A little Leg Goes a Long Way

Erin Gibson ‏ @gibblertron

Angelina Jolie is sitting in front of her iPad, laughing, having tricked the world into loving her leg as much as she does.

 Satbir Singh ‏ @thesatbir

Angelina Jolie? “@acorn: Those who predict America's decline ought to ask migrants why they are 6100% more likely to go to US than China.”

Best Dressed At The Oscars

Posted 2/26/12 11:19 pm ET by Andi Teran in Oscars, Red Carpet

Our favorite time of year is here! We're talking about the 2012 Oscars, aka the Academy Awards, also known as the closest thing fashion stylists get to competing in the Olympics. Watching the nominees and Hollywood royalty waltz down the red carpet in all their fairy-tale princess glory is our sport of choice, and we've been glued to the pre-show proceedings ready to decree the fairest of them all. We were captivated by giant crimson bows, voluminous blood orange confections, lace trains, and a particular prince who broke the black tuxedo spell with some swoon-worthy velvet panache. It wasn't easy *wipes sodden brow* but here, without further ado, are our Best Dressed looks of the night.

 ANGELINA JOLIE IN ATELIER VERSACE

Angelina Jolie at the 84th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood on Feb. 26.
Photo: Getty Images

SHAZAM. Angelina Jolie in darkest of night black Atelier Versace with a zigzag neckline, exaggerated peplum of bionic structure, and the most dramatic thigh slit of the night made even more pronounced by that leg thrust. Um, holy moly mother of Zahara, this dress SLAYED US, rendered collective speechlessness, and might have induced a few primal screams. Just look at this mirage! The cascading hair, red lips, absence of jewelry (except for a strategic bit of sparkle embellishment on the back of the dress), and perfect black peep-toe platforms. This is how it's done, folks. Do we ever doubt Angie? NEVAHHH.

Angelina Jolie's Right Leg Goes Viral

By Elizabeth Periale | Yahoo! Contributor Network – 4 hours ago

Angelina Jolie, in a playful mood, and spurred on by a designer dress by Versace with a slit up to there, struck a pose and flashed a lot of leg at the Oscars on Sunday night. That saucy move became instantly copied and spoofed - immediately at the event when the writers from "The Descendants," accepting their award for Best Adapted Screenplay (which Jolie presented), struck the same pose.

But Jolie's right leg really went viral on the internet, becoming a meme dubbed legbombing, and getting its own twitter account, @AngiesRightLeg. The website Buzzfeed is providing a tool for people to create their own custom legbomb. A tumblelog, Angelina Jolie'ing has also been created, where users can submit their own photos and are encouraged to "Strut it Like Angelina, Show Off Your Right Leg to the World." Some of the legbombing incarnations include the Statue of Liberty, Whistler's Mother, and perhaps the funniest, a doctored photo of Angelina and Brad with the actress appearing to have two right legs.

It is interesting to note that Jolie, who usually strikes a more serious or quiet pose in public - when she isn't hustling her kids as quickly as possible past paparazzi - should get so much attention for being a little silly for a change. As the various winners of the Academy Awards are quickly fading from people's minds, Jolie's leg is still going strong. It also bumped Sacha Baron Cohen's silly red carpet stunt with Ryan Seacrest and Jennifer Lopez's almost wardrobe malfunction from the headlines. 

Jolie may actually be having the last laugh, as all of the preoccupation with legbombing is at least quieting down the usual constant erroneous tabloid speculation about her breaking up with partner Brad Pitt, or their adopting or having another baby, or trying to perpetuate her fictitious feud with actress Jennifer Aniston. A little leg, for Angelina Jolie, may go a long way.

MTV's Reviews Recap

Dec 23 2011 8:54 AM EST 450

'In The Land Of Blood And Honey': The Reviews Are In!

'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 (@karawarner)

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

MTV Talk

Dec 22 2011 6:53 AM EST 1,499

Angelina Jolie Hopes 'Blood And Honey' 'Isn't Just A History Lesson'

'It isn't just a political film, it isn't just Bosnia,' director of 'In the Land of Blood and Honey' tells MTV News.

By Kara Warner (@karawarner)

Although Angelina Jolie's directorial debut, "In the Land of Blood and Honey," is a harrowing, unrelenting drama set around the atrocities experienced and committed during the Bosnian War, Jolie swears that her goal in making the film and telling this story is not to teach anything or promote any agenda.

"I hope for the audience watching that it isn't just a history lesson, it isn't just a political film, it isn't just Bosnia," she told MTV News recently. "We tried to tell a dramatic story, we tried to make a good film with great actors, we tried to just give traditional dramatic storytelling, and somehow in that, we also layered all these other things and it's a part of it.
"Even if you're not particularly interested in history, which I can't imagine because it's important, but if [you want to see something] just for filmmaking or just to see performances or just to see a story, an emotional relationship story, that's this film."
Nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Golden Globe, it highlights the horrors of ethnic conflicts that have occurred far too often throughout history — in this case, the Bosnian War. The story revolves around the relationship between two Bosnians on opposite sides of the conflict, Danijel (Goran Kostic) and Ajla (Zana Marjanovic), and the devastating toll it has on their lives.

Jolie raved about the experience she had during production, calling her crew "a family," which made us wonder if the first-time director is ready to go back and direct another film.
"Oh, I don't know," she said. "I'm still very shy [about that]. I still can't believe I'm even here and we did it."
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.

More from Fincher on Cleopatra

'Dragon Tattoo' Director David Fincher On What's Next

Fincher, who says 'I think there is a trilogy here,' opens up to MTV News about '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,' 'Cleopatra' and 'Goon.'

By Josh Horowitz (@joshuahorowitz)
MTV: Is "Cleopatra" something you're currently developing?
Fincher: That's something I would love to do with Angie [Jolie]. It's something that was brought to me that you have to take seriously. [Producer] Scott [Rudin] has this wonderful book, and hopefully [screenwriter] Eric [Roth] can find a way in. I'm not interested in a giant sword-and-sandal epic. We've seen scope; everyone knows we can fake that. That stuff doesn't impress in the way that it did even 10 years ago. We expect that from Starz [now]. So that's not the reason to do that. What is it about this character that has purchased this place in our history and imagination that is relatable today?

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MTV & Reelz L.A. Interviews

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In the Land of Blood and Honey | Brad Pitt | Angelina Jolie | Hollywood Dailies | Movie Trailer | Review

MTV corners Brad on Blood and Honey

Sep 15 2011 6:53 AM EDT 463

Brad Pitt Won't 'Brag' About Angelina Jolie's Directorial Debut

'It is the best college sex comedy I have ever seen in my entire life!' 'Moneyball' co-star Jonah Hill quips about 'In the Land of Blood and Honey.'

By Eric Ditzian (@ericditzian) , with reporting by Josh Horowitz (@joshuahorowitz)

Damn, those two lovebirds are simpatico!

For a while now, we've been trying to get Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt to dish details about her directorial debut, "In the Land of Blood and Honey," and his rumored cameo in the project. Last December, all Jolie would say about whether Pitt was involved in the film, a love story about a relationship between a Serbian man and a Bosnian woman in the lead-up to the 1992 Bosnian war, was this: "Possibly."

Taking a cue from his lip-sealed lady, Pitt was determined at the Toronto International Film Festival this week not to say a peep about "Blood and Honey."

"I will say nothing," he declared. "Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing."

His "Moneyball" co-star Jonah Hill, sitting right beside him, was happy to fill the void. "It is the best college sex comedy I have ever seen in my entire life!" he cracked, before openly wondering, "I have no idea what you guys are talking about. It doesn't sound like a funny movie to me. What is 'In the Land of Blood and Honey?' "

We filled Hill in. The movie, which marks Jolie's directorial debut and is eying a December 23 release, "illustrates the consequences of the lack of political will to intervene in a society stricken with conflict," according to a press release from distributor FilmDistrict.

"Oh, OK, sorry, it just sounded like a serious movie," he said by way of explaining his joke.

All of which led to Pitt correcting us that it wasn't just directed by his girlfriend. "And written. Written by," he made it known. "I'm not bragging."

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Celebrities

After hours: Celebrities like to party, too

si si penaloza

From Monday's Globe and Mail

Star power began to surge in earnest on Friday with the arrival of Brangelina, who attended a top-secret private dinner (cooked by celebrity chef Tom Colicchio, served on the rooftop at The Burroughs Building) for Moneyball co-stars Jonah Hill, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Anna Ferris, as well as musician Chris Cornell, who contributed to the film’s soundtrack.

Angelina Jolie at the premier of Moneyball

Pity any other woman who tried to make a splash on the TIFF red carpet Friday night. Angelina Jolie was in the house. Stepping out to support Brad Pitt’s Moneyball opening, Jolie didn’t veer from her trademark look with a slinky, old-Hollywood black silk gown. But with reports saying it was by British punk godmother Vivienne Westwood, one can’t help but wish Jolie had chosen one of the designer’s more outrageous dresses to mix it up. (Not Helena Bonham-Carter’s kind of outrageous, but you know what I mean.) All is forgiven, though, when you check out the star's bright gold Louis Vuitton clutch, which was connected by a chain to the cuff on her wrist, James-Bond style. Get this woman her next spy thriller, pronto.(Extra points for Pitt’s sober wide-tied tuxedo.)

TIFF 2011

TIFF officials denounce Madonna's alleged treatment of volunteers

kate taylor

Globe and Mail Update

TIFF organizers want the public to know it was not the festival that told volunteers to turn their faces to a wall so that they would not see Madonna pass, and that the incident is not in keeping with the TIFF spirit. One volunteer had reported Monday that eight volunteers were told to turn their backs so that Madonna could walk down a hallway unseen.

“Of course, it flies in the face of what we stand for as an organization,” Jennifer Bell, TIFF vice president of communications, said Tuesday, stressing that it was an outside security firm that had told volunteers to face the wall as Madonna left a press conference.

Madonna has since released a statement denying instructing the volunteers to face the wall. "We are still trying to figure out who and why anyone would ask the volunteers to turn away from Madonna. She has never and would never ask anyone to do that ever"

The pop star-turned-film director had been discussing her new film W.E., and had even complimented the festival's orange-shirted volunteers before the incident.

“Our volunteers are the heart and soul of the festival. They keep it running on all cylinders,” Bell said. More than 2,000 volunteers do everything from opening doors, taking tickets and providing information to the public at the 10-day event, as well as staffing press conferences. It was after another press conference, while members of the media were held back in the room until actors and a director had cleared out of the area, that the volunteer confided to restless journalists that this paled in comparison to the aftermath of the Madonna press conference.

Madonna was appearing at the festival to promote her film about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and has previously drawn comparisons between herself and Wallis Simpson, another American transplanted to the U.K., suggesting she knows what it's like to be so famous one is judged only by surface appearances.

Post-Post-Cannes Projects Update - Maleficent

Tags: Movie Trailers, Movies Blog

Maleficent
Status: (no change) In Development, Open Directing Assignment

In the past, when asked about rumored projects with Aronofsky, she'd always say that he was a director she'd love to work with one day. This time, her answer was terse and evasive. When Josh Horowitz asked earlier about David Fincher, she was more forthcoming, just qualifying by saying they don't know and that it's very early. My guess is Fincher's a done deal whereas with Aronofsky they're still in deep discussions which is why she deflected the question by commenting on the script.

She avoided talking one-one-one with the gathered entertainment show hosts at the KFP 2 Premiere and just spoke briefly with the line of reporters. With big projects lined up with rumored big directors, the movie world is intensely curious about developments but she is not ready to talk about her films. As MTV said of Aronofsky helming Maleficent, "he'd definitely add a certain visionary spice ."

Cleopatra
Current status - In Development, Packaging, Priority Open Writing Assignment
Former status - Greenlit, Next Wave, POWA

The Status took a step back but the Development Priority took a step up. They are putting together financing and working on the script.

MTV #2

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Angelina Jolie, Jack Black Talk Fashion At Cannes Film Festival
'When I'm not doing this, I wear the same pants and same shirt every day,' 'Kung Fu Panda' co-star Jolie admits.

By Christina Garibaldi, with reporting by Josh Horowitz

CANNES, France — The Cannes Film Festival brings out the biggest stars, but it has also become one of the most glamorous events of the year, as we witnessed on the first day of the event. So when one has to work the red carpet at the festival, one has to make sure she looks her best, which isn't a problem for "Kung Fu Panda 2" star Angelina Jolie.
Jolie, who is known for her classic, elegant style, is used to turning heads. But when we caught up with the actress, we had to ask if she ever feels she has to top herself at Cannes.
"It's all the same," Jolie said of the pressure of dressing for a red carpet. "When I'm not doing this, I wear the same pants and same shirt every day. I don't change."
Jolie's funnyman costar Jack Black chimed in, asking, "Don't you wash them?"
"On occasion, but I have a few of the same things. It's like a uniform," Jolie replied.
Well, we can't say that Black takes the same laid-back approach to fashion. When planning for Cannes, he decided to bring his style to a whole new level.
"I wore my best shirt, favorite jeans and cream-colored pumas," Black joked. "I'm giving you my A-stuff."
In the "Kung Fu Panda" sequel, Black and Jolie reprise their roles as Dragon Warrior Po and Tigress, respectively. But the audition for the role wasn't easy for Jolie, who had to get past her fear of her own voice.
"I was doing Southern, I was doing British, I was doing any accent I could come up with," Jolie said. "Finally, they had to give me the talking-to that they'd analyzed my voice, they'd hired me and everything was fine."

More MTV: Josh saves the best for last

joshuahorowitz Josh Horowitz

Angelina Jolie confirms working with Fincher on 'Cleopatra' and plans to produce Churchill/Roosevelt film http://on.mtv.com/lP3FC5

May 13 2011 2:40 PM EDT 473

Angelina Jolie Confirms Talks With David Fincher To Direct 'Cleopatra'

'Fincher's been an old friend, so we've always been looking for something to do,' she tells MTV News.

By Eric Ditzian (@ericditzian) , with reporting by Josh Horowitz

Last time we caught up with Angelina Jolie, we ran through a slew of potential projects for the A-list star, pumping for details about her rumored onscreen collaboration with beau Brad Pitt, a potential project with Darren Aronofsky and the possibility (now squashed, thanks to Anne Hathaway) of playing Catwoman in "The Dark Knight Rises."

Meeting back up with Jolie at the Cannes Film Festival this week while she was promoting "Kung Fu Panda 2," we again touched on a few of her upcoming projects. First, there's "Cleopatra," a 3-D retelling of the ancient Egyptian queen's life. For a while, it seemed James Cameron might take on directorial duties, and then Paul Greengrass' name entered the conversation. Then in March, David Fincher — who's been consumed with production in Sweden on an adaptation of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" — reportedly became the latest helmer to set his sights on the film.

So will Jolie and Fincher be teaming up for "Cleopatra"? It seems that way. "Yes, we just don't know," she told us, "It's all very early. Fincher's been an old friend, so we've always been looking for something to do."

From there, we hit on another cinematic retelling of historical figures, this one focusing on the political and personal relationship between Winston Churchill and Theodore Roosevelt. Earlier this month, Anthony Hopkins exclusively revealed to MTV News that he was looking to play Churchill for a project Jolie is producing. But after directing her first feature — a love story set during the Bosnian War — we wondered if she might also helm that project.

"Right now, I'm just producing it," Jolie said. "Just want to see it get done."

When asked if she'd found a Roosevelt to go head-to-head with Hopkins' Churchill, she answered simply, "No."

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MTV #2

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Angelina Jolie, Jack Black Talk Fashion At Cannes Film Festival
'When I'm not doing this, I wear the same pants and same shirt every day,' 'Kung Fu Panda' co-star Jolie admits.

By Christina Garibaldi, with reporting by Josh Horowitz

CANNES, France — The Cannes Film Festival brings out the biggest stars, but it has also become one of the most glamorous events of the year, as we witnessed on the first day of the event. So when one has to work the red carpet at the festival, one has to make sure she looks her best, which isn't a problem for "Kung Fu Panda 2" star Angelina Jolie.

Jolie, who is known for her classic, elegant style, is used to turning heads. But when we caught up with the actress, we had to ask if she ever feels she has to top herself at Cannes.

"It's all the same," Jolie said of the pressure of dressing for a red carpet. "When I'm not doing this, I wear the same pants and same shirt every day. I don't change."

Jolie's funnyman costar Jack Black chimed in, asking, "Don't you wash them?"

"On occasion, but I have a few of the same things. It's like a uniform," Jolie replied.

Well, we can't say that Black takes the same laid-back approach to fashion. When planning for Cannes, he decided to bring his style to a whole new level.

"I wore my best shirt, favorite jeans and cream-colored pumas," Black joked. "I'm giving you my A-stuff."

In the "Kung Fu Panda" sequel, Black and Jolie reprise their roles as Dragon Warrior Po and Tigress, respectively. But the audition for the role wasn't easy for Jolie, who had to get past her fear of her own voice.

"I was doing Southern, I was doing British, I was doing any accent I could come up with," Jolie said. "Finally, they had to give me the talking-to that they'd analyzed my voice, they'd hired me and everything was fine."

MTV - accents

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

May 11 2011 6:52 PM EDT

Angelina Jolie Tried Exotic Accents For 'Kung Fu Panda' Role

'I came in and I was Mae West for awhile,' star laughs to MTV News at Cannes about her audition.

By Kara Warner

The 64th annual Cannes Film Festival, a.k.a. the world's most glamorous film fete, tends to attract the biggest and brightest stars working in the business. On Tuesday, we had the pleasure of chatting with "Puss in Boots" stars Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek, and on Wednesday (May 11), we caught up with "Kung Fu Panda 2" A-listers Jack Black and Angelina Jolie.

During a brief sit-down with the funnyman and his leading lady, MTV News asked Jolie to let us in on the secrets behind her audition for the animated flick, specifically addressing a rumor that she spoke in a variety of voices and accents in an effort to get the job.

"I did, I did," Jolie confirmed. "I've never loved my own voice. Like most people, you hear your own voice and you think, 'Ugh.' So I came in and I was Mae West for awhile," she said of the saucy screen legend. "I was doing southern, I was doing British, I was doing any accent I could come up with. Finally, they had to give me the talking-to that they'd analyzed my voice and they'd hired me and they were very fine with my [natural voice], 'So please just stop doing those horrible voices,' " she recalled with a laugh.

In the "Kung Fu Panda" sequel, Jolie reprises her role as the feisty fighter Tigress, alongside Dragon Warrior Po (Black). The "awesome" world of the fighters is threatened by the emergence of a new villain who plans to conquer China and destroy kung fu with a secret, unstoppable weapon. Naturally, Po, Tigress and the rest of the Furious Five must spring to action to prevent that from happening.