MTV News’ resident Lohan defender explains how returning to ‘Saturday Night Live’ may be the first step in her career comeback. By John Mitchell Lindsay Lohan Photo: Evan Agostini/Getty Images I’ve long been a defender of Linsday Lohan . I root for her success and am eternally hopeful — and thus often disappointed — that she will get it together. When people slam her, mock her long, long list of troubles , I can always be called upon to email them a link to Robert Downey Jr.’s biography, which has many parallels to Lohan’s but differs because it also contains the phrase “.357-caliber Magnum handgun.” Downey’s list of troubles easily eclipses Lohan’s (at this point, anyway), but he managed to fully recover and go on to become one of the biggest stars on the planet, starring in enormous box-office hits like “Iron Man” and “Sherlock Holmes” and earning Oscar nominations for films like “Tropic Thunder.” She’s not entirely out of the woods just yet, but she’s been earning “glowing” reports on her probation progress and was recently announced as the host of “Saturday Night Live” on March 3. A series of good signs and the first truly positive news out of Camp Lohan in a long time. When word of Lohan’s hosting stint on “SNL” was announced, I was incredibly pleased. For many reasons, it seems like a smart move, and if she pulls it off, it could be the first step (of many necessary steps) toward a real career comeback. Here’s why:
It’s awfully simplistic to say so but with Lena Dunham ‘s forthcoming HBO dramedy series GIRLS , which marks the latest milestone in her rapidly ascending career, the comparisons draw themselves — comparisons to Dunham’s own prior work and to all that’s come before in attempting to mine the modern single female experience for insights and laughs in film and television. But whether you’re a fan or a Dunham skeptic, it’s worth taking a look at the show’s first trailer to see for yourself what to expect from the developing filmmaker, especially with folks like Judd Apatow shepherding her post- Tiny Furniture . Dunham’s career-starting indie pic Tiny Furniture (her sophomore feature) earned equal shares of praise and criticism upon release in 2010, but it unquestionably put her brand of wry, neurotic comedy on the radar and demonstrated Dunham’s willingness to expose herself, warts and all, as a writer and performer. GIRLS , also set in New York and concerned with young women on the brink of figuring out their lives, very much expands on the Dunham brand but shows a marked maturity; Dunham stars in front of the camera in addition to writing and directing, and she’s joined by three strong supporting actresses (Allison Williams, Jemima Kirke, Zosia Mamet) who flesh out the series’ circle of twentysomething friends. The similarities to Sex and the City can be found, but they’re also deliberate; characters fully acknowledge that they’re of a generation weaned on SATC ‘s fantasy, just one of the many pop references they cite as somewhat (painfully) self-aware New York transplants. Truth be told, I was sold after previewing the first three episodes, especially given where GIRLS falls in the vast range of female-slanted shows on the air of late; it debuts on HBO this April and bridges the gap between the current class of girl-oriented network fare and the more daring stuff found on cable these days, but also captures a range of interests and talent so innately of this generation. For example: The trailer below teases appearances by Chris Eigeman ( Metropolitan ) and Peter Scolari ( Bosom Buddies )! What’s more, an upcoming episode features a particularly juicy turn by Lonely Island’s Jorma Taccone that I’ve been thinking about repeatedly since. This is TV (HBO’s scheduled a 10-episode season to run) but more important than this or that format is the idea that Dunham’s developing her voice as a storyteller in line with what we’ve seen previously. She’s seemingly been given a considerable amount of rope to keep doing her thing (Apatow’s involvement as a producer likely has something to do with that) and it should be interesting to watch as she keeps one foot in television and one in film. GIRLS debuts at SXSW next month and premieres April 15th on HBO.
It was great seeing Brandy and Monica being cool with each other they have grown up since their teen years when people were trying to hype a problem between them. This was also the girls’ first televised performance together since performing ‘The Boy Is Mine’ 14 years ago at the MTV music awards. Monica & Brandy Perform “It All Belongs To Me” Live On Jay Leno check them out grown woman shwagg!| 2122173143 by YardieGoals
It was great seeing Brandy and Monica being cool with each other they have grown up since there teen years when people were trying to hype a problem between them. This was also the girls’ first televised performance together since performing ‘The Boy Is Mine’ 14 years ago at the MTV music awards.Monica & Brandy Perform “It All Belongs To Me” Live On Jay Leno check them out grown woman shwagg!| 2122173143 by YardieGoals
It started with the pudding. Oh, not just any pudding: A perfect pool of melt-in-your-mouth chocolate-hazelnut goodness — a confection so rich, so irresistible, that even Tom Hardy found himself drawn like a moth to a flame to the dessert table before the press conference for This Means War the other week in Beverly Hills. He grabbed a saucer and ambled over to a pack of bewildered journalists, offering an ebullient bon mot about The Woman in Black . “I’d have eaten through Daniel Radcliffe to get that part!” he raved, or so the story goes, before setting down his dish and disappearing once more into the back hallways of the Four Seasons. I’d arrived two minute too late for the Hardy-Pudding Incident, but the room was still abuzz over the moment. So rarely does the talent walk among the press at these things that when they do — especially when as scruffy-faced and so very normal looking as Hardy was that day, clad not in couture but in a military-style This Means War jacket – it can be strangely jarring. Ditto when the film at hand is a Hollywood joint as slick and persona-driven as This Means War , the success of which will depend in great part on how many people out there want to see Reese Witherspoon wrestle with the tough choice of making out with the beautiful, manly Hardy or making out with the beautiful, manly Chris Pine . Decisions, decisions. Given the nature of This Means War as an early-year studio rom-com, it was a curious thing to see how personality played out in the flesh with director McG and stars Hardy, Witherspoon, and Chelsea Handler taking questions together. (Pine was absent thanks to Star Trek 2 filming commitments.) Witherspoon proved predictably amiable, gamely answering queries about online dating, marriage, and shooting her co-stars in the junk with a paintball gun – an old pro at offsetting the tedium of junket questions while coming off as perfectly likeable. McG, ever the showman, commanded the conference with his signature bombast — for better and for worse. According to him, This Means War was never intended to be a terribly complicated or easily categorized kind of film. “Let’s face it, this movie’s not about the human condition,” he admitted. “This movie’s about, ‘Hey, I can’t put it into a box.’ I think that’s one achievement of the picture is that you can go, ‘Hey, it is funny, there is some action, the girls are great, the guys are great.’ And it’s not just like this or just like that. And if we’re successful in doing that, we’re certainly done what we set out to do.” Uh, sure. Over in the corner, meanwhile, Hardy hunched over his mic and avoided giving the usual run of the mill sound bites. Does Hardy ever have conflicts with friends? “I don’t have any friends… I have a dog and a son. A dog couldn’t do anything to upset me, you know, and neither could my son.” What does he think of social media? “I think online dating is a way of procuring people, you know what I mean? Like Facebook, Myspace. It’s a way that people [use] to connect out. And procure small children and sometimes you know, dodgy relationships.” If we’re talking big personalities in This Means War and its junket that day at the Four Seasons, though, Handler took the cake. Playing Witherspoon’s married best friend and confidante, the talk show host/author/comedienne runs away with the film’s funniest lines; word has it McG battled the ratings board over Handler’s risqué ad libs just to get it down to a PG-13 rating, but more than a few gems made it through. Handler, of course, reveled in her reputation for controversy-making. The self-described “horrible influence on everyone” described the real life reversal of her off-screen friendship with Witherspoon. “It’s kind of the opposite. Because in real life, she has children, she’s a mother and she’s married. And I’m single, so it was kind of fun playing opposite roles. [Pause] I’m single and I sleep with a lot of men, so it’s perfect.” This Means War is pretty much exclusively composed of sexy fun and spy games, and its central actors are charismatic all, but something about it still nagged me. I asked McG to explain why his cast noticeably lacks diversity – all four leads (Pine, Hardy, Witherspoon, Handler) are Caucasian with blue eyes, while throwaway roles go to a few supporting actors, including Angela Bassett as a one-note police captain. He answered by pointing to his own 2000 film, Charlie’s Angels . “Listen, that’s a huge concern for me,” he replied. “And I can answer that in good faith because I put Lucy Liu in Charlie’s Angels . I don’t like lily-white movies with lily-white people bouncing around, but you’ve also just got to do what you got to do.” McG continued. “In the spirit of Benetton [Rainbow Complex], you know, the most empowered character in the film is indeed a black woman. I enjoy that the most powerful person in Hollywood is indeed a black woman – Oprah Winfrey. And I’m hoping to just transcend beyond that. I love ethnic diversity all over the place, but I just felt like Chelsea was the right one. I had a singular vision for Tom Hardy, I chased him all the way over to London. And you’re right, because I’m doing the color correction and I’m like, Jesus, everybody’s eyes are popping off the screen, these interior-lit blue mongrels. And it’s a bit of a concern, but you just got to do what’s right.” Without skipping a beat, Handler glanced in my direction and chimed in: “But we ate Chinese food throughout the whole filming.” “ We ate Chinese food throughout the whole filming. ” Immediately I wondered if she’d cracked the joke because of me — and if so, was I even offended by it? … Should I be? In the end I decided that I’d actually have more respect for Handler if she had intended to make a racial joke, in front of dozens of journalists, just to get a quip in; that’s the same kind of inappropriate quick-thinking that makes This Means War even remotely watchable, and the kind of boundary-smashing ballsiness that made me LOL at her E! talk show in the first place. If anything, I’m more offended by McG’s lazy excuse for making This Means War so “lily-white” while clinging to a progressive bit of casting he dared to pull off, once, over a decade ago. So it’s more than a “bit of a concern,” all right. And needless to say, Hollywood’s glaring issue of ethnic underrepresentation is not going to be solved here, with an explosion-filled rom-com like This Means War , and maybe-accidental, probably-on purpose jokes in poor taste blurted out in moments of impromptu press conference stand-up. At least we’ll always have pudding. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
I’m sure you all know by now that Kate Upton is the 2012 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover model, we all saw that coming a mile away, but I thought I’d introduce you to a few of the other swimsuit models. Here are Kate and the girls on their way to visit Letterman last night, that lucky son of a bitch gets all the hotties. Obviously I don’t know any of their names, that’s the way I like it, but you get the idea. A team of hot girls in sexy outfits. Awesome.
I’m sure you all know by now that Kate Upton is the 2012 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover model, we all saw that coming a mile away, but I thought I’d introduce you to a few of the other swimsuit models. Here are Kate and the girls on their way to visit Letterman last night, that lucky son of a bitch gets all the hotties. Obviously I don’t know any of their names, that’s the way I like it, but you get the idea. A team of hot girls in sexy outfits. Awesome.
The debate over being called Black or African-American is an ongoing conversation where opinions change as often as possible. Actor and comedian Al Shearer reignited the debate in the offices of TMZ when he and a friend we caught leaving a restaurant. The Glory Road actor proclaimed proudly, “I’m Black!” A cameraman proceeded to ask his opinion on the label debate to which Al Shearer answered with, “Black is good. Black is beautiful.” Before Shearer could finish his sentence, his friend screamed, “Bring your black ass on!” Shearer then stated, “If you call me the N-word, you’ll get knocked out. But Black or African-American is cool.” Harvey Levin , the owner of the blog, was slightly confused as to why the label kept changing and stuck his foot in his mouth offering, “They keep changing it every five years!” His Black employees didn’t appreciate the comment too much and politely checked him. What are your thoughts on being called Black or African-American? Does it matter? Is one better than the other? Sound off in the comments. Source RELATED POSTS: 5 MUSICAL MOVIES WE LOVE: School Daze Black Is Beautiful: Dark Girls, A Documentary On Color Bias In & Out Of The African American Culture [VIDEO] Is This Racist? Dove Ad Causing Controversy On The Net
You can’t be serious ! A UK government program that allows teenager girls to receive birth control implants at school without their parents’ permission has some parents VERY angry: Government officials say it’s an effective way to combat teen pregnancy. Parents say it’s a complete violation of their rights as parents. Morality-minded individuals are concerned that this will result in rampant sluttiness. The program outfits young women who choose to participate with Implanon, a 3-inch long plastic matchstick that’s surgically installed beneath the surface of the skin under the arm. Implanon is a long-lasting form of birth control that is effective for 3 years before it must be removed, although it can be removed at any time. Parents are complaining because they say the procedure isn’t safe. According to one mother who spoke to the Telegraph, her 13-year-old daughter was given the device after filling out a short medical history form and without any consultation from their family doctor. Others say they’ve been “forced” to examine their daughters’ arms to make sure they haven’t tried to sneak around and get birth control behind their parents’ backs. Another parent says that her right to protect her daughter has been taken away from her. Interesting choice of words. Maybe one day everyone will understand that in much the same way that carrying an umbrella around doesn’t cause it to rain, taking birth control does not cause anyone to have sex. Reducing teen pregnancy is a good thing, and because teenagers are not awesome at making good decisions, giving teenagers access to birth control is a good thing. But implanting a birth control device in teenage girls WITHOUT their parents’ permission is totally OUT THE QUESTION. What do you think? Source More On Bossip! Hotlanta Hotties: A List Of Women Who We Wouldn’t Mind Seeing On The Cast Of Love & Hip-Hop Atlanta! You’re All Idiots: The Dumbest Ways Men Get Caught Cheating BeyBey Spotted Flossin’ Her Post Baby Blue Ivy Bawdy For The First Time, You Likey??? Thank God For The Giants: Maria Menounos Loses Super Bowl Bet And Gets Damn Near Naked On Live TV
But Jennifer Lawrence is less excited about her singing: ‘I am a horrible singer. And I’m an even worse person to be around when I’m singing.’ By Kara Warner, with reporting by Josh Horowitz Jennifer Lawrence Photo: MTV News For our fellow “Hunger Games” fans who obsess over Suzanne Collins’ brilliant books and their upcoming film adaptations as much as we do, there are so many things to love about the story that it’s difficult to pick just one or two (or five) things we’re looking forward to seeing when the movie opens March 23. But two of the most intriguing elements involved in the book-to-movie translation are what the Capitol will look like and how star Jennifer Lawrence will sound singing Rue’s Lullaby. MTV News was lucky enough to get a few hints about those specific topics during our recent chat with Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson, both of whom can’t wait to see the Capitol in the finished film but disagree about their excitement for Lawrence’s singing skills. “[I’m excited to see] everything in the Capitol,” Lawrence said. “Every time we showed up at a Capitol scene, I was so blown away. Everything was more than you could have even imagined.” “What was cool about the stuff in the Capitol, so much was practical,” Hutcherson added. “The whole apartment scene was all a set they built that was super, incredibly futuristic and amazing, and to see how that is integrated with the whole green-screen world as well is going to be really, really cool.” Lawrence was not quite as enthusiastic about hearing her voice in the film, however. When we brought up the subject, she seemed to immediately get nervous about it. “Oh God, oh God. Yeah, I did [sing],” she said when asked about recording “Rue’s Lullaby.” “I’m a terrible singer.” “She’s not,” Hutcherson said. “No, Josh! Stop,” Lawrence said to Hutcherson with sincerity. “He is messing with everyone.” “She’s been called the songbird of her generation,” Hutcherson jumped in with a smile, referencing a Will Ferrell line in “Step Brothers.” “My voice is a combination of Fergie and Jesus,” Lawrence played along. “No, I am a horrible singer. And I’m an even worse person to be around when I’m singing. I’m a terrible singer. I hated it.” Lawrence said the recording process with famed producer T-Bone Burnett was particularly excruciating. “T-Bone Burnett, like, the best person to ever happen to music is, like, listening in the other room. I kept getting ready, and then the music would play, and I’d [freak out],” she recalled. “Nothing would come out of my mouth.” 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 Super Bowl 46: Movie Spots
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