March 29, 2024

Review Category : TMZ Music News

8 Signs ‘Need For Speed’ Is Actually An ’80s Movie

If I didn't know any better, I would have sworn that was made in the '80s. It takes basically every trope from that classic period of action movies and updates them for a modern audience. Let's face it: those movies were the best.

So how exactly does "Need For Speed" go about creating the '80s feel in a modern day actioner? Here are eight ways it emulates the classics (be warned: some spoilers ahead).

1. Good Guy Falls For Brilliant Woman He Misjudged
Also Seen In: "Top Gun," "Road House"
When "Need For Speed" hero Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul) meets Julia, he thinks she's just a pretty face. His friend Little Pete (yes, that's his name) does a bunch of mansplainin' about cars to her, and she plays along before dropping some major car knowledge on Pete and Tobey. From that point on, we know Tobey and she will get together by the end.

'80s movies featured strong, smart women with whom our hero gets off to a bad start, only to fall in love anyway. The classic example is Kelly McGillis in "Top Gun," who was many a kid's first crush. Reminder, Hollywood: we like our women smart.

2. Bad Guy Kills Good Guy's Best Friend, Good Guy Swears Vengeance
Also Seen In: "Beverly Hills Cop," "Rocky III," "Rocky IV," "Kickboxer" (paralysis, not death)
Poor Little Pete. He was so innocent, so full of dreams and wonder ... you know within a few minutes he's not long for the world.

'80s action movies were also at their core vengeance movies: Drago kills Apollo ...

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‘The Walking Dead’: Chad Coleman Teases This Week’s ‘Excruciating’ Episode

It's a plot line that's been teased for more than half a year on "The Walking Dead," and on the March 16 airing episode "The Grove" Tyreese (Chad Coleman) finally finds out just what Carol (Melissa McBride) did to his girlfriend. Which is to say, took her diseased body out into a yard and burned it to a crisp.

Or did she? There are a lot of questions about the episode, and whether Carol is guilty at all. The popular theory is that psycho kid Lizzie may have done the deed, and Carol took the fall for her. Regardless, it all comes out on "The Grove," and to find out more we talked over e-mail with Coleman himself.

"Before this week's episode, Tyreese has no idea that Carol killed Karen," Coleman said. "He trusts her totally."

And he needs to, as post-prison life the whole group has been scattered to the four corners of Georgia. Tyreese ended up taking care of the kids, something we saw as being just a little overwhelming for the hammer-wielding tough guy.

"[It's] a little bizarre because I began to miss everybody I wasn't working with," Coleman noted on the fractured nature of this half-season, "but it heightened the sense of isolation, which helped build the character."

And Coleman also added that being with the kids brings out a different side of the character, something that this whole mix-em-up with the group seems perfectly designed to do.

"He's protective, he values the fact that these kids represent the future," Coleman said. "It also brings out his vulnerability because of the ...

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Vince Staples Didn’t Want Other Rappers On His Mixtape, And For A Good Reason

When considering his scene-stealing verses on Earl Sweatshirt's Doris LP, it's no shocker that Vince Staples' just released mixtape, Shyne Coldchain Vol. 2, is drenched with cleverly worded gangland tales and the street pathos of his native Long Beach.

What's surprising, though, is that the Def Jam signee was able to get famed producer No I.D. to provide the bulk of the beats on the a 10-track feast. The Godfather of Chicago hip-hop doesn't just work with anyone, but for the rap newcomer, it wasn't all that challenging.

"Working with No I.D. is kinda easy," Staples told MTV News backstage at Def Jam's 30th Anniversary showcase at SXSW. "We didn't really go too much into it. He just asked me if I wanted some beats and we got a lot of 'em so we got a lot of songs together. It's a lot more to come as far as that goes.

"It's easy to work with somebody that's been in the game as long as he has," he continued. "They know what they doing, they know how to adjust to certain situations, know how to give you what you need to take that step forward. So it's great working with No I.D."

Today's rap releases have become breeding grounds for guest spots by other big-name rappers, so the fact that Staples opted to eschew the trend and only feature two singers — James Fauntleroy and Jhené Aiko — on his mixtape was yet another welcome break from the norm.

"I picked Jhené and James to be on the mixtape as features simply because I ...

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Lil Wayne Makes Surprise Appearance, Drake Wins Big At mtvU Woodie Awards

Lil Wayne shocked the crowd at the mtvU Woodie Awards on Thursday night (March 13) with a surprise performance of "A Milli," paving the way for a legendary awards show honoring and showcasing up-and-coming bands and artists.

Drake, The 1975, Chance the Rapper, Ed Sheeran, Beyoncé, A$AP Rocky and Skrillex winners of the 2014 mtvU Woodie Awards, which took place at SXSW Music Festival.

MTV will premiere the "2014 mtvU Woodie Awards Special" on Sunday, March 16 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, celebrating award winners and showcasing some of the best performances from the Woodies.

He released his critically acclaimed third studio album and appeared on just about every major hip-hop track of last year, and mtvU decided to honor Drake by giving him the biggest award of the night, Woodie of the Year, which celebrates "the artist that completely owned the past 12 months."

Beyonce, meanwhile, won the inaugural Did It My Way Woodie for her the unprecedented release of her self-titled album without any promotion or warning. The Breaking Woodie award, which honors emerging artists, went to Woodie Awards performer The 1975, while fellow U.K. act Ed Sheeran took home the Performing Woodie award, which spotlights artists who "reimagined their stages to create live experiences that resonated beyond venue walls."

Best Video Woodie went to Chance the Rapper for "Everybody's Something," while A$AP Rocky and Skrillex captured the Best Collaboration Woodie award for their work together on "Wild For the Night."

mtvU also honored 90.3 FM WESS Radio from East Stroudsburg University with the "College Radio Woodie," presented ...

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Yellowcard Say Goodbye To Longtime Drummer Longineu Parsons

Turn on "Way Away" and prepare to get emotional: Longtime Yellowcard drummer Longineu "LP" Parsons is leaving the band.

The band made the announcement on Thursday (March 13).

"Longineu has decided to pursue other musical interests. We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors," the group wrote in statement on Facebook. A replacement has not yet been announced.

Parsons' departure leaves violinist Sean Mackin as the only remaining original member of the band. (Ryan Key replaced vocalist Ben Dobson after the group's debut album, Midget Tossing, while Ryan Mendez joined in 2005 and Josh Portman in 2010.)

The drummer helped form Yellowcard back in 1997, back when he, Ben Dobson, Todd Clary, Warren Cooke, Ben Harper and Sean Mackin met at their high school in Jacksonville, Florida. And apart from the band's hiatus from 2008 to 2010, the drummer has been with them ever since.

While the band is most widely known for its early-2000s albums Ocean Avenue — which housed teenage anthems "Way Away" and "Ocean Avenue" — and Lights and Sounds, their 2012 album Southern Air debuted in the top 10.

...

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Jason Derulo Has A Theory: Larry King ‘Was A Rapper In His Past Life’

When you watch Jason Derulo's celebrity-drenched "Talk Dirty" video, you'll see One Direction doing their their signature dance moves, Pete Wentz playing an air saxophone and Robin Thicke telling you to "talk dirty." But perhaps the best cameo of all came from not a pop star, but late-night talk host Larry King.

The 80-year-old television veteran helps kick off the party by speaking the opening lines of Derulo's inescapable hit: "I'm that flight that you get on. International."

While King's delivery is a bit drier than Derulo's, no one — not even Derulo himself — can deny that the guy nailed the cadence.

"That dude made the video," Derulo told MTV News on Thursday. The singer had just wrapped up an interview with King — a sit-down Derulo considered a "huge deal" — and asked last-minute if he wanted in on the "Talk Dirty" action. "He was just like, 'Yeah, let's go. What do you need me to do?' One time. He did it one time, on the beat and everything. I think he was a rapper in his past life."

23 Celebs Make Cameos In Jason DeRulo's 'Talk Dirty': Can You Spot Them All?

Some people may have been hesitant to ask the legendary host such a favor, but it's all part of the carpe diem attitude Derulo's inherited — and one that's evident throughout the clip.

"I'm just trying to have a good time and live every day like it's my last," he said. "The song is not something that you take too seriously. It's a very fun song that'll ...

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‘Veronica Mars’: The Reviews Are In

A long-unsolved mystery is poised to be cracked this weekend, when audience members decide whether to go see the reincarnated "Veronica Mars" movie: Can a short-lived show that's been canceled for the better part of a decade find success on the big screen? Sure, fans loved the series enough to quickly throw record-breaking amounts of money behind the film on Kickstarter last spring, but how will the finished product stack up to the dream of the movie?

Critics have had their shot at the feature-length take on the sassy detective they first met as a teenager. Now she's all grown up and out of the private eye business — or so she thinks. Like Michael Corleone, just when Veronica (Kristen Bell) thinks she's out, she just gets pulled right back in, returning to her hometown of Neptune, Calif. to help former flame Logan (Jason Dohring) clear his name when he's accused of murdering his pop star girlfriend. Read on for critics' takes on the mystery of Veronica Mars and the Kickstarter Movie.

A Very Long Episode
"There's no doubt that Thomas and the "Mars" cast and crew returned to Neptune all these years later because of a deep, abiding love for the series and its characters. However, it's that same love and loyalty that keeps "Veronica Mars" the movie from feeling like anything more than a 107-minute long episode of the show, at best. The movie comes off like a sitcom pitch, a way to show networks or Netflix that a grown-up Veronica Mars deserves a shot at a series. It would ...

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