Band hits the studio on Valentine’s Day to begin sessions for follow-up to 2009’s 21st Century Breakdown. By James Montgomery Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong Photo: Rich Sancho/ MTV News While you were wasting time with flowers, candy and/or restraining orders on Valentine’s Day, Green Day were getting down to business, beginning sessions for a brand-new album. That’s according to frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, who broke the news (and a four-month Twitter hiatus) on his personal account Tuesday — and coined a rather amazing euphemism for recording in the process. “Happy Valentine’s Day!” he tweeted . “Officially started recording the new record today. It’s F— TIME!!!!” Yes, we’re aware “It’s F— Time” is also a song by Green Day’s side-project, the Foxboro Hot Tubs , though it works well in the recording context too, so we’re sticking with it. No word on just who Green Day have brought in to helm said f— time (an email to their publicist was not responded to by press time), but the sessions will bring forth the first studio album since the band’s 2009 effort 21st Century Breakdown. Last year, they played a secret show in California that included a reported 15 new songs, though it’s not known if those songs will make the new album. Of course, as any Green Day fan will surely tell you, Valentine’s Day also holds a rather significant place in the band’s lore: In 2003, the band recorded an entire album called Cigarettes and Valentines, though the master tapes were supposedly stolen, and the band decided to scrap the project in favor of the album that would reinvigorate their career: American Idiot. During the band’s 21st Century Breakdown world tour, they began working the title track from that lost album into their set list, and it made the cut for the 2011 live album, Awesome as F—. And with that, we’ve officially set a new record for most uses of the F-word in an MTV News story. History in the making, people! Are you excited for new Green Day music? Let us know in the comments! Related Photos The Evolution Of: Green Day Related Artists Green Day
‘It’s almost in her honor that we think to soldier on,’ Fox executive says. By Kara Warner Loretta Devine, Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett and Lela Rochon in “Waiting to Exhale” Photo: 20th Century Fox Those of you who have been patiently waiting for a “Waiting to Exhale” sequel since falling in love with the original in 1995 might soon have a reason to “Exhale” again, despite the tragic death of co-star Whitney Houston . According to New York magazine’s Vulture blog, Fox wants to make something positive of the tragedy and is planning on moving forward with the project in honor of Houston. “I don’t think she would want it to [be shelved],” Fox 2000 Pictures president Elizabeth Gabler told . “It’s almost in her honor that we think to soldier on.” Gabler, who worked on the original film, said the feel-good movie about four middle-class African-American women dealing with love and loss in the suburbs was a ground-breaker. “This was the biggest barrier-buster for color lines,” she said. “[Audiences] practically tore the theater down; we couldn’t get them to leave. All these young women in their twenties and thirties wanted to stay and talk about what they’d just seen: Suburban women drinking Chablis who weren’t living in the projects or stuck in gangs.” The studio picked up the rights to “Exhale” author Terry McMillan’s sequel, “Getting to Happy,” and has reportedly placed the film on a fast track of sorts, making plans to hire new writers to work on the script under the supervision of the original film’s director, Forest Whitaker. Although nobody has been approached about taking over Houston’s role, Gabler mentioned the possibility of “Exhale” supporter Oprah Winfrey coming on-board either to produce or potentially be in the film. “We literally have not talked about anybody for that part,” Gabler said. “Forest, I know, is just … grieving. He’d been the one who was speaking with her, updating [Houston] on its progress.” Although Houston’s co-stars have not yet commented on their intentions to continue plans with the sequel, they did express their extreme sadness upon hearing the news of their friend and former co-star’s death. “I am so thankful to have been enveloped by the warmth of Whitney’s great talents. They were undeniable and vast,” Angela Bassett said in a statement. “Whatever her burdens, she has at last laid them down and picked up instead a crown. For truly, she was and will ever be for us — who were so captivated by her strengths — unparalleled.” “I am overwhelmed. I cannot wrap my mind around this. I missed the chance to see her at a party this past Thursday and when we spoke last she had just finished ‘Sparkle’ and she told me how excited she was to start production on ‘Waiting to Exhale 2’ with Angela, Lela [Rochon] and myself,” Loretta Devine said. “My prayers go out to her family and I am so honored for the time I spent working with her on ‘Waiting to Exhale,’ ‘The Preacher’s Wife’ and on ‘Boston Public.’ I love you, Whitney, and I will miss your easy laugh.” Share your condolences with Whitney’s family and friends on our Facebook page. Check out everything we’ve got on “Waiting to Exhale.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Videos Whitney Houston: Life And Music Of An Icon Related Photos Whitney Houston: A Life In Photos Related Artists Whitney Houston
‘Benedict has got this intensity about him,’ actor tells MTV News about new ‘Trek’ villain. By Kara Warner Chris Pine Photo: Dominique Charriau/WireImage Given the overwhelming success of J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek,” much ado has been made over the sequel, which started production not too long ago. One of the more interesting stories to come out of the flurry of activity surrounding the new film is the casting of rising star Benedict Cumberbatch as the chief villain . The very busy actor could only express his excitement about the project when MTV News caught up with him at the Golden Globes, but co-star Chris Pine had a little bit more to offer about Cumberbatch’s contributions to the film thus far. “Benedict is fantastic. He’s just so good,” Pine told MTV about his scenes with the British actor at the premiere of “This Means War.” “He’s super talented, and we are more than grateful to have him onboard.” When asked about the tone of his scenes with the “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” and “War Horse” actor, Pine gushed about his co-star’s acting skills. “Benedict has got this intensity about him, and he’s obviously extremely intelligent and articulate. His vocal quality is something else. He obviously is, unlike many of us, like, an actually trained actor,” Pine added with a laugh. “He actually studied for it.” So what are we going to love about Cumberbatch’s performance? And will it be love/hate, since he’s playing a mysterious villain? “[You’ll love] everything. He’s really talented,” Pine said. “I think it’s all going to be love — a mad amount of love.” Another “Star Trek 2” actor, Alice Eve, was just as excited about Cumberbatch joining the team, having worked with him previously on “Starter for 10.” “I’m very excited to work with him again. He’s so very funny, Ben,” she said. “I don’t know if you remember his character in ‘Starter for 10,’ but he was so funny. Like King of the Geeks, but he did it so well, and I found a lot of that hard to get through because he was so funny. I like him very much.” Check out everything we’ve got on “Star Trek 2.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com .
MTV’s ‘The Pauly D Project’ will feature its own cast of colorful characters. By Rob Markman Pauly D Photo: WireImage It isn’t all GTL with Pauly D, and on his new MTV show, “The Pauly D Project,” the “Jersey Shore” breakout star is ready to show the world a whole new side. As a DJ, Paul “Pauly D” Delvecchio has already accomplished more than his “Shore” fans may realize. He’s toured with Britney Spears , earned himself a residency at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and signed a deal with 50 Cent’s G-Note Records. “The Pauly D Project” will follow the Rhode Island native as he handles his growing musical stardom. “It’ll be probably along the lines of, I used to be this DJ in Rhode Island, DJing two sets a week, hustling, promoting,” Pauly explained to MTV News back in January 2011. “And all of a sudden, I’m on this show, and now they’re sending private jets for me to DJ for these huge crowds, yet I’m still the same guy that was DJing for 200 people, just loving life.” On this journey Pauly will have to separate from his “Shore” family, but the new show promises its own cast of colorful characters. There’s Pauly’s road manager from Rhode Island, Michael “Biggie” Morgan, and the DJ’s personal bodyguard and friend Gerard “Big Jerry” Gialanella. For photos of Pauly D over the years, click here. Don’t be surprised if Pauly’s G-Note boss also makes a couple of cameos. In December, 50 Cent spoke about Pauly’s new show and how it will become a springboard for his music. “He obviously has a huge platform moving forward. His show is a spin-off from ‘Jersey Shore,’ ” 50 said. “And being in front of large audiences every night DJing — we’re gonna make a hit record out of the actual material that we have around and some of the new stuff that we’ll put together.” As a part of the “Jersey Shore” cast, Pauly helped drive that show to become TV’s hottest series over the course of five seasons, so there’s no telling what he will bring to the first “Shore” spin-off. You’re just going to have to tune in. “The Pauly D Project” will premiere at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT on Thursday, March 29, immediately following the all-new “Punk’d” series. Don’t miss “Jersey Shore” every Thursday at 10 p.m. ET on MTV. For continuing “Shore” coverage, be sure to check in with MTV’s Remote Control blog. Related Videos MTV News Extended Play: ‘Jersey Shore’ Related Photos Pauly D: The Growth Of The Blowout
How did the film do so much with so little? Simon Hansen tells MTV News. By Kevin P. Sullivan Alex Russell in “Chronicle” Photo: 20th Century Fox This weekend, the teenage superheroes of “Chronicle” edged out Harry Potter himself at the box office with their amazing abilities. Made on a relatively tight budget of $12 million, the found-footage superhero movie made almost twice its budget back in domestic ticket sales alone. Part of the reason for the success, no doubt, was due to the work of visual-effects supervisor Simon Hansen and his team in South Africa. They created all the usual sights of a superhero flick but with a fraction of the budget. MTV News spoke with Hansen to find out how he did so much with so little. ( There are minor spoilers ahead. ) MTV : Where does work begin when trying to tackle something like “Chronicle” on such a low budget? Simon Hansen : That was obviously the challenge of the film and one of the reasons that I was keen to get involved with the project from the beginning. I get to play with commercially viable films that are also cost-effective to make. Having read the script, it was a small film. It’s supposed to be low-budget, relatively. I started making notes when we read the script, noting down all the effects. By the time I got to the third act, I put my pen down because it got so hectic that making notes at that point was a bit of a waste of time. There was clearly a hell of a lot more work that needed to be done. From that point of view, it was a really big film for a low budget, and that was what excited me and what excited everyone on the project. This was the little film that we were going to push further than smaller films normally go. MTV : What’s your approach for doing what the big-budget movies do but with a fraction of the money? Hansen : My background was actually pursuing that as a goal from a very early age in the industry, trying to make things that looked great but didn’t cost a lot. It wasn’t a new idea from that point of view. It wasn’t daunting or hindering; it was actually the most exhilarating part of the process. The superhero genre is a good comparison, which I think has too much money. Having these large budgets is removing the innovation from the project. Capping the budget is a way to force that ingenuity and innovation into the project, which I think does come across. I think “Chronicle” has that feel of being a higher-budget film than it is, but it always has a kind of edginess to it at the same time. MTV : Was there a question of “Can we do everything that’s in the script?” Hansen : Yes, the first question is, “Read the script and tell us how much of it we can do and what you think we can’t do.” My pitch that [producer] Adam [Schroeder] and [director] Josh [Trank] bought on “Chronicle” was that the first thing I was going to try to do was reduce the number of visual-effects shots in the film, because even though my background is visual effects, I like to think of myself as a filmmaker first. I’m not in love with CGI for its own sake. I’d rather do things in camera, and I think most directors would. I think audiences really appreciate the grittiness and edginess of stuff that’s real. If you’re forced to do CGI, try to do it in a way that’s really minimalist, where most of what you’re doing is real. MTV : What was the most challenging shot on the film? Hansen : The most important and the one I considered the biggest challenge was any kind of flying. What ended up happening was we ended up designing brand-new rigs to actually make people fly that worked out really well. It’s probably my favorite part of the process. It’s weird in effects how some shots start out one way and they don’t seem that difficult, and they end up being really difficult. The most difficult sequence was where Andrew beats up the thugs and tosses them around the street because we had to shoot that all in one day and all those different people were on wires and rigs. We had to do it in different parts and put it all together. You get tripped up by the sun moving during the day when you have to shoot it all in one day. The light’s changing all the time, and you’re shooting different elements together. For the level of complexity of that shot and the time we had to do it, that was definitely the most difficult. MTV : How did you come up with the solution for making the characters fly? Hansen : I’d been very frustrated, even with big-budget films and how they’ve done flying. Some of the bad examples, not to knock anyone, “Armageddon” ‘s weightless sequence, for example, was a movie that had a lot of money and didn’t get it right. Lots of films don’t get it right. I knew it wasn’t necessarily about the budget. It was about the technique to get flying to work. I spent a lot of time analyzing footage of sky diving and looking how bodies move in free motion. As a result, I ended up designing a big hamster-wheel rig that the subject would be strapped to in the center and he could be spun within this rig, which could turn itself. You’d get two axes out of it. The actors called it the Wheel of Death because you actually get strapped into this thing and a motor spins you around while the wheel is actually turning. You can do full-on McTwist-type movements. What I tried to get away from was a situation where you pick someone up on wires and move them from one side of a soundstage to another in front of a green screen. MTV : Was there anything you simply couldn’t accomplish with the budget? Hansen : I think we pretty much did just about everything that we wanted to in the script. There were some shots that didn’t work out the way that we wanted them to, where we had to reshoot them or come up with another way to do them. The closest we came to cutting things — we didn’t in the end — but the closest we came was not the kind of effect that you’d even be aware of. When Andrew films himself in the mirror and we’re using a considerably larger camera than the one he’s using, we needed to shoot with one camera and replace it and Andrew in the mirror with the smaller camera. Those turned out to be really difficult shots to plan and get right. No one will really pay them any attention. It’s amazing how that always happens. Check out everything we’ve got on “Chronicle.” For breaking news and previews of the latest comic book movies — updated around the clock — visit SplashPage.MTV.com . Related Videos Talk Nerdy
Instead of making it rain in the club, Floyd “Money” Mayweather has decided to use his paper in a positive way. He and his boo Shantel Jackson hit up Habitat For Humanity to break them off with a nice little check: Champion boxer Floyd Mayweather is donating a check for $50,000 to Habitat for Humanity Las Vegas in support of its Blitz Build project that starts on June 4. Mayweather will be the Lead Sponsor for the build and has pledged a total of $100,000 to the organization for the project. Blitz Build 2012 is a program that brings the community and volunteers together to build a home for a deserving family in just five days. The house will be located in Vegas Heights and is being constructed for a family of five. The new homeowners will be Tanya and Trent Torrence. “We truly appreciate Floyd’s support in helping us to reach our mission of providing simple, decent, affordable homes for working families through Las Vegas,” “said Meg Delor with Habitat. “Habitat for Humanity’s continuing efforts in neighborhoods such as Vegas Heights helps ensure that these communities will stabilize for everyone living there and bring new working families into the community” Good for Pretty Boy Floyd… Source , WENN More On Bossip! TwitterFiles: Bin Laden’s Ex-Cutty Buddy Kola Boof Says She Rides Kimora Lee Simmons’ Husband Djimon Like A Wild African Animal! Big Papa The Swirl Edition: Has BILLIONAIRE Ted Turner Been Chopping Down RHOA’s Marlo Hampton And Sponsoring Her Lavish Lifestyle??? A Change Of Pace: 10 Upcoming Black Films That Have Absolutely NOTHING To Do With Tyler Perry!! Rain Men: A History Of Men Making It Rain…And Damn Near Ruining Their Lives At The Strip Club
When producer Wyatt “Wyldfyer” Coleman says he started making beats in “the lab,” he’s not just tossing around industry jargon. Before he brought the world beats like Jay-Z and Nas’s “Black Republicans” or Kendrick Lamar’s “ Kush and Corinthians,” the Philly native was pioneering the mobile studio—sort of. “Black Republicans” “We would be at the Spelman computer lab, me and my homeboy Chris. Spelman always had the better computers because they had the Cosbys funding them,” says the Morehouse and Georgia Tech alumnus of his humble beatmaking beginnings. “Kush and Corinthians” “I didn’t have a laptop so I had Fruity Loops on a 100MB ZIP disk . I had to install it each time. I’d bang away for a few hours and then delete the program from the computer. It was a demo and with the demo you could export the project but you couldn’t save it. So when I made my beats I had to finish ‘em up, bruh. I had to finish the beat or I’d never hear it again. Low budget? I’ve been there.” Thanks to that kind of hustle Wyldfyer now holds the distinction of being the only producer (thus far) to have had Jay-Z and Nas on the same track–twice. He programmed the slaps for Ludacris’ “I Do It For Hip-Hop” featuring Nas and Jay-Z and the aforementioned “Black Republicans.” “God is my manager, bruh,” he says. “Me and NO ID were joking around one time cuz he did “Success” and we were saying ‘we’re the only ones that had Nas/Jay-Z collabos.’ I don’t know what made Luda get Nas and Jay-Z so that was just a blessing.” Currently Wyldfyer is at work submitting tracks for the next Nas album and is sitting on some unreleased Biggie vocals that could make his career if he wanted to. He submitted two remixes to the Biggie Duets album that weren’t used, but he still has the acapellas. “It didn’t make the album so it would be an unreleased Biggie song that no one’s ever heard,” says. “It’s the slow flow Biggie. It might just be a verse, which is probably why [Puff] didn’t put it out. But I’m not that thirsty to put it out there and ruin my career.” Follow him on Twitter @Wyldfyer
Amy Adams will also star in ‘Trouble With the Curve,’ which tells the story of an aging baseball scout. By Jocelyn Vena Justin Timberlake Photo: Ethan Miller/ Getty Images Who needs a music career when you have a bustling movie career? Right, Justin Timberlake ? The singer has added another role to his growing docket of movies. He’s next set to star alongside screen legend Clint Eastwood in “Trouble With the Curve.” The guys will be joined by Amy Adams in the film, which revolves around an aging baseball scout (played by Eastwood) who goes on a road trip to Atlanta with his daughter (Adams) to check out a potential recruit. Timberlake is set to play Eastwood’s friend Johnny Flanagan, a former baseball player himself who is now a Yankees talent scout. Flanagan may also turn out to be Adams’ potential love interest. Eastwood will not be directing this project. That honor will go to his longtime producing partner, Robert Lorenz, making this his directorial debut, Variety reports. Before Timberlake hits the set for this project, he’s first slated to star in the Coen brothers’ next film, “Inside Llewyn Davis.” MTV News recently caught up with co-star Oscar Isaac, who shared his excitement about the project, which is set during the folk movement in New York City during the 1960’s. Though Timberlake won’t be singing alongside Eastwood, he will get the chance to croon in the Coen brothers flick. The music is being written and produced by the likes of the Punch Brothers, T-Bone Burnett and Marcus Mumford. “It’s folk from the ’60s — old songs passed down for many generations — but new takes on them,” Isaac said. “Obviously we have the hindsight of now and so we kind of revisit these old songs. They’re hopeful and beautiful and in contrast [to] the life of a folk singer, which is not very beautiful at all. It’s very drab and dire. It’s a screwball comedy.” Will you be seeing “Trouble With the Curve”? Leave your comment below. Related Photos The Evolution Of: Justin Timberlake Acting, Log-Rolling, Quilting: Justin Timberlake Can Do It All Related Artists Justin Timberlake
Born to Die singer hits back at critics, saying, “I thought I looked beautiful and sang fine.” By John Mitchell Lana Del Rey on “Saturday Night Live” Photo: NBC Lana Del Rey was raked over the Internet coals following her January 14 performance on “Saturday Night Live.” Her takes on “Video Games” and “Blue Jeans” were greeted with near-universal vitriol from critics, music bloggers and even NBC News anchor Brian Williams, who in a now-infamous email to Gawker Media founder Nick Denton called her performance “one of the worst outings in ‘SNL’ history.” But the emerging pop star, whose debut album for Interscope, Born to Die, hit stores Tuesday (January 31), thinks she did a perfectly fine job on the legendary sketch show, telling Rolling Stone, “I actually felt good about it. I thought I looked beautiful and sang fine … I know some people didn’t like it, but that’s just the way I perform, and my fans know that.” Del Rey did admit to being nervous, though in a more general sense, saying live performance has never been her strong suit because she is “not a natural performer or exhibitionist” and that when she was younger she “hated the focus; it made me feel strange.” As the backlash intensified, Daniel Radcliffe, who hosted the January 14 show, came to Del Rey’s defense, telling reporters at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts nominations, “It was unfortunate that people seemed to turn on her so quickly. I also think people are making it about things other than the performance … if you read what people are saying about her online, it’s all about her past and her family and stuff that’s nobody else’s business. I don’t think [the performance] warranted anywhere near that reaction.” Del Rey echoed those same sentiments during her brief sit-down with Rolling Stone, chalking the intensity of the criticism up to people’s general disdain for her public persona. “There’s backlash about everything I do. It’s nothing new,” she told the music mag. “When I walk outside, people have something to say about it. It wouldn’t have mattered if I was absolutely excellent. People don’t have anything nice to say about this project.” Regardless of the criticism, Del Rey is moving forward. Whether she’s a particularly strong live performer or not, her Born to Die album is enjoying a mostly positive reception from music critics … those able to set aside their feelings about her as a public figure and focus on the music itself anyway. Slate ‘s Jonah Weiner commented that he liked the album more after a few listens: “The more time I spend in its company, the more I feel as though I’m approaching it on something like its own terms.” MTV News’ own James Montgomery appreciated Born to Die even more, writing that Del Rey’s set is “positively brimming with atmospherics — soaring, sonorous strings, echoing electronic boom-bap, morose, maudlin guitar crescendos — all of which imbue it with a truly epic (if not unnecessarily dramatic) scope.” The verdict on Del Rey’s musical future — and the impact the “SNL” fiasco and the endless think pieces that popped up in its aftermath — will likely come more sharply into focus this time next week when her first week sales figures are released. What did you think of Lana Del Rey’s “SNL” performance? Leave your comments below. Related Videos MTV News Extended Play: Lana Del Rey Related Artists Lana Del Rey
We’ve heard of some crazy ways that parents punish their children, but this right here is TOTALLY out of pocket! A Woods Cross, Utah, woman was arrested for allegedly forcing her 9-year-old son to walk alongside her car as she pulled him along by his belt and steered him toward school after he’d missed the school bus. Police said the boy could have been hit by traffic driving in the opposite direction on the two-lane road and have turned the case over to the Davis County District Attorney’s office, which will decide whether to charge the mother with child endangerment. “She was going at a slow enough speed that the child was able to keep pace with the vehicle,” Woods Cross Police Chief Greg Butler said. A neighbor phoned his department about what the mother was doing. Her name is not being released because she has not been charged, and the child — who is not deemed to be in imminent danger — remains in his mother’s care, Butler said. “I know my mom was upset when we’d miss the school bus, but she never drug us there,” said Danny Rhodes, a parent. “I can’t imagine any circumstance that would permit a parent to punish by dragging [with] a belt,” said Cassandra Jedd, a mother of three. Would you discipline your kid like this for missing the bus?? Source More On Bossip! Twit Pic Of The Day: Rihanna Gets “Thug Life” Tattoo On Her Knuckles And Sends More Subliminal Tweets About Breezy Since You Love The Smut So Much: A Gallery Of Non-Black Ethnic X-Rated Bangers…Would You Wife Any? For The Stans: Beyonce Working Hard To Get That Pre-Blue Ivy Baawwwdy Back [Photos] Can You Spell That? Celebrity Kid Names That Are Way Weirder Than Blue Ivy Carter
