by Kaite Calautti

Last night, HBO premiered director Ryan Murphy’s adaptation of writer Larry Kramer’s play documenting the rise of the HIV-AIDS crisis in New York City between 1981 and 1984. Mark Ruffalo (who first confirmed his role to MTV in 2010) plays the film’s central character, Ned Weeks, a gay man struggling to rally together support to combat a then-unknown disease rapidly killing members of the gay community.

The star-studded cast also includes Taylor Kitsch as a closeted investment banker, Matt Bomer as Weeks’ lover, Julia Roberts as a wheelchair-bound doctor leading the charge to understand the illness, Alfred Molina as Weeks’ brother, and Jim Parsons as an early supporter. We tuned in and cry-snotted ourselves accordingly, but did critics have as visceral (and tissue-strewn) a reaction?

Read on for our round-up of “The Normal Heart” reviews:

It Should’ve Been a Miniseries
“…Even at two hours and 15 minutes, it’s hard for Murphy and Kramer to cram in all the years, tears and politics. Whereas the play could be more direct, a film needs to breath a bit, but this one can’t — it’s a wonder that HBO didn’t make this a miniseries instead.” – Tim Goodman, The Hollywood Reporter

Ruffalo and Bomer Crush It
“Indeed, the casting of these two men alone gives the play new life. Ruffalo is a performer of such depth he could, and did, infuse the Hulk with soul. Meanwhile, Bomer’s fine work on ‘White Collar’ has proved him the actor Hollywood believed for decades could not exist ...

by Katie Calautti

Emma Watson is officially a college graduate! And while she cut a stunning figure at yesterday’s Brown University ceremony, we know there’s a lot more going on under that cap – Watson has seamlessly balanced a rigorous film career with her studies at the Ivy League school.

Since we’re in a celebratory mood, we got to wondering: if Watson were to give a commencement speech at our college, what life advice would she offer? So we cobbled together a few of her most introspective and intelligent quotes to get the effect. Behold: a comprehensive guide to surviving life’s dings and scrapes (so far), by the fabulous Miss Emma Watson:

“I don’t want other people to decide who I am. I want to decide that for myself.”

“I’ve probably earned the right to screw up a few times. I don’t want the fear of failure to stop me from doing what I really care about.”

“Becoming yourself is really hard and confusing, and it’s a process. It’s often not cool to be the person who puts themselves out there.”

“Sometimes I’ve felt a little constrained by that idea of who I’m meant to be.”

“Don’t feel stupid if you don’t like what everyone else pretends to love.”

“All I can do is follow my instincts, because I’ll never please everyone.”

“I’m going to do what I want to do. I’m going to be who I really am. I’m going to figure out what that is.”

“But it’s a journey and the sad thing is you only learn ...

by Katie Calautti

Actress Christina Ricci has a very happy announcement: she’s pregnant!

Ricci confirmed the news after rumors flew following shots of her sporting what seemed to be a baby bump while passing through Los Angeles International Airport with husband James Heerdegen.

This will be the first child for Ricci and Heerdegen, who met on the set of “Pan Am” and married last October. No word yet on a due date, or whether the little one will be donning pink or blue booties.

Ricci recently starred in Lifetime’s delightfully twisted “Lizzie Borden Took an Ax” and – perhaps inadvertently looking to the future – recently voiced a character in the upcoming children’s film “The Hero of Color City.”

MTV News Staff

by Katie Calautti

Congratulations are in order for Emma Watson – the actress (and last year’s MTV Trailblazer Award winner) graduated from Brown University today!

Prior to the ceremony at the Providence, Rhode Island college, Watson posted a photo of herself in a cap and gown (accessorized by a fabulous shade of berry lipstick) with a short and sweet message, “!”

Watson began her studies at Brown back in 2009, and – superhuman that she is – has balanced roles in the last two “Harry Potter” films, “My Week with Marilyn,” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” “The Bling Ring,” “This Is the End,” and “Noah” with her studies.

The spirit of Hermione Granger is strong with this one.

MTV News Staff

by Katie Calautti

Is it any surprise that a team of mutant superheroes battled their way to the top of the box office and emerged victorious?

In what, according to Deadline, could be the biggest opening of 2014, “X-Men Days of Future Past” is projected to have a mega Memorial Day weekend showing, raking in as much as $110 million.

The film re-teams Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, James McAvoy’s Professor X, Michael Fassbender’s Magneto, Jennifer Lawrence’s Mystique, Halle Berry’s Storm, Nicholas Hoult’s Beast and Anna Paquin’s Rogue, while also welcoming newcomers Ellen Page (as Kitty Pryde) and Peter Dinklage (as Dr. Bolivar Trask).

While we’d like to attribute at least a portion of its success to Jackman’s backside or Lawrence’s butt-kicking Mystique, it’s just as likely that the movie ups the ante from director Bryan Singer’s predecessor flick, “X-Men: First Class,” and delivers the action for a perfect holiday weekend popcorn movie.

If you’re one of the zillions planning to take in “X-Men: Days of Future Past” over the long weekend, prep yourself with these helpful primers: our mutant knowledge quiz, timeline infographic and post-credits scene breakdown.

MTV News Staff

by Katie Calautti

The relationship drama between Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez is, frankly, giving us whiplash.

Last night, Bieber took to his Instagram feed to post a snippet of a new track, which looks to be called “It’s Working” – Bieber’s only comment on the post was, “You know exactly what to do to hurt me.”

The lyrics echo both the title and Bieber’s sentiment, repeating, “You know exactly what to do to hurt me – it’s working, it’s working” twice.

Between the lyrics and the pained vocals, we’re picking up what the Biebs is throwing down. Despite looking pretty cozy back in March, it seems like the couple is firmly in the “off” stage of their torrid romance, which officially ended in November 2012 but has never quite stuck.

This isn’t the first time we’ve surmised that the singer has posted a song about his on again off again flame – and it’s likely not the last. We can practically see Justin’s tear-filled puppy dog eyes via this latest social media serenade.

Your move, Selena.

MTV News Staff

by Katie Calautti

While we eagerly await a full-on look at Kim Kardashian’s Givenchy wedding gown (right now, this is the best we’ve got), we took to Instagram to whet your appetite with shots from the couple’s wedding photo booth.

In what we can only assume was the party of the century last night at Belvedere Fort in Florence, Italy, guests including John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, Tony Williams, Joe Francis and Clyde Haygood looked to be in full-on celebratory mode as they posed for sleek black and white shots with members of the Kardashian clan.

We just have one lingering question: why was Jaden Smith dressed as #albinobatman? The world may never know.

MTV News Staff

by Katie Calautti

Time to put on your detective hats, folks – this one’s a doozy.

It seems Wiz Khalifa has landed himself in jail – at least, according to his Twitter feed. Early this morning, the rapper posted what may turn out to be the most bizarre selfie ever.

Either “Orange is the New Black” has been lying to us this whole time, or somehow Khalifa managed to smuggle his phone with him into the slammer.

And that wasn’t the end of it. One minute after he posted the solemn pose, he tweeted a second time:

This, on the heels of yesterday’s sampling from his long-awaited mixtape, makes the entire situation more peculiar.

And he wasn’t done yet. Minutes later, he sent out a third tweet:

A rep for Khalifa did not immediately return MTV News’ request for a comment.

In 2010, Wiz was arrested on drug charges in North Carolina, after which he also took to Twitter. And in 2012, the rapper was ticketed for marijuana possession in the same state.

But this latest incident marks the first time the rapper has directly documented his jail time with his smart phone – and to plug his new mixtape, no less – which leaves us scratching our heads. We’ll be following the story closely and updating as soon as more details emerge.

MTV News Staff

By Brenna Ehrlich and Christina Garibaldi

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West pulled out all the stops for their lavish wedding: a brunch with Valentino, a tour of Versailles and a picturesque wedding in Florence.

And now it’s on to the honeymoon. Now, we have no idea where Kimye plan to have a little R&R, but since their wedding was so over-the-top, we were thinking they could go on a relatively normal honeymoon.

Here are some suggestions!

1). Disneyland

Sad Kanye in Mickey ears is a meme that needs to happen.

2). Jersey Shore

Kim and Kanye fist-pumping all over the Boardwalk, now that’s a sight I would want to see.

3). Graceland

I could totally see Kimye chilling with Elvis, hip shaking into the Tennessee night…

4). Niagara Falls

Kimye has already done that whole zip-lining thing — why not try bungee jumping at Niagara Falls?

A couple that hurtles toward what seems to be certain death together, stays together.

5). A Cruise

Being trapped on a boat with a bunch of tourists in the middle of the ocean seems like something that Kanye would really enjoy.

6). Cross-Country Road Trip
Kanye and Kim take turns driving hours upon hours in a car, stopping at rest stops, fighting over the radio. This seems like something they would love.

Reporting By Josh Horowitz

Now that “X-Men: Days of Future Past” is in theaters, the next mutant adventure we have to look forward to is the sure-to-be-epic “X-Men: Apocalypse.”

If you didn’t understand the post-credits sequence, you might want to read up.

The X-Men will face off against one of their all-time greatest foes in 2016, and from the sounds of how he discussed the movie on the red carpet, James McAvoy is already excited.

“What I think is really epic about ‘Apocalypse’ — bearing in mind I have had no communication with [writer] Simon [Kinberg] about what he’s thinking — is the fact that it seems to be going kind of biblical. It seems to be going back to the origins of the species,” he said.

Watch the interview above to see what Kinberg and the producers have to say about their apocalyptic next film!

“X-Men: Apocalypse” opens in theaters on May 27, 2016.

MTV News Staff