Marvel’s heroes may have rocked the Super Bowl, but we pit them against Batman in The Weekly Rising . By Kevin P. Sullivan “The Dark Knight Rises” movie poster Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures The Super Bowl didn’t just mean victory for Giants fans. It represented a victory for comic book fans everywhere, because after years of waiting, we got to see the Avengers assembled. We can finally grasp what the event we’ve been waiting for will look like, and it rocked. What does this have to do with Batman and the upcoming “Dark Knight Rises,” you may ask? Well, a few weeks ago, we held a little tournament call MTV Movie Brawl , and the two biggest superhero movies of the summer faced off in the first round. Batman won by a narrow but significant margin, leaving little doubt about which movie fans want more. The win for “The Dark Knight Rises” could have been predicted, considering that Warner Bros. had already released two trailers and a prologue and that the previous film in the series was literally the biggest superhero movie of all time. But now that “The Avengers” has the benefit of a second and arguably better trailer, how do the two previews stack up? The Atmosphere The Marvel Universe movies have never been deathly serious. Sarcasm and humor underline most of the action. The trailer for “The Avengers” takes the same approach, avoiding the grave tone of Christopher Nolan ‘s Gotham and the “Dark Knight Rises” trailer. Nolan established a concrete look and feel for his Batman movies, and the trailer does its job to get that across. Both feel true to what fans expect from the respective franchises, so neither can really get the edge here. The Voice-Over Both short but equally sweet, the trailers start off with voice-over narrations from supporting characters in the series, Michael Caine ‘s Alfred and Samuel L. Jackson ‘s Nick Fury. They set the stage for the rest of the action in the trailer and solidly ground the new footage in the tradition of the previous films. Our vote goes to Michael Caine for a few reasons. He gets the benefit of a young boy creepily singing the national anthem, yes, but it’s more than that. Alfred has done so much more to be a beloved character. Fury just shows up at the end to tease awesome stuff you’ll have to wait years for. Alfred wins. The Villain “The Avengers” and “The Dark Knight Rises” take two very different approaches to handling their villains. Bane stands front and center, blowing up a stadium without any notion of subtlety. The alien invaders from “The Avengers” remain hidden, their true identities one of the film’s greatest mysteries. The benefit of not hiding who you are is that you get to do a lot more intimidating stuff in the trailer. Bane throws down while the aliens can’t stay onscreen long enough to get any action in. Victory goes to Bane. The Action We’ve dissected each aspect of the “Dark Knight Rises” trailer more times than we care to recalled, but a lot of it depends on how you feel about stadium demolition. “The Avengers” combines the best action bits from the previous movies and says, “Here, remember all this cool stuff? Now you get it in one movie.” But who will ever admit to not thinking that Iron Man always looks so freaking cool when he’s flying? It’s awesome every time. The Big Shot As much as we love Batman, you cannot compete with that circle shot of the entire “Avengers” assembling. You cannot. Yes, the Bat looks great and will make for great eye candy when “The Dark Knight Rises” hits, but that single shot from the “Avengers” trailer justified that movie’s existence in a matter of seconds. It was fanboy fantasies projected directly onto a screen. By our scientific calculations, that puts “The Avengers” and “The Dark Knight Rises” in a dead heat. You know why? Because they both look incredible, and everyone in the world will see both. Check out everything we’ve got on “Marvel’s The Avengers” and “The Dark Knight Rises.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Videos Marvel’s The Avengers Super Bowl 46: Movie Spots Related Photos ‘Dark Knight Rises’ Trailer: 5 Key Scenes Analyzing Catwoman’s Costume In ‘Dark Knight Rises’
Mother Monster tweets out a sketch of the stage, which takes on a gothic castle theme. By Jocelyn Vena Lady Gaga’s stage design of the “Born This Way” Ball Photo: Lady Gaga/Twitter Lady Gaga is going all out for her Born This Way ball. As promised, on Tuesday (February 7), the singer revealed a sketch of what her forthcoming tour stage will look like. “I’m so excited. The Haus has been working so hard, we can’t wait for you to see it!!” she wrote in the lead-up to the reveal, before adding, “Love you Little Monsters, have the time of your life.” So what should all those Little Monsters expect from the one and only Mother Monster for this trek? It looks like the Born This Way ball will be taking place in an elaborately designed gothic castle that includes intricate details like viewing towers, cross-like carvings and a catwalk that extends right into the audience, bringing Gaga close to her many legions of dedicated fans. The look is a far cry from her Monster Ball tour , which was set in modern-day New York City, complete with a subway car, lighted marquees and, yes, a giant monster that Gaga and her dancers had to defeat in order to attend the oft-teased Monster Ball. This new tour will kick off sometime this year and continue right through 2013. Haus member and BTW producer Fernando Garibay shared with MTV News in December that the show will be reflective of the 2011 album. “This album was the most personal [because of] the amount of detail that went into this record, the amount of passion [and] emotion from her and the team,” he said. “Every song was a story towards the Born This Way theme. We’re excited now, putting that into the tour and expressing that on a live performance level. “You can imagine what happened on the Monster Ball, so use your imagination,” he said. “That’s what’s going to happen, exaggerated.” What do you think of Lady Gaga’s Born This Way stage? Leave your comments below. Related Videos MTV First: Lady Gaga Related Photos Lady Gaga’s ‘Yo
Singer tells MTV News exclusively that he ‘did not hear anything about’ the U.K. rapper’s middle-finger salute until Monday morning. By Jocelyn Vena M.I.A. performs at the Super Bowl Photo: Christopher Polk/ Getty Images While NBC and the NFL are apologizing for the middle finger that M.I.A. flashed during her portion of the halftime show at the Super Bowl on Sunday, her fellow halftime performer, Cee Lo Green, is making no apologies for the fumble — mostly because he didn’t know anything about it until the game was long over. “Well I know that there’s a lyric that says that ‘I don’t give a sh–,’ and that I know that that part is censored,” he told MTV News late Monday when he jumped on the phone with us to talk about hitting the stage with Madonna and company during her elaborate halftime spectacle. For those who are not familiar with all the controversy, when M.I.A. hit the stage to perform her portion of Madonna’s new single, “Give Me All Your Luvin,’ ” she gave home viewers the middle finger at the tail-end of her performance. Quickly, it prompted an outrage from viewers, the Parents Television Council and had TMZ sources sharing that if a fine is thrown down by the FCC, the rapper would be responsible for it. Regardless of the outcome, Cee Lo is brushing it all off. “Honestly I did not hear anything about it,” he continued. “There was no talk about it in the dressing room afterwards and we didn’t stay long after the performance because it was honestly a relief we had had it done. So I didn’t hear anything until I got up to do the morning show, ‘Today.’ And television is a very sensitive [thing].” In the end, Cee Lo, is more focused on his own moment, when he got to share the stage with the Queen of Pop during the halftime finale, when the twosome brought some gospel to the show during “Like A Prayer.” “It was definitely that chaos moment, just the entire event; just the entire experience was the biggest moment for me, personally in my entire career,” he said. “So it all was equally wonderful for me.” What did you think of M.I.A.’s Super Bowl gesture? Leave your comment below. Related Photos Super Bowl XLVI Performances: Madonna And Kelly Clarkson Infamous Middle Fingers Related Artists M.I.A. Cee Lo Green
Jay performs his song to daughter Blue Ivy Carter and a host of other hits at the famed venue, with help from Alicia Keys and Nas. By Rob Markman Jay-Z performs at Carnegie Hall Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage NEW YORK — From Marcy to Madison Square and now from Crooklyn to Carnegie. Jay-Z has come a long way since releasing his 1996 debut, Reasonable Doubt, and the magnitude of his travels wasn’t lost on the God MC when he performed at Carnegie Hall on Monday evening (February 6). The swanky crowd filled the Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall for the first of two benefit concerts, which joined Jay’s Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation with the United Way of NYC to raise money for gifted high school students who aren’t financially positioned to attend college. The premium-priced charity tickets brought out the likes of Liza Minnelli and New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia. With a full orchestra that included ?uestlove and Young Guru playing DJ, Hov took the stage at 8:45 p.m. ET after a dramatic string build. Emerging from the stage’s side door in a white tux jacket toting a gold bottle of Ace of Spades champagne, Jigga began his evening shouting, “Allow me to reintroduce myself, my name is Hov,” the iconic opening line from 2003’s “Public Service Announcement.” Those who thought Jigga would conform to the stuffy artistic standard typically associated with the famed concert hall were mistaken. Jay strutted across the stage drinking from his gold bottle promising the crowd, “It’s just tea.” On this night, Hov pledged to eradicate the divide that separates musical genres, only differentiating between good and bad music. “All those lines that divide us, we gonna step on ’em,” he announced to the electric crowd. As he’s done most of his career, Jay continued to stomp out the misconceptions that rap can’t be considered highbrow art as he tore through radio hits and street favorites like “U Don’t Know” and “Where I’m From.” Jay did balance things out when he invited Alicia Keys onstage for “Empire State of Mind” but got extra-gritty on the very next song, making way for Nas to perform his own “N.Y. State of Mind” from the Queensbridge MC’s 1994 classic Illmatic. There was a perfect juxtaposition throughout. The biggest musical clash came when Jay performed the “Annie”-sampling “Hard Knock Life.” Jigga rapped the song’s verses, while the wealthy crowd song the downtrodden chorus. By the time Hova rolled into the set’s next song “Izzo,” a marijuana smell filled the air. That must be a first for Carnegie. Ever the master of ceremonies, the Brooklyn rap juggernaut slowed things down properly easing into “Girls, Girls, Girls,” then “Song Cry” and then “Glory,” the song he released days after the birth of his and Beyonc
Even though the battle was on the field, advertiser’s battle on the tube also. This is how much a Super Bowl commercial costs. A WHOPPING 3.5 million per 30 seconds is what advertiser’s paid for ads during the Super Bowl. Car company’s like Audi, Chevy, and Hyundai took control of the 1st quarter. There were also ads by Best Buy, M&M and Pepsi.
My favorite rapper/actor is back Andre 3000 is back not with new music, so we’ll have to settle for his new Gillette commercial. In the new ad campaign for the shaving company, Andre 3000 plays one of the three ‘masters of style.’ Joined by actors Adrien Brody and Gael García Bernal, the three promote some of Gillette’s shaving products. Take a look at Andre 3k getting a check doing some product promo below:
Breaking Sports Video
