Long queues formed outside the Palais des Festivals this afternoon in Cannes as attendees mobbed the building waiting to pick up their credentials. Marilyn Monroe presided over the scene; the now familiar image of the legendary actress blowing out a candle is this year’s official image/poster of the 65th Festival de Cannes, which kicks off tomorrow evening with the debut of Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom , the first of 12 nights of red carpet premieres. While Marilyn adorned the facade of the Palais, the hive of festival activity, a quick stroll down the seaside Blvd de la Croisette revealed a tiny surprise at least perhaps for those who return year after year. There are surprisingly little in the way of gaudy movie ads covering some of Cannes’ beachfront hotels, usually a festival staple. Even the historic Carlton Hotel at the center of the Croisette, which is usually peddling any and all so-called movies from anything playing in the Official Selection to the Cannes Market or — hey, even if it’s not in Cannes, who cares — would cover its ornate facade. But unless crews are simply behind in their schedule, the hotel was surprisingly free of its usual tacky ads. What happened? True, the economy is flat in France and with today’s inauguration of the country’s first socialist president this century, speculation has arisen in Europe whether Germany and their Gaullist partners will be able to maintain a united front for austerity. And of course, the political crisis in Greece has meant a steady decline in the Euro. Perhaps not great for Europe, but a small windfall for hordes of Americans attending the festival. But this is Cannes and the marina is still packed with zillion dollar yachts and the cafés are still jammed with people buying over-priced fare. But perhaps there has been some shift. Deadline reported that studios are cutting back on galas, preferring cheaper regional fetes to the estimated $1.5M to $3M price tags that Cannes can command. So, maybe those normally ubiquitous treats featuring the latest project starring Paris Hilton or Jean-Claude Van Damme or whoever will be less of a visual assault this year. Still, the Carlton is not ads-free. The ever-ubiquitous dictator himself, Sacha Baron Cohen , greets guests with his military finest. Tom Cruise ‘s mug adorns the hotel’s outdoor café for his December thriller One Shot , directed by Christopher McQuarrie (incidentally, he is also the writer for Top Gun 2 ) and Spidey, as in The Amazing Spider-Man , sits squarely near the hotel’s roof. Of course, it’s not just the Carlton that cashes in on their prime location blaring out their sponsors’ wares for top doll– err, euro. Brian De Palma’s Passion received some recent press after an image of stars Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace moving in for a smooch hit the internet. Their sexy rendezvous covers two floors of a nondescript Croisette building, while Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained reigns over a prominent spot very close to the Palais in front of the chic Majestic Hotel. A quick scan at the credits confirms that Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson are in fact still starring in the film… Stay tuned for more reports from the Cannes Film Festival. Follow Brian Brooks on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
The Film : Being John Malkovich (1999), available today on Blu-ray and DVD via The Criterion Collection Why It’s an Inessential Essential : It’s strange to think that a film with John Malkovich’s name in its title isn’t really considered to be “a John Malkovich movie.” Instead, Being John Malkovich is understandably normally associated with screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and director Spike Jonze, both of whom really broke out thanks to BJM ’s success. While Jonze reveals on The Criterion Collection’s new audio commentary track that he and Kaufman were dead-set on getting Malkovich for the film, Being John Malkovich could really be about any celebrity. At the same time, that’s one of the many things that’s funny about Being John Malkovich : It’s a metaphysical black comedy about what people projecting things onto celebrities that don’t necessarily have anything to do with those celebrities. Malkovich just happens to be the guy whose mind Schwartz (John Cusack) and his vampish colleague Maxine (Catherine Keener) invade after they inadvertently discover a miniature portal into his head, and so his comic performance is consequently often overlooked in discussions of the film. He’s the biggest butt of Kaufman and Jonze’s jokes (I love when Maxine casually insults him by saying that he has a “too-prominent brow”), but he also reaffirms his fantastic comic timing, as when he cops a feel after ineffectually cooing to Maxine, “Shall we away to the boudoir?” Malkovich also demonstrates a deceptively subtle knack for physical comedy, like when he gives a buffoonishly perplexed look after being told by a date that he’s “creepy.” In a moment’s time, he scratches his head and tucks his lower lip beneath his teeth. It’s pretty hilarious because it’s done with such sly conviction. How the DVD Makes the Case for the Film : Criterion includes a number of great little behind-the-scenes on its new two-disc DVD set. In an interview with comedian John Hodgman, Malkovich reveals that when he was first given the script, “I saw the title and didn’t really think much about it.” He then initially turned the project down at the behest of his producing partner Russ Smith, who wanted Kaufman and Jonze to make the film “about” someone other than Malkovich. Later, Malkovich was taken aside again by Francis Ford Coppola and introduced directly to Jonze, whom Coppola said “everyone would [eventually] be working for.” According to Malkovich, after he signed onto the project, Kaufman apparently cut “some of the worst jokes about me — meaning the most cruelest ones,” from the screenplay. “I like those jokes,” he tells Hodgman nonchalantly. “I think they’re really funny.” Ironically, while Malkovich says that the film, “isn’t at all about me, it’s about people’s perceptions of me,” he apparently suggested that Charlie Sheen play his character’s best friend in Being John Malkovich . (Kevin Bacon had apparently already turned down that role.) But Malkovich had never met Sheen until that point; he just “struck me as the kind of person I would go to in an existential crisis.” Other Interesting Trivia : There’s a really bizarre and hilariously unfocused audio commentary track on disc one, where Michel Gondry, who was originally supposed to direct the film (he would later work with Kaufman on Human Nature before their Oscar-winning collaboration Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ) talks about everything but the film. At one point, he calls Spike Jonze up and jokingly browbeats him to confess that he fell in love with Keener on set. This is after Gondry wonders aloud if the cameraman got a boner when filming a POV shot from Malkovich’s perspective while he has sex with Keener. Gondry dismisses the idea that Malkovich became aroused by Keener but still insists that the cameraman and the director must have gotten sprung. I wonder what Malkovich thinks… PREVIOUS INESSENTIAL ESSENTIALS The Last Temptation of Christ The Sitter Citizen Ruth The Broken Tower Dogville Night Call Nurses Strange Fruit: The Beatles’ Apple Records Jeremiah Johnson Simon Abrams is a NY-based freelance film critic whose work has been featured in outlets like The Village Voice, Time Out New York, Vulture and Esquire. Additionally, some people like his writing, which he collects at Extended Cut .
The Film : Being John Malkovich (1999), available today on Blu-ray and DVD via The Criterion Collection Why It’s an Inessential Essential : It’s strange to think that a film with John Malkovich’s name in its title isn’t really considered to be “a John Malkovich movie.” Instead, Being John Malkovich is understandably normally associated with screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and director Spike Jonze, both of whom really broke out thanks to BJM ’s success. While Jonze reveals on The Criterion Collection’s new audio commentary track that he and Kaufman were dead-set on getting Malkovich for the film, Being John Malkovich could really be about any celebrity. At the same time, that’s one of the many things that’s funny about Being John Malkovich : It’s a metaphysical black comedy about what people projecting things onto celebrities that don’t necessarily have anything to do with those celebrities. Malkovich just happens to be the guy whose mind Schwartz (John Cusack) and his vampish colleague Maxine (Catherine Keener) invade after they inadvertently discover a miniature portal into his head, and so his comic performance is consequently often overlooked in discussions of the film. He’s the biggest butt of Kaufman and Jonze’s jokes (I love when Maxine casually insults him by saying that he has a “too-prominent brow”), but he also reaffirms his fantastic comic timing, as when he cops a feel after ineffectually cooing to Maxine, “Shall we away to the boudoir?” Malkovich also demonstrates a deceptively subtle knack for physical comedy, like when he gives a buffoonishly perplexed look after being told by a date that he’s “creepy.” In a moment’s time, he scratches his head and tucks his lower lip beneath his teeth. It’s pretty hilarious because it’s done with such sly conviction. How the DVD Makes the Case for the Film : Criterion includes a number of great little behind-the-scenes on its new two-disc DVD set. In an interview with comedian John Hodgman, Malkovich reveals that when he was first given the script, “I saw the title and didn’t really think much about it.” He then initially turned the project down at the behest of his producing partner Russ Smith, who wanted Kaufman and Jonze to make the film “about” someone other than Malkovich. Later, Malkovich was taken aside again by Francis Ford Coppola and introduced directly to Jonze, whom Coppola said “everyone would [eventually] be working for.” According to Malkovich, after he signed onto the project, Kaufman apparently cut “some of the worst jokes about me — meaning the most cruelest ones,” from the screenplay. “I like those jokes,” he tells Hodgman nonchalantly. “I think they’re really funny.” Ironically, while Malkovich says that the film, “isn’t at all about me, it’s about people’s perceptions of me,” he apparently suggested that Charlie Sheen play his character’s best friend in Being John Malkovich . (Kevin Bacon had apparently already turned down that role.) But Malkovich had never met Sheen until that point; he just “struck me as the kind of person I would go to in an existential crisis.” Other Interesting Trivia : There’s a really bizarre and hilariously unfocused audio commentary track on disc one, where Michel Gondry, who was originally supposed to direct the film (he would later work with Kaufman on Human Nature before their Oscar-winning collaboration Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ) talks about everything but the film. At one point, he calls Spike Jonze up and jokingly browbeats him to confess that he fell in love with Keener on set. This is after Gondry wonders aloud if the cameraman got a boner when filming a POV shot from Malkovich’s perspective while he has sex with Keener. Gondry dismisses the idea that Malkovich became aroused by Keener but still insists that the cameraman and the director must have gotten sprung. I wonder what Malkovich thinks… PREVIOUS INESSENTIAL ESSENTIALS The Last Temptation of Christ The Sitter Citizen Ruth The Broken Tower Dogville Night Call Nurses Strange Fruit: The Beatles’ Apple Records Jeremiah Johnson Simon Abrams is a NY-based freelance film critic whose work has been featured in outlets like The Village Voice, Time Out New York, Vulture and Esquire. Additionally, some people like his writing, which he collects at Extended Cut .
If you were a movie-watching child of the ’90s (or, shall we say, an adolescent girl with a pulse) you knew Devon Sawa as a teen idol golden boy of the decade. But after a little more than a dozen years as an actor — during which time he graduated from kiddie fare ( Little Giants , Casper , Now & Then ) to Tiger Beat bait ( Wild America ) to what he calls his “edgy” phase ( SLC Punk , Idle Hands , Final Destination , Slackers , and Eminem’s “Stan” video), Sawa departed Hollywood to reassess his career, not knowing if he’d return to acting. During his self-imposed exile from the spotlight — and the party culture and poor career choices that he admits marked his mid-aughts — Sawa spent time in Southeast Asia. He trained in muy thai. He restored a heritage building in his hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia. By the time a script serendipitously found its way to his mailbox, enticing him back into the acting game after his years-long absence, Sawa was ready to start fresh. A celebrated guest turn as reformed assassin Owen Elliot on The CW’s sleeper hit Nikita followed, along with turns in the Toronto Film Festival thriller 388 Arletta Avenue , the indie horror pic The Sibling , and this week’s After Dark Action slate offering, The Philly Kid . Movieline met with Sawa to discuss (OK, obsess over) his beloved ’90s films and the disparate fan followings they inspired, the unexpected similarities between directors Steven Spielberg and Dr. Dre, how he spent his four years away from acting, and why it’s always OK to give your phone number to the Coen brothers . What brought you to The Philly Kid in the first place? You aren’t playing the hero here, but rather a more vulnerable character, which I thought was a more interesting choice. First of all, when I read the script the lead was already cast with Wes [Chatham] and he couldn’t have done a better job, but this was appealing to me because he’s kind of the guy who doesn’t care anymore; he’s got the slouch, and he drinks, and he’s got a gambling problem. It’s a character I’ve never played before and I wanted to be that character that doesn’t worry so much about the way he looks, you know what I mean? You play the friend who sucks Wes’s Dillon back into fighting, part Paulie from Rocky and part Worm from Rounders … The thing about Jake is that he’s a likeable guy, he’s a loveable guy, and that’s what makes Dillon want to help him out. He doesn’t ever mean to do anything wrong, he’s just got no filter and he makes the wrong decisions… a lot. But he means well. Given your sports training, have you considered taking the action hero route? Or do you have a different path in mind? Acting first. I want to do action, but I don’t want to be the guy who does just action. I’ve been working a lot on character, and I want to be able to do what Pacino and Hoffman do. But I still love doing action, so I’m trying to do both. You’ve done a number of indie movies as well as Nikita in the last few years — where did this project fit in? It came at the right time. It was the end of season one of Nikita so I knew for sure I wasn’t working on that. My agent called and said there was this MMA script, and I was like, “Oh, let me read it!” Baton Rouge was a big part of it because I love the South, and being from Canada it’s like the polar opposite — the food, the feel… I just love it down there. So it just fell in place. Obviously many of us have been watching your career from the start, but audiences really caught up with you in recent years thanks to your recurring role on Nikita . I took a break at the age of 25 just to step away from the business and figure things out — figure out if I wanted to do this anymore because I’d been working straight from the age of 11. And when I came back after four or five years, it was kind of like starting fresh again. People hadn’t seen me in a while, the last things they saw me in were some indie horror movies that I’m not really proud of, and the Nikita people were the first to step up and take a shot at me — “OK, let’s see him.” I went in and read with them and it went great, and that opened up a whole bunch of new doors. That’s why I love them so much. A lot of people were like, “Eh, Devon, we haven’t seen him in a while — what’s he been doing?” And Nikita was like, “Sure, this could work.” It was supposed to be for two episodes, but I got on there and it’s still going. It must be curious to have the experience of being famous as a child actor, and getting all the way to age 25 then stepping away and coming back. Between your early work, your Nikita work, and your newfound Twitter fame, what do you think has helped you most get back in the game? Nikita , for sure. I love Twitter. [Laughs] I don’t know if it’s really helped, but it’s a lot of fun. I have friends that are on The Vampire Diaries now that I met through Twitter. It’s a great thing, but I don’t know whether it’s helped or not. In ways you’re more candid on Twitter than most actors, which is part of why I think folks like to follow you. It’s not doing anything wrong, that’s for sure. No one’s told me to stop. I dread the call from my manager saying, ‘Did you really say this on Twitter?’ But you never know. Let’s go back to the beginning. You began acting at a young age, which is when you first made a name for yourself. Tell me about your childhood… I had a great childhood! I started doing Nerf commercials — I was the national Nerf spokeskid, which was my first kind of big thing. Did you know then that you wanted to act for a living? Yeah, I was a very energetic kid in grade 5 and started doing theater, traveling with this group doing all the elementary schools. I just loved it, I loved being on stage. Then I auditioned for the Nerf thing and got that, loved that — I ran around shooting Nerf guns. How can any kid complain about that? Exactly. And at the end of every commercial they’d give me a big box of these Nerf guns that the prop guy would put different springs in to make them shoot farther! So it was great. And then Casper came along. As a kid I was doing school with Christina Ricci and then Jonathan Taylor Thomas, going to Savannah, so it was all great. Then after Wild America when I was 17 I stepped away for two years, and came back, and I was going through that phase where I didn’t want to be in those teen magazines anymore. I was really against those things. That seems like the toughest transition for a child actor to make, out of adolescence and teen years into young adulthood. It really was. I wanted to do edgy, weird stuff, like SLC Punk and Idle Hands and the “Stan” video. That’s when I was in my weird phase. I guess it worked out. I admit I was enamored of Little Giants and Now & Then , but I have a friend who’s obsessed with Slackers . Like a number of your films, it has quite the cult following. There were a certain couple of years in college when I think that was a big movie! My agent’s assistant was like, “I love Slackers !” And he started reciting a scene that I don’t even remember. I’m like, “OK, dude!” I guess people like that. And I was really, really proud that Idle Hands made it to the New Beverly Cinema last year. That’s when you know you’re in a cult hit. Did you go? I didn’t. But the next one… How often do you go to the New Beverly? Because I swear I saw you there once, which is when I became aware that you were a fan of the theater and a huge movie nerd. You did. I am. I used to go all the time, but now I’m in Woodland Hills. I go to the Aero theater more, but I love them both. I really am a movie nerd. I love going to see the old films on the big screen. I just saw a new print of West Side Story at the Aero theater and that was great, I went to see back to back Indiana Jones es, back to back Godfather s… it’s the only way to see them. So, back to this edgy phase. Slackers , Idle Hands — those films came right before your self-imposed break from Hollywood. What prompted that? That was the point when the fame, or whatever — what club or what party I was going to — became more important. Then I started doing some movies that I wasn’t so proud of. They were kind of straight-to-DVD horror movies and whatnot. Why do you think you were doing those movies? They threw a little money at you, and you want to work, and you think they’re going to do better — it sounds good on paper — and then it comes out and somewhere down the line, something didn’t work out. And I wasn’t really proud of them, so I stepped away.
Also in this week-ending, Friday afternoon edition of Biz Break: MGM gets into the Ray Bradbury business, how Obama lost Hollywood, and more… Alec Baldwin to Rejoin Woody Allen and Russell Brand — Separately The busy actor, who will reportedly play himself in a film shooting next week at Cannes, is in line to re-team with both his To Rome, With Love director Woody Allen and his Rock of Ages co-star Russell Brand — on separate projects, alas, including Allen’s upcoming, untitled San Francisco-set film and the New Line comedy Man That Rocks The Cradle , respectively. Deadline reports . Catherine Zeta-Jones Signs on to RED 2 The Oscar-winner joins Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren and Mary-Louise Parker, all of whom appeared in the original 2010 action-comedy about a group of middle-aged contract killers reunited for a mission. Dean Parisot takes over directing duties for Robert Schwentke. THR reports . Dark Shadows Starts Soft at Midnight The poorly reviewed Tim Burton/Johnny Depp collaboration earned a very light $550,000 from midnight screenings early Friday and expects to end the weekend with a disappointing $30 million (or less) haul. Deadline reports . MGM bites the Dust The studio has picked up the rights to Ray Bradbury’s 2002 story collection From the Dust Returned , about “a mortal boy named Timothy who is adopted into a family of benevolent ghouls.” Deadline reports . Sam Claflin gets Quiet for Hammer The hot young actor, soon to be seen in Snow White and the Hunstsman , is set to join the Hammer Films production The Quiet Ones , co-starring Jared Harris. THR reports . Despite Starmegeddon , has Barack Obama lost the Hollywood left? A new report from Buzzfeed underscores the problems facing the president as he lobbies for reelection among a constituency that helped push him to victory in 2008.
The children’s book creator inspired filmmakers and actors through his honesty and imagination. By Fallon Prinzivalli, with reporting by Ryan J. Downey Maurice Sendak and Spike Jonze Photo: Theo Wargo/ Getty Images Children’s book author and illustrator Maurice Sendak died Tuesday (May 8) as a result of complications from a stroke. He’s best-known for revolutionizing the children’s book genre with the surprising success of “Where the Wild Things Are.” Far from popular children’s fare like “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” or “Green Eggs and Ham,” the dark fantasy focused on Max, a rowdy boy in a wolf suit, and his adventures with the hairy beasts of his imagination. Sendak spread his influence from children’s books to the big screen when filmmaker Spike Jonze took on the ambitious project of turning “Wild Things” into a motion picture. Previously described as “unfilmable,” Jonze was sure to stay true to Sendak’s vision and yet bring his own ideas into the story and reflect how the book affected him. The author had much involvement in the project, acting as a producer and helping to steer Jonze in the right direction. “[Sendak] said from the beginning that you have to make it dangerous — make something that respects kids and doesn’t talk down to them, or if not, it wasn’t worth doing,” Jonze said in a featurette for the film. In an industry where beloved children’s films are routinely turned into money-making machines, Sendak focused on the children. His other credits include creating “Seven Little Monsters,” the children’s television series that followed monsters as they learned about life. He also acted as a co-creator and writer on the Nick Jr. hit show “Little Bear,” which follows a young bear and his adventures with his animal friends. But his classic story of Max and those monsters who “roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth” spans its influence across generations, even inspiring the stars of “Where the Wild Things Are.” Lauren Ambrose, who voiced KW in the film, told MTV News, “I read the book as a kid; it was read to me. I read it to my kid now. One of my best friends from childhood has a giant tattoo of Max with a fork in his hand down her back. It was like a big, big deal, deeply embedded in our collective psyche. And also, on her back.” Forest Whitaker, who voices Ira in the film, echoed this sentiment, saying that he first read it as a kid and began to really appreciate the story as he got older, finally reading it to his own kids. He didn’t realize when he was younger that the popular book was made up of only nine sentences. “It’s weird, because I didn’t really count,” Whitaker laughed. “But I think, as a kid, I knew that the story was more in the pictures.” Following his adaptation of “Where the Wild Things Are,” Jonze co-directed the documentary “Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maurice Sendak.” In a chat about that film — which includes intimate conversations with the author about his life — the director called Sendak an inspiration. “I find his imagination is certainly inspiring. I think that’s what really drew me to him,” Jonze explained. “But what I find deeply inspiring is his ferocious honesty and his fearlessness to be honest both as a person, as a friend and as a mentor in helping us make this movie. And the thing about him is, he has no ability of small talk or chitchat. He wants to engage in something real. He is who he is and he doesn’t have the energy to pretend to be someone else.”
‘I haven’t changed at all,’ 19-year-old actor tells MTV News of his life post-‘Hunger Games.’ By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Josh Horowitz Josh Hutcherson Photo: FilmMagic Ever since “The Hunger Games” toppled the box office earlier this year, one would think that Josh Hutcherson would find it hard to go about the life he led before the film. As it turns out, not much has changed for the laid-back 19-year-old. While there has been a lot of pandemonium around the movie, the actor himself has been mostly left alone by fans of the franchise. And he’s totally cool with it. “I’ve changed a lot. I wear nothing but high-end designer suits. I fly private everywhere,” he joked to MTV News about his superstar status. “I haven’t changed at all. “I was expecting it to be a huge difference and it hasn’t been, and I can’t tell you how relieved that I am,” he added. “It’s been so low-key and people who do recognize me have been awesome, cool and not crazy.” With all the hype that has surrounded the film, Hutcherson had certain expectations for how his life would change. “I did for sure [think it would be different]. Everybody was telling me ‘It’s gonna be crazy.’ I go everywhere all the time and nobody stops me,” he said. “I’m good with what I have.” One thing Hutcherson doesn’t seem to want to give up is his love for getting inked. “The last one I got was six months ago. I have like an anchor ship creation on my back; it’s like an old sailor Jerry tattoo kind of thing. I love that old, traditional style,” he said. Hutcherson said he’d love to get more ink, but before he gets any full-body tattoos like Angelina Jolie, he wants to make sure it won’t interfere with his acting. “I need to have the kind of career Angelina Jolie has first,” he said. “They’re not gonna hire guys covered in tattoos. I need to make sure they hire me first.” Well, Hutcherson has some downtime until he hits the set of “Catching Fire” later this summer if he wants to squeeze one more tattoo in. In late summer he will work with director Francis Lawrence for the first time on the “Hunger Games” sequel. Related Videos MTV Rough Cut: Josh Hutcherson Related Photos ‘Hunger Games’ Cast Hits NYC
‘I think he’s going to do great,’ Banks tells MTV News of Francis Lawrence. By Kara Warner Elizabeth Banks Photo: MTV News Although “The Hunger Games” has been out in theaters for well over a month now, the $600 million behemoth is still making headlines via box-office records , a director change-up and casting speculation — not to mention the fact that the crowd-pleaser is set to make a fine showing at our 2012 MTV Movie Awards with its eight nominations . When MTV News caught up with castmember Elizabeth Banks recently as she promoted her latest movie, “What to Expect When You’re Expecting,” we asked for an update on the “Catching Fire” casting rumors, as well as her thoughts on new director Francis Lawrence. More specifically, though, is there room in “Fire” for her “Expecting” husband Ben Falcone (of “Bridesmaids” fame)? “Yes, he’s Finnick,” Effie Trinket herself joked. “I’m here to announce that he’s replacing President Snow.” “Right,” agreed Falcone. “Yes.” “You are the new president of the Capitol,” she informed her co-star. “Yes. No thanks, Donald Sutherland,” Falcone joked of the actual President Snow. Getting serious for a second, we then asked Banks what she thinks of Lawrence taking over directorial duties on the film’s sequel, “Catching Fire.” “[I’m] very excited. I mean, I can’t wait,” Banks said. “I haven’t met him, but we’ll see. I think he’s going to do great.” Banks’ fellow “Hunger Games” co-stars Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth have also weighed in on their new director, echoing Banks’ excitement. “Francis is extremely talented, and everyone I’ve talked to says he’s the best guy in the world,” Hutcherson said. “So I think he’s going to bring a lot.” Check out everything we’ve got on “Hunger Games: Catching Fire.” For young Hollywood news, fashion and “Twilight” updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com .
Well at least she didn’t hit a cop car this time Via TMZ : Law enforcement sources tell TMZ … a man was driving last night near the intersection of Crescent Heights and Melrose Blvd. when he claims he was sideswiped by a Range Rover that was trying to pass him on the right. According to our sources, when the SUV didn’t stop, the guy called police and reported the hit and run. But the guy didn’t let it go there. According to our sources, he began to follow the SUV himself (which wasn’t difficult because there was traffic). We’re told cops responded to the scene and even dispatched a police helicopter to track the SUV, unsure of how severe the accident was. When cops finally caught up to the Range Rover, we’re told the driver was none other than Bynes … who told police she had no idea she had struck another vehicle. Our sources say the damage to Bynes’ SUV was so minimal, it is possible she didn’t feel the accident. Law enforcement sources tell us Amanda was very cooperative with police and cops had her exchange information with the other driver. We’re told she was not given a citation and cops will not be investigating the incident further. Bynes was arrested for DUI last month after she clipped a cop car. This ain’t “All That” Amanda! Another day, another Hollyweird Becky popped for driving recklessly on the roads. It might be time for Amanda to just get car service, and give the whole driving thing a rest.
Some of these folks believe that Barack Obama won the election in 2008 due to “Black Ignorance”…thoughts? Via NY Times: STEUBENVILLE, Ohio — This is the land of die-hard Democrats — mill workers, coal miners and union members. They have voted party line for generations, forming a reliable constituency for just about any Democrat who decides to run for office. But when it comes to President Obama, a small part of this constituency balks. “Certain precincts in this county are not going to vote for Obama,” said John Corrigan, clerk of courts for Jefferson County, who was drinking coffee in a furniture shop downtown one morning last week with a small group of friends, retired judges and civil servants. “I don’t want to say it, but we all know why.” A retired state employee, Jason Foreman, interjected, “I’ll say it: it’s because he’s black.” For nearly three and a half years, a black family has occupied the White House, and much of the time what has been most remarkable about that fact is how unremarkable it has become to the country. While Mr. Obama will always be known to the history books as the country’s first black president, his mixed-race heritage has only rarely surfaced in visible and explicit ways amid the tumult of a deep recession, two wars and shifting political currents. But as Mr. Obama braces for what most signs suggest will be a close re-election battle, race remains a powerful factor among a small minority of voters — especially, research suggests, those in economically distressed regions with high proportions of white working-class residents, like this one. Mr. Obama barely won this county in 2008 — 48.9 percent to John McCain’s 48.7 percent. Four years earlier, John Kerry had an easier time here, winning 52.3 percent to 47.2 percent over George W. Bush. Given Ohio’s critical importance as a swing state that will most likely be won or lost by the narrowest of margins, the fact that Mr. Obama’s race is a deal-breaker for even a small number of otherwise loyal Democrats could have implications for the final results. Obama advisers acknowledged that some areas of the state presented more political challenges than others, but said that the racial sentiment was not a major source of worry. The campaign’s strategy relies in large part on a strong performance in cities and suburban areas to make up for any falloff elsewhere among Democrats in this or other corners of Ohio. Researchers have long struggled to quantify racial bias in electoral politics, in part because of the reliance on surveys, a forum in which respondents rarely admit to prejudice. In 50 interviews in this county over three days last week, 5 people raised race directly as a reason they would not vote for Mr. Obama. In those conversations, voters were not asked specifically about race, but about their views on the candidates generally. Those who raised the issue did so of their own accord. “I’ll just come right out and say it: he was elected because of his race,” said Sara Reese, a bank employee who said she voted for Ralph Nader in 2008, even though she usually votes Democrat. Did her father, a staunch Democrat and retired mill worker, vote for Mr. Obama? “I’d have to say no. I don’t think he could do it,” she said. But the main quarrels Democratic voters here have with Mr. Obama have nothing to do with race. They include his rejection of one proposed route for the Keystone pipeline, a stance they say will harm this area, whose backbone, the Ohio River, is lined with metal mills and coal mines. Stephanie Montgomery, who is black and a graduate of Franciscan University in Steubenville, said her race came up so often in her job search in this area that she developed a technique for recognizing when it was happening. The sign: when warmth on the phone turns cool in person, and “they lose eye contact with you.” “You almost need a corporate environment to get a fair shot,” she said while standing at a job fair in the Steubenville mall. She said that she did not vote for Mr. Obama in 2008 because she preferred Mr. McCain’s more conservative platform, but that Mr. Obama seemed to be a lightning rod for criticism, in part because of his race. “He’s everything they hate,” she said, referring to ultraconservatives. “An affirmative-action baby. Got the Nobel Prize without deserving it.” Many who raised race as a concern cast Mr. Obama as a flawed candidate carried to victory by blacks voting for the first time. Others expressed concerns indirectly, through suspicions about Mr. Obama’s background and questions about his faith.nn“He was like, ‘Here I am, I’m black and I’m proud,’ ” said Lesia Felsoci, a bank employee drinking a beer in an Applebee’s. “To me, he didn’t have a platform. Black people voted him in, that’s why he won. It was black ignorance.” Louis Tripodi, a baker in Steubenville who voted for Mr. Obama, blames talk radio and Republican rhetoric for encouraging such attitudes. “ ‘He’s a Muslim, he’s a socialist, he’s not born in this country,’ ” he said. “It’s got a lot to do with race.” Race has also helped Mr. Obama. It increased voter turnout among blacks in 2008, and some younger voters said it was part of why they voted for him. But now that history has been made, it is less of a pull. Discuss…
