SYDNEY, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Three Sri Lankans expelled by Australia were tortured, Amnesty International said.
United Press International
U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke likened the financial crisis Thursday to a bacterial illness that sneaked under the radar of a regulatory system.
Get all of the bloody facts about Robert Rodriguez's action-packed Mexploitation flick!
By Kara Warner
Jessica Alba in "Machete"
Photo: Twentieth Century Fox
At long last! "Machete" is here and ready to blow your mind with every minute of its bloody, action-packed, sexy, slice-and-dicey good times. In brief, the story revolves around Machete (Danny Trejo), an ex-Federale who gets caught up in an assassination plot for which he is framed and must seek vengeance.
We've been following this zany, violent, Mexploitation romp since its humble beginnings as a mock trailer attached to 2007's "Grindhouse." To celebrate its long-awaited arrival in theaters on Friday (September 3), here is everything you need to know about "Machete."
In 2007, Robert Rodriguez unleashed the fake trailer in front of "Grindhouse." It was met with raucous applause and fan demands for a full-length feature. The Internet rumor mill kicked into high gear, with rumblings of a direct-to-DVD release. At SXSW, Rodriguez announced his plans to go ahead with the full-blown feature.
In the months that followed, the "Machete" cast was revealed. A script review later popped up online, as did pleas from the future star himself, Danny Trejo, who asked the Weinsteins to put up the cash so that filming could begin.
Ask and ye shall receive! Production began in fall '09, details of which Rodriguez teased at that year's Comic-Con. From that point on, whenever MTV News found ourselves in the presence of one of the film's stellar castmembers, we peppered them for details about the film, which yielded Trejo's comments about his first day on set and a brief exchange with Jessica Alba during which she weighed in on action-movie hero Steven Seagal.
It's worth mentioning that Alba also talked about how she'd be playing identical twins in the film, which somehow was lost in translation and changed at some point during filming, because Alba plays just one role — that of a sexy immigration officer.
In early July, we got our hands and eyes on the first "Machete" trailer which, as we expected, was every bit as gritty and ballsy as Rodriguez's original.
Shortly thereafter, the cast descended upon the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con with a flurry of activities that included a fun-filled panel and a parking-lot party where Trejo and Michelle Rodriguez served up tacos from a truck. Director Rodriguez and Trejo also stopped by our Comic-Con livestream where they praised co-star Lindsay Lohan's performance in "Machete."
Much closer to the film's release, MTV News attended its press day and spoke once again with Rodriguez, Trejo, Alba and (Michelle) Rodriguez. Some of the best discussions to come out of that day centered on the always hot topic of onscreen nudity. First, Rodriguez revealed his tricks of the trade, and then lovely leading ladies Alba and Rodriguez discussed the art of post-production nipple addition.
Finally, we hit up a special screening of the film in downtown L.A., at which the cast and crew arrived in shiny, tricked-out lowriders. There, we learned who each star would want by their side in a "Machete"-style revolution and got well-wishes for their recently released from rehab colleague, Lindsay Lohan.
From the saucy Jessica Alba in "Little Fockers" to James Franco's grueling journey in "127 Hours," the MTV Movies team is delving into the hottest flicks of fall 2010. Check back daily for exclusive clips, photos and interviews with the films' biggest stars.
Check out everything we've got on "Machete."
For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.
Related Videos Related PhotosOscar-winner says he's made story of a man who can't move into an action movie.
By Josh Horowitz
Danny Boyle
Photo: Jordan Strauss/WireImage
At the 81st Academy Awards in early 2008, Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire" took home eight awards, including Best Director, while Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler" lost both categories in which it was nominated.
But that didn't stop Boyle from wanting to emulate Aronofsky's cinematic approach for his next project. Thus, "127 Hours." follows one central character, in much the same way that "The Wrestler" focused on Mickey Rourke's damaged grappler. Boyle's new film is based on the true story of an avid outdoorsman who becomes trapped under a boulder in the wildness and is forced to saw off his own arm to escape. James Franco plays the unfortunate hiker.
The film is one that Boyle has wanted to make for years. Only after virtually sweeping the Oscars, and being inspired by Aronofsky's style, though, did he move forward with the project. As part of MTV News' Fall Movie Preview, Boyle called us to chat about how his career has changed since "Slumdog," the challenges of making a film about a man who can't move, and why "127 Hours" may not be the ideal date movie.
MTV: How are you?
Danny Boyle: Good. We're mixing "127 Hours" at Pinewood, and we've been kicked out of the big theater by "Harry Potter." We're next door in the little theater.
MTV: I guess if you're going to be kicked out by anybody, they have a big thing going on.
Boyle: They're not even here! Do you know what they do? It's a big bank holiday this weekend here in Britain, and we're working right through the weekend to get it ready, and what they do is they book the theater for months and nothing happens! It's like, "Really?"
MTV: Well, it is great to talk to you. So, you had, you know, a little bit of success with "Slumdog Millionaire." Coming off of that, why this one?
Boyle: I'd always wanted to do it. The story has an instant tension that draws everyone's attention to it. So many people remember it vaguely. But it wasn't that. I wanted to make the film and I tried to get it going. Of course, it's a tough subject, but I had a way of doing it that wasn't what you think. It would be compelling and would occupy you completely as a viewer so that the whole barrier — it's just one guy stuck in one place — that wouldn't become an issue because you'd be with him. You would be him, in effect. That was always my take on it. Anyway, once "Slumdog" kicked off, [producer] Christian [Colson] and I thought, "This is our chance to make this." There's no other moment in our careers when we'll get a chance to make something like this, which is really a tricky prospect for any studio or financier. So we worked on it, we prepared a script, and then we had to find an actor. That's the key to this. Beyond our vision of it, you have to have someone who's not only going to share the vision but actually going to carry it much more than any film like "Slumdog" or a thriller or a big love story or anything that has a plot or the dynamics changing between two people. It's just one guy. We got Franco. He's amazing in it.
MTV: There are a couple ways to go off something like "Slumdog." Either you go with the project you've been wanting to make, or I'm sure you were offered every project under the sun.
Boyle: I don't think like that. It's such an amazing thing that happened that you have to take advantage in the right way. It's why we wanted to get ["127 Hours"] ready for Toronto, because that's where we started with "Slumdog." We wanted to take back there a film that had been made in its shadow. It's wonderful to do that, because suddenly it's not an intimidating shadow, it's liberating because it's a success that's allowed you to make something you've always wanted to make and you believe but wouldn't get made otherwise. Even though people, before they see the film, might think it a peculiar choice, but the film is really accessible. Whether they can get people into [the theater], I don't know. If you want to take a girl on a Friday and say, "What should we go and see?" it's tough to say, "It's a film about a guy who cuts his arm off. What do you think?" But once you're in there, it's a big story for everyone. It's a very universal thing.
MTV: What are the challenges for you as a filmmaker, keeping things dynamic, and the challenges for an audience? Do you imagine them feeling what Franco is feeling for the length of the movie?
Boyle: I always thought of it as the opposite of inert. Superficially, it looks inert, because he's stationary. But I'd always thought of it as an action movie. He can't move, but it's an action movie. That's what we've tried to do. I'm not going to brag now. You guys will have to decide whether we've succeeded or not, but that was the intention. I remember when we were doing "Slumdog," and Darren Aronofsky showed up with "The Wrestler." It's one of those films that you look at as a director and think, "That's it. You just follow this one actor around." It's different from his other movies, and it's different from my other movies, but I wanted to make one like that, where it's just you and an actor.
MTV: I heard you talk about the videos that the hiker, Aron Ralston, took when he was stuck, and how he changed over those few days as he became dehydrated. Was the physical transformation difficult for Mr. Franco? How do you accomplish that in the film?
Boyle: You can't, because you can't do it safely. It's not like carbohydrate loss. You hear about an actor losing weight or putting on weight for parts. You can't do that, because it happens over six days. He starts as an incredibly healthy young man and then this footage I saw by the end, when he'd been without water, the difference is shocking. It's a vanishing. The only way you could do it is through CG, and we didn't want to take that approach. We didn't want to use makeup, but so much of the film is so close. It's an intimate film. We tried to shoot in sequence to let James internally track it. We've not been able to move stuff. He was there for six days, and we'd go, "Can you move that line from day two to day four?" You can't move it, because the journey is no nuanced. He becomes completely different. He's a different person on each day. We've done it through James, rather than CG or weight loss.
MTV: What about the moment when he slowly cuts off his own arm? How long a sequence is that in the film? How much do we see and experience?
Boyle: It takes him 45 minutes in reality. It is in the film, obviously. The time it takes is respected by the filmmakers. We don't cut away, pardon the expression, and come back and it's gone. But it is cathartic, and that's the key thing. The whole idea of the film is you enter the journey with him and you don't cut away to a lot of people looking for him. It's an immersive experience, and it's cathartic when he does it because it's a relief for everyone and a triumph in some way as well.
MTV: In terms of the music, it's A.R. Rahman doing the score again after "Slumdog." Can you speak a little about what he's done?
Boyle: We've got a couple of songs, and the rest of the work is more guitar-based. Some of it is solo guitar, which felt appropriate given the nature of the story. Got a couple of wonderful songs. Free Blood ("Never Hear Surf Music Again") at the beginning, which we used for the trailer. Music has always been a big part of a movie for me, and I hope we've done another one justice we've what we've used.
From the saucy Jessica Alba in "Little Fockers" to James Franco's grueling journey in "127 Hours," the MTV Movies team is delving into the hottest flicks of fall 2010. Check back daily for exclusive clips, photos and interviews with the films' biggest stars.
Check out everything we've got on "127 Hours."
For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.
Related Videos Related Photos'I play a pharmaceutical sales rep who is very, um, outgoing,' Alba tells MTV News of the Ben Stiller/ Robert De Niro comedy.
By Kara Warner
Jessica Alba in "Little Fockers"
Photo: Paramont
In addition to kicking butt in Robert Rodriguez's "Machete," Jessica Alba is also appearing among the star-studded cast of "Little Fockers," the third installment in the franchise that features Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro playing out their often awkward son-in-law vs. overprotective father-in-law relationship.
"I play a pharmaceutical sales rep who is very, um, outgoing and has no sense of personal space," Alba recently told MTV News. She hinted that her character might inadvertently try to get a little too close to Stiller's lovable Gaylord Focker. "She says exactly what's on her mind and she has no filter at all," the actress explained. "She was really fun because I'm pretty much the opposite of that."
Alba admitted that keeping a straight face on set was a big challenge, since most of her scenes were with funnyman Ben Stiller. Still, she had a blast, she said, particularly with her character's freewheeling ways. "It was just fun and pretty liberating to play someone who was just so open and so free and totally crazy."
"Little Fockers" is set a few months after the events of the last installment, "Meet the Fockers," as Stiller and Teri Polo's parents-to-be busily prepare for baby. Producer Jay Roach told MTV News earlier this year that Stiller's attempt to remain calm is thwarted by a familiar face (and former nemesis).
"It's Owen Wilson coming back with a new passion for Ben's wife, Teri Polo," Roach said. "And of course it's hidden and it's all under the surface, but it causes a lot of new wrinkles in the relationship between all of them," the producer explained.
In addition to Alba and Wilson, "Fockers" will also feature Dustin Hoffman in the role of Stiller's father opposite Barbra Streisand, an addition to the cast that was only recently made due to the film reportedly coming in under budget.
"Little Fockers" is due in theaters December 22.
From the saucy Jessica Alba in "Little Fockers" to James Franco's grueling journey in "127 Hours," the MTV Movies team is delving into the hottest flicks of fall 2010. Check back daily for exclusive clips, photos and interviews with the films' biggest stars.
Check out everything we've got on "Little Fockers."
For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.
Related Videos Related PhotosNEW YORK, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- An unusually high number of mosquitoes in New York City are testing positive for West Nile virus and health officials advise taking precautions to avoid bites.
GREAT SANKEY, England, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- More than six years after a teenager's body was found on a riverbank in northern England her Muslim parents were arrested Thursday as suspects in her death.
BELFAST, Northern Ireland, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Northern Ireland suffers from "worklessness," which contributes to high levels of divorce and alcoholism, Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith said Thursday.
OAKLAND, Calif., Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Bruce Gradkowski threw two touchdown passes in the first quarter Thursday and the Oakland Raiders fought off Seattle for a 27-24 pre-season victory.
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- A 2-yard touchdown pass from Nate Davis to Jehuu Caulcrick with 8:41 to play Thursday lifted the San Francisco 49ers to a 17-14 pre-season win over San Diego.
NEW YORK, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Five-time champion Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, the second and third seeds, rolled into the third round at the U.S. Open Thursday.
HOUSTON, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- U.S. veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder have a greater risk for dementia than veterans, who didn't have PTSD, researchers say.
Screening at AMPAS reveals hard work of restoration team paid off; more films await repair.
It may be too raunchy for some, but the new Drew Barrymore romantic comedy is a true artifact of this recessionary era.
Zhang Yimou uses Chinese operatic humor to great effect in re-imagining the Coen brothers' 'Blood Simple.'
The annual event is a reliable gauge on which movies will screen well and stand the test of time. This year's festival includes some high-profile adult dramas.
A daughter perpetually afraid of rape tries to raise money for her mother's burial in this allegorical film.
HEBRON, West Bank, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Palestinian police arrested two suspects in the killing of four West Bank Israelis on the eve of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, officials said Thursday.
ATLANTA, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- The making of antibiotics, officially dated to 1928 and the discovery of penicillin, was common practice more than 1,400 years ago, U.S. researchers say.
Paula Patton has a new “Mission” – share the screen with Tom Cruise.
Patton has landed the female role in the upcoming “Mission: Impossible” film, the fourth in the big screen franchise, Paramount Pictures confirmed to Access Hollywood.
Review in a Hurry: Badass character actor Danny Trejo finally gets to topline an action movie courtesy of his pal Robert Rodriguez. And, to be kind, let's just say we find out why he's...