During ‘MTV First’ premiere of ‘Wide Awake,’ Katy talks about upcoming documentary, which shows her at her most unpolished. By James Montgomery, with reporting by Sway Calloway Katy Perry Photo: Katy Perry may have closed the book on Teenage Dream with her new “Wide Awake” video , but next month, she’ll wrap that book up (and put a tidy little bow on top) with “Part of Me,” the 3-D documentary that not only captures her meteoric 2011, but her unheralded early days as well. “The movie is all of last year; I had these two guys from London come out [to film], and I said, ‘Will you just capture everything that goes on?’ ” Perry told MTV News’ Sway Calloway during the “MTV First” premiere of the “Wide Awake” video. “Because I felt 2011 would be an important year for me; you could feel it, like tremors of an earthquake. I didn’t know what I was going to catch, but I was going on this extreme tour, playing venues I never dreamed I’d play … I was either going to go bankrupt, have a breakdown or have the greatest success of my life; and I’m sure I did a lot of those things. But we caught all of it and put it together in a film.” Perry wrote “Wide Awake” specifically for the film — the video ends with her triumphantly ascending to the stage during her California Dreams Tour — so it’s little wonder that the clip also features plenty of nods to her past . “Part of Me” also tells the story of how she rose from an unknown to one of the biggest pop stars on the planet, and watching it now, Katy can’t help but be amazed at how eerily prescient she was in her younger days. “There’s some backstory of how I got here, because a lot of people have heard about where I come from, but there’s actual footage … the movie, when it opens up, it’s me at 18 talking about how I want all these things, like, all the things I have now and achieving my dreams,” she said. “But then I’m kind of biting my lip going, ‘But then there’s all this responsibility.’ And then it cuts to me at the arena with thousands of people, essentially being a boss of sorts, a CEO, having to give out orders; it’s pretty crazy.” And unlike many other high-profile docs, this one is delightfully unpolished. There are moments where Perry appears unguarded and unfiltered — which, to her, is one of the most important aspects of the film. It not only documents her rise to fame, but her acceptance of herself too. It’s called “Part of Me” for a reason, after all. “There’s some scenes that I know people will screenshot and be like, ‘Oh, she looks like a fat cow with zits.’ But I put those in there because that’s a part of me, that’s reality, and I’m OK with that now,” she explained. “It’s been a process of learning it’s OK, and I’m accepting of my own skin, but I think it’s important for young kids to see that you don’t have to be perfect in order to achieve your dreams, because I think that the world has this strange, skewed perception of successful people, that they’re just so perfectly made up, and they have all these possessions that make them who they are, and that’s not at all how I got here; I came from nothing, I didn’t have anything. “I just had a dream, and I worked very hard at achieving that dream,” she continued. “And that’s exactly what it takes; it takes a lot of hard work, a lot of sacrifice, a lot of focus, and hopefully that will open the door for you. But it’s not about being perfect.” Check out everything we’ve got on “Katy Perry: Part of Me.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Videos MTV First: Katy Perry’s ‘Wide Awake’ Related Artists Katy Perry
For upcoming basketball movie, Wahlberg tells MTV News he’ll push Bieber to get a ‘strong performance out of him.’ By Kara Warner Mark Walhberg Photo: Clearly, Justin Bieber has a lot going on with the release of his new album Believe, Tuesday’s live MTV News special and planning a world tour, but that doesn’t mean he’s forgotten about fostering his movie career. Both Mark Wahlberg and Bieber have spoken positively about their planned buddy basketball movie. Wahlberg has said it will be in the vein of the Martin Scorsese-directed “The Color of Money,” starring Tom Cruise and Paul Newman, except with Wahlberg playing the older reluctant mentor and Bieber playing a “wisecracking kid who’s very talented.” “It’s set in [the world of] street hustling basketball,” Wahlberg told MTV News recently while he promoted his upcoming comedy “Ted.” “Obviously, [Bieber] is a very good athlete. People have seen him on MTV ; he can play. But I also really think he can act.” Wahlberg said he’s willing to put in the work in order to get a great performance from the young pop star/ aspiring actor. “There’s not going to be any shortage of pushing him in getting that kind of strong performance out of him, if we get to make the movie,” Wahlberg said. “We’re just going to have to make him realize that he’s playing a character so he can’t have the same hairdo,” he joked. And is there a chance there will be any singing in the film,
Let’s kill some time before Wednesday’s sneak peek by thinking up our dream trailer, in ‘Twilight’ Tuesday. By Kara Warner Robert Pattinson in “Breaking Dawn – Part 2” Photo: Is it Wednesday yet? We are anxiously awaiting the debut of yet another expectedly epic teaser trailer for “Breaking Dawn – Part 2,” and although there was a brief moment of reprieve when we got a sneak peek at 13 seconds of the teaser on Tuesday (June 19), we’re now in full-on obsessive analytical mode, which means it’s time to think about the five things we’re hoping to see in this new trailer: Renesmee, Renesmee, Renesmee As much as we’d like to ooh and ahh over how cute Edward and Bella’s progeny is as a baby, now that we’ve seen a photo of Mackenzie Foy as Renesmee , we’re thirsty for scenes of the young lass in action. Baby? What baby? As we all know, her existence is a continued threat to the Volturi, so we’re hoping to see some of that intensity play out. New Vampires! It seems like I write about this every week, but I’m still dying to see more of those new additions to the cast , i.e. all the other vampires from the non-Cullen clan. Where and why are you hiding Garrett, Carmen, Irina, etc.? Vampire Bella’s Mind Tricks We very likely won’t be seeing Bella’s secret superpower until the end of the movie, but how about showing us a little sample of what she can do with her soon-to-be-superstrong mental force field? I’ll settle for a quick glimpse of her arm-wrestling battle royale with Emmett, but it would be great to see how Bill Condon and screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg adapted Stephenie Meyer’s description of Bella’s mind tricks. The Next Great “Twilight” Song Biased as I am, it’s going to be hard for anyone to top the Edward/Bella love song from “Breaking Dawn – Part 1,” “Turning Page” by Sleeping at Last , but in knowing the caliber of the “Twilight” soundtracks, I’m betting it will include several potential new favorite songs. So why not give us a little listen in this new trailer? Jacob Not Being Creepy With Renesmee I am all about my love for Jacob, but the whole imprinting on Renesmee thing still creeps me out. I know, I know, he only feels and thinks about his total devotion to the young lady, but I just can’t get past the oddness of it all. Something that would help me get over that is if I could see how Taylor Lautner’s Jacob interacts with Foy as Renesmee. What do you want to see in the trailer? Let us know in the comments or tweet me @karawarner! For young Hollywood news, fashion and “Twilight” updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com .
Anne Hathaway really wants that Oscar. She chopped off all her hair and is making her skinny frame even skinnier with an extremely restrictive diet for her role as Fantine, a prostitute dying of tuberculosis (uhm…hot?) in the movie musical Les Miserables . Not only that, but she’s doing all of her own singing for the movie- no lip synching allowed. You see, she’s pretty serious. Even about getting naked: “ I’m as vain as the next girl, but I think it’s my job to show people as they live, and nudity is a part of life ,” she tells the fashion rag Allure. It’s not just a part of life, it’s the best part of life- at least as far as Mr. Skin is concerned. Celebrate life with outstanding nude pics of Anne Hathaway in Havoc (2005), Love and Other Drugs (2010) and more right here at MrSkin.com!
Also in Monday morning’s news round-up, Your Sister’s Sister leads in the specialty box office over a very quiet weekend for limited release titles, Warner Bros. beats the rap after Louis Vuitton tries to bag the studio for knockoff joke, and you too can figure out how to find a bad movie. No Twilight Reboot Planned by Lionsgate Summit’s parent, Lionsgate, is denying rumors that it is planning a fifth anniversary remake of the massively successful book and film series, Deadline reports . Your Sister’s Sister OK in Debut; Moonrise Kingdom Fierce in Week 4 IFC Films’ Your Sister’s Sister trumped the weekend’s openers in a generally quiet weekend in the specialty box office. Sundance doc Marina Abramovic The Artist Is Present bowed in two theaters, grossing just under $11K for a middling $5,495 average, Deadline reports . Sheffield Doc/Fest: Our Programme will Not be Censored by China Chinese delegates withdraw from attending the UK’s Sheffield Doc/Fest after a request to cancel screenings of Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry and High Tech, Low Life were refused by festival organizers, The Guardian reports . Warner Bros Beats Louis Vuitton in Hangover II Knockoff Handbag Dispute A judge has dismissed Louis Vuitton’s lawsuit against Warner Bros. over knockoff handbags in a scene in The Hangover Part II . “In the film, the character played by Zach Galifianakis carries a bag marked LVM, and when it gets pushed, he admonishes another character, ‘Be careful, that is … that is a Lewis Vuitton,’ THR reports . Summermetrics: 10 Ways of Looking at a Very Bad Movie “We as summer moviegoers should probably be grateful for Rock of Ages , the first big film of this blockbuster season to signify nothing other than good old-fashioned Hollywood narcissism — no knotty questions about the soupy, staple-y origins of man and xenomorph; no referendums on anyone’s increasingly perplexing career; no hyena laughing about the misfortune of the hubris-salted studio executives who green lighted John Carter . Just Tom Cruise in leather pants, with a tattoo of a heart above his actual biological heart. It’s the platonic ideal of summer cinema: You are going to go to the theater, and people are going to entertain you inside of it,” writes Grantland .
Fathers and daughters. It’s (excuse the expression) the mother of all incest taboos- while twincest (especially among Swedish bikini models) is just harmless, cheeky fun, and the enduring popularity of Kay Parker proves the power of the hot mom fantasy, the idea of a father and daughter getting it on still gives people the creeps. When it happens in movies, Daddy’s usually the bad guy and his little girl’s messed up for life. Think Chinatown : She’s my sister…she’s my daughter…she’s my sister AND my daughter! But there are a few exceptions, and in honor of this day celebrating fathers, we’ve got some of the oddest father/daughter combos in SKINema history: Like the French film Trois Places pour le 26 (1987), starring the out-of-this-world chest satellites of Lifeforce star Mathilda May . Finding out that her dirty old man lover is actually her father, she shrugs it off for a happy musical ending. Oh, those French! In Butterfly (1982), Stacy Keach lives alone with just his silver mine to keep him company…until his long lost daughter Pia Zadora comes around and throws herself at her dear old dad. She’s worth her weight in gold! In U-turn (1997), Jennifer Lopez is married to Nick Nolte , who also happens to be her dad. Nolte’s hired her boy toy Sean Penn to kill her, but she wants him to kill Nolte… needless to say, it’s complicated. The twisted Korean action film Oldboy (2003) is packed with incest- though we can’t tell you exactly how without spoiling the movie. Just go see it before the Nicholas Cage remake hits theaters! A more conventional twist on the father/daughter incest theme is Fire Walk with Me (1992), which brought the skincestuous themes of Twin Peaks to the surface. Sheryl Lee reprises her role as tragic, but oh so sexy, good girl gone bad Laura Palmer – turns out it’s daddy that made her that way. To put some Oedipus in your Electra complex, check out our Skincest is Best: Mothers and Sons roundup right here on the Mr. Skin blog!
Also rounding out Friday’s round up of news briefs, Harvey Weinstein receives UCLA honors, New York’s LGBT Festival sets its opener, the Austin Film Festival touts its record submission and California is chided for not doing enough to keep productions from ditching the state. Harvey Weinstein Receives UCLA Honors The Weinstein Company chief was feted by UCLA’s student directors as the school’s Champion Spirit Award recipient. The ceremony took place Thursday night at the Directors Guild of America as part of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television Film Festival. The award was created in 2010 recognizing a person in the entertainment industry who has “courage, integrity, insight and inspiration and is dedicated to fostering and nurturing emerging talent.” Recent winners include Stacey Snider and Roger Corman. Joshua Sanchez’s Four to Kick Off NYC LGBT Festival The film follows four people as they spend a holiday encountering life changing moments, both subtle and writ large and learn to cope with the lack of honesty in their lives. Closing the event will be Marialy Rivas’ acclaimed Chilean film Young & Wild . Based on the life of co-screenwriter Camila Gutiérrez, the film is a sexually-charged, stunning and energetic look at family and youth culture in contemporary Chile. The film was the recipient of the World Cinema Screenwriting Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. NewFest will take place July 27 – 31 at the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater. Austin Film Festival Touts Record Submissions The event said it has received a record number of entries for its 19th annual Screenplay competition. 6,500 entries came in, up by 12% from last year’s 5,800. The 19th annual Austin Film Festival & Conference will be held Oct 18 – 25, 2012 in Austin, TX. Around the ‘net… Madagascar 3 Should Win Box Office Father’s Day Weekend New comers Rock of Ages and That’s My Boy are expected to perform modestly this weekend, which should see Madagascar 3 reigning at the box office, Variety reports . Christina Ricci Boards Australian Indie Set in an inner-city beset with riots, Ricci stars as an American drama teacher who forms a connection to a troubled Aboriginal teen. The project is the debut feature of writer-director Sarah Spillane, Deadline reports . Report Warns California Not Doing Enough to Keep Movie/TV Productions The Milken Institute says the state’s efforts to halt runaway production falls short even with an extension of the $100 million annual tax incentive, THR reports .
Too cute not to share: Pixar has cut a very special Brave promo, just in time for Father’s Day, celebrating all that fathers teach us — how to acquire an inner strength and confidence as children that carries us into adulthood, how to shoot arrows, how to ride horses and become deadly sword-fighting killing machines… you know, the basics. It’s a nice reminder of what Pixar’s first female-led animated feature represents — a strong heroine whose quest concerns self-possession and courage rather than romance. And archery. Between this and The Hunger Games , a whole new generation of little girls are going to grow up ready to tackle the world with a bow and arrow. Brave screens at the LA Film Fest before opening nationwide on June 22.
[ A version of this interview originally ran as part of Movieline’s coverage of Sundance 2012 .] It says something about how far Ice-T has come since his gangsta rap days that his directorial debut, the hip-hop documentary Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap , premiered in January at Sundance to a house packed with hip-hop heads and white older moviegoers who likely know Ice better from Law & Order: SVU than “New Jack Hustler.” And it says something about the film itself, which explores the historical landscape of hip-hop in intimate detail with over 40 of Ice-T’s fellow rappers, that even the L&O -watching grandmas in the audience were bopping their heads the whole way through. Taking a fresh approach to the music documentary, The Art of Rap (co-directed by Andy Baybutt) sees Ice-T as a tour guide of sorts, navigating the viewer through home and studio visits with fellow MCs on both coasts as he has wide-ranging discussions about the roots of rap, what hip-hop means, and the skills and talent required of a truly great MC. (Among the hip-hop titans appearing in the film: Chuck D, Grandmaster Caz, Afrika Bambaataa, KRS-One, Melle Mel, B-Real, Mos Def, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, MC Lyte, Q-Tip, Redman, Immortal Technique, Nas, Common, and Kanye West.) As he travels from New York City to Los Angeles — with a detour to Detroit to see Eminem, described as one of the greatest rappers of all time — Ice asks his subjects to spit “something no one’s ever heard before,” resulting in a tapestry of astounding, off the dome freestyles and rare rhymes from some of the best rappers alive. With the intention of keeping the film feeling fresh and present, Ice-T forgoes include archival or concert footage as he revisits hip-hop’s colorful past, a choice that turns The Art of Rap into something of a communal, if dense, oral history of the genre. But with legends like these on hand speaking comfortably to one of their own — spilling their vulnerabilities as artists, exposed beyond the typically hard façade of the genre — it’s all utterly fascinating. (The film has received critical kudos, currently enjoying a very fresh 100 percent rating over at Rotten Tomatoes with 8 reviews in.) Movieline spoke with Ice-T as the rapper-turned-actor-turned-filmmaker explained what motivated him to grab his Rolodex and a tiny crew in the first place, why rap needed an Ice-T film more than another album, why the genre doesn’t get the respect it deserves, and how the film’s success or failure will determine his future directorial aspirations. Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap opens in limited release today. How do you think things went at your premiere? I wasn’t breathing the whole night before, I was so nervous. I put a lot of time and work into it, but you never know. Sundance was our goal when we made the movie — I only wanted to make it to Sundance. This was it for me. And if I could make it here, I was in the right company of good movies. Why Sundance? It was interesting to see it play well here for a crowd of predominantly white, older viewers, and last year Beats, Rhymes, and Life also did quite well. Well, I didn’t know what films would be here when we submitted the film and got accepted. When you think about it, I’m an indie artist; I started out making hardcore records, so I wanted to make something that was raw. I said, I know Sundance is artsy but if I can get accepted there, then I’m on the right track. White people, black people, it really doesn’t matter. It’s just a matter of is it good? So when the movie came on and people started cheering and laughing and bobbing their heads, it was like oh my god — we got it! It’s kind of like not a normal documentary, it’s like a performance experience, an intimate concerts with a lot of the artists that people love. I was just happy. You’ve said that once you decided a documentary on rap should be made it was easy to just call your friends to be in the film, but in terms of the actual filmmaking what was your approach? Did you study documentary form to develop the style you eventually used? Not really. I mean, I’ve been watching movies and I’ve been in the film business for 20 years so I know what’s good. I wanted to shoot it, but I wanted to blur the lines of the filmmaking and behind the scenes. If the mic was exposed, that was good. A lot of the stuff, you see me talking to people; I wanted you to get the idea of what it was like to make it, not just watch it. People are into reality right now so this was like real reality; you’re with me, you’re on the set, I’m going to walk up to this guy and ask him a few questions. So as I edited, I just wanted the camera to feel like it might be anywhere at any moment. There are times people are talking and you’re showing the wall, or his hands, or his shoes. And then we shot with a Super 8 to kind of break up the cleanness of high definition. And we shot the big cinematic shots because I felt that if you just shoot the talking heads the movie becomes claustrophobic, so it’s just like, listen, listen, listen, breathe. Listen, listen, listen, breathe. Those sweeping overhead cinematic shots, of the cityscapes over New York City and Los Angeles and the places you visit in between, also do well to connect visually to a sense of place and geography… even though that also makes it conspicuous when you don’t visit, say, the Bay Area or the South. That’s what Mos Def said in the movie — the music is dictated by the geography, and that’s why New York sounds different than Detroit, different than L.A. And you know, I couldn’t go to the South; the biggest problem I ran into with the movie was once we started, just the lack of time and the amount of film we shot. When I got the nod for Sundance I had a three-hour film and they said the longest they’d run them here is two. We had interviewed 54 [musicians]; even to make a three-hour cut we had 47, and I had 25 people waiting to be filmed when we had to wrap shooting! So like Chuck D said [at the film’s Q&A] at being asked why this person wasn’t in it and why that person wasn’t, you know what? The movie’s not about that, it’s not about ‘Come see your favorite rapper.’ I feel every form of rap, every style, was represented. Are you currently considering extending this two-hour film somehow into something else, perhaps a series? I won’t speak on that, only because we don’t want to lower the integrity of this as a film. We want it to be a film, and once it does its dance as a film, whether it’s a theatrical release which looks like it’s about to happen… I’ll put it like this: We’ve got two hours on each artist. Wow. That’s pretty incredible considering that many of the rappers we only see for a minute or two at most. [Laughs] I have two hours! So you look at KRS-One; KRS-One talked about so much stuff, but my job is, let’s show the part where KRS talks about being vulnerable, like the moment where he got dissed. I want you to see the different dynamics of these artists. See, when you take young artists, right, young artists have their guards up. They never want to show any weakness, they’re scared. They’re worried about their persona. When you talk to people once they’ve been down the lane, they’ll tell you the story. They’ll say, “Wow, man — I’m Public Enemy and Mel was dissing us!” Now they’re comfortable with themselves. Even the stories, WC was talking about how I would use kids as teleprompters. Early in my career I wouldn’t have said that, but now I’m like, let’s laugh about it! I think that’s part of this film’s charm, too. There’s a segment where you’re talking with Ice Cube and 50 Cent is referenced; Cube jokes that you don’t want to get rich and die trying. Was that a jab at Fiddy, or just an offhand remark? No, that’s not a diss — it’s more like saying, this is my play on what you said. I don’t want to get rich and die trying. 50 Cent said “Get rich or die trying,” but you can get rich and die trying. So once you made it now, let’s not fuck it off. That would be part two of Fifty. The next one is Get Rich AND Die Tryin … I just think that the way that rappers speak about each other in the movie is very endearing, how they speak about how they were inspired by this one, and also I think really showing Grandmaster Caz as one of the unsung heroes. Grandmaster Caz wrote “Rapper’s Delight!” It’s important shit. That’s a nice quality to the movie; it engenders appreciation not only between the artists that you interview, but having MCs spit live, directly into the camera without music really highlights rap as a performance and an art form. And you’ve got to remember this: Nobody knew they were going to rap. That’s part of being a rapper. Nobody knew they were going to rap. It’s like at the [Sundance premiere Q&A, where Ice-T was asked to spit his favorite rhyme] the guy said, “Ice, can you quote a rhyme?” Yeah, I’m a rapper — I’d better know how to fucking quote a rhyme! I pulled Rakim outta my ass, and that’s it. But during the interviews I said, “You want to spit something — you got anything in the head, want to say something no one’s ever heard?” And bam! They just, bam! I didn’t tell anyone, “You’re going to rap.” I didn’t tell Kanye he was coming over to rap. But you knew they could, because that’s what they do . Exactly! That’s what they do. You can’t interview a basketball player on a basketball court, with a basketball within his reach, and he won’t take a shot. It’s just what they do. He’s going to want to dribble the ball — he’s at home! So when you get a rapper in a comfortable situation with one of their friends and say, “Spit something,” they might go, “Aww, come on Ice!” Then they might go, “Hold on…” bam! And another thing I did in the movie, if you really watch — some of the rappers in their rhymes kind of fuck up. They kind of slur words, because they’re connecting two rhymes together. That’s the art. You know, what you hear on records is something different. But when you hear it live, that’s all good. I mean, hopefully none of the rappers are so vain that they’re like, “Ice, you saw me fucking up.” But that’s just what they did. That’s real shit. Which of your interviews was the most challenging to pull off, or to break through to? None. None of them. Every interview was just as easy to do, the only hard part was getting Ice-T, them, and a camera crew from London in the same place at the same time. How did you find your crew? When I came up with the idea, my manager said “I’ve got somebody who might be interested in doing it.” We hooked up with a guy named Paul Toogood, he does a TV show called Songbook where they interview singers and they break down a song. It’s right up his alley. He said, not only do I want to do it, I’ll get the money to do it. I had to find somebody who was as passionate about it as me, and thank god – these guys are incredible cinematographers… the thing about this film is there were only five people that made it. There’s Paul, the cinematographer, myself, my guys that helped me wrangle the artists, Coco, Little Ice, and the sound crew. It’s apparent how small your crew is in the film when you have trouble fending off onlookers and fans while interviewing Q-Tip in New York… We just grabbed Q-Tip on the corner and we started shooting, I’ve got one of the homies out there blocking, I’ve got a camera guy and a boom, and we just go. So it’s very guerrilla, but I think that’s part of what makes the movie good. That comfortable distance of time and age that you mentioned that allows you to be more open with your experiences – do you feel like the impetus for making this film came from a desire to revisit where you’ve been in your career, to reconnect with your roots after transitioning into acting and television and beyond? I think it’s trying to do something for hip-hop, but do something that I am the only one who’s really capable of doing it. It’s kind of like, Ice-T could make another record, but we all know that. Now Ice is in another lane, he’s moved up, he’s got different credentials. So now it’s my job; I’ve got to make a movie. I’ve got to give hip-hop something they didn’t even know they wanted. Right now you make records and people don’t listen to them. You write a book and some people read. But people go to movies! And I wanted to direct; I have a lot of films that are in my sights, but I always learned in business that if you’re going to start a new business, go for the lowest hanging fruit. Start with something you know the best, first. And this is what I know the best. So I said, let me do something that’s important, that’s my way of giving back to hip-hop, and if it’s successful I’ll move on with my filmmaking career. If it’s not, I’ll re-assess my mistakes, maybe try again, or I’ll stop. But what is your barometer for success with this film? When will you be happy or satisfied with the results? It’s really just the response of the people. I never go by the critics, because critics’ jobs are to criticize. So a critic will look at you and how well you’re dressed but they’re looking for something they don’t like. Film journalists, I respect. But anyone who uses the word ‘critic’ in their description, I don’t fuck with them. But I can tell from the fans. Now, the internet and all the ways people can get back at you… you’ll know if you did something good or not. My first barometer is the hip-hop community. If they love it, and they’re like, “Man, you did something great. Thank you, Ice…” That’s the first thing. Secondly will be the people and how they respond to it. So far, I went home last night and went through 30 reviews and didn’t get one bad, not one. I’m speechless! In the movie, we ask the question “Why don’t you think hip-hop is respected?” Well, to have this film respected kind of says it is respected. It’s maybe not vocal, but it is, because people loved the movie. So it is respected. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Director Adam Shankman explains how ’80s icons like Sebastian Bach and Debbie Gibson ended up in the movie musical. By Amy Wilkinson Julianne Hough and Diego Boneta in “Rock of Ages” Photo: The ’80s are alive and well in director Adam Shankman’s movie musical ” Rock of Ages ,” which shimmied into theaters Friday (June 15). Based on the hit Broadway production of the same name, the flick follows would-be musician Drew Boley (Diego Boneta) as he falls for new-in-town Sherrie Christian (Julianne Hough) and lands his big break opening for rock legend Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise) at the famed Bourbon Room. The soundtrack is stuffed with the era’s biggest hits like “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” “Don’t Stop Believin’ ” and “I Want to Know What Love Is,” but the toe-tapping tunes aren’t the only throwbacks to the decade of decadence. Pay close attention and you’ll spot a number of ’80s music mavens. A major plotline in the film centers around conservative advocate Patricia Whitmore’s (Catherine Zeta-Jones) attempt to shutter the Bourbon Room and reclaim the Sunset Strip for more wholesome pursuits. The struggle reaches its climax in a rocking protest outside the club with Patricia and company facing off against club employee Lonny (Russell Brand) while singing a mash-up of “We Built This City” and “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” It’s here among the assembled masses that you’ll recognize a few familiar faces, like Skid Row’s Sebastian Bach and Debbie Gibson. But how did the cameos come to be? “I had said if anyone from the period wants to participate, there is a scene I’m happy to accommodate, ’cause it just felt right. … So the studio just kind of put out the word, and that’s what happened,” Shankman said. “I would get the phone call the day before going, ‘This is who’s coming tomorrow,’ and I’m like, ‘Seriously?!’ ” Having a bevy of rock stars on a single set might sound like a nightmare of warring egos and AquaNet, but in fact, Shankman said the stars sang for their supper, staging an impromptu concert. “The greatest part of having those guys — [REO Speedwagon’s] Kevin Cronin, [Extreme’s] Nuno Bettencourt and Sebastian — all of them, our lunch that night was at 3:30 in the morning, and during lunch for the whole crew, they did a whole concert, and they sang all the songs.” Now that’s a scene we want to see on the DVD bonus reel! Check out everything we’ve got on “Rock of Ages.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Videos MTV Rough Cut: ‘Rock Of Ages’
