'120 Minutes' Returns Saturday With Matt Pinfield

'Who says hell doesn't freeze over?' iconic MTV host says of the show's much-anticipated return.
By James Montgomery, with reporting by Rya Backer


Matt Pinfield
Photo: MTV2

Between 1986 and 2003, alternative music had a permanent home on MTV in the form of "120 Minutes," the late, great Sunday night program that played host to everyone from the Butthole Surfers to XTC, and gave American audiences their first taste of (then) up-and-coming acts like Radiohead, Blur and the Smashing Pumpkins, to name just a few.

When "120" disappeared into the TV hinterland in early '03, it left a gaping hole in the hearts of music fans everywhere, one "Subterranean" just couldn't fill, no matter how hard it tried. And for eight years, we waited for its return, longing for our fix of the latest and greatest in alt (indie? buzz?) hoping against hope that someday, the show would come back to us.

Now, the wait is over. On Saturday, July 30, "120 Minutes" returns with iconic host (and downright obsessive music fan) Matt Pinfield once again serving as master of ceremonies. And if you think you're excited by the news, well, you can't imagine how Pinfield's feeling right about now.

"I couldn't be happier. I mean, I love the show and, over the years, I've heard from everyone from Jack White to the Black Keys, tons of musicians, music fans, people that run some of the biggest websites for music in the country, have all come up to me in the past and said, 'You know, "120 Minutes" and you talking about music is why I wanted to get into the music business.' And there's no bigger compliment than that," Pinfield told MTV News. "So it's exciting and it's great to do it again. And who would've thought? I stopped hosting the show in 1999 ... so that's 11 years since I hosted, 16 years since I started hosting regularly. So it's amazing to see things come full circle. Who says hell doesn't freeze over?"

And if you're worried that the new "120" may not be the show it once was, Pinfield promises that he's determined to keep things the way they were. So, yes, there will still be plenty of videos. And yes, there will be off-kilter interviews with plenty of indie acts, both established and new (the first episode features the likes of PJ Harvey, Dave Grohl, Cults and Das Racist, among others). In fact, about the only difference will be the set.

"There will be differences: I am no longer sitting on those road cases, because my legs are too short and I can't touch the ground," Pinfield laughed. "I think that the way that people digest music and information now has changed quite a bit ... so the difference will be, we will still and I'm very proud to show full videos -- at least 12 a show -- but there will be a lot more guests and a lot more action and a lot more things will be happening a lot faster."

And even if times have changed, Pinfield said the mission of "120" remains the same: to shine a spotlight on bands that deserve it, and to turn folks on to new sounds from around the globe.

"I love Joy Formidable, Sleigh Bells, Black Angels, Das Racist, there's so many cool things, and that's, for me, the exciting part of it," he said. "I love the fact that we're going to show a few of the old classic clips and bring some of the history, but always, the most exciting for me is playing new music for people and being able to turn them on to new things that I'm excited about."

MTV2's "120 Minutes" with Matt Pinfield premieres Saturday, July 30, on MTV2 at 1 a.m. ET/10 p.m. PT.

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1668132/120-minutes-matt-pinfield.jhtml

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Ready to Pop: January Jones' Weekend Beach Romp

Getting out for some fresh air and sunshine, January Jones was spotted walking her dog in Los Angeles on Friday (July 29).

The ?Mad Men? actress showed off her expanding midsection as she chatted on her mobile phone and exercised her furry friend.

In related news, costar Jon Hamm recently told press he?s not sure how January?s pregnancy will jive with their AMC gig.

?She?s going to have a baby come hell or high water. I don?t know and I don?t have to know. I?m happy that it?s not my problem.?

Source: http://celebrity-gossip.net/january-jones/ready-pop-january-jones-weekend-beach-romp-529628

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'Cowboys & Aliens': The Reviews Are In!

Western meets sci-fi flick is full of 'nifty scenes,' but 'unappealing' overall, critics say.
By Terri Schwartz


Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig in "Cowboys and Aliens"
Photo: Universal

With a concept as inspired as "Cowboys & Aliens" and an A-list cast that brings together James Bond and Indiana Jones themselves, it's hard to imagine what could possibly have gone wrong between bringing the movie from the production room to the big screen. MTV's Splash Page blog found a lot to love about the movie despite its flaws, but other critics have not been so kind.

Maybe it was the fact that director Jon Favreau took the summer blockbuster too seriously. Fans hoping for a tongue-in-cheek mash-up of a Western and an alien movie are in for a straight-laced action flick without a lot of room for humor, like in Favreau's "Iron Man" films. Even the movie's charismatic leads couldn't rescue "Cowboys & Aliens" from its identity crisis, critics are saying.

Still, there was plenty to love about the movie as well. "Cowboys & Aliens" is certainly a fun ride to take this summer, so before you head to the multiplex this weekend, take a gander at the "Cowboys & Aliens" reviews we lassoed up for you.

The Story "The whole aliens-on-the-frontier incongruity never comes to much, really. There are nifty scenes, like the horseback riders battling silvery skeletal airplanes, but what 'Cowboys & Aliens' lacks is a good story. Basically, the characters — [Daniel] Craig's enigmatic outlaw, [Harrison] Ford's scowling boss, a tribe of Apache — must put aside their differences to form a posse and defeat the invaders. Who do we care about onscreen? For all of Craig's edgy charisma, no one. 'Cowboys & Aliens' has fun moments, but it's a plodding entertainment because it mostly tastes like leftovers." — Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

The Leading Men "In Daniel Craig, the movie has what feels awfully like the second coming of Steve McQueen. Maybe it's the laser blue eyes under the broad forehead, or the laconic refusal to speak except when absolutely necessary, but Craig has a presence here that feels downright mythic. ... The chance to be as mean as he wants to be energizes [Ford], whose storied crankiness finally finds a home. It's a character part, and you can sense Ford's relief at letting another man shoulder the load. Consciously or not, there's a generational passing of the baton just under this movie's surface, and it helps immensely that Craig's up to the task." — Ty Burr, The Boston Globe

The Cowboys and the Aliens "In Hollywood's ancient prime, maybe a third of all movies were Westerns. But those days are as dead as the horse-mounted cavalry; in the past 30 years, the genre has been resuscitated only when some powerful director wanted to make a movie like the ones he grew up loving. So 'Cowboys & Aliens' has got to get to the aliens pretty damn quick. Even here, Favreau and his crew sprinkle a few memorable moments: the aliens' low-flying scout planes, looking like 10-winged titanium dragonflies and lassoing the townspeople for abduction; a desert vision of an upside-down steamship, which momentarily summons the ghost of Werner Herzog's 'Fitzcarraldo'; and the recurring image of Craig retrieving his cowboy hat, whether he's fighting off human varmints or escaping from the aliens' stronghold. A man ain't a man without his Stetson." — Richard Corliss, Time

The Concept "Cowboys versus aliens is a concept that may make you smile in anticipation, but wipe that smile off your face before buying your ticket, because the film takes its subject seriously — deadly seriously in the case of Harrison Ford, who plays a nasty rancher with the snarls and scowls that have become his trademarks, as if in penance for being so charming in the past. One interesting twist has a posse of cowboys teaming up with the Apaches they fear in order to vanquish the aliens, but the storytelling, punctuated by incoherent flashbacks, is often inscrutable." — Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal

The Final Word "A leaden mash-up of western and science-fiction elements that ends up noisy, grotesque and unappealing, this Jon Favreau-directed film features five producers (including Brian Grazer and Ron Howard), six executive producers (Steven Spielberg and Ryan Kavanaugh among them) and six credited writers, led by 'Star Trek' rebooters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci and 'Lost's' Damon Lindelof. No wonder the film plays like a business deal more than a motion picture. Listed as a producer, not a writer, is Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, whose concept for the original graphic novel inspired the film. That's right, 'Cowboys' doesn't even retell the story the graphic novel does; it sets out on its own. This is not a satisfying journey." — Kenneth Turan, The Los Angeles Times

Check out everything we've got on "Cowboys & Aliens."

For breaking news and previews of the latest comic book movies — updated around the clock — visit SplashPage.MTV.com.

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1668159/cowboys-and-aliens-reviews.jhtml

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Watch: ?Batman: The Dark Knight Rises? Begins Filming In Pittsburgh, PA

At the start of this month we saw video footage of Christian Bale and Anne Hathaway filming scenes for the upcoming sequel film Batman: The Dark Knight Rieses in the UK and a few weeks later, we saw the first signs of life on the Pittsburgh, PA set of the film. This weekend, filming was [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pinkisthenewblog/~3/toNGY_GD5LM/

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Dimmu Borgir Release Live DVD; Plus Led Zeppelin, Brujeria, & More News That Rules, In Metal File

'It shows the intense live side of the band, as opposed to the perfection and the cleanness of how we sound on our albums,' guitarist says.
By Chris Harris


Dimmu Borgir's Silenoz
Photo: Nuclear Blast

On October 14, Dimmu Borgir — who just happen to be Demi Lovato's favorite black-metal band — will release a a three-disc DVD/CD set called "The Invaluable Darkness," the band's first visual offering since 2002's "World Misanthropy." Boasting live footage shot last year, during gigs in Norway, Germany and England, "The Invaluable Darkness" demonstrates the unbridled furor of seeing Dimmu live, guitarist Silenoz said.

"It shows the honest rawness and atmospheric darkness of our concerts," the Norwegian told Metal File last week, after dismissing recent online rumors that his band's next LP would be coming out through Roadrunner Records. "Basically, it shows the intense live side of the band, as opposed to the perfection and the cleanness of how we sound on our albums. It's just a different side to the band, basically."

Dimmu Borgir began thinking about "The Invaluable Darkness" two years ago, but didn't start capturing footage until last summer, Silenoz explained, adding that the band will use its current stint on the Blackest of the Black Tour — which got underway Thursday night in Miami Beach, Florida, and also features the tour's founder, Danzig, along with Moonspell, Winds of Plague and Skeletonwitch — to promote the DVD. Dimmu Borgir will not, however, use the tour to write material for their next LP.

"It's our first time on Blackest, but Glenn [Danzig] had wanted to bring us out before [on the tour], but we weren't available until now," Silenoz said. "We've done Ozzfest before, but we're looking forward to this tour more. We did the main stage on Ozzfest, playing in f--_ing broad daylight. This tour will let us play in bigger places, but at the same time showcase more of what the band's about, visually. We are going to concentrate on the tour for now. Some years ago, we tried putting [material] together on the road, but once we got home, we listened back to it, and were like, 'What the f--- is this?' So, we just scrapped it all. We find it's so much better to totally focus on one thing at a time, and then, when that's over, you move on to the next [thing]. We don't really feel like we need to rush things, anyway, so we'll just take our time, and it's going to be what it's going to be."

Dimmu Borgir hope to reconvene in late December to begin writing the follow-up to 2007's diabolically titled In Sorte Diaboli. "We have some ideas floating around already, but we haven't arranged any material yet," he said. "We'll start doing that once the touring for this DVD is over." The band's frontman, Shagrath, is also due to marry soon — he's engaged to actor Nicolas Cage's ex-girlfriend, Christina Fulton, so that may have an effect on when Dimmu finish their next album, which Silenoz said could be out this coming spring.

"I'm sure [Shagrath] won't let anything get in the way [of] the band — I think, I hope," the guitarist said. "We don't need a Yoko [Ono] situation."

While Dimmu have been at it going on 15 years now, Silenoz said he doesn't think their forthcoming material will be much of a departure from their previous black-metal offerings.

"And we have always been about more than just that term, 'black metal,' " he said. "Luckily for us, the older you get, the less concerned you get with the categorization and putting labels on your music. Things start getting more and more limitless with us, and we know that we operate within certain frames. But we try not to analyze things too much, because it's just going to be working against you in the end. When we write new stuff, we don't think about what we should write — we just get together, and put material together, and if we like it, we keep it. That's the formula, if we even have a formula."

Dimmu Borgir are definitely getting older — guitarist Galder will be missing Blackest because of a recent addition to his family, and Susperia's Cyrus will be filling in for him; while former Vader drummer Dariusz Brzozowski takes over for Hellhammer, who had to leave the band in 2007 after sustaining a neck injury that's now limited the use of his right arm. As Dimmu has gotten on in years, Silenoz admits they have failed to keep pace with some of the more extreme black-metal acts that have followed in their wake.

"We helped open doors for the more extreme bands out there," Silenoz said. "I'm sure we helped open doors for bands like Watain, [insomuch as] people that had maybe started listening to us first then went on to the more extreme stuff. Let's face it — we're not as extreme as Watain and other bands like that, but we're fine with that."

The Blackest of the Black Tour continues through November 10 in San Francisco.

The rest of the week's metal news:

Dimmu's tourmates on Blackest, Winds of Plague, have announced ex-Azusa drummer Art Cruz has joined their ranks — he replaced Jeff Tenney. According to the band's blog, "Art has already added a new spark to the band and has provided us with a solid backbone that will allow us to continue our rampage stronger than ever." ...

What the world really needs is another Led Zeppelin box set, so, on November 4, Rhino Records will issue the Led Zeppelin Definitive Collection Mini LP Replica CD box set. For just $200, you'll get 1969's Led Zeppelin, 1969's Led Zeppelin II, 1970's Led Zeppelin III, 1971's Led Zeppelin IV, 1973's Houses of the Holy, 1975's Physical Graffiti, 1976's Presence, 1976's The Song Remains the Same, 1979's In Through the Out Door and 1982's Coda, as mini-LP replicas, with artwork from the original U.K. LP sleeves. Now, you know what you can get your dad for Christmas. ...

Former Killswitch Engage frontman Jesse Leach and current Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz have teamed up for a new project they're calling Times of Grace, and they've already started working on material for their debut album. According to Leach, "We have two songs to go and we will be finished with all of the vocals. Adam has taken lead vocals in three songs as of yet and he is doing a great job. We also worked on a track yesterday that is so epic — we trade vocals and do two different melodies at the same time. This album went from a melodic metal album to an epic mix of metal/rock/pop/shoegaze and punk. So all of your metal expectations will be incorrect — we are pushing genre boundaries." To quote "Meet the Parents," we'll look forward to that, Greg. ...

The Funeral Pyre and Early Graves will be hitting the road together next month, starting November 7 in South Lake Tahoe, California. Dates are booked through November 21 in Hollywood. ...

The latest incarnation of Brujeria, which features Carcass frontman Jeff Walker and Napalm Death's Shane Embury, have lined up several U.S. dates for this winter. The band will begin its brief trek November 28 in Denver, and wrap things up in Dallas on December 7. ... Demiricous will be touring with the Gates of Slumber starting November 9 in Denver, for a jaunt that's scheduled to run through December 6 in Indianapolis. ...

Nearly three years after Roadrunner Records' Roadrunner United concert, which took over the Nokia Theater in New York's Times Square, the label is now releasing footage from that special night as "Roadrunner United: The Concert." The DVD, which hits stores December 9, will boast two discs and 24 live tracks, including Life of Agony's "River Runs Red," King Diamond's "Abigail," Killswitch's "My Last Serenade," Type O Negative's "Black No. 1" and Sepultura's "Refuse/Resist." ...

According to Blabbermouth, Verrot, bassist for Swedish black-metal outfit Elimi, committed suicide on October 3. In a statement, the band said, "Verrot was a very good friend, brother, an excellent bass player/musician and an important part of Elimi; we respect his decision and hope he'll find his way with the dark gods of Chaos. Let your black flame be a part of what brings forth the day of wrath."

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1596756/dimmu-borgir-release-live-dvd-set-metal-file.jhtml

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Five Reasons You Need To See 'Attack the Block'

We're more than a little obsessed with "Attack the Block," which crash-lands in theaters today. The film has been a massive hit with UK audiences, and it won the midnight feature award at SXSW this year, along with the best narrative audience award at the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival. We're also willing to bet [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2011/07/29/attack-the-block-review/

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