Filmmaker Jennifer Lynch knows a thing or two about battling the MPAA — her 1993 debut Boxing Helena earned the ratings board’s dreaded NC-17 for its sexualized violence and general depravity — and so it seems just like old times that her latest effort, Chained , faces the same fate for “some explicit violence.” But wait: Isn’t violence supposed to fly with the ratings board while sex gets the adults-only rating? What gives? Actually, look no further than the film’s NSFW trailer for your answer. On the one hand, I wouldn’t put it past distributor Anchor Bay to pull a Harvey special and exploit Chained ‘s Vincent D’Onofrio serial-killing kidnapper menace for maximum ratings “controversy.” On the other, publicity stunts aside, this just looks… heinous : Anyway, no release date has been set, and Anchor Bay can always turn around and release the film unrated, which is basically regarded the same as an NC-17 by skittish mainstream theaters, so for now it’s just a conversation piece with straight-to-video written all over it. Interested? [ LAT ]
Roughly two weeks after Gary Ross’s departure from and Francis Lawrence’s rumored attachment to Catching Fire , Lionsgate has officially announced Lawrence as its man to direct its mega-anticipated Hunger Games sequel . “From the very beginning of this brilliant trilogy’s journey from page to screen, our first priority has been to stay true to the heart and soul of Suzanne Collins’ powerful stories,” producer Nina Jacobson said in a statement just over the transom at Movieline HQ. “From my first conversation with Francis, I knew he would make a great partner for both me and Suzanne. His passion for Catching Fire and inspired ideas for a faithful adaptation make him the perfect director for this movie. I know this will be a wonderful collaboration and I cannot wait to get started.” Added Lawrence: “It is truly an honor and a privilege to bring Catching Fire , the second chapter of Suzanne’s beloved trilogy, to the big screen. I fell in love with the characters, the themes and the world she created and this chapter opens all of these elements up in such a thrilling, emotional and surprising way. I can’t wait to dive right into it and bring this chapter to life along with the truly superb cast and filmmakers involved.” Mazel tov! And get to work : Catching Fire opens November 22, 2013. [Photo: Getty Images]
For a phony online dating ad – in which he stars on behalf of his role as Popchips’ “president of pop culture” – Ashton Kutcher dons multiple costumes and pretends to be four different eligible bachelors. There’s a character named Raj, for example, that features the actor in brown face and and with an Indian accent. And while it’s all meant to be in good fun, many on the Internet have not reacted with laughter. Ashton Kutcher Dating Site Commercial “I can’t imagine I have to explain this to anyone in 2012, but if you find yourself putting brown makeup on a white person in 2012 so they can do a bad “funny” accent in order to sell potato chips, you are on the wrong course,” wrote Anil Dash , a tech blogger, in response to the spot. “Make some different decisions.” And Popchips now has: the company has pulled the ad from YouTube and Facebook, while releasing the following statement: “The new Popchips worldwide dating video and ad campaign featuring four characters was created to provoke a few laughs and was never intended to stereotype or offend anyone. At Popchips we embrace all types of shapes, flavors and colors, and appreciate all snackers, no matter their race or ethnicity. We hope people can enjoy this in the spirit it was intended.” What do YOU think? Should the spot have been removed from the Internet?
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s … The Situation. According to Wizard World Inc., the Jersey Shore star has signed a publishing, development and appearance deal to create and publish a comic book based on Sitch . “MPS Entertainment and I are thrilled about our new relationship with Wizard World. I grew up reading comic books and now I get a chance to star in my own. I can’t wait for everyone to see what we are working on,” said Sitch, a.k.a. Mike Sorrentino . We know, we thought this was a joke at first too. Added John Macaluso, the CEO of Wizard World: “Wizard World is so excited to partner with one of pop culture’s greatest stars. Mike will broaden our relationships with celebrities to new areas that leverage our access to the media, the fans, and especially our ability to bring comic book characters to life.” The series of comic books based on stories by Mike and his family will be written and drawn by some of the comic book industry’s leading artists and writers. You can even catch the soon-to-be illustrated family on tour, as they are slated to appear at several Wizard World conventions to promote their characters. No word on whether Mike’s super powers will entail the ability to survive with BAC over 0.5 or extreme tendencies to stir up drama where there is none. [Photo: WENN.com]
In addition to alien-vs.-soldier action, the film has a softer side, as our exclusive clip shows. By Eric Ditzian, with reporting by Amy Wilkinson Taylor Kitsch in “Battleship” Photo: Universal Pictures “Fire all the weapons!” Liam Neeson yells in the first “Battleship” trailer , a command dutifully followed by a young naval officer in the film but one that failed to trigger the dude-I-gotta-see-this-movie jones of many moviegoers. But we had a feeling a lot of folks were missing the point of both the popcorn flick’s whiz-bang alien-vs.-soldier brawling and the sun-dappled human-on-human seduction giving “Battleship” its warm, gooey center. The film is perfectly constructed to fill the “Transformers”-sized hole in the summer movie calendar. Audiences overseas are already responding, shelling out $58 million to check it out since the April 11 foreign release. Our turn comes on May 18. Before then, and having seen the CGI-heavy theatrics in “Battleship” trailers, it’s time to take a look at the film’s softer side. That’s where MTV News’ Summer Movie Preview comes into play, delivering an exclusive clip featuring Taylor Kitsch and his bodacious birthday wish, Brooklyn Decker. The scene in the clip comes early in the film, with Kitsch’s unemployed slacker, Alex Hopper, sharing a sad-sack birthday party in a dingy bar with his brother, Stone (Alexander Skarsg
The cast of Marvel’s The Avengers were a spirited bunch Thursday in Beverly Hills, where the familial vibe amongst the likes of Robert Downey Jr. , Samuel Jackson , Chris Hemsworth , Chris Evans , and Mark Ruffalo was evident and mutual admiration, inside jokes, and startling revelations abounded. (Scarlett Johansson, alas, was absent due to a scheduling conflict.) Among the highlights: Ruffalo’s youthful Hulk inspiration, Jeremy Renner ’s suggestive Hawkeye imagery (“[I] played with Thor’s hammer while he stroked my bow”), and one mysterious, maybe-still legit admission from Downey that the assembled Avengers would be filming a scene … that night. But, pray tell: Which Avenger possesses the best Dance Dance Revolution skills ? SPOILERS AHEAD. JEREMY RENNER SETS THE FIRES OF A THOUSAND SLASHFICS AFLAME: The erstwhile Hawkeye described his favorite memory from set. “Getting to play with Thor’s hammer while he stroked my bow. Oh, here we go. That’s gonna get me in trouble.” Hawkeye + Thor 4 eva? HOW MARK RUFFALO “GOT” THE HULK: Watching the Bill Bixby Incredible Hulk TV show with his 10-year-old son on Joss Whedon’s recommendation, Ruffalo found his way into the character. “After the third episode he turned to me and said, ‘Papa, he’s so misunderstood!’ I basically based my character entirely on my 10-year-old boy, who has all of the force of nature screaming out of his body while at the same time having everyone around him telling him to fucking control himself.” ANOTHER LESSON RUFFALO LEARNED EARLY ON: AVOID THE INTERNET. “It was terrifying. I knew what my responsibility was, or I felt it just by going online and reading some of the fanboy responses to the announcement that I was playing the next version of Bruce Banner. That was a mistake. I will never do it again. I’ve never had a role more scrutinized and criticized before I’d shot a single frame.” CODE NAME: GROUP HUG — AVENGERS LOVE ON AND OFF SET ” Tom [Hiddleston] loves hugs,” said Hemsworth. “I did a film with him and there were plenty of hugs in that film… Chris [Evans] sent texts that said ‘The Avengers assemble at such and such bar, 9 o’clock Saturday night.’ That was a good group effort. [Pause] We paid for it at work the next couple of days.” Ruffalo : “You should see that group hug.” Downey Jr. : “Ruffalo, weren’t you the one throwing the roof parties?” Ruffalo : “That was me.” Downey Jr. : “So you were the group instigator.” Ruffalo : “I was the group hugger.” And then: “I just remember coming into someone’s place with a group of half-naked stuntmen in a hot tub and Scarlett Johansson standing over them with a giant ladle…making boy soup.” CHRIS HEMSWORTH ON USING HIS REAL LIFE SIBLINGS TO TAP INTO THE THOR/LOKI RELATIONSHIP: “The last time either one of my brothers tried to take over the world or the universe, I had to think about how did I feel,” Hemsworth joked. To wit, Downey Jr.: “Don’t you feel that Liam is trying to take over your box office universe? Doesn’t he need to be corrected in some way?” WHY JOSS WHEDON WAS THE IDEAL DIRECTOR FOR THE AVENGERS : “The only fear I had was that the whole thing would collapse under its own weight,” admitted Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige . “My biggest interest in The Avengers is the interaction between these people, and looking at Joss’s body of work, the scripts that he’s written and TV shows, the characters never ever get lost. In fact those are the moments that shine. That was, to me, why he was the best person to mount this.” For Downey Jr., it was while watching one moment in Act Three when he felt the relief and elation of knowing Whedon’s vision worked. “I speak to Joss’s wit, whether the wit is funny or whether the wit is actually being able to hold the myriad of ideas and notions that you have to get right for Avengers not to be bunk. [That’s] what he accomplished.” SAM JACKSON SUMS UP THE AVENGERS : “He’s the rich, smart ass guy; he’s the little guy with the big words that might turn and fuck you up at any moment, you never know when that is – and he’s trying to make him do it, the bad little brother… it was a great time doing that and being able to be in that space and allowing an audience to see that these guys have superpowers but they have normal guy attitudes. They get pissed with each other and they argue about petty shit, you know. They can be smart asses and they can be heroes and they can just be jerks, but eventually they’re going to love each other.” WHEDON ON HIS BIGGEST CHALLENGE: “The hardest part is and always will be structure; how do you put that together? How do you make everybody shine? How do you let the audience’s identification drift from person to person without making them feel like you’re not involved. It’s a very complex structure – it’s not particularly ornate or original but it had to be right, it had to be earned from moment to moment, and that was exhausting.” “You see things like The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen where they just throw out the comic, or Watchmen where they do it frame for frame, and neither of them work. You have to give the spirit of the thing and then step away from that and create something cinematic and new.” WHICH ALIEN RACE ARE THE BADDIES IN THE AVENGERS, EXACTLY? SPOILERS, obviously: Whedon set the record straight, since the film doesn’t explicitly explain just who is helping Loki in his attempt at world domination. “The alien race are the Chitauri — or a version of them — because they are not one of the key races and they don’t have a storied history. That wasn’t the point. I know this debate will go on long after I’m dead. I would say it was the Kree-Skrull race.” AGENT COULSON WEARS DOLCE & GABBANA His portrayer, Clark Gregg, was initially skeptical that an Avenger s movie could be pulled off. Then he got the script. “I felt like this was not an achievable task, as someone who writes sometimes and loves movies and watches a lot of them, I just didn’t think it was feasible to have this many characters and have them all get to move forward and have the story of them coming together really work. If it did work with that many amazing superheroes and movie stars, I felt it unlikely that Agent Coulson would do anything other than bring some super coffee to somebody. So when I read it and saw that it was my fanboy wet dream of an Avengers script and that Agent Coulson was a big part of it, that was the great day for me. I just drove around the streets with the script in the other seat kind of giggling.” AVENGERS VS. JUSTICE LEAGUE, DC COMICS VS. MARVEL: What would Whedon say to Warner Bros. regarding their attempts to make a similar multi-superhero franchise out of The Justice League? “Call me,” he joked, before astutely addressing WB/DC’s uphill battle. “It’s enormously difficult to take disparate characters and make them work – and DC has a harder time of it than Marvel because their characters are from a bygone era when their characters were bigger than we were, and they’ve amended that but Marvel really cracked the code in terms of [superheroes] are just like us. So a dose of that veracity that Marvel really started with Iron Man. I think you need to use that as your base.” YEP, THE AVENGERS PLAY DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION The Avengers cast was known to bust a few moves playing Dance Dance Revolution at Jeremy Renner’s house. “I don’t know the last video game I played apart from DDR at Jeremy’s house… Scarlett and I will always have “Billie Jean,” said Hiddleston. “Nobody lambadas like Loki,” quipped Gregg. “I have friends, so…” Whedon responded. You’ll find out which Avenger had the best DDR skills in Movieline’s upcoming interview with Ruffalo, but I’ll leave you with this hint: It was a tie. AND FINALLY, IS THE AVENGERS STILL BEING SHOT?? Downey Jr. closed his press conference with the stunning reveal that the Avengers cast was filming one last scene Thursday night. “Not to keep you guessing, but we’re actually not done shooting. We are shooting one more scene… tonight. Not kidding . [Pause] No more questions!” Speculation is that it would be a final bonus post-credits scene to be added to the end of the version that screened at the Avengers world premiere, just in time for release, in addition to an already existing credits scene that is indeed in the version press saw this week. Whedon, asked to clarify, insisted that Downey Jr. was just joking — “He’s Robert – of course he’s kidding,” he said — but Ruffalo confirmed as much, according to The Playlist . Word on the street is that RDJ was, in fact, not pulling our legs. We’ll find out soon enough who was telling the truth, as The Avengers flies into theaters May 4. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Above The Buzz examines Lena Dunham’s dramedy about four women living in NYC. By Jocelyn Vena Lena Dunham in “Girls” Photo: HBO Blah, blah, blah. Yes, “Girls” is a lot like “Sex and the City” in the fact that both shows are about women — four, to be exact — living, loving and working in New York City. And that’s about it. Maybe “Girls” is the best “SATC” prequel that creator Michael Patrick King never pitched: It’s dark with little spots of comic relief, as these women try to figure out how to get it right. And they rarely do. They are stuck in jobs that seem to have no future and relationships that make them awful about themselves. Where “Sex” was all about how fabulous NYC is, “Girls” is all about how hard (and expensive) it can be to try and make a dream happen in a town where everyone has a dream. Perhaps the big difference is “Girls” is created by a young woman in the throes of her own post-adolescence angst. Lena Dunham, 25, the show’s creator , writer, director and star, truly understands what it feels like to be stuck in your mid-twenties struggling with the pains of having to grow up. In fact, her vision of this stage of life seems to be so spot-on that it got her an assist from the show’s producer, Judd Apatow. (She previously examined those similar themes in her feature film, “Tiny Furniture.”) Not to discredit “Sex.” It did an amazing job capturing life in NYC as an aspiration. You too can move to NYC, date rich, powerful dudes, afford fancy cocktails at all the hottest hot spots and glide along Fifth Avenue in Manolo Blahniks. But first you must be one of the “Girls,” who also include Allison Williams (news anchor Brian Williams’ daughter) playing Type-A gallery assistant Marnie, Jemima Kirke, a flighty, free spirited Brit Jessa and Zosia Mamet, the “SATC”-loving college student Shoshanna. Dunham plays Hannah, a writer who talks a lot about her memoir without having actually done very much to get it off the ground, relying on her parents for money. The show, which premieres Sunday on the former home of “Sex,” HBO, is about trying to have it all, but not knowing how to get it. These “Girls” are from a generation of women who have been told they can do an-y-thing. But, the problem is, as most jumped straight into their careers right out of college, they never really had the time to nail down what it is they want. This confusion leaks into their personal lives, where they battle depression and self-esteem issues. They date men they don’t care much about or who don’t care much about them. It’s an interesting breakdown of the current state of girl power: Can these girls really do an-y-thing? Well, Dunham and her pals are certainly trying to figure that out, one episode at a time. Are you planning on watching “Girls”? Leave your comment below!
Will the superhero all-star flick live up to the hype? Fans who got an early peek seem to think so. By Eric Ditzian Chris Hemsworth in “Avengers” Photo: Marvel “The Avengers,” apparently, rules. After a string of Los Angeles screenings, nerdy tastemakers have been squealing all over Twitter about what director Joss Whedon has delivered for this loooooong-in-development superhero all-star flick. “Like, double plus awesome,” declared Seth Green. “Lost” guru Damon Lindelof came up with a Twitter hashtag that’s a little too colorful to reprint here without a tweaking: . To Lindelof, I say right back: F—yeah! Because, honestly, what a relief! For a while now on “Talk Nerdy,” Brian Phares and I have been expressing worries like:
The first expansion to Mass Effect 3 ’s critically acclaimed multiplayer experience is almost here! The Resurgence Pack is coming to PSN on April 10th and with it, a host of new weapons, characters, maps and more. If you haven’t had a chance yet, check out all the action in our latest trailer . With over 75 perfect review scores, Mass Effect 3 has been heralded as “The first true blockbuster game of… Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : PlayStation.Blog Discovery Date : 06/04/2012 00:55 Number of articles : 2
In ‘Twilight’ Tuesday, we ponder the success of ‘Grey,’ which began as ‘Twilight’ fan fiction. By Kara Warner Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart in “Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1” Photo: Summit Much is currently being made of E.L. James’ steamy novel, “50 Shades of Grey,” and its ever-expanding fanbase of mostly female readers. The novel, which is out in paperback Tuesday (April 3), started out as “Twilight” fan fiction; as such, it has several elements that lend themselves to comparison with Stephenie Meyer’s YA saga. First, there is the protagonist, insecure and naive beauty Anastasia Steele, who doesn’t know she’s attractive until she meets Christian Grey, a controlling older man with a magnetic personality. Apparently James took Bella and Edward from Meyer’s world and placed them a few years in the future in non-paranormal-influenced Seattle; she called the book “Master of the Universe” online. “Shades of Grey” is hitting all the notes that Meyer’s series hit when it entered the pop culture zeitgeist. It’s a New York Times best-seller, will soon be a feature film and has been dubbed “mommy porn.” Yes, I know that “Twilight” isn’t “mommy porn” and that “Grey” isn’t simply a very adult version of “Twilight,” but the similarities are there. So what does this mean for the publishing industry and the fan-fiction community at large? In this week’s “Twilight” Tuesday, let’s explore the increasing popularity of fan fiction. First off, for the uninitiated, a lot of fanfic is racy. Like NC-17 and XXX-rated racy, so as much as I want to I can’t post excerpts here. Slash fic, stories that feature same-sex relationships between two characters, can be particularly explicit. And though those tales probably won’t make it to store shelves, the idea of an Edward and Jacob or Edward and Jasper romance is pretty entertaining. “Twilight” author Meyer seems to have mixed feelings on the subject, but she has admitted to enjoying a few authors and entertained an alternate universe of sorts herself for “Twilight” in a project she calls “Breaking Down.” “In the beginning I hadn’t heard of it. … I couldn’t read the ones that had the characters in character,” she once said during an interview with Twifans.com . “It freaked me out. There was one about ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Twilight’ that was hilarious. And then there was one that was about a girl who was starring as Bella in the movie and that was funny.” Meyer’s “Breaking Down” was a crutch to help her get through finishing “Breaking Dawn,” a place where she could let loose with outrageous scenarios for her mostly straight and narrow characters. “We came up with an alternate ‘Breaking Dawn’ called ‘Breaking Down.’ It was awesome!” she said. “Complete spiraling downward and destruction in Bella Swan’s life and everyone around her.” Naturally, Meyer didn’t publish that alternate “Twi”-verse, but there are other cases of famous authors who began their careers writing fanfic; take Cassandra Clare, who wrote a popular spin on “Harry Potter” called “The Draco Trilogy” long before she came up with “The Mortal Instruments.” We could also count Seth Grahame-Smith’s best-seller “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” as a form of fanfic, along with the various “Pride and Prejudice”-inspired books like “Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife” and “Mr. Darcy’s Diary: A Novel.” Authors who have negative opinions of fanfic make the argument that they own their characters and that aspiring authors should come up with original work. So where do we draw the line, and more importantly, should it be drawn? As long as we’re getting more people to read, does it matter? Or is there a quality over quantity argument to be thrown in as well? For young Hollywood news, fashion and “Twilight” updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com . Related Videos Live From The ‘Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 1’ Red Carpet
