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Your Thursday won’t be complete without a read of our afternoon links: Motherhood manuals are setting the bar too high for new moms ? University of Warwick Are women spending too much time with their kids? ? Real Simple Doctors revamp guidelines for Pap smears ? NPR What’s the weirdest thing your child has licked? [...]

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Rutgers Student Dharun Ravi Found Guilty In CyberBullying Case

Ravi could get up to 10 years in jail for spying on his roommate, Tyler Clementi.
By Gil Kaufman


Tyler Clementi
Photo: Facebook

A jury found former Rutgers University student Dharun Ravi guilty of hate crimes and invasion of privacy on Friday (March 16), bringing to an end a case that helped spark a national debate on cyberbullying.

Ravi was accused of setting up a webcam to spy on his roommate, Tyler Clementi, as Clementi engaged in a consensual sexual encounter with another man in the pair's Rutgers dorm room.

Clementi leaped to his death from the George Washington Bridge in New York three days after learning that Ravi viewed the encounter and, according to testimony, invited others to watch and discuss what he saw online. According to The New York Times, in addition to the hate crimes, the jury found Ravi guilty of tampering with evidence and witnesses because of his efforts to change Twitter and text messages in which he had encouraged others to watch the webcam footage.

Ravi, 20, faced 15 counts of invasion of privacy, bias intimidation, tampering with evidence and a witness and hindering apprehension. The jury concluded that Ravi had not intended to intimidate Clementi on the first night that he secretly switched on the webcam to watch his roommate's actions. But they concluded that Clementi had reason to believe that he was targeted because he was gay (based on the language in some of the texts), and on one count, the jury found that Ravi knew Clementi, 18, would feel intimidated by his actions.

Because he was found guilty on at least one question of whether his actions rose to the level of bias discrimination, Ravi could face the maximum penalty of up to 10 years in jail and deportation to his native India.

"These acts were purposeful, they were intentional and they were planned," prosecutor Julia L. McClure told the jury on the first day of the trial, which lasted three weeks and concluded with two days of deliberation by the jury. Later in the trial, she told the jury that Ravi "was bothered by Tyler Clementi's sexual orientation."

In a rare instance, almost none of the facts in the case were in dispute, as Ravi's lawyers agreed that their client had set up the webcam and then gone to a friend's room and viewed Clementi kissing the unidentified man. They also did not deny that Ravi sent Twitter and text messages to others describing what he'd seen and urging them to watch a second viewing.

Ravi's attorneys painted their client as an immature college student who acted thoughtlessly and made a mistake, but denied that he'd been spurred by homophobia. "He hasn't lived long enough to have any experience with homosexuality or gays," attorney Steven Altman said during closing arguments. "He doesn't know anything about it. He just graduated high school."

Clementi's suicide set off a national debate about bullying and intimidation of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth the resulted in public messages of support from everyone from openly gay talk show host Ellen DeGeneres to singer Ciara, "America's Next Top Model" personality Jay Manuel, President Obama, "One Tree Hill" actress Sophia Bush and "Harry Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe.

Share your thoughts on the verdict in the Tyler Clementi cyberbullying case on our Facebook page.

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1681223/dharun-ravi-rutgers-guilty-tyler-clementi-cyberbullying.jhtml

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First Look: J. Cole Featuring Missy Elliot, ?Nobody?s Perfect?

Early last month we learned that the QUEEN of rap Missy Misdemeanor Elliot is readying the release of a new album this Summer and while we wait for our first listen of her new music, we get to check out today a new music video that features her on guest vocals. J. Cole released a [...]

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'Dark Shadows' Trailer Divides Fans

Our columnist defends Tim Burton's comedic re-imagining of the vampire soap.
By John Mitchell


Johnny Depp in "Dark Shadows"
Photo: Warner Bros

The first trailer for Tim Burton's big-screen adaptation of the late-'60s/ early-'70s vampire soap opera "Dark Shadows" dropped Thursday, and it has sharply divided fans.

In one corner are "Shadows" purists, who seem none too pleased with the director's decision to re-imagine the campy but deadly serious soap as a gonzo comedy. In the other corner are more casual fans and Burton enthusiasts, who are seeing shades of "Beetlejuice" and "Edward Scissorhands" and loving it.

I'm on the record as falling in the latter category. I grew up on reruns of the original soap (yeah, I was a weird kid) and also loved NBC's short-lived prime-time reboot in the early '90s. If the original series was a true-to-genre soap opera (just, you know, with a heavier lean on the supernatural), the '90s take was "Melrose Place"-meets-"Twin Peaks" but with fangs. The problem is, a straight take on the original (which is where Burton's loyalties lie — he's never given any indication he cares about the TV reboot) wouldn't fly with today's sophisticated film audience, and playing to the '90s retread would have resulted in a film that would have a lot in common with Neil Jordan's "Interview With the Vampire." And while that's certainly not a bad thing — "Interview" is a killer vampire flick — it has nothing to do with Tim Burton.

For its '90s return, "Shadows" turned up the sex factor; it was a sudsy drama with a chest-baring Ben Cross as Barnabas, Angelique busting out of her corset and a plot that focused heavily on Barnabas' attempts to cure his vampirism so he could bring the sexytimes with Victoria Winters, whom he suspected may have been the reincarnation of Josette DuPres, the love of his mortal life back in the late 18th century.

That's all well and good, and a big-screen treatment of that might have even played well. But that was never going to happen with Burton at the helm; it's not his game. The dark and spooky aesthetic he created for films like "Sleepy Hollow" and "Sweeney Todd" had the look fans of the series were after, and I think that — mixed with Burton's fanboy enthusiasm for the project — is why purists were so psyched that he was directing. But Burton doesn't really do romance, particularly not lusty, forbidden love stories.

'Dark Shadows' Trailer: Love It Or Hate It? (Poll)

There are several directors who do, and who do it well, including "Shadows" star Michelle Pfeiffer's frequent collaborator Stephen Frears ("Dangerous Liaisons," "Cheri," "Mary Reilly") and "Interview" director Jordan ("The End of the Affair," "The Crying Game"). Joe Wright ("Atonement," "Pride and Prejudice," the upcoming "Anna Karenina") has practically built his career on the stuff.

But I suspect they wouldn't have been able to grasp the weirdo wonderment that makes "Shadows" so special to fans. It's based on a soap, after all, and is so over-the-top that to direct it as a straight romantic vampire drama might have meant significant alterations to the story to "normalize" it. It would have had to be boiled down to the basics. That still might have made for a good film, but (real talk) it also might have meant that something really dynamic would be translated into a highbrow, slightly more horror-leaning version of "Twilight." And, um, no one wants that.

On the flip side, if Burton had kept the deliberately exaggerated and theatrical style of the original without acknowledging the comedy inherent in going so over-the-top (this is the literal definition of "camp"), it would have been unwatchably ridiculous. Soaps are absurd but play their ridiculousness with the utmost seriousness. It's something we all know and accept about them, but it's not something that would work, not even for a second, on the big screen — particularly in a big-budget film starring two three-time Oscar nominees (Johnny Depp and Pfeiffer), the twice-nominated Helena Bonham Carter and "Little Children" nominee Jackie Earle Haley.

The only thing left for Burton to do was turn the volume up even higher and trust his talented actors to work their magic with what better be a damn clever script. It's hard to embrace absurdity without it coming across as farce, but you know who is a master of doing exactly that? Tim Burton. He did it in "Beetlejuice" and "Edward Scissorhands." He even brought some genuine emotion to it with the more delicate "Ed Wood."

It's been a while since Burton worked this particular magic, but after seeing the "Shadows" trailer I'm feeling like he may have done it again.

What did you think of the "Dark Shadows" trailer? Let us know in the comments below and tweet me at @JohnMitchell83 with your thoughts and suggestions for future columns!

Check out everything we've got on "Dark Shadows."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1681234/dark-shadows-trailer-reactions.jhtml

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Lady Gaga Collaborator Jonas Akerlund Expects 'Great' Things From Her

'She can probably do anything she wants,' 'Paparazzi' and 'Telephone' director tells us at SXSW.
By Kara Warner

<P>After the mostly positive reviews of Lady Gaga's first music-video directorial effort on "Marry the Night". It's fair to assume that we fans can expect more Gaga-directed clips in the near future. </P><P> </P><P>When MTV News caught up with her "Paparazzi" and "Telephone" director Jonas Åkerlund recently during his SXSW appearance for his new ensemble dark comedy "Small Apartments," we asked him for his thoughts on Gaga's future as a director, should she choose to direct all of her videos from here on out. </P><P> </P><P><center></center> </P><P> </P><P>"She can probably do anything she wants," he said. "So that's probably going to be great." </P><P> </P><P>And would &#197;kerlund make himself available for advice, should Gaga ever be in need of it? </P><P> </P><P>"Of course. I would never turn her down," he said, at which point his "Apartments" star and funnyman Matt Lucas ("Bridesmaids") asked a question of his own. </P><P> </P><P>"Is her real name Lady Gaga?" </P><P> </P><P>"Yes," &#197;kerlund answered with a smile. </P><P> </P><P>"Wow," Lucas responded with astonishment. "There's a fact for you MTV fans." </P><P> </P><P>Although &#197;kerlund didn't mention any more work with Gaga at this time, the busy director is still fully in the mix of the world of music videos. </P><P> </P><P>"I may do a couple music videos and I've done quite a few since 'Small Apartments,' actually. The last one I did was a Duran Duran video, but there's a few coming up too." </P><P> </P><P>"Are you going to do the Osmonds video?" Lucas asked cheekily. "That's what they're asking." </P><P> </P><P>"Maybe," &#197;kerlund responded, playing along with Lucas' joke. "I'm hoping to." </P><P> </P><P>For her part, Gaga has said that she's always been heavily involved in the creative processes behind all her work, including the direction of her music videos. </P><P> </P><P>"I know it's my directorial debut, but I've really created everything I've ever done in my career," she said. "I really didn't do anything differently on this video that I didn't do on the 'Telephone' video or the 'Paparazzi' video or the 'Bad Romance' video. I hope my fans will take from this the progression that you have to trust yourself to make mistakes."</p>

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Mary J. Blige Dishes On Her 'Crazy' Led Zeppelin Covers

'I've listened to their music since I was a child,' says the R&B diva, who recorded 'Stairway to Heaven' and 'Whole Lotta Love.'
By James Montgomery, with reporting by Larry Carroll

<P>You wouldn't peg Mary J Blige as the black-light-and-tapestry sort, but, as has become readily apparent in recent weeks, she absolutely loves Led Zeppelin. </P><P> </P><P>In early February, reports began circulating that Blige had re-recorded Zeppelin's classic "Stairway to Heaven," working with Travis Barker, "American Idol" judge Randy Jackson and guitarist Steve Vai on the track, which is slated to appear on the international reissue of her <i>Stronger With Each Tear</i> album, due Monday. </P><P> </P><P></p><div style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float:left;"></div><p> </P><P> </P><P>But after she had recorded "Stairway," Blige continued to get the Led out, covering <i>another</i> Zeppelin classic &#8212; the thunderous "Whole Lotta Love" &#8212; for the album too. And when MTV News caught up with her on the <i>Essence</i> Black Women in Hollywood red carpet, she told us all about channeling her inner Robert Plant for the tracks, a process that came much easier than you'd probably imagine. </P><P> </P><P>"I did Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven' and 'Whole Lotta Love' &#8212; it's crazy," she said. "I am a Led Zeppelin fan. I'm not going to say I've been to their concerts, but I've listened to their music since I was a child, and it's always moved me, especially 'Stairway to Heaven,' and 'Whole Lotta Love' is just fun." </P><P> </P><P>Blige also said she recorded another new song &#8212; a "club record" called "I Can't Wait" &#8212; for the re-release. And while it's only slated to hit shelves outside the U.S., she hopes her fans will get a chance to hear all the new songs pretty soon. </P><P> </P><P>"I want y'all to hear it," she laughed.</p>

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