Anne Hathaway's Catwoman Isn't First Controversial Costume

We look back at other divisive getups, including George Clooney's Batman and Adrianne Palicki's Wonder Woman.
By Kara Warner


Anne Hathaway on the set of "Dark Knight Rises"
Photo: PhamousFotos/ Splash News

Nothing causes a storm of online controversy like the first big reveal of an updated superhero costume — particularly when said costume is on a glamorous Hollywood starlet.

Case in point: the paparazzi photo snapped on the Los Angeles set of "The Dark Knight Rises" that features a catsuit-clad Anne Hathaway in between scenes. The firestorm around the photo, as well as the detailed analysis that followed, reminded us of some other costumes that received the same obsessive treatment.

MTV News reached out to Caleb Goellner, senior editor at Comics Alliance, for his thoughts on past lightning-rod getups.

Halle Berry's Catwoman
All things considered, Hathaway's costume has nothing on Halle Berry's barely there, frequently mocked ensemble from 2004's much-maligned "Catwoman," which went on to win four Razzies for Worst Picture, Worst Actress, Worst Director and Worst Screenplay.

"If somebody would've asked me, 'Hey, you think it'd be feasible to fight crime wearing nothing but a few handfuls of random belts from a TJ Maxx after-Thanksgiving sale bargain bin circa 1984?' In, like, 2003, I might've said, 'Maybe,' " Goellner admitted. "I confess to not being open-minded enough for that response in a post-'Catwoman' world, though."

Adrianne Palicki's Wonder Woman
There is a decent argument to be made that the violent reactions to the costume worn briefly by Adrianne Palicki were a large part of the reason David E. Kelley's TV series failed to get picked up. Also, from what we know about the pilot, it was not good.

"Palicki's costume seems like it was scrutinized more for its choice of materials than its cut," Goellner said. "Nobody really agrees on what Wonder Woman is/should be, but fans seemed united in their cries for a TV costume with a less vinyl-y sheen."

George Clooney and Val Kilmer's Batmen
When Warner Bros. hired Joel Schumacher to direct "Batman Forever" and then "Batman & Robin," they wanted him to make the films less Tim Burton-style dark and more family-friendly. The result? Nipples were inexplicably added to the Batsuits worn by Val Kilmer and George Clooney.

"In a world where rubber costumes often feature fake abs, adding nipples to a crime fighting suit is pretty logical," Goellner said, tongue firmly in cheek. "The problem fans had with this outfit stemmed purely from the fact that, in the comics, Bruce Wayne has trained his nipples to go into sleep mode while fighting crime, diverting calories to other parts of his body as needed. This continuity error, however minor, really distracted from Joel Schumacher's otherwise completely authentic filmmaking choices."

Ryan Reynolds' Green Lantern
The debate about CGI is ongoing: How much is too much? How much is too little? Shouldn't we expect all superhero-themed movies to be computer-generated spectacles? When the first photo of Ryan Reynolds as a green-suited Hal Jordan appeared, there were accusations of ruin and overuse of Photoshop.

Said Goellner: "Green Lantern's organic look had some feeling like he was more of a Slim Goodbody stand-in than a proper space cop. Others, who accepted the rationality of the costume as a manifestation of alien technology, were still bummed by its lack of depth and overall painted-on look. Everyone else was too busy hoping for a cosmic 'Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place' reunion to notice."

X-Men Suit Up in Black Leather
For those who grew up with their crime-fighting mutants sporting the classic blue-and-yellow suits as seen on the pages of the Marvel comic, as well as the animated cartoon, the all-black ensembles worn by the cast in Bryan Singer's 2000 hit ruffled many a fanboy's feathers back in the day — so much so that Singer added an homage to the fans via Cyclops' cheeky line: "What would you prefer, yellow spandex?"

"Given the X-Men's history of trying out new uniforms in the comics, fans weren't supremely bothered by X-Men's low-key combat suits," Goellner said. "Then again, the state of the superhero film was so abysmal in 2000 that fans were open to anything that was more 'Blade' than 'Batman & Robin.' It also probably would've been a bad idea to put Hugh Jackman in a mask, when everyone knows the real star of the 'X' franchise has been his dreamy peepers."

Bonus: Barbara Eden's Jeannie
Back in 1965, nothing caused more controversy on network television than Barbara Eden's scandalous costume on "I Dream of Jeannie" — so scandalous that network execs made the costume designers add extra inches to the waistline so Eden's belly button wouldn't be exposed.

Goellner's final word: "Her costume is a delight, but everybody knows that real genies are blue, have goatees and kind of talk like that guy who starred in 'Hook.' "

Check out everything we've got on "The Dark Knight Rises."

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/1671706/dark-knight-rises-anne-hathaway-controversial-catwoman-costume.jhtml

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Stranger Danger

My sister recently had a talk with my four-year-old nephew Jack about strangers. Here's how it went:

SISTER: Now, Jack, if a stranger says, "Come here, I want to show you something," what do you do?

JACK: I turn around and run!

SISTER: If a stranger says, "Come here, I want to give you some candy," what do you do?

JACK: I turn around and run!

SISTER: If a stranger says, "Come here, I want to show you my puppy," what do you do?

JACK: Oh, I love puppies...

Source: http://www.prettyinthecity.com/blog/2011/7/26/stranger-danger.html

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Reader Reviews

The movie tie-in edition of "20 Times a Lady"—now called "What's Your Number?"—is now available wherever fine books are sold!

To celebrate its publication, a few of my favorite readers came up with these great reviews...

"What's Your Number? is like Harry Potter minus the wizards, wands, and Lord Voldemort." —Michelle Bell

 

"‎What's Your Number? is like Gone With the Wind except with less hoop skirts and poverty and more beaus..." —Karen Meyer

 

‎"What's Your Number? is like To Kill a Mockingbird without all the racism and children." —Julie Stone

Thanks ladies!

Please add your review in the comments!

Source: http://www.prettyinthecity.com/blog/2011/9/7/reader-reviews.html

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Seth Rogen: 'I Smoke A Lot Of Weed When I Write'

'I think way more people smoke weed than the media likes to acknowledge,' actor tells MTV News.
By Eric Ditzian, with reporting by Josh Horowitz


Seth Rogen
Photo: MTV News

"That dude gave me the greatest gift I've had in the last five years," Kevin Smith told MTV News earlier this year about his "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" star Seth Rogen.

Smith wasn't talking about some meaningful postproduction keepsake — say, the bubble-blowing ring ex-porn star Traci Lords uses for unclean purposes in the movie — but rather a joint Rogen and the filmmaker shared on the last day of shooting in 2008. "We sat back, watched some footage and sat there smoking," Smith explained. "And I loved who I was."

Smith is now a gleeful proponent of weed, which he credits with spurring the most creatively productive years of his career, and Rogen is happy, as he put it recently to MTV News, to take credit for Smith "being stoned all the time."

"I either get people started smoking weed or I put them out of business smoking weed," Rogen added with a laugh while promoting "50/50," a comedy about a young guy with cancer in which the actor and co-star Joseph Gordon-Levitt's characters get high for suspect medicinal purposes. "I'm either your first or last."

While Smith credits pot as a sort of mind-expanding artistic gateway, Rogen says he lights up to ease the drudgery of the creative process. "I smoke a lot of weed when I write, generally speaking," he told us. "I don't know if it helps me write. It makes me not mind that I'm writing. And I don't know if it makes me work better, but it makes me not care that I'm working. Who wants to work? But if you're stoned, it doesn't seem like work."

To help you work better, to make you forget you're actually working, to just have a good ol' time — why and when people get blazed may differ. But Rogen is convinced that no matter how it goes down, it's most certainly going down (and up in smoke).

"I think a lot of people smoke weed," he said. "I think way more people smoke weed than the media likes to acknowledge. Maybe it's just the people I'm around, but I don't think so. Pretty much everyone that I know smokes weed sometimes — with the exception of my parents."

Check out everything we've got on "50/50."

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

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1671806/seth-rogen-50-50-weed.jhtml

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Audrina Patridge, Ke$ha, Adam Lambert Share Prom Memories

'Me and my gay best friend just danced until 8 a.m.,' Ke$ha tells MTV News.
By Jocelyn Vena


Audrina Patridge
Photo: MTV News

It's prom season, and that means high schoolers across this great land will be renting tuxes, buying fancy dresses and negotiating the details of their curfews with parents. So, before you take your pictures and get in your limos, we asked some Hollywood A-listers to recall their fondest prom memories.

"I had a great prom," Ne-Yo told MTV News. "I didn't get to go with who I wanted to go with. I got my second choice, but my second choice turned out to be the one I was supposed to be there with, so it turned out good."

Ke$ha, never one to say no to a party, had the best night of all her friends. "I went to prom with my gay best friend, and let me tell you, I had way more fun than anybody else at a prom with their boyfriends," she recalled. "Everybody else was, like, crying and drama and breaking up, and me and my gay best friend just danced until 8 a.m."

"Hellcats" star Aly Michalka doesn't have a favorite prom memory — because she never went to prom. "I was homeschooled, so I don't even think we had a fake prom," she lamented. "Like, maybe we had a home-school prom and I wasn't invited?"

While everything always seems to be in peril on "The Vampire Diaries," star Nina Dobrev had a less tumultuous night: "Having everyone get together and such a final celebration [is what I remember]."

Romeo went big for his prom. "My senior prom, I remember I pulled up in my red Ferrari. I was feeling like James Bond," he said. "And it was one of the best nights of my life."

"My favorite prom memory was probably going shopping for a dress, and our boyfriends at the time dressed up as 'Dumb & Dumber,' " Audrina Patridge laughed. "And so we were like, 'We can't dress up dorky ... we have to look good.' "

Roots drummer ?uestlove made a big decision on the night of his prom: "June 2, 1989, was my very last haircut; prom haircut, totally butchered my hair. He butchered my hair, and I vowed never again to ever get in a barber chair, so I grew that Afro on my prom night."

Adam Lambert said his prom date was a 10, so he definitely had a fun night. "I had a great prom. I had an awesome time," he said. "I went with one of my best friends in high school. Her name was Lauren, and she was really hot. She wore a really hot red dress, so I felt like I had arm candy."

Share your prom memories in the comments below!

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1662981/celebrity-prom-memories.jhtml

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