Tag Archives: film

Kenna On The Inspiration Behind ‘Summit On The Summit: Kilimanjaro’

Posted on March 12, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Documentary premieres Sunday night at 9 p.m. ET on MTV. By James Montgomery Kenna Photo: MTV In 2005, Kenna — who had long heard stories of the majesty and mystery of Mt. Kilimanjaro from his father — decided to climb the peak. He made it to Kosovo Camp, a clearing located some 16,000 feet above sea level (and still 3,000 feet from the summit), and then pushed onward toward the top of the mountain. He didn’t make it. Five years later, he decided to make the trek again, this time in the hope of calling attention to the global clean-water crisis. Both the trip and the cause were personal to Kenna, because when his father was a child in Ethiopia, he lost his brother and friends to water-borne diseases and, as he put it, “I could have been one of those kids.” So, in January, with a crew of nearly 300 backing him up — including fellow musicians Lupe Fiasco and Santigold, actors Jessica Biel , Emile Hirsch and Isabel Lucas, plus a team of scientists, United Nations ambassadors and skilled guides — he headed back up the mountain. (His friend Justin Timberlake intended to join the trek but couldn’t due to scheduling conflicts; Justin introduces the film .) And their trip is documented in “Summit on the Summit: Kilimanjaro,” a 90-minute film that premieres Sunday (March 14) at 9 p.m. ET on MTV. And apart from detailing the group’s massive of scaling Africa’s tallest mountain, the film also contains a symbolic message, one that applies not just to the trek, but to tackling seemingly insurmountable issues like global clean water: that together, we can accomplish great things. “When you go by yourself and you’re on a solo mission, it’s not necessarily something that registers at the end of the day. No one has your back. Getting to the top of Kilimanjaro this time had everything to do with the fact that I had an army with me,” Kenna told MTV News. “Some of us would literally look at each other and say, ‘If you weren’t here, I wouldn’t have made it.’ Our director, Mike Bonfiglio, was basically watching Isabel Lucas, and saw her dedication when she was really, really ill at the top of this mountain. And he, literally, was like ‘She made it, I’ve got to do this.’ ” Unlike his previous attempt, this time around, Kenna would not be denied in his quest to make it to the peak of Kilimanjaro. He had made his mind up, and he wouldn’t be denied: because he had friends with him, and because he knew there were millions of people depending on him to spread his message. “I think what happened is our medic told us, ‘You know what? It’s going to be something you can actually accomplish, even if you’re completely ill and sick and close to dying, it will be fine,’ ” he said. “She made it so we felt like we could deal with being uncomfortable, and at that moment, I was like ‘I don’t care. If anything goes on with me, at this point, I’ve come this far, I’m not going down.’ ” Tune in to “Summit on the Summit: Kilimanjaro” Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on MTV. And find out what you can do to help solve the global water crisis now at the “Summit on the Summit” Web site . Related Videos Check Out A Preview Of ‘Summit On The Summit: Kilimanjaro’ Related Photos ‘Summit On The Summit: Kilimanjaro’ Red Carpet Related Artists Kenna

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Kenna On The Inspiration Behind ‘Summit On The Summit: Kilimanjaro’

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Is Gerard Butler Capturing His Fugitive?

Posted on March 11, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Gerard Butler plays a bounty hunter in the appropriately titled new film, Bounty Hunter , where he goes after his ex, Jennifer Aniston . From the looks of these pictures at the film’s premiere in London – he got her. Can you blame him?

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Variety Thinks ‘No One Takes [Its] Reviews Seriously,’ Which Is Probably Why It Fired Its Critics [Rubes]

Posted on March 11, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

According to director Joshua Newton ‘s lawsuit against Variety for breach of contract—he’s mad that Variety trashed his movie after selling him on a $400,000 Oscar campaign—the paper doesn’t think its own reviews matter. Newton filed the complaint on behalf of Calibra Pictures, his production company, on Tuesday. His beef with Variety stems from Robert Koehler’s scathing December review of Newton’s film Iron Cross , which was published in the midst of a massive promotional campaign Calibra had purchased from Variety with the hopes of getting Oscar recognition for Roy Scheider’s final screen role. Newton got Variety to take the review down from its web site after complaining, but it has since been reposted, and he now claims that Variety played him for a rube by convincing him that his film had Oscar potential and selling him on an ad campaign to take it over the top. And when Koehler trashed the movie? Don’t worry, Newton says Variety told him—”No one takes these reviews seriously.” Oddly enough, Variety had fired its chief film critic Todd McCarthy and announced that it would henceforth only use freelance critics the day before Newton filed the complaint, so for once someone in Hollywood wasn’t lying about something. We’d previously reported that Variety approached Newton with a proposal to carry his film to Oscar glory in exchange for a modest fee on the very day that the paper’s editor had casually dropped Iron Cross ‘ title in a column listing 55 movies that were generating “Oscar buzz,” which sounds to us a lot like a coordinated con. ( Gray has insisted that he had no idea what his ad sales department was doing .) The complaint fleshes out the tale a little, accusing the sales team of leading the charge and softening him up before Gray’s column primed the pump. ( Read the whole thing here .) Newton says that Variety “commenced a campaign to induce [him] to partner with Variety and to spend substantial sums to promote the film” before it was even completed. That included an invitation to lunch with the paper’s president Neil Stiles, Gray’s column and a follow-up call from a salesperson, and a promise that “if [Newton] had the budget,” Variety could drum up enough interest in the movie to “attract the attention of major distributors.” Newton signed the deal, and after he had forked over $226,000 toward a $427,000 commitment—not to mention spent an additional $800,000 in post-production and other costs on Iron Cross in the hopes that the Variety campaign would get it distribution and awards recognition—Koehler’s review killed the film’s hopes. Gray has said that—even though he took it down—he stands by Koehler’s review. But according to Newton, another Variety staffer he ran into at the Golden Globes told him that “Gray had seen the film and liked it and thought the review was unfair.” The complaint says it was “inconceivable” that after taking his money, Variety would “turn on” him and publish a critical review. This is stupefyingly naive, but no where near as clueless as the central argument of his case—that Variety staffers convinced him that his film was actually good in an effort to empty his pockets. That’s right— someone in Hollywood told him that his film was great and he was great and then asked him for money . It’s truly a crime.

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‘This Woman’s Work’: Story Behind Michael Lynche’s ‘Idol’ Cover

Posted on March 11, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Lynche sang Kate Bush’s 1989 song, which was later covered by Maxwell. By Gil Kaufman Michael Lynche on Wednesday’s episode of “American Idol” Photo: Frank Micelotta/ Getty Images “American Idol” judges often rail on contestants for not making the right song choices. But on Wednesday night, personal trainer and new dad Michael Lynche provided a textbook example of how to pick the perfect song. The 26-year-old Florida native, whose wife gave birth their firstborn while he was performing during the show’s Hollywood Week, moved judge Kara DioGuardi to tears with his sensitive take on British singer Kate Bush’s “This Woman’s Work.” On a night when the judges criticized some singers for not connecting with the words they sang, Lynche astutely picked a song that mirrored the tumultuous changes in his personal life. The combination of Lynche’s velvety, gospelized vocals and the song’s connection to his life’s journey made for dramatic TV. DioGuardi felt the emotion, tearfully telling Lynche, “I’ve never cried after hearing something like that. It’s amazing. You were amazing. And it’s so relevant for you and I can feel it. It’s your life right now. It’s your respect for your wife, what you’ve gone through … and as a woman who doesn’t have a child, I can relate to it so much and it brought me to tears.” “This Woman’s Work” is one of Bush’s most beloved tunes, and the biggest commercial success from an artist who has always followed her peculiar muse. Bush’s career began in the late 1970s, when Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour turned label EMI on to the then-teenaged songwriting prodigy. In 1985, she released her most celebrated album, Hounds of Love . That album featured the hits “Running Up That Hill” and “Cloudbursting,” and it helped cement her reputation as an enigmatic pop poet. In 1988, Bush provided “This Woman’s Work” to director John Hughes for his coming-of-age drama “She’s Having a Baby.” The song, reportedly written specifically for the film, plays during a scene in which new father Kevin Bacon is pacing outside the delivery room where his wife is having their first child, fretting about the changes his family is about to face. Bush’s self-directed video for “Work” parallels the story of the film. The primly dressed singer, seated at a grand piano, plays the haunting melody, and shots of her are intercut with images of a nervous man in the waiting room of a hospital. A ghostly image of Bush stands behind the man and hugs him as he breaks into tears and stares ominously into the dark. A flashback then reveals Bush collapsing and being rushed to the hospital as the man wails in agony. At the end of the clip, a smiling nurse comes over to the man and puts her hand on his shoulder, appearing to give him good news as Bush quietly shuts the lid on the piano. “Work” later appeared on Bush’s 1989 album The Sensual World , which contained a number of tunes about the perils and pitfalls of love (“Love and Anger,” “Between a Man and a Woman”) and a title track inspired by Irish author James Joyce’s epic “Ulysses.” In the years that followed, the song underscored dramatic scenes in a number of TV shows (“Felicity,” “Alias,” “Party of Five”). In 1997, it was covered by Maxwell during his MTV Unplugged appearance. He later included a studio version of the track on his 2001 album Now , and it peaked at No. 58 on the Billboard Hot 100 that year. Bush has rarely toured, and she took a lengthy break between her 1993 album The Red Shoes — which featured contributions from Prince, Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton — and her 2005 double album Aerial to raise her family. Related Videos ‘American Idol’ In 60 Seconds Related Photos ‘American Idol’ Season Nine Performances Related Artists Kate Bush

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Robert Pattinson Lacks Confidence

Posted on March 11, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

In Remember Me , Robert Pattinson plays Tyler. He’s a straight shooter, someone that’s confident in his ability to attract the opposite sex. Considering his appearance, one would assume Pattinson possesses this same trait in real life. But one would be mistaken. “When it comes to the opposite sex, I’m not as fully confident as [Tyler,” the actor tells Parade in its latest issue. “I don’t even remember the last time I asked someone out on a date… I’m much more self-conscious and not wanting to fail. So I tend to hold back.” That may have something to do with the fact that he doesn’t need to, of course. Rob is dating Kristen Stewart . As for Robert’s ultimate goal? He touched on that, and a few other topics, in the magazine interview : On his personal ambition : You keep trying to make your name stand for something other than just like meaningless celebrity. It’s a difficult battle, but I think people like Johnny Depp have done that. He’s not judged by his public image, it’s just his acting that counts. To get to that place takes a lot of discipline and a lot of hiding. On box office pressure : People always used to ask me about typecasting and I never had to really worry about it. You think people will judge you by your work. But the truth is, it’s about whether the film you’re in makes money or not. On his past : I got beaten up by a lot of people when I was younger. I was a bit of an idiot, but I always thought the assaults were unprovoked. It was after I first started acting and I liked to behave like an actor, or how I thought an actor was supposed to be, and that apparently provoked a lot of people into hitting me.

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Corey Haim/Andrew Koenig Connection

Posted on March 11, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Filed under: Corey Haim In an ironic twist of fate, Corey Haim was fired from a movie in late 2008 because of an alleged drug issue — a movie that also starred recently deceased actor Andrew Koenig.Haim was cast as one of the leads in a movie called “DaZe.” Executive … Permalink

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Dakota & Kristen’s Sexy Drugfest: Parent Approved?

Posted on March 10, 2010 by | Leave a comment

The new film The Runaways is really all about “sex, drugs and rock and roll,” as Joan Jett told us today at the Luxe Hotel for the film’s junket. (Also, it’s a must-see, totally…

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‘Summit on the Summit: Kilimanjaro’ — Check Out A Preview!

Posted on March 10, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Trek to raise awareness of global need for clean water included Kenna, Jessica Biel, Lupe Fiasco, Santigold; doc airs Sunday at 9 p.m. ET. By James Montgomery Kenna Photo: MTV “Summit on the Summit: Kilimanjaro” doesn’t premiere on MTV until Sunday at 9 p.m. ET, but you can get a sneak peek of the documentary, which follows Kenna and his team’s treacherous trek up Africa’s highest mountain, right now. In February, Kenna , along with fellow musicians Lupe Fiasco and Santigold , actors Jessica Biel , Emile Hirsch and Isabel Lucas , and a team of scientists and experienced mountain guides, climbed to the peak of Kilimanjaro — some 19,000 feet above sea level — with the goal of raising awareness about the global clean-water crisis. It’s an epidemic that hits close to home for the Ethiopian-born artist. “When I was younger, my dad pointed out Kilimanjaro on a huge atlas. It stood in my mind as one of the wonders of the world,” he said. “This climb is dedicated to my father. As a child in Ethiopia, he lost his brother and lost his friends and family to water-borne diseases. A billion people in the world don’t have clean water. I had to do something about it. For me it’s personal. I could have been one of those kids. I needed to come up with something that would command attention. And the only thing I could think of that was that massive was climbing Kilimanjaro.” (For more on the climb and the need for clean water, check out the “Summit on the Summit” Web site.) During the ascent, things got a little rough, with the climbers braving brutal weather, thinning atmosphere, and dizzying nausea. At one point in the film, Biel explains how the mountain has a way of making even the most brazen climber humble. “I was sort of irritated that we were stopping so much, I said to one of our guides ‘Can we go a little faster?'” she says. “And then I got a little bit irritated, and I started going down this little area, kind of pissed off, and then I immediately got nausea. The mountain was like, ‘Don’t disrespect me.’ ” Before making the final assault on the peak, climbers rested at Kosovo Camp, a clearing some 16,000 feet above sea level. Everyone was tired and hurting, but the lure reaching the top of the mountain was strong, as Lupe Fiasco says during the film. “Everybody has a different set of variables that affect them on the climb, whether it be what they wear, what they eat, when they go to the bathroom, how much they drink,” he laughed. “There’s an 80 percent chance that you’re going to be uncomfortable. So you kind of have to rewire everything into being comfortable with being uncomfortable … [you have to] overcome yourself to overcome the environment. Because you can’t really fight against nature, nature’s going to happen regardless.” And while confidence was high, Kenna was still wary. He knew the toughest part of the trip still lay before them — the 3,000 foot climb to the summit — and he was trying to prepare himself mentally. After all, he had been to Kosovo Camp once before, five years ago, and the conditions proved too tough for him to continue on. This time, he promised things will be different. “You can only be so confident. This mountain has its own mind, and I’ll be lucky if I get to the top, I’ll be thankful if I get to the top, but I’m not underestimating what’s ahead of us,” he says. “I’m worried, because people are sick, people have knee problems, people are cold, it’s all mental at this point. I don’t know how well people are going to be able to pull it off, considering they’ve never done it before. Last time I was here, that’s what happened to me. It wasn’t that I was sick, but I could’ve been more focused, and allowed myself to be sick until I got there. So, I’ve charged my brain this time, if I vomit or if I trip or if I have frozen toes and feet when I come off and I have to get’ em amputated, I’m going.” Don’t miss “Summit on the Summit: Kilimanjaro,” airing Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on MTV. Related Artists Kenna Lupe Fiasco Santigold

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Corey Haim’s Last Movie

Posted on March 10, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

TMZ has obtained a clip from Corey Haim’s last movie — that has yet to be released.Haim’s shot the scene — from the movie “Decisions” — last November.In the movie, Haim plays a corrupt cop who gets involved in the lives of 6 troubled kids.We spoke … Permalink

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Top 10 Academy Award Mysteries: Explained [Sleuthing]

Posted on March 8, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

If you were like me, last night you were watching the show with plenty of questions. Why so long? Why so bad? Who is that weird red-haired lady crashing the stage? Well, we found some answers and even more questions. Mystery : Who the hell was that red-haired lady crashing the stage during the Best Documentary Short acceptance speech? What Happened : Some crazy lady in a purple dress pulled a Kanye and hopped up to the mic and just started talking over director-producer Roger Ross Williams. She made no sense at all. Status : Solved. That woman was producer Elinor Burkett. She and Williams had a bitter feud over the direction of the film that resulted in a lawsuit. Salon has the full, awesome story . She accuses Williams’ mother of tripping her with a cane to keep her from getting on stage. The Oscars needed a lot more of this . Mystery : What was up with George Clooney ‘s face? What Happened : The silver fox was acting squirrelier than usual and making strange grimaces at the camera. Status : Solved: As we told you earlier Clooney was drunk from his secret flask. Who knows if the faces were because he was pissed (drunk) or pissed (upset) but we venture it was a combo of the two. Mystery : Did the Academy leave Farrah Fawcett and others out of the Dead People Montage? What Happened : The video collection of dead people highlights seemed shorter than usual this year (if you don’t count the entirely separate shout out to John Hughes who was never once nominated for an Oscar in his life) but they left several people out, like Fawcett, Bea Arthur , and Ed McMahon. Status : Solved. Yes, it was intentional . The Academy felt that in all three instances their work didn’t qualify them for inclusion, even though Michael Jackson and Brittany Murphy made the grade. They are not apologizing for skipping them either, saying every year some people must be left out. We smell Betty White’s hand in this. Mystery : Did Sandra Bullock diss Meryl Streep ? What Happened : When she got up to accept her trophy, Sandy B made a move toward Meryl, who tried to hug her or something, and then Sandy walked away and Meryl made the “Oh, never mind” gesture. The video is here . Status : Solved: Yes, she did. It doesn’t seem intentional, but the hug clearly didn’t connect. Maybe that is why Sandy repeatedly called Meryl her lover in her speech, to make up for causing her to look a fool on television. Mystery : What was up with those lamp shades? What Happened : At various points in the broadcast, a giant wall of lamp shades descended from heaven to make the stage look like the party room at a T.G.I. Friday’s in Wilkes-Barre. Status : Solved: It was a mistake—a very bad mistake. Mystery : Does Cameron Diaz not know how to read? What Happened : When she came out to present the award for Best Animated Feature with Steve Carell , they read their little banter and Cameron called Steve “Jude” by mistake before he corrected her and said their skit was originally written for Jude Law and they never fixed the Teleprompter Status : Solved: It was just a really bad joke, people. See, they talk about how Animated Features keep their beautiful faces off screen, and then we find out that it was supposed to be written for Jude Law, because, of course, no one would ever call Steve Carell attractive. Ha! Jokes. Too bad the show was so lame and riddled with mistakes that their very plausible meaning was a little too plausible. Mystery : What the fuck happened to Judd Nelson ? What Happened : When a bunch of brat packers, including a radiant Molly Ringwald, came out to pay tribute to John Hughes, it was apparent that all of them had aged, but none as badly as The Breakfast Club bad boy, who was practically unrecognizable. Status : Unsolved. He’s still working as an actor, so no one thinks he is destitute or drug-riddled or something. Everyone noticed he looked crazy but no one knows why. Yet. Mystery : Was Kathy Ireland drunk or on drugs? What Happened : The former supermodel was one of three co-hosts for ABC’s 30-minute red carpet special before the show began. She was horrible. Bad interview followed bad interview, she seemed semi-coherent, and her non-microphone-holding arm barely moved. Status : Solved. She was not on drugs . Now we have even more questions. Considering she has a billion (yes, that’s a b) dollar design business and we have never seen her host on TV before, what the hell was she doing there? Of all the people that ABC could have tapped to do the gig, why choose an inexperience lady who looks like she has a prosthetic? Is Kelly Ripa too normal or something? And if we wanted some crazy old lady with lots of plastic surgery on the red carpet, why not bring back Joan Rivers? Our mind is still boggling. Mystery : Will people watch again? What Happened : Last night’s telecast had the highest ratings in five years with 41.3 million viewers. It was also one of the worst productions in recent memories. Will people bother next year? Status : Solved. Of course. It’s the Oscars. Maybe not as many, but you know they’ll be there. And please, please, just let Neil Patrick Harris host next year. He promises his tux won’t be nearly as shiny. Mystery : Why the hell was there street dancing at the Oscars? What Happened : A troupe of television dancers were given the stage to do strange hip-hop contortions to the classically-influenced music of the Best Score nominees. Status : Unclear. We solved how it happened—director Adam Shankman who is a choreographer and TV dance show host—but we will forever be asking why. Why, why, why?

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