With $6.4 million at stake for UNICEF, some of the world’s best footballers faced off in England over the weekend with some of the sport’s most enthusiastic celebrity hobbyists. The good news: Charity won big! The bad news: Celebrities did not, with one even landing in the hospital. The annual Soccer Aid benefit packed Old Trafford, the home of the Manchester United, where the team from England beat the “Rest of the World” team — comprising the likes of Will Ferrell, Edward Norton, Mike Myers, Gerard Butler, James McAvoy, Woody Harrelson and shouty TV chef Gordon Ramsay — by a score of 3-1. And since no soccer tilt would ever be complete without some poor bastard writhing on the pitch in hyperdramatic anguish, this match was no different — at least until, in the second half, things got really ugly : Ferrell limped off the field in considerable pain with a leg injury late in Sunday’s annual Soccer Aid game at Manchester United’s Old Trafford but will have counted himself more fortunate than Ramsay, who earlier was hospitalized following a heavy challenge. The foul-mouthed Hell’s Kitchen star was stretchered off the field while receiving oxygen, after being flattened by former England international Teddy Sheringham midway through the second half. He later was released from the hospital. Let us relive the moment in pictures! Observe Ferrell above right, shortly before he wound up on the turf with a leg injury that ended his day: So were any actors not hurt during this very intense exhibition match? Surprisingly many, if the rest of the photo record is to be believed! Nevertheless, Edward Norton and Woody Harrelson took every fluorescent precaution available to them… …while Mike Myers competed with swanlike finesse and grace… …along with flying Scotsmen Gerard Butler and James McAvoy (as seen alongside teammate Harrelson)… Here’s to a swift recovery for Ferrell, Ramsay and all the rest convalescing after the match. Charity hurts. [Photos: Getty Images]
“I’m here to answer all of your questions about Rampart .” With that sly nod to Woody Harrelson ‘s infamous fiasco of an internet Q&A, Molly Ringwald arguably won Reddit’s Ask Me Anything (AMA) for all of eternity — and that was even before she named Nights of Cabiria as her all-time favorite movie, answered Redditor memes with other memes, quoted American Psycho , and told tales about John Hughes and The Breakfast Club and applying lipstick with her boobs. For example, on the subject of her famed lipstick trick: Regarding lipstick, it’s all movie magic. There is a story behind that: John Hughes wrote it but never actually thought about me having to do it. He kept putting it off until the end of filming that long scene. I kept bringing it up, like, “Hey. We gotta figure this out. Are we going to have robotic breasts?” Finally we decided it was better to see less and let everyone assume that I was particularly skilled. Let the record show that Molly Ringwald did not, in fact have robo-boobs! (That should make some of us ladies who still have to apply by hand a little bit better.) Elsewhere, she was asked to clear up the rumor that Breakfast Club co-star Judd Nelson was almost fired from the shoot for giving her a hard time. This is true. I think Judd was doing the method actor thing during rehearsals. He was wearing Bender’s clothes and trying to annoy me. I was fine but John Hughes was very protective of me. We ended up having a powwow, led by Ally. I remember her telling me, “We have to get him focused. Like a laser!” I think a bunch of us including myself called John and asked him to reconsider. I am thankful he did. Ringwald, who can currently be seen on ABC Family’s The Secret Life of the American Teenager , joined Twitter days ago and set up the Reddit AMA after admitting to being a longtime lurker and Reddit fan. Head here for her full Reddit AMA, which will only ignite your totally ’80s Molly Ringwald obsession/crush anew. [ Reddit via @ifctv]
‘Woody Harrelson is one of my favorite actors, and I was really, really excited to see Haymitch come to life,’ Aussie actor tells MTV News. By Kara Warner Liam Hemsworth Photo: MTV News As painful as it has been for us “Hunger Games” fans to wait for the film’s release, imagine how anxious the stars themselves have been to see it. We’ve heard how Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson reacted to seeing the finished film for the first time, and now it’s time to hear what co-star Liam Hemsworth had to say after his first viewing. “It was amazing just to see all the different actors and what they’ve done with it,” Hemsworth told MTV News recently. “Woody Harrelson is one of my favorite actors, and I was really, really excited to see Haymitch come to life. He’s awesome. I’m Team Haymitch all the way; I think he’s amazing. “The movie is intense from beginning to end, and it’s powerful,” Hemsworth added about the finished product. “You have this girl who gives so much hope and courage to everyone, and Jennifer is the perfect person to play it. She pulled it off perfect.” After joking with the Aussie actor about how his brother, “Thor” star Chris Hemsworth , helped him prepare for the initial audition, we asked Liam how he approached his character knowing that, while he doesn’t have a lot of screen time, his role in Katniss’ life is vital. “It does add a little pressure. It’s always harder when you’re coming in for smaller amounts and you have to convey everything that needs to be conveyed in small moments, but the writing was that good that it wasn’t hard,” Hemsworth said of maximizing his screen time. “The director was that good and Jennifer was amazing, so it was all kind of already there.” Check out everything we’ve got on “The Hunger Games.” For young Hollywood news, fashion and “Twilight” updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com . Related Videos MTV Rough Cut: ‘The Hunger Games’ Related Photos ‘Hunger Games’ World Premiere Red Carpet The Hunger Games
Stylist Linda Flowers tells MTV News that blond wig ‘gives his character a little bit of a push.’ By Amy Wilkinson Woody Harrelson in “The Hunger Games” Photo: Lionsgate Stylist Linda Flowers had run with Vince’s “Entourage,” played with “Angels & Demons” and even primped a “Social Network” tycoon for his profile picture, but the Hollywood veteran took on her hairiest project yet with the eye-popping adaptation of ” The Hunger Games .” As the film’s hair department head, Flowers, in harmony with director Gary Ross’ vision, crafted the iconic, and frequently candy-colored, ‘dos of Effie Trinket and more than 500 Capitol citizens. We hopped on the phone with Flowers to chat about the meticulous mentor’s look, Woody Harrelson’s unconventional Haymitch style and where exactly all that hair went after Ross yelled, “Cut!” MTV News : What was your experience reading “The Hunger Games” for the first time? Did you start formulating looks as you read? Linda Flowers : When I read it, I fell in love with it, and I read all three of them very quickly. It’s such a great story, and it’s gonna appeal to so many different demographics. Anytime you get to read a book with colorful characters and they’ve got pink hair and blue hair, I’m in. My imagination was going crazy. I mean, how often do you get to put pink hair on somebody? MTV : What did you and Gary discuss during your initial conversation? Flowers : Gary’s main concern was with all the colored hair. He wanted people to take the Capitol seriously, and he wanted the looks to be couture. So when you’re talking about orange and aqua and pink and blue hair, the first place people go is very young, and they think it is more a street look or an urban look for kids. But the challenge was to put it on all age groups and make it look couture. MTV : Logistically, this had to be a grand-scale production. Describe a typical day on set. Flowers : When we were at the peak of all of our Capitol people, I had 45 hairdressers working because everyone had to go through hair and makeup. Each person had an individual look. When you do period movies, the hair is already set, the period has already been set, but there was nothing established for the look of this because it’s in the future. Each person that sat down, a look had to be created for them even if they were, like, #500 on the call sheet. So that was a real challenge, and plus, not just the hairdressers to do their hair, but we had to have a clean-up crew come in when we wrapped to take everyone’s hair, wigs and pieces off to reset them and get them ready for the next day. So it was an around-the-clock deal because we have 30 to 40 people doing hair and 10 to 15 to come in when we wrapped and take everyone down so the hairdressers could go home and sleep to get ready for the next day. MTV : Who had the most time-consuming look? Flowers : It was Effie, but the good thing was I could do Effie’s hair when she wasn’t in the trailer. Her hair definitely took the most time. From start to finish it was about 45 minutes, and I’m really fast. I constructed it slowly. She’s one of those people who’s so completely and purposefully put together that her wig would be an accessory just like a purse or a pair of shoes. So she has three wigs in the movie, and we’re going to have more for her in the next movie. She wears three different looks, and they’re all the same shape. I picked a classic shape, which has a ’30s finger-wave bob, and I took that and I really brushed it out, but it kept the finger waves, and I gave it a lot of volume. And then I took really heavily textured hair and put it in between the layers of her finger waves. MTV : It sounds like you’re already planning ahead for “Catching Fire.” Flowers : Yes. I prepped five or six wigs, and she only wore three in the first one, so we do have some for the second one, and I will prep more. I think everyone was afraid; they didn’t want people to be taken out of the movie with it being too over-the-top or too colorful, so that’s why I chose a pastel palette to start her off with in the movie. When you see her in the Capitol, it gets brighter and she gets a little more extreme. MTV : The hairstyle that’s probably raised the most eyebrows is Woody Harrelson’s Haymitch look, which he fashioned after his brother. What did you think when he approached you with the concept? Flowers : Well, he originally wanted it longer. He brought in a photo of his brother, and his brother looks just like him with the wig on. It was really what he wanted, and then, you know, I showed it to Gary, and he looked at it. He goes, “You know, I think that would be a good look for him, we just need to make it a little shorter.” It looks like the period. The District 12 people kind of have a ’30s-period haircut because they’re very poor and they work in the mines. It kinda looked like that but really grown out. The thing, too, when you’re trying to give a character a kind of character look — someone that has hair like he does — you can make it a little dirty and a little disheveled and make it look like you haven’t shampooed it recently, and it gives his character a little bit of a push. When you have no hair, you can’t really give that push. You can’t really see a passage of time; he’s normal, then he’s drunk and he woke up, and he’s hungover. You can articulate that and express that through the hair. With no hair, you really can’t express that. It really helped me help him with his character. MTV : I can only imagine what some random warehouse in North Carolina must look like with hundreds of wigs lying around. Flowers : You gotta remember, we used over 500 wigs in this movie. There is a warehouse full of trunks with wigs and stuff like that. I keep the cast wigs in a more secure — I don’t keep them in a warehouse. They’re actually in a very secure place that Lionsgate has. Check out everything we’ve got on “The Hunger Games.” For young Hollywood news, fashion and “Twilight” updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com . Related Videos Live From ‘The Hunger Games’ Red Carpet Premiere MTV Rough Cut: ‘Hunger Games’ Related Photos ‘Hunger Games’ World Premiere Red Carpet The Hunger Games
Now here’s an image that could inspire a rebellion: Jennifer Lawrence hit the premiere of The Hunger Games in shiny, glowing gold, joining cast mates Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, and more to celebrate the upcoming YA event movie. Well, OK — that number’s not quite bow and arrow, running-through-the-woods killing people-friendly, but JenLaw destroyed everyone else on that black carpet, including guest (and… secret Hunger Games fan?) Sylvester Stallone. Photos after the jump! Click to launch the slideshow . Get more on The Hunger Games , in theaters March 23.
‘[Elizabeth] Olsen rivets our attention, and the camera’s, so fiercely it verges on unbearable,’ Kat Murphy of MSN.com writes. By Kara Warner Elizabeth Olsen in “Silent House” Photo: Open Road Films Although based on a 2010 Uruguayan Spanish-language horror film, “Silent House” is supposedly inspired by actual events, which only adds to its creep factor. It’s not a movie for the faint of heart. Elizabeth Olsen stars as a young women who finds herself trapped in a remote cottage where she is haunted and hunted by unknown horrors. While critics seem divided over whether it is mostly good or bad — the film is currently hovering around the 50 percent Fresh mark over at Rotten Tomatoes — almost all of them had high praise for the technical construction of the film, which was uniquely done by filming the entire movie in one long, continuous shot . Read on through the “Silent House” reviews … if you dare. The Plot ” ‘Silent House’ introduces us to our soon to be harried heroine, a 20-something who’s returned with her father to their old family vacation home (in the woods and by a lake, natch) to pack it up, board it up, and say farewell to it before it goes on the market. But it’s going to take a lot of work — squatters have defaced it; rust has wrecked the plumbing; and mildew’s worked its way into the electrical system. The house is much like Sarah … she’s barely hiding lots of peeling paint, weak foundations, and broken windows to the soul. But why? We will find out, but first it is time to get scared! Dad and Sarah are soon joined by Uncle Peter who’s come to help with the tidying, a neighbor Sarah really doesn’t remember from childhood summers pops by, and a creepy little girl lurks just out of sight in convenient shadows. The players are in place, and the suspense begins. It’s just little things at first; a noise here, a falling piece of plastic sheeting there. And then Sarah’s dad is attacked, his eye bloodily gouged from his skull. Sarah tries to run — and she does escape the dwelling of doom, but she’s lured back inside by clever, insidious means. To reveal much more would be spoilery, but I will say that Silent House is the kind of movie you must suspend all disbelief for (OK, maybe some of the embarrassingly foreshadowing dialogue is diss-worthy) in order to enjoy. Just watch the girl, follow her, and get caught up in her terror. It works on a visceral level, similar to the French film of a few years back, ‘Ils.’ ” — Staci Layne, Horror.com The Technical Achievement “Like Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Rope’ or the original movie, the conceit of the film is that it’s entirely shot in one take with only a couple obvious times where they could have easily cheated. If you weren’t informed in advance that the movie was done in one take, you may not even realize it as the camera person/DP follows the characters up and downstairs, in and out of the house in an incredibly fluid way, barely missing a beat as we go from mundane packing activities to intense horrors. [Directors] Kentis and Lau have done a terrific job creating an atmosphere of tension, keeping the viewer on the edge never knowing what to expect or in fact, what exactly is going on. This helps to make some of the more obvious jump scares work better than they might normally, something that can also be attributed to Nathan Larson’s subtle but effective score. Even so, the filmmakers sadly go for many often-used clich
Julianne Moore and Woody Harrelson carry HBO’s Sarah Palin-centered tale of the 2008 election, premiering at 9 p.m. Saturday. By Eric Ditzian Julianne Moore and Ed Harris in “Game Change” Photo: HBO Films Before I checked out “Game Change,” HBO’s Sarah Palin-focused retelling of the 2008 presidential election, I handed my screener over to a politically obsessed MTV News colleague. The next morning, he popped into my office and declared, “It was well-acted!” — which seemed like an odd way to lead off the conversation. I expected him to burst through my door, laughing about what a kook Palin is, or wondering why producers didn’t get Tina Fey to play the one-time vice presidential nominee, or waxing poetic about the “hopey, changey” circus that was Barack Obama’s romp through the general election. But, no: well-acted. When I stretched out on the couch for my own viewing a few days later, I finally grasped what my coworker was getting at: The performances in “Game Change” are what separate the film from fluffy caricature or partisan hackery into a compelling, if debatably accurate, piece of current event-tinged pop culture. Julianne Moore manages to present a Palin that transcends mimicry and leaves a viewer (or, at least, this viewer) vacillating between sympathy and exasperation. As chief John McCain campaign advisor Steve Schmidt, Woody Harrelson simply kicks ass, doling out sage advice and f-bomb-heavy attacks with equal aplomb — exactly how I imagine political insiders do it in real life (or, perhaps, just on “The West Wing”). Of the major players, only Ed Harris’ portrayal of McCain himself comes off as a little too much of an “SNL” imitation, his robotic physicality less reminiscent of the Arizona senator than of C-3PO. Nonetheless, all this combines to make “Game Change,” in the best tradition of historical dramas, a tense affair as you sit waiting to find out how it all will end, even as you know exactly what in fact transpired. That’s not to say this film is high art, or even particularly great: It’s not, and it isn’t. Problems abound — from hokey, no-one-honestly-utters-such-patriotic-nonsense dialogue to the enduring question about veracity — but in the end, “Game Change” is gripping throughout, because it’s “well-acted.” Many reviewers agree with that sentiment — though not all. Here’s what critics are saying about the HBO film, which premieres at 9 p.m. Saturday: The Performances “McCain comes off close to saintly, with Harris lending him a grave bafflement over Obama’s success. … Harrelson portrays Schmidt as a man who truly believes that all McCain needs to push him to victory is a little sizzle. … The film, obviously, belongs to Moore, who works hard to make Palin not so much fatally ambitious as one of those naturally confident people who believe that confidence and faith are the most important ingredients of success; ability or even competence can be learned on the job.” — Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times The Spin From the Right “Moore portrays Palin as a Manchurian Candidate for the extreme right who is activated by a phone call from the McCain campaign. Like a hypnotized spy, she’s humorless, incapable of any kind of emotional connection with anyone, bewildered by circumstance and absolutely determined to meet the goal she’s been programmed to complete. … [W]hat HBO and company have done is to bring to life that which justifies the darkest part of their own incapacity to see the humanity in those who might threaten the reelection of Barack Obama.” — John Nolte, Big Hollywood The Spin From the Left “Sarah Palin has everything to lose and precisely nothing to gain from depictions that point her, as ‘Game Change’ does at various point, as an overzealous evangelical Christian. … And those of us who dislike Palin have everything to gain by recognizing that we really, truly won: Palin’s gone from the national stage. … We should accept that, be done with the victory dance, and get down to examining the next generation of plausible Republican rising stars. The greatest damage we could do to Sarah Palin — and one of the better things we could do for ourselves — is to move on from her, totally and irrevocably.” — Alyssa Rosenberg, Think Progress The Final Word “[T]he movie is better than you’ve heard but not good enough to linger in the mind. I wish it had been more of a black comedy and less of a political-psychological case study. Confronted with this level of genial stupidity and accidental madness, only satire can do history justice. Sarah Palin herself is a triumph of style and a failure of substance; ‘Game Change,’ the reverse.” — Matt Zoller Seitz, New York ‘s Vulture.com For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com .
But he also didn’t want to actually drink during filming — like he had done before — to play Haymitch. By Kara Warner, with reporting by Josh Horowitz Woody Harrelson Photo: MTV News Anyone familiar with “The Hunger Games” books knows the character Haymitch Abernathy is mostly memorable for one thing: drunkenness. Sure, his character has a more multifaceted arc over the course of Suzanne Collins’ trilogy, but in speaking of the first book and film adaptation, Haymitch’s most recognizable trait is his near-constant intoxication. When MTV News caught up with Woody Harrelson recently, the man who will be bringing the District 12 victor and mentor to life via the big-screen adaptation on March 23, we him how he approached his character’s inebriation. “It’s an intriguing thing for me to play, because it’s not something I’ve had that much opportunity to play,” Harrelson said. “I was a little bit worried about looking phony, that phony drunk thing. Some Method actors might go drunk onscreen; I can’t do that. I tried it one time,” he admitted. “When I was doing ‘Indecent Proposal,’ I had this one scene, and I was supposed to be really drunk, contesting Robert Redford’s love for Demi Moore, and I got smashed because I was supposed to be, so I rationalized it, and that wasn’t a pleasant experience.” Harrelson said he and “Games” director Gary Ross spent time coming up with the right level of inebriation, a point that suited the character but did not completely detract or distract from the story. “There was a thing with me and Gary trying to decide the level of drunkenness in any given scene, and I was always pushing for more drunk, and he didn’t want me to be drunk in every scene,” he said. “He was always pulling back, and I was always pushing for more just because I think it’s kind of funny and interesting. Knowing Gary, he got the right balance.” Check out everything we’ve got on “The Hunger Games.” For young Hollywood news, fashion and “Twilight” updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com . Related Videos MTV Rough Cut: ‘Hunger Games’ Related Photos The Hunger Games
Found-footage film earns $22 million, beating out Daniel Radcliffe’s ‘Woman in Black.’ By Ryan J. Downey Dane DeHaan in “Chronicle” Photo: Alan Markfield/ 20th Century Fox The Super Bowl couldn’t stop another found-footage flick from topping the box office. Box-office receipts were up more than 30 percent from last year’s Super Bowl weekend as “Chronicle” took the #1 spot with Daniel Radcliffe’s first post-“Potter” flick, “The Woman in Black,” close behind at #2. “Chronicle” took in $22 million while “Woman in Black” earned $21 million, according to studio estimates. The feel-good Alaskan whale story “Big Miracle,” starring Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski (“The Office”), debuted at #4 with $8.5 million. Meanwhile, Super Bowl halftime performer Madonna saw her “W.E.” open with a ho-hum $45,000 in four theaters. Despite the film’s director earning a Golden Globe for her song from the movie, “W.E.” has suffered from mostly negative reviews. While it didn’t open as strongly as the “Paranormal Activity” movies, “Cloverfield” or last month’s found-footage flick, “The Devil Inside,” teen superhero-centered “Chronicle” enjoyed the fourth highest Super Bowl debut ever and took the #1 spot internationally. Considering the movie’s estimated production budget of $12 million, the found-footage phenomenon will undoubtedly continue. The modest success of “The Woman in Black” was good news for Radcliffe, who had yet to top-line a movie in a role as anyone other than “Harry Potter.” Its numbers were comparable with the 2006 remake of “When a Stranger Calls,” which was also a horror flick directed at teens that opened on Super Bowl weekend. Both Radcliffe’s ghost story and “Chronicle” earned mostly positive reviews. Last weekend’s #1 movie, “The Grey,” dropped to #3 with $9.5 million. The Liam Neeson vehicle, which, like “Big Miracle,” takes places in Alaska, has made $34.7 million thus far. “Underworld: Awakening” rounded out the top five with $5.6 million for a $53.4 million total. Awards season favorite “The Artist” and “The Iron Lady” (which has earned Meryl Streep another Oscar nomination) both passed the $20 million mark over the weekend. Each movie is playing at roughly 1,000 locations; “Chronicle,” by comparison, opened in 2,907. This weekend’s new releases include “The Vow,” which sees Rachel McAdams returning to source material from “The Notebook” author Nicholas Sparks, opposite Channing Tatum; Denzel Washington’s “Safe House”; “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, which is already doing solid business overseas; and the 3-D re-release of “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace,” which is the first in a series of planned “Star Wars” 3-D re-releases over the next few years. Woody Harrelson’s corrupt cop drama “Rampart,” which reunites the actor with “The Messenger” writer/ director Oren Moverman, will open in limited release. Check out everything we’ve got on “Chronicle.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Videos Talk Nerdy MTV Rough Cut: Daniel Radcliffe
David Arquette and Christina McLarty made their first red carpet appearance as a couple this weekend, posing together at the Art of Elysium Heaven Gala in Los Angeles and looking happy as can be. “We’re serious,” the actor told E! News of the relationship. “But we’re having fun.” McLarty lives in New York City and works as a reporter for Entertainment Tonight , which means the couple does the long distance thing with Arquette based on L.A. “We’re making it work,” Arquette said. “We try to do a no more than two weeks [apart] rule. McLarty and Arquette started dating in September, around the same time as the latter’s stint on Dancing with the Stars . He didn’t fare too poorly on that competition and referred to it as a life-changing experience .
