Newcomer to our feed Kristen Bell vehemently defended her authenticity today, so I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt that this recommendation for “My Sister’s Keeper” is for real. Mandy Moore also tweeted in with her reactions to “The King of Kong.” She actually split her thoughts over two tweets, so I stitched them together for your reading convenience. Click on down and you’ll find these fine critiques along with John Favreau’s early morning Mexican cravings and Rainn Wilson’s run-in with George Foreman. It’s all in the Twitter-Wood report for July 9, 2009!

@IMKristenBell were seeing what moms and daughters should see together! my sisters keeper. & were bringing lots of kleenex- cause i read the book. yikes.
-Kristen Bell, Actress (”Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” “Veronica Mars”)

@TomFelton Goodbye Toronto….NY here I come! In my 24hrs here I’ve had a lovely time, the people are tres friendly http://twitpic.com/9rvw6
-Tom Felton, Actor (”Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” “Anna and the King”)

@rainnwilson I’m sitting at a coffee shop and George Foreman is sitting outside. What do I do?! What do I do!?
-Rainn Wilson, Actor (”The Office,” “The Rocker”)

Breakfast Choices pt 1: @Jon_Favreau Woke up two hours early. Nerves or Mexican food?
-Jon Favreau, Director/Actor (”Iron Man 2,” “Elf”)

Breakfast Choices pt 2: @FAIZONLOVE @Jon_Favreau mexican food….been up allnight
-Faizon Love (”Days of Wrath,” “Couples Retreat”)

@TheMandyMoore oh and got halfway through “the king of kong: a fistful of quarters” last night. even though i grew up outside of the arcade culture, what a crazy cast of characters!! terribly fascinating and yet the near disconnect from reality for some is slightly sad.
-Mandy Moore, Actress (”Saved!,” “Southland Tales”)

@lloydkaufman The Toxic Avenger Musical is going to Canada on Halloween ‘09. I’ll be dressed as a pumpkin at the opening.
-Lloyd Kaufman, Director/Producer (”The Toxic Avenger,”Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.”)

@jeremypiven Getting a little make up on for press (back off..) And the artist working on me just told me “I’m blind as a bat” I don’t think this is right 4 me.
-Jeremy Piven (”The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard,” “Entourage”)

@DENISE_RICHARDS girls are at camp..have an 11 am meeting to discuss a potential book. a positive one..
-Denise Richards, Actress (”Starship Troopers,” “The World Is Not Enough”)

@diablocody Some guy in Idaho just tweeted that I’ve ruined cinema. Already? Had no idea I was so hugely influential. Suck it, Truffaut!
-Diablo Cody, writer (”Juno,” “United States of Tara”)

Don’t forget to follow @MTVMoviesBlog on Twitter for all the latest updates and colorful commentary from the world of movies.

I’m pleased to report that the clip has now arrived and it is here for your viewing pleasure just below this Block ‘O Text. You’ve got Harry, Ron and Hermione hanging in a bar — apparently wizards enjoy a lower drinking age than we do — and chatting with their new Potions professor, Horace Slughorn. Watch and enjoy.

In case the title didn’t already give away what we found inside said box, it’s toys. “Rise of Cobra” toys. Lots of ‘em. Action figures. Vehicles. 12″ Snakes Eyes and Storm Shadow dolls, complete with noise-making buttons. So yes… toys. Keep reading to see them all.

The open box didn’t immediately reveal its secrets either. Lots of colorful artwork, but the plastic goodness remained buried below:

Now here we go. The promised toys. For your perusal:

The Night Raven was without a doubt my favorite G.I. Joe toy from back in the day. The jet itself was modeled after the slick-looking real-life SR-71 Blackbird and the toy included a second mini-jet that rode on its back. I can’t say I’m flipping out over this redesign, but it still summons up many fond childhood memories.

Snake Eyes in a trench. Sweet. No one does vehicles like G.I. Joe. You can’t really see it in the photo, but the Mole Pod actually looks pretty cool.

Now this is what I’m talking about. A total throwback to the original G.I. Joe dolls, the ones that predate the cartoons. Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, ready to trade blows, in their full, foot-high glory. Plus, they both have chest-mounted button that make NOISE!

Here it is, the ultimate showdown. Duke vs. Cobra Commander. Who will win? My money’s on the good guys, but that’s just me. And since I know you’re dying for a closer look at Cobra Commander, here he is:

Maybe it really is that in a way, because the film involves the financial crisis and criticizes the bankers and corporate leaders who greedily got us in this mess with their passionate love for the all mighty dollar. Of course, “Love Story” is also a documentary. The kind that Moore does best, which is to say it will leave audiences divided on their interest in and their response to its content.

In a press release announcing the new moniker, Moore explained the significance of the title:

“It will be the perfect date movie,” he said. “It’s got it all — lust, passion, romance and 14,000 jobs being eliminated every day. It’s a forbidden love, one that dare not speak its name. Heck, let’s just say it: It’s Capitalism.”

So if this film were a romantic comedy, that would put the majority of the world’s population in the role historically filled by Ralph Bellamy, Bill Pullman and Michael Showalter, who labeled this kind of character as “The Baxter.” Because we’re the ones who got left behind for the more attractive riches, we’re the equivalent of Bellamy’s character in “His Girl Friday” and Pullman’s character in “Sleepless in Seattle.”

Typically, we’re not supposed to root for the sad sack who gets dumped. So perhaps this isn’t the way Moore expects us to approach his “love story.”

“Capitalism: A Love Story” arrives in theaters October 2.

What do you think of the new title? Will you be seeing Michael Moore’s latest with a date?

A couple of caveats though. First: it’s expensive. Like $10,000+ expensive. There’s also no mention of any certificate of authenticity. You’ll just have to trust the source, The Prop Store of London. So if you’ve got plenty of cash to spare and a love for “Star Wars” — or if you just want to see a really cool, potentially real prop — click yourself past the jump.

This fine piece of non-functional equipment is a laser cannon ripped off the side of an apparently full-sized snowspeeder. If you need a refresher, snowspeeders are the aircraft used to bring down the Empire’s hulking AT-AT walkers during the Battle of Hoth (the snow planet). You know… this thing:

The cannon measures a whopping 99″ (eight and a quarter feet) in length. This puppy obviously never took to the air or fired its payload — that would be silly — but it was a component on one of the life-sized ships in the background of the rebel hangar on Hoth. I can’t afford it, though I can’t help but gawk at it.

Bad. Ass.

The press release states that “Beauty and the Beast” will be featured as part of Disney’s animation panel, which will feature special guests Hayao Miyazaki and John Lasseter. The duo will join animation vets Lee Unkrich, Kirk Wise, Ron Clements and John Musker in a presentation of upcoming Disney Animation releases, including the soon-to-be-3Dified “Toy Story”/”Toy Story 2,” “Toy Story 3,” “The Princess & the Frog” and Miyazaki’s “Ponyo.” The panel will be moderated by none other than Patton Oswalt.

This year’s show will also house the first-ever panel featuring 3D footage, from “Disney’s A Christmas Carol,” “Alice in Wonderland” and the “Tron” sequel. It’s probably too much to hope that we’ll get a glimpse of of “Beast” or the 3D-treated “Toy Story” double-feature, but all told, Disney is gearing up for a smashingly successful SDCC appearance. “Tron” producers Sean Bailey and Steve Lisberger will be joined by Tim Burton and Robert Zemeckis (in their first appearance at SDCC). So basically, you don’t want to miss this one either.

Which of these Disney movies are you most excited for? Which panel would you rather attend? Is any of this news enough to get you on a plane out to San Diego come July 23?

With big text booming “Welcome back, Potter” (Note the Snape quote!), it seems EW is just as happy as the rest of us to welcome back the series after its extended hiatus. The taglines for the article on the cover say the article will cover feature exclusive news about “Half-Blood Prince” (which hits theaters next Wednesday!) what’s next, as well as why the film was delayed.

Continue reading ‘Harry Potter’ Stars on Entertainment Weekly: Cover Story

What do you do if you’re making a movie about making a porn flick? You do your freaking research obviously, which is the position “Humpday” star Josh Leonard found himself in when gearing up to shoot the indie movie about two straight college buddies who reunite in their 30s to make a gay porn in the somewhat misguided name of art.

“I started researching porn on the Internet about ten, twelve years ago, because I knew I would use it for something,” he joked with MTV News during a recent interview. “I thought it was important to be an aficionado. You’ve heard how Daniel Day-Lewis researches his roles – he goes deep. I’m following that template.”

The idea behind “Humpday” is pure farce, but from the beginning writer/director Lynn Shelton (”My Effortless Brilliance”) put the focus on deriving a naturalistic, character-driven story out of the absurdist high concept. The entire project got started based on her desire to work with Mark Duplass (“The Puffy Chair”) and they ended up hitting on the straight-guys-make-gay-porn idea after she had a conversation with a friend.

“A straight friend of mine came to Seattle and went to this amateur porn festival, ‘Hump!’ and saw gay porn for the first time in his life,” she explained at the film’s premiere party on New York’s Lower East Side. “He kept talking about how compelling and fascinating it was. So I started thinking about how funny the relationship between straight guys and gayness is and how even those most progressive, open-minded guys have this residual anxiety when it comes to this stuff.”

In a movie that was largely improvised based on Shelton’s outline, Duplass plays Ben, a married city planner who’s settled into a comfortable white picket fence existence. One night his aimless friend Andrew (Leonard) shows up at his door, and after an evening of booze- and pot-fueled jabbering, the duo decide to conquer that amateur porn festival by addressing one of the only remaining porn taboos: non-pro straight guys gettin’ it on.

As it turned out, “Humpday” (out July 10) is hitting theaters at a time when mainstream movies—from “I Love You, Man” to “Brüno”—are starting to challenge traditional gender roles. But Shelton and her cast never anticipated becoming so culturally relevant.

“The fact that we lucked into this bromantic Zeitgeist is total s— luck on our part,” said Leonard. “The roles of a dude in society are really just being redefined as we get away from the antiquated, John Wayne notion of what a man’s supposed to be.”

As Duplass put it, “We are sensitive dudes and use a whole lot of estrogen in our relationship and are comfortable about it.”

That didn’t stop their apprehension about taking part in the movie. “My initial feeling was this sounds really exciting and this sounds like it could be absolutely horrible if we don’t treat it carefully,” Duplass said.

Leonard agreed to sign on before Shelton and Duplass revealed the full storyline. He says he told his good friend Duplass, “Okay, I trust your taste, but please never let me sign onto anything before learning what it’s about.”

First, we have a brand new image from the set of “Kick-Ass” featuring actor Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLovin’ in “Superbad”) suited up as costumed vigilante The Red Mist.

And it just so happens that Mintz-Plasse factors into our second piece of exclusive news, too.

Continue reading EXCLUSIVE: New Christopher Mintz-Plasse ‘Kick-Ass’ Photo & Comic-Con Announcement

Like Cohen, Kaufman’s entire routine depended on the idea of deception: deceiving his co-stars and unwitting participants at times, but always shocking his audience in one form or another. The two entertainers had their own sets of characters but the alter-ego personas definitely share some common traits, if only in method and on a thematic level.

In 2006, Cohen broke out into the mainstream with his bumbling man-out-of-country character in “Borat,” a Khazakstanian journalist who travels to America in order to learn the secret ways of its populace, its high-calorie lifestyle and its Pamela Anderson. Soon, Cohen will return to the public eye with “Bruno,” also a man-out-of-country journalist seeking knowledge of America’s greatest fashion secrets and testing the boundaries of the nation’s most homophobic civilians.

Watch This: Borat is interviewed by David Letterman; Bruno, ah, presents an award.

Kaufman, meanwhile, made his mark by way of a similarly foreign character — namely, the Foreign Man, who would later transform into his classic “Taxi” character Latka. His routine depended on a sheepish obliviousness to the ways of American culture, often resulting in a mixture of cute and frustrating responses from those around him — just as has been the case with Borat and Bruno.

Watch This: Foreign Man requests a kiss, kiss, kiss; Latka reminds you of what’s important in life.

Another of Kaufman’s most popular characters was Tony Clifton, a moustache-and-glasses clad lounge singer persona that the comedian would utilize in his own opening acts. In other words, Kaufman-as-Clifton would open comedy shows for Kaufman-as-Kaufman. While characters like Latka — and even Cohen’s Borat and Bruno — weren’t meant to intentionally offend those surrounding them, the Clifton persona made a point of harrassing and belittling the audience at every opportunity, often to the point of humorlessness… which, of course, made it all the more hilarious.

Watch This: Tony Clifton opens a legendary Andy Kaufman performance at Carnegie Hall, better known as “Milk & Cookies.”

The closest that Cohen comes to the Tony Clifton character is his Ali G persona, the hip hop loving British journalist who headlined “Da Ali G Show.” Unlike Borat and Bruno, Ali G took a Clifton-esque approach with those he interviewed, often utilizing flawed hard-hitting journalism tactics against his interviewees (”You’re a racialist”). He even mocked his guests on occasion, most notably during one interview where he couldn’t stifle his laughter after learning that a guest was a virgin.

Watch This: Ali G interviews a group about religion and asks the all-important question: “Can God do better stuff than David Blaine?”

In the end, what unifies Cohen and Kaufman the most is not the similarities in their specific performances, but the shocking methods and unmatched dedication to the characters they whose identities they assume. Truly, no two entertainers have ever melded so completely into their on-screen and on-stage personas, creating a legacy of laughs that have flourished long after Mr. Kaufman’s death and continue on in Mr. Cohen’s life.

What are some of your favorite Andy Kaufman sketches? Sacha Baron Cohen sketches?

Based on the young adult novel “Derby Girl,” the plot of “Whip It” focuses on Ellen’s character, a teenage runaway, who lies about her age and joins up with a roller-derby league in Austin, Texas. Going by the alias “Babe Ruthless,” she skates alongside her new mentor, “Maggie Mayhem” (Kristen), as well as “Smashley Simpson” (Drew), “Bloody Holly” (Zoe) and other tough ladies with similarly badass nicknames.

Continue reading Ellen Page and Drew Barrymore “Whip It” Good In New Roller Derby Flick

“Thunder Riders” was produced by Dave Burleson, a bit-part actor and stuntman who was apparently good friends with Wayne. He clarified to the Kerrville Daily News that “it’s not the last movie he acted in, but it’s the last performance to be released.” So that would mean Wayne’s role in this film was performed many years before he died, since the last movie he acted in was the 1976 western “The Shootist.”

Wayne has had his share of posthumous work, of course. Back in the late ‘90s, “The Duke” appeared in a couple of controversial Coors Light commercials, courtesy of “Forrest Gump”-like special effects. Will “Thunder Riders” be viewed as a more honorable and legitimate use of the movie star? Or will fans continue to credit “The Shootist” as the prototypical silver screen cowboy’s true final work?

Interestingly, “Thunder Riders” seems to feature a parallel to The Duke’s cause of death, much like “The Shootist,” which stars Wayne as a cancer-stricken cowboy. Set in present-day 1984, “Riders” is about truck drivers who go treasure hunting in the middle of an atomic bomb test site. In real life, such a test site may have been responsible, at least in part, for Wayne’s cancer.

Wayne filmed the 1956 Genghis Kahn biopic “The Conqueror” near to a location used for the testing of nuclear weapons. The story is mostly Hollywood legend, but many believe that exposure to radioactive fallout led to the deaths of a large number of the cast and crew of that film.

Are you anxious to see the final film appearance of John Wayne? Or, would you rather ignore this and stick to The Duke’s movies released during his lifetime? Are you sick of the constant exploitation of posthumous works?

So when MTV News caught up with Brüno on Tuesday during a MySpace-sponsored screening of his upcoming movie, we wanted to know what the Austrian fashion guru had to say about the infamous encounter with Em. Not surprisingly, he had some fightin’ words left over after the May awards show.

Continue reading Brüno Imagines Landing On Robert Pattinson Instead Of Eminem

Earlier this week, fans got their first glimpse of Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Cobra Commander (pictured above) in a French trailer for “Rise.” Now we have an early look at Destro in his gaudy silver mask, courtesy of a toy-filled care package sent to UGO. The image isn’t a still of course, but it gives a good idea of what we can expect to see when Christopher Eccleston dons the mask on August 7. Click the above link to take a peek and check out the new trailer in the embed below.

It’s simple: plant yourself in front of a webcam and record yourself putting a question to one of the gathered “Potter” players. Upload the video to Your MTV and tag it with “Harry Potter.” We’ll handle the rest. Then you can look for video from the junket next week, when the “Harry Potter” hype train hits full speed in preparation for the July 14 release of “Half-Blood Prince.”