New Girl Confronts The Realities Of Being Young, Broke, And Struggling To Gain A Toehold Into The Adult World

Deschanel was already a polarizing figure when New Girl launched last fall—your tolerance for both her and her character, Jess, likely hinges on how much you relate to the need to curl up in a ball and watchDirty Dancing on a loop post break-up. Or whether you are the kind of person who might own adult-sized footie pajamas. Early on in the season, Jess was a disappointingly one-note character, all cutesy eccentricity and little substance. In one episode she insisted on wearing fake hillbilly teeth to a wedding, and and in another she became so uncomfortable after accidentally seeing one of her three male roommates naked that she couldn't bring herself to say the word "penis." When she first moved in after discovering that her live-in boyfriend was having an affair, her roommates were understandably bewildered by this strange, doe-eyed creature who seemed capable of little more than weeping and bursting spontaneously into song.
　　
But as the season progressed, the writing became both warmer and sharper, focusing more on the talented ensemble cast and tempering Jess's excessive awkwardness with a much-needed dose of self-awareness. In one episode, she goes head-to-head with Julia, a tough-girl lawyer who dismissively refers to Jess's kittens-and-rainbows outlook as her "whole thing." In response, Jess proclaims: "I brake for birds. I rock a lot of polka dots. I have touched glitter in the last 24 hours...and that doesn't mean I'm not smart and tough and strong!" While this may not have won over all the skeptics, it was a smart choice to make Jess's foil a worthy opponent. Without dismissing the criticisms of both Deschanel and the character, it allowed Jess to show a tougher side to her personality and to make a case for her unique brand of femininity.
　　
New Girl isn't the only recession-era comedy to confront the realities of being young, broke, and struggling to gain a toehold into the adult world (2 Broke Girls and Lena Dunham's Girls both come to mind). But New Girl also stands slightly apart from its girl-titled peers in that its characters are all circling 30 (despite her ability to project childlike wonder through her giant anime eyes, Deschanel is in fact a fully grown woman), and the view is a little bit different four or five years into a quarter-life crisis.
　　
This in-betweener angst was crystallized in a recent storyline that centered around Jess dating a successful older man. Jess struggles to reconcile a functioning adult relationship with a guy her roommates refer to as "Fancy Man" and her world of party buses and co-ed bathrooms with faulty plumbing. On their first date, when the Fancy Man has to leave halfway through dinner to deal with an issue involving his daughter, he sends Jess off with money for a cab and an awkwardly paternal hug. She returns home to find Nick throwing a party with a group of college students. "Why is the cast of The Social Network in our apartment?" she asks. The answer: they are in awe of Nick's ability to make a Bay Breeze.
　　
"They don't know what Saved by the Bell is, and they've never felt pain," he cries plaintively.
　　
The roommates on New Girl aren't stumbling into adulthood so much as they're stuck on the threshold—clearly too old for the frat house but not yet financially or emotionally prepared to enter the world of fancy men (and women). As Jess declares in one of her less sunny moments: "30 sucks!"
　　
In this respect, New Girl is one of the more authentic portraits of young folks on television. The show's evolution from "adorkable" star vehicle to engaging ensemble comedy proves that, regardless of its characters credit scores, it's done a lot of growing up this season.
　　
A new comedy series from executive producer and writer Liz Meriwether ("No Strings Attached"), NEW GIRL features a young ensemble cast that takes a fresh look at modern relationships.
　　
After a bad break-up, JESS DAY (Zooey Deschanel) needs a new place to live. An online search leads her to a great loft...and three single guys she's never met before. But Jess moves in, and through her unique sense of self and the support of her new roommates, she learns to move on.
　　
Of her three new male roommates, NICK (Jake Johnson) is the most grounded...and also the most jaded. A law school dropout, he spends most of his time hiding under his hoodie and tending bar. SCHMIDT (Max Greenfield) is a hustling young professional who's pretty proud of his own abs. WINSTON (Lamorne Morris), is an intensely competitive former athlete who doesn't know what to do next-but whatever he does, he wants to win it.
　　
Rounding out the group is Jess' childhood best friend, CECE (Hannah Simone), a model with a killer deadpan. As their relationships progress, these five realize they need each other more than they thought they would and end up forming a charmingly dysfunctional - or strangely functional - family.
　　
NEW GIRL is produced by Chernin Entertainment in association with 20th Century Fox Television. The series is created and written by Liz Meriwether. Meriwether, Jake Kasdan ("Bad Teacher"), Peter Chernin (TERRA NOVA), Katherine Pope (TERRA NOVA), Dave Finkel ("United States of Tara," "30 Rock") and Brett Baer ("United States of Tara," "30 Rock") are executive producers. Kasdan directed the pilot and will continue to direct episodes of the series.

Jess is such a people person that she even tries to broker a dinnertime truce between Russell and his ex, Ouli. But the two of them seem to have a smoldering hate-on for each other. They fight through the whole meal, only pausing to gaze furiously into each other’s eyes. Jess tries to distract them by tap-dancing and singing Cheap Trick, which is how she handled her divorced parents growing up. Ultimately, though, she realizes that she’s jealous. She wants to feel that sort of passion for Russell.
　　
The problem is that there’s only one main New Girl character who really meshes powerfully with Russell, and that’s Nick, who opens the episode musing, “Jess, you’re dating a man I could see myself growing old with.” Jess tries to goad Russell into having some sort of high-drama sex showdown, but even when she throws coasters at him, he won’t take the bait. “Passion’s overrated,” he says. Uh-oh. Maybe that’s why Zooey Deschanel and Dermot Mulroney never seemed to have much chemistry in the show; their characters don’t either.
　　
Having failed at relationships, Nick is trying to cultivate tomatoes. He’s not a good gardener, but he’s great with the props, threatening the birds with a scarecrow and chasing Winston off the roof with a pitchfork. (Later, watching Nick try to stuff the scarecrow in the trash, Winston asks, “What is this, Martin Scorsese’s The Wizard of Oz?”)
　　
Winston is driving Nick crazy because he’s in the middle of a honeymoon period with the pleasantly bland Shelby. Eventually he’s able to convince Nick that he can’t just give up on women completely. Since Winston has found love with a girl he used to date, he talks Nick into calling his own ex, Caroline.
　　
Jess comes back from her date just as Caroline is leaving Nick’s bedroom without any pants on, which means it’s time for a completely deranged confrontation. Jess tells Nick he doesn’t have the courage to be alone, kicking off a yelling match and some serious sexual tension. I would definitely have bet money on them making out, and I would have lost that bet, because instead of giving us the obvious cathartic “Here’s the passion Jess was looking for” moment, the show chooses to get weird. Nick starts shaking his ass at Jess, Jess starts shaking her ass back, and then the two of them compete to see who can shake faster. Their fighting styles are so complementary that it feels like further evidence that they’re perfect for each other. Even if Jess does storm off in the end.

James Franco Reveals Inspiration Behind Cornrows Character

Despite the young actresses with Disney roots starring in Harmony Korine's "Spring Breakers," the film is far from just another teen rom-com about traipsing on the beach and falling in love with long-haired surfer boys. This movie's stars — Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Benson — are seduced by a grungy rapper named Alien, played by "127 Hours" actor James Franco.

When Gomez tweeted a photo from the set, we barely recognized Franco in character. Dressed in a bright Hawaiian shirt and donning tattoos, massive sunglasses and a gold wristwatch, this isn't the scholarly, unkempt actor we're used to spying in set photos. But what stood out the most were the cornrows neatly aligned on the top of his head. When MTV News' Josh Horowitz caught up with the actor at CinemaCon 2012, he asked Franco what inspired the cornrows for "Spring Breakers."

"That's a character that Harmony and I have been talking about for over a year," Franco said. "Harmony is one of the best, kind of, researchers that I know, and we just went through a series of looks. You know, people have said, like, K-Fed or Riff-Raff, but that character really is kind of an amalgamation of a lot of different people and inspirations."

Korine's films are notoriously gritty and provocative, and "Spring Breakers" is no different. It's a big departure from Disney's "Wizards of Waverly Place" for Selena Gomez and "High School Musical" for Vanessa Hudgens. And while Ashley Benson's "Pretty Little Liars" is a tad more scandalous, the ABC Family hit series isn't nearly as graphic as "Spring Breakers" is expected to be.

The film follows four girls who rob a restaurant to fund their spring break trip. When they're bailed out by Alien, a drug and arms dealer, they find themselves seduced into plotting and helping him with a murder. Gomez recently told Interview magazine that leaving behind her stereotypical good-girl characters is what attracted her to this role. "I was getting kind of repetitive in terms of the roles I was picking, and I really wanted to do something completely different," she said. "I want to be taking myself seriously as an actress, and this was definitely a stretch. I mean, I'd never smoked a cigarette before in my entire life. It was really funny — they had to show me how to do it."

Franco — whose usual attire doesn't include cornrows — also noticed how the character came to life with the help of Korine's direction and the small details to which he paid close attention.

"I can say this: As soon as the woman in Florida put [the cornrows] in, the character was alive. We both knew. We looked in the mirror and it was like, 'Oh my, God. He's here.' "

Justin Bieber Wanted 'Boyfriend' Video To Be 'Mature'

From the back of a Shelby Mustang right to a showroom filled with classic cars, Justin Bieber premiered his highly anticipated "Boyfriend" video on Thursday (May 3) during "MTV First: Justin Bieber." The sexy, sunny, Director X-directed clip certainly had fans in the room cheering.
The video comes to life with shots of Bieber driving a muscle car, snuggling with his beautiful co-star and getting his dance on alongside his pals, all while they chill out at a rooftop party somewhere in Los Angeles. It's a more mature look at the growing pop star, who in only a few short years has gone from strumming his guitar on the streets of his Canadian hometown to full-fledged international pop-star status, where he fills arenas all over the world.

"I kind of switched it up from all the teasers," Bieber told MTV News' Sway Calloway about what fans saw of the video before its premiere. "I switched up the whole video on them, and really, I think it's super cool. I wanted to do something a little bit more mature."

The video is full of swaggy images, ranging from his varsity jacket to his cool car, but what left one fan in the "MTV First" audience most intrigued were the gold sneakers he sports in the video. "I did pick out those swaggy gold shoes," he laughed. "They spray-painted them gold. That's what I'm going to do: I'm gonna start wearing gold shoes all the time."

With the video's focus on cars and friends, the 18-year-old chatted about his own personal car collection. "I have a Range Rover and a Fisker. And I have a Smart Car. It just helps me get from point A to point B. I call it my little 'swag car,' " he said.

While Bieber made it clear that his off-time doesn't look a lot like the party in the video, he did share what he does on the weekends: "I work. ... If I'm with my friends, we like to do regular stuff," he said, before opening up about what he does to unsuspecting pals in an elevator. "We have this game where basically we hit each other in the balls."

If you are reading this, then you are probably aware that Justin Bieber turned 18 back in March. I only mention it now because it helps explain JB's brand-new "Boyfriend" video, which premiered Thursday night (May 3) on MTV and is pretty much an 18-year-old male's fantasy in every conceivable way (or at least most of them).

Filled with cool clothes, hot cars and even hotter women, "Boyfriend" — directed by the mysteriously named Director X (née Lil X) — is the stuff of every newly minted heterosexual adult's dreams ... only on overdrive. It's not enough to have a few cool cars; let's get 50! And some of them should be vintage! Why stop at one female love interest when we could get a baker's dozen? As if the icy, decidedly sophisticated strains of "Boyfriend" weren't enough to tip you off, with the video, Bieber very clearly serves notice: He's all grown-up.

And while that maturation was inevitable — Bieber's been saying for months now that his Believe album would push the boundaries — it remains to be seen if his fanbase (which, speaking in the broadest of terms, is predominantly female, not to mention predominantly pre-teen) can handle his transformation. Not to mention that now, for the first time, he's not the only heartthrob on the block. Sure, the guys in One Direction may be his pals, but they'd like nothing more than to eat his lunch. And those dudes in the Wanted? Well, let's just say we wouldn't take our eye off them, either.

In short, Bieber's career is now at a crossroads. He cannot stop the advance of age, nor does it seem like he really cares to — he's making the kind of music his 18-year-old self wants to make. His fans will either embrace this new chapter or they won't. Maybe he'll lose some of them to the nefarious clutches of 1D. But the Biebs is moving on regardless. One can't sing "Baby" forever now, can they?

Of course, watching the "Boyfriend" video, you can't help but think that Bieber couldn't care less about any of those things. It's a cool, confident clip, and, given where he's at right now, it's also an important one. He's itching to get on with the business of being an 18-year-old dude, like it or not. But you probably will — honestly, how can you deny the sheer grown-up-edness of the whole thing?

In addition to opening up about the video and his unusual take on riding in an elevator, he also talked about working with pals Drake, Kanye West, Usher and Taylor Swift for his brand-new album, Believe, out June 19. "Boyfriend" is the lead single from the highly anticipated release.

But with the music world conquered, he also teased his forthcoming work in Hollywood. He gave an update on his in-the-works basketball movie with Mark Wahlberg, as well as his blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo in "Men In Black 3." He noted, however, "Right now I'm focused on my album and Believe."

Duff McKagan Hopes For Guns N' Roses Unity At Rock Hall

Ever since Axl Rose very publically announced he wanted nothing to do with Guns N' Roses induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, speculation has run rampant about just which (if any) of his former (or current) bandmates will be on hand to accept the honor. And with the ceremony set for Saturday in Cleveland, we're still not sure.

While Rose's open letter to the Hall may have upset some, one former GN'R man probably wasn't all that surprised. When MTV News sat down with bassist Duff McKagan (who served in Guns from 1985 until 1997) last month to discuss the paperback release of his biography "It's So Easy and Other Lies," well, he didn't seem all that optimistic that his former bandmates would ever be able to put aside the past two decades of squabbles and appear at the Hall.

"If it were totally up to me ... it'd be great if everybody showed up," he said. "If not, that's the way it's supposed to be. That's it; it's that simple for me."

And McKagan has already been down this path before: In 2007, he and his Velvet Revolver mates were tapped to induct — and subsequently jam with — Van Halen, a band whose backstory rivals possibly only GN'R's in terms of acrimony. By all accounts, former frontman David Lee Roth and guitarist Eddie Van Halen were all set to let bygones be bygones, share the stage together and bask in the moment. Of course, that didn't exactly happen.

"Five years ago, we were going to be the band, and David Lee Roth was going to get on and sing with us, and Eddie was going to play with us, and those guys weren't talking, but we were going to be the band and they were going to get up and play with us, somehow," he laughed. "And then it kind of fell apart, and we were already in New York, and we were kind of left holding the bag a little bit."

Still, even though he was eerily aware of all the drama that would come, McKagan was definitely touched by Guns' induction into the Hall — mostly because he knows how much it means to his fans (take note, Axl).

"It's an honor. It's not something I strove for my entire career, was not even on my radar, but I saw the outpouring of the fan reaction when we were nominated, and suddenly it became important, because I saw how important it was for people who got me to a place where I can be in a house and support my wife and kids," he said. "And what a journey we had, going from a little club band, playing to three people to eventually playing stadiums, just out of thin air ... and it's really incredible for it to be 25 years later, talking about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."

Ronnie Wood said：Rolling Stones Are Heading Back To The Studio

The Rolling Stones are heading back to the studio this month to toss around ideas and try new material, Ronnie Wood said, taking the guitarist away for a time from his first love, painting.
At the opening of his new art show, 'Faces, Time and Places,' in New York City on Monday, Wood was far more focused on his art work than the Stones' plans to celebrate the band's 50 years in music. But he did allow that he and his bandmates were "kicking at the heels" to record again.

"We're going to get together to have a rehearsal and see what happens," Wood told Reuters about the plan to record.

Outside the Stones, Wood, who turns 65 in June, is busier than ever. His visual art career is thriving, he is being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for a second time this week in Cleveland, he has a radio show in Britain and fruitful solo projects.

Despite being in one of the biggest rock bands in history and having played early in his career with Rod Stewart and Faces, Wood said that if he had his way, he would like to be known more as an artist than as a musician.

"I'm a painter who plays guitar," he said at the Broom Street Gallery in Soho, where around 50 of his paintings, sketches, and prints are showing until the end of June.

Most are colorful portraits of bandmates Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts, along with other celebrities such as Jerry Hall, formerly married to Jagger, and Muhammad Ali.

The pieces vary from early 1960s sketches to paintings of pop culture icons Wood has known and worked with at different stages of his career.

A dark portrait of a pale-looking Al Pacino wearing a slight smirk contrasts with a painting of Richards set against a gold-leaf backdrop, guitar in hand, mid-strum, eyes closed, face glowing despite the deep wrinkles that line it as if a map of the hard-partying, rock 'n' roll life he's lived.

SATISFACTION
As well known as he is for playing guitar, Wood also has earned accolades for his art work from critics such as Brian Sewell and artists Damien Hirst and Lucian Freud. Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber commissioned work from him and former U.S. President Bill Clinton owns a couple of his canvases as well.

Wood said he began creating art seriously at age seven. He later studied at Ealing Art College in London and struggled to earn a living as an artist before making a name for himself playing bass and guitar in bands like the Jeff Beck Group, Faces, and the Stones.

"I thought I'll make it as a musician first and then show people that I can paint. So that's what I did. In the 80's, I really started to pay my way with my painting," he said.

But his fame remained rooted in rock 'n' roll where he holds a place in the music's history. On Saturday, Wood and other members of Faces, including Stewart and Kenny Jones, head to Cleveland, Ohio, where they will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for hits that include "Stay With Me."

The Rolling Stones, which Wood joined in 1975 after Mick Taylor left the band, were inducted in 1989.
And later this month, Wood, who just recorded a song with Taylor and Jones for the season finale of TV show "CSI Miami," plays a solo gig in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Then its off to jam with the Stones.

"We will be doing new material, but we haven't had a chance to chat with each other yet about what it is. Mick and Keith will get together on that," he said.

The Stones have said they plan to release a documentary in September chronicling their 50-year history and may tour again in 2013, but Wood offered no details.

The last studio album by the group was in 2005. They released two live albums, 'Hampton Coliseum (Live 1981)' and 'L.A. Friday (Live 1975),' so far this year.