Lana Del Rey set the bar very low for herself on Saturday Night Live a few weeks ago. It may have been an embarrassing setback for the singer – whose debut album dropped on January 31 – but there’s this silver lining on that cloud of stiff singing: at least the burgeoning star can’t ever do worse again. She proved that last night on The Late Show with David Letterman , belting out a rendition of “Video Games” and showing serious improvement. Watch Del Rey in action now and decide: will you purchase her CD? Lana Del Rey – Video Games (The Late Show with David Letterman)
Focus Features and the good folks at WNYC are going all out for first-time Oscar nominee Gary Oldman , lining up a six-film retrospective of the actor’s work that will culminate Feb. 8 in Manhattan with a screening and Oldman Q&A for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy . The best part: It’s free . Which naturally means you’d better act fast to reserve your seats. The screenings commence Monday at the Landmark Sunshine, comprising a nifty selection of Oldman’s best work over the last quarter-century including Sid and Nancy, Prick Up Your Ears, JFK and The Contender . (And, uh, Bram Stoker’s Dracula , which my memory perhaps betrays, but you tell me.) The complete schedule is below; you can book your seats over at OldmanRSVP.com . Tell him Movieline said hello! Feb. 6 at 6:30 PM : Sid and Nancy (1986) Feb. 6 at 9:00 PM : JFK (1991) Feb. 7 at 6:00 PM : The Contender (2000) Feb. 7 at 9:00 PM : Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) Feb. 8 at 5:00 PM : Prick Up Your Ears (1987) Feb. 8 at 7:30 PM : Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), followed by Q&A with Gary Oldman [ OldmanRSVP.com ]
Hunger Games fans, here’s your chance to be among the first to see Lionsgate’s highly anticipated YA novel adaptation — Movieline is giving away a pair of tickets to the Los Angeles premiere of The Hunger Games , starring Jennifer Lawrence as teen warrior Katniss Everdeen, based on the novels by Suzanne Collins. To decide our winner, we’re holding a Cornucopia of words: A Hunger Games Haiku contest! Channel your inner mockingjay and get to composing in the comments below! To celebrate the 50-day countdown to the Hunger Games nationwide release on March 23 (Twitter hashtag #HUNGERGAMES50), Movieline’s Hunger Games Haiku contest will close February 22 at 5pm PT/8pm ET , so make sure to enter with your best, most inspired Hunger Games -themed haiku. Winners will be announced on February 29. [ Browse Movieline’s Hunger Games cast gallery here ] In order to be eligible, entries must follow these guidelines: – Haiku entries must follow the 5-7-5 syllable format (otherwise that ain’t a haiku, duh). – Entries must be original writings. Write it in Katniss’s voice! As an ode to the series! Compose a ditty about pretty baker’s sons! Run wild with it! – Entrants must be 18 years of age and must be able to attend the premiere in Los Angeles at the Nokia Live on March 12, 2012. – Entrants must register with their email address in order to be contacted if selected. – Only one entry per person. Now remember, candidates: Entries will be judged by Movieline’s editors so put your best haiku forward! Elegance, wit, and razor-sharp concision are key, along with a healthy dose of Hunger Games knowledge. Wow us, and as always — may the odds be ever in your favor. For more information on the Hunger Games movie and premiere info, head to Facebook . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
MTV News takes a closer look at the latest sneak peek. By Kara Warner Jennifer Lawrence in “The Hunger Games” Photo: Lionsgate Anytime we see anything new from “The Hunger Games,” it’s like Christmas came early around here. On Thursday (February 2), we were gifted with a brand-new teaser trailer for the film, which is set to air on Super Bowl Sunday. The one-minute spot features some familiar elements shown in the first full-length trailer , but there are also several juicy new items to look out for. Here are the five key scenes in the new “Hunger Games” teaser: Silver-Tongued Caesar Flickerman Finally, we’re starting to get sneak peeks at more key “Hunger Games” players. In this case, we get a good long look at (and listen to) Stanley Tucci as sweet-talking official “Games” interviewer Caesar Flickerman. Think of an over-caffeinated, duplicitous Matt Lauer, if you will. Flickerman’s job is to get the tributes to open up to him and “perform” for the Capitol audience. There is a perfect example in the teaser, as Tucci-as-Flickerman asks Katniss a loaded, personal question: “What did you say to your sister when you volunteered at the reaping?” “I told her I would try to win for her,” Katniss answers sincerely. “And try you will,” Flickerman adds with dramatic intonation in his voice, before bending down and kissing Katniss’ hand. Katniss Gives Prim The Mockingjay Pin For the book lovers out there, yes, this scene is different from how Suzanne Collins wrote it in the book, but it makes sense in the emotional context of the film. We see Katniss give her little sister a mockingjay pin and say, “As long as you have it, nothing bad will happen to you, I promise.” This is significant because the mockingjay is seen as a rebellious symbol to the Capitol. It should also be familiar to fans who’ve read the books, as the symbol graces the cover of “The Hunger Games.” Cinna’s Secret Gift This one relates to the opening scene of the teaser. Just before Katniss is sent up to the arena for the start of the Games, her intuitive stylist Cinna (Lenny Kravitz) pulls out the mockingjay pin that she gave her sister back in District 12 and pins it underneath Katniss’ jacket. It’s a powerful moment, in that it shows how in tune Cinna is with his tribute and that he believes in her strength, along with the fact that Prim somehow sent it along, because Katniss promised her that “nothing bad will happen” to her if she wears it. Katniss in Her Yellow Dress Again, this one is for our fellow readers of the book, but holy cow, they show Katniss in her yellow dress! It’s a very brief moment, but a loaded one. Without going into spoilers, because there are more than a few surrounding this particular look, the yellow dress Katniss wears is her most innocent-looking. Cinna designed it to showcase the softer side of the “girl on fire,” and the color was to be more like candlelight than flames. More President Snow And Effie Trinket We’ll take as many teases of the supporting players as possible, like the brief glimpse we get of Donald Sutherland’s likely first scene in the movie as President Snow. “Welcome! And Happy Hunger Games!” he says via a big-screen monitor transmitting the opening of the games from the Capitol. His voice has the perfect amount of gravitas and disturbing excitement for the upcoming bloodbath. And the puffiness of his white hair only adds to his menacing-but-stately look. Plus, we get a little more from uppity type-A escort Effie Trinkett, who eats up anything and everything official from the Capitol. “I just love that!” she says breathily after President Snow kicks off the reapings. Head to MTV’s NextMovie for a chance to win a “Hunger Games” prize pack, including two tickets to the premiere! Check out everything we’ve got on “The Hunger Games.” For young Hollywood news, fashion and “Twilight” updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com . Related Videos MTV Rough Cut: Jennifer Lawrence And Josh Hutcherson
Yesterday Evelyn Lozada went in on Jennifer “Purple Contacts” Williams and their shady friendship. Today she spoke out on why she went in and if her relationship with Jennifer is over for good. Via TheInsider.com: TheInsider.com: I saw your tweets last night! First, can you tell me how long you and Jennifer have been friends? Evelyn: We’ve been friends for about twelve years. We met in 1999, and her soon to be ex husband was playing for the Boston Celtics and my ex fiancé was playing on the same team. We ended up meeting at the games. TheInsider.com: So this friendship wasn’t just for the show? Evelyn Lozada: No! I was in Jennifer’s wedding! You meet a lot of friends over the years, but we remained close. We went to family functions together. I was the one who got Jennifer on the show. TheInsider.com: How did the rift between you two start? Evelyn Lozada: The relationship was a little strained prior to her doing a radio interview about Chad (Evelyn’s fiancé). It started when it was all over the web that he had proposed. My thing is this: if you were proposed to, or you were with whomever, no matter what my opinion is, I’m still going to be like ‘hey girl if you’re happy, I’m there. Let me see the ring.’ She never asked to see my ring, she NEVER congratulated me. She could have gave a sh*t.
Yesterday Evelyn Lozada went in on Jennifer “Purple Contacts” Williams and their shady friendship. Today she spoke out on why she went in and if her relationship with Jennifer is over for good. Via TheInsider.com: TheInsider.com: I saw your tweets last night! First, can you tell me how long you and Jennifer have been friends? Evelyn: We’ve been friends for about twelve years. We met in 1999, and her soon to be ex husband was playing for the Boston Celtics and my ex fiancé was playing on the same team. We ended up meeting at the games. TheInsider.com: So this friendship wasn’t just for the show? Evelyn Lozada: No! I was in Jennifer’s wedding! You meet a lot of friends over the years, but we remained close. We went to family functions together. I was the one who got Jennifer on the show. TheInsider.com: How did the rift between you two start? Evelyn Lozada: The relationship was a little strained prior to her doing a radio interview about Chad (Evelyn’s fiancé). It started when it was all over the web that he had proposed. My thing is this: if you were proposed to, or you were with whomever, no matter what my opinion is, I’m still going to be like ‘hey girl if you’re happy, I’m there. Let me see the ring.’ She never asked to see my ring, she NEVER congratulated me. She could have gave a sh*t.
Despite all the hype and controversy, critics are pretty impressed by Del Rey’s atmospheric music. By Gil Kaufman Lana Del Rey in “Born To Die” Photo: Interscope The now-infamous “Saturday Night Live” performance fail. All the hype about her looks, her path to the spotlight and the obligatory album leak a week before her debut dropped. Lana Del Rey survived a lifetime’s worth of slings and arrows before her major-label debut, Born to Die, was even released. But now that it’s officially out, critics have had a chance to listen to the atmospheric tracks she’s put together, and for the most part, they’re pretty impressed. The Chicago Tribune gave it two out of four stars and said the finished product is not always as interesting as the run-up to its release. “[The album] positions itself as a knowing retro commentary. It borrows heavily from B movies starring various second- and third-level ‘Rebel Without a Cause’ bad boys on motorcycles, string-drenched ‘Last Kiss’ pop tunes in which young lovers die in each other’s arms, beehived teens-with-attitude declaring, ‘He hit me and it felt like a kiss,’ ” music critic Greg Kot wrote. While Kot said Del Rey wishes to be taken seriously as “the bad girl in a gown, the cabaret singer with a masochistic streak,” he said she’s not always up to the task, even as he praised her distinctive, draggy vocal delivery and the dramatic, eerie arrangements from producer Emilie Haynie. Over at BBC , the focus was squarely on the music, saying above and beyond the drama, Born to Die is about “something older and more mysterious than that; the extraordinary, resilient power of the pop song.” The reviewer lamented that nothing on the 12-track album quite reaches the exquisite bummerness of lead single “Video Games,” with several of the songs running “perilously close, while revealing there’s more to her than the love-stunned torch singer [of that song].” What makes the album so fascinating and sets Del Rey apart from the typical “I’m hot, you’re hot” pop tart is her “preoccupation with Hollywood archetypes of American femininity, and her ability to shape-shift between them.” MTV News’ own James Montgomery believed the hype, writing that the album was “positively brimming with atmospherics — soaring, sonorous strings, echoing electronic boom-bap, morose, maudlin guitar crescendos — all of which imbue it with a truly epic (if not unnecessarily dramatic) scope.” For him, the album is a “thrilling headphone experience” that sounds like the $1 million he suspected it cost to make. The U.K.’s Guardian also praised the “sumptuous” orchestration and Del Rey’s “fine” voice. But after being impressed by the “beguiling description of a mundane love” affair in “Video Games,” the reviewer said the album’s other lyrics are “incredibly heavy-handed in their attempts to convince you that Lana del Rey is the doomed but devoted partner of a kind of Athena poster bad boy, all white vest, cheekbones and dangling ciggie.” If anything, the Guardian critic didn’t buy the Del Rey tough-girl personality and said the best bet is to mostly ignore the lyrics and focus on “how magnificently most of the melodies have been constructed.” Leave your own review of Born to Die in the comments! Related Videos MTV News Extended Play: Lana Del Rey Related Artists Lana Del Rey
Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth share their favorite bands and much more. By Kara Warner Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss and Liam Hemsworth as Gale in “The Hunger Games.” Photo: Murray Close/ Lionsgate Entertainment Once again, we’re back with “Hunger Games” stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth for a final round of fan-asked questions and answers with the three soon-to-be superstars. Over the course of the past few weeks, Lawrence, Hutcherson and Hemsworth have addressed varied topics such as on-set pranks , on-the-job injuries and which actor is most like his or her character . Today marks our final installment, in which the three lead actors from the highly anticipated film discuss musical influences, getting into character, being on fire and chemistry with their co-stars. @vic_rendueles: Music plays a big part in the HG. What type of music inspires you and why? Josh Hutcherson : Music is a huge part of my life. If I feel off for a couple of days, chances are I’ve not been listening to enough music — it’s that important to me. But I listen to everything from ’60s rock and roll to the Arctic Monkeys to the Black Keys to dubstep, so it’s literally full-on schizophrenic, my music taste. Jennifer Lawrence : I was just listening to Mumford & Sons on the way up here — love Mumford, the Black Keys, Jack White. I’m really looking forward to the musical part of the movie; T-Bone Burnett is producing it , and he’s the best in the world, so I’m really looking forward to that. Liam Hemsworth : One of my favorite bands is Coldplay; I love Coldplay. I love a lot of old school rock too — Pink Floyd, Guns N’ Roses — I love that stuff. Music is a great way to get in a good headspace if you have an intense scene or any kind of scene. There’s always some kind of music that can help you feel and get in to that kind of headspace. @KiwiMcI: Was it hard to balance Katniss’ inner vulnerability with the strength she’s forced to adopt in the horrors of the arena? Lawrence : Wow, what a question. Let’s see, I think everybody has vulnerability and strength. I think she’s vulnerable anyway, like all of the tributes, because none of them really want to be there. They’re chosen randomly, they’re all forced into the arena. She gathers strength, she has to fight to survive. She’s promised her sister that she would come back, so she replaces her vulnerability with strength. @maartjej239: How was it to be “on fire” in the chariots? Lawrence : Oh, that was fake. I wasn’t actually on fire, thank God. … I think they’ll just add that later, hopefully. @eringabin: In a postapocalyptic world like Panem, what would your most valuable survival skill be? Hemsworth : I’d hope that I could shoot like Katniss. That would probably help a lot. I can’t, though. @LoveAcrossTime: From the trailer alone, the fans already see the amazing chemistry between [Katniss and Peeta]. Was that an instant thing? Hutcherson : It really was. Jennifer and I hit it off right away, as did myself and Liam. Jennifer and I are kind of from the same part of the country, we had a similar upbringing, the same kind of system, more or less. She’s just a very real person, and you don’t meet many actresses that are super real and down to earth and genuine and are extremely talented on top of all that, so she kind of has the whole thing going on, and she’s an awesome person. I really hit it off with her. Check out everything we’ve got on “The Hunger Games.” For young Hollywood news, fashion and “Twilight” updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com . Related Videos The ‘Hunger Games’ Cast Answer Your Burning Twitter Questions
RPattz’s indie ‘Cosmopolis’ takes on the fresh franchise in MTV Movie Brawl 2012 — vote now! By Eric Ditzian Jennifer Lawrence in “The Hunger Games” Photo: Lionsgate It started three weeks ago with a simple question: What is truly the must-see movie of 2012? Everyone’s got an opinion. Maybe you’re a “Hobbit” guy who can’t believe that, after years of delay, Peter Jackson is set to deliver the first part of his series in December. Or perhaps you’re a “Dark Knight Rises” gal with an insatiable itch to see how Christopher Nolan wraps up his Batman trilogy. Or, hey, possibly you’re thinking, “Screw all these studio-driven tentpoles! I can’t wait for indies like ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ to hit and show us Emma Watson in her first post-‘Harry Potter’ role!” But we got to wondering: What’s the consensus pick? What’s the collective viewpoint across the globe? So we launched MTV Movie Brawl 2012 , a fan-driven tournament to determine the year’s most-anticipated film. Millions of votes have been cast thus far. The debate has echoed from the pages of MTV News to the updates of the Twitterverse and beyond. Now just two movies remain: “The Hunger Games” and “Cosmopolis.” One is a fresh franchise with a huge fanbase. The other is an indie drama featuring one of the biggest stars on the planet. And less than one day into the action — with hundreds of thousands of votes already cast — it’s anybody’s guess what is going to happen. And we couldn’t be more psyched about it. As of this writing ,”Hunger Games” is up by less than 2 percent over Robert Pattinson’s “Cosmopolis.” It’s been an unlikely run for RPattz’s cerebral drama, having entered the Brawl bracket as a #4 seed after an impressive run in the play-in round. From there, “Cosmopolis” dispatched another Pattinson flick in “Bel Ami,” then shockingly dispatched his own “Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2.” “The Dark Knight Rises” proved to be no match for “Cosmopolis,” as well, and so the movie came to face “Hunger Games.” Jennifer Lawrence’s film, which hits theaters in March, was a front-runner from the beginning, and it has not disappointed. Both “John Carter” and Daniel Radcliffe’s “Woman in Black” could not trip up the win-at-all-costs run of “Hunger Games.” So we wonder: Can Pattinson accomplish what no other star has so far in the Brawl? Can he fell the mighty “Hunger Games”? All will become clear when the polls close Monday at 5 p.m. Until then, the vote totals are being closely guarded. It’s up to the fans to keep voting for their fave flick and to make sure their must-see movie is crowned the champion of MTV Movie Brawl 2012. Vote For Your Favorite Upcoming Flick In MTV’s Movie Brawl 2012! What are you waiting for? “Hunger Games” and “Cosmopolis” need your support. It’s time to show character, poise and heart. Vote for your pick now at MTV Movie Brawl 2012 ! Related Videos MTV Movie Brawl 2012! Related Photos The Hunger Games
‘Sometimes it seems more important to me than other times,’ Del Rey told MTV News before her ‘Saturday Night Live’ debut. By James Montgomery Lana Del Rey performs “Video Games” on “SNL” on Saturday Photo: NBC Lana Del Rey’s “Saturday Night Live” performance was divisive, to say the very least, as she seemed to battle nerves (and some rather shaky vocal moments), circumstances that only gave more ammunition to her critics. Of course, to be fair, given her rather meteoric rise to the mainstream, Del Rey hasn’t exactly had a ton of time to develop her stage presence, though, as previous television appearances — like this “Later Live … with Jools Holland” performance from October — prove, she’s certainly capable of much more than she showcased on “SNL” (at least vocally). Still, Del Rey will be the first to admit that she’s yet to truly be at ease when it comes to performing on television. In fact, she finds the entire process to be, well, a little off-putting, as she told MTV News last week. “I find it weird … sometimes. [It] depends on the day,” Del Rey said. “You know, like, [it] depends on what’s going on with my family and everyone around me. If I have other things to think about, or I’m trying to get things done for somebody else, and I’m not in my own way, then … I’m like, ‘This doesn’t really matter.’ Sometimes it seems more important to me than other times, I don’t know.” And though, at the time, she couldn’t have predicted how her “SNL” performance would turn out — she said she wasn’t even sure which songs she’d be singing — Del Rey said that, no matter what happened, and despite how weird she may find the entire TV experience, she’s just trying to enjoy the ride. “Things are cool. They always will be, whether the music goes good or not,” she said. “Like, I consider being able to sing a luxury, it doesn’t run my life, it’s not my main focus. I love it, I feel grateful. I’m honored to be on ‘SNL’ I’m happy to be here, but if I didn’t have it, I’d be happy too.” What did you think of Lana Del Rey’s “SNL” debut? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page. Related Videos MTV News Extended Play: Lana Del Rey Related Artists Lana Del Rey
