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Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Brad Pitt's 'Megamind' Character No 'Cardboard Hero,' Director Says

Pitt 'loved' voicing animated Metro Man, Tom McGrath tells MTV News, as executive producer Ben Stiller jokes they wanted to give A-lister 'a break.'
By Sarah Flanigan, with reporting by Kara Warner

Ben Stiller and Tom McGrath
Photo: MTV News

"Megamind," DreamWorks' latest animated comedy, hits theaters on Friday, with a star-studded Hollywood cast that includes Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller and Brad Pitt. And while funnymen Ferrell and Stiller are no strangers to comedic work, A-list actor Pitt is a bit of a newbie to the genre.

The film tells the story of a super-villain named Megamind, voiced by Ferrell, who has repeatedly attempted — and failed — to conquer Metro City. Instead, the town's studly hero Metro Man (Pitt) has managed to defeat him every time.

Although Pitt has played a multifaceted range of characters onscreen, until the role of Metro Man came along, he had yet to add an animated hero to his résumé. When MTV News caught up with "Megamind" director Tom McGrath and executive producer Stiller, the two men explained what made the part appealing to Pitt.

"He loved the idea. He loved the character and playing that kind of character that has a couple levels to him," McGrath said. "You know, he's not just the cardboard hero, he's got another layer to him — not to give anything away — and he's funny."

Pitt's reputation as one of the most attractive men in the movie business certainly was not a consideration when the decision was made to cast him in the animated flick. Stiller said he thought he would actually be doing Pitt a favor by offering him this kind of role.

"We wanted to give him a break. We felt like he could use a boost right now in his career," Stiller joked. "We figured things aren't really popping with the on-camera work, maybe the voice thing will get him something. So I'm hoping he'll owe us for this one."

What do you think of Brad Pitt flexing his comedic chops in an animated flick? Tell us in the comments!

Check out everything we've got on "Megamind."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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Kanye West Explains Michael Jackson 'Runaway' Scene

MC says he used King of Pop's likeness to represent cult mentality.
By Mawuse Ziegbe, with reporting by Sway Calloway

Photo: Def Jam

In a production wrought with powerful imagery, the Michael Jackson procession scene in Kanye West's film debut, "Runaway," is among the most impactful and intriguing.

Around seven minutes into the movie, which centers on the ill-fated romance between West's character, Griffin, and a phoenix played by Selita Ebanks, fireworks herald a parade of a crimson-clad marching band flanked by a mob of followers sporting pointed hoods reminiscent of the garb worn by the Ku Klux Klan. The band surrounds a larger-than-life illuminated bust of the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson, while Griffin and the phoenix excitedly look on.

When West sat down with MTV News' Sway for a live Q&A session that followed the film's premiere Saturday (October 23) on MTV, he explained that he juxtaposed Jackson's likeness with the hooded marchers to make a comment about the potent pull of cult mentality.

"The hood, what it does represent to me ... in relation to the Michael Jackson thing is not the KKK but the concept of cult, because it's multiple people with this hood on," West explained. "It's me taking [the phoenix] to my world and saying, 'Let me show you what my world is about.' "

West said he invoked the image of the late icon, whose expansive cultural reach was unparalleled, to demonstrate the energy of the pop realm.

"The greatest, biggest pop-cultural figure of all time, arguably bigger than Jesus Christ, is Michael Jackson. You have the band in front of him, marching ... and you have the cult around it," West said, before explaining the scene that precedes the procession, of a young boy in mid-sprint brandishing a flaming baton.

"If you saw the kid in the beginning, he's running and running at top speed holding his torch, and his torch represents his thoughts and ideals. At the end, after he's been cultivated, he has the hood on now and he's walking extremely slow. That's basically how people think," West said. "It's the way society has set people up to be able to control them, slave mentalities."

Yeezy added that coaxing people into social conformity is an effective form of control — assuming the followers don't decide to break away on their own trails.

"[By] just creating this mentality by cultivating the ideals ... you could just make people just stand in their own mental jails," he said. "What happens when someone isn't in a mental jail?"

What do you think of Kanye's explanation of the Michael Jackson "Runaway" scene? Sound off in the comments!

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Woman Solves Wheel Of Fortune Puzzle With Just ONE Letter!

Although she only had one letter in the puzzle, Caitlin Burke uncovered the entire phrase as a contestant on Wheel of Fortune.
And the look on Pat Sajak's face is priceless!
Got get 'em, honey.

Lena Headey Leonor Varela Leslie Bega Leslie Bibb

Beyonce Has An 'Agenda' For New Album, Ne-Yo Says

'She knows exactly what she wants to do,' Ne-Yo says of Bey's Sasha Fierce follow-up.
By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Tim Kash

Ne-Yo
Photo: MTV News

Beyoncé may have killed off Sasha Fierce for her next album, but that doesn't mean that whatever she turns out won't be just as, dare we say, fierce as her previous effort. And Ne-Yo, who reveals he is working with the megastar on the follow-up to 2008's I Am ... Sasha Fierce, says that it's easy-peasy working with Bey, mostly because she knows exactly what she wants.

"The thing about working with Beyoncé is that she definitely has her own agenda," the "Irreplaceable" songwriter told MTV News about the hush-hush song (or songs) the pair worked on together. "She's an artist that knows exactly what she wants to do."

So how does it go down when you walk into a studio to find Beyoncé sitting there ready to work? "She's going to give you directions [like] 'Here's where I'm going, so here's where I need you to be,' " Ne-Yo explained. "And, you know, I'm a person that follows direction well. [And she'll be like], 'So this is the sound, this is the vibe; make it happen.' And I write and she likes it or she doesn't. And in this case she did, and there you have it."

Producer Sean Garrett, who wrote Beyoncé hits including "Video Phone" and "Upgrade U," promised Popeater.com that Bey's fourth album is "going to be her biggest album ever. We're going to take it to a whole other level." He told EW.com, "I think we are doing a lot of uptempo records for this one. She's in such a good place right now in life that she is interested in making party music, definitely."

Additionally, producer Jim Jonsin reveals that he has been submitting some tracks and angling to get in the studio to work with Beyoncé on the forthcoming album, noting that he wants to go retro for the record. "I'd like to take it even more Depeche Mode-ish, like '80s electro with just some hard drums," the "Beautiful Nightmare" producer told Rap-Up. "I'd love to go there."

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Monday, November 8, 2010

Coldplay, Led Zeppelin Album Covers Featured On New British Stamps

Album art from Pink Floyd, Blur and David Bowie also included.
By James Montgomery

Coldplay's new British stamps
Photo: Royal Mail

On Thursday (January 7), the U.K.'s Royal Mail unveiled a series of 10 new stamps, honoring the most iconic album covers of the past 40 years.

The albums featured in the new series are the Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed, Led Zeppelin's IV, David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, The Clash's London Calling, New Order's Power, Corruption and Lies, Primal Scream's Screamadelica, Pink Floyd's The Division Bell, Blur's Parklife and — the most recent album on to make the cut — Coldplay's A Rush of Blood to the Head.

Meant to honor "the most potent graphic images of modern times, many of which have provided a visual soundtrack to people's lives," the series is the end result of a lengthy research process by the Royal Mail, who looked through thousands of album covers by British artists before deciding on the final list. And, during a Wednesday night BBC Radio broadcast, it was revealed that the queen herself actually approved each design.

Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page — who helped design the cover for IV — was on hand to celebrate the release of the stamps and recalled the mysterious nature of the album's iconic imagery.

"Almost 40 years after the album came out, nobody knows the old man who featured on the cover, nor the artist who painted him," he said. "That sort of sums up what we wanted to achieve with the album cover, which has remained both anonymous and enigmatic at the same time."

Of course, any great honor is befitting of an equally great contest, so, on the same day the stamps were made available to the general public, Coldplay decided to give one of their Rush of Blood stamps away. In a message on their official site, the band held a contest to send one lucky fan "a letter using a Coldplay stamp, postmarked with today's issue date."

"We visited our local post office earlier today and bought some of the Coldplay stamps," the message read. "Very nice they are too."

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Lady Gaga Now Subject Of College Course

Class at the University of South Carolina is called 'Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame.'
By Gil Kaufman

Lady Gaga
Photo: Amy Sussman/ Getty Images

Fame is so hard to define these days. How does a star know when she's truly made it? Is it when the hosts of "Today" dress up as you for Halloween? When you reach 1 billion views on YouTube? Are multiplatinum album sales and sold-out tours still a good barometer?

Or does one only reach true icon status when a college professor decides that person is important enough to base a university-level course around?

If so, welcome to the club, Lady Gaga!

According to the New York Times, University of South Carolina sociology professor Mathieu Deflem is planning to offer a course next semester entitled "Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame."

Deflem plans to delve into what makes a person famous and what it means to be famous in today's society. "The central objective is to unravel some of the sociologically relevant dimensions of the fame of Lady Gaga," Deflem states in the course description for the class, which he says is the first of its kind in the nation.

Deflem said that after being smitten with Gaga during a "Tonight" appearance last January, he attended a concert of hers in Atlanta and went on to catch 28 Gaga shows all over the globe. He's since become a superfan, collecting more than 300 CDs and records and launching the fan site gagafrontrow.net.

He's also met Mother Monster five times. Does that mean she'll swing by for a lecture sometime? "I will get the word out to her that I'm doing the course," he said when asked if he'd like her to drop in. "But it might be logistically too difficult for her to come because she will be on tour for most of the spring semester."

Gaga joins a venerable list of courses that will likely elicit a call from parents asking just what their money is going toward, including Georgetown University's "Philosophy and Star Trek," the University of California-Irvine's "The Science of Superheroes," Frostburg State University's "The Science of Harry Potter" and University of California-Berkeley's "Simpsons and Philosophy."

What do you think of a university teaching a course on Gaga? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!

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Alicia Keys Brings Jay-Z, Beyonce To Her New York Show