MTV News

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• In Memoriam: Nate Dogg, Heavy D Among Stars We Lost In 2011
• Scott Weiland's 'Winter Wonderland' Frame By Frame
• 'We Bought A Zoo': The Reviews Are In!
• 'War Horse' Director Steven Spielberg Captures 'Beauty Of The Accident'
• 'In The Land Of Blood And Honey': The Reviews Are In!

In Memoriam: Nate Dogg, Heavy D Among Stars We Lost In 2011 Posted: 23 Dec 2011 05:54 AM PST MTV News remembers 'Jackass' daredevil Ryan Dunn, Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr and Cali Swag District's M-Bone, among others. By Tami Katzoff Nate Dogg Photo: Mark Sullivan/ WireImage This year we lost some of our brightest stars: artists that spanned the genres of rock, hip-hop and pop, as well as TV and film. They were at different stages in their careers — some just starting to rise, others already legends — but all left a distinct mark on pop culture, and their deaths affected us deeply. Beloved hip-hop icons Nate Dogg and Heavy D influenced the generations of artists who followed them. Nate (born Nathaniel Hale) died at age 41 after suffering several health setbacks related to a stroke. One of the key players in the birth of the West Coast G-Funk sound, the crooner's silky smooth vocals touched classic tracks from Snoop Dogg and Warren G to 50 Cent and Ludacris. Fun-loving Heavy D, a major force in the New Jack Swing era, had hits with songs like "We Found Love" and "Nuttin' But Love," but he had also branched out into film and theater. He was 44 when he died this past fall. Photos: The celebrities gone too soon in 2011. We lost Mike Starr, former bassist for the groundbreaking Seattle grunge band Alice in Chains. Like Amy Winehouse, who also died this year at the age of 27, Starr's talent was often overshadowed by dependency on alcohol and drugs. Gun violence claimed the life of 22-year-old Montae Talbert, the Cali Swag District dancer otherwise known as M-Bone. And Australian actor Andy Whitfield, who got his big break when he was cast as the lead in the Starz TV series "Spartacus: Blood and Sand," was 39 when he succumbed to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Finally, the MTV family mourned the death of "Jackass" daredevil and "Viva La Bam" star Ryan Dunn. The 34-year-old died on a rural Pennsylvania road along with his 30-year-old passenger, Zachary Hartwell, when their car slammed into a guardrail and caught fire. Share your memories of those we lost this year in the comments below. MTV continues our Best of 2011 coverage by looking back at the biggest pop-culture stories of the year. As we count down the newsmakers that mattered to you most, also check out our Best Artists, Best Songs, Best MTV Live Performances and Best EDM Artists of 2011. Related Videos Remembering Nate Dogg Remembering Heavy D Remembering Ryan Dunn Related Photos In Memoriam: Stars We Lost In 2011 Related Artists Nate Dogg Heavy D & The Boyz Amy Winehouse

Scott Weiland's 'Winter Wonderland' Frame By Frame Posted: 23 Dec 2011 05:54 AM PST Foster the People and others help break down the Stone Temple Pilots frontman's Christmas video. By Matt Elias Scott Weiland in his "Winter Wonderland" video Photo: Atco / Softdrive Records With Christmas just around the corner, it's safe to assume you're enveloped in holiday tunes — whether inescapably at the mall or blaring from your laptop by choice. Beyond the old standards, there's Michael Bublé's chart-topping Christmas album and even Justin Bieber's first Christmas contribution, Under the Mistletoe, but you might not be aware that Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland released his own holiday disc this year. That's right, and while Weiland's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year dropped back in October, even some of his contemporaries were unaware of his Xmas effort. That gave us the perfect opportunity to share the album's first music video with the bands on the bill at KROQ's annual Almost Acoustic Christmas earlier this month. In true holiday spirit, the artists graciously took us through the kitschy retro-themed clip for "Winter Wonderland," frame by frame. Initially, everyone was surprised by the video, in part due to Scott's never-before-heard classic croon, but also by his "Mad Men"-inspired, clean-cut new look. "I like his scarf a lot," Marcus Mumford of Mumford & Sons said. "He's very handsome," fellow bandmember Winston Marshall added. While the reactions ran the gamut from "good" to "insane," there were other clues in the video, some believed, that this whole thing might be more of a wink and a nod than a serious musical venture. "He kinda has a very weird eyebrow thing that I only noticed now for the first time," Grouplove's Ryan Rabin said. "I can't tell if it's tongue-in-cheek or not," Mark Foster of Foster the People wondered. "You think it's tongue-in-cheek or you think he just lost his mind? 'Cause he definitely had a bout with [in]sanity for a while." Of course, the sight of a '90s rock icon cozying up to the Yule log left some baffled, but Death Cab for Cutie had their own take on Weiland's "Wonderland." "I mean, is he more Bing Crosby or is he more Danny Kaye?" DCFC's Chris Walla asked. "He's got a lotta Bing, he's got a lot of ... I mean there's some Sinatra there too," DCFC bassist Nick Harmer said. They both agreed that Weiland was fully committed to the act. "And it's good! It's classic," Walla said. "Thank you! I mean — yeah! Thanks for making that Scott, seriously," Harmer concluded. What do you think of Weiland's version of "Winter Wonderland"? Tell us in the comments. Related Artists Scott Weiland

'We Bought A Zoo': The Reviews Are In! Posted: 23 Dec 2011 05:54 AM PST 'It's actually surprisingly charming and more emotionally understated than the material would suggest,' writes AP critic Christy Lemire. By Kara Warner Scarlett Johansson and Matt Damon in "We Bought A Zoo" Photo: 20th Century Fox After a seven-year hiatus post-"Elizabethtown," writer/director Cameron Crowe is back in action with his new film "We Bought a Zoo." Based on a true story and the book of the same name, Matt Damon stars as Benjamin Mee, a widower who buys a failing zoo in an attempt to reconnect his family after the death of their mother. The critical masses always seem eager to offer up opinions on any new Crowe feature, and this time around, the likes have edged out the dislikes, earning the film a "Fresh" rating over at Rotten Tomatoes. Without further ado, let's wander through the "We Bought a Zoo" reviews! The Story and Its Schmaltz Factor "Sometimes, reacting to a movie is all about the expectations you bring with you walking into it. 'We Bought a Zoo' is about a family that buys a zoo. It's as high-concept as you can get, outside of maybe 'Attack of the Killer Tomatoes' or 'I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry,' and it's equally straightforward in wearing its heart on its sleeve. We know to expect this ahead of time because 'We Bought a Zoo' comes from Cameron Crowe, the writer-director of 'Say Anything ...,' 'Jerry Maguire,' 'Almost Famous' and, more recently, the 2005 flop 'Elizabethtown.' We know there will be some poignantly phrased life lessons in store for this family as they struggle to reconnect after the mother's death. The whole exercise could have been agonizingly mawkish, and/or filled with cheap, lazy animal-poop jokes. And yet, it's not. It's actually surprisingly charming and more emotionally understated than the material would suggest. — Christy Lemire, The Associated Press The Writing and Direction "Crowe takes a lot of heat for his portrayal of adorable kids, and already there's been a lot of online grousing about the Rosie character [Benjamin's daughter] being a female variant on the aggressively lovable Jonathan Lipnicki in Crowe's 'Jerry Maguire.' What Crowe doesn't get enough credit for is his continuing insight into and empathy with teen characters, and one of the really engaging things about 'Zoo' is how conscious it is in showing the thread between characters who shared an adolescence together (Damon's foil, a frequently sympathetic one, is an older brother played by Thomas Haden Church) and how that contributes to the hard-earned wisdom of characters trying to bridge generational misunderstanding. Which is to say that the scenes between Damon and Ford [Benjamin's teenage son Dylan] are among the best-written (Crowe collaborated on the screenplay with Aline Brosh McKenna) and best-played scenes in the film." — Glenn Kenny, MSN The Performances "The ups and downs of survival while hanging on by their fingernails are too linear for spontaneity and the happy ending is nothing short of contrived, but the performances are sincere and Mr. Damon actually seems to be having a ball, giving one of the best and most mature performances of his career. The relationship between Ben, still hiding from the pain of loss, and Kelly [Scarlett Johansson], a 28-year-old animal lover with no personal life, wisely avoids the Hollywood clichés that too often furnish easy solutions for loneliness, while Dylan sees fate in a restorative way when he discovers romance with Kelly's cousin (Elle Fanning, who, like her sister Dakota, is growing from child actor to leading lady with sex appeal faster than a flying bullet). The roles are mere outlines for meatier characters, but Mr. Damon brings a depth of humanity to the zealous but underwritten zoo owner that is guaranteed to inspire confidence." — Rex Reed, The New York Observer The Final Word, Pro-Con-Pro Style "Don't confuse the film's modest goals with a lack of gravity. Damon's father-son confrontation with Ford potently disproves that. As Benjamin says, 'all it takes is 20 seconds of insane courage to change your life.' There's a lot of fun waiting at 'We Bought a Zoo,' but it's the feelings that run through every scene that'll make you glad you came." — Peter Travers, Rolling Stone "Does 'We Bought a Zoo' jerk tears and warm hearts effectively? Sure, dead moms and fuzzy critters will do that, especially when choreographed by a proud manipulator like Crowe. Perhaps it's churlish to complain about a filmmaker who pours so much — his taste, his tunes, his worldview, his good humor — into each movie. But watching the overlong, overfeeling, overdirected 'We Bought a Zoo' made me glad to return from Cameron Crowe's world to the real world, where things aren't quite so simple." — Dan Kois, Slate.com "If you see it and you reject the sweetness or you can't hang with the open-hearted nature of the thing, I'm not going to argue with you. But I've seen what naked manipulation looks like, and that's not 'We Bought a Zoo.' It's just a film that wears its emotions right out front, and somehow, Crowe is able to brush aside any thoughts of what people will or won't think and just focus on building those moments that he does so well, those heartbreaking little moments of magic that have been the main currency of his career. Cameron Crowe remains, as always, uncool. And wonderful for it. 'We Bought a Zoo' is lovely, delicate, and absolutely worth seeing with your family this holiday season." — Drew McWeeny, HitFix.com Check out everything we've got on "We Bought a Zoo." For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com. Related Videos MTV Rough Cut: 'We Bought A Zoo'

'War Horse' Director Steven Spielberg Captures 'Beauty Of The Accident' Posted: 23 Dec 2011 05:54 AM PST Actor Tom Hiddleston says, 'Every day, there is magic that will happen.' By Kevin P. Sullivan Tom Hiddleston in "War Horse" Photo: DreamWorks "He is the master." At the premiere of "War Horse," praise like this for the movie's director wasn't hard to come by. For Tom Hiddleston, working with a director as talented as Steven Spielberg meant more than just acting under a guy who has made dozens of timeless films. Hiddleston told MTV News on the red carpet premiere of "War Horse" that working with Spielberg was more like a crash course in classic movie magic. Spielberg recently directed the "Thor" star in "War Horse," a World War I-era drama about the connection between a boy and his horse. Hiddleston shared a few of the lessons he learned from the legendary director. "He's a master craftsman," he said. "And what I learned from him, really, is that he's so impeccably prepared." Hiddleston recalled Spielberg's habit of storyboarding many of the film's scenes, but that never stopped the director from making changes on the fly and running with them. "He turns up on set every day with an open mind and an open heart, because he still doesn't know where the magic is. And every day, there is magic that will happen." But for Spielberg to find that magic, he has to keep both this cast and crew on their toes. For Hiddleston, this often meant changing direction on a moment's notice. "He just has to be sharp enough and on point enough that he's there to catch it and to keep his crew nimble and fleet of foot," Hiddleston explained. "So that if he suddenly sees something like the sun's in a particular place or something's happening between two actors, or in this case, an actor and a horse, that he can capture that, the beauty of the accident, and it lasts forever on film." Check out everything we've got on "War Horse." For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

'In The Land Of Blood And Honey': The Reviews Are In! Posted: 23 Dec 2011 05:54 AM PST 'No one should be surprised that Angelina Jolie is as capable behind the camera as in front of it,' one critic says of globetrotting Oscar winner. By Kara Warner Zana Marjanovic in "In the Land of Blood and Honey" Photo: GK Films For her directorial debut, "In the Land of Blood and Honey," Angelina Jolie chose to helm a harrowing, unrelenting drama set against the backdrop of the Bosnian War that highlights the horrors of the ethnic conflict that ravaged the region in the 1990s. To say that it is not a feel-good film is an understatement. The critics are almost completely divided on whether Jolie's effort, which scored a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Film, is a success. Read on as we sift through the reviews of "In the Land of Blood and Honey." The Story "Eight years ago Jolie starred in a film, 'Beyond Borders,' in which she sashayed around global hot spots in elegant outfits like a fashion model on a shoot. Almost as if in atonement, 'Blood and Honey' is nothing like that, quite the contrary, in fact, as it centers on the queasy relationship between a captor, a Serbian army officer responsible for rounding up Muslims or otherwise making them disappear in Bosnia, and a female prisoner, a woman he was interested in prior to the war and is now able to exploit, but also protect, as his 'personal property.' " — Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter The Direction "Because Jolie is known for her very public passions, which have progressed from the relative simplicity of the carnal to a globally-oriented expression of the maternal, the relatively sedate tone of 'In the Land of Blood and Honey' is unexpected. The systematic use of rape as a weapon of war is depicted with discretion (the brutality was far more vivid in 'The Whistleblower,' another 2011 Bosnian war-themed release). Jolie might show a shrieking woman being carried away by a soldier in the background, but she keeps much of the horror offscreen, at a remove from Ajla. Meanwhile, her scenes with Danijel read as lovers taking pleasure in each other's company, legs and limbs tangled languidly in the sheets. ... No one should be surprised that Angelina Jolie is as capable behind the camera as in front of it; why wouldn't she be? Here's an Oscar winner who travels the world on behalf of the United Nations listening to horror stories from refugees; processing pain is a regular sideline for her." — Mary Pols, Time The Performances "Jolie's actors [Zana Marjanovic, Goran Kostic, Vanesa Glodjo], all from the former Yugoslavia and unknown in the West except for the superb veteran character actor Rade Serbedzija, give magnetic, raw performances. Their commitment helps us through a movie that is often harrowing, never less than intense but important, one unafraid of moments too many have chosen to forget." — Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News The Final Word "Considering the historical, ethical and technical challenges in the mix — a first-time director recreating a war of ethnic cleansing on a bombs-and-bullets level, with charged issues or power and abuse, along with the challenge of shooting in a second language in a foreign land — it is not patronizing to suggest that Ms. Jolie's first film is an ambitious step forward that promises more, and better, in the future. The film may have more in ambition than it does in execution, but it deserves to be taken seriously as a debut by someone who may yet be as natural and assured behind the camera as she seems to be in front of it." — James Rocchi, MSN.com Check out everything we've got on "In the Land of Blood and Honey." For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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