AP - Prosecutors have brought additional charges against Hollywood actor accused of stabbing his ex-girlfriend 20 times.

When the box office champ Ben Stiller’s comedic performances aren’t a variation on a soft-spoken, put-upon everyman with an eventual fuse, he’s usually playing a full-blown absurdist monster with an apoplectic Napoleon complex. These bizarre creations usually adorn films in which the funnyman provides the supporting work (DODGEBALL, HEAVYWEIGHTS), but, whenever he’s directing, he’s free to build an entire filmic universe around his asinine, ludicrously funny, culture-skewering characters and premises. His ZOOLANDER (2001) bit at the entertainment industry with silly abandon, but Stiller has firmly set TROPIC THUNDER within the realm of sophisticated Hollywood satire. In it, a desperate director named Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan) trying to make a Vietnam war movie drops his pampered actors into the heart of the jungle. Cockburn’s stars include Stiller as an action hero who’s starting to make bad career choices, Jack Black as an insecure low-brow comedy star going through heroin withdrawals, and Robert Downey Jr. as an Australian Oscar winner so lost in his “craft” he underwent a procedure to become black for his role. In the jungle, they remain under the delusion that they are still being filmed even after they encounter a dangerous gang of druglords. The film’s basic premise has popped up several times since Hollywood’s 1970s golden age in films such as THREE AMIGOS! and GALAXY QUEST. Where those films simply blanketed a classic Overconfident Bumbling Idiot comedy showcase with a pop culture lexicon, however, TROPIC THUNDER could have only been made, as on-the-nose at is, by people who have been working in the Hollywood system for years, making cutting observations along the way. Simply put, this raucous satire knows big-budget filmmaking, the delusional narcissism of actors, and even the good points of those actors–perhaps why they’re celebrated–like the back of its hand.

AP - LOS ANGELES (AP) — Don’t let the celebrities at a Jermaine Dupri party distract you from partying, or you might get an admonishment from the host himself.

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Danny McBride’s name seems to be popping up everywhere these days, with prominent roles in “Pineapple Express” and “Tropic Thunder” to an upcoming role in “Land of the Lost” alongside Will Ferrell and a bunch of actors in rubber Sleestak suits. So what does someone vying for the title of “hardest working man in show […]

Reuters - Fox’s “24″ is stopping
the production clock for 18 days to allow writers to work on
upcoming scripts.

Since 1999, the pop princess has stolen the show with stripteases, sexy moves and awkward appearances.
By Jocelyn Vena

Britney Spears and Madonna lock lips at the 2003 VMAs

Photo: Frank Micelotta/Getty Images

If anybody knows how to make a splash at the VMAs, it’s Britney Spears. Over the past nine years she’s dazzled us with stripteases, barely there outfits and some of the finest reptilian-accessorized dance moves ever to grace an MTV stage. With Britney’s 2008 VMA appearance looming on the horizon, we here at MTV News want to take a few moments to reminisce about her finest moments on the show.

Before her first VMA appearance in 1999, an anxious 17-year-old Spears went shopping for the big event with MTV News correspondent Serena Altschul, finally picking a sparkly, black Todd Oldham number. Little did we know how important Brit’s wardrobe choices would later become. She changed into a body-hugging black belly shirt and pants to team up with fellow teen dreams ‘NSYNC for their classroom-themed performance of ” … Baby One More Time” and “Tearin’ Up My Heart.”

The following year, Britney made another fashion statement. While covering the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction,” Spears was apparently unsatisfied with her tuxedo. So, when it was time to switch over to “Oops … I Did It Again,” she ripped it off to reveal a flesh-colored outfit that left very little to the imagination.

Spears tried to top that striptease in 2001, giving us three different moments to remember. In a promo for the show, she agreed to teach host Jamie Foxx some of her moves, and the two got down to Chuck Berry’s “You Never Can Tell.” Things got weirder on the red carpet, when she met Mick Jagger, who appeared not to know who she was. But our own Kurt Loder made Brit happy by pointing out that Keith Richards’ daughter was a huge fan of hers. Of course, the main event that year was her sultry performance of “I’m a Slave 4 U,” for which she draped herself in a python and slithered around a steamy garden setting, surrounded by dancers in zebra and tiger outfits. The whole affair pleased teenage boys everywhere, but left PETA very angry.

Not all of Britney’s moments have been about sexing up the show. In 2002, she donned a dominatrix costume, presented Michael Jackson with a birthday cake and referred to him as the “artist of the millennium.” Michael thought that meant he was receiving some new Artist of the Millennium award and gave an acceptance speech, turning what was supposed to be a sweet birthday celebration into one memorable moment.

This paved the way for what would be Britney’s most provocative VMA performance yet: Her now infamous 2003 kiss with Madonna, who also kissed Christina Aguilera, during “Like a Virgin.” The lip-lock shocked and amused everyone in the audience, including Spears’ ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake.

In 2006, a pregnant Britney made her tamest VMA appearance via video, as she and Kevin Federline presented the award for Best R&B Video. At the time, she and K-Fed were happily married and expecting their second son. It was only a matter of time before that all came crashing down.

Last year’s “Gimme More” fiasco is still fresh in everyone’s memories, and the events of Spears’ life since then made many wonder if yet another hyped Britney comeback was wise this year. But the pop princess appears to be getting back on her feet at last, and she has three VMA nods at stake this year (she’s come home empty-handed after her previous 16 nominations). We’re keeping our fingers crossed that the former VMA queen can dazzle us the way she used to.

Now that you’ve helped us pick the nominees for this year’s Video Music Awards, head to VMA.MTV.com to vote for your favorite in the Best New Artist category, check out the latest additions to the performer and presenter lineups, see the best (and worst) of VMA fashion and much more. Then tune in this Sunday at 8 p.m. ET for MTV News’ “Opening Act” on the red carpet, followed by the big show, live from Hollywood at 9 p.m. ET.

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Danny McBride’s name seems to be popping up everywhere these days, with prominent roles in “Pineapple Express” and “Tropic Thunder” to an upcoming role in “Land of the Lost” alongside Will Ferrell and a bunch of actors in rubber Sleestak suits. So what does someone vying for the title of “hardest working man in show […]