Tom Cruise has remained conspicuously silent throughout the pandemonium surrounding his impending divorce from Katie Holmes, who filed last week. According to reports, that is 100 percent by design. The star’s lawyer, Bert Fields, says Tom is planning to file as well, but has opted to let his estranged ex “play the media” before making any legal move. “Tactically we can’t say where Tom will file for divorce and if he’ll be seeking joint custody of Suri,” Fields said, adding, “We are letting ‘the other side’ play the media until they wear everyone out and then we’ll have something to say.” Although it appears a contentious battle over custody for 6-year-old Suri looms ahead, Fields reiterated that Tom is disheartened by the turn of events. “It’s not Tom’s style to do this publicly,” Fields said, alluding to the Scientology rumors from Katie sources and Tom’s reported attempts at reconciliation . “He is really, really sad about what’s happening.” Holmes, 33, filed for divorce June 28 in New York City and is seeking sole custody of Suri . Speculation has been mounting that Cruise is planning to file a counter divorce case in California and seek joint custody, but as of yet, he has not. The opening salvo comes July 17, when Holmes’ camp is set to appear in front of a family court judge in NYC, presumably to request a speedy temporary order granting her sole custody before Cruise’s legal team has a chance to respond. Choose your side :
We don’t see the writer in Robert Longfellow (Martin Donovan) for some significant time in Collaborator , Donovan’s pensive, carefully woven writing and directing debut. Robert is a stalled playwright, and when we meet him, he’s fleeing New York after poison-tipped reviews have slain his latest, long-awaited effort. Headed home to Los Angeles swaddled in self-pity, he must attend to his mother (Katherine Helmond), some Hollywood hack work, a simmering movie star (Olivia Williams) and a frustrated wife (former Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur) stashed in a frosty East Coast locale. But Robert looks mostly inward, giving everyone else the vague but warm-eyed attention Donovan has brought to his work as a Hal Hartley muse and in a host of supporting roles. He’s at his fuzziest with Gus (a hulking David Morse in a handlebar mustache), formerly the shady older kid from across the street, currently the ex-con still living with his mother opposite the Longfellow homestead. Gus has a habit of sneaking up on Robert while he’s home visiting his mom, and in his gracious, facetious way Robert agrees to have a beer with him before he leaves. Of much greater concern is a long-anticipated assignation with Williams (assured in a small, tricky role), whom Robert turns to for comfort, damn those clichéd torpedoes. A lot of Collaborator ’s moving parts shouldn’t work, from the celebrity there for the taking to the painful contrast of smug self-consciousness and barreling authenticity set up between Robert and Gus. But Donovan manages to find a convincing balance between broad strokes and a small canvas, so that when Gus turns a guilt-induced beer between the two men into forced captivity, rather than gory melodrama what takes shape is a character piece that makes a literary job of deconstructing the hostage thriller. Morse has a casual, unwieldy menace as the beer- and pill-addled Gus. A life in trouble with the law has made something of a bipolar ironist of him; he’s cheerfully pragmatic one minute, dark and doleful the next. When Robert realizes that being waylaid en route to Williams has turned into what the SWAT team gathering outside his door might call a situation , rather than triggering panic and fear, it instigates a slower, more considered transformation in his demeanor. The direction is as calm and deliberate as the captive is, and the tension that develops has a natural rhythm to it. Robert the writer has taken over, and we watch his experience of the ordeal slide from shock to a narrative remove. The writing is relaxed in the right places and heightened to a largely effective degree when it counts. Whether Gus’s lot in life is the result of a failure of imagination comes up for discussion, and Robert suggests a storytelling exercise to help explain his craft but also his approach to and place in the world. A left turn near the end re-draws their dynamic as that of opposing political ideologies, and there it is Morse’s brute sincerity that keeps the scenes from tipping into cant. By that point we can see Robert culling and appropriating in real time, a process that culminates with a window onto the storyteller’s succubus heart. And a worn dramatic arc is renewed with the spark of life. Follow Michelle Orange on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
In Friday morning’s round-up of news briefs, The Amazing Spider-Man drums up solid numbers at the box office, while Peter Jackson’s latest concludes shooting. Several of this weekend’s new specialty releases are profiled; AMC ticket takers are taking the chain to court. And Valley Girl is getting a re-do. Amazing Spider-Man Spins $75.5M After Three Days The pic made about $16.3M on Thursday and is expected to make about $140M in its first six days of release, which would make it 27th in the record books for the time period, Deadline reports . Previews of Specialty Releases Hitting Theaters This Weekend Here is the lowdown and some insider info on some of this weekend’s newest limited release titles including The Do-Deca-Pentathlon , China Heavyweight , Collaborator and Crazy Eyes , Deadline reports . Hobbit Pic Completes Principal Photography Peter Jackson has finished shooting his two Hobbit films, four months ahead of when the first is due to open in theaters. The director posted on Facebook from New Zealand, which was “shoot day 266,” Variety reports . AMC Theatres Ticket Takers Sue Over Being Forced to Stand It’s alleged the movie theater chain forced its box office cashiers and ticket takers to were forced to stand though their tasks could have allowed them to sit in violation of California regulations, THR reports . Valley Girl Remake Signs a Writer A remake of the 1983 movie that helped launch the career of Nicholas Cage is in the works with Marti Noxon set to re-write the teen romance about a “valley girl” who falls for a punk rocker from the other side of the tracks. Newcomer Clay Weiner is set to direct the MGM and Paramount production, The Tracking Board reports .
Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth made their first public appearance together yesterday since news broke of their engagement . But talk at the Australians in Film Awards & Benefit Dinner in Century City, California didn’t center around what was on Miley’s finger as much as what was on her body as a whole: a VERY little black dress! With not very much on top. “It’s called Zimmerman,” the 19-year old told reporters on the scene. “It’s from Australia. I love a little built-in corset, every girl does… I just wanted to wear something simple because tonight is all about him.” Hemsworth was actually recognized at the event, telling journalists that he and Miley are “very very excited” about their engagement. As for what sold Cyrus on her love? She explained: “I like when men work hard, I think it’s important. I always work really hard so it’s good to have someone who is as passionate about what they do and wants to be great at what they do instead of just being okay. We always strive to have our 130%.” [Photos: WENN.com]
Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth made their first public appearance together yesterday since news broke of their engagement . But talk at the Australians in Film Awards & Benefit Dinner in Century City, California didn’t center around what was on Miley’s finger as much as what was on her body as a whole: a VERY little black dress! With not very much on top. “It’s called Zimmerman,” the 19-year old told reporters on the scene. “It’s from Australia. I love a little built-in corset, every girl does… I just wanted to wear something simple because tonight is all about him.” Hemsworth was actually recognized at the event, telling journalists that he and Miley are “very very excited” about their engagement. As for what sold Cyrus on her love? She explained: “I like when men work hard, I think it’s important. I always work really hard so it’s good to have someone who is as passionate about what they do and wants to be great at what they do instead of just being okay. We always strive to have our 130%.” [Photos: WENN.com]
Perry’s ‘Part of Me’ documentary gives fans a candid look at the demise of her relationship with Russell Brand. By Christina Garibaldi Katy Perry in the “Katy Perry: Part of Me 3D” trailer Photo: It’s been a whirlwind of a year for pop superstar Katy Perry . In 2011, she earned six #1 singles off her Teenage Dream album, embarked on a worldwide tour and endured a very public breakup from Russell Brand . And now fans can share all these experiences and more as Perry is set to release her 3-D documentary, “Part of Me,” on July 5th. The movie chronicles her unparalleled year as she has career highs, but suffers personal lows. And it’s those very personal moments, especially with Brand, that many will find most surprising. For the past six months, Perry has been mum on the issue of her divorce, and now for the first time, she is opening up about the split. The film picks up just a few months after the two tied the knot , as Perry embarks on her biggest tour to date, the California Dreams Tour. Fans witness Perry put in hours of hard work preparing for the tour and traveling to hundreds of different cities. Yet, with the success that she was having onstage, it was offstage where things were falling apart. It seems her new marriage and a grueling tour schedule were not mixing well, but it was not from lack of trying: Perry was adamant that while on her nearly yearlong tour, she take time out to see her husband, but in the end, it just couldn’t save the marriage. At one point, while flying to one of her tour stops, Perry admits to the camera, “I’m trying to keep my marriage alive.” “Part of Me” gives fans a rare glimpse inside a celebrity marriage, with Brand featured throughout the film. Some moments are touching, like when the comedian comes to wish her well on the opening night of her tour, yet some are heartbreaking to watch. In one scene, Perry is crying uncontrollably, delaying the start time of the concert, but like a true professional, she chokes back the tears and puts on a brave face for her fans. Perry talks candidly about Brand in the film, revealing that it was her skyrocketing career that could have played into the downfall of her marriage. “I thought to myself, ‘When I find that person that’s going to be my life partner, I won’t ever have to choose [between the partner and my career]. They won’t be threatened or have weird motives.’ Then I started to realize, that’s not true,” she admits. Yet, when asked in the film whether she still misses Brand, Perry begins to cry and admits that she does, but says she did everything she could to make it work. “I have that same belief system with everything, from career to my life to my personal life, everything. And I will do everything it takes to not fail,” she shares. “And I did everything it took, but it still failed.” Perry recently told MTV News that even though the subject of her divorce is difficult to deal with, she felt she would be doing her fans a disservice if she didn’t include it in the film. “The truth will always prevail,” Perry said. “Everything has to be handled integrously and appropriately, and it’s not nice to air all your dirty laundry, because that stinks, so I had to be very delicate with the situation, but I couldn’t avoid the elephant in the room,” she explained. “If you were to have seen that movie and walked out and [my breakup] wasn’t at all mentioned, like it never happened, you’d be like, ‘Eh, this is weird. What is she trying to hide?’ I don’t like to hide.” Check out everything we’ve got on “Katy Perry: Part of Me.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Artists Katy Perry
Surprise, surprise… The Thugs That Beat Down Dodgers Fan Bryan Stow Plead Not Guilty The two men accused of brutally attacking San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow both pleaded not guilty on Friday morning to charges stemming from the March 2011 attack at the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball stadium. Louie Sanchez, 30, and Marvin Norwood, 31, both of Rialto, California, were ordered earlier this month to stand trial on one felony count each of mayhem, assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury and battery with serious bodily injury, reported KFI News. As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Stow, a father of two and a paramedic, was attacked in the Dodger Stadium parking lot following the 2011 opening day game and left with severe brain damage. During a post-preliminary hearing arraignment at the Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday, Judge George G. Lomeli also found sufficient evidence that Sanchez had personally inflicted great bodily injury on Stow, who was allegedly left for dead after the vicious beating. Stow, now 43, suffered a fracture that resulted in the loss of a portion of his skull as well as brain damage, he is currently “unable to walk, has loss of motor skills in his arms and hands, is unable to carry on a normal conversation, unable to control his bodily functions and unable to care for himself due to diffuse, severe, traumatic brain injury,” according to court documents, and will require “long-term care and daily assistance for the remainder of his life.” The suspects will next appear in court on July 24 for a pre-trial hearing. If there is even an SHRED of evidence against these two they are going to jail for a lonnnnnng time. Image via YouTube via RadarOnline
Dixie Pearl Followill was born on Thursday in Nashville. By Gil Kaufman Lily Aldridge and Caleb Followill Photo: Kings of Leon singer Caleb Followill and his wife, model Lily Aldridge , welcomed their first child, Dixie Pearl Followill, on Thursday in Nashville. According to People magazine, the bouncing bundle of joy arrived at the rock-star hour of 1 a.m., weighing a healthy 7 pounds, 11 ounces and measuring 22 inches long. “Mom, dad and baby are happy, healthy and enjoying their new addition,” a spokesperson for the band told the magazine. The couple were married in Santa Barbara, California, in May 2011 at San Ysidro Ranch after dating for more than two years. The birth of the couple’s daughter puts a happy cap on what was, by all accounts, a rather tumultuous year for the Kings. After releasing the Come Around Sundown album to modest reviews and sales, the band picked a fight with “Glee” creator Ryan Murphy (who would subsequently apologize for calling the band “self-centered a–holes”) and released the well-received documentary, “Talihina Sky.” Last summer included a much-publicized incident at a Dallas concert in which Followill claimed to suffer a bout of “heat exhaustion,” leading to the band scrapping the remainder of their U.S. tour and calls from his bandmates to enter rehab to deal with a reported alcohol problem. They returned to the road in September for a run of Canadian shows. They wrapped the year with a tour of Australia and a pair of Grammy nominations: Best Rock Album for Sundown and a Best Long Form Music Video nom for “Talihina Sky.” Related Artists Kings Of Leon
Teenage phenom is in final negotiations for multi-episode arc next season. By Kara Warner Jessica Sanchez Photo: As if there weren’t already enough excitement surrounding the slightly restructured fourth season of “Glee,” with the characters’ story lines picking up after high school, word on the street is that an “American Idol” finalist will be joining the cast in the fall. According to TV Line , 16-year-old phenom Jessica Sanchez is in final negotiations to join Rachel, Finn, Mr. Schu and the rest of the “Glee” gang for a multi-episode arc. There is no word on what specific role Sanchez will play, or whether she’ll be part of McKinley High’s National Championship-winning New Directions or will surface in the form of competition at another school. Because of Sanchez’s previous commitments to the summer “Idol” tour, she won’t be able to appear on the hit series until closer to the halfway mark of season four. If and when Sanchez’s stint on the show is officially announced, the California native will join an illustrious list of famous “Glee” guest stars: Gwyneth Paltrow, Britney Spears, Neil Patrick Harris, Lindsay Lohan and international pop star Charice. In addition to juggling her responsibilities on the “Idol” tour and the potential gig on “Glee,” the pint-sized powerhouse is also hard at work on her first solo album, which she hopes has more of an urban sound. “I don’t want people to just hand me music and be like, ‘Here, you sound good on this. Sing it.’ I want to be able to say, ‘This is me,’ ” Sanchez told MTV News recently , adding that she has high hopes for some A-list contributors on the album. “This is going to seem odd, but I love Eminem, because he has so much conviction and emotion in the way he raps; every word that he raps, you feel it,” she said. “And I think our talents would mesh. So, hopefully, it could happen, and I would just die if he’d collaborate with me!” Get your “Idol” fix on MTV News’ “American Idol” page , where you’ll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.
‘There were times when what was going on in my personal life was so overwhelming,’ Perry says in a new interview. By Gil Kaufman Katy Perry on the cover of Hollywood Reporter Photo: Katy Perry has been mum on the details of her divorce from Russell Brand. But in a new cover story in the Hollywood Reporter Perry gives a peek into the difficulty she faced in the split, as well as her plans to launch her own record label. ‘There were times when what was going on in my personal life was so overwhelming that I had to bend over to let those tears fall straight out of my eyes and not my false lashes just as I’m about to go up on that ramp and sing ‘Teenage Dream,'” she said. Speaking in advance of the release of her 3D concert documentary, “Katy Perry: Part of Me,” the 27-year-old pop singer said it’s impossible for anyone else to know what went on inside her brief marriage to the British comedian. “Nobody knows what really happened except the two people who are in it.” Part of her vision for the movie was to document her relationship with Brand as it crumbled just as her career was launching into the stratosphere with a record-breaking string of hit singles from Teenage Dream . That kind of honesty was in keeping with her heart-on-sleeve method of writing songs and she said, “Honesty has always worked for me … so if it ain’t broke, why f—ing fix it?” After putting up $2 million of her own money to make “Part of Me” a reality, Perry and her team are expecting the movie to have an opening to rival Justin Bieber’s “Never Say Never” $30 million first weekend. First, though, she had to convince her nervous business manager that it was worth dropping the cash to film her November 2011 concert at Los Angeles’ Staples Center in 3D. “I was like, ‘Please trust me,'” she said she told him. “That’s kind of been the mantra I’ve said to everyone my whole life: ‘Trust me, I have a vision.'” That same vision came into play in the recently released video for “Wide Awake,” which Perry wrote for the film and which ends with a shot of her triumphantly ascending to the stage during her smash California Dreams Tour. Regardless of how the movie does, the relentlessly drive Perry has other business ventures in mind, including launching her own record imprint. Her as-yet-unnamed label will help give struggling artists a hand up in the same way that some music industry folks took a chance on Perry early on. “When it does come to fruition, I’m going to try and avoid the things that take away any fighting chance for an artist to have financial success,” she said. “As people are coming to me with opportunities, I’m thinking, ‘How would I want to be treated?'” Check out everything we’ve got on “Katy Perry: Part of Me.” Related Artists Katy Perry
