Keeping your head buried in the sand, refusing to look up and see what’s barreling down the pike towards you, and sticking fast and furiously to the status quo. It can be summarized by these fateful words: “I’m staying just where I am; I don’t need to make any changes.” Read: Credit Card Habits To Practice Right Now The reality today is that you must always be looking up and looking in – open to what’s happening around you and within you. If you block out this vital information and refuse to process it and adapt appropriately to it, you’ll be blindsided, either by changes in your professional environment, or by shifts inside you that bring with them powerfully unsettling outcomes. Getting blindsided really hurts and is hard to recover from (trust me on that). How you can prepare and make 2012 the best year for your career is just aclick away. Read how you can prepare for the best here.
It’s so hard to find a reasonably enjoyable thriller these days that anything with a marginally intriguing premise and fewer than 10 plot holes has come to seem like a minor miracle. Man on a Ledge might have been that kind of modest miracle: Sam Worthington stars as Nick Cassidy, a pissed-off ex-cop who’s been convicted of a crime he didn’t commit. Somehow – and the whole of Man on a Ledge deals with the whys and wherefores of that somehow – he springs himself from Sing Sing, suits up in some phenomenally nice-looking threads, and checks himself (under an assumed name) into a room on one of the upper floors of a midtown Manhattan luxury hotel. After a room-service breakfast of champagne, lobster and French fries, he creeps out onto the ledge and greets the cops who respond to the call with some very specific demands. Chief among those requirements is that he’ll speak with only one NYPD psychologist, Lydia Spencer (Elizabeth Banks). Spencer has been having a rough time on the force of late: When we first see her, she’s barely able to rouse herself from her bed – she’s having some sort of killer morning after, and her messy tumble of blond hair makes her look like a discarded Barbie doll. Cassidy, of course, has specific reasons for wanting to speak with Spencer. And even if he makes her day tougher than it was at the beginning, it’s clear from the way her superiors order her around – they include a sarcastic nutbuster played by Edward Burns and Titus Welliver as an overly caricatured, gum-chewing NYPD bossy-pants – that they don’t take her as seriously as Cassidy does. Somewhere in there, Jamie Bell and Genesis Rodriguez sneak around as part of a carefully orchestrated plan to… well, to tell you too much would give the game away, but it involves a giant honker of a diamond that Cassidy supposedly stole from a loathsome Donald Trump type (played with great relish by Ed Harris, who usually gets to portray only principled guys). Meanwhile, Cassidy’s close friend and former partner (played by Anthony Mackie), frets about Cassidy’s fate. Because Cassidy is, after all, clinging somewhat daintily to a narrow strip of stone some 20 stories off the ground: This is a guy who doesn’t care if he lives or dies as long as he ultimately proves his innocence. And as you watch Man on a Ledge , you’ll have good cause to wonder why he’s going to such extremes. Director Asger Leth (son of Danish filmmaker Jørgen Leth and also the director of the 2006 documentary Ghosts of Cit
More than 100 Ugandan LGBT activists and family members gathered in Kampala today to mark the one year anniversary of the murder of the brave activist David Kato: Gay rights activists speaking at the event called Kato, 46 at the… Broadcasting platform : Vimeo Source : Towleroad Discovery Date : 26/01/2012 18:30 Number of articles : 2
Drake and Spike Lee among MTV News’ favorite sit-downs at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. By Josh Wigler, with additional reporting by Josh Horowitz and Sam Hendrick Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg Photo: MTV News The Sundance Film Festival is still raging on in Park City, Utah, but the MTV Movies team is back home safe and sound after a weeklong journey filled with movie screenings and high-profile interviews. If you’re interested in hearing about the films that caught the most buzz at Sundance this year, never fear: We’ve got you covered. But there’s more to enjoy at Sundance than just the movies themselves; there are also interviews with countless actors, filmmakers, musicians and other stars for you to chew on. From the absurdly hilarious to the cool and informative, here are our favorite interviews conducted by MTV News at Sundance this year: 5. AnnaLynne McCord It was the nip slip heard ’round the cyber-world. Weeks ago, “90210” actress AnnaLynne McCord inadvertently posted a photo of herself on Twitter that revealed more than she bargained for. But lest you think she’s embarrassed about the overexposure, think again. “The moral of the story is not to stop taking pictures of yourself naked,” she told MTV News. “We all like being naked. Just make sure that the little bit of your areola isn’t in the picture before you send it to a hundred billion people.” 4. Andy Samberg and Rashida Jones The stars of “Celeste and Jesse Forever” tackle uncomfortable but often funny subject matter in their Sundance indie. In real life, the situation isn’t so different. Samberg and Jones are both hilarious in their regular “SNL” and “Parks & Rec” gigs, and in person, the laughs are there as well — even when it comes to a topic as uncomfortable as Lana Del Ray’s “SNL” collapse . “People gave her a lot of crap. I saw it online. BriWi,” he said when we asked about the incident; BriWi, of course, refers to “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams’ critique of the performance. Try watching the veteran newsman without thinking of him as “BriWi” again. It’s just not possible. 3. Spike Lee The New York filmmaker brought Brooklyn to Park City with his new film “Red Hook Summer,” a spiritually charged drama that takes a dark and unexpected turn before the credits roll. The movie hasn’t been kindly received by all critics, but regardless of reception, Lee’s thought process behind the film was a revelation to hear. “We wanted to make a film about young black kids like ‘Stand by Me,’ ” he said. “I love that film. Where’s the people-of-color version of that film? I’m not saying this is it, but that’s the type of film. … I want to see that. [Writer] James [McBride] and I wanted to see this film in a theater. We wanted the world to see these characters in this isolated part of Brooklyn, Red Hook.” 2. Drake Battling tigers is not always easy. But when you’re Drake, it’s always awesome. The Toronto MC performed at Sundance and spoke with MTV News ahead of the gig, recounting his recent trip to Africa, during which he did battle with a true-blue tiger. We kid you not. “I went on a safari. I got tackled by a tiger. It was crazy,” Drake recounted for MTV’s Sam Hendrick, who mustered the only response humanly possible to such wild and crazy news: “That’s dope!” Co-signed, Sam. 1. Paul Giamatti MTV Movie Brawl 2012 came to a close during our time at Sundance. With hours to go before the polls closed, David Cronenberg’s “Cosmopolis” clinched the win with an absolutely insurmountable lead. One of the film’s many stars, Paul Giamatti, was on the ground in Park City and was happy to accept the top honor on the “Cosmopolis” cast’s behalf. “Holy cow, that’s astounding!” he said upon hearing the news. “The fact of that is amazing. … That’s a really cool thing that it brings that visibility to that movie.” Bonus: Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim Perhaps the greatest of all the interviews we enjoyed at Sundance is one we have yet to unveil: our conversation with the absurd duo behind “Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie.” We cannot verify the film’s actual budget, but our interview with Mr. Heidecker and Mr. Wareheim is worth at least a billion bucks. You’ll see it soon, but for now, some out-of-context teasers: Will Forte. “Filet of fish, no bun.” “Back to you.” If it doesn’t make sense yet, just wait — it’ll be even less clear when the insanity-fueled interview hits the Web. Stay tuned … Stick with the MTV Movies team as we roll out more coverage from the Sundance Film Festival ! Related Videos Sundance 2012: Interviews From Park City Related Photos Celebrities Hit The Ground At Sundance 2012 Film Fest Sundance 2012: Behind The Scenes Photos
Actress has reportedly left Sherman Oaks Hospital, where she was admitted on Tuesday for ‘exhaustion.’ By Jocelyn Vena Demi Moore (file) Photo: FilmMagic Demi Moore has been discharged from Sherman Oaks Hospital, E! News confirms. The actress entered the Los Angeles area hospital on Monday, but it remains unclear exactly when she left the facility. The site further reports that her discharge is timed perfectly with Ashton Kutcher’s return to the States. He had been in Brazil shooting a campaign for Colcci along with supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio. His return to the U.S. on Thursday (January 26) had been previously scheduled and was not prompted by Moore’s hospitalization. When TMZ cameras caught the actor out and about in Brazil, he said nothing when asked about his estranged wife’s situation. There has been a lot of speculation in the days since Moore entered the hospital , including reports that she had been inhaling nitrous oxide from aerosol cans, which then led to seizure-like symptoms. However, her rep explained that she was hospitalized for “exhaustion.” A source tells UsMagazine.com that “she has spiraled and gotten to a place where she is struggling too much to function … Her life is completely in crisis. She is turning 50 and has no idea who she is or what her focus should be.” The news of Moore’s health scare comes just months after she announced her split from Kutcher . “As a woman, a mother and a wife there are certain values and vows that I hold sacred, and it is in this spirit that I have chosen to move forward with my life,” she said in a statement. “This is a trying time for me and my family, and so I would ask for the same compassion and privacy that you would give to anyone going through a similar situation.” While she will no longer be in the upcoming “Lovelace” biopic, she will appear in the Miley Cyrus film “LOL,” out later this year. Related Photos Demi And Ashton: From Bliss To Breakup
Parts of Valérie Donzelli’s Declaration of War , which details a young couple’s struggle to keep their lives together in the face of their child’s illness, are bracingly intimate and believable. Yet there’s so much filmmaking packed around them that they flicker and fade before you know it: Between the Truffautish voice-overs and Jacques Demy-style musical interludes, it’s a wonder anyone in this sort-of drama, sort-of comedy ever gets any rest. Declaration of War is the classic example of the small-scale movie with lofty intentions that simply tries too hard. That’s a shame, because the story’s emotional nuts and bolts are fairly sturdy, and the picture represents the kind of collaborative effort — a semi-autobiographical one, in fact — that generally suggests everyone involved is on the same page. The script was written by Donzelli and Jérémie Elkaïm, who have a child together in real life; they drew from their own experience of dealing with their son’s serious illness. They also star in the film, playing a couple named, adorably, Romeo and Juliette. Romeo and Juliette meet cute in a nightclub, spying one another across the noisy, sweaty terrain. Romeo sends a peanut flying across the room; Juliette, with lightning-quick reflexes and the luck of true love on her side, catches the tiny missile in her mouth. After a sunny montage in which the two run through the streets, cuddle, kiss and eat cotton candy together, they’re suddenly blessed with an infant who cries all the time and simply exhausts them. That’s a normal problem, but the one Romeo and Juliette go on to face is far more daunting: When their son, Adam (played at this stage by César Desseix; in a later scene, he’s played by Elkaïm and Donzelli’s real-life son, Gabriel Elkaïm), is still a toddler, the couple discovers he has a brain tumor. Surgery removes some but not all of this malignant intruder, and child and parents are left to wage a long, uphill cancer battle. Declaration of War is not your average cancer movie. In fact, it’s more about the parents than about the cancer, or for that matter, the child — that’s what’s refreshing about it. The idea, as the title suggests, is that Romeo and Juliette are galvanized by their shared mission rather than torn apart by it. Even though their child is essentially a prisoner of the hospital, they still do plenty of fun things together, like go to parties and amusement parks. Maybe that’s a French balance-of-life thing — parents may be more willing to take time away from the horrors of excessive worry and child care — but if it doesn’t seem exactly believable, the idea of it, at least, is intriguing. The American culture of childrearing suggests that parents ought to erase themselves as human beings for the good of the child: The shared goal of keeping a child safe, happy and healthy must, by necessity, subsume everything else. Gone are the days of ’50s, ’60s and even ’70s childhoods, when benign neglect was a popular parenting tool and children were expected to learn to live in the world of adults, instead of enjoying the luxury of having adults tailor the world to their comfort and safety. Whatever its stylistic flaws may be, Declaration of War doesn’t cave to the idea that children are king; Romeo and Juliette are brought closer by the fear that they’ll lose Adam — he’s a part of their shared life, not a special star that shines well outside of its orbit. Then again, Donzelli may be a little too focused on Romeo and Juliette’s coupledom: Their adorableness gets too many jolts from the saccharine dispenser, and when we’re in doubt about how to feel about them, we have that handy voice-over to give us the play-by-play that covers how they’re surviving as a couple. At one point, that voice-over does a fast-forward recap of their future, and while the outcome of their ordeal seems believable in some ways, the movie Romeo and Juliette are living in – the movie we’re watching – doesn’t adequately point the way toward that future. What’s more, as actors, Donzelli and ElkaÏm seem a little too taken with their own charms; they seem to be always aware of how they’re playing for the camera. Donzelli, who has directed a previous feature — the 2009 The Queen of Hearts — is clearly intent on making a film that feels alive and spontaneous. The picture was shot almost entirely, except for a sequence at the end, with a Canon still camera, using natural light, and it survives the experiment admirably: It has a clean, naturalistic look. But Donzelli just doesn’t know when to stop: There’s so much of everything in Declaration of War — so many unruly emotions (there’s much melodramatic collapsing and crying among the extended family when they first learn of Adam’s cancer), so many stylistic doodads and curlicues (the way, for instance, the sound fades out during moments of deep dramatic intensity) — that at any given moment, you almost don’t know where to look. And the movie’s starkest, most affecting details — like the sight of a sick child being wheeled off for a CAT-scan in a hospital crib that looks altogether too much like a cage — sometimes get lost in the swirl. There’s a great deal of raw feeling in Declaration of War , crying to get out. But the movie is a prisoner of its own stylish waywardness. In comparison, the emotional maze Romeo and Juliette are forced to navigate is nothing. Follow Stephanie Zacharek on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
That bottomless treasure trove of pop-culture conservatism know as Big Hollywood has done it again, showcasing a guest post from Kirk Cameron about his new documentary Monumental . It has it all: Growing Pains call-outs, Ronald Reagan quips, history tourism, longing gawks at American flags, Cameron and family saying grace… everything, perhaps, except Sarah Palin excreting some half-truth about Wasilla. Have a look! You won’t regret it, either. Those on the right will nod approvingly of the actor-filmmaker’s spirit-nourishing quest, and those on the left will reel ecstatically from all, oh, 241 reaction shots featuring Cameron in various stages of pride, vexation, indigestion, and/or all of the above. (I especially urge you to savor the side-splitting morsel around the :39 mark.) “What if real change doesn’t start at the top but at the bottom?” he writes at BH. “What if the best place to begin transforming our country is not the Oval Office but the dinner table?” Ha! Good luck with that — check-splitting with underemployed media types is at least twice as hard as guiding our nation. I can only imagine what it’s like with six kids. The Cameron screens one night only on March 27. Learn more here , or not. [ Big Hollywood ]
Teen Mom 2’s Jenelle Evans gets in almost as much legal trouble as DMX. Yet the North Carolina malcontent insists she’s the victim of spiteful law enforcement officials. Evans, who was involved in a melee with her roommates on last night’s Teen Mom 2 (below), was arrested twice LAST WEEK after a fight she had with her roommates. Different roommates: Hannah Inman and former boss James Duffy. If nothing else, you can count on Jenelle Evans not to sugarcoat anything. In an interview with E! News, she set the record sort-of straight about her recent woes. Jenelle Evans Fights Roommate on Teen Mom 2 “I actually am confused about the arrest from last week,” Evans said. “I haven’t contacted Hannah or Duffy in a month, and I was the first to press charges.” “I think they are trying to charge me with things out of spite . “Hannah does not own a cell phone either so there’s no way I could of harassed her with phone calls. I never threatened Hannah. I guess she claims I’m a threat.” “All that does, it just makes me laugh, because I moved 45 minutes away from her three weeks ago to get away from the drama and be closer to school.” Jenelle’s second arrest came, according to Duffy, when Evans refused to take down a naked picture of Hannah on Facebook, violating a protective order. “I didn’t post any naked picture of Hannah. I have four admins on my Facebook. One of them must’ve posted it. I didn’t even know it was posted,” Jenelle says. “After I got arrested, I searched for it and deleted it. I really don’t understand any of these charges. Duffy is using Hannah to his advantage, I believe. He is forcing her to do this. It’s a known fact, or else she will be on the streets.” Her relationship with Duffy has weighed heavily on her health. “I have to go back to the psychiatrist; I feel like I’m about to have a nervous breakdown. It’s constant harassment, arresting me for petty things. That’s why my probation officer hasn’t violated me for probation. She knows it’s not my fault.” Evans, who is on probation for the ass-whomping she unleashed on Britany Truett last summer (below), also claims that Duffy has cyber-stalked her. Jenelle Evans Beating Up Girl “Duffy is also jealous of my manager and mad that Hannah won’t give it up to him,” Jenelle continues. “This is very disturbing to me, because she is only 19 and he is 46. I wish she would see how dangerous he is and move out.” Everything else in Jenelle’s life seems to be pretty good at least. She doesn’t “talk to Kieffer at all,” and is very happy with her new boyfriend, Gary Head , who “doesn’t mind about my legal troubles because he knows they are false and he sees me climbing higher and higher.” Umm, sure. Jenelle also says she is staying focused in school, practicing the medical field and sees her son Jace “every second I can.” Yeah right. As far as her relationship with her mother, Barbara, she says simply, “As long as I don’t live with my mom then we get along.” Now that we believe her on.
Band may have changed labels — and members — but mastermind James Mercer insists to MTV News, ‘It is still a band.’ By James Montgomery James Mercer of The Shins Photo: MTV News Nearly two years ago, when James Mercer was doing press for Broken Bells , his collaboration with producer Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton told MTV News that he had no intention of abandoning his day job as frontman/songwriter for the Shins. The problem was, Broken Bells ended up being bigger than either man could have expected, and that long-awaited fourth Shins album kept getting pushed back further and further. Though through it all, Mercer maintains he was always working on the record; he was just never quite sure when he was going to be able to finish it. “It’s been five years [since the Shins’ Wincing the Night Away ], but the Broken Bells kind of takes a two-year chunk out of that, and I’ve got two kids now, so it’s really only been six months,” he laughed. “The songs started to build up, so during times when I wasn’t down working with Brian or doing other things, I was home, fiddling with the guitar like I always do, and the songs just sort of kept coming, and I realized I was definitely going to want to do another Shins record.” On March 20, that record, Port of Morrow , will finally see the light of day. But to say the Shins are the same band would be incorrect, to put it mildly. They’ve lost longtime members Marty Crandall and Jesse Sandoval and left Sub Pop and signed with Columbia, which will release the album through Mercer’s own Aural Apothecary label. But to Mercer, really, nothing has changed — and the Shins are still very much the Shins. “In theory, I could have named the first Shins record ‘The James Mercer Record,’ but I just don’t like the sound of that. There was a time when I was wondering, ‘Should I just start a new band?’ and I pretty quickly realized that I’ve always had — especially in the recording process — people coming in and helping out, or sometimes I would do a whole lot of it myself,” he explained. “And although that might be a difficult transition for people to make, out there listening, that’s nevertheless the reality of it, so I need to do what will keep me going, and so wanting to work with new people and wanting to stay engaged in the whole exploration of music is sort of what I’m doing now.” The new incarnation of the band will be augmented (live at least) by Richard Swift on piano and organ, Jessica Dobson on lead guitar, Yuuki Matthews on bass and Joe Plummer on drums, and fans have already been given a taste of what to expect on Morrow in the form of first single “Simple Song,” which, interestingly enough, isn’t actually all that new. “I wrote the majority of it in 10 to 15 minutes, sitting on the living-room floor with my wife, and then it sat like that. That was during Wincing the Night Away ‘s production,” Mercer said. “But I knew it was going to be something that was fun to get into. And, to be honest, the night before we let go of that song, I was really nervous about it. … I was really anxious and wanted people to like it.” So far, the consensus seems to be that people do. Though it’s been a long time coming, Mercer said he’s been inspired by the response so far, and he can’t wait for fans to hear the rest of Morrow. And while he’s taken on the lion’s share of the responsibilities this time out, he’s not feeling any pressure to validate whether the Shins are still the band folks have celebrated — because no matter who’s playing with him, the Shins are always going to be the Shins. “Some don’t [understand how this band works], but that’s because I wanted it to be a band, the aesthetic of that, and when I’m working in the studio, people are helping me do this,” he said. “So it is still a band; it’s just not like ‘We all met in grammar school and came up together.’ But, like, Neutral Milk Hotel is not that, but they’re allowed to do that, so I’m figuring, ‘Why can’t I?’ ” What are you expecting from new Shins music? Let us know in the comments below! Related Artists The Shins
Picking out a new pair of shoes will never go out of style. Whether your shoe addiction is big or small, you want to keep your shoes looking fly for years and not a few months. Coco & Creme has complied a list of ways to keep your heels, boots, sneakers, wedges, and any other shoe looking fresh and sexy. Keep Them Covered One way to protect your shoes is to store them in cotton shoe bags that allow the shoes to breathe. Plastic shoe bags tend to dry shoes out. Also, you want to avoid putting shoes too close to each other on the shoe rack because they can actually bleed into one another. Make sure your chic footwear is tucked away in a closet that is room temperature and is open. Freshen Up Those Soles Sprinkle baking soda at night before you go to bed to remove the nasty foot odor from your shoes. In the morning, take your shoes outside and shake off the baking soda. Also, you can buy shoe insoles to put into your shoes. Rainy Day Footwear Sometimes we don’t have on our handy rain boots when it rains. If you are wearing leather shoes in the rain, you want to dry them at room temperature – avoid picking up your blow dryer. When your shoes are damp, do not put them back in the box because it causes odor and bacteria. Get the rest at Coco & Creme . RELATED LINKS: 5 Winter Weatherproof Heels For Under $80 7 Ways To Glam Up Your Walk Of Shame 5 Things You Should Have In Your Closet
