are in awards contention this year. Since the film opened in early October it has been on an irrepressible ascent, exceeding every other film in critical acclaim (according to the online site Metacritic it scored an impressive 95).

Satisfaction endured on the film’s behalf all the way up until this past Tuesday morning, where David Fincher‘s Facebook film tallied a total of 8 Oscar nominations. You may say such a particular outing is absolutely superb. But taking into consideration the mentality of students attending Harvard University (like those in The Social Network), 8 is somewhat of a disappointment when you can have many more. Such students anticipate nothing but the best. Given the multitude of accolades The Social Network received, a measly 8 nominations simply cannot be adequately embraced.

True Grit
Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
Starring: Hailee Steinfeld, Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin and Barry Pepper
Release date: December 22, 2010

Let’s see who justly possesses true grit: Is it the grizzled, one-eyed U.S. marshal Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), whose depleted, wobbly, massive stature is indicative of his many battles with criminals and alcohol? How about LaBoeuf (Matt Damon), a prideful Texas Ranger who has a sinister appearance and a ruthless mentality that conceals a heart of gold? What about the murderous villains such as Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin) or Lucky Ned Pepper (Barry Pepper)? Unquestionably, all these men have grit, but is it true grit? All of them have been around many years and seen and done many heinous things. They are regular frequenters of this Wild West world that knows of no remorse, killing individuals as if it were a seasonal sport. But what about Matty Ross (Hailee Steinfeld, in a commanding film debut), that 14-year-old girl whose appearance is as pure as the snowfall? Do not let this hide the inner strengths she possesses. She wants to enter this western world of wildness only to avenge the death of her father’s who was killed by Chaney. She has grit for even thinking of entering this environment. And it is true grit because this is a personal journey that she needs to fulfill.

Very furtively True Grit instigates the idea of Matty becoming consumed by vengeance more so than any man in the movie because she is willing to put at risk her purity. She has not yet been tainted by evilness, but she puts herself in a position to be acquainted with it. Joel and Ethan Coen construct a tale of lost innocence by making Matty their center of devotion. Watch her as the Coens do, as she puts herself in the company of men whose innocence was taken away from them a long time ago. They have nothing to lose. She has an abundance to lose.

A teaser trailer for the Joel Coen and Ethan Coen‘s new adaptation of the classic novel, True Grit, was released last week. It was a great teaser, showing off brilliant old west cinematography, but not too much dialogue. No time is being wasted in keeping the buzz going, and now the full trailer for the movie is online. This time around you’ll get quite a bit of dialogue, a lot of great new shots, and maybe a little Johnny Cash…if you’re good.

The movie tells the story of young Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld), a girl whose father is murdered, leading her on a mission to find the man who killed him, Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), and get her revenge. She sets off to find the perfect man to help her on her quest, and meets Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), an old drunk with a knack for getting these types of things done. Also looking for Chaney is a Ranger named LeBoeuf (Matt Damon), who wants to bring him back to Texas for another murder.

Click on over to the other side to check out the full trailer for True Grit now! You can see the movie when it’s released on Christmas Day.