If you’d rather forgo the lengthy critical reviews of this weekend’s The Muppets and instead know whether or not you’ll stay awake during Jason Segel ‘s big-screen revival of Jim Henson’s beloved characters, NextMovie has the video review for you. It features Brooklyn-based rappers M.O.P., who impressively do not mention Segel’s name once but do call out Chris Cooper’s rapping skills (or lack thereof) and compare Miss Piggy to “a not-so-hot Nicki Minaj.” Click through for the fresh, direct and vaguely insulting (to Miss Piggy) take on The Muppets .
Welcome to THG’s Week in Review! Below, our staff takes a look back at the stories, stars and scandals that made these past seven days so memorable. If you don’t already, you can FOLLOW THG on Twitter and Facebook for 24/7/365 news. Day in and day out, let us be your celebrity gossip source! Now, a rundown of the week that was at The Hollywood Gossip :
‘For [Simon Cowell] to just beat me up like that, I don’t understand,’ singer tells MTV News after Wednesday night’s episode. By Gil Kaufman, with reporting by Jim Cantiello Stacy Francis performs on “The X Factor” Photo: FOX It seems that every reality-show singing competition has to have one polarizing contestant who makes headlines every week for something. “X Factor” appears to have found its lightning rod in former professional singer Stacy Francis, who ripped it up with judge Simon Cowell on Wednesday night’s rock-themed performance episode. The 42-year-old Brooklyn native and single mother, who is being coached by Nicole Scherzinger, was lambasted by Cowell for her sleepy rendition of Meat Loaf’s “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,” which he said was “the sort of thing I would expect someone to sing at the Hilton Hotel with people turning their backs, eating peanuts.” MTV News spoke to Francis backstage after the show, and she admitted that Cowell’s slings and arrows bewildered her. “I just want a fair judgment, and I don’t feel like it was fair,” she said. “I feel like because I’m not in Simon’s category, he beats me up every week. I don’t know if I can really take on what he says as an artist and really say, ‘OK, how can I make this better?’ ” On a show where the judges usually save their harshest fire for each other, Cowell went all in on Francis, saying, “I thought the song was a horrible choice. I like rocks; that was a pebble.” Indeed, Francis, standing at a feather-covered mic stand while wearing leather gloves and a sparkly silver dress, emoted her way through the lesser-known Loaf tune while accompanied by a grand piano, mirror-ball effects on the giant onstage videos, lots of ground fog and a wind machine. She took issue with Cowell’s criticism that the song was too cabaret, noting that the audience seemed to love it. “For him to just beat me up like that, I don’t understand; I don’t get it,” she said. “I sang a Meat Loaf song, which is a rock song, and he said he didn’t love it. Melanie Amaro sang an R.E.M. song, and he loved it. It was the same tempo … I don’t know, I was very confused about it.” Francis said it seems to her that the other females in the competition have an advantage because they are in Cowell’s category and he doesn’t give them as much grief. “My first audition, he told me he loved me and he loved my voice and he loved everything,” she said. “All of a sudden, I’m the worst thing in the competition. I don’t understand it. That’s very confusing, and I think it’s very unfair.” As for judge Paula Abdul’s comments about some of Francis’ vocals being flat, the onetime member of the group Ex-Girlfriend said, if anything, her vocals sometimes go sharp because she pushes too hard, but rarely flat. “I don’t think that I ever go flat, so that’s weird,” she said. “To me, [Abdul] has one group in the competition that’s left so she would love to see any other contestant [leave] except her only one. I don’t know if I’m getting a fair evaluation as an artist or if it’s just the bickering amongst the judges because they wanna win.” Share your review of Stacy Francis’ performance in the comments below! Related Photos ‘X Factor’ Top Twelve Performances
As a general rule in the movies, dysfunction is better offered as a side dish rather than a main course, accenting what’s really a story of grieving and letting go, or coming of age, or self-acceptance. Screaming, crying, acting out and mistreating others are tougher to take when they’re the primary focus instead of symptomatic of something deeper to be excavated and explored.
Australian director George Miller’s Happy Feet was one of the surprise pleasures of the 2006 moviegoing year. The story was simple: A young Emperor penguin who has no skill for singing, a necessary skill in wooing a mate, discovers instead that he has a flair for dancing. The picture was fanciful and breezy and, particularly for a big-budget animation feature, showed a wonderful lightness of touch. And it didn’t hurt that Savion Glover choreographed the dance moves of the main character, a chubby, awkward-elegant little guy named Mumble, voiced by Elijah Wood.
First-time director Joshua Leonard’s The Lie stretches the truth of its source material — an obsidian fragment from author T.C. Boyle, published by the New Yorker in 2008 — until its every glint is polished to a self-affirming glow. There’s a dark crackle to Boyle’s first-person account of a young man compressed to the point of fracture by the drudgery of his work as a tape logger at a film production house and the shackling disappointment of his domestic lot: He has a law student wife and an infant at home. Unable to face another day at the digital mine, the young man’s avoidant, off-white fibbing gives way to an inky whopper, and his sins soon yield a shopping bag full of money. If two decades of Coen brothers movies have taught us anything, it’s this: As good as a gun, that thing’s going to go off.
Céline Sciamma’s film is titled Tomboy , but the gender issues it delves into are more complex than any supposedly unfeminine preferences for sports and pants-wearing and other associations that linger around that antiquated term.
Mike Posner gained fame through his work with Big Sean while attending Duke University. Last year saw the release of Posner’s debut album, 31 Minutes To Takeoff , featuring the hit single, “Cooler Than Me.” Currently recording tracks for his new album with Pharrell Williams, Mike drops a song from his forthcoming mixtape, The Layover . Houston MC, Bun B lends a verse to “Rocket Man.” Check the song and leave your review in the comments. Rocket Man featuring Bun B (prod. by Mike Posner) by mikeposner RELATED POSTS: Clinton Sparks: “99% Of Us Have No Swag” [EXCLUSIVE] 9 Most Awkward Cross Genre Collaborations [VIDEOS] Just Dizle’s Heavy D Tribute Mix [DOWNLOAD]
I’ve said it before: Next Movie’s ” Rappers Review Movies ” video series is ingenious. The latest rhymer to play Ebert with Hollywood’s new releases is NYC -based Immortal Technique, a lyricist who frequently uses his songs to draw attention to socio-economic and political disparities. Taking on Tarsem ‘s Greek actioner Immortals , he drops some serious conscious commentary on even greater issues: Namely, how much Clash of the Titans and the next-gen Star Wars movies totally sucked. PREACH !
Welcome to THG’s Week in Review! Below, our staff takes a look back at the stories, stars and scandals that made these past seven days so memorable. If you don’t already, you can FOLLOW THG on Twitter and Facebook for 24/7/365 news. Day in and day out, let us be your celebrity gossip source! Now, a rundown of the week that was at The Hollywood Gossip : Of a 30-day sentence, Lindsay Lohan spent 4.5 hours in jail . That’ll teach her! Her upcoming Playboy spread, meanwhile, will channel Marilyn Monroe . Justin Bieber may take a paternity test to fight Mariah Yeater’s claims. Despite rekonciliation talk, Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries are kaput. Joe Paterno was fired by Penn State amid a shocking sex scandal. Dr. Conrad Murray was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. A documentary he filmed for MSNBC then came under fire. Rick Perry Stumbles in Debate Rick Perry’s campaign for President pretty much ended Wednesday (above). Karen Karushaar says Herman Cain sexually harassed her in the 1990s. Sharon Bialek made the same claims earlier in the week, with details. Ashton Kutcher’s Tweeting days may have come to an unfiltered end. Check out the list of 2011 CMA Award winners to see who prevailed. Laura Bellizzi claims Mel Gibson got her pregnant. Snow White and the Huntsman Trailer Kristen Stewart’s Snow White and the Huntsman looks amazing (above). Madonna’s new single leaked … and the reception was mixed. It was a strong week for Kate Middleton pregnancy rumors . The field is down to four on Dancing With the Stars . Kurt Loder is still around, and went off on MJ. Get ready for a new season of Teen Mom 2 . Rachel Crow – I’d Rather Go Blind Rachel Crow (above) leads a strong, increasingly fun X Factor field. Mariah Carey’s weight loss earned buzz and raves, justifiably. Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar are expecting their 20th kid! It looks as if Beyonce is expecting a baby girl … we think. Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito are over for good. R.I.P. Heavy D , Joe Frazier and Andy Rooney . Military Police Clear the Porta-John Happy Veteran’s Day! And 11/11/11 !
