Josh Duhamel, Ice Cube to join "New Year's Eve"
Ice Cube, Josh Duhamel and Ryan Seacrest are in negotiations to join the still-growing cast of New Line's New Year's Eve.
The trio will join Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Jon Bon Jovi, Abigail Breslin, Robert De Niro, Zac Efron, Ashton Kutcher, Seth Meyers, Lea Michele, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michelle Pfeiffer, Til Schweiger, Hilary Swankand Sofia Vergara in the production, which goes before cameras in February.
The movie tells intertwining stories of a group of New Yorkers as they navigate their way through bittersweet drama and romance over the course of New Year's Eve.
Duhamel, one of the leads, plays a hopeless romantic who spends the day trying to get to New York in the hope of getting to a party in order to re-meet a mystery girl from the previous year.
Cube would play a NYPD cop who is working with the director of the Times Square festivities (Swank).
In his cameo, Seacrest would play himself.
Duhamel last starred in "Life As We Know It." Cube was last seen in "Lottery Ticket." Seacrest played himself in "Get Smart" and "Knocked Up."
Works by Michelangelo part of Fla. Vatican exhibit
A small marble relief of Jesus Christflanked by two angels and being held up by Mary was one of the last pieces that Italian Renaissance master Michelangelo ever created.
This marble work is displayed next to a cast of one of his other great works, The Pieta, depicting Christ in his mother's arms after his crucifixion. They are part of about 170 works on display as part of the exhibit "Vatican Splendors: A Journey Through Faith and Art," which opens Saturday at the Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale.
It is the exhibit's last stop on a three-city tour in the United States. After it ends April 24, the pieces go back to the Vatican and will not be on display. Many of these pieces will never be shown in the U.S. again.
"No work is more important or less important. They are sort of like the tiles of a mosaic, each one contributes to the larger image," Monsignor Roberto Zagnoli, the curator of the show, said through a translator. Zagnoli is the secretary of Cardinal Ersilio Tonini and teaches communications at the Pontifical Holy Cross University in Rome. He also wrote a series of books, "The Painted Word."
The exhibit begins with the tomb of St. Peter — a fitting starting point, Zagnoli said. It finishes with the most recent popes, Peter's successors, he said. Peter is considered the first pope of the Roman Catholic Church.
Two Papal Swiss Guard uniforms flank the entrance as visitors travel through the chronological eras of the Vatican's history. First, a video presentation describes St. Peter's role in the church. The final section includes a cast of Pope John Paul II's hand and ends with a portrait of current Pope Benedict XVI, made in 2008.
Museum director Irvin Lippman said the objects associated with John Paul II will take on a deeper meaning May 1 when he is beatified — a key step to being declared a saint.
The tour has also been to St. Louis and Pittsburgh since it began in May, though the objects will soon be returned to the Vatican. By law, they cannot be outside the Vatican's walls more than a year.
As the show begins, a brick from St. Paul's tomb is encased in a wooden box wrapped with a gold-colored rope. There are also clay oil lamps found during the excavations that revealed Peter's tomb in a cemetery below St. Peter's Basilica. A gold and silver reliquary — a decorative container used to hold religious relics — that has never been outside the Vatican is said to encase the bones of St. Peter, St. Paul and other saints, though it is not certain who the bones belong to.
Another relief, a replica of the 15th century original, shows St. Peter surrounded by people while he is being crucified upside down.
Other displays focus on tools used to create art and architecture. For instance, a caliper believed to have been Michelangelo's is on display. There are also two gilded wood angels from the workshop of Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
The ornate artifacts don't end there. In the middle of one room is a gilded cross used in Mass processions, dating to the 15th century. Visitors can examine Pope Pius XI's papal throne, a creation of wood, velvet and gold-plated metal.
Zagnoli, the Vatican official, said the connection between religion and art is strong — a point he makes by citing a passage by Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky that he said was often quoted by Pope John Paul II.
"Beauty will save the world," Zagnoli said. "The pope was saying that seeing something beautiful can calm the hearts of man and with that tranquility he is able to put himself in dialogue with other people."
Basketball Stars Sued Over Energy-Bracelet Endorsement
In the latest hit against sham science in sports, two NBA superstars have been named in a federal class-action lawsuit against Power Balance, the company behind a popular $30 bracelet that claimed to help athletes of all levels with their “strength, balance and flexibility.”
Earlier this month, under pressure from Australian authorities, the company released a statement saying there is no concrete or peer-reviewed science to back those claims:
We admit that there is no credible scientific evidence that supports our claims and therefore we engaged in misleading conduct …
If you feel you have been misled by our promotions, we wish to unreservedly apologise and offer a full refund.
A week later, though, the ownership of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings announced that it had reached an agreement — no doubt worth tens of millions of dollars — with the Southern California-based company toput its name on the Kings’ basketball arena for at least five years.
Now, Brian Casserly of Greenwood Lake, New York, has taken the first step in taking not only the company to task for any potentially misleading claims but also the athletes themselves — specifically Boston’s Shaquille O’Neal and Los Angeles’ Lamar Odom — that wear the product in front of millions of impressionable fans watching on national TV.
The January 21 suit, which will now be heard by a judge to be determined if it has any merit to go to trial, is seeking damages in excess of $5 million on behalf of more than 100 people. Specifically, the suit alleges that Power Balance engaged in fraud, false advertising, unfair competition, and “unjust enrichment.” (You can download the lawsuit here.)
For its part, the company claims it never made any specific scientific claims about what the product does or doesn’t purport to do when worn.
“The mission of Power Balance has always been to develop and deliver quality products that enhance people’s lives,” said company president Keith Kato in a statement. “Our products are based on the idea of optimizing the body’s natural energy flow, similar to concepts behind many holistic and Eastern philosophies.
“Frankly, we know there will always be critics of new technologies, but our products are used by those with open minds who experience real results. Our company is absolutely committed to further evaluating the technology behind its products’ performance so that we can continue to offer products that enhance people’s lifestyle.”
So the company says it makes no scientific claims that it improves performance, but Shaquille O’Neal is sure convinced it does, even going so far as to sit for this promotional video, as well as help conduct some sort of Power Balance “camp” that shows off the bracelet to young players.
Another athlete all too eager to promote the product — though he’s not named in the lawsuit — is NHL star Teemu Selanne.
Power Balance started selling its wares in 2007, but the company enjoyed unprecedented success in 2010, snagging the aforementioned endorsements, doing around $35 million in sales, and being namedSports Product of the Year by CNBC’s Darren Rovell.
However, it appears that it’s destined to be included among a growing group of dubious products that make claims to help athletes perform better than they could’ve hoped.
It’s reminiscent of last fall’s kerfuffle involving Phiten necklaces, which became very popular with dozens of Major League Baseball players. The debate peaked during the World Series when prominent members of both the Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants wore the multicolored neckwear during games, and the company was upfront about how it “regulates the body’s energy flow by stabilizing ions.”
Power Balance also claims that the bracelets “react with the body’s natural energy flow,” but while Phiten has made some attempt to back up its product with science, Power Balance doesn’t seem interested in going that route.
Unrest in Egypt: What’s going on?
Violent protests have rocked Egypt this week, with demonstrators demanding the ouster of the country's longtime autocratic president, Hosni Mubarak. The tension increased today when Mohammed ElBaradei, a former top official at the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency and a high-profile Mubarak opponent, who had returned to Cairo in a bid to provide a leader for the mass movement, was placed under house arrest.
The unrest in the Arab world's most populous country -- a longtime U.S. ally -- comes on the heels of similar protests earlier this month in Tunisia, which forced that country's president to flee into exile. Today marks a pivotal moment in the anti-Mubarak demonstrations, with the government shutting down Internet access in the country and cracking down on social-media access among demonstrators communicating with the outside world. Mubarak has also imposed a curfew from 6 PM until 7 AM in Cairo in two other cities, which an AP report calls "the most dramatic measure so far to quell riots and protests." (The government has since made the curfews nationwide, although protesters are continuing to disregard them.) You can watch al-Jazeera's live feed on the protests here.
Michele Dunne is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for Peace. She has served as a specialist on Middle East affairs with the White House and the State Department, and has written widely on Arab politics, and political and economic reform. The Lookout asked her to explain what's going on in Egypt, and what it means for America.
LOOKOUT:Â What are the protesters angry about, and what do they want done?
M.D.: Protesters have a large number of economic, political, and human-rights grievances. Widespread youth unemployment, rigged parliamentary elections in November 2010, and the prospect of President Mubarak (in power since 1981) beginning another term--or being replaced by his son--are the sparks that set these demonstrations off. The demonstrators are asking for Mubarak to step down and make way for an interim government to prepare for free elections.
LOOKOUT: Is there a real chance that Mubarak's government might fall?
M.D.: Yes, there is a real possibility, but that does not seem to be imminent yet. As in Tunisia, the regime would begin to be uncertain if internal security services could not handle demonstrations and the army were called in. Armies generally don't like firing on their own civilians and sometimes will choose keeping the loyalty of the population over defending an unpopular ruler.
LOOKOUT: If so, what might replace Mubarak's regime? What role might ElBaradei play?
M.D.: There is a shadow government and parliament, formed in December, that has positioned itself as the opposition party with which the government can negotiate if things reach that point. But things are very fluid right now. ElBaradei could possibly play a leadership role within the opposition, although up until now he has been more effective at articulating popular grievances than at organizing or leading opposition groups.
LOOKOUT: How might a shift in power affect U.S. interests?
M.D.: U.S. interests are being challenged here. The United States has been tepid in supporting human rights and democracy in Egypt for years and has to deal with the resentment among Egyptians because of that. Partly for that reason, and partly because of the close association of the United States with Israel, any alternate group that comes to power might distance itself from the United States to some extent.
LOOKOUT: What role, if any, is the Muslim Brotherhood or other Islamic groups playing?
M.D.: The Muslim Brotherhood, while still the single largest opposition group in Egypt, is not at the forefront of these protests. Rather, they are trying to get on the bandwagon at this point.
LOOKOUT: What are the similarities and differences between the situations in Egypt and Tunisia?
M.D.: Similarities include the fact that young people are leading the protests and that many of the grievances are common between the two countries: youth unemployment, corrupt government, human-rights abuses, and a leader in power for an entire generation who showed no sign of being ready to leave.
Differences include the fact that the Egyptian government has had far more experience with handling demonstrations; the Tunisian government seemed surprised and folded pretty quickly.
London’s 2012 Olympic Venues Taking Shape
The long-awaited 2012 Summer Olympics in London are now less then 550 days away, and the structures and venues that will be playing host to events ranging from archery from water polo are already taking shape, dotting the British landscape with stadiums and venues that should last long beyond the Games of the XXX Olympiad.
And thought there's still much to be done behind the scenes, we can take a look at what's already standing and what fans can look forward to if and when they make the trek to London.
Bruno Mars bounces Britney from No. 1 singles slot
Bruno Mars returned to the No. 1 slot on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart Thursday, ending Britney Spears' one-week reign.
Mars' "Grenade" logged a third nonconsecutive week at the top, having alternated between Nos. 1 and 2 over the past six weeks. Spears' "Hold It Against Me" tumbled to No. 6, as a hefty 55% slide in download sales more than offset a gain in radio airplay.
Katy Perry's former No. 1 "Firework" rose one to No. 2, rapper Wiz Khalifa's "Black and Yellow" jumped two to No. 3, Enrique Iglesias' "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)" rose two to No. 4, and Rihanna's "What's My Name?" slipped one to No. 5.
Kesha's "We R Who We R" held at No. 7, Pink's "Raise Your Glass" at No. 8, and the Black Eyed Peas' "The Time (Dirty Bit)" at No. 9. Singer/rapper Pitbull's "Hey Baby (Drop It to the Floor)" jumped 10 places to No. 10.
At No. 79, Zac Brown Band's "Colder Weather" led a list of three songs new to the Hot 100. James Blunt entered at No. 94 with "Stay the Night," and alternative/punk band Yellowcard took the last slot with "For You, and Your Denial."
Justin Bieber's "Never Say Never," featuring Jaden Smith, re-entered at No. 85 after peaking at No. 33 during the summer. The song is being reworked to radio as an accompanying single to Bieber's 3D documentary concert film of the same name opening in theaters February 11.
'Jersey Shore' Recap: The Happiest Hour Ever
We were really robbed of pole dancing time in this week’s episode. A few second of Pauly D’s lackadaisical spin, a brief moment of Ronnie hip-thrusting, a glimpse of Vinny plummeting to the ground as the pole pulled away from the ceiling: I could have watched it all night.
Unfortunately, the episode was, once again dominated by Sammi and Ronnie’s on-again, off-again disaster. As always, Ronnie felt crushed by Sammi’s overweening paranoia. “She’ll show you her C-section,” Ronnie yelps in defense when caught flirting at the club. As always, back at the house, things just slip back into the same unpleasant spiral. “Don’t you touch anybody,” a drunk Sammi warns. “You never loved me. You hate me.” Ronnie can’t argue with that. “Right now, I do,” he hisses. The aggression amps up in that old familiar way, vacillating between unpleasant and unbearable. One would question the wisdom of showing a Xenadrine commercial less than five minutes after we see their spokesperson giggling manically and throwing Sammi’s clothes into a gigantic pile on the ground, but what do I know?
The real annoying part of a Ronnie and Sammi-heavy episode (though, aren’t they all at this point?) is that we miss out on the actual interesting plotlines. After finding her house bedless and ransacked by her ex Tom, Snooki and JWoww replace the locks in the house; at one point, they lock themselves inside and have to pick their way out with a credit card. They bring back JWoww’s two tiny fluffy dogs, who are promptly named for Snooki and friend Ryder, who is only in town for a day or so and might as well not be there, as far as the producers are concerned. Vinny invents the grenade whistle, a plastic horn that alerts all of Seaside that grenades are afoot at the Jersey Shore estate. He also picked the up lovely Italian miss Gina, who is slung over the shoulders of her party-crashing male relatives before she could do something she would regret. If only Vinny had thought to play taps as she was dragged away. Sex taps.
In the most delicious (so to speak) sub-plot, rumor around the barber shop is that Deena will order the unlimited tossed salad for current crush Dean. The boys can barely hold in their giggles as they join the girls at the gym, where The Situation immediately tells Deena her knows her filthy secret. Deena coyly plays along, assuming the rumor is anything but analingus. When she finds out, she is livid, storming past the chest presses and chewing Dean out in the club. “My teeth, and my mouth, is too precious,” she rages.
The ballad of Sammi and Ronnie comes to a crescendo after Sammi wakes in the middle of the night, only find JWoww and Ronnie commiserating over their respective terrible relationships. After screaming at him, Sammi eventually socks Ronnie across the face and storms away. Sammi calls her mom sobbing and drags her luggage to the living room, preparing to leave. But just as you’d imagine, slowly, inevitably, glacially they’re brought together in a series of sighs, whimpers and audible pouts. The only redeeming part of their reconciliation is when the camera pans over to show The Situation laying next to them, offering to excuse himself to make a sandwich if they’re planning make-up smoosh. We keep trying to escape, but they keep pulling us back in. Just as anti-climactically, Sammi later apologizes to JWoww for being the worst; JWoww accepts her sorry with little fanfare. The cast is so far away from the original incident it’s easy to forget that Sammi originally turned on her castmate for trying to warn her about her cheating boyfriend. We might have gotten a brief ad for the National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline at the episode’s end, but it’s not nearly enough to erase the previous 40 minutes, and the two people in a terminal, toxic relationship spiral we can’t help but watch.
Wiz Khalifa Announces 'Rolling Papers' Album Title, March 29 Release Date
Just days after performing his chart hit "Black And Yellow" at the Steelers vs. Jets game in his hometown of Pittsburgh, rapperWiz Khalifa has finally made an official announcement about his upcoming Atlantic album. The highly-anticipated set will be titled "Rolling Papers" and will be released on March 29. Woot woot!
During a Ustream, Wiz told fans that the album title is not only inspired by his affinity for smoking weed, but that "it's deeper than that too... it's not just about the weed thing. It's bigger than that," he said. "My career really took off when I started smoking papers."
Wiz also explained that the album's title refers to him being able to get off his contract with Warner Bros. ("I sort of got my 'rolling papers'... and I was able to leave and I was able to do my thing likens to "saying goodbye to the paper."
Rick Ross, Too $hort, Snoop Dogg and Curren$y are said to make appearances on the album. A tracklist and album cover are scheduled to be revealed in coming weeks.
50 Cent Says Fans Can Expect Black Magic 'This Summer'
The bad guy is almost back: 50 Cent said he's completed "80 percent" of his next album, the forthcoming Black Magic, which should arrive later this year.
The G-Unit rapper has continued to make inroads into Hollywood since his last project, 2009's Before I Self-Destruct, but Fif told MTV News at the Sundance Film Festival that he'll be focusing on music in the near future.
"[Fans] should look forward to the actual album this summer, so I have to release something soon," he said about when to expect the first single. "I'm not sure if I'll make a full mixtape [beforehand]. That's what I was doing when I was making collaborations with new artists: I was working with artists that wouldn't exactly be my equal because they don't have a successful track record. But at some point you have to make the decision to just be an artist and work because you enjoy the music and you think it's a good idea, as opposed to it being someone of your caliber."
50 had already announced Eminem will appear on the album. But the Queens lyricist also said he'll be working with a slew of new collaborators, including Boi-1da, Alex Da Kid and Kanye West's "Power" producer Symbolyc One.
Lil Wayne producers The Surf Club — Hit-Boy and Chase N. Cashe — said the Get Rich or Die Tryin' superstar will revisit the aggression of his earlier work on his latest set.
"He's taking it back to the old 50," Hit-Boy told us late last year. "And he had some new records that were some different-sounding stuff too. I'm excited to see how people react to it, and hopefully we end up with some stuff on the album. I gave him some stuff he really loved. It's really a blend of the old 50 mixing with the new stuff that he's doing. It's crazy."
(Via MTV)
Katy Perry Reveals Plans for California Dreams World Tour
No one could ever accuse Katy Perry of not taking the preparation for her 95-date California Dreams Tour seriously. "I'll give you a sneak peek of my day," Perry toldRolling Stone when she called on Wednesday morning. "After this interview I'm going to have a nice healthy breakfast. I'm on a meal plan, which absolutely sucks — but on Sundays I get to have a cheat day where I go buck wild and eat In-N-Out Burger. Then I'll work out, go to a vocal lesson, run through the entire set at rehearsals, go to dance rehearsal until 10:00 p.m. and then go home and sort through e-mails concerning the production. I feel like I'm training for the Olympics!" Perry is determined to make her first arena headlining tour — which will take her around the world — a jaw-dropping spectacle, on par with Lady Gaga and Pink's recent shows. (She was so blown away by Pink's last tour that she hired the director who worked on it.) "I just really want to raise the bar," she says. "Touring is no longer an ordinary thing where you play an instrument in jeans and a T-shirt. It has some pizazz these days, and I'm definitely bringing the pizazz with a lot of bells and whistles. The show has a Broadway feel to it. It's got a storyline that's going to be very interesting, kind of loosely based on my life, but a cartoon version."
The show draws a lot of inspiration from the artists Will Cotton and Mark Ryden. Cotton — who directed Perry's "California Gurls" video — incorporates candy and baked goods into his art. Ryden is known for drawing pieces of meat alongside surreal images of creepy, doll-like children. "I have this whole thing in my show that is about candy and cupcakes and meat," Perry says. "It's both really sweet and shocking, but not in a sexual way."
She's most excited about the newest addition to the California Dreams show: smell-o-vision. "It's the first concert that's going to smell good," she says. "It's going to smell like you're in cotton candy heaven. It's a fun little nuance. I am a woman of detail, and you will be seeing that — even down to the 15 outfit changes I'm doing in concert."
The tour starts February 20 in Portugal and wraps up November 2 in Dublin — and Perry insisted that adequate downtime be built into the schedule. "This time around when people ask 'how was Barcelona?' I'm not gonna be stupid and be like, 'Uh, your room service is great.' That was really annoying the first time. I'd go to these magical places and literally just have time to taste the room service. I wanna go and see Gaudi this time...I also have some two-week breathers where I can see my husband [actor Russell Brand] and regain some stamina."
As if prepping for a 95-show tour isn't enough, Perry is also plotting her next music video and gearing up for her performance on The Grammys on February 13th. She won't get into details, but she says it's her "favorite performance ever."
She also recently shot a guest appearance on How I Met Your Mother. Does she portray the long-awaited mother? "I'm not allowed to say," she says. "I just did it basically because I'm obsessed with Neil Patrick Harris. He's really sweet, and the cast on the show was really nice to me and forgiving of my bad acting skills."
Neil Patrick Harris is also acting in the upcoming Smurfs movie, which will feature Perry as the voice of Smurfette. "I wasn't allowed to watch The Smurfs as a child," she said. "But I made up for that now. I am fucking Smurfette!"
Ricoh Speeds Up AF With Old-School Tech
Ricoh’s new CX5 compact is virtually identical to the CX4 it replaces. There is one new feature, though, that alone makes the camera worth mentioning: “hybrid” autofocus.
First, the things that have stayed the same. The CX5 keeps the 10MP backlit sensor, the 28-300mm (35mm equivalent) sensor, the 3-inch, 920,000-dot screen and of course the same slim body.
Hybrid AF works by adding in a distance sensor to the AF mix. This assists the contrast-detection AF found in all compacts and — according to Ricoh — shrinks the minimum focus time down to 0.2 sec, whether you’re shooting zoomed out, or all the way in to 300mm. That’s pretty fast.
Back when film compacts first gained AF, they all worked this way, as there was no sensor with which to detect contrast. An infra-red beam was shot out at the subject and its return time was measured to determine distance. Think sonar, only with light. This, as you can imagine, was less than completely accurate – it could be fooled by including the sun in the frame, or by shooting through glass. It could, however, focus in the dark.
The CX5 has another “feature”: Super-resolution. This is software-based image processing that claims to enable “amazing photographs with high resolution” but which is little more than smart sharpening. Seeing as you can only shoot JPEG and not RAW files, this may actually prove useful.
Price and availability are yet to be announced, but as a guide, the street-price of the CX4 is around $300.