BuzzSugar

Love It or Leave It: "The World the People Together (Come On)" by The Dandy Warhols

BuzzSugar — Tue, 06 May 2008 06:30:22 PDT

"We Used to Be Friends," the Dandy Warhols song that was used as the theme song for Veronica Mars, is one of my favorite songs ever, and not just because of the Kristen Bell association. Thus, whenever there's a new Warhols song, I gotta listen to it, just to see what new stuff they're serving up.

Now we've got the lead track off their sixth album, Earth To The Dandy Warhols, and I have to agree with Stereogum's description: "'The World The People Together (Come On)' is a bouncy, percussive, smeary group lift-off." It's a lot of fun to listen to, and (I've noticed today) way easy to have on in the background while at work.

What do you think about this tune? Check it out and vote below.

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Brad Meltzer Talks About His New Heroes For My Daughter

Rebecca M Gruber — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 03:11:19 PDT

"Where's my book?" In the two years since Brad Meltzer released Heroes For My Son, that's what the New York Times best-selling author has heard over and over from his daughter. Now, just a month before Mother's Day, Brad reaches out to his daughter and mothers everywhere with Heroes For My Daughter.

In his new book, the father of three profiles 56 people who he believes are worthy of the hero title. The collection of biographies and photographs spans Amelia Earhart and Lucille Ball to Mahatma Gandhi and Judy Blume. He's also introducing a line of inspirational clothing pieces featuring caricatures of the heroes. I recently spoke with the author about the new book; here's what he had to say.

LilSugar: Are there any crossovers between the heroes you picked for your son and the ones you have selected for your daughter?
Brad Meltzer: I did 50 brand-new heroes for my daughter. But there were six heroes that I felt were worth repeating from Heroes For My Son - a sort of hall of fame that I felt needed to be there for my daughter: Rosa Parks, Amelia Earhart, Abraham Lincoln, Gandhi, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Lucille Ball. Plus, I again included my mom. C'mon. It's my mom!

LS: What were the criteria you used to make your selections? What did it take for them to "make the cut"?
BM: To pick a hero, it's like the Supreme Court definition of pornography: you know it when you see it. But in the book, there's one thing every hero has in common. They all had to do this: help someone. Some people help thousands of people directly, like Marie Curie or Susan B. Anthony. Others help us by inspiring us, like Amelia Earhart. But you do have to help someone.

It’s the dream that links every single hero I picked for her. As I now often tell my daughter Lila, no matter what stage of life you're in, when you want something - no matter how impossible it seems - you need to fight for it. When you believe in something, fight for it. And when you see injustice, fight harder than you've ever fought before.

Keep reading for more about Brad's picks, including some little-known facts about the heroes.

Jessica Alba Dishes About Her Mommy Must Have and Details of Her New Book!

Rebecca M Gruber — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 08:32:19 PDT

Just call her supermama. As if having a baby and launching The Honest Company weren't enough to do in one year, Jessica Alba recently announced plans to write her first book, too. The actress and mother of two - Honor, 3, and Haven, 7 months - hopes to share some of the tips and tricks she's learned about motherhood, as well as her methods for creating an eco-friendly and toxin-free environment in her home, with other modern moms who are busy trying to juggle it all.

I spoke with Jessica about her version of healthy living, why we always spot her wearing scarves, and the best trick her own mama taught her about motherhood.

On her forthcoming book about honest living:
"It's what I've learned along the way through trial and error - things that are actually attainable and applicable to me and to my life. I'm not growing organic vegetables at my house and picking them and feeding [them to] my family. I'm a working mom, so for me, it was easier to use disposable diapers. I do the best I can. I make my kids organic food, but I'm not the extreme. I think a lot of people probably fall more in the category where I fall - we want the best for our families, but sometimes we feel like it's too hard and it's too unattainable to go all the way and grow a garden and do that. So where's the happy medium? The book's going to be a very simple handbook on little things you can do that add up and make a big difference."

On sharing new mom tips:
"From room decor to making meals for the week to simple beauty recipes that my grandmother passed down to me made from things that are in your pantry . . . through trial and error, I've figured a few things out, and I'm sure other people have to. So [I'm] putting them together in a very simple, easy-to-read, colorful book. I also want it to be if you only have 10 minutes, you can walk away with something. It's like, what do you pack in your diaper bag that's easy - do you even have a diaper bag? Maybe you just carry a large purse. Maybe you use your purse instead of buying 50 different diaper bags knowing that your purse will probably go better with your outfits. So how do you pick a diaper bag that's neutral and will go with everything? And what do you really need in that diaper bag? In the beginning, I was stuffing my child's entire nursery into the diaper bag and breaking my neck and was like, 'Oh, wait, I forgot my wallet. What's going on?'"

On wearing scarves:
"I wear scarves, mostly because it's an accessory that can dress up an outfit, so you're not just wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers. But it's also because if my baby has an accident - and I'm holding the baby - I can cover that accident up! So I'm not walking around with a big puke stain or poo stain on my shirt! Knowing that I don't have time to go home and change, and really, I don't have the space, time, or capacity to pick out five different changes of outfits for my car - it's enough to remember my baby's change of clothes. I have funny little stories about how I learned that lesson [in the book]."

Keep reading for Jessica's thoughts on letting Honor play with the iPad, Jessica Simpson's baby shower, and the importance of the mom community.

Don't Do Your Taxes Without Looking at These 10 Tips

LearnVest — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:15:54 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

Grab your sharpened No. 2s. Tax season is upon us!

OK, we’re kidding about the No. 2s. (We recommend you e-file.) But the sentiment still stands: let’s face our taxes head on and get them out of the way.

Wouldn’t it be great to enter March with your tax refund in hand?

LearnVest isn’t about to leave you alone in the season of tax confusion, so in addition to our free Ace Your Taxes Boot Camp, we’ve put together a whole Tax Center that has everything you need.

Whether you are a parent, a student, a home owner, or even all three, we took the tax code and made it understandable. After all, straightforward financial advice is our main goal, even when it comes to deductions and credits.

To get you started, we’ve created a trusty cheat sheet with the top 10 things you must know going into tax season.

1. It’s Best if You E-File

E-filing can save trees, time, and money for the IRS and for you. If you use tax software, the forms you need will be built right in, and if you’re owed a refund, you’ll get it faster. And through a special LearnVest partnership, you can get H&R Block’s basic federal filing package (normally about $20) for free just by signing up for our Ace Your Taxes Boot Camp.

However, there are a few instances in which you must file a paper return. If you need to file a paper return, check out our guide to IRS forms, which will tell you which ones you need for your specific tax situation. Then, read our instructions on how to file. Note that tax refunds this year will be delayed an extra week or two, so prepare yourself.

Read on for more.

The Muppets' Music Man Bret McKenzie on His Oscar Nod and Taking a Silly Job Seriously

Lindsay Miller — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:50:41 PST

Bret McKenzie is up for an exceedingly rare honor this year, with his ballad "Man or Muppet" earning one of just two nominations in the Oscars' best song category. I caught up with The Muppets' musical supervisor today at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank to chat about the awards attention and the unique experience of penning music for Kermit and company. The New Zealand native talked about fighting the temptation to use the word "motherfrogger" in his songwriting and the roundabout way he came on board The Muppets project in the first place. Bret - who previously was best known as one half of the musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords - also shared his hopes of bringing FOC to the big screen. Check out our conversation below:

PopSugar: It's got to be an honor to be nominated for an Oscar, but also in a year when the Academy only bothered to nominate two songs.
Bret McKenzie: They barely nominated anyone! When I found out, it sounded like there'd been a mistake, and yeah, it's a huge honor. It's great and it's really exciting, and I'm not complaining that there's only two nominees the year I'm nominated. I mean, this is the best chance I'll have of winning an Oscar, ever. It couldn't have been better, unless there was just one nomination, and then it would be a very dull ceremony . . . There's a lot of legendary musicians - tunesmiths - in that list of possible nominations. So it's all very surreal to think that I got in ahead of Elton John.

PS: And Madonna. Those two had a little rivalry going on.
BM: I know. I got nervous about what Elton John's husband was going to say about me. It's crazy, and it's great for The Muppets film, because we're all really proud of the film and it wasn't ever really going to get a best actor. Hey, Jason's good, that's not what I mean, but Kermit, Miss Piggy - they can't win these awards - and comedies don't generally get recognized at these awards ceremonies, so it's kind of cool. It's almost like the film as a whole is being recognized with this category.

For more from our chat with Bret, including what he says about his plans for a Flight of the Conchords film, coaching Jason Segel, and the pressure he felt on the project, just

PS: What was the biggest unexpected challenge for you writing music for the film? I know you talked about one draft of a song where you referred to a Muppet as a piece of felt and were told you couldn't do that.
BM: Yeah. Little piece of felt, and you couldn't say things like motherfrogger, even though it's very tempting. There were lots of hard parts to it. The Muppets can't sing certain notes. They can't sing too high or the voice changes and doesn't sound like the right character. There were so many weird things. I spent hours recording penguins and rats, and what's weird is that it's such a silly job, but you have to take it very seriously. So I would be in the studio for days, maybe a whole day recording penguins, and then I'm like, "I'm not happy with how the penguins are sounding! Where's penguin four?" You know, getting demanding. "We lost penguin track four! I can't hear the penguin!"

PS: I was watching the movie again last night and watching Jason Segel's performance of "Man or Muppet." Did you coach him on any of his rockstar moves? Because he pretty much nailed it.
BM: He nailed it. That's my favorite moment in the film. When he buckles down in the rain, that was one of my favorite shots. I was so proud of what James [Bobin, the director] and those guys achieved, because I wasn't there on set, I just saw them syncing the video, and I was like, "Wow, guys. You nailed it." What we did do in the studio, as Jason and I had a technique where I would sing a line, and he'd watch me through the window, and then he'd sing it back. So we did this thing where, I was really into the drama of it. So, I was like, "Am I a Muppppettt?" [balling his hands into fists] And he'd be like, OK, record. "Am I a Muppppettt!" So we kind of worked together to get that style.

PS: Did it shatter some of your childhood illusions to have the guy that does Miss Piggy's voice come work with you [in the recording studio]?
BM: Yeah. Well, it wasn't Frank Oz. The guy Eric, who does it now, yeah. That was strange. And the day that we recorded Kermit the Frog doing "Rainbow Connection" - I was sort of pinching myself, because that was probably one of the real moments for me where I realized that my world had really changed. That I'd come from New Zealand, I'd grown up with Kermit the Frog, and now I was in Hollywood in a studio recording Kermit the Frog. It felt like worlds had collided.

PS: Was there pressure knowing there was already this great catalog of Muppet songs? To try to add to that or top it in some way?
BM: I knew I wouldn't top "Rainbow Connection," but I was very intimidated, but the way I worked on the job was it actually started with me just writing one song, so I didn't feel the pressure of writing the whole movie. I think it would have been different if I'd been hired from the outset to do all the music. So I wrote one, then another, and gradually wrote more and more, so that helped.

PS: What song did you write first?
BM: The opening song. That's the one they needed, that's the one James asked me to write first. The script was probably on a second draft, and they were in preproduction, so I came in quite late. And the way they were doing it was, they got 100s of demos submitted from all sorts of songwriters, and surprisingly - even though they got some really great people to do demos - people weren't quite hitting the right tone. The Muppet tone. I'd just come off the Conchords tour and I had some time, and James asked if I was interested in doing that opening song, because he had a kind of specific thing he needed from that song. He needed it to be really Muppet-y, that song, and he had a great idea for the whole town joining in, it starting off small and becoming a big musical number, and that came together really well.

PS: Is this experience maybe something you want to bring to a Flight of the Conchords movie?
BM: Yeah, exactly. Having done this movie now, we're in a much better place to do a Conchords film, because James is more experienced - well, we're all more experienced. Not specifically, but James Bobin - well, we're all very keen to do another studio musical, because I really enjoyed being able to do comedy musical numbers on such a grand scale, and I think next time, I really think it will just get better and better. Because it's such a fun genre, and we've done like 50 songs for TV now, and now The Muppets movie, and I feel like we've accidentally sort of become musical comedy experts.

PS: What do you imagine Bret and Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords are up to these days, in their universe?
BM: In the Lower East Side? That's a good question. I reckon they probably got a regular gig now. Like, at a Chinese restaurant.

Photo courtesy Disney

5 Ways Spending Less Will Create More Happiness

LearnVest — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 00:15:49 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

Recently, New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote an op-ed piece about the “Haimish Line.” The Haimish Line is an invisible line sometimes crossed when you go from spending less to spending more - in doing so, Brooks contends, you often sacrifice warmth and connection to attain luxury and space. According to Brooks, “haimish” is a Yiddish word that suggests “warmth, domesticity and unpretentious conviviality.”

An exclusive, white-tablecloth, four-star restaurant where servers disappear and diners are on their Blackberries would be north of the Haimish Line. A small, casual diner on the corner bustling with loud conversations from neighborhood folks talking over each other would be south of the Haimish Line. A new dorm building with a shiny, new, unused lounge would be north of the Haimish Line; the well-worn lounge of ratty furniture that students veer toward would be staunchly planted south of the Haimish Line. The Haimish Line even slices across neighborhoods: densely packed urban neighborhoods where kids run home from school and and people have stoop conversations versus spread-out suburbs of isolated living in separate homes and cars.

Brooks advises that we learn to spend our money well and stay south of the Haimish Line.

I found this essay so compelling because money often buys privacy, space, exclusivity and “luxury”-all of which are the very opposite of “unpretentious conviviality.” In America, the picture of success is a bigger house (where the family is more spread out), moving to the suburbs (with more distance between neighbors), a nicer car (to be more vigilant about spills in), and flying first class (ok, so some things are not worth getting all concerned about “the Haimish Line” over).

Read on for ways to spend less and create happiness.

Harry Potter's James and Oliver Phelps Talk Playing the Weasley Twins and Reveal Their Favorite Potter Scene

Becky Kirsch — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 03:05:00 PST

The Harry Potter films may have come to an end, but the legacy certainly lives on - and the stars of the franchise are still celebrating. The cast headed to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Florida over the weekend to commemorate the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 on DVD, which is in stores now. I caught up with James and Oliver Phelps, who play the mischievous twins, Fred and George Weasley in the series. The brothers shared some of their favorite scenes and fan moments, and revealed one very strange prop that they swiped from the set.

BuzzSugar: Now that the last movie is coming out on DVD, does it feel like Harry Potter is really over?
Oliver Phelps: Not really, no. There's always something else that's happening with Potter. There's this one, then there's the Warner Brothers studio London tour where you can go see the sets and everything, which opens at the end of March. And there will probably be other stuff.

Buzz: What do you miss the most about making the movies, and what do you miss the least?
OP: Miss the least is getting my eyebrows bleached, definitely. But miss the most? I think just the regularity of it. You knew where you were going to be, for a couple of months a year filming Potter, and knowing that that was coming up. [Not having that] takes some getting used to.

JP: What I miss the most is hanging out on someone else's credit card [Laughs]. We are all good friends, so it was just hanging out with your mates. So I'll miss that, but we still keep in contact. What I'll miss least? Maybe the traveling. I'm not a big fan of the traveling. People ask, "If there's one spell you could take, what would it be?" A port key, definitely. Because then I could easily be back in England, and that kind of thing.

Buzz: How surreal was it to film the scene in the final movie where Fred dies?
OP: It wasn't nice. It wasn't nice at all, because one thing we do with [director] David Yates is try to get into the moment, try to relate to something. Which I did, and it came over really well, I think, on camera. But it was weird, not only seeing your pretend brother in the film, but your actual brother, all pale and stiff. I'm glad we didn't have to do that too often.

Buzz: Would you say it was easier to do the scene with your real brother?
OP: It made it easier to do, but probably harder as well to keep it together.

Buzz: Did you get to keep any props from the set?
OP: I wish we did, I really wish we did. I'd love to take the wand, because each wand is individual. They're very strict on having that back, but that would have been great if we were able to keep those. I don't know what I'd do with it. I'd probably put it in a case, put it on my wall or something, but it would be nice to have that piece. I did keep the prosthetic ear, because George loses his ear, which looks really odd. It's at the back of my script. When you open my script, it's stuck there, which looks pretty disgusting.

To see what James and Oliver had to say about growing up on screen and their favorite Potter scene, just

Buzz: What was it like following the trajectory of your characters from pranksters to young men?
JP: It was cool because normally when you do a film, the emotion of the character is the same all the way through. But what's the joy of playing [Fred and George] is that you can show they're predominantly pranksters, they love to have a laugh, then you see that they're entrepreneurs, and then you see they've actually got a softer side as well, like in Deathly Hallows Part 1 when George has his ear blown off, you see the softer side of Fred. We were able to take the characters from one extreme to another, yet still be in the same character, and everyone is still able to understand them.

Buzz: What lessons did you learn as actors making these films?
OP: It was certainly a learning curve along the way. We learned so many things like, acting-wise, just watching all the older guys in the cast do their thing, and you can pick up so many tips. The best is that you can go and talk to them about it, which is absolutely great to be able to do.

Buzz: What's your favorite scene that you guys were in?
JP: For me, it would be the Marauder's Map scene in The Prisoner of Azkaban. Because that's like the first time you see Fred and George, as like, you always know they're pranksters or whatever, but they actually have stuff of importance they're willing to pass on. But on a personal level, our grandfather read the book, and said to us, "This will be good. You've got to get that scene, get that scene and you'll be sorted." So that was kind of it, but unfortunately he passed away a couple of weeks before we shot it. But on an emotional side, that means so much to me because it was him who came up with the idea initially of cutting each other up, and it became our trademark all the way through.

Buzz: Is the fan mania bigger here in the states, or overseas?
James Phelps: It's big everywhere we go, which is quite a special thing. I guess it's just the cultures in general, and how different cultures are different. In the Far East, for example, they'll cheer and everything, but as soon as you wave, everyone stops talking and just waves back. Over here, you can kind of work them into a bit of frenzy. I'm not flogging my ego or anything, they're just very passionate about it.

Buzz: Can you tell me about one of your craziest fan moments?
OP: When we were in London, people were crying and everything. They saw it as the end of their childhood. But I think when it all comes to a head, it's over for them as an audience, really. There's no more new premieres and stuff. That was quite emotional for a lot of people.

Buzz: Do you guys want to continue working together or are you ready to go your separate ways, career-wise?
OP: Both. Originally, we were going to do something totally different from each other, but listening to the older guys, they said, "No, you should use that. You've got something different from the competition. If you have anything different from the competition, then use that."
JP: It would be good to work apart for a little bit, because we'll probably kill each other if we keep doing this [Laughs].

Jason Segel Talks Muppets, Amy Adams, and His Next Hollywood Dream

Allie Merriam — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 11:48:00 PDT

We were able to pay a visit to the LA set of The Muppets earlier this year, and the movie's mastermind, lifelong Jim Henson fan Jason Segel, stopped by to chat about life on the set with Kermit. The project was written by Jason and his partner Nick Stoller, and was brought to life with director James Bobin, leading lady Amy Adams, and a roster of talented puppeteers. Jason spoke about how he and Nick tried to make the film fun for both kids and adults, and revealed how happy he was to land Amy Adams as a costar. Jason, who at the time was finishing the Five Year script with Nick between scenes while logging an almost-regular workweek on the set of How I Met Your Mother, also touched on new Muppets, operating Fozzie himself, and what his next big Hollywood dream is. Jason said:

On people's perceptions of a Jason Segel Muppets movie: "I think maybe there was a moment of wariness that I was doing this with a sense of irony. Like there was a wink-wink about it - 'Oh, cute. R-rated Jason Segel is going to do the Muppets and make fun of it.' But as soon as we arrived on set and everyone saw that that wasn't the case, that this was coming from a very genuine and true place, we were all on the same team very very quickly."
On making a movie for kids and adults: "We're trying to harken back to the original three Muppet movies, The Muppet Movie, Muppets Take Manhattan, and The Great Muppet Caper. I think one of the things the original Muppet movies did amazingly well is that they don't condescend to children by feeling like they have to dumb things down to the lowest common denominator. And when you don't do that, you get a family film in its truest sense. An entire family can sit and watch and enjoy it. The worst equivalent is Barney the dinosaur where parents are having to sit there while their kids watch this and the parents want to blow their brains out. This I think is going to be the exact opposite. I think parents are going to be laughing as hard as kids are going to be laughing. We have jokes geared toward children and we have jokes that are geared specifically toward adults that go right over a kid's head. It's something that The Simpsons does as well. There's something very special about a family sitting down to enjoy something together - that was our goal."
On why Amy Adams is the perfect leading lady: "I wrote it for her. She was in my mind from the beginning, ever since I saw Enchanted. The role is very different, but first of all, she's like the best actress alive. To go from Enchanted to Doubt, and The Fighter, this woman can do anything. She's able to do this wide-eyed naiveté that is not part of her personality in real life - she's one of the most smart, on-top-of-it women I've ever met. But she can do this kind of thing - my character and her character and Walter are true innocents. She's able to do that. She channels it through her eyes, and she can sing. She's totally game. She's up for it. She also really gets the jokes, so she was the perfect choice from the start. I don't know what we would have done if we hadn't gotten her."
On writing, filming TV, and filming movies at the same time: "I spent [ages] 21-25 totally out of work. And so now that I have a chance to do stuff, there's a part of me that thinks I'm not letting this opportunity pass by. You see it go away so quickly. It's so fickle. I like writing, I genuinely do. I get tired and all that stuff, but when you think about it, it's like the alien is going to burst out of your chest. When I get an idea it's kind of hard not to do something because it feels like the alien is going to burst out of my chest. I'm not good at setting it aside and saying I'll get to it eventually. I want to start writing it, even if it means staying up all night. It's tough to complain . . . I bought a house! What do I have to complain about, a little lack of sleep?"

View 5 Photos ›

Photos courtesy Disney

To read what Jason says about the new Muppet, more on the movie, and his one remaining Hollywood dream, just

On creating a new Muppet: "Nick Stoller and I did. We wrote the script together, he's my writing partner. We invented Walter! We did not get to design him physically because then they would owe us a lot of money. So we came up with him on paper and then they were very clear that we could not be involved in any aspect in the physical design of Walter. But it is pretty crazy when I saw him and I knew he was born in our brains. It's like Nick and I had a little baby - with our brains."
On whether or not this movie would be a musical: "We knew it was going to be a musical from the start. All the Muppets movies are musicals. When you look back at the great lineage of the Muppet music, like "The Rainbow Connection." I mean that is not a joke of a song. That is a serious song. If a legitimate musician put out that song they'd win a Grammy. We really wanted the music to be great and James (director) was the perfect choice for this movie and it seems like he's been training for this."
On what Muppets we'll see again: "We're bringing out a lot of the Muppets from the archives. A lot of guys from the old Muppet shows, some of the kind of obscure performances make appearances. I can't give too many away, but there's some old favorites of mine . . . there's some really cool weird ones."
On improv from the Muppeteers: "There is! I did not expect that for a minute! These guys know the characters so much better than I could hope to. I could imagine what the character might say, but these guys have been playing them for 20, 30 years."
On operating a Muppet himself: "Yeah I just operated Fozzie a minute ago! I've done Fozzie, Dr. Teeh, and I've done Beeker so far. It's been amazing. That is what knocks your socks off. This is going to sound different from how I mean it - but my hand is inside Fozzie? That's amazing. I never thought that would happen!"
On taking pieces from the set home: "I really want a lot of stuff that I see around here. They're very protective certainly over the puppets, but I've gotten a few bits of paraphernalia that I'll save and treasure forever. Some really special photographs. Me with Kermit, shooting the . . . breeze? What's the the PG version of that? That's the greatest picture I've ever seen. I love it."
On Muppets not being puppets: "In the original script, I was a ventriloquist and Walter was my puppet. But one of the things you find out is that you really don't want to cross the line into mentioning puppet. It becomes very, very complicated because the Muppets and not puppets. Muppets are living creatures in this world, you know what I mean? So as soon as I realized that that made things really complicated to have a puppet vs. the Muppets . . . it became complicated, so we cut that aspect of the story and it actually really simplified the story."
On Walter's personality: "Walter is the sweetest little guy you'll ever meet. He's like Kermit. He's like a very young Kermit. He's naive and he's sweet. Walter's thing is he's never met anyone like him. Like I said you don't use the word puppet, but he's my best friend and we grew up in Smalltown, USA - that's literally the name of the town - and he's never seen anything else like him. Except for the Muppets on television. So his dream is to go meet the Muppets and maybe have a family. It really does have tones of young Kermit."
On the movie's bad guys: "There are some other new Muppets. Villainous characters - they're not specifically Muppets. They're not very nice, so they're not Muppets. But they're adorable. I love them. They're another great creation. I can't give too much away about them, but they're really cool."
On the movie being a lifelong dream: "Once [the studio] said they were going to make it, everyone in my life was like, 'All right! Whatever you need. Let's get this thing made.' Because I've had puppets and Muppet figurines in my house, in my bedroom, since I was a kid."
On making Muppets history: "I'm not an arrogant dude, but to be even the tiniest footnote in the Muppets lineage is nuts to me. That is insane! So I feel very honored."
On Hollywood stars requesting cameos: "I got a lot of calls, especially my contemporaries who have kids all wanted to be a part of it for their kids. The idea of bringing their kids to meet the Muppets, or even to be able to show them the movie eventually. People love the Muppets. There's a lot of Muppet love out there."
On the music: "Bret McKenzie wrote most of the songs, and we have a couple reprises of some of the old songs. I wrote one of the songs, but it's a jokier version. Bret really took the songs and ran with them, and they're awesome . . . but some of the lyrics are definitely adult-based."
On where we find the Muppets: "We've got them in varying states of success and disarray. Some are famous, some are . . . destitute is the wrong word, you're not going to see any destitute moments . . . but some aren't doing what they wish they were doing. Everyone is doing their own thing, and it's a bit of a struggle for all of them to come back and do the Muppet show again."
On his next big Hollywood dream: "I'd like to be president of the United States. No. I've like to play a villain in a superhero movie. I think I'd be really good at it. I'm like 20 percent creepy. I'm really am. I am 20 percent creepy, I exclude it from this movie. But when you watch Sarah Marshall, the Dracula musical is funny but it's 20 percent creepy. I really want to play a villain in a superhero movie."

Matt Shares About His Working Relationship With Ben and Onscreen Romance With Costar Emily

Allie Merriam — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 11:30:00 PST

Matt Damon and Emily Blunt stuck together at a press conference for their film The Adjustment Bureau recently in NYC - check out Buzz's review of the film hitting theaters today. The duo, who are an on-screen couple in the movie, spoke about their own real live loves before the assembled press, and Matt even touched on his friendship with longtime BFF Ben Affleck. Matt and Emily, who had the reporters cracking up, also shared about how embarrassing it was to shoot in front of fans at iconic landmarks all over NYC. Here's more:

In the film, Matt, your character goes to the end of the world for love. What's the craziest things you've done for love?
Matt Damon: I've been asked that question before, but I don't think I've ever done anything too out there.
Really?
MD: You build your life around someone, that's pretty crazy. But it's more incrementally. There's no moment where I'm like Tom Cruise in Born in the Fourth of July running down the street in the rain . . . any minute I'm not working I go home. But we have a two-week rule so there's no job I can take - like when I did True Grit I asked Joel and Ethan to board the movie so that I was never away from home for more than a week . . . I just took this big movie in LA, so we're all there together. It's a pretty mundane life but we don't allow ourselves to be apart so we don't really need those dramatic moments.
You guys had the task of making a love story seem natural in a sort of sci-fi film. How did you manage that?
EB: That was the tricky part for me, that was one of the questions I had tonally about what the movie was. You know, like what were we doing and I think George encouraged us and we just decided to submarine everything and be very naturalistic . . . and not that Matrix-esque flying around on wires doing crazy stuff. They are pretty accessible sci-fi characters, I guess. They wear hats and they go through doors, there is a simplicity of it that shouldn't require any sort of declamatory performance. I always feel safer doing something natural. I think that it works for the movie, I think it lends itself to the relationship. You have to really invest in the relationship and make that relationship authentic. We had a lot of fun with our scenes because we wanted to find the right kind of chemistry for the characters in order for you guys to root for them and want them to be together.
MD: The tone stuff we weren't in charge of. That was the director's job. For us we were like, "OK, this is a love story with this other whole element in it. What we can control is the relationship between us." So we just worked on the scenes, and re-writing the scenes to kind of feel right . . . I think we just had a similar sense of humor, so that kind of helped.

To read what Matt says about his relationship with Ben Affleck, just

There is a cool gimmick in the film where you can open doors and be in a new location. How was it shooting in locations that were so iconic in NYC like the Statue of Liberty?
EB: I was like a kid. It was so exciting to be able to shoot at the Statue of Liberty. The downfall is that is that you have 400 random strangers watching you do a very emotional scene, which is pretty embarrassing.
MD: We did that shoot at the foot of the statue of liberty, and obviously you can't shut down the Statue of Liberty. So there were a bunch of people who were going to see the Statue of Liberty who were like, "Oh hey, a movie's getting filmed!" So we're yelling at each other like, "I Love You!' and there'd be a pause and then everyone would clap.
EB: There was one really bad moment where we'd managed to get it together - we'd been laughing because it was so mortifying, the whole thing - you managed to get it together, you were really in it, then some d*ckhead goes, "MATT DAMON!" And he looked at me and he went, "This is the worst day of my life."
Matt, you're known for working closely with your friend Ben Affleck. When it comes to the movies, how much of a benefit is it to have people in the industry helping you?
MD: If I have a cut of a movie I'm in, I always show my friends. I'm always showing my wife, I show Ben. I saw probably six different versions of The Town as he was working on it. It's always good to have another set of eyes on something. On a movie set you can always see a lot of time being wasted on diplomacy, because people don't want to hurt people's feelings. It's always so much easier if it's implicitly understood that there's a deep respect for the other person so then I can tell you that's a f*cking terrible idea. And you can just move on! Particularly when you're writing there are times when you get so excited, and you're like, "And this guys going to come in the room and he's gonna . . . !" And your writing partner is like, "That is terrible." And you can just abandon it right away. It just saves so much time versus two hours saying. "I wonder if that's really what we want to say . . ." It's just a waste of time, and the quicker you can cut to the chase - the idea is that the allegiance is to the great idea, it's not to one person or any one agenda. It's just to the idea.

Why This Woman Wants to Marry Rich

LearnVest — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 00:15:23 PDT

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

LearnVest presents an essay from someone with a bold opinion on a money topic. Past editions have included conversations about how living together will affect your finances, why “homesteading” could be a new feminist career and why the CARD Act may actually hurt women. In this latest essay, LearnVest spoke to one woman who tells us outright that she wants to marry rich.

The views expressed here are those of the essayist and not the LearnVest staff, but we look forward to opening the floor to debate and discussion. Tell us what you think in the comments below.

Money is a core value and a deal breaker, like religion or children. A lot of people would sympathize if I said I didn’t want to marry someone because he didn’t want kids or his religious beliefs clashed with mine, but it’s a lot less socially acceptable to say that I wouldn’t want to marry someone who is poor.

Money is a divisive factor-on a global scale the pursuit of it causes wars and crime, and on a personal level it leads to immense stress. My mother grew up in near poverty, so she replies to “money can’t buy happiness” with, “No? Try going without it.”

I never intend to do so-I plan to marry rich.*

“Marrying for money” gets a bad rap because it sounds so mercenary. It’s implied that in marrying for money, you sell yourself to the highest bidder, regardless of the person holding the auction paddle. You then enter a lifetime of derision and emotional sacrifice, eschewing true happiness in favor of in-season Manolos. For me, a college-educated, generally rational woman, marrying for money isn’t at the expense of all else-it’s just a priority. Having that priority, my potential husbands are self-selecting. They, like me, are people who both have and value money.

Read on to find out what marrying rich means for this woman.