Critics’ Choice Nominations: “Hugo” and “The Artist” Receive 11 Nods

The Critics’ Choice nominations were announced this morning, with Hugo and The Artist leading the pack with 11 nods each. The Help and Drive followed with eight nominations and War Horse and The Descendants scored seven. In the Best Picture category, the following films were nominated: War Horse, The Tree of Life, Moneyball, Midnight in Paris, Hugo, The Help, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Drive, The Descendants, and The Artist. In the Best Actor category, the following were recognized (and pictured above): Jean Dujardin – The Artist, Ryan Gosling – Drive, Brad Pitt – Moneyball, Michael Fassbender – Shame, Leonardo DiCaprio – J. Edgar and George Clooney – The Descendants. The following were nominated in the Best Actress category: Michelle Williams – My Week With Marilyn, Charlize Theron – Young Adult, Tilda Swinton – We Need to Talk About Kevin, Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady, Elizabeth Olsen – Martha Marcy May Marlene and Viola Davis – The Help. The Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, in its 17th year, will take place on January 12, 2012 in Hollywood. A live broadcast of the ceremony will be shown on VH1. Here are the rest of the nominees: Best Supporting Actor: Kenneth Branagh [...]

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Kelly Clarkson To Drop iTunes EP

Nine-track EP includes tracks from Stronger and revamped versions of older songs.
By Jocelyn Vena


Kelly Clarkson
Photo: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Kelly Clarkson is reimagining some of her songs for a special iTunes sessions album. The nine-track EP will drop December 27, with pre-orders kicking off Tuesday (December 13).

According to a press release, the album will include three songs from Clarkson's latest album, Stronger, including its lead single, "Mr. Know It All," along with "What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger)" and "You Can't Win." She will also kick it old-school with revamped versions of "Never Again," "Since U Been Gone," "Why Don't You Try" and "My Life Would Suck Without You." The final two tracks include the holiday classic "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and an interview with the star.

Clarkson's Stronger 2012 world tour is slated to kick off January 13. She will start in Connecticut at the MGM Grand Theater at Foxwoods before making her way around North America, with stops in New York, Austin, Atlanta and Los Angeles. The tour will end April 10 in San Diego.

Stronger, Clarkson's fifth studio album, dropped in October and debuted at #2, right behind Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto. Clarkson is readying the release of her next single, "What Doesn't Kill You."

"There were a few different titles that were going around, and I think the reason why we came up with Stronger was just because every song was about empowerment and almost, like, overcoming stuff," Clarkson told MTV News about the album title. "So, even if it was a bad situation and a sad song, it was about overcoming that. ... So I think that's why [we named it that], and I think after 10 years of doing it, you feel a little stronger personally and musically. People know you better. It's just easier, I think."

Is your favorite Kelly Clarkson hit included on the new iTunes album? Let us know in the comments!

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Celebrity Hairstyle: Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift

She’s no stranger to awards shindigs, and earlier today (December 2) Taylor Swift was spotted at the 2011 Billboard Women in Music Awards.

The “Speak Now” songstress looked radiant in a red dress with her new bangy blonde hairdo and a pair of beige heels as she arrived at Capital in New York City.

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Drake Announces 2012 Club Paradise Tour Dates

Young Money MC will kick off 17-city North American tour on February 14 in Miami before heading off to Europe.
By Jocelyn Vena


Drake
Photo: John Shearer/ Getty Images

Drake is inviting you to Club Paradise. The Take Care rapper has announced dates for a 2012 headlining tour.

Drake's Club Paradise Tour will kick off on Valentine's Day (the same day fellow Young Money family member Nicki Minaj drops her album Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded) in Miami before circling 17 cities in North America, with stops in party spots like New Orleans, Austin and San Diego. The tour name pays homage to a track Drizzy dropped back in September.

The tour will visit colleges across the U.S. before wrapping up the North American leg on March 11 in San Diego. Drake will then head to Europe for a string of additional dates, according to Pressparty.

And Drake isn't going at it alone. As previously confirmed, he'll be joined by Hottest Breakthrough MC contenders Kendrick Lamar and A$AP Rocky.

"I spent a lot of time out there [in Toronto]; that's what this album is about," Drake recently explained. "That's what I'm gonna showcase. It's the same thing with the tour: I wanna bring Kendrick, I wanna bring A$AP, those are guys that I love. It has nothing to do with people on my label," he added. "Tyga's out, Nicki's working on an album and everybody else is doing their thing on the road with Wayne or with Wayne in the studio, so I just sort of showcased the music that I happen to love right now, and those are the two guys that I'm bringing out."

"I fought for this tour, I fought really hard for this tour because, of course, they want me to go get the big bucks, go into the stadiums and cash out," Drake revealed to MTV News in October about the decision to play more intimate shows. "But I was just like, I really made this album for the same people that supported me since day one."

In addition to a tour, next year Drake and Rick Ross plan to drop the Y.O.L.O. (You Only Live Once) mixtape. "The music is most definitely official," Ross said. "But, you know, me being a boss, I'm trying to find a way that we could put that on the shelves for the world, baby. But it's most definitely official." The release rides on the heels of Drake's chart-topping Take Care, which dropped in November.

Dates for Drake's North American Club Paradise Tour are as follows:

» February 14 - Miami, FL @ Bank United Center
» February 15 - Gainesville, FL @ Stephen C. O'Connell Center
» February 17 - Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
» February 18 - Columbus, OH @ Schottenstein Center
» February 21 - Columbia, SC @ Colonial Life Arena
» February 22 - Lexington, KY @ Rupp Arena
» February 24 - Tallahassee, FL @ Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center
» February 25 - New Orleans, LA @ UNO Lakefront Arena
» February 27 - Austin, TX @ Frank Erwin Center
» February 28 - Oklahoma City, OK @ Chesapeake Energy Arena
» March 1 - Kansas City, MO @ Sprint Center
» March 2 - Arlington, TX @ College Park Center
» March 4 - Tuscon, AZ @ Tucson Arena
» March 5 - Los Angeles, CA @ Galen Center
» March 8 - Fresno, CA @ Save Mart Center
» March 10 - San Jose, CA @ Event Center
» March 11 - San Diego, CA @ Viejas Arena

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Matt Damon Covers GQ January 2012

Adding another magazine cover to his credit, Matt Damon is featured on the front of GQ's January 2012 issue.

The “Good Will Hunting” hunk smiles brightly for the camera, and in the accompanying interview he talked about his decision not to continue with the Bourne franchise.

“If you look at the first three movies, we kind of pounded that idea of identity and amnesia into the ground. We really got everything out of it that we could. So to reboot it, we need to come up with something completely new.”

As for President Barack Obama’s slam on “The Adjustment Bureau,” Matt noted, “I have to say, it was pretty funny. Whoever came up with it, it was a terrific joke.”

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Brooke Mueller: Rehab Again!

Hot on the heels of being busted for cocaine train wreck Brooke Mueller is going to give rehab yet another try. Mueller won’t be going to some fancy shamancy price rehab facility though. Nope she has decided she is going to seek treatment at home. Oh yes there is an at home plan that Brooke is going to attempt in order to help kick her drug habit. I personally think an at home plan sounds a little crazy given her many attempts to get clean. Her rep has released this statement. Recognizing past attempts at treatment have not been successful, Brooke has decided to take a different approach to deal with her addiction. Brooke will be participating in a program during the day, and will be under expert supervision 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In addition, Brooke has requested to be tested on a daily basis for cocaine and other illegal substances so there is no doubt as to her commitment. While Mueller is participating in this outpatient rehab if you will her two sons with Charlie Sheen, Bob and Max, will remain in her care. I cannot believe that the kids will be in her care [...]

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Tom Cruise Talks 'Top Gun 2': 'We're Working On It'

'I hope we can figure this out to go do it again,' Cruise tells MTV News.
By Kevin P. Sullivan, with reporting by Josh Horowitz


Tom Cruise
Photo: MTV News

"We're working on it."

That's the official word on "Top Gun 2," straight from the star himself, Tom Cruise, who spoke with MTV News' Josh Horowitz during an event in Dubai for Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol.

In the fourth "M:I" movie, Cruise returns as castoff secret agent Ethan Hunt — the only character he has ever revisited during his decades-long career. The question remains: Will he ever don the Navy jumpsuit again and hop into a cockpit as Maverick?

A little more than a year ago, the Internet went abuzz with rumors about Cruise, director Tony Scott and producer Jerry Bruckheimer reuniting for a potential "Top Gun" sequel. Scott confirmed he would be directing, but Cruise's involvement remained a mystery.

When Christopher McQuarrie, the writer of "The Usual Suspects" and the man hired to pen the script for "Top Gun 2," said Maverick would be the lead for the follow-up, all engines seemed go. But then things went quiet. As the major players moved on to other projects — including "One Shot," directed by McQuarrie and starring Cruise — sequel talk died down.

When Horowitz sat down with Cruise in Dubai, the actor updated the project's status and shed new light on the script. "I don't think Chris [McQuarrie] is going to write it," Cruise said. "Chris is directing 'One Shot' right now, which I'm acting. We've got to go back in January and finish it."

With McQuarrie out, that leaves Cruise, Scott and Bruckheimer as the only major players left with the project, but Cruise insists he could still do a sequel.

"I said to Tony I want to make another movie with him. He and I haven't made a film since 'Days of Thunder,' " Cruise said. "Tony and I and Jerry, we never thought that we would do it again. Then they started to come to us with these ideas of where it is now. I thought, 'Wow, that would be ... what we could do now.' "

For Cruise, the two key elements to a sequel would be a worthy script and the freedom to make the movie as they did in 1986. "I hope we can figure this out to go do it again," he said. "If we can find a story that we all want to do, we all want to make a film that is in the same kind of tone as the other one and shoot it in the same way as we shot 'Top Gun.' "

Check out everything we've got on "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol."

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

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Ke$ha, Adam Lambert, Ne-Yo Have A Few Royal Wedding Gift Ideas

From 'guyliner' to American delicacies like Uncrustables, Kathy Griffin, Mike Posner and more tell us what they'd get Will and Kate.
By Terri Schwartz


Kate Middleton and Prince William
Photo: Ben Stansall/ Getty Images

What kind of wedding gift do you give the royal couple who has everything?

The wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton is on Friday (April 29), so MTV News reached out to some of our favorite Hollywood celebrities — from Ke$ha to Adam Lambert. Fortunately, they had some solid ideas!

"I haven't met them, so it would be kind of awkward," the "Tik Tok" singer admitted to MTV News. "I might paint them something. Maybe I'll paint them a guitar."

Like Ke$ha, other celebs had suggestions that were from the heart, even if they weren't the most practical.

"I will go out on a limb and say these two individuals maybe haven't had Uncrustables before in their life. I would get them a strawberry Uncrustable," Mike Posner said about the pastry.

David Cook followed up on the all-American food idea. "I feel like they have everything except maybe they probably don't have an Applebee's gift card. I'll go [with an] Applebee's gift card," the "American Idol" alum said.

Other stars said they'd gift the British prince and soon-to-be-princess with an item they were personally best known for.

"I'd probably buy William some eyeliner," Lambert said. "He could do that, he could rock that look. I think."

Ne-Yo was more empathetic, saying he would give gifts that could help shield them from photographers and blend in with everyday people. "Three years' supply of sunglasses. Yeah, put them on. A bunch of baseball caps, throw those on, and try to move around like regular people," the singer said. "I can't imagine what it would be like having to live under that big of a magnifying glass your whole life ... and fake mustaches, that's what I'd give them."

Brooke Burke went the more traditional route, saying she would get Will and Kate a journal to record the big event. "I would ask them to really take the time to write down thoughts and phrases and wishes," Burke said. "And not really to lose sight of how they feel about each other now and to really hold on to that feeling."

Kathy Griffin had good intentions but the comedian couldn't resist a puke joke.

"If I had to get the royal couple a gift, I would get them the Royal Couple Vomit Bag, which someone sent me a photo of," Griffin told us. "So you can actually buy vomit bags with their image on it, and I think that that is an honor and I hope that they see it as such."

What would you give to William and Kate? Share your ideas in the comments section!

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