by Gil Kaufman 1 min ago

There’s a revolution going on in Hong Kong right now, and it’s being led by more than 13,000 students and young people who are demanding democratic reforms for the island nation chafing under the strong-armed leadership of mainland China.

And, as with so many recent democratic uprisings across the Middle East and Europe, this protest movement has a social media-ready set of iconic images/leaders that has helped spread the word across the planet at lightning speed. So, what is the deal with the ‘Umbrella Revolution?’

Broken Promises
After the United Kingdom transferred sovereignty over Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China in 1997, China agreed to allow Hong Kong to develop its own government and democratically elect leaders by 2017. But then the Chinese government began to backpedal in July, saying that candidates for election in HK would have to be approved by a Chinese central committee, setting off protests in the streets.

Taking It To The Streets

Getty Images News/Anthony Kwan

A trio of activists formed a group modeled after the U.S. Occupy movement called Occupy Central last year, encouraging fellow HK citizens to engage in peaceful civil disobedience to send a message to Chinese leaders. University students heeded their call again last Wednesday, filling the streets of downtown for a protest that was joined by Occupy Central members on Friday. The students also wrote a manifesto decrying Beijing’s “colonial” actions against their country ...

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by Christina Garibaldi 8 mins ago

She conquered country and now Taylor Swift has her sights set on pop, and so far, she’s totally killing the game.

Taylor released her catchy first single, “Shake It Off,” off her upcoming album 1989, which officially marks her complete transformation from a country artist to a pop star.

As any Swiftie knows, Taylor has been slowly transitioning over the years, but still remained firm in her country roots. When it came time to write her fifth album, there was no denying the direction she was going in.

“As a songwriter I tried to stay really open to intuition and inspiration and impulses and I knew I needed to make this album the way it has turned out I knew I wanted it to be different than every album that I’ve done before,” Taylor said during an appearance on the French Canadian television show Tout le Monde en Parle recently. “And out of respect for the country music community, who I love and I adore, I felt it was best to be honest with them about what the album was and just be very very truthful about the fact that it is a pop album.”

But just because she isn’t considering herself a country artist with this album, that doesn’t mean she isn’t going to stop doing the one thing she loves the most about the genre, and that is telling stories with her music.

Taylor has written about love, loss and especially heartbreak, which have earned her all ...

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by Kevin P. Sullivan 17 mins ago

As the author of a book being adapted into a movie, Gillian Flynn had the rare privilege of writing the screenplay for “Gone Girl,” but with those duties also came the responsibility of trimming the novel down.

Flynn worked with director David Fincher through the later stages of the scripts development, and even though she knew that the “Se7en” director could pull off a runtime longer than 90 minutes, there were going to have to be some cuts.

“In the process of writing the screenplay, [Fincher] said, ‘We’re going to blow it up and then winnow it back down,’” Flynn told MTV News over the phone. “The same guy [who] wants 30 takes from his actors is the same who wants to see every option for the screenplay. Then we set out to get it back down to size.”

The result is streamlined, while completely maintaining the spirit and wicked humor of the book, but Flynn admits that not every darling she was forced to kill went down easy.

“There were certain characters in the book that I loved that served very little purpose, except for being interesting, quirky cul-de-sacs that I just knew from the beginning weren’t going to make it,” Flynn said.

The character the author misses most fits that bill of entertaining — if superfluous — asides exactly. “I always loved Desi Collings’ mom,” Flynn said. “That was the thing. Everyone loves. Everyone remembers her. She’s in the book for all of four pages. I’ve always heard comments ...

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by Jessie Peterson 35 mins ago

In a perfect meeting of both fashion and technology, French retailer Colette is giving the general public the first look at the Apple Watch during a special one-day event.

While the watch is on display street-side for the public, some fashion industry insiders—including Karl Lagerfeld and Anna Wintour—got a hands-on sneak peek this morning. Karl actually dropped by Colette with little time to spare before his Chanel show—but that’s not surprising, TBH, because dude looooves Apple. I mean, he was so excited for the iPhone 6 that he told Women’s Wear Daily, “I can’t wait for the iPhone 6. It’s my only ambition in life to have it quickly.”

Both Karl and Anna were given watch demos from Apple’s senior vice president of design Jony Ive and Marc Newson, designer and brand new Apple employee. Once Anna gets her hands on a watch, she may actually need a few more demos, considering she still uses a flip-phone. Seriously.

A few lucky insiders even got to try watches on, and it looks like—we’re assuming Gentlewoman‘s Penny Martin has on the 42mm height face here—these are serious size business. The good news is: We still have time to build up our wrist strength for the larger model—because unlike Anna and Karl, we’ll have to wait until 2015 to get our hands on one.

by Christina Garibaldi 1 min ago

One Direction are back with a new sound, a new song, but the same swoon-worthy lyrics that have Directioners melting at their feet.

On Monday, the guys officially released “Steal My Girl,” the first single off their upcoming album Four, an up-beat, classic-rock vibe of a song that has all the girls trying to figure out exactly who that “queen since we were 16″ really is.

MTV News caught up with co-writer Julian Bunetta, who has helped pen 1D’s “Best Song Ever” and “You & I,” and he revealed that there is actually more than one girl who inspired the track.

“There are a few meanings behind it…there is the one that speaks to the bigger picture of them and their fans, and there is the one that speaks to the actual person in your life, and that was very intentional,” he said. “It’s based on everybody’s experience, you have six guys in a room that have all been in love before and we all have jealously, some are better at hiding it then others, but we don’t like when people hit on our girlfriends.”

He continued, “But it was more of a joyous thing, it just speaks to how happy you are with this person if you have something great everyone is going to try and take it from you. And that also speaks to the fan base, I think, cause of other groups…there are a lot of layers.”

Julian, who co-wrote this song with Liam and ...

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by Kevin P. Sullivan 6 mins ago

People should know not to mess with Liam Neeson at this point, especially when he’s in Brian Mills mode for the “Taken” series. Yet, here we are again with the trailer for “Tak3n.” The bad guys still need reminding that nobody takes down the Neesons, apparently.

(And if you have forgotten about Mills’ particular set of skills, the brand new preview does that kindness of providing Forest Whitaker, who runs down a list of his abilities.)

The third (and perhaps final) “Taken” movie begins with the death of Mills’ ex-wife, played by Famke Janssen, with her murderers framing our boy for the crime. But, of course, he escapes police capture and goes on a rampage to find the people responsible.

“Tak3n” opens in theaters on January 8.

by Emilee Lindner 4 mins ago

We’ve been dying to see what Neil Patrick Harris‘ wedding in Italy looked like the minute he announced that he and David Burtka got married earlier this month. And now, the actor is showing off some snaps from the magical night.

NPH visited David Letterman last night on “The Late Show” and gave the scoop on his first dance. The couple were introduced by Sir Elton John (Neil does a great impression, if that surprises you), and they danced to Kelly Clarkson’s “A Moment Like This.”

Neil Patrick Harris

The newlyweds hired a pyrotechnics guy to light off fireworks at the climactic key change of the song (Neil does a great Kelly impression too), and when the sparks flew, their photographer friend capture this photo:

Neil Patrick Harris

If that doesn’t help you witness true happiness, I don’t know what will. Watch him describe his perfect wedding in the video below:

by Kevin P. Sullivan 6 mins ago

Did you laugh at the idea of a “Magic Mike” sequel, especially one called “Magic Mike XXL“? Well, it started filming yesterday (September 29) with the majority of the original cast reprising their roles. (I’m still upset with McConaughey.) There are also some new additions to the cast, including Elizabeth Banks, Donald Glover and Amber Heard.

Some of the cast and crew celebrated the start of production by sharing the first photos from set. Channing Tatum gave us a peek into Mike’s future, following his dreams of furniture design.

Steven Soderbergh, the original film’s director and the camera operator for “XXL,” posted this shot of the first set-up, which includes a zoomed out look at the truck Tatum snapped in his pic.

I don’t think this picture from Joe Manganiello is actually a set picture, but I really hope it is.

“Magic Mike XXL” is scheduled to hit theaters on July 1, 2015.

by Kat Rosenfield 6 mins ago

Emma Watson’s gorgeous UN speech on feminism has already garnered the support of many manly celebs, but our favorite response to her call to action has to be this one: a letter to the editor, penned by 15 year-old Ed Holtom of St. Albans School in Hertfordshire, and published in English newspaper The Telegraph.

Holtom wrote the letter after being “disappointed” by his male classmates’ responses to Watson’s speech; his op-ed began to go viral after English actor Nicholas Pegg tweeted out a pic of the letter, calling it “magnificent.”

In his letter, Holtom echoed the actress’s thoughts about gender stereotyping and its harmful effects on both men and women. He wrote, “If we want equality, it will take more effort than paying women the same as men, or giving women equal opportunities. We must stop pressuring each other to fit stereotypes which more often than not leaves us feeling repressed and unable to express ourselves. We must not let gender define us.”

Although famous men of all stripes have been speaking out in support of Watson’s #HeForShe campaign, it’s a different kind of triumph entirely for an ordinary guy to lend his voice to the cause. Ed Holtom, we salute you! Here’s hoping some of his fellow dudes follow suit, and keep the word rolling.

by Deepa Lakshmin 23 mins ago

What’s better than watching dogs frolic about? Watching dogs frolic in slow motion, of course.

YouTube

Check out the hilariously cute video below:

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