'Moneyball' Is All About 'Underdogs,' Jonah Hill Says

'If you're not a baseball fan, it doesn't mean you're not going to love the movie,' he tells MTV News in our Fall Movie Preview.
By Kara Warner


Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill in "Moneyball"
Photo: Melinda Sue Gordon/Columbia

In addition to his trimmed-down figure, Jonah Hill fans will see a new side of the "Superbad" and "Get Him to the Greek" actor come September 23, when "Moneyball" drops into theaters: his dramatic acting chops.

The film is inspired by Michael Lewis' 2003 best-seller of the same name, which revolved around Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane and how he recruited undervalued yet extremely talented baseball players to build successful teams. In the film, Hill plays Peter Brand, a statistician who helps Beane (Brad Pitt) select players based on in-depth analysis of complex baseball statistics.

Click for exclusive photos from Fall's biggest flicks.

When MTV News caught up with Hill recently, he was excited to talk about his dramatic work and emphasized the fact that the film is more about life than baseball.

MTV: Did you read the book before you started the film?

Jonah Hill: I had just been told that [director] Bennett [Miller] wanted to meet me and I should read the book "Moneyball" in preparation, and so I did, and I really, really loved it.

MTV: Were you a baseball fan beforehand? And how did your appreciation for the game evolve over the course of working on the film?

Hill: I grew up with baseball and really respect and appreciate the game, but in the past, since I was probably 12 or 13, I haven't followed closely. So I wouldn't say I was an avid fan, but I grew up being a Dodgers fan. But if you're not a baseball fan, it doesn't mean you're not going to love the movie. We used baseball as such a metaphor for life. The movie is about these guys trying to create a baseball team with no money, but it's really about choices and being an underdog, so I really can start to relate the game to the people playing it and seeing them as people and wondering about them, and I couldn't help but start wondering about all the players as people and do their stats represent them and their value — that's a lot of what the movie's about.

MTV: How is the film not just a sports movie?

Hill: I hesitate to even call it a sports movie, because if you love baseball, you're going to love it obviously that much more, but for people that I know that have seen it that don't know the first thing about baseball, [they] love it because it's a movie about underdogs. It's really about being undervalued and proving your worth and value and the decisions you make in life.

MTV: Everyone raves about Aaron Sorkin's scripts and dialogue. What was your impression of the script? How does it rank versus some of the others you've seen?

Hill: The script was written by Aaron Sorkin and Steve Zaillian. ... I don't think there's any debate they are the two of the most successful and respected screenwriters in Hollywood, so between them and Scott Rudin and Mike De Luca, our producers, and Bennett Miller and Michael Lewis, who wrote the book, and Brad and Philip [Seymour] Hoffman and Robin Wright, I can say it was pretty crazy to be second lead in this movie. It was a laundry list of people I admired and respected, and it kinda didn't seem real for the first few weeks I got the part.

MTV: Was there a learning curve for you? Did you feel like more of a student on this production?

Hill: I think I always feel like a student. I always work with people I admire or else I don't go to work. To me, it's about learning from people. The best advice I ever got was "Shut up and listen." ... This was obviously the most different. Drama, I had only done one other one, this movie "Cyrus," and for me, those were two experiences, because I had done so many comedies, where I learned something totally different.

MTV: What was your experience like with Brad Pitt, as far as the actor and the person?

Hill: He's great at both. I think he and I are really close in the movie. The movie is really the two of us playing off of each other a majority of the time, so if that chemistry wasn't there between us, I think the movie would have completely failed. So I think we both knew that going in, and I think we both happened to like each other a lot. We definitely played some pranks on each other. That part of [Brad Pitt] lore is true, that he likes to do that. We played some really funny pranks — his a lot funnier than mine — and we became cool. He's a really admirable dude, and I think he has inspired me in a lot of ways, both creatively and personally. If you look at his filmography, his choices are so diverse and cool and eclectic that it's something I really just took away. He was really cool about sharing his history with me and really pushing me in a great way to make interesting choices.

MTV: Can you give me a couple of those pranks?

Hill: There were some golf-cart wars. We had these golf carts, and we would race them all the time to set and crash into each other. And he started messing with mine and eventually turned mine into a full-fledged Wham! mobile — the band Wham! — where eventually there was a bigger-than-life-sized portrait of myself as a member of Wham! next to George Michael on the front of it. It was bright pink, and eventually, by the end, if you turned on my golf cart, it blasted "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" and could not be turned off unless the engine was turned off. Sometimes I feel like he has a team of scientists working on f---ing with me.

MTV: So what was your best retaliation you think?

Hill: I got him with a prank to his car that I'm not going to reveal yet. It's a secret.

From "Abduction" to "Muppets, "Moneyball" to "Breaking Dawn," the MTV Movies team is delving into the hottest upcoming flicks in our 2011 Fall Movie Preview. Check back daily for exclusive clips, photos and interviews with the films' biggest stars.

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

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

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1670309/moneyball-brad-pitt-jonah-hill.jhtml

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Do Foo Fighters Know Robert Pattinson From Robert Plant?

During band's rehearsal break for Sunday's Movie Awards, we put Foos to the test.
By Ryan J. Downey, with reporting by Jim Cantiello


The Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl
Photo: MTV News

UNIVERSAL CITY, California — Hard rock, heavy metal, hardcore and punk have long gone hand-in-hand with evil wizards, magic, vampires and werewolves. And with a collective sub-cultural pedigree that includes stints in the Germs, No Use for a Name, Sunny Day Real Estate, Scream and some band called Nirvana, you'd think the Foo Fighters — set to perform at Sunday's Movie Awards — would know their "Potter" from their Zeppelin. Certainly they can recognize a "wand" reference and pinpoint its origin?

Right? Before we put MTV News' magically crafted trivia to the band, it seemed safe to assume the Foos would accurately distinguish between the words of Harry Potter, a "Twilight" character and Led Zeppelin. But was their underground nerd cred blown to shreds? Read on — and click the video! — to see how the Foo Fighters fared when we caught up with them on the Universal Studios lot, shortly after they finished rehearsing their Movie Awards performance.

Our own Jim Cantiello played dungeon master as Dave Grohl, Nate Mendel, Taylor Hawkins, Chris Shiflett and Pat Smear were given a series of semi-famous lines and asked whether they originated with "Harry Potter," the "Twilight Saga" or the lyrics of hard-rock pioneers Led Zeppelin.

Here's a sampling of a few of those one-liners:

» "The elder wand, the most powerful wand ever made."

» "Why don't you let me be yours ever truly? Can I make your garden grow?"

» "You're lying, Dolores! You mustn't tell lies!"

Can you guess whether the lines above came from the "Potter" flicks, "Twilight" or Robert Plant?

Watch as the Foos try their best to do exactly that. Then tune in to the MTV Movie Awards on Sunday to catch the Foo Fighters rock the stage with their new single, "Walk."

Will wizards, vampires or dream thieves steal the 2011 MTV Movie Awards? Find out June 5, when the 20th annual show airs live at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Tune in at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT that night for the "America's Best Dance Crew" finale and Movie Awards pre-show, loaded with live action from the red carpet, exclusive movie clips and a special edition of "After Hours."

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1665146/do-foo-fighters-know-robert-pattinson-from-robert-plant.jhtml

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Justin Bieber Passes Michael Jackson's Box-Office Record

'Justin Bieber: Never Say Never' has outgrossed MJ's 'This Is It' in U.S.
By Gil Kaufman


Justin Bieber in "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never"
Photo: Paramount Pictures

Michael Jackson may have dubbed himself the King of Pop, but the late icon didn't hold the box-office crown for long. Less than a year after the posthumous MJ documentary "This Is It" became the most successful concert-themed film in U.S. history, Justin Bieber is poised to snatch the mantle.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never" has earned $72.2 million in domestic box office so far, passing Jackson's $72.1 million haul. And while Bieber has racked up those impressive numbers in just six weeks, he's got a long way to go before he laps the global receipts for the MJ doc.

"This Is It" has grossed $189.1 million overseas for a global total of $261.2 million. Music films don't typically play well overseas, and THR noted that "Never Say Never" has grossed a more modest $10.8 million overseas so far, with Paramount executives predicting that it could top out around $20 million internationally.

The impressive U.S. numbers were likely goosed by the re-release of the film recently with 40 additional minutes of bonus footage from director Jon M. Chu. Bieber still has a little way to go to climb the list of the top-grossing documentaries of all time. "Never Say Never" is currently stalled out at the #3 position, around $5 million behind "March of the Penguins," according to Box Office Mojo, and well short of the all-time record held by Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11," which has taken in $119.1 million to date.

Bieber set off a classic MJ-style fan frenzy a few weeks ago when he visited Liverpool, England, for his world tour. And just a week later, he posed with his new wax figure at London's Madame Tussauds, checking off another item on the list of milestones to an MJ-like career.

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1660299/justin-bieber-never-say-never-box-office.jhtml

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With a Little Luck: A Novel

My good friend Caprice Crane's new book, With a Little Luck, is out today. Yay, Caprice!

It's gotten great reviews:

"Crane is one of the funniest writers of popular fiction around. The dialog (inner and outer) is laugh-out-loud, snort-inducing hilarious . . . Readers will want to cross their fingers and spit while throwing salt over their shoulders if it helps Berry reach her dreams. Highly recommended."

Library Journal

"Fans of Stacy Ballis and Cara Lockwood will appreciate Crane's effortlessly funny style, which is often attempted in popular fiction but is rarely this well executed...Lighthearted and charmingly honest."

—Booklist

"[A] satisfying romantic comedy...[with] real character growth."

—Kirkus Reviews

And even better blurbs:

"Romantic, poignant and funny—this book is a lucky find for lit fans. Caprice Crane is a nimble and gifted storyteller."

—Diablo Cody, Academy Award-winning screenwriter of Juno

"A hilarious romp that oozes charm and giddy fun. Caprice Crane is a true talent."

—Molly Jong-Fast, author of The Social Climber's Handbook

"Witty, fast-paced, and sheer fun. Caprice Crane is a master of dialogue. Half the time I was reading this book I was smiling, which made me look like a crazy person on the subway."

—Jancee Dunn, author of Don’t You Forget About Me and Why Is My Mother Getting a Tattoo?

"Absolutely charming and hilarious."

—Missy Peregrym, star of the movie Stick It and ABC's Rookie Blue

"With a Little Luck scores in humor, head, and heart. In other words, it’s a perfect trifecta."

—Karyn Bosnak, author of 20 Times a Lady (soon to be the major motion picture What's Your Number?)

(Omg, who is that last fantastic blurber?) (I meant every word of it.)

And most importantly, she has the cutest dog ever (who likes to video chat with Bev):

Anyway, check it out, buy it—it's fantastic!

Source: http://www.prettyinthecity.com/blog/2011/7/26/with-a-little-luck-a-novel.html

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Beyoncé Bares Her Baby Bump At The Beach

On Monday we got our first look at Beyoncé rockin’ her baby bump in public while on holiday in Italy for the first time since she announced her pregnancy at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards the prior weekend. Today we get to see new photos of B with hubby Jay-Z on a beach in [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pinkisthenewblog/~3/tNwa0andOiY/

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