‘You can change my Sim’s hair color two or three times a day if you want to, which is basically what I want to do,’ Perry tells MTV News. By James Montgomery, with reporting by Christina Garibaldi Katy Perry’s character in “The Sims 3: Showtime” Photo: Electronic Arts, Inc. Katy Perry ‘s already earned her advanced degree in Simlish, having recorded a version of in the fictional language of the long-running “Sims” game series. But in the upcoming “The Sims 3: Showtime,” she’s putting that degree to good use. “I loved being a part of the creative process — which outfits is my Sim going to have, what kind of hair color. Because when we were creating it together, I [had] pink hair, now I’m blue hair, but you have so many options,” she laughed. “And with this Sims, you can be a medley of different … career choices. Like a magician, a musician, a DJ, an acrobat and, like … I’m going to do all of them. I feel like I’m already multitasking in real life, but in my alternate reality, as a Sim, I would love to sing ‘Firework,’ twirling a baton of fire while levitating, doing the splits, and DJing. It might be a little much, but it would be highly entertaining.” It would, indeed. In the game, players guide their Sim on a voyage to fame, honing their craft (be it magic, tumbling, or DJing) in performances and paying their dues before eventually becoming superstars. And that’s part of the reason Perry agreed to sign on to the project — after all, she knows a thing or two about that voyage. “Some of the nuances and details are really hilarious, [and] it’s so layered. You could be playing the same game for years and still be discovering things, so it’s awesome to be a part of it,” she said. “I love that you don’t have any shortcuts with your journey. … It’s great, because you actually have to pay your dues in the game, and I think it kind of, in some ways, teaches whoever’s playing it a valuable life lesson that it’s all about hard work and nothing comes to you on a silver platter.” Of course, there are also some additional, Perry-specific perks too. “This game is very creative and very natural for me. I love that, for instance, you can change my Sim’s hair color two or three times a day if you want to, which is basically what I want to do,” she laughed. “I can’t, or I’d have to shave my head or my hair would just fall out. So it’s got so many different features.” Will you check out Perry in the new “Sims” game? Let us know in the comments! Related Videos MTV News Extended Play: Katy Perry Related Artists Katy Perry
I need to book a flight to NYC fast! Tupac’s life and music is the inspiration behind a new musical that will begin casting soon in New York City. “Holler If Ya Hear Me,” a project being directed by Broadway director Kenny Leon , will feature the late rapper’s songs and is being described as an “American musical inspired by and featuring the music Tupac Shakur.”Leon previously discussed the project late in 2011. “A long time ago, maybe eight or nine years ago, I’ve been talking about that with Tupac’s mother, Afeni, and so we’ve become fans of each other and she sort of entrusted me with her son’s music” Leon said. “The idea was always to make a musical inspired by his music and not to do an autobiographical approach to his life or anything like that. And because I always thought that Tupac was a prophet and I thought if everybody could hear his words and hear his stories, they would see what I see.”
It may not feel like it sometimes, but believe me: This is a great time to be a moviegoer. Harvey Weinstein is at the height of his powers , Titanic is finally coming out in murky 3-D , head-exploding propaganda is No. 1 at the box-office , and we’ve got a superhero flick to look forward to virtually every week from May to August. What more could you want from the film industry? What’s that? Strippers vs. werewolves, you say? Sure — that can be arranged. To wit, today’s extraordinary news from THR : Well Go, the indie distributor that brought you such trenchant fare as Mutant Girls Squad and The Greatest American Snuff Film , has struck a deal for North American rights to an actual movie called Strippers vs. Werewolves . It is what it sounds like and will no doubt present a fine counterpoint this summer to Steven Soderbergh’s male-stripper opus Magic Mike . Earth needs a balance, folks. Fine — strippers and werewolves and $300 budgets aren’t your thing. You’re more of a dinosaurs vs. aliens kind of person. Great! Guess what ? Move over cowboys, its dinosaurs that are going to battle aliens now. Following its launch announcement last May, Liquid Comics will release graphic novel Dinosaurs Vs. Aliens this summer based on an original story by Men In Black director Barry Sonnenfeld who worked closely on the project with comic book creator Grant Morrison ( Batman, 18 Days, The Invisibles ). Morrison is writing both the graphic novel and the film screenplay for Sonnenfeld to direct while artwork for Dinosaurs Vs. Aliens is being done by Liquid Comics artist Mukesh Singh, who previously worked with Morrison on the 18 Days hardcover book. The story for Dinosaurs Vs. Aliens is based on a secret world war battle that was never recorded in history books. When an alien invasion attacks Earth in the age of the dinosaurs, our planet’s only saviors are the savage prehistoric beasts which are much more intelligent than humanity has ever imagined. Of course they are . But OK, OK, I hear you — forget the strippers and werewolves and dinosaurs and aliens, and let’s see about a new kind of hero comprising three facets of a Bourne -style agent on a quest for revenge. Did I mention he’s mentally ill? What could go wrong? Take it away, Mike Fleming : Universal Pictures has acquired the action film Cowboy Ninja Viking and has Marc Forster ready to make the graphic novel adaptation his next film. The graphic novel and a Disney-developed script by Zombieland writers Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese were acquired by Universal after the script came in and was deemed too edgy for Disney’s family film mandate. The title character comes from a secret government program to turn schizophrenics into assassins. The protagonist comes through the program with the skill sets of a cowboy, ninja and a viking. While most of the patients involved in the program are sent back to insane asylum after the program went awry in Iraq, he escapes and uses his skills to track down the billionaire who masterminded the program. What a world! This all bodes very well for my recently completed script Blogger vs. Half a Bottle of Ambien . Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
This is lovely: Ridley Scott is executive producing the “self-portrait” doc Japan in a Day , in the crowd-sourced collected footage vein of Kevin MacDonald’s Life in a Day , to draw attention to and benefit the survivors of Japan’s devastating 2011 tsunami and nuclear disaster. Fuji will donate 200 cameras to the project, which will cull from submissions uploaded to Youtube on March 11 with all profits reportedly going back to the victims. Now that’s how you show support , Hollywood. [ Deadline ]
Bobby Brown is not the only person reportedly looking to profit off Whitney Houston’s death. According to Great Britain’s The Daily Mail , plans for a Whitney biopic – which existed when the singer was still alive – are being fast-tracked, and a number of big names are lining up for the main role. The leading contender? Rihanna, with Jordin Sparks, Jennifer Hudson and Vivica A. Fox also allegedly up for consideration. “Whitney knew about the project and was excited to see where it would lead,” an insider says , comparing the film to What’s Love Got To Do With It , a Tina Turner biopic that landed two Oscar nominations for Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne. Who do you think should portray Houston if this movie goes into production?
The Academy Awards telecast stopped being a one-screen experience years ago. An Oscar viewing party is all well and good, but with a computer or phone nearby, a virtual theater full of people will enhance the experience from the first red-carpet arrivals to the music playing over the Best Picture winner’s speech. Yes, your friends are witty and can also fetch you a beer, but the best jokes about the winners, losers and everything in between are on Twitter. Some professionals make watching the Oscars simply worth the hours (and hours) spent. Doug Benson is one of them. A stand-up comedian and writer — including penning jokes for award shows — Benson began recording a weekly podcast called Doug Loves Movies in 2006. Movieline talked with the devoted movie fan about the fleeting art of live-tweeting cinema’s greatest night, who the best hosts are and whether the Oscars ever really pull off comedy. Are you live-tweeting the Oscars this year? How many ceremonies (Oscars, Golden Globes) have you done? I’m planning on it. As long as I can get Internet access wherever I’m watching the show. … I live-tweet every show that I can, as long as everyone is seeing it live at the same time. The Grammys are on a tape delay on the West Coast, so it’s not fun live-tweeting that when the East Coast saw it all hours before. What’s been the entertainment value of the Oscar ceremonies of the past few years? There is very little entertainment value. That’s why I live-tweet during it. To entertain myself and anyone else who might find the whole thing boring. I love movies, and I love that the Oscars honor filmmakers that do great work, but the whole thing is usually a fucking slog. The Golden Globes were so boring this year, I lost interest in live-tweeting it halfway through. Do you think the Twitter/comedian commentariat builds up the mythology of the Oscars? It makes the Oscars more tolerable, for sure. Which is good for the Oscars, I guess. When the jokes are lacking on the show, people can turn to Twitter for some laughs, instead of turning the show off and finding something of value to do with their night. What do you think about the relationship between comedy and the Oscars? Having written for several award shows, I know that banter is tough to pull off, even by performers known for their comedic chops. Because the whole setup is so artificial, and the audience in the auditorium really doesn’t give a shit about hearing jokes. They just want to win or lose and go to a party. Should most presenters stick to non-comedic intros? That can be even more deadly than trying to be funny. When the Oscars trot out an actor to tell us how sound editing works, the home audience trots to the kitchen or the bathroom. My favorite intro I ever wrote for someone, which was actually approved and said by Jennifer Jason Leigh on the Independent Spirit Awards: “Without screenwriting, movies would be plays.” Is there anything you’re looking forward to at the Oscars this year? Billy Crystal singing about Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. It’s always weird to me that he sings a medley about nominated movies, even if it’s serious shit like Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan . Where would you rank Billy Crystal among the past Oscar hosts? Definitely up there with Johnny Carson and Bob Hope as the best. Those guys know how to say something funny after something silly just happened, and in a self-deprecating way. I liked when Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin hosted together. I even liked the David Letterman year. A comedian is always going to be the best choice. Follow Doug Benson’s Academy Awards live-tweeting at @DougBenson . [Photo: Robyn Von Swank]
You know this movie, and chances are that you loved this movie — except for that one role that almost ruined it all. Miscast Roles is where Movieline and its readers swap out those roles to make it right. One of last year’s surprise critical and commercial darlings, Rise of the Planet of the Apes , wowed audiences, stoked many an awards-season debate and revitalized an important science fiction franchise — all while still managing to appeal to moviegoers unfamiliar with the original 1968 film (or that film’s 1963 source novel). As chief chimp Caesar, Andy Serkis’s performative collaboration with the motion capture geniuses from WETA was a great spectacle, presenting viewers with a gorgeously rendered CGI-animated character. Yet one consistent flaw in Rise left me scratching my head: James Franco’s weirdly aloof performance as scientist Will Rodman. The film presents Rodman as an Alzheimer’s disease researcher who claims to have found a cure that necessitates extensive animal testing and, subsequently, brings about a race of intelligent, self-aware chimpanzees, as well as the titular “rise” of the primate-centered culture in which the rest of the series is based. Imagining Franco as a brilliant researcher even in the best of performances would be, let’s face it, a bit of stretch. But add the fact that this character is motivated by a desire to cure his own father of the debilitating effects of the disease in question — not to mention Rodman’s somewhat unhealthy attachment to the first subject of his animal tests — and you’ve got a complex emotional palette that seemed to flat-out confuse Franco. A much better choice for this role would have been the expressive Mark Ruffalo, an actor capable of communicating exactly what was needed of the Rodman character in this story. This is not to say that Franco is a bad actor, far from it. His talents are just misplaced here: Franco is best at lengthening the emotional distance between character and audience, arresting viewers’ attention through enigma and idiosyncrasy, rather than connecting through direct emotional appeal. He rarely lets the viewer into his head space, and this role really needed someone with whom the audience could immediately connect. Ruffalo, meanwhile, has acted powerfully in two films in particular — You Can Count on Me and Shutter Island — that required exactly the two traits most vital to the Rodman character: a palpable sense of sympathy and an ability to play a straight-man to a more eye-catching lead. Rodman’s psychology, hovering between helplessness and an ambitious determination to set things right, was meant to parallel the emotional instability of his primate pal Caesar, as the latter scales from animal behavior up the rungs of human cognitive development. Franco consistently hit the wrong notes in his interaction with Serkis’s Caesar, and often left John Lithgow, who played the dementia-stricken father, adrift in scenery chewing overtures. The scenes between father and son didn’t work like they could’ve, and the potential to cast the conflicting motivations vying for Rodman’s attention in terms of Caesar’s own dual nature went unrealized. In Ruffalo’s breakthrough role in You Can Count On Me , he showed huge emotional range as the wayward brother to Laura Linney’s maternally protective big sister character. You Can Count On Me highlights a young man’s floundering crisis of identity, as played out within a family drama. [Clip NSFW] The film is one long assurance by Ruffalo’s character that, wherever he might wander in the greater world, the bonds of family holding him and his sister together still remain. Sound familiar? Rise of the Planet of the Apes features a strikingly similar theme, though its identity crisis and negotiation of familial loyalty covers an inter-species bond. In You Can Count On Me , Ruffalo plays the “Caesar role” to Linney’s big sister; he is the one breaking out into new territory of self-determination, while it’s Linney who plays the concerned, yet ultimately quiescent guardian. But Ruffalo reverses that relationship in his mentorship of Linney’s young son, played by Kieran Culkin, and there he shows some very strong Rodman-type characteristics. Meanwhile, Ruffalo’s pensive second fiddle to Leonardo DiCaprio’s go-for-broke investigator in Shutter Island also fulfills the required qualifications for stepping into the Rodman part. Ruffalo stays in the background of the drama for most of Shutter Island , allowing DiCaprio to serve as a fixed center to the film’s horrifically shifting sense of reality. The fact that the audience isn’t supposed to be looking too closely at Ruffalo ends up being important, given plot developments. Yet when all is revealed, and Ruffalo is finally able to communicate what his watchful, subdued presence in the film actually entails, he shines. Watch Ruffalo’s eyes in the final scene of Shutter Island in the clip below, and imagine how applying that level of character layering to Will Rodman in Rise of the Planet of the Apes would have benefited the whole production. Nathan Pensky is an associate editor at PopMatters and a contributor at Forbes , among various other outlets. He can be found on Tumblr and Twitter as well.
The films almost couldn’t be more different: Hugo is an epic, 3-D family film that wraps us up in a warm glow, and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is a chilling murder mystery set in the stifling Nordic winter. Robert Richardson and Jeff Cronenweth — the cinematographers (pictured above R-L) tasked with making these respective worlds believable — will contend this weekend for an Oscar for Best Cinematography (along with The Artist ‘s Guillaume Schiffman, The Tree of Life ‘s Emmanuel Lubezki and War Horse ‘s Janusz Kaminski). Movieline spoke with Cronenweth and Richardson about their approach and style on their nominated films as well as their recognition from the Academy. What did the narrative of this film demand of you in terms of style? CRONENWETH: A murder mystery in and of itself has its own set of dramatic license and techniques to implore. But with Dragon Tattoo being the first book of the incredibly detailed Stieg Larsson trilogy and set in the Swedish countryside during a particularly harsh winter, we inherited certain esthetic obligations, the most obvious one being the cold and how it affects the lives of our characters. It was imperative that we afforded the audience to appreciate that visually through quality and color of light and through sound effects. RICHARDSON: The narrative of Hugo slipped from the seed of Brian Selznick’s illustrations — in that respect all departments enhanced the reality of the world that Hugo lived within — that became the foundation of our style. How much did you collaborate with your director on the message of each scene? CRONENWETH: Well, there is always a conversation about the impetus of each scene and the purpose of each shot within that scene. Then on the shoot day, when we actually rehearse with the cast and block the scene, we apply those discussions but stay open to discovery. RICHARDSON: Communication with Marty [Scorsese] is extremely specific — there is not a shot within his storyboards that does not have a purpose — in the same light his concept of what each scenes “message” might be is a reflection of this degree of precision — in respect to collaboration — generally it is less about collaboration of origin of concept and more about collaborating on manner and methods of achievement of his vision. This year, there’s a mix of digital and film among the nominees for Best Cinematography. How much does shooting on film vs. digital matter to you? CRONENWETH: I still like the notion that some formats support certain stories better than others, and I like the idea that we are afforded the luxury of different story telling tools. But having said that I feel the gap between the two has closed for all intents and purposes. RICHARDSON: Digital capture and film capture both have their advantages and disadvantages. I shot Hugo on digital with the Alexa and am now in the process of shooting Django Unchained on 35mm anamorphic. I feel comfortable with either digital or film — the director and the project should determine the course of choice. Does this digital-film diversity among cinematographers make it a more exciting race, and how so? CRONENWETH : I think the drastically different subject matter and story styles are a more interesting conversation than the digital vs. film. Black-and-white silent-period movie, a 3-D children’s fairy tale colorful and dramatic, WWII fantasy about a horse beautifully epic and classic, a story of life shot free-flowing with available light crosscut with nature’s marvels, and a murder mystery set in the Swedish country in the middle of winter. RICHARDSON: I am uncertain about this question. The product should speak for itself. I sense that perhaps you are making too much of too little. In the end (I believe) not one of the projects is not in some manner a digital collaboration — the digital intermediate currently is placed between capture and presentation — the number of screens with which to view a film capture and traditional chemical treatment is on a rapid decline — most presentations are now digital cinema and that percentage will rise exponentially — was The Artist shot on black and white? I am uncertain, but I would hazard the guess that it was shot on color film and then in post had the color removed, meaning regardless of capture most projects at some point become digitized. With that in mind I would ask if you might tell me where does digital and film begin and or end. Furthermore, what is the percentage of films that you have viewed this year that were captured on film, processed, printed for dailies and distributed on film to the cinema? Sadly, cinemas with film as the primary source are disappearing. We need to remain open to change. That does not require one to divorce the past but to respect and process both the present and the future. Are there any colleagues you would’ve liked to see nominated for best cinematography this year? CRONENWETH: Newton Thomas Sigel for Drive . RICHARDSON: Far too many to list. Who is accompanying you to the ceremony? CRONENWETH: My beautiful girlfriend Tyne Doyle. RICHARDSON: My wife, Stephanie Martin, will be accompanying me to the Oscars as she did to the BAFTAs. How are you following this film? What is your next project? CRONENWETH: Directing commercials at the moment and reading scripts. RICHARDSON: I followed Hugo with World War Z (Marc Forster), and I am currently filming Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino). MORE 2012 OSCAR ROUNDTABLES & CHATS Best Costume Design Best Documentary Feature Best Foreign-Language Feature
Chris Brown and Rihanna raised more than a few eyebrows this week with their remixes of her hit “Birthday Cake” and his “Turn Up the Music” this week. Those two surprise collaborations have been followed by rumors that the singers may soon be collaborating in other ways, if you know what we mean. We mean sexually. If you’re wondering who put the reunion in motion (musically, that is), The-Dream, who produced the “Birthday Cake” remix , would know: Rihanna. “It was Rih’s idea,” he tells Billboard . “[Rihanna] is a friend of mine.” “It’s like, ‘You wanna do something? Then cool, let’s do it.’ I don’t know how she got the logistics, how it happened; maybe she’ll talk about it one day.” “I showed up at the studio, and it was like, ‘All right, cool, let’s finish this record,’ which we probably should have finished the first time we did it.” According to The-Dream, he approached the project solely on its musical merits and ditched any of the controversial baggage that may come with it. “For me, it’s just music: two talented people doing two records together, that’s what it was,” he says. “It wasn’t about an incident that happened.” He does acknowledge that the remixes’ controversy, however … “I think [the topic] that should be more on the tongues is: How do we proclaim to be a nation of forgiving … but we can’t actually do it?” he asks. “It actually makes you look weaker than your adversary, in a way, if you don’t have the power to forgive but you lie and say that you did.” “If [Rihanna] can forgive,” he says of Brown’s assault on her three years ago, “that’s where she is mentally. As a friend, it’s like, ‘OK, cool. Let’s roll.'” Fair. But do you think it’s smart for Rih and Chris to date again?
The two-time Sexiest Man Alive landed his third Oscar nod for “Moneyball,” but he has yet to take home gold. By Kara Warner Brad Pitt in “Moneyball” Photo: Sony Pictures For all the swoons and sighs associated with any mention of Brad Pitt , the two-time Sexiest Man Alive has proved to be so much more than a pretty face. He’s a worldly, respected father of six and a highly successful, award-winning actor/producer who picked up his third Oscar nomination for acting this year for his portrayal of beloved Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane in “Moneyball.” Pitt is nominated for Best Actor, going head-to-head with best buddy George Clooney (“The Descendants”), Jean Dujardin (“The Artist”), Demi
