Uhhh, can you say “over the top”?!?! If these guys get their way, the singing, dancing, “bootylicious” diva could be right back here in Houston for good. “Our biggest thing is a lot of people get honored when they die, so our goal is to why not honor people why they’re still here? We felt as though it’s her time to be honored,” Marcus Mitchell said. Marcus Mitchell and Washington D.C. native Steve White have plans to build a monument for Beyonce right here in the Bayou City. “We wanted to construct, like, a massive hall so as the doors open, if you donated to the monument, you’ll have a separate nameplate,” Marcus said. “There will be clips of Beyonce with Destiny’s Child and wardrobe like a mini museum.” Their company, Armdeonce Ventures, is looking for private donors. They’re thinking somewhere in Harris County, Missouri City or even Downtown, and they say the city has their back. “We’ve gotten support from the city of Houston, from the mayor,” Marcus said. “We’re waiting for a very nice letter from the mayor right now.” It seems the idea also hit a high note with Houstonians. “I think that would be great, well deserved for Houston. It would be awesome,” Burl Jones said. “I think it would bring a lot of extra tourists here and with how we’re growing the city now, I think it would be something good,” Brittnee Jones said. If all goes as planned, the unveiling will happen on Sept. 4, Beyonce’s birthday. Part of the project’s proceeds will go to organizations like Music for America, Beyonce’s Survivor foundation and the Grammy Cares foundation. Seriously, we know that Bey Bey has a LOT of rabid fans who swear by any and everything she does, but a muhfuggin MONUMENT?!?! Would any of you flock to Houston to worship a Beyonce Giselle Knowles-Carter shrine??? Source If this fawkery was to go down, which picture of Mama Bey do you think would make the best statue?
President/CEO of Together We Rise talks to MTV News about song, slated for March release. By Jocelyn Vena Justin Bieber Photo: Dave M. Benett/Getty Images Justin Bieber ‘s fans are working to give back the same way the pop star readily does. Several of Bieber’s biggest fan groups, as well as the nonprofit Together We Rise and Brush Buddies (the makers behind the singing Bieber toothbrush), have all teamed up to work on a charity single. “They’re all working on pieces of the video and the lyrics. Right now, they’re putting together videos and thank-you’s.’ We’re working on the back end,” Danny Mendoza, President/CEO of Together We Rise, which focuses on helping foster children in the U.S, told MTV News about the project. “It started with a young lady named Vivian, she runs the Justin Crew fan club and she approached it on Twitter. She approached it and she had a lot of fan support,” he continued. “She took it upon herself to take a leadership role, and then she contacted me because she needed some guidance. We just decided we’ll help you do it. Justin Bieber had tweeted about us in the past and helped us get some recognition, so it was a thank-you to him as well. Proceeds from the song will go toward Bieber’s Believe charity drive . It will drop in March, just in time for his 18th birthday on March 1. “I’m almost 100 percent positive that they know,” Mendoza said of Bieber’s camp’s knowledge of the project. “Justin Bieber inspired a lot of young people to give back. It’s a thank-you for helping us and we want to give back in your honor.” Bieber is certainly not a newbie to the world of charity. Mendoza said that having a pop star like Bieber being so socially conscious has been incredible for the charities he helps bring attention to. “He definitely has the right people around him … They made it a priority that giving back is more. I think his relationship with [his manager Scooter Braun’s brother] Adam Braun and his charity [ Pencils of Promise ], he was able to see hands on a lot of it.” After Bieber tweeted this week about the Trillium Gift of Life Network, the Ontario-based organ donation network has seen registrations skyrocket to more than 1,200 people, four times the amount the network usually receives. What charity do you want Bieber to promote? Leave your comment below. Related Artists Justin Bieber
Oldman calls Best Actor nod ‘extremely humbling, gratifying and delightful.’ By Kara Warner Gary Oldman in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Photo: Focus Features Once again, the announcement of the Academy Awards nominations has made for a flurry of exciting headlines and news stories and lots of bets won and lost in Vegas. In addition to the early-morning reveal of the full list of Oscar-nominated individuals and films , the most exciting aspect of Oscar nomination day is the universal delight and happiness expressed by the lucky folks in question. Celebrated thespian and first-time nominee Gary Oldman was humbled by his Best Actor nomination for “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.” “This afternoon in Berlin I have learned that I was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Actor,” he said in a statement. “You may have heard this before, but it has never been truer than it is for me today, it is extremely humbling, gratifying and delightful to have your work recognized by the Academy, and to join the celebrated ranks of previous nominees and colleagues. Amazing.” Another first-time nominee in the Best Actor category is Demi
TMZ reports that whip-its were behind actress’ health scare, while People says friends have been worried about Moore for a while. By Katie Byrne Demi Moore Photo: Jason Kempin/ Getty Images While the many reported reasons for Demi Moore’s recent hospitalization have varied from exhaustion to substance abuse, TMZ is now saying nitrous oxide was behind the health scare. According to the website, friends who were on the scene the night of the hospitalization told EMTs the actress was inhaling nitrous oxide from aerosol cans — also known as whip-its — before 911 was called. TMZ’s sources said the actress was exhibiting seizure-like symptoms after inhaling the nitrous. Demi’s hospitalization caps a rough patch for the actress. People magazine also talked to sources close to Moore, who said they’ve been worried about their friend for quite some time. “Really, it was over the last year her friends saw a change,” one source said about her split from husband Ashton Kutcher. “She wasn’t sleeping as well, didn’t seem to be eating and looked really gaunt.” Another source told the mag that Moore’s recent prescription-drug abuse was a factor in the end of her marriage. “It was a sticking point for Ashton,” the source said. “He wanted her to take care of herself and get a hold of things, and she wouldn’t.” Check out photos of Demi and Ashton from happier times. Moore endured a very public and emotional split from Kutcher back in November, publicly announcing the breakup with “sadness and a heavy heart” after months of not-so-quiet rumblings that her husband had been unfaithful. While it was announced earlier this month that Moore would star as feminist icon Gloria Steinem in the upcoming film “Lovelace,” her rep said the setback in her health would prevent her from working on the project. Related Photos Demi And Ashton: From Bliss To Breakup
In his new Brooklyn-set drama Red Hook Summer , director/co-writer Spike Lee tackles the complex topics of religion and redemption within the modern African American experience, as filtered through the eyes of a spoiled Atlanta teenager (Jules Brown) forced to spend one hot, explosive summer with his preacher grandfather in the projects of Red Hook, Brooklyn. It’s a richly conceived portrait of the Brooklyn neighborhood as microcosm for the black community at large, very much a Lee joint through and through. But, as the filmmaker reminded audiences this week at Sundance , where he railed against the Hollywood system, “it’s not a sequel to Do the Right Thing !” It’s tempting to draw parallels to Lee’s incisive 1989 Oscar nominated drama – he does, after all, appear in Red Hook Summer as his Do the Right Thing character Mookie (who’s still delivering pizzas for Sal’s, though he and Tina have parted ways). But fast forward to 2012 and there are new complications to be explored now that gentrification, secularism, reverse-migration, and the evolution of culture have altered the composition of the community – and Lee, with co-writer James McBride, seeks to explore every nook and cranny of this expansive 21st century terrain. Into the evolving world of Red Hook comes young Flik (newcomer Brown), who resents the old-school rules of his grandfather, charismatic minister Enoch (Clarke Peters). A local girl (Toni Lysaith) helps Flik acclimate to the hood, but unexpected, volatile events shift this coming of age outsider tale into a polemic on faith, the church, and community that’s proven difficult for some festival audiences and critics alike to swallow. Lee, speaking with Movieline after the divisive debut of his film, wasn’t worried about leaving some viewers unsatisfied. “There are a lot of questions in the film that we don’t necessarily have the answers for, and I think a lot of the time that’s good,” he said. “I know there have been a lot of references back to Do the Right Thing , but one of the major criticisms of Do the Right Thing when it came out was that I didn’t have the answer for racism at the end of the movie. But who has that answer?” Red Hook Summer paints a picture, in vibrant colors and heightened dialogue, of a community anchored by faith and led by Peters’ charismatic, Bible-thumping minister – the lone figure leading the charge against crime, apathy, and dissolution within the neighborhood. A pointed jab at Tyler Perry seems to declare Lee’s intent to do better and be less jingoistic to the black faith-based crowd. Asked to declare his position on Perry, Lee paused. “I respect his business savvy. It’s great.” Still, he couldn’t resist inserting a mock Madea poster into his film. “What, Fat, Black and Crazieee ?” he laughed. “It’s coming this summer to a theater near you! Where Red Hook Summer goes in its last act makes it much more than a superlative version of a Perry film, suggesting that religion and blind faith can only go so far in tempering the ugliness of the world around us before personal accountability comes into play. “All one has to do, I think, is read a newspaper, because the marketing for this film is being done daily in the newspapers and on television,” explained Peters. “What Spike has done is hold a mirror up to that for you to look into, safely, and make your own judgments and hopefully govern yourselves accordingly.” The nature of the film, and the scope of Lee’s provocative vision for it, may explain why he says mainstream Hollywood studios balked at backing the project. “They know nothing about black people,” he said at the Q&A following his Sunday premiere. “Nothing!” Striking out on his own, Lee financed and filmed Red Hook Summer himself, shooting over the course of a few weeks on location, using the church founded by McBride’s parents as the film’s central backdrop and casting his two young actors from local Brooklyn schools. “Obstacles don’t bother us,” he told Movieline. “They’ve never bothered me. I’ve always been an independent filmmaker. Just because I did Inside Man , that doesn’t mean I left it.” But the studios weren’t the only ones hesitant about Lee’s project; according to McBride, “a lot of actors [wouldn’t] do it. They don’t want to be affiliated with this kind of film.” Even actor Nate Parker, who plays a former congregation member-turned-gang leader and also appears in George Lucas’s Red Tails , was advised not to take the role. “People on my team said, ‘Aren’t you afraid that people won’t want to work with you because you’re only doing these types of films? Aren’t you afraid that you’ll miss your window?’” “No,” he continued. “We need to give ourselves more credit. We need to give the world more credit. To say that the world is so short-sighted that they don’t want to see people like us – human beings doing human things? Religion is universal.” It’s not just the citizens of the contained streets of Red Hook or Brooklyn who are primed for these re-examinations of faith. Co-scripter McBride on the one hand wrote Red Hook Summer drawing on his own history with the place, but he also hopes it’s applicable to other communities. “There are a people who believe in God and need God badly, and there are people who deliver His word well, and who have some corrupt elements in their lives,” he said. “This issue of religion is something that affects white people, in fact, probably more than black folks. Look at where we are politically in this country – look how the Republican party has fallen apart as a result of this religious zealotry, which is misguided and misplaced and used as a baseball bat to divide us.” And so, in the face of studio apathy, polarized reviews, and a collective reluctance to discuss faith and its place in life, Lee and Co. are something of an underdog force chipping away at a largely unspoken topic within a vastly underrepresented community. Still, the idea that Red Hook Summer will inspire discussion and debate is, perhaps, victory enough. “With a team like this I hope that we’re on the scrimmage line all the time, moving that ball down the film inch by inch,” enthused Peters, “because we can’t do long passes! We’ve got to do it in increments. And this is just another bite into that.” Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter . For more of Movieline’s Sundance coverage here .
James Franco. Hank Azaria. David Cross. Ron Livingston. It’s a broad range of actors who’ve been enlisted previously to play Beat icon Allen Ginsberg, none of them quite delivering the poet’s intellect and spirit opposite the, er, best minds of his generation. Now comes the news that Daniel Radcliffe will take a shot of his own at Ginsberg in director John Krokidas’s Kill Your Darlings . THR today followed up on news originally hinted at by MTV , confirming that the actor — who’s first post- Harry Potter role in The Woman in Black finally surfaces in theaters next month — will star opposite Elizabeth Olsen, Dane DeHaan and Jack Huston. Set in 1944, it revolves around a murder that “draws together the great poets of the beat generation: Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs.” Radcliffe originally hesitated to commit to the project, but is enthusiastic enough. “It’s one of the things that’s on the table absolutely,” he told MTV. “It would be amazing and I’m very, very enthused for that script and that young director. It’s an independent film, it’s welcome to the world of independent film — from one day to the next it could happen or not happen. Until I’m there on the set, I’m not going to say anything about it.” Too late! And here I thought Radcliffe would never wear glasses for a role again. Look for KYD in theaters in 2013, meaning a possible fall 2012 festival run. Developing… [ THR , MTV ] [Photo: Getty Images] Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Emilio also enlists J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League and V 12 the Hitman for his upcoming mixtape Breaking Point. By Rob Markman Emilio Rojas Photo: MTV News Don’t Sleep: Necessary Notables Mixtape: Breaking Point Real Spit: Emilio Rojas puts a lot into his lyrics. It’s that attention to detail that got him noticed by XXL in December, when the popular rap magazine launched a 50-artist poll for their upcoming 2012 Freshman cover. Though he’s a rap newcomer, the Rochester, New York, native has been grinding for years. On Thursday, Emilio will drop his fourth mixtape, Breaking Point, for free online with his mentor DJ Green Lantern. “It’s a little bit of a different sound. Less sample-based sound, a little more synthy, mid-tempo,” Emilio told Mixtape Daily of Breaking Point ‘s production. With beats from the Grammy-winning trio J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League and V 12 the Hitman, Breaking Point is shaping up to be the perfect follow-up to Rojas’ 2010 tape, Life Without Shame . While his last effort boasted appearances from Big K.R.I.T., Killer Mike, Yelawolf and Mickey Factz, Emilio chose to make BP a solo affair. “I feel like the Life Without Shame project had a lot of rap features on it and I kinda just wanted to rap on my own,” he said. Rojas did include R&B features for his hooks, but no other rapper was invited to take part in the project. The title track finds the nimble-tongued lyricist pouring his heart out with multilayered bars. When talking about his parents, he gets deep. “My daddy learned she was pregnant and he was so angered/ He tried to end it, I’m no stranger to coat hangers/ He getting livid, sittin’ in on the clinic visits… he takes it out on my mama cause, he was into hittin’/ And that’s probably the reason my sister is into women,” Emilio painfully rhymes. Not all of Breaking Point is so heavy however. On “I Got it,” Rojas explores his wild and ignorant side. “It’s gonna catch some people off guard, but it’s fun,” he teases. On “Pimpin’,” ER once again teams with J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League. At first Emilio bucked the production trio’s direction. He wanted to perform the song’s hook himself, but the League’s Rook suggested using a seasoned vocalist to sing the chorus. “Rook made me change the hook on [Pimpin’], which I wasn’t happy about,” he said, “but when the hook came in, it was good. Rook made the right call on that.” And Emilio Rojas made the right call with Breaking Point. For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines . Related Artists Emilio Rojas
Acoustic singer Matt Nathanson is hitting the road with Kelly on her Stronger Tour. By Vaughn Trudeau Schoonmaker Matt Nathanson Photo: MTV News As Kelly Clarkson kicks off 2012 with her highly anticipated Stronger tour , MTV News caught up with her opening act, singer/songwriter Matt Nathanson . Clarkson fans may recognize Nathanson from his single “Come On Get Higher,” which received heavy radio play in 2008 and then again with 2011’s “Faster.” For someone who hasn’t heard his music yet, it can best be described as acoustic rock with a squeeze of country and a pop garnish. He cited a wide range of musical influences including U2, Poison, White Snake, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi and Van Halen. Nathanson will also be playing several headlining shows while he tours with Clarkson. He opened up about different being an opening act is compared to having your own show. “Opening shows are more like you’ve got to go out and win them over,” he said. “It’s like clubbing people over the head and dragging them back to your cave. It’s like a prize fight. You go out and just grab them and drag them back and make them yours.” “When I have a headline show, I think of it as a party and I’m sort of like the host,” he explained. The tour is already underway in the U.S., and Nathanson says he’s having a great time. “There’s always a moment where you walk out to someone else’s audience and you don’t know what you’re going to get,” he described. “Kelly’s audience is different than my audience, and it takes them a while to get used to me and me a little while to get used to them. And then once you make that connection, you’re in. It’s fun!” Nathanson is currently touring to promote his latest album, Modern Love, and will stick with Kelly for the remainder of her North American leg of the tour. Will you be seeing Kelly Clarkson and Matt Nathanson live? Let us know in the comments! Related Videos Opening Act: Artists To Look Out For
The Complete Confection will feature tracks that didn’t make it on the original album. By Jocelyn Vena Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream Photo: Capitol Records gave fans their Teenage Dream when she dropped the album back in 2010, and now fans should expect to experience a bit of d
Mother Monster’s nonprofit will promote youth empowerment and equality. By John Mitchell Lady Gaga Photo: India Today Group/Getty Images Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation will launch February 29 with a fete at Harvard University, the singer and her mother and co-founder, Cynthia Germanotta, announced in a statement on Thursday (January 19). BTWF was created to promote youth empowerment and equality by encouraging self-confidence and well-being and bringing bullying to an end. Joining the pop star at Sanders Theatre will be her partners in the endeavor: Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, the MacArthur Foundation and the California Endowment. Gaga has long been a staunch supporter of anti-bullying legislation, reportedly meeting with President Obama to discuss the topic in September and visiting the White House in early December to discuss the issue with administration officials. She dedicated her performance of “Hair” at the iHeartRadio Festival in Las Vegas to Jamey Rodemeyer , a 14-year-old fan who took his own life after years of anti-gay harassment. And last year, Gaga topped DoSomething.org’s list of the most charitable celebrities, in part for her work on behalf of gay rights causes. “My daughter’s foundation was born out of her passion to create a better world where people are kinder and nicer to one another and are accepted for who they are, regardless of how different they may be,” Germanotta said. “She has experienced many of the struggles that our youth encounter today, and identifies with the lasting effects they can have without proper support. Together, we look forward to creating a new movement that will engage and empower youth and accept them as valuable members of our society.” The Mother Monster’s commitment to the gay community was again recognized Thursday (January 19) with a nomination for Outstanding Music Artist at the GLAAD Media Awards .The awards recognize fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the LGBT community across all media. In December, the diva was recognized with the Hero Award by the Trevor Project, a nonprofit organization that offers suicide-prevention services to LGBT youth. During her acceptance speech at Trevor Project Live , Gaga touched on her wishes to someday make bullying a hate crime. “I hope that we can acknowledge all together that where this needs to begin is in the schools,” Gaga said. “I want my fans and people all over the world to know that there’s always somebody that’s listening. But I want them to know they’re listening before it gets too late.” Related Videos MTV First: Lady Gaga Related Artists Lady Gaga
