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Kanye West, Eminem And Jared Leto's Pajamas: This Week's Deep Cuts

Posted 12/17/10 6:00 pm EST by in Deep Cuts


It's the last weekend before Christmas, which means that you may be extremely busy over the next few days finishing your shopping, preparing food for giant meals, wrapping gifts and girding yourself for nightmarish travel. On the other hand, many of you won't be doing any of that and will be able to poke fun at the people at the mall as you casually check out "Tron: Legacy," spin through the bonus features on the "Inception" DVD, pay a visit to your local NBA arena for some hot action (like Madison Square Garden, where the New York Knicks take on the Miami Heat) or just lay low while watching Eminem and Lil Wayne on "Saturday Night Live."

Whatever you choose to do, please do it safely, stay warm and be sure to prepare yourself by catching up with what you might have missed this week on the MTV Newsroom Blog.

» There were arguments, lists and arguments about lists all over the blog this week, starting with a battle between Kanye West and Eminem over whose album was the best of the year.

» More controversy erupted over the new batch of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, which somehow includes the guy who wrote "Red Red Wine."

» With all these contentious arguments flying around, it's no wonder we hit the 10th anniversary of the end of the 2000 election.

» There were celebrations this week, too, as we raised a glass to Taylor Swift's 21st birthday.

» We also congratulated Jennifer Love Hewitt for her Golden Globe nomination for "The Client List."
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Jared Leto Discusses Pajamas, Insists On Pants: The Best Of 2010 You Didn't See

Posted 12/16/10 5:30 pm EST by in Music


As the year 2010 comes to a close, we looked around the MTV Newsroom and noticed that there was an awful lot of tape hanging around that you never got to see. Sometimes it's completely irrelevant, sometimes it's filthy and sometimes it's just too odd to broadcast. Over the next few weeks, we'll be unveiling some of those amazing pieces of tape that will finally be revealed.

If you wanted to declare a rock band as having the biggest year for guitar-based acts, 30 Seconds to Mars would make an awfully compelling argument. Though their latest album This Is War came out in 2009, it really came into its own in 2010, mostly on the backs of big singles like "Kings and Queens" and "Closer to the Edge." They spent a great deal of their year on the road, blowing away their biggest crowds yet (though they've been making hits for a decade, this year was their first arena tour). They also grabbed plenty of headlines with their eye-popping music videos, especially the VMA-winning "Kings and Queens" and the controversial epic "Hurricane."

In fact, the video for "Kings and Queens" brought the band to the MTV News offices back in February. After band members Jared Leto and Tomo Milecevic talked us through the video for an excellent installment of "Frame By Frame," we chatted about a number of different topics, including the aftermath of the strange bomb scare, their enthusiasm for Fever Ray, the greatness of Las Vegas and their still-in-the-works documentary. As Leto pointed out, much of the raw footage of that film catches him in his pajamas, which lead to this exchange about whether or not it's OK to not wear pants if you don't plan on leaving the house. Let it be known that Leto insists on pants. It was a weird, funny moment, and I'm glad it can finally be seen.


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30 Seconds To Mars' 'Hurricane' Video: The References

Posted 12/1/10 2:00 pm EST by in Music


The Internet is still ablaze with chatter about 30 Seconds to Mars' complicated, controversial and utterly fascinating new short film "Hurricane," which made its debut on Monday night (November 29). Since its release, band frontman and director (under the name Bartholomew Cubbins) Jared Leto has rallied against the censorship of the clip, which contains multiple scenes of violence but was mostly hacked up for its graphic sexual content.

But in all the conversations about alternate versions and censorship double-standards, few people seem to really be talking about what the clip actually means. And while the interpretation is up to the viewer, there are a number of references in the film that could clarify some of the subtext.

"Eyes Wide Shut"
Of all the references you could pick out of "Hurricane," it seems like Stanley Kubrick's final film had a profound influence on the final product. Leto is an unabashed Kubrick fan (he borrowed images from "The Shining" for the video for "The Kill"), and bits of "Eyes Wide Shut" seem to have permeated "Hurricane" on a bunch of different levels. They both have a similar general narrative arc (both feature characters wandering around a New York that sometimes seems empty, encountering dream logic and dangerous women), obsessions with masks and lots of bondage. "Eyes Wide Shut" is as complicated as the rest of Kubrick's work (in some ways even more inexplicable, considering it may or may not have actually been finished by the time Kubrick passed away), but it's pretty clearly a meditation on the complications of marriage.

Terry Richardson
The famous fashion photographer makes an appearance toward the end of "Hurricane" (he's the mustached guy taking pictures). Is he playing himself, or is he meant to be a character? It's unclear.

"The Matrix Revolutions"
This isn't really an overt reference, but that scene of Tomo Milicevic wandering through the empty subway station really reminds us of the beginning sequence of the final film in "The Matrix" trilogy, where Neo is trapped in a subway station and must figure out how to free himself (he is quickly saved by Trinity after a confrontation with the Merovingian, at which point everybody falls asleep). Also, Tomo's fighting style is very Neo-esque.

"Lost Highway"
David Lynch's underrated 1997 masterpiece begins with a prolonged sequence of scenes wherein Bill Pullman and Patricia Arquette are haunted by a series video tapes left anonymously at their doorstep. The contents of those tapes? Images of them sleeping. Leto is greeted by the same thing at the beginning of the video after he is woken up in his room (though he is greeted by photographs, not video).

"Buried," "Kill Bill Vol. 2" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
The image of somebody being trapped in a coffin is strangely ubiquitous, so it's unsure exactly what Leto is referencing when he finds himself confined after taking a blow to the head with a sledgehammer (or whether he's referencing anything at all). But he could have been inspired by any one of the titles above.

"The Shining"
Could the topless girls posing in front of the door be the creepy twins from the Overlook Hotel all grown up?

What references do you see in "Hurricane" that we missed? Let us know in the comments!

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30 Seconds To Mars' Jared Leto Is Not Out To Shock: The MTV News Quote Of The Day

Posted 11/30/10 3:00 pm EST by in Music


"I had always planned on having an explicit version and then a version that was not so explicit. The version that we were trying to get on broadcast is not the explicit version, and that's still having a really difficult time. I'm not interested in provocation for provocation's sake. I just think it's interesting that when you turn on the news or whatever else catches your interest, how much violence and negativity is available out there. As soon as it comes time for sexuality, it's a big shock that people are sexual beings. It's an interesting double standard to me."

-30 Seconds to Mars frontman and video director Jared Leto, talking about the roadblocks being put up in front of him regarding the release of "Hurricane," Leto's latest short film. The controversial short film premiered on Monday night (November 29) in a 13-minute version, and it featured a great deal of nudity and violence, much of which was censored. But according to Leto, there is a much longer version that contains completely unadulterated scenes.

"We always knew there would be some images that would have a tough time getting through," Leto told Entertainment Weekly about the controversy surrounding the video. "But we didn't expect this kind of pushback that we're getting now."

Leto also addressed the issue on his personal Web site, posting a letter he received about cuts that had to be made to "Hurricane." "Overall the bondage theme will warrant a POST 10 p.m. restriction as the film is in its current form," read the letter. "There is one shot that will have to be removed completely for a POST 10 p.m. restriction. 09:17 — WOMAN RUNS FINGER OVER OTHER WOMAN'S G-STRING-CLAD BOTTOM AND TOUCHES HER ANUS — This shot makes the video completely restricted. There are other bondage shots towards the end of the film that [C]ompliance were unclear about, they would have to view frame by frame on tape to gauge whether they would need to be cut too for POST 10PM. The violence in the film is not graphic and would warrant a POST 7 p.m. restriction. But the overall sexual content does push the restriction up."

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30 Seconds To Mars Made A 'Surrealistic Nightmare': The MTV News Quote Of The Day

Posted 10/18/10 4:00 pm EST by in Music


"It's a surrealistic nightmare dream-fantasy through the desolate empty streets of New York City at night. There's no people, there's no cars and you see the band as we encounter some fears and some fetishes, a series of challenges. It's a really ambitious, really cinematic short film."

-30 Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto, discussing the new soon-to-be-premiered video for "Hurricane," the latest single from their smash 2009 album This Is More. According to Leto, not only does the video star all three members of the band (including drummer Shannon Leto and guitarist Tomo Milicevic), but it also stars the streets of New York — a city that Leto loves.

"We have, probably, 10 different locations over these two-and-a-half days that we're shooting," he said. "Shooting in New York is an amazing experience; you have everything from simple things like the cobblestone on the streets to magical things like the people, personalities, the individuals. I love the history here and it's been a city for me that's always been about finding your dreams."

Leto is quickly becoming a top-shelf video director, as he has helmed several clips for his band (including the VMA-winning epic for "Kings and Queens"). The actor-turned-rocker clearly enjoys the challenge of crafting music videos, and his latest challenge is time. "I think the biggest challenge for me will be time," he said. "You have so many things you want to do and you're so excited about doing them. ... They say it's not the time it takes to do the takes, it's the time between the takes that takes the time."

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30 Seconds To Mars Debunk The Price Tag Of Their 'From Yesterday' Video

Posted 2/17/10 2:25 pm EST by in Music


Over the course of 10 years and three hit albums, 30 Seconds to Mars have become notorious for a handful of reasons: A stunning live show, their rabid fans, frontman Jared Leto's approach to fashion and their envelope-pushing music videos. The latter is especially noteworthy, as Leto (who went to film school) has brought an incredible cinematic eye to the group's clips, leaving a handful of truly stunning images associated with their various hits. Leto has achieved technical mastery in the clip for "The Kill," went to Antarctica and Greenland for "A Beautiful Lie" and went to China for "From Yesterday." (Their most recent clip, for "Kings and Queens," will get the "Frame by Frame" treatment later this week.)

But the video for "From Yesterday" became known for something that had nothing to do with the group's trip to China or it's convoluted plot. Back when it first premiered, word got around that the clip cost the band a whopping $13 million, which would have made it the priciest video of all time (surpassing even Michael and Janet Jackson's "Scream").

"Contrary to Internet rumors, it did not cost $13 million to make," Leto told MTV News. "It was actually reported in [British music magazine] NME at the time, and they were talking about it like it was the most expensive video of all time."

Leto added that it was actually a pretty streamlined shoot. "It was a relatively inexpensive video to shoot, especially at that time," he said.

"Compared to the result, for sure," guitarist Tomo Milicevic added.

So there you have it: Another Internet urban legend dispelled!

What's your favorite 30 Seconds to Mars video? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

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Jared Leto 'Failed A Lot' On 30 Seconds To Mars Album: The MTV News Quote Of The Day

Posted 12/7/09 3:53 pm EST by in Music


"I don't avoid failing because you learn from that, in a way that you could never learn from anything else. Failure is one of the greatest teachers. And we failed a lot on this record. It's an ambitious album. It's an album that invited the world to sing and to record and to experiment. To confess. And it is a spiritual record in a way. It is of the spirit world rather than cerebral or just purely guttural. It talks about faith and fighting for what you believe in and the idea of community. ... It was an opportunity for us to embrace the community around 30 Seconds to Mars and really to create the record that we've always dreamed of."

-30 Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto, talking to MTV News about the band's new album This Is War (which hits stores on Tuesday, December 8). According to the rocker/actor, the process of crafting the new record involved plenty of false starts and no shortage of out-there experiments, including those involving Tibetan monks. But it's the experiment that didn't make it on the album that may become a much sought-after piece of folklore: The guest spot by Kanye West on the song "Hurricane." "He sang on the song, but I think, you know, you have to ship the album and get it manufactured, and they were working out the back-end stuff that's boring to talk about, to figure out all the rights of one record company and the rights of another," he sighed. "It has nothing to do with me or Kanye. But he's phenomenal on the song, and it will be out at some point."

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Adam Sandler And Jared Leto Beware: Crocs Are Sinking Fast

Posted 7/17/09 4:35 pm EST by in Music


By Corey Celt

The economy has already claimed the American automotive industry and the real estate market, and now it has its sights set on its next victim: Crocs. The bright, colorful clogs first burst onto the fashion scene in 2002 and since then have become a must-have trend for some and an eyesore for others. Since 2002, the company has outfitted nearly 100 million people with a pair of the comfy shoes. Many of the happy customers include super chef Mario Batali, 30 Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto and comedian Adam Sandler. Stars wear them everywhere from the streets of Los Angeles to the red carpet (as Sandler did in 2005 to the premiere of "The Longest Yard").

But the American makers of the wildly successful shoe company are fearful of a possible shot down if they company are not able to repay their debts by September, according to the Washington Post. A victim of the inevitable change in fashion and the recent economic downturn, the clog maker is finding that shoe may no longer fit.

(Check out more photos of stars in Crocs, including Adam Sandler, Mario Batali and Ian McKellan!)

As Crocs become a dying breed and Mario Batali seeks out another solution for wearing around the kitchen, there will certainly be less color and less comfort on the feet of the world — whether you thought they were fashion-forward or hideous.

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Jared Leto Sent Us Cupcakes

Posted 12/3/08 1:28 pm EST by in Uncategorized


Earlier this week, MTV News published an "in the studio" piece with 30 Seconds to Mars, in which they played us some new songs, gave us a tour of the facilities and talked in great detail about the ongoing $30 million breach-of-contract lawsuit filed by their former label, Virgin/EMI. This was the first time they'd done this, and needless to say, 30STM frontman/dreamboat Jared Leto was pleased with the results.

How do we know this? Well, because he said so, in the handwritten note he sent along with a dozen cupcakes from NYC's Sugar Sweet Sunshine bakery (there were even a few red-velvet ones in there, which only proves that he's got good taste). I’ve included a photo of said note — made out to myself and MTV News metal scribe Chris Harris — with this blog post, not just so you can scope Leto's penmanship (which is pretty great) and marvel at the fact that he spelled "grateful" correctly, but also to make you very jealous.

It was a very gracious gift, indeed, and we're very thankful to Jared and his 30STM pals. Not only did it make everyone in the MTV Newsroom feel just like Angela Chase on that one episode of "My So-Called Life" when Jordan Catalano gives her the "I'm Sorry" note (only this one was actually written by Jordan and not Brian Krakow), but the cupcakes made for a great "post-lunch, pre-3 p.m. coffee" pick-me-up. Oh, and before they were summarily devoured by hungry staffers, I managed to snap a photo of the cupcakes, which you can see after the jump.
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