If you’re the type of person who thinks sports don’t mean anything, direct your attention to Steve Bartman. On the morning of Oct. 14, 2003, Bartman was an anonymous 26-year-old Chicago Cubs fan; hours later, he would get blamed for costing his beloved team a chance to go to the World Series. Over the weekend at the Tribeca Film Festival, Oscar winner Alex Gibney debuted Catching Hell , his in-depth look at all things Bartman, save one thing: Steve Bartman.
One of the hotter tickets of this year’s Tribeca Film Festival got attendees into today’s conversation between festival co-founder Robert De Niro and NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams. The latter acknowledged that he pitched the event to organizers as a unabashed De Niro fan, and the sprawling subject matter of the hour-long chat — from the Oscar-winner’s school plays to a hilarious anticlimax involving his middle name — yielded more than a few revelations for Williams and the rest of us. Here a few of the highlights:
Documentary peels back the lore to reveal a band unquestionably shaped by its roots. By James Montgomery Kings of Leon’s Caleb Followill in “Talihina Sky” Photo: Phear Creative There is perhaps no band whose backstory has garnered as much attention as the Kings of Leon , and with good reason. They are, after all, the prodigal preacher’s sons (and nephew) who tapped into the rebellious power of rock and roll and rose from the backwoods to the big stage, a journey that — aside from all the sex and drugs and mustaches — is practically ripped from American folklore. So it would seem almost inevitable that their rise would someday be chronicled in a feature film, one that imbues their career with the spirit of the Holy Ghost and doesn’t skimp on the particulars of all that sex and drugs (and ‘staches). And here it is: “Talihina Sky: The Story of Kings of Leon,” a far-reaching documentary that premiered Thursday night at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. Directed by longtime Kings friend Stephen Mitchell, produced by Casey McGrath and Phear Creative (and executive-produced by the band itself), “Talihina” is a rock doc in the purest sense of the phrase: full of unedited, unwinding (and frequently un-sober) interviews with the Followill boys (frontman Caleb’s bleary-eyed, Jameson-and-marijuana soaked sitdown is a real doozy); tour-bus shouting matches; honest, teary conversations with their family members and friends and, of course, a whole lot of grainy, slightly embarrassing VHS footage of the Kings as kids. It certainly doesn’t hold anything back. And while, at times, it strays a little too close to deifying the band (or at least their voyage to the top of the charts), it strips away everything you’ve probably read about them, and, in the process, provides the clearest glimpse to date into what makes them tick. In that regard, the film is not only a success, but one of the most compelling music documentaries you’ll ever see. Because no matter how hard the media tries to romanticize their early years, “Talihina” doesn’t. We learn that brothers Caleb, Nathan and Matthew grew up poor, the children of a preacher for whom money was an afterthought and a mother who believed in nothing more than the power of religion. We learn that the boys hated all of those facts, that they suffered when their parents divorced and that they felt betrayed when they learned that their father — the man they viewed as an infallible totem of morality — was just another man, one who had demons of his own. To combat that, they turned to their extensive family — no less than six uncles are interviewed in the film, some of whom may not even be their uncles at all — and the solace of annual retreats in Talihina, Oklahoma … long, boozy weekends filled with horseshoe games and crawfish grabbing in ruddy creeks. In the grand American tradition, this is where they learned to be men, or at least learned to approximate what they felt a man should be. Of course, they also found solace in recreational drug use and Pixies records and, from there, the roots of the band took hold. We learn very little about their formation, instead, we’re quickly whisked away to England, where the Kings became overnight sensations (and media curio cases), partying hard, sleeping around and, really, also learning how to be men. That duality makes up the core of not just the film, but the band itself. On one hand, the Kings have never left their roots behind, as evidenced by footage of them attending later Talihina weekends, mixing it up with shirtless cousins and sagging uncles, but on the other, they seem driven to distance themselves from their past. Watching footage of the band recording their breakthrough Only By the Night album, you can’t help but notice just how hard they’re trying to become the hugest rock band on the planet, and in interviews throughout the film, the Kings talk about their past in reverent, yet weary, tones. And yet, they can never escape their history, no matter how hard they try. In a lot of ways, that struggle is what ultimately makes the film so compelling … and what makes you understand the Kings of Leon just a little bit more. They’re down-home boys who are seemingly never home, rock stars whose sentiments have moved millions, despite the fact those sentiments are derived from a place whose population is just 1,200. They have toured the world and lived the life and yet, whether they want to or not, they are eternally drawn back to Talihina. So, really, they’re not folk heroes (or, as Caleb jokes, “I’m not Captain America”), they’re just small-town kids who inexplicably made it big, boys forced to become men because life conspired to make them so, brothers eternally trying to escape the shadow of their parents. They’re just like you or I, if you think about it. Did you check out the Kings’ documentary? Share your reviews in the comments! For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Artists Kings Of Leon
Last summer, Ridley Scott and Last King of Scotland director Kevin McDonald teamed up with YouTube for a “historic global experiment” that would work like this: You send them some video of your activities on July 24, 2010 (a Saturday) and they would edit the best footage into a documentary film about the world’s events that day, credit you as a co-director and premiere it at the Sundance Film Festival under the title Life in a Day . Finally, the trailer has arrived. Let’s take a look!
‘One-hundred years later, people gonna thank me, because people are going to be free,’ the Based God tells MTV News. By Rob Markman Lil B Photo: Isaac Brekken/ Getty Images In his steady rise to rap notoriety, Lil B has relied heavily on his viral fanbase. His multiple MySpace pages, Facebook “likes” and army of Twitter followers have helped propel his music and message. But ever since Lil B announced at Coachella last week that the title of his next album will be I’m Gay, some fans have turned on the Based God. A few have even sent digital death threats. “People been hitting me up like, ‘I’m gonna bash your head in,’ ‘you f—-t,’ ‘I’m gonna kill you,’ ” Lil B told MTV News on Thursday (April 21), as he drove to a show at the Mezzanine in San Francisco. With upcoming shows lined up in Chicago, Detroit and at the Bamboozle Festival in New Jersey in the next few weeks, Lil B showed no signs of fear and said he’d proceed with his scheduled dates. “I’m not gonna stop and I’m not scared of anybody on earth,” he said of the Twitter backlash. “That’s why I [titled the album I’m Gay ] and nobody gonna stop me.” B insisted he’s not a homosexual, but that he is gay, i.e., extremely happy, flipping the word and focusing on its other definition. “I’m very gay, but I love women. I’m not attracted to men in any way. I’ve never been attracted to a man in my life. But yes I am gay, I’m so happy,” he said. “I’m a gay, heterosexual male.” A spokesman for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) told XXLMag.com that they hope Lil B’s album title is “not a gimmick, and is really a sincere attempt to be an ally.” B stressed to MTV News that he is in fact a supporter. “I got major love for the gay and lesbian community, and I just want to push less separation and that’s why I’m doing it,” the Based God said. “I hope GLAAD sees that I’m taking initial steps to break barriers.” When we asked about the makeup of his fanbase, B said hadn’t noticed whether there was any significant portion of his following that identifies as gay, but that some have already had a negative reaction to his title selection. “A lot of my supporters have turned on me. It’s been a few supporters that’s saying, ‘I’m not gonna rock with you anymore,’ ” the controversial MC revealed. “That’s fine, because you know what? They didn’t love me for real anyway.” Although the rapper has yet to begin recording the album, he expects to have it ready and available on iTunes in the next month or two. Lil B also believes that even though he’s facing resistance now, in the future he’ll be hailed as a hero. “One-hundred years later, people gonna thank me, because people are going to be free. And that’s the main thing. Even if it’s 1 percent of the people that listen to me and are gonna be free, that’s better than none,” he said. “That’s better than not speaking up at all … and I spoke up and I did it.” What do you think of Lil B’s decision to call his album I’m Gay ? Share your thoughts in the comments below! Related Artists Lil B
‘We can’t believe our luck,’ Elton tells MTV News at red-carpet premiere of Cameron Crowe musical documentary. By Eric Ditzian Elton John Photo: MTV News Ten years on, the Tribeca Film Festival is going on as strong — and as unpredictable — as ever. Last spring, the fest kicked things off in midtown Manhattan with the premiere of “Shrek Forever After.” This time around, Tribeca returned to its roots, settling into the Winter Garden at the World Financial Center (just steps from Ground Zero) for the debut of “The Union,” Cameron Crowe’s documentary about the Grammy-nominated musical collaboration between Elton John and Leon Russell. “We can’t believe our luck,” Elton told MTV News Wednesday on the red carpet as paparazzi flashbulbs popped around him. Joining the music legend on the carpet were Martin Scorsese, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Anna Kendrick, Rainn Wilson, Denis Leary, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Zoe Kravitz, ?uestlove, David O. Russell and others. Elton himself confessed he was initially nervous to invite Crowe’s cameras into the recording studio, but was very happy with the results and the opportunity to debut the film in New York. “I’ve never had a song filmed when I’m writing it, but Cameron’s such a friend, I trusted him,” he told us. “New York City is my favorite place to play. I’ve played 62 shows at Madison Square Garden, I’ve played at Radio City, Central Park, Shea Stadium, Fillmore East. It’s been a very important city in my musical career and probably the most exciting city in the world.” “The Union,” then, provides a singular window into Elton’s artistic process, and folks like ?uestlove couldn’t wait to see what it was all about. “The ’70s icons that we worship, they came before the information age,” the Roots drummer told us. “Now, you can watch Kanye make beats, but I would love to see how Elton collaborates. Who does the music, who does the lyrics, how that all works out.” And as the celebs glided down the red carpet on their way inside the theater, many couldn’t help but marvel at how the festival, born in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, continues to thrive a decade later. “People forget that after 9/11, this neighborhood was devastated,” Denis Leary told us. “People were afraid to come down and some people were moving out. [Robert] De Niro and [festival co-founder] Jane Rosenthal brought people back down. They brought culture back down and real spirit, which is much to their credit.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Artists Elton John
RapRadar.com caught up with Fabolous where he revealed the current project he’s working on with Neyo and Ryan Leslie. Fab says “We just really started it’,” “We also talked about doing a project with me and Neyo with Ryan Leslie on the production, kind of a best of Both Worlds…” Cant wait to hear this… Fabolous, Ne-Yo & Ryan Leslie “Look At Her (Killin’ Em Part 2)” [NEW MUSIC] Fabolous Headlining Music Festival In Ghana
Here are the hottest celebrity photos this week! What were your favorite celebs up to? Find out in the gallery below: Check out more of the latest celebs pics here!
At this season of the year, we celebrate the grandeur of God’s creation in the beauty of the flowers and the return of the robins. We clasp our loved ones in rituals of food and drink, laughter and embrace. Some of us will also sit in services of silence, music, and sacred readings. We will contemplate the mystery of the holy and the sanctity of all life. In the Christian calendar, yesterday was Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week. During this week Christians are asked to reflect on the meaning of Jesus’ death on the cross, an event that took place nearly two millennia ago at a place which still remains the epicenter of religious and political violence today. By lunar coincidence, this week also marks, on Tuesday, the festival of Pesah, or Passover, the most celebrated Jewish holiday of the year. Passover commemorates God’s deliverance of the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt. Jesus had gone to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover with his disciples when he was caught in the web of events that led to his death. While most Jews do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah, the New Testament weaves the central events of this week into one overarching story of redemptive history. As St. Paul put it, “For Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7). To those who would reduce the meaning of this week to a mere fable connoting existential truth, Christians say: “What you call myth that is history!” and, conversely, “What you call history that is a myth!” The myth of human self-sufficiency, the illusion that the ebb and flow of nature’s passions are all we need to build a human life upon, the fantastic hoax that lasting moral order in the world can be derived from the will to power or political ingenuity alone It is the fact that something happened back then and there, in space and in time, something so shattering that the grinding wheels of fate were stopped by it and death is now no longer allowed to have the final word. Related Stories Who Do You Call King Of Glory?
Ke$ha is a lil freak: Ke lived up to her risqué reputation at Tenjune Thursday morning. After performing at Roseland, the singer arrived at her after-party at the Meatpacking District club around 12:30 a.m. with friends and bandmates. After yelling, “Who is going to get laid tonight?!” over the PA, a source says Ke, drinking vodka mixed with Liquid Lightning energy drink, began “grinding” on a guy with “long, straight brown hair” in the VIP area. Without missing a step, our insider says she unbuttoned the dude’s pants and reached into the dark abyss. The two danced a few moments before, we hear, Ke switched partners. SplashNews / Source
