Unnamed family sources tell English tabloid The Sun that singer quit drinking cold turkey. By Gil Kaufman
Amy Winehouse Photo: Marc Broussely/ Redferns
There have been many conflicting reports of what caused Amy Winehouse's death on Saturday. While initial autopsy results were inconclusive and the outcome of further toxicology tests will not be available for several more weeks, a report out of England is raising new questions about what might have killed the troubled singer.
Winehouse, who famously struggled with drugs and alcohol during her rocket ride to fame in 2006-2007, was drug-free for the past three years, according to statements from her father, Mitch Winehouse. But the 27-year-old star appeared to still be struggling with alcohol, and unnamed family sources told English tabloid The Sun that it might have been Amy's cold-turkey approach to quitting drinking that did her in.
The sources said Winehouse's decision to give up drinking entirely for three weeks might have given a lethal "shock" to her system. "Abstinence gave her body such a fright they thought it was eventually the cause of her death," the source said.
"[Amy's father, Mitch] said doctors had told Amy to gradually reduce her intake of alcohol and to avoid bingeing at all costs. Amy told him she couldn't do that. It was all or nothing, and she gave up completely ... Mitch said the shock of giving up, after everything she had been through over a bad few years, was just too much for her to take."
The family has reportedly speculated that Winehouse died as a result of a seizure because her small frame could not withstand such a dramatic withdrawal. People magazine reported that it had confirmed the family's speculation about the cause of death.
On Sunday, the singer's U.K. representative, Chris Goodman, told TMZ that Winehouse was found alone in her bed by a bodyguard who had been hired to keep an eye on her. "She was in her bedroom after saying she wanted to sleep, and when he went to wake her he found she wasn't breathing," Goodman said. "He called the emergency services straight away. He was very shocked. At this stage no one knows how she died. She died alone in bed."
MTV News asked Dr. Sam Zakhari, director of the Division of Metabolism and Health Effects at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, if it's possible for someone to have this kind of reaction to stopping alcohol intake. Dr. Zakhari, who did not treat Winehouse and has no firsthand knowledge of her case, spoke in general terms about the scenario described by the unnamed source.
"People who drink heavily or who are alcoholics and stop all of a sudden may have withdrawal symptoms that range from agitation to intense anxiety to tremors, seizures, convulsions and delusions," said Dr. Zakhari. "In rare cases, it can affect the heart and cause cardiac standstill (heart stoppage), but that's in very rare cases."
Dr. Zakhari said it's difficult to say with any certainty if quitting cold turkey could cause a collapse, because there are many factors that play into that scenario. "You have to look at their nutritional status, family history of heart problems, whether they are using other medications that can interact with alcohol, whether they abuse other substances," he said. "The accurate answer is that we don't know if something like this is due to stopping drinking alcohol because the result depends on such a multitude of factors."
Dr. Dan Hall-Slavin, a psychiatrist and a consultant in addiction at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, agreed that it's possible, but not common for someone who quits drinking to have such drastic health effects. "There is a phenomenon called 'kindling,' where withdrawals from alcohol can get worse and worse over time," said Dr. Hall-Slavin, who also had no firsthand knowledge of the Winehouse case and was speaking in general terms.
"From a clinical standpoint, you never tell anyone who has been actively drinking to just stop until they get into a monitored setting because alcohol is a central nervous system depressant and while some can stop and not experience problems, others with a previous history of alcohol withdrawal can experience very serious symptoms like seizures and a severe withdrawal called Delirium Tremens, where your temperature goes up, you become dehydrated, and you can die in that state."
Sometimes, people who suffer a seizure in private can aspirate the contents of their stomach and die, but different factors can also play in, such as other health issues that result from daily drinking at high volumes and the short and longer-term consequences to the cardiovascular system from use of stimulants such as cocaine.
"The other factor is that alcohol is more toxic for women at lower doses over a shorter period of time than for men," Hall-Slavin noted. "It's partly how alcohol is distributed and metabolized in the body."
Jonas Brother also tweets news that Fast Life delayed until October 11. By Jocelyn Vena
Britney Spears and Joe Jonas Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage
There was a time when Joe Jonas was rumored to be an opener for Britney Spears on her Femme Fatale Tour. Well, it seems that rumor turned out to be true — for one date, at least. Jonas tweeted Friday (July 29) that he's opening for Spears at her August 5 stop in New Jersey.
"This just in ... I will be performing at the @BritneySpears concert in NJ on Aug 5," the Jersey native wrote. Just last week, it was announced that DJ Pauly D will also appear on several dates of the tour, which also features Nicki Minaj, Nervo and Jessie and the Toy Boys.
Jonas also shared in the same tweet that the release date for his forthcoming debut album has been delayed. He added, "And get ready for #FastLife in stores Oct. 11."
Fast Life was originally slated to hit stores September 6, but fans will have to wait an additional few weeks to hear what the middle Jonas Brother has up his sleeve on the long-simmering solo project.
Jonas was recently spotted in Paris shooting the music video for the album's second single, "Just In Love With You." He was seen getting cozy with a model at various locations in the City of Lights. The song is a follow-up to his single "See No More," written by Chris Brown.
While fans might have to wait a little longer to hear what Jonas has been working so hard on, he has made it clear that this album is all about them. "I was really excited," he told MTV News about hearing fans' comments about his first solo song. "I love the world we live in where you can know what people are thinking right away."
Are you eagerly awaiting Fast Life? Tell us in the comments below!
Gaga performed the song twice on Thursday, on 'So You Think You Can Dance' and 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' By Jocelyn Vena
Lady Gaga on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Photo: ABC
Perhaps it wasn't that big of a secret to begin with, but on Thursday night when Lady Gaga stopped by "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" the singer finally confirmed what everybody already presumed: "You and I" will be her next single from Born This Way.
When asked what she planned to perform that night in addition to "The Edge of Glory," Gaga replied, "I'm going to sing my brand-new single 'You and I.' " She recently shot the video for the track in Nebraska.
Gaga also performed those two tracks on "So You Think You Can Dance" on Thursday night, following her appearance on the show the day before as a guest judge.
Before taking the "Kimmel" stage and pounding the keys on her piano for the track, she joked around with the host about her killer cooking skills, her five Emmy nods for her HBO special and, of course, her nomination for the Bowling Hall of Fame.
"I am a good bowler pre-Budweiser," she laughed. "And then once the beers start loading up, I become worse and worse, which is really great for whoever takes me out on the date, 'cause I'm a good, cheap date and a terrible bowler."
So, does Gaga ever don bowling shoes? "Absolutely not!" she said. "What if one of my fans walked into the bowling alley and saw me in flats? They'd have a heart attack."
When Kimmel asked if one day she planned on actually creating any Little Monsters of her own, the always forthright Gaga shared that she does plan on starting a family someday. "Do I want to have kids? Someday ... long, long day from now," she said. She joked about whether or not she'd love her kids even if they didn't turn out to be gay, telling Kimmel, "No, I actually don't even like you 'cause you're not."
Gaga also just announced the planned release of a coffee-table book, called "Lady Gaga," the photos for which are by fashion photographer Terry Richardson. The book is due out in November.
Band will tour U.S. and Europe in October, singer tells MTV News. By James Montgomery
Evanescence's Amy Lee Photo: Jason Squires/ WireImage
Evanescence's self-titled album isn't due in stores until October 11, but that hasn't stopped the band from giving fans a preview of what they can expect to hear on the disc — or, you know, threepreviews: first single "What You Want," the booming "The Other Side" and the epic, ethereal "Lost in Paradise" — or from lining up a handful of early tour dates in support of the album.
So far, Amy Lee and Co. have committed to a one-off show in Nashville, Tennessee, on August 17, a pair of big-ticket gigs in Brazil and Puerto Rico in October and a run of concerts in the U.K. in November. That leaves a rather sizeable hole right around the time of the album's release — one the band plan to fill very quickly, Lee told MTV News.
"We'll be touring the U.S. and Europe in October. It's not all [confirmed], but it's going to happen," she said. "We're doing Rock in Rio on the 2nd, and then I think Puerto Rico, and that's going to be awesome, because we've never played [there]. ... That's the beginning of the tour; the tour will start there, we'll come back to the States, do a few weeks in the bigger cities, and then go do the same thing in Europe, and then the next thing will happen."
So just when will the full slate of Evanescence tour dates be revealed? Soon. A spokesperson for the band's label, Wind-Up Records, told MTV News the band will begin announcing dates in two weeks, something Lee seemed to confirm Thursday when she took to Twitter to let her fans know the wait is almost over.
"Guys, the tour dates that have been announced are only the beginning!" she wrote. "Don't be sad if you don't see a date in your town yet! We're coming!"
Are you excited to see Evanescence on tour? Tell us below!
'We did two records for her that she really, really loved,' the Jugganauts producer Verse Simmonds tells Mixtape Daily. By Rob Markman
Verse Simmonds Photo: MTV News
Behind the Beats: Verse Simmonds
After finding success crafting the music for Rihanna's "Man Down," the production duo known as the Jugganauts — Sham "Sak Pase" Joseph and Verse Simmonds — are looking to recapture the magic on the Bajan beauty's upcoming sixth album.
"From what I understand, she is closing the album up now, and we did two records for her that she really, really loved and I'm really excited about them as well," Simmonds told Mixtape Daily. "They are records that we wrote and produced as the Jugganauts."
Simmonds is hoping that he and partner Sak Pase land another track on Rihanna's album. And while he couldn't confirm the Jugganauts' contributions will make the final cut, he said was "99.999 percent" certain for now. For those wondering whether the singer's new tunes will sound anything like the reggae-infused "Man Down," Simmonds says no.
"Nah, definitely not, because we always try to constantly — as producers, as artists — we try to always come with something different, a whole new sound," he said without elaborating on what that new record would sound like.
As far as his chemistry with Sak Pase, with whom he did production work on Jay-Z and Kanye West's upcoming Watch the Throne album, the two seem to have a pretty organic working relationship. "In the studio, it can go one of two ways: Most times I'm writing and he's creating the track, and we produce a lot of records like that," Verse said. "Sometimes it'll flip; he'll be writing and I'll be producing the track so it depends on the vibe, and who comes in there first, who's got an idea or concept."
'I just thought it was necessary to get back to the roots,' 40 Glocc tells MTV News of having West Coast icons in 'Welcome to California' clip. By Rob Markman, with reporting by Vanessa White Wolf
40 Glocc Photo: Brian Ach/WireImage
Who says the California hip-hop scene isn't unified? In his new video for "Welcome to California," rapper 40 Glocc raps alongside E-40, Snoop Dogg, Too Short, Xzibit and newcomer Sevin in a grand show of unity. And to take it up yet another level, artists like Ice Cube, Ice-T, WC and Mistah Fab all make cameos.
" 'Welcome to California,' I just thought it was necessary to get back to the roots," 40 Glocc told MTV News. "I felt like we were out of touch with our peers, so I felt like re-touching everybody from Southern California to Northern California, just bring everybody together. So you got all the O.G. cats and you got me and my homey Sevin, who is from Sacramento."
The track, off of 40's upcoming New World Agenda album, wasn't easy to record — and getting the video shot was even harder. Glocc set up three different shoots in order to capture footage of all of the aforementioned artists who appear in the clip, but it was well worth it for the Cali rapper.
"I felt like bringing us all together and giving California back that motivation. I felt like the motivation was missing for us to be ourselves and just do us," he explained. "It was real hard to get everybody together at once because everybody is busy with schedules, but we pulled it off. I was exhausted after, like, 'Wow.' "
"Welcome to California" isn't the only trick 40 Glocc has up his sleeve; he has friends in high places, and that will be clear on New World Agenda, which is due in the fall. Cee Lo Green will feature on a song called "Electric Lady," and 40 teased collaborations with Ray J, Mobb Deep's Prodigy, Yo Gotti and Twista.
What do you think of 40 Glocc bringing the West together on Welcome to California? Tell us in the comments!
Steven Spielberg and Guillermo del Toro advised director, who aimed to 'maintain some mystery and surprises.' By Eric Ditzian
Daniel Craig in "Cowboys & Aliens" Photo: Universal Pictures
How do you surprise someone who's seen it all — aliens who snatch bodies and aliens with dreadlocks and aliens who bloodily birth themselves from your stomach and aliens who phone home and aliens who eat cat food and great big blue aliens with tails they use for sex?
Forget about the decades of classic extraterrestrial flicks that stream daily on TV, tablets and desktops. This year alone, movies like "Battle: Los Angeles," "Super 8," "Green Lantern" and "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" have hit the big screen, each trying to deliver not only eye-popping visuals but the post-credits comment between friends, "Damn, dude, have you ever seen something like that?"
The answer, all too often and quite understandably, is, "Yes, yes, I have." That's the challenge "Cowboys & Aliens" director Jon Favreau faced as he sought to bring alien baddies to the Old West for a genre mash-up that hit theaters Friday (July 29). Favreau, though, counts himself lucky that he was able to lean on some of the most-established sci-fi players in Hollywood for help. The cinematic result is a race of aliens that land in a down-on-its-luck mining town, start to kidnap residents and eventually reveal themselves as extraterrestrial superfreaks on par with anything we've seen at the theater in recent years.
Earlier this month in Montana, Favreau talked with MTV News about what makes a great big-screen alien, the special-effects decisions that helped his filmmaking process and the advice Steven Spielberg and Guillermo del Toro gave him along the way. (Beware of spoilers below.)
"When you set out to make a movie like 'Cowboys & Aliens,' if you just play it as one joke for the whole movie, you're in trouble," Favreau explained. "You run out of gas after about the length of an 'SNL' sketch. So we really wanted to find an approach that could bear out a whole story. Part of it was identifying what kind of alien movie to make and what kind of cowboy movie to make."
The answer to the alien question was to reach back to classics of the '70s and '80s, before CG glam overtook practical effects as the preferred method of creating otherworldly creatures. "The alien movies I like the most are the ones I grew up with," he said. "It was the pre-CG, almost verging on horror versions of alien films, like 'Alien,' 'Aliens,' 'Predator' and all the Spielberg stuff, and I include 'Jaws' in that, too. They were all the same kind of movie.
"It was before you had computer effects, so you had to, through lighting and mystery and music, slowly reveal the creature. That technique has some somewhat been lost now, thanks to CGI. Even though we have CGI creatures eventually, we do use animatronics and we do use lighting and all the old techniques to reveal them."
The aliens in "Cowboys" have landed in an Arizona town to mine for gold — a metal as precious to humans as it is to these space travelers. What's truly cool about them is their transformative quality: Their faces move and shift to expose layers below, and their bodies open up to unleash hidden, gooey hands. Gross and fascinating and scary, all at once. That's exactly what Favreau was hoping to accomplish.
" 'Predator' and 'Alien': What was fun about those films is, as you saw the creatures, more and more layers were revealed, whether it was armor coming off with 'Predator' [and] weaponry, or in the case of 'Alien,' with the second set of teeth or the metamorphosis that it did from its egg state to the face-hugger to whatever that larval phase was when it busts out of your chest and finally into the big [creature]," he said. "It's the shape-shifting quality of the aliens that I thought was really cool. We wanted to maintain some mystery and surprises with our creature."
To create those surprises, Favreau not only depended on his team of artists and effects masters, but on Spielberg and del Toro. "[Spielberg] was very involved with certain aspects of it preproduction, and one of those aspects was the alien design, because he's been involved with so many," he said. "And now seeing 'Falling Skies' and seeing 'Super 8,' I see that he was not just involved with his own films, but other films and projects he's been producing and overseeing. He had a lot of specific insight into what things were important.
"And Guillermo del Toro, I also know him, and he's masterful," Favreau added. "He always said you've got to get the silhouette right first and then you got to get the color right and then you got to get the detail right, in that order. He's actually somebody who helped out and came in the editing room. I was showing him our animatronic work, because he's very picky about that stuff, and when I knew it passed his muster, I felt very good."
Critics single out memorable performances by Ryan Gosling and Steve Carell in this 'crazy smart film.' By Kara Warner
Ryan Gosling in "Crazy, Stupid, Love." Photo: WB
Although the summer season is packed with big, noisy, CGI-enhanced blockbusters, studio executives are wise to the fact that not everyone wants to see flashy, action-heavy films, so they smartly offer up counter-programming in the form of romantic comedies. This week's star-studded "Crazy, Stupid, Love." is a perfect example, underscored by its 74 percent "fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
The film revolves around Cal Weaver (Steve Carell), whose wife (Julianne Moore) has recently announced her infidelity (the "other man" is played by Kevin Bacon) and requested a divorce. Cal takes his sorrows to a singles' bar, where he's adopted by local ladies' man Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling). Jacob educates Cal in the new ways of wooing the ladies, and although Cal picks up some decent skills, his heart is in the wrong place: He's looking for that elusive true love, a soul mate.
Cal is also dealing with the fact that his adolescent son Robbie (Jonah Bobo) is in love with his teenage babysitter (Analeigh Tipton), who in turn is in love with Cal. Meanwhile, Jacob eventually realizes that he's still pining for the woman (Emma Stone) who got away.
Critics seem to be most pleased with the film's ensemble cast, with only a few grumbles about clichéd plot twists and turns. Without further ado, let's dive into the "Crazy, Stupid, Love." reviews.
The Story "Just because it stars smart actors and isn't aggressively dumb doesn't automatically make it good, and while 'Crazy, Stupid, Love.' works in fits and starts, its wildly inconsistent tone and Dan Fogelman's overwritten screenplay make it too frustrating to properly enjoy. Every time one of the many plot threads hits its stride, another careens wildly out of control, leading up to a conclusion so clichéd it seems the movie has moved into parody." — Katey Rich, Cinema Blend
Ensemble Cast and Performances "Frequently, the zaniness stops and some genuinely impressive acting breaks out. The accomplished Moore is an obvious candidate and, even in a confined role, she delivers — here a nervous look, there a tender gesture. Cast against type, his customarily troubled characters, Gosling is all dressed up (and occasionally undressed) in a fashion guaranteed to set hearts aflutter. But the guy is too skilled to settle for a hunky stereotype; rather, he rescues the roué from cliché by adding a certain delicacy, a repressed yet palpable sensitivity. ... Although not in their performing league, Carell is blessed to have a faint hint of Buster Keaton in his otherwise handsome face — a mug whose deadpan stare is fraught with comic nuance. Even the kid actor is a cut above here. Jonah Bobo brings to Robbie that adolescent knack of travelling at warp speed from deep cynicism to idealistic innocence." — Rick Groen, The Globe and Mail
The Final Word "It's hard to ignore the fact that very little in the movie feels true — no one clicks as a couple, and there are carefully contrived coincidences around every corner. ... But while the filmmakers bungle the romance, they handle the comedy with skillful precision. I laughed all the way through, thanks to both consistently clever dialogue and deft delivery from Carell and Gosling, who clearly relished a chance to flex his comic muscles." — Elizabeth Weitzman, Daily News
"This film is the total of all its parts, from the string-bean beauty Tipton to the sly adolescent Bobo and all the veterans. It's notable that no one — not even Bacon's character — is a villain in this film. They're all just people looking for, wrestling with and falling in love. ... This is the sort of film that Oscar generally ignores come awards season. It shouldn't. "Crazy, Stupid, Love," is a crazy smart film." — Tom Long, Detroit News
The Snowman explains how his TM 103 reflects the economic hardships of the day. By Rob Markman, with reporting by James Smith
Young Jeezy Photo: Monica Morgan/ WireImage
The folks on Capitol Hill aren't the only ones focused on the world financial crisis. Young Jeezy is well aware of the economic woes of the day, which play a role in his upcoming album TM 103.
Starting with his 2005 debut album, Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101, Jeezy stood as a voice of the streets his entire career. In 2006, he dropped The Inspiration: Thug Motivation 102 and two years after he dropped his third LP, The Recession. On September 20, the Snowman will return to motivate the thugs on his oft-delayed TM 103, and for him the evolution of the TM album reflects the hard times that many Americans have fallen upon.
"TM 101 dropped at a time when money was so plentiful that you could've had too much of it at some point, and everybody was happy," Jeezy told MTV News on Tuesday while backstage in Atlanta at the second of his Thug Motivation 101 six-year anniversary concerts. "Everybody was flamboyant, everybody was living, and nowadays it ain't like that. So when I dropped TM 101, my whole focus was, we're gonna get this money and that's what it's about. We're gonna get this money, we're gonna live life, we're gonna have fun."
In 2011, people can't spend money as frivolously as they once did, so Jeezy wasn't about to stick to the old topics.
"The evolution of that, 103 is more sort of like situations, like, OK, yeah we got to the money, we lost it two or three times, but what are we gonna do to maintain?" Jizzle asked before rattling off a few more hypothetical questions. "Are we gonna maintain? Are we gonna get back? Are we gonna stay focused on the get back, or we gonna get off track? Are we gonna pay attention to what they're talkin' about, or pay attention to what we need to do? That's what the evolution is about."
The Georgia rapper has seen his music labeled as trap rap — a brand of hip-hop that focuses primarily on the Southern drug dealer. While that is a fair assessment of Young Jeezy's sound on the surface, the rapper also believes that he is spreading a motivational message that can help his fans make it through their own trials and tribulations. It's a musical tactic that he credits to the late Tupac Shakur.
"It's about knowing what to do. When I was growin' up and I was listening to 'Pac, all his situations apply to me today. I never knew that, I was just listening to the music and I thought it was good music," Jeezy said. "Everything that he said applies to me today. Keep ya enemies close, money over bitches — that's real talk."
Western meets sci-fi flick is full of 'nifty scenes,' but 'unappealing' overall, critics say. By Terri Schwartz
Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig in "Cowboys and Aliens" Photo: Universal
With a concept as inspired as "Cowboys & Aliens" and an A-list cast that brings together James Bond and Indiana Jones themselves, it's hard to imagine what could possibly have gone wrong between bringing the movie from the production room to the big screen. MTV's Splash Page blog found a lot to love about the movie despite its flaws, but other critics have not been so kind.
Maybe it was the fact that director Jon Favreau took the summer blockbuster too seriously. Fans hoping for a tongue-in-cheek mash-up of a Western and an alien movie are in for a straight-laced action flick without a lot of room for humor, like in Favreau's "Iron Man" films. Even the movie's charismatic leads couldn't rescue "Cowboys & Aliens" from its identity crisis, critics are saying.
Still, there was plenty to love about the movie as well. "Cowboys & Aliens" is certainly a fun ride to take this summer, so before you head to the multiplex this weekend, take a gander at the "Cowboys & Aliens" reviews we lassoed up for you.
The Story "The whole aliens-on-the-frontier incongruity never comes to much, really. There are nifty scenes, like the horseback riders battling silvery skeletal airplanes, but what 'Cowboys & Aliens' lacks is a good story. Basically, the characters — [Daniel] Craig's enigmatic outlaw, [Harrison] Ford's scowling boss, a tribe of Apache — must put aside their differences to form a posse and defeat the invaders. Who do we care about onscreen? For all of Craig's edgy charisma, no one. 'Cowboys & Aliens' has fun moments, but it's a plodding entertainment because it mostly tastes like leftovers." — Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
The Leading Men "In Daniel Craig, the movie has what feels awfully like the second coming of Steve McQueen. Maybe it's the laser blue eyes under the broad forehead, or the laconic refusal to speak except when absolutely necessary, but Craig has a presence here that feels downright mythic. ... The chance to be as mean as he wants to be energizes [Ford], whose storied crankiness finally finds a home. It's a character part, and you can sense Ford's relief at letting another man shoulder the load. Consciously or not, there's a generational passing of the baton just under this movie's surface, and it helps immensely that Craig's up to the task." — Ty Burr, The Boston Globe
The Cowboys and the Aliens "In Hollywood's ancient prime, maybe a third of all movies were Westerns. But those days are as dead as the horse-mounted cavalry; in the past 30 years, the genre has been resuscitated only when some powerful director wanted to make a movie like the ones he grew up loving. So 'Cowboys & Aliens' has got to get to the aliens pretty damn quick. Even here, Favreau and his crew sprinkle a few memorable moments: the aliens' low-flying scout planes, looking like 10-winged titanium dragonflies and lassoing the townspeople for abduction; a desert vision of an upside-down steamship, which momentarily summons the ghost of Werner Herzog's 'Fitzcarraldo'; and the recurring image of Craig retrieving his cowboy hat, whether he's fighting off human varmints or escaping from the aliens' stronghold. A man ain't a man without his Stetson." — Richard Corliss, Time
The Concept "Cowboys versus aliens is a concept that may make you smile in anticipation, but wipe that smile off your face before buying your ticket, because the film takes its subject seriously — deadly seriously in the case of Harrison Ford, who plays a nasty rancher with the snarls and scowls that have become his trademarks, as if in penance for being so charming in the past. One interesting twist has a posse of cowboys teaming up with the Apaches they fear in order to vanquish the aliens, but the storytelling, punctuated by incoherent flashbacks, is often inscrutable." — Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal
The Final Word "A leaden mash-up of western and science-fiction elements that ends up noisy, grotesque and unappealing, this Jon Favreau-directed film features five producers (including Brian Grazer and Ron Howard), six executive producers (Steven Spielberg and Ryan Kavanaugh among them) and six credited writers, led by 'Star Trek' rebooters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci and 'Lost's' Damon Lindelof. No wonder the film plays like a business deal more than a motion picture. Listed as a producer, not a writer, is Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, whose concept for the original graphic novel inspired the film. That's right, 'Cowboys' doesn't even retell the story the graphic novel does; it sets out on its own. This is not a satisfying journey." — Kenneth Turan, The Los Angeles Times
'Lady Gaga' will feature more than 350 pictures by fashion photographer Terry Richardson. By Gil Kaufman
Lady Gaga Photo: Getty Images
Move over, Oprah. Lady Gaga is truly the new Queen of All Media. Mother Monster announced on Thursday that she will be releasing a hefty coffee-table book on November 22 featuring more than 350 pictures of her taken over the past year by controversial fashion photographer Terry Richardson.
According to Publishers Weekly, "Lady Gaga" will feature never-before-scene images of the singer taken during a 10-month period in which Richardson followed Gaga on the road, in the studio and everywhere in between as he was given complete access to her everyday life. The pictures range from the Lollapalooza festival in August 2010 to the final shows of this year's Monster Ball.
Gaga will write the foreword, and Jamie Raab, executive vice president and publisher of Grand Central Publishing, which is issuing the book, said in a statement, "We are proud to be publishing this remarkable collaboration between Lady Gaga and Terry Richardson and anticipate that it will be one of the most stunning, provocative and coveted books of the 2011 holiday season."
A limited edition of the book will be released next year.
Some of the images Richardson has been taking of Gaga over the past year have already raised eyebrows. Richardson, who is known for his provocative, often explicit images, took some topless shots of the singer in February for a Supreme ad as well as the instant classic shots of Gaga draped in a bikini version of her infamous raw-meat dress for the cover of Vogue Hommes Japan, which also featured shots of her male alter ego, Jo Calderone.
He also collaborated with Gaga for the May issue of Harper's Bazaar, in which he captured her on all fours in just fishnets, a nude bra and white boots on top of a mirror-covered piano.
Tom Felton, James Franco and other castmembers say come for the apes, stay for the story ... or just the apes. By Kara Warner
Freida Pinto and James Franco at the "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" premiere Photo: Frazer Harrison/ Getty Images
HOLLYWOOD — There is enough intrigue, presumed destruction and primate shenanigans in the trailers for "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" to entice more than just the fans of the 1968 original into theaters when the film opens next week. But when MTV News caught up with the principal castmembers at the Hollywood premiere on Thursday, we asked them to sell us on a few more of the film's must-see elements, aside from their furry co-stars. Basically, if people come to see the apes, what will make them stay?
"Wow, James [Franco], Freida [Pinto], Andy [Serkis], everyone else," Tom Felton said, speaking to his co-stars' appeal. "There is a mixture of CGI and special effects that we've never seen onscreen before, along with a strong story and a strong message: Humans can't play God too much. We should not overstep our boundaries when it comes to manipulating Mother Nature."
Pinto countered that it's all about the apes. "I think this is one of few films that really give them a voice as well," she said. "Of course, 'Planet of the Apes' did as well, but 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' gives them a voice in a very revolutionary way."
One of the prominent primate voices heard is that of Caesar, played by seasoned motion-capture performer Andy Serkis, who, according to Franco, is the main reason why the film is any good.
"The apes, I think Andy Serkis and WETA should get top billing," Franco said. "They stole the show; they're incredible."
Actor John Lithgow, who plays the father of Franco's character, was the only one who thought folks will start out loving the apes and leave loving the humans.
"They [will] stay for the people, and the extent to which the apes become people," he said. "It's a story, it's a great story, that's why they stay."
Friends and family gathered at Amy's favorite jazz club on Thursday night. By Gil Kaufman
Amy Winehouse Photo: Carlos Alvarez/ Getty Images
Amy Winehouse's father, Mitch, made another trip to the late singer's Camden, England, apartment this week, where fans have kept vigil since the news broke on Saturday that the "Rehab" singer had passed away at age 27.
After greeting those supporters on Monday and thanking them for their kind words and offerings to his troubled daughter's memory, Mitch, along with Amy's mother, Janis, brother Alex and boyfriend Reg Traviss, came by on Thursday to remove some of the singer's private effects from her apartment.
Mitch surprised some of those gathered outside by handing out a few of Amy's clothes and accessories, including several tank tops, sunglasses and other trinkets, according to The Sun. "There are Amy's T-shirts. This is what she would have wanted — for her fans to have her clothes," he told the stunned fans, as he walked away with a pair of Winehouse's signature ballet shoes in his back pocket. "God bless Amy Winehouse," he said before hopping into a taxi.
The family also carted off some other possessions, including Amy's guitars and her lyric books.
Some of Winehouse's pals and family got together to celebrate her life at her favorite jazz club on Thursday night. Her divorced parents were joined by Traviss and friends that included Kelly Osbourne and Eliza Doolittle at the Jazz After Dark club in London's Soho district. Also on hand was producer Mark Ronson, who paid tribute to his muse during a concert the night before, when he performed a selection of Amy's songs.
