A quick listen to her much-discussed major-label debut finds an artist going big, often. By James Montgomery Lana Del Rey in “Born To Die” Photo: Interscope You remember that meme from a couple years back about how everything seems more epic when it’s set to Sigur R
We leave the Oscar odds up to the professionals, in Bigger Than the Sound. By James Montgomery George Clooney in “The Descendents” Photo: 20th Century Fox My buddy Corey (
‘Wizards of Waverly Place’ star is attached to produce ‘The Sky is Everywhere.’ By Jocelyn Vena Selena Gomez Photo: Frazer Harrison/ Getty Images As Selena Gomez maps out her post-“Wizards of Waverly Place” career , her projects continue to be more and more diverse. Gomez is attached to produce and most likely star in the big-screen adaptation of the Jandy Nelson novel “The Sky is Everywhere.” Gomez will not only play the part of producer but could potentially land the novel’s lead role of Lennie Walker, Deadline reports. Lennie is a 17-year-old nerd-type who loses her older, outgoing sister, Bailey. After Bailey dies, Lennie must step out of her sister’s shadow when she falls for two guys (one of whom was Bailey’s boyfriend). No word on who is attached to star in the other key parts of the movie. Before she hits the set for “The Sky is Everywhere,” Gomez already has some other films lined up. The actress/singer will shoot the darker “Spring Breakers” early this year and has been rumored to be attached to a film called “Hot Mess.” When Gomez spoke to MTV News late last year, she shared that she didn’t have any big expectations going into 2012. It seems that game plan is working for her. “I feel like this approach of this year, I wasn’t expecting any of the things that happened,” she said. “And so I just kind of want to go into the end of this year and the beginning of next year just excited and in a good place and not planning anything.” Are you looking for to the big-screen adaptation of “The Sky is Everywhere”? Leave your comment below! Related Videos Selena Gomez: 2011 In Review
From ‘Like a Prayer’ to ‘La Isla Bonita,’ stars pick their favorite songs by the ‘W.E.’ director. By Jocelyn Vena Madonna attends the New York City premiere of “W.E.” Photo: Theo Wargo/Getty Images NEW YORK — At the latest premiere of Madonna ‘s film, “W.E.,” it seemed like everyone just wanted to know what it was like to work with the pop icon as she embarked on writing and directing the film, based on the historical romance between King Edward VIII and American divorc
Actor tells Today Show he’s ‘ecstatic’ about ‘Moneyball’ and ‘Tree of Life’ nominations. By Jocelyn Vena Brad Pitt in “Moneyball” Photo: Sony Pictures On Tuesday morning (January 24), “Moneyball” star Brad Pitt heard his name called several times when the Oscar nominations were announced . Shortly after, the actor called in to “The Today Show” to open up about being recognized not only for his acting skills, but also his work getting the baseball film off the ground as a producer. “We’re ecstatic over here. It means so much considering this film was just dead on the rocks two years ago,” he said from L.A. “It took a lot of people to get it to the screen. It’s a great honor. I’m really happy.” Pitt got a couple nods thanks to his producer credit on the best picture nominee and his work in the leading role. His co-star Jonah Hill also got some love with a supporting actor nomination. “I’m so happy for Jonah Hill,” he gushed. “I can’t tell you.” Another film he recently starred in, “Tree of Life,” also got some Academy love, making Pitt’s morning an especially good one. “I’m doubly happy that ‘Tree of Life’ made it in there,” he said. “We thought we were all but forgotten; just excited for [director and nominee] Terry Malick.” Pitt will once again face off against his pal and Golden Globe winner George Clooney for Actor in a Leading Role for his work in “The Descendants,” but he’s not too worried about it. “I’m sure we’ll be exchanging many good words later,” he said. “It’s more fun to have a friend there and no one does it better than George. I say give him all the trophies, and when you run out of trophies, make some new ones and give him those too. ” When asked what prize he wants to win most come Oscars night, he played it cool saying, “I could not pick. I’m just so happy that both these films have been recognized. ‘Tree of Life’ was just as difficult to get made and it’s gonna be pancakes for everyone this morning.” Did “Moneyball” deserve all the Academy love? Let us know what you think in the comments. See the complete list of Academy Awards Nominations . Related Videos Oscars 2012: And The Nominees Are… Related Photos 2012 Oscar Nominees
George Clooney and BFF Brad Pitt to face off in Best Actor category. By Gil Kaufman Asa Butterfield in “Hugo” Photo: Paramount Pictures A silent picture, a baseball flick, a horse tale, a 3-D children’s movie for grown-ups, a infidelity family drama, an ode to classic cinema and a film that tackles race relations against the backdrop of the 1960’s civil right movement. The nominations for Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards read like a travelogue of the history of film. The names of the nominees for the 84th annual Academy Awards , hosted by Billy Crystal, were announced on Tuesday (January 24) morning and in addition to a lot of the expected vote-getters, a few dark horses emerged from the pack, which was led by Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” with 11 nods, followed by the acclaimed silent film “The Artist” with 10. For photos of all the Oscar nominees, click here. The Best Picture race will be a dogfight between one of the year’s most lauded films, the French silent movie “The Artist,” director Alexander Payne’s family drama “The Descendants,” the inspiring tale of “The Help,” Scorsese’s 3-D children’s film/ode to his love of the movies, “Hugo” and one of Woody Allen’s most box-office friendly flick in years, “Midnight in Paris.” Also making the list was the Brad Pitt baseball drama “Moneyball,” as well as Steven Spielberg’s “War Horse,” reclusive director Terrence Malick’s existential “The Tree of Life” and “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.” The bids for “The Artist” mark the first time in nearly 80 years that a black-and-white silent film is the leading contender to take the Best Picture award. The Oscars will air live on February 26 from the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. Golden Globe winner George Clooney and his pal Pitt will vie for the Best Actor award for their work, respectively, in “The Descendants” and “Moneyball.” They will need to overcome a strong bid from Jean Dujardin in “The Artist,” as well as Gary Oldman in the drama “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.” Also in the mix is the surprise vote for Mexican actor Demian Bichir, who was praised for his work in “A Better Life” as a gardener in East L.A. intent on keeping his son out of a local gang. It’s a mix of the usual suspects and some new names in the Best Actress category, with 16-time nominee Meryl Streep leading the list for her take on Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron lady,” Viola Davis earning major kudos for her work as a sweet-natured maid in “The Help,” Michelle Williams getting a nod for her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in “My Week With Marilyn” and first -time nominee Rooney Mara for her goth punk blitzkrieg in “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.” Glenn Close was also honored for her gender-bending turn in “Albert Nobbs.” Best Director will pit three legends — Scorsese, Allen and Malick — against Payne and a rising star in against Payne Michel Hazanavicius for “The Artist.” The Best Supporting Actor category features Kenneth Branagh (“My Week with Marilyn”), Johan Hill (“Moneyball”), Nick Nolte (“Warrior”) Christopher Plummer (“Beginners”) and Max Von Sydow (“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”). In the Best Supporting Actress race, Octavia Spencer (“The Help”), will take on “Janet McTeer (“Albert Nobbs”), Melissa McCarthy (“Bridesmaids”), Jessica Chastain (“The Help” and Berenice Bejo (“The Artist”). Break-out “Saturday Night Live” star Kristen Wiig and her writing partner Annie Mumulo were honored with a Best Original Screenplay bid for their explosively funny “Bridesmaids” script, along with Allen for “Midnight in Paris,” Hazanavicius for “The Artist,” Asghar Farhadi for “A Separation” and J.C. Chandor for “Margin Call.” The Animated Feature battle will feature such popcorn pleasers as “Kung Fu Panda 2” going up against “Puss in Boots” and “Rango” as well as two lesser-known movies, “A Cat in Paris” and “Chico & Rita.” Related Videos Oscars 2012: And The Nominees Are… Related Photos 2012 Oscar Nominees
‘It’s definitely going to be about showcasing the music,’ Florence Welch says of U.S. trek, which kicks off April 14. By James Montgomery Florence and the Machine Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images On Monday (January 23), Florence and the Machine officially announced their spring U.S. tour, a run of shows that kicks off April 14 in Santa Barbara, California, and wraps May 12 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, with a handful of festival dates sprinkled in for good measure. It’s the first proper stateside tour Flo & Co. have launched in support of their Ceremonials album (they played a light schedule of radio dates at the end of the year). But if you think they’ll be matching that record’s sonic scope with an equally gigantic stage show, you’d be wrong. After wowing audiences here with an unending stream of epic, wide-screen TV performances , this time out, they’re going to let the songs stand on their own, as mastermind Florence Welch told MTV News. “In a way, it’s not going to be too big a production; we’ve done a lot of quite extravagant stuff, and that’s been amazing, but for this tour, it’s definitely going to be about showcasing the music,” she said. “The songs are going to be the most important thing. It will be heavily based on the music … no bells and whistles just yet, we’re going to try and keep it quite pure.” So, in a sense, the upcoming trek will hark back to Welch’s early days, in more ways than one. She’s also taking along longtime friend and former collaborator Dev Hynes, currently recording as Blood Orange, as her opening act. “It’s going to be so fun, I can’t wait. I used to be his backing singer in Lightspeed Champion, he took me on tour with him for one date, in Manchester [England]. He was one of the first members of Florence and the Machine, he used to play guitar with me at all my first gigs,” Welch said. “Even though he was doing his own stuff, he used to come and play guitar for me. We’d be in these weird matching outfits, T-shirts and lumberjack trousers, doing Iggy Pop covers and I would play the drums, Green Day covers [too]. We covered the whole of Nimrod. ” Dates for Florence and the Machine’s spring tour:
‘I am going to tweet myself naked all the time,’ the ‘90210’ actress jokes to MTV News at Sundance. By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Josh Horowitz Annalynne McCord Photo: MTV News Much like a plot right out of her soapy CW show, “90210,” AnnaLynne McCord made headlines when she inadvertently tweeted out a NSFW photo of herself on January 10. It quickly became clear that she took the photo at the wrong angle, exposing a bit more of herself than she had expected to. After realizing her Twitter faux pas, she laughed off the incident. “This is for you, @meganraee You Rock! Xxx,” she initially tweeted, including the nipple-baring photo. She later added, “Hahaha! Megan, you feel like sharing? Very funny I actually LOL-ed xxxA.” When MTV News had the chance to speak to McCord during her trip to the Sundance Film Festival , she had a very amusing response to the tweet. “I am going to tweet myself naked all the time. I mean I am going to be a press whore from here on out. This is awesome,” she joked about the headline-making incident. “You know what’s so crazy to me, it’s the sensationalism. I mean so disappointing, I’m sorry for everybody who thought I was going to be naked. You see more of me naked as Pauline in [‘Excision’]. “Anyone with half of a brain knows it was an accident,” she continued. “I have a very small areola and I have to get a magnifying glass to make sure that it’s not in pictures in the future. That’s the moral of the story.” McCord had a few more laughs at her own expense, adding, “The moral of the story is not to stop taking pictures of yourself naked. 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.” How did AnnaLynne McCord handle her Twitter photo faux pas? Leave your comments below! Related Videos Sundance 2012: Interviews From Park City
2 Chainz will also be in the mix Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET on MTV.com. By Rob Markman Bow Wow Photo: Jerritt Clark/ Getty Images “RapFix Live” is about to put you on to game. Oakland, California, rap veteran Too $hort will appear on Wednesday’s show and chop it up with host Sway about his come-up in the 1980s, his upcoming No Trespassing album (his 19th solo LP!) and everything in between. Cash Money’s Bow Wow will also stop by to talk about his own career evolution. The now 24-year old rapper got his start in 2000 at the age of 13. Since then, the Ohio rap representative has grown from kiddie rapper to full-grown MC and amassed a gang of hits along the way. His upcoming album Underrated will mark Bow’s first release on Cash Money Records since signing with the powerhouse label in 2009. Speaking of power moves, 2 Chainz will also appear on Wednesday’s show to make a very special announcement concerning the next phase of his career. The Atlanta rap phenom made a name for himself as one-half of Playaz Circle, the group known best for their 2007 rap hit “Duffle Bag Boy” with Lil Wayne. He went by the name Tity Boy back then, but after a name change and a string of underground bangers, 2 Chainz has built a deafening buzz. His latest single, “Spend It,” spread like wildfire and has recently spawned an official remix and music video with T.I. Catch Too $hort, Bow Wow and 2 Chainz on “RapFix Live” Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET on MTV.com, and be sure to join the Twitter conversation using the hashtag #RapFixLive. Send your questions for the artists @MTVRapFiX! Related Artists Bow Wow
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