We've had the racy private photos, then the controversial Vanity Fair shoot, then wishes for a new Sex and the City. Now, Miley Cyrus' name is being attached to yet another racy-themed gig. According to MSNBC, sources are buzzing and rumors are mounting about a new project for the itching-to-age actress -- one that's making the whole racy mag shoot seem like a stepping stone into adult work.

Rumor has it that she's interested in starring in a big-screen adaptation of the annoyingly spelled Undiscovered Gyrl, a novel by Allison Burnett that is currently being shopped around. The novel is a blog from a suburban girl "who descends into a life of reckless partying and promiscuity," and there would definitely be nude scenes. Charming. Chances are, this is a buzz-generator for the book, but it could also be a buzz generator for Cyrus. Even if she doesn't take on this gig, she's getting lots of mileage out of the "Miley wants to grow up" rumor mill.

But really, if she wants to break out of the tween girl persona, the best bet is not raciness and a Britney Spears life path, but rather a few good films that give her some drama, or smarts, at her own age. You can break out of family fare without stripping and showing off the merchandise.

But wait! Before visions of Vanity Fair and Miley Cyrus in the shower overwhelm you, she doesn't want a racy Sex and the City. No, that doesn't make sense, but read on.

Just Jared posted an interview that TV Guide conducted with the Hannah Montana star, who is about to get her own 3-D movie, and when she was asked what she'd like to work on in the future, she said: "I'd love to do a younger, cleaner version of Sex and the City." I'm suddenly having flashbacks to "Twenty-Something Girls vs. Thirty-Something Women." Rachel Miner had a gig as Laurel, a young woman who considered Carrie Bradshaw her hero and mentor, although she was a virgin who was saving herself for marriage.

Dear Miley, while yes, it would be fun for you to get a gig where you chat with your friends and work in the big city, the show is called SEX and the City. To make it "cleaner," would mean taking out the whole twist on the show. But who knows? The stars were much more reserved in the movie version (save Cynthia Nixon), so maybe one day we'll see Smoochin' and the City -- starring Miley Cyrus!

Apparently teens have short attention spans, evidenced by this year's nominees for the 2008 Teen Choice Awards, which were announced this morning. Looking at the first two movie categories, Best Action Adventure Movie and Best Actor: Action Adventure, all the contenders (including Iron Man, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and The Forbidden Kingdom) are from either May or late April of this year. I guess this summer's other movies, like The Dark Knight, The Incredible Hulk and Hancock will just be ignored, since they're too late for this year and won't be remembered next year.

Another related thing that was revealed: actresses were not too prominent in action movies of that same period, because the category for Best Actress: Action Adventure looks back a little farther to Abigail Breslin in Nim's Island, Rachel Bilson in Jumper and (whoah, December? that was so long ago) Diane Kruger in National Treasure: Book of Secrets.

Oh my, oh Miley. Blogs around the internet are buzzing over these photos of 15-year-old Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus, taken by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair. Movie City News' David Poland, writing about the pics on his Hot Blog, said, "People do know that 15-year-old breasts, while they really have no business being shown in public, do exist, whether covered in a sheet or a t-shirt, right?" (Poland has the full picture up on his website, I'm not going to put it up here. You can see it there or on Vanity Fair.)

Well, yes, we know that 15-year-old girls have 15-year-old breasts, but that does that make it appropriate for a magazine to publish photos of a half-naked teenager? Whether because the folks over at Disney, where Cyrus's show Hannah Montana is one of its biggest properties, pitched a bitch about the photos, or because she's genuinely mortified by the photos in retrospect, Cyrus issued a statement to fans that said, in part, "I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be 'artistic' and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed."

No, Miley Cyrus (aka Hannah Montana) did not get caught sending nude photos to a boy (one would think the girls from Disney would know better by now). But Cyrus, who's currently the biggest thing to hit the tween market since Cabbage Patch Kids, is right smack in the middle of a new controversy -- one that's apparently upset the folks over at ConsumerReports.org. During a scene in the recently-released 3-D movie Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concer Tour, apparently Miley and her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, are shown riding in the back seat of a Range Rover on their way to a concert rehearsal. Ah, but look a little closer and you'll notice ... neither of them are wearing a seat belt!!!

As CR notes, "Miley, her father, and Disney had a perfect opportunity to help influence teens and counteract -- rather than encourage -- this trend." Statistics show that in 55 percent of passenger vehicle fatalities in 2006, the occupants were not wearing seat belts. And in the 13-to-15-year-old age group, that number rises to 65 percent. I'll admit to not wearing my seat belt in the back seat on occasion, and even Miley herself has stressed through her music that "Nobody's Perfect!" -- but I agree the teenager should've set a good example by strapping in while she was on the road. What do you think? Is this a big deal? And seeing as this girl is watched by thousands upon thousands of young kids, should she be a little more careful in the future?

If you're one of the millions of kids who weren't able to snag (i.e. afford) tickets to see Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus in concert, you now have an opportunity to see the next best thing. For one week in early February, a film of one of the concerts will be shown at movie theaters nationwide. And to make it seem even more like you're attending the real thing, the film is in 3D! Compiled from three concerts in two cities from the "Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds" tour, the Disney-produced film is directed by Bruce Hendricks (Ultimate X: The Movie) and was shot using 3D digital cameras rather than shot with regular digital cameras and rendered in the format later (meaning sorry, no 2D versions of this one), as has been the case with most digital 3D movies so far. By the way: the cinematographer in charge of those cameras is Transformers DP Mitchell Amundsen.

Not only is this a big deal for Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus fans, but also it's a huge deal for theater owners and their continued attempts to offer substantial alternative entertainment at their cinemas. I'm sure you all know this isn't the first concert to be shown in theaters. There have been Rolling Stones concerts, drumline concerts, Metropolitan Opera performances, Dane Cook stand-up concerts, and many other events. Some of them have even been broadcast live to theaters via satellite. Many of them, such as today's (Dec. 2) live presentation of the St. Olaf Christmas Festival, are one-day-only events.

I don't believe the hype that 3-D will dominate the movie world in the near future, but it does seem like a lot of movies are using the technology these days. The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Disney will release the animated feature Bolt, (once called American Dog) in Digital 3-D next year. Bolt features the voices of John Travolta, Woody Harrelson, and Susie Essman (who had better curb her Curb Your Enthusiasm language!). It tells "the story of a TV star dog named Bolt (Travolta) who is accidentally shipped from his Hollywood soundstage to New York, where he begins a cross-country journey through the real world." Chris Williams directs the film.

Disney has been one of the biggest supporters of 3-D. In recent years, Chicken Little, Meet the Robinsons, and the sweet, sweet Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas were all released in the format. Speaking of Nightmare, as Monika told you earlier this month, Tim Burton has signed to produce and direct 3-D versions of Alice in Wonderland and his own terrific short film, Frankenweenie for Disney. On the opposite end of the cool spectrum, Disney's next 3-D release is the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour, which will play in theaters Feb. 1-7. Start scalping those tickets now!

You may think High School Musical 2 is unmitigated dreck, but enough kids (or their adults on their behalf) bought the film's CD over the weekend to push the soundtrack to the top of the pop charts, sayeth AOL News. The made-for-cable film's premiere last Friday scored 17.24 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research, making it the highest-watched basic cable telecast ever.

Meanwhile, as Disney, understandably, seeks to continue riding the remarkable wave of success it's found with the hit movie series, MSNBC reports trouble may be brewing in the talks for High School Musical 3 (working title, according to IMDb: High School Musical 3: Gradu-Dancin' -- groan). The third installment of the series -- aimed at the big screen, not cable -- may have hit a speed bump, as reports surfaced Wednesday that the series' stars Zac Efron and Vanessa Anne Hudgens are holding out for more money. Efron, who has already moved on to bigger (and presumably higher-paying) big-screen roles with Hairspray and the upcoming Footloose, is sizzling-hot property these days, and his on-screen charisma is a huge draw for the tween set at which the film is targeted, so it wouldn't really be surprising if the kid held out for more cash.