Over the past few years, strong women like Jennifer Lawrence and Shailene Woodley have ruled the Young Adult movie universe, turning in emotionally resonant yet ass-kicking performances in the “Hunger Games” and “Divergent” franchises, respectively. Dylan O’Brien churns out an equally awesome performance in “The Maze Runner,” but he’s the first one to admit that the ladies-in-charge phenomenon is pretty damn cool.

“Oh, she’d kick my ass,” O’Brien tells MTV News about Lawrence. “It’s always weird when people say to me, ‘these movies are usually coming out with female leads. How does it feel to be a male lead?’ I’m like, ‘I feel like it’s way cooler to be the female lead.’ It’s kind of too generic, a male lead. I think it’s cooler that that [YA] trend is female-driven.”

We agree, Dylan, but also beg to differ that you should feel not great about being a dude. (And so would eight zillion “Teen Wolf” fans.)

“The Maze Runner” hits theaters on Friday, September 19.

Shaunna Murphy

A real go-getter.

@ShaunnaLMurphy

Pitbull released the video for “Fireball” just in time for the weekend, and it’s full of dancing and booty.

The clip has an old-school movie vibe, with Mr. Worldwide arriving in a retro car, fully suited. The whole thing is shot in black and white — that is, until his love interest descends a staircase, making eye contact with Pitbull the entire time.

The sexy lady is a spot-on Jessica Rabbit (except not a cartoon), and when she arrives, the guys get looney. Hearts pump out of chests, eyes bug out and jaws drop. Of course, the hot chick is only hooking up with Pitty tonight, and they go to a dressing room to make out.

Watch the video below and tell us if this is your dream encounter with love too:

Oooh-wee!

Emilee Lindner

Member of MTV News' Cat Braintrust, has an unhealthy obsession with pork dumplings and tweeting Austin Mahone's mom. Follow @emileelindner

STOP EVERYTHING!

I will now demonstrate stopping everything with this infinitely appropriate YouTube video…

Now that I have your attention, may I present: A record shaped like a human. And that human’s name? Alana Mychal Haim. Of HAIM fame.

HAIM announced the existence of this glorious piece of wax on Twitter, informing fans and record hounds alike that the disc will contain two versions of “My Song Five,” one featuring A$AP Ferg.

I don’t know about you, but I’m having trouble holding myself back from pushing “Buy” — but I’m also the girl who bought Girls’ (RIP) heart-shaped vinyl and that Jack White record with the hologram (plus this thing), so it might just be me.

If you, too, are scheming on buying HAIM’s disc, however, hit me up on Twitter — we can drool together.

Brenna Ehrlich

Brenna Ehrlich is a reporter for MTV News as well as the senior writer/editor for the O Music Awards. In the past, she served as associate editor at Mashable, penned a netiquette column for CNN and co-authored the blog and book "Stuff Hipsters Hate." She likes trying not to die in moshpits and listening to songs on repeat. Follow her on Twitter @BrennaEhrlich for news on cats and punk bands.

You know nothing, Thomas McGowan.

Police in Wichita Falls, Texas are charging the 25-year-old with breaking into the home of Jimmy Morgan, Jr. And he might’ve gotten away with it, too, if Morgan weren’t one of those guys who takes “Game of Thrones” very, very seriously — enough to own a bunch of weapons worthy of Westeros.

“[McGowan] was standing no more than two to three feet away from me,” Morgan told news station KFDX, adding, “I don’t have a firearm [but] I have a short spear, very quick, very agile and very deadly.” Morgan belongs to a “medieval fighting” club, and “we do use spears and swords and things of that nature.”

Don’t believe him? Just watch these sweet moves:

I can taste the Valyrian steel from here.

Related: ‘Game Of Thrones’ Shocker: Tywin Lannister Is Back For Season 5, But How?

So, what happens when you storm Castle Black [or the double wide trailer owned by a man of the Night's Watch]? This:

Morgan says he only stabbed McGowan once, at which point McGowan just wanted to get the hell out of there: “As he was running, he smeared blood from here to high heaven and he splattered here and he splattered there and splattered all over there. It was like a deer.”

Police arrested McGowan, who was then taken to a nearby hospital for medical treatment. For whatever reason (perhaps the ...

When August Alsina collapsed on stage at a show in New York City earlier this week, it looked bad. But it wasn’t clear exactly what happened to the singer following that incident until Friday (September 19).

This morning, the New Orleans native posted a picture of himself in a hospital bed, saying he had just woken up from a three-day coma. In the caption, he said he’s on the road to recovery:

This is a bit graphic but i wanted to share this w/ every follower of mine. iWoke up out of a 3 day coma… &This guy @banggang_moneyteam right here never once left my side. What I’m tryna say is cherish the ones in life who cherish you & take good care of yourself. Your life can be gone in a split second’. I’m recovering well and thankyou for all of your prayers & concerns. -Yung

His Cincinnati concert was cancelled the day after the initial incident; he currently has shows scheduled on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, in Indianapolis, South Bend and Kansas City, respectively, but it seems unlikely he’ll perform.

MTV News has reached out to reps for Alsina and is awaiting comment.

Adam Fleischer

The onset of autumn chill doesn’t just mean the widespread invasion of the pumpkin spice latte and pictures of shoes on fallen leaves in your Instagram feed. It also means switching out your cut-offs for denim jackets and your strappy sandals for your favorite pair of boots.

Also, it’s just short of scientific fact that fall is the BEST season for clothes. You can wear layers. You reintroduce sweaters. You can go closed or open-toed with barely any weather-related consequences. You don’t have to construct outfits around where sweat stains might surface. Also, again, layers.

Fall presents you with a deluge of style options, and everyone goes about them in a different way. THUS, we hit the streets to ask our friendly NYC neighbors what excites them most about their own closets and the upcoming season of FASHUN.

Arizona Jeans Co.

The choice to direct a “Star Wars” movie couldn’t seem like more of a no-brainer, but for any filmmaker taking on the galaxy far, far away, it’s an enormous commitment that will no doubt demand years of his or her life.

That was very true for Rian Johnson, who was coming off the biggest success of his career with the phenomenal “Looper.” He could have made pretty much any film he wanted when he was faced with the offer. His decision to direct “Star Wars: Episode VIII” was made much easier by Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and the creative team there.

Johnson talked generally about his experiences so far on “Episode VIII” and what made him say “yes” with director Terry Gilliam on the TalkHouse podcast.

The exchange began when Gilliam asked Johnson what he was doing next, a question that must thrill the “Looper” director to answer.

The most interesting bit that Johnson had to say about “Star Wars” was the discussion about balancing what he loves as a storyteller with the larger universe.

“I’ll have more perspective in a while, but it’s a balance of remembering what inspires you about it, but you can probably go to the wrong place by feeling too responsible to it,” Johnson said. “You have to keep your head loose enough to tell a story you actually care about.”

Johnson went on to say that that balance falls very much in line with what Lucasfilm wants for the new trilogy.

“Kathleen and her whole creative ...

The release of every new Apple product is a cultural spectacle. You always hear the stories about the people who waited 90 days to get the phone, the ones who flew from halfway around the world — the ones who camped outside the store. What no one tells you is that gazing at the line for the new iPhone is basically like witnessing “The Hunger Games” — with smartphones.

This morning, I descended into the ninth ring of hell (the Fifth Ave Apple Store in New York City) to observe and report on the scene. Here are six things I had to ask myself:

1. Why is everyone basically on the verge of beating each other…for a phone?

NOPE. WHY? WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?

2. Why is everyone trying to sell me something?

For some reason, I think the last thing the people on-line wanted was a cold apple pie or another T-shirt…I think they just wanted their phones. That’s about it.

3. Why is this guy dressed as a piece of sushi??

???????????????????????????????????????????????????

To be fair, this guy was dressed as a plastic bag:

4. Are the people in this line even getting the phone?

Some of them… maybe. Apparently, some people, called “line-holders,” get paid to stand and wait to get the iPhone — only to give it to someone else. One Craiglist ad for line-holders in Dallas promises they’ll get to the store “12 hours ...

One down, 12 more to go — a single burning query has been answered from our previously published “13 Questions Left Unanswered By ‘How I Met Your Mother’” story. And, dudes, it’s kind of a big one.

After “HIMYM” wrapped for good last spring — and after our tears dried — we rapidly realized that one of the biggest mysteries of the series had gone un-mystery-ed: Where did that pineapple come from?

If you don’t recall this particular piece of fruit, Ted woke to find it sitting on his nightstand one morning after a massively unmemorable drunken bender. Unmemorable in that he had no idea what happened. At the end of the episode, he had managed to piece it all together, “The Hangover”-style, but the pineapple remained a prickly enigma.

Until now. Buzzfeed was given an exclusive deleted scene — which will be included in the upcoming series boxset — in which everything is finally revealed.

Watch The Mind-Blowing Scene Here!

Brenna Ehrlich

Brenna Ehrlich is a reporter for MTV News as well as the senior writer/editor for the O Music Awards. In the past, she served as associate editor at Mashable, penned a netiquette column for CNN and co-authored the blog and book "Stuff Hipsters Hate." She likes trying not to die in moshpits and listening to songs on repeat. Follow her on Twitter @BrennaEhrlich for news on cats and punk bands.

Lifetime is rolling forward full-steam on it’s “Aaliyah: Princess of R&B” biopic project, today (September 18) releasing a first look at Nickelodeon actress Alexandra Shipp in the role of Baby Girl, and they even have an air date.

The channel originally planned to shoot over the summer and release this fall, until Disney star Zendaya Coleman backed out of the project citing poor production values and moral discord.

But after moving past that speed bump, the official premiere date on the network is this November 15, and the below screenshot is our first look at Shipp in character.

Lifetime

Last month the embattled project announced two relative newcomers filling the roles of key players Missy Elliott and Timbaland. Chattrisse Dolabaille will play the femcee, while former Canadian “So You Think You Can Dance” contestant Izaak Smith will portray the iconic producer.

The film will follow Aaliyah‘s life and music career up until the tragic fatal plane crash in 2001.

Jessica Hyndman