Nicki Minaj, her pink hair and her large breasts cover the latest issue of Allure, at this artist opens up about her plans for world domination and her appeal to a young generation of fans. “I had a little conversation with Jay-Z at the Victoria’s Secret fashion show,” Nicki tells the magazine. “He said, ‘Congratulations on all your success.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m coming for you. I’m coming for your spot, Mr. Mogul.’” Minaj can already stake claim to a much younger fan base than almost any other contemporary. Why are eight-year olds such as Sophia Grace Brownlee such big followers of her music? “I play dress-up,” the singer says. “I also can put on a very cartoonish voice. So sometimes children may not know what I’m saying, but they like the sound of it, and they think I sound like some weird character.”
Russell Brand recently broke up with Katy Perry . And, according to an irate paparazzo, a window. A Splash News photographer, Timothy Jackson, filed a police report against Brand, who allegedly approached Jackson’s car, wrestled away his iPhone and heaved it through a window of nearby law firm, shattering the glass. That’s some arm, if true! Splash has a series of photos showing Russell snatching the iPhone and the apparent aftermath of broken glass at the offices of Deutsch, Kerrigan and Stiles. New Orleans Police are still investigating, but no charges have been filed and there’s no warrant out for Brand. Heck, the NOPD is still trying to ring him up. “We have had several attempts to get in contact with Russell Brand in the past day, all of which were unsuccessful,” a department spokesman tells E! News. Maybe Russell disposed of his own phone through similar means? [Photo: WENN.com]
Wonder if it will be called Hypocrisy? When it comes to Adam Levine’s new fragrance – coming May 2013! – Christina Aguilera smells something funny … namely the fact that The Voice coach had mocked the entire concept of celebrity perfumes/colognes about 12 months ago. “Haha @AdamLevine. What a difference a year makes,” Aguilera tweeted along with a link to this tweet that the Maroon 5 singer sent out in March 2011: “I also would like to put an official ban on celebrity fragrances. Punishable by death from this point forward,” Levine wrote at the time. What a difference, indeed. The teasing was all in good fun, though, as Aguilera followed up by saying to her NBC co-star, “Welcome to the celebrity fragrance family!” Levine’s scent, 222, will have versions for men and women, BT-Dubs. Phew.
Arriving in theaters May 18, Battleship stars Rihanna , Taylor Kitsch, Liam Neeson, Alexander Skarsgard and Brooklyn Decker … an eclectic mix to be sure. From director Peter Berg, the film shows what he imagines the iconic game would be as a big budget feature … with humans against alien invaders’ ships. Obviously, right? Hey, it should be explosive, early summer fun if nothing else. Or not. You tell us, after taking a look at the full-length trailer below … Battleship Movie Trailer
Clip for second single off MDNA features Madge getting sexy with male dancers. By Jocelyn Vena Madonna in “Girl Gone Wild” Photo: Interscope Madonna has dropped a video tease for her new single, “Girl Gone Wild.” It’s a black-and-white homage to her wild, sexy days in the ’90s. The fashion video — shot, fittingly enough, by fashion photographers Mert and Marcus, who also did the artwork for MDNA — is fast-paced and full of quick shots of Madonna grinding, smoking, looking longingly out in the distance and being her usual sexy self while clad in chains and latex. It’s intercut with scantily clad male dancers who are seen dancing, touching and kissing one another. It seems that the only girl gone wild in this clip is Madonna. No word on when the full video will drop. “GGW” is the second single off the March 26 album release and features production by Benny Benassi; it was recorded in New York and London. While the album’s first single, “Give Me All Your Luvin’,” was brighter in the way that songs early in her career were, this song is more like what fans heard during her Confessions on a Dance Floor era. “I think the majority of the record is more action-packed,” Madge teased to MTV News back in January about the highly anticipated LP. “More high-energy.” The album also features production from longtime Madonna pal William Orbit , as well as Demolition Crew, Martin Solveig, Alessandro “Alle” Benassi, Hardy “Indiigo” Muanza and Michael Malih. “With William, I didn’t really have a discussion,” Madonna said of working with Orbit. “We’ve worked on stuff for so many years that we kind of finish each other’s sentences. He knows my taste and what I like.” Related Artists Madonna
Critics are not finding much to praise in film based on Edgar Rice Burroughs hero. By Kevin P. Sullivan Taylor Kitsch in “John Carter” Photo: Disney Disney’s $250 million effort to bring the iconic Edgar Rice Burroughs hero, to the screen is certainly not making critics leap for joy supernaturally high because of differences in gravity. In fact, many have outright damned the film, while others have found a deep and fun love of B-movie and pulp traditions We’ve rounded up a sampling of reviews of “John Carter,” so you’ll know whether to head out to the theater this weekend. The Story “Our hero is John Carter, the Confederate Civil War veteran who strikes gold in the Arizona territory but who is whisked to the planet Barsoom on the flimsiest of pretexts. Barsoom is Mars by another name, and the Virginia-born Carter lands in the middle of another civil war, this one between the Heliumites and the Zondangans. Dejah Thoris, the Heliumite princess known also as ‘the red girl,’ is about to be married off against her will. But love finds a way, and while Taylor Kitsch’s hunky John Carter and Lynn Collins’ dishy princess smolder as effectively as possible under the circumstances, Kitsch in particular seems lost in ways unrelated to his character’s predicament.” — Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune Taylor Kitsch “If the movie had a leading actor with the galactic charisma necessary for the task, we might even be talking classic sci-fi. Since it’s impossible to put Harrison Ford into the Wayback Machine, though, we’re stuck with the unfortunately named Taylor Kitsch (TV’s ‘Friday Night Lights’) as John Carter, the burned-out Civil War veteran who finds himself mysteriously transported to the Red Planet while searching for gold in the caves of Arizona. Kitsch is decent company — manly, muscled, noble, sardonic — but there’s nothing unique about him, and we follow him by default.” — Ty Burr, Boston Globe The Backstory “It starts with a great story — of love and politics, time travel and mystical pathways between planets — badly sucked dry. Based on ‘A Princess of Mars,’ the post-Civil War/pre-Tarzan brainchild of arguably one of the most entertaining non-Disney imagineers of all times, Edgar Rice Burroughs, the book and the Barsoom (a.k.a. Mars) series that would follow has been picked over for plot points by Hollywood for years.” — Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times The Pixar Connection “The Pixar touch is evident in the precision of the visual detail and in the wit and energy of Michael Giacchino’s score, but the quality control that has been exercised over this project also has a curiously undermining effect. The movie eagerly sells itself as semitrashy, almost-campy fun, but it is so lavish and fussy that you can’t help thinking that it wants to be taken seriously, and therefore you laugh at, rather than with, its mock sublimity.” — A.O. Scott, New York Times The Final Word “The film was directed by Andrew Stanton, whose credits include ‘A Bug’s Life’ (1998), ‘Finding Nemo’ (2003) and ‘WALL-E’ (2008). All three have tight, well-structured plots, and that’s what ‘John Carter’ could use more of. The action sequences are generally well-executed, but they’re too much of a muchness. Does ‘John Carter’ get the job done for the weekend action audience? Yes, I suppose it does.” — Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times Check out everything we’ve got on “John Carter.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Videos MTV First: John Carter
Unemployment is bad, but things like What’s Your Number are apparently worse: “In the overall (all countries) adjusted model, adolescents with higher exposure to alcohol use in movies were significantly more likely to have engaged in binge drinking, even after controlling for age, gender, family affluence, school performance, television screen time, sensation seeking and rebelliousness, and frequency of drinking of peers, parents, and siblings.” The most troubling part of this study might be its definition of binge drinking as five or more drinks in one sitting, which I otherwise tend to refer to as “lunch.” [ Pediatrics (PDF) via Deadline ]
Taylor Kitsch is about to have a very big 2012. In addition to carrying Disney’s ambitious sci-fi adaptation John Carter as the titular Edgar Rice Burroughs hero, a Civil War veteran transported to Mars, he’s also fronting Peter Berg’s alien invasion actioner Battleship and starring in Oliver Stone ’s Savages later this year. But as Kitsch revealed to Movieline, the John Carter job wasn’t easy to get — and the toll it took on him during production was a challenge in itself. So who better to offer pro tips on nabbing the spotlight and handling the pressure of becoming an action hero than Kitsch, on the eve of a new chapter in his career? It should be noted that Kitsch is no stranger to action, having appeared in films like Snakes on a Plane , The Covenant , and X-Men Origins: Wolverine already in his six-year career, and no stranger to the spotlight thanks to his beloved turn as Tim Riggins on Friday Night Lights . But John Carter marks his first starring role and by far his biggest film to date, a sprawling epic set on a vast alien world envisioned in great detail by director Andrew Stanton ( Finding Nemo , WALL-E ). So how did Kitsch land the coveted role? What does his John Carter role share in common with his last one, as the late South African photojournalist Kevin Carter, in The Bang Bang Club ? All this and more as Taylor Kitsch shares his pro tips on landing (and keeping) that action hero gig. 1. Don’t think of yourself as an action star . “That’s you guys labeling me, so me saying yes to that – I can’t say yes to that because I refuse to put myself in that bubble. You saw Bang Bang Club , that’s no action movie. We hope to keep throwing you curveballs so you can’t put me in a spot like that.” 2. Ignore the hype and the naysayers – worry about putting pressure on yourself to do the work so you can sleep at night . “The pressure is what I put myself on in the sense of getting and doing the best I can, and having no regrets with what I put into it. That’s the pressure. The pressure now is that you can overthink everything, from how it’s going to do and how people are going to perceive it, you, this and that. If you want to drive yourself crazy over that you can, but I think that’s why you put so much into it. So you can lay down at night and be okay with what you did and be like, you know what? I still wouldn’t change it. If you say I’m fucking shit, I still wouldn’t change it.” 3. Be picky. Taking on a blockbuster gig is a huge commitment, so make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. “Hopefully you feel that, you see it. You see the emotion and the energy that it takes to really do what it deserves, potentially. I think that’s what it’s about, and that’s why I’m so picky with the jobs. I’m all in. I’m never going to do a job for the sake of working. So we’re at a point now of looking at the next job, or whatever that is, and my people, my team, have been with me from Day One. If I don’t work for a year, I’m OK with it. We’re not going to do it unless we have to do it. “I was and still am okay with doing indies for the rest of my life. I don’t need to be in the spotlight; if anything, I’ll push it away even more. I live in Austin. I love the work. I love the storytelling, and that’s what the first meeting represented. I could play so many parts in this one character, from the Western, from the guy that doesn’t give a shit, to the guy who’s finally come full circle and become the leader that he’s pushed away for so long. I love that, and I love working with an Andrew Stanton, a Willem Dafoe, a Mark Strong, a Sam Morton, a Thomas Haden Church, a Lynn Collins.” 4. Make sure there is a “there” there. “Man, I will be shit if you give me nothing to play. Any actor will tell you, the more you can give me, the more depth I can escape into, the better it’s going to be on every level.” 5. Flawed characters are more interesting to play, and are worth diving into headfirst — even if it takes a lot out of you. “It’s not the war thing, but the more interesting guys I grew up watching — I like watching the more flawed guys than the perfect guys, and that’s more interesting for me to play. That’s more real to me. I love that and I love bringing people into a performance and it takes so fucking much out of you to do it honestly, but it’s worth it. Kev Carter – you won’t meet a guy more flawed. That crushed me.” 6. Remember to maintain balance with the emotional and physical demands of carrying a tentpole… especially when they require regular, long-term maintenance of action-hero muscles. “I was beyond exhausted in this film. Yeah, six day weeks is what killed me. I think I just pushed myself — I don’t regret it because you see it, but at times I could have had a better balance, maybe, just because waking up that early so often and the lack of sleep and pushing yourself that much, to have that much energy onscreen… for seven months, to be at that aesthetic! It’d be a lot easier if I had one shirtless scene and I could just get toned for that then be OK and balance it out, but it was 11 months that I was on that diet and training regimen. It’s very unreal to do that and to look that way, obviously, but it’s what I guess I demanded out of myself. This goes back to Kev [Carter, of the Bang Bang Club ], too. No one asked me to lose a pound, I wanted to. 7. That said, don’t worry too much about how you look, stud . “Fuck, man. You never want to be that conscious in a scene. That’d mean I’d be so totally out of John Carter mode, if I’m really that conscious of how I look and the lighting. That’s really bad. [But] you definitely have to do what you have to do to put yourself in the moment so it’s connecting to whatever it is. I think you’ve just got to get to a point where you’re okay with how you look and what you’re doing and you leave it and let it lay. Whatever it is, I look at that scene and it is what it is” 8. Go out for a role knowing it’s yours to lose. The audition process for John Carter was particularly grueling, with five actors and five actresses vying for the same roles over the course of two intense days. “Man, I was just so focused, I was so myopic with it. I prepped so much for that audition. I’ve always been an underdog and I came in on this gig that way, but it was like I felt it was mine to lose. I went in with that thinking really, if I can go in all out on this, I’m going to go in and kill it as much as I can. But it was a tough process, for sure. Two 14-hour days… and you’ve got to remember, what’s bizarre about getting roles and auditioning for the most part is you do your prep and everything for the most part after you get the role. It’s like OK, now I’ve got to sit down and really sketch this guy out. It’s a trip. “ 9. Whatever you do, do not go out partying the night before a big audition. “I won’t call the guy out, but I know and it gave me more oomph, put it that way, knowing that this one guy that was up for it was out partying quite hard the night before or two nights before. No matter what, I hear about that and I know I got ya, man. It’s like, good on ya for making it a little bit easier on me.” John Carter is in theaters this week. Read more on the film here . Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Taylor Kitsch is about to have a very big 2012. In addition to carrying Disney’s ambitious sci-fi adaptation John Carter as the titular Edgar Rice Burroughs hero, a Civil War veteran transported to Mars, he’s also fronting Peter Berg’s alien invasion actioner Battleship and starring in Oliver Stone ’s Savages later this year. But as Kitsch revealed to Movieline, the John Carter job wasn’t easy to get — and the toll it took on him during production was a challenge in itself. So who better to offer pro tips on nabbing the spotlight and handling the pressure of becoming an action hero than Kitsch, on the eve of a new chapter in his career? It should be noted that Kitsch is no stranger to action, having appeared in films like Snakes on a Plane , The Covenant , and X-Men Origins: Wolverine already in his six-year career, and no stranger to the spotlight thanks to his beloved turn as Tim Riggins on Friday Night Lights . But John Carter marks his first starring role and by far his biggest film to date, a sprawling epic set on a vast alien world envisioned in great detail by director Andrew Stanton ( Finding Nemo , WALL-E ). So how did Kitsch land the coveted role? What does his John Carter role share in common with his last one, as the late South African photojournalist Kevin Carter, in The Bang Bang Club ? All this and more as Taylor Kitsch shares his pro tips on landing (and keeping) that action hero gig. 1. Don’t think of yourself as an action star . “That’s you guys labeling me, so me saying yes to that – I can’t say yes to that because I refuse to put myself in that bubble. You saw Bang Bang Club , that’s no action movie. We hope to keep throwing you curveballs so you can’t put me in a spot like that.” 2. Ignore the hype and the naysayers – worry about putting pressure on yourself to do the work so you can sleep at night . “The pressure is what I put myself on in the sense of getting and doing the best I can, and having no regrets with what I put into it. That’s the pressure. The pressure now is that you can overthink everything, from how it’s going to do and how people are going to perceive it, you, this and that. If you want to drive yourself crazy over that you can, but I think that’s why you put so much into it. So you can lay down at night and be okay with what you did and be like, you know what? I still wouldn’t change it. If you say I’m fucking shit, I still wouldn’t change it.” 3. Be picky. Taking on a blockbuster gig is a huge commitment, so make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. “Hopefully you feel that, you see it. You see the emotion and the energy that it takes to really do what it deserves, potentially. I think that’s what it’s about, and that’s why I’m so picky with the jobs. I’m all in. I’m never going to do a job for the sake of working. So we’re at a point now of looking at the next job, or whatever that is, and my people, my team, have been with me from Day One. If I don’t work for a year, I’m OK with it. We’re not going to do it unless we have to do it. “I was and still am okay with doing indies for the rest of my life. I don’t need to be in the spotlight; if anything, I’ll push it away even more. I live in Austin. I love the work. I love the storytelling, and that’s what the first meeting represented. I could play so many parts in this one character, from the Western, from the guy that doesn’t give a shit, to the guy who’s finally come full circle and become the leader that he’s pushed away for so long. I love that, and I love working with an Andrew Stanton, a Willem Dafoe, a Mark Strong, a Sam Morton, a Thomas Haden Church, a Lynn Collins.” 4. Make sure there is a “there” there. “Man, I will be shit if you give me nothing to play. Any actor will tell you, the more you can give me, the more depth I can escape into, the better it’s going to be on every level.” 5. Flawed characters are more interesting to play, and are worth diving into headfirst — even if it takes a lot out of you. “It’s not the war thing, but the more interesting guys I grew up watching — I like watching the more flawed guys than the perfect guys, and that’s more interesting for me to play. That’s more real to me. I love that and I love bringing people into a performance and it takes so fucking much out of you to do it honestly, but it’s worth it. Kev Carter – you won’t meet a guy more flawed. That crushed me.” 6. Remember to maintain balance with the emotional and physical demands of carrying a tentpole… especially when they require regular, long-term maintenance of action-hero muscles. “I was beyond exhausted in this film. Yeah, six day weeks is what killed me. I think I just pushed myself — I don’t regret it because you see it, but at times I could have had a better balance, maybe, just because waking up that early so often and the lack of sleep and pushing yourself that much, to have that much energy onscreen… for seven months, to be at that aesthetic! It’d be a lot easier if I had one shirtless scene and I could just get toned for that then be OK and balance it out, but it was 11 months that I was on that diet and training regimen. It’s very unreal to do that and to look that way, obviously, but it’s what I guess I demanded out of myself. This goes back to Kev [Carter, of the Bang Bang Club ], too. No one asked me to lose a pound, I wanted to. 7. That said, don’t worry too much about how you look, stud . “Fuck, man. You never want to be that conscious in a scene. That’d mean I’d be so totally out of John Carter mode, if I’m really that conscious of how I look and the lighting. That’s really bad. [But] you definitely have to do what you have to do to put yourself in the moment so it’s connecting to whatever it is. I think you’ve just got to get to a point where you’re okay with how you look and what you’re doing and you leave it and let it lay. Whatever it is, I look at that scene and it is what it is” 8. Go out for a role knowing it’s yours to lose. The audition process for John Carter was particularly grueling, with five actors and five actresses vying for the same roles over the course of two intense days. “Man, I was just so focused, I was so myopic with it. I prepped so much for that audition. I’ve always been an underdog and I came in on this gig that way, but it was like I felt it was mine to lose. I went in with that thinking really, if I can go in all out on this, I’m going to go in and kill it as much as I can. But it was a tough process, for sure. Two 14-hour days… and you’ve got to remember, what’s bizarre about getting roles and auditioning for the most part is you do your prep and everything for the most part after you get the role. It’s like OK, now I’ve got to sit down and really sketch this guy out. It’s a trip. “ 9. Whatever you do, do not go out partying the night before a big audition. “I won’t call the guy out, but I know and it gave me more oomph, put it that way, knowing that this one guy that was up for it was out partying quite hard the night before or two nights before. No matter what, I hear about that and I know I got ya, man. It’s like, good on ya for making it a little bit easier on me.” John Carter is in theaters this week. Read more on the film here . Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
‘I only have about 6,200 mirrors at my house,’ he jokes during ‘MTV First: John Carter.’ By Kara Warner, with reporting by Josh Horowitz Taylor Kitsch Photo: MTV News Those who are most familiar with Taylor Kitsch likely know him from one role and one show: Tim Riggins and “Friday Night Lights.” The tortured hero is a special favorite among Kitsch’s female fans and catapulted him to serious heartthrob status. When MTV News caught up with Kitsch during “MTV First: John Carter” on Thursday, we asked if it ever gets old being objectified. “Yes, it gets old,” he admitted. “It makes you feel weird. You get awkward like I am right now. Hopefully, it doesn’t turn into validation of self. It is what it is. It’s flattering, but at the end of the day, I only have about 6,200 mirrors at my house,” he joked. “It’s no big deal. Who doesn’t?” Kitsch has previously stated that he understands and appreciates ladies’ love for Riggins but that he doesn’t want to disappoint them when they find out he isn’t actually the same guy they love from the show. Speaking of the rugged bad boy, we had to address the oft-mentioned “Friday Night Lights” movie, which show runner and likely director Peter Berg told us recently is still in the works. Although Kitsch still seems satisfied with how the show ended, he is intrigued by the idea of the movie. “First of all, it would be very hard to say no to Berg,” he said. “Secondly, I love that guy [Riggins], and he is truly a huge reason why I’m here, but I love the way we left him, I truly do. I’d love to read this script that we have just floating around.” But what fans really want Kitsch to answer: Lyla or Tyra? “Maybe neither?” he hedged. “Maybe we have to explore that.” Check out everything we’ve got on “John Carter.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Videos MTV First: John Carter
