'Footloose': The Reviews Are In!

Critics can't help but compare the Kenny Wormald dance flick to Kevin Bacon's 1984 original.
By Kevin P. Sullivan


Kenny Wormald and Julianne Hough in "Footloose"
Photo: Paramount Pictures

Let's dance! The remake of "Footloose" hit theaters on Friday (October 14), and the critics have weighed in. The dance flick revisits the 1984 original's story about a teen (played by newcomer Ken Wormald) who moves to a conservative town that has outlawed dancing; the new kid shakes things up in more ways than one.

"Footloose" seems to be holding on with a 74 percent fresh rating at the review-aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes and, overall, the verdict is a resounding "better than we thought it would be."

We rounded up a sampling of some of the reviews to give you an idea of what to expect if you decide to bust a move and hit the theater.

The Story
"After his mother dies, Boston kid Renn (Wormald) comes to live with his aunt (Kim Dickens) and uncle (Ray McKinnon) in Bomont, Ga., which three years before banned 'vulgar, demeaning amplified music' and 'lewd and lascivious dancing' in the wake of a car crash that killed five high-schoolers. One of the dead kids came from the family of Rev. Shaw Moore (Dennis Quaid), his wife Vi (Andie MacDowell) and their daughter Ariel (Julianne Hough). The boy's death has launched pretty Ariel into a territory somewhere between damaged and deranged. She stands on railroad tracks as a train speeds toward her, and flirts dangerously with surly local outlaw Chuck (Patrick Flueger), whose biker gang seems sanitized enough to be called Heck's Angels. Ariel also comes on to Renn — who, though he sports a Back Bay accent and a greasy coif, isn't that kind of boy." — Richard Corliss, Time

The Leads
"Unlike Bacon, who had a double, Wormald does Ren's angry dance himself in an abandoned warehouse. But Wormald is not the actor Bacon is. This crimps his chemistry with Hough, who has the indefinable spark that indicates star potential." — Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

The Direction
"If you remember the first 'Footloose,' you know more or less what happens, and you may find some of the alterations amusing. Instead of a game of chicken on tractors, for instance, there is a dirt-track race involving modified school buses. [Director Craig] Mr. Brewer films this lumbering action sequence, and several brawls and fights, with more verve and relish than he brings to the dance numbers, which are, in the age of 'Glee,' the 'High School Musical' movies and the mighty 'Step Up' franchise, woefully inadequate." — A.O. Scott, The New York Times

The Remake
"There's one thing to be said for a remake of a 1984 movie that uses the original's screenplay. This 2011 version is so similar — sometimes song for song and line for line — that I was wickedly tempted to reprint my 1984 review, word for word. But That Would be Wrong. I think I could have gotten away with it, though. The movies differ in such tiny details (the hero now moves to Tennessee from Massachusetts, not Chicago) that few would have noticed." — Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The Verdict
"The remake of 'Footloose' is sappy, squeaky clean and far-fetched. But thanks to the obvious love director and co-writer Craig Brewer has for the 1984 original, its heart is in the right place." — Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic

Check out everything we've got on "Footloose."

For young Hollywood news, fashion and "Twilight" updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com.

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1672534/footloose-reviews-movie.jhtml

Ashley Scott Ashley Tappin Ashley Tisdale Asia Argento Aubrey O\\\\\\\'Day

How Chinese learn to drink wine

chinese drinking wine

China uncorks more than 1.2 billion bottles of wine every year. A great deal of them are expensive imported grapes, like French Bordeaux or Italian Barolo. And most importantly, the majority of drinkers are local Chinese.

Yet wine still remains a conundrum to even the most educated Chinese: obscure words describing exotic vines, mysterious tasting notes referring to uncommon comestibles (wine drinkers are challenged when it comes to finding licorice or blackberries in a local shop).

read more

Source: http://rss.cnngo.com/~r/cnngo/~3/ZoYVjtG16Is/how-chinese-learn-drink-wine-715327

Natalie Zea Natasha Bedingfield Natassia Malthe Nelly Furtado Nichole Robinson

Tinseltown Dirt

Tinseltown Dirt

New Trend: Men in Heels?–The Frisky Mandy Moore Heading to the Small Screen–HollyWire Kelsey Grammer Back on TV–Right Celebrity Jennifer Aniston is a Dirty Girl?–The [...]

Tinseltown Dirt Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stupidcelebrities/~3/ec9kHUc3NFA/

Kim Yoon-jin Kirsten Dunst Krista Allen Kristanna Loken Kristen Bell

Beyonce's 'Love On Top' Tease: Five Key Scenes

A nod to New Edition's classic boy band moves is just one of the reasons we can't wait for B's next clip.
By Rebecca Thomas


Beyoncé in the "Love on Top" music video teaser
Photo: Columbia

It's only been a week since Beyoncé dropped her frenetic "Countdown" video, but she's already gearing up to hit the eject button on another clip from her 4 album. Some fans got their first taste of "Love on Top" when B debuted it (along with that baby bump!) at the 2011 MTV VMAs. But while she gave the retro-leaning track the doo-wop treatment, sporting a sequined Dolce & Gabbana blazer at the show, she'll revisit another musical era for the video.

New Edition's '80s smash "If It Isn't Love" is the clear inspiration in the 82-second tease of Beyoncé's video. And although the superstar has been doing damage control over claims she referenced another artist's work too liberally in her "Countdown" clip, we only want to see more of how B recharged the Boston boy band's classic choreography.

Check out how the "Countdown" director dealt with B's "special arrival."

Check out our five favorite things from the wisp of a preview, and share yours in the comments section!

If It Isn't 'Love on Top'
N.E.'s 1988 hit from their album Heart Break is a crazy melodic uptempo ballad with singer Ralph Tresvant tackling the lead. In the super spare clip, casually dressed bandmates Tresvant, Ricky Bell, Ronnie DeVoe, Michael Bivins and — taking over for the newly solo Bobby Brown — Johnny Gill turn a dance rehearsal into a stage-worthy triumph. In the sneak peek, B is backed by five T-shirt-rocking male dancers who help her recreate the quintet's smokin' steps. Even her studio, with its multiple window views, looks like it was shot in the exact same spot.

All Hail, King B
While B's head gear may call to mind a certain Ugandan dictator among kids who paid attention in AP History, there's only one power this diva exercises in the land of Beyoncéstan: forcing you to dance.

If the Shoe Fits
Not even pregnancy can keep Beyoncé out of her towering Brian Atwoods. Still, after peeping her in '60s-style ballet flats in the "Countdown" visual, we were just gushing over how the singer paired black nylons and a bodysuit with sneakers. The Ash footwear line's white-soled Biba shoe, to be specific. A new look for B, and we like!

Brook Payne, Bring the Pain
B and her longtime choreographer Frank Gatson Jr. have traveled far and wide when it comes to seeking dance inspiration for her visuals. For "Run the World (Girls)," for instance, the pair famously sent a search team to Mozambique to track down the African Tofo Tofo dancers whose hard-to-replicate steps (captured in YouTube videos) had hypnotized them. But for "Top," B's team turns to the work of Brook Payne, veteran choreographer for New Edition. Payne makes a cameo and delivers the monologue at the top of the N.E. clip — maybe Gatson will too?

When we caught up with the re-formed, six-strong group at the Essence Festival in June, Bobby Brown spoke to MTV News about Payne's mastery and why that footwork has been so often imitated. "It's a lot of things that I'm capable of doing, but New Edition steps, whether you think so or not, they're probably one of the hardest things in dance that you could do," Brown said.

The Diva Fan
Ahh, the diva fan: From "Crazy in Love" to "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)," B seldom hits a video set without it, and it always blows to the left, to the left.

What are you hoping for from B's "Love on Top" video? Tell us in the comments!

Related Photos Related Artists

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1672439/beyonce-love-on-top-music-video.jhtml

Jennie Finch Jennifer Aniston Jennifer Gareis Jennifer Garner Jennifer Gimenez