Corinne Bailey Rae, the Hives and more count 'cheeky,' 'sort it out' and some naughty obscenities among fave Brit-isms.
By Matt Elias

Corinne Bailey Rae at Hard Rock Calling 2010
Photo: MTV News

The Brits have a long history of catch-tastic slang, from the cheeky monkeys to the shagadelic mods. Over the weekend at the Hard Rock Calling festival in London, MTV News asked some of the artists sharing the bill to give us their favorite words and phrases. Consider it British Slang 101 — it might be useful should you ever find yourself across the pond.

The Gaslight Anthem
Cu--: "I love the Northern U.K. people when you can say cu-- for anything," dummer Benny Horowitz said. "Like if I hear an American girl say that word, it just makes me, ugh, it's gross, but when they say it, it's hilarious. We toured with a band called Former Cell Mates who basically just called us that about 15, 20 times a day: 'What's up, you f---ing cu--?' "

Sort it out: I'd say mine would be 'sort it out,' " bassist Alex Levine said. "MTV, sort your stuff out.

Corinne Bailey Rae
Don't be daft: "I always say, 'don't be daft,' apparently, and that was pointed out by my American makeup artist. She was like, 'You're always saying, "don't be daft." ' So that means 'don't worry about it.' Your Italian-Americans might say 'fuggedaboutit' — it's the Yorkshire equivalent of 'forget about it.' "

The Hives
Wanker: "Oi, wanker!" frontman Pelle Almqvist shouted. "A packet of crisps and a pint of lager, s'il vous plaît, or is that the wrong language?" To which bandmate Niklas Almqvist responded, "Oh, that's cockney."

Joshua Radin
Bullocks: "If you get angry, I like saying, 'Oh, that's bullocks, mate! It's bullocks mate!' I think you can say that. Or I like cheeky: 'You cheeky bastard.' "

What's your favorite bit of Brit slang? Share with us in the comments!

• Pearl Jam, Paul McCartney And More Come Out For Hard Rock Calling 2010

Third time's not the charm.

Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in "Eclipse"
Photo: Summit

"Eclipse" might be as good as the "Twilight" films are going to get. The main actors have settled comfortably into their roles in this third installment of the franchise. Jackson Rathbone, Nikki Reed and Ashley Greene, the more interesting of the home-team vampires, have a welcome new prominence, and Robert Pattinson even has a scene in which he displays a twinge of character-development. The movie also has some actual action, as everyone must know by now — a big vampires-versus-vampires-versus-werewolves battle sequence at the end of the picture.

However, having imposed something like narrative clarity on the story, new director David Slade is still stuck with the story — which, deriving as it does from the paceless goop of Stephenie Meyer's books, and having been wrestled into a script by Melissa Rosenberg, is a threadbare quilt of pre-teen romantic clichés padded out unconscionably with long character flashbacks and rambling dialogue that's deader than any of the vampires in attendance. (The picture runs two hours, and might have been more enjoyable — and certainly less exasperating — if it had been cut down into a one-hour TV special.) We begin where the last movie left off, with chaste young lovers Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Pattinson) nuzzling in a sunlit flowery field. She's reading him poetry. He's glistening a bit, as the "Twilight" vampires ridiculously do whenever they're out and about in the daytime. He asks her to marry him. "Change me," she replies — meaning, turn her into a vampire, too. He doesn't want to do this. But we already know that, and we wish he'd just get over it and get it over with, because we've been through this wearying routine before, and we know lots more of it lies ahead.

Bella's dad (Billy Burke) doesn't like her hanging out with Edward so much. Why can't she spend more time with the other kids, like that nice Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner)? Jacob, of course, as we also know, is a member of the local werewolf clan, and he's in love with Bella, too. Possibly in vain, though. "I don't feel that for you," she says. "I don't buy it," he snaps. Then he tries to kiss her, and she punches him in the face. (And sprains her hand — werewolves are very ... hard, or something, apparently).

You could count the minutes Lautner doesn't spend topless in this picture on the hands of a cartoon character. ("Doesn't he own a shirt?" says Edward, deploying one of the movie's several self-aware wisecracks.) This is an understandable strategy on the part of the filmmakers, since Lautner, a formidable physical specimen and a mildly appealing presence, does most of his acting with his abs. (True, he hasn't been given a lot to work with by the script, but who here has?) Jacob and Edward's territorial sniping over Bella continues even after the need arises for both of their families to band together against an attack by the rogue vampire Victoria (now played by Bryce Dallas Howard) and her army of "newborns" — vampires who've only recently been turned. Here we puzzle once again at Stephenie Meyer's complete indifference to traditional vampire lore — to the basic characteristics that make these creatures fun. Apart from the fact that her bloodsuckers can walk around in the sunlight and have no fangs, we're now informed that newborns are the most powerful of all vampires because they still have traces of human blood running through their veins. Traditionally — logically — the most ancient vampires are the most powerful. And anyway, don't most vampires have human blood coursing through them? Isn't human blood what they live on? The contending vampire contingents in this movie could as easily be rival biker gangs or feuding hillbilly families with little adjustment required in the story.

This brings us once again to the sex question. There comes a scene where Bella and Edward are canoodling on a bed, and she asks him — begs him, actually — to have sex with her. But after a quick montage of button-fumbling, Edward backs away. "Believe me, I want to," he says. "I just want to be married to you first." Then he says, "I'm from a different era." If I had to guess, I'd say that era was the 1950s, when sex, if it happened to rear its troublesome head, was consummated offscreen, following a tasteful fade-out. In the "Twilight" films, carnal possibilities aren't even implied. No one's saying that Bella and Edward should get naked, in the manner of HBO's immeasurably superior "True Blood" series. But their dinky cuddling and cooing has no erotic charge. It's like a pepperoni pizza without the pepperoni. It's all cheese.

Just as our patience with this picture is about to collapse — following mini origin stories for two of the Cullens, and a meandering campfire chat with the tribal elders of the Black clan, and a scene in a tent with Bella, Edward and Jacob that may still be going on, for all I know — we finally get the big battle between the local vampires and werewolves and Victoria's invading army of newborns. The werewolves are meticulously animated CGI (although as always in "Twilight" land we wonder how guys in pants can transform into pantsless wolves and then transform back again to guys in pants). But the battle itself is oddly earthbound — the two groups of antagonists simply charge across a field at each other and collide. There's lots of thrashing and gnashing and flying through the air, but what this smackdown summit of vampires and werewolves boils down to is a big street rumble.

The people behind the "Twilight" films clearly feel that fans will sit through anything that brings the books they love to the screen. I wonder how long that'll hold true, though. Could this really be as good as the series is going to get? Without ever getting good?

Check out everything we've got on "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse."

For young Hollywood news, fashion and "Twilight" updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com.

• 'Eclipse' Hits New York City

• 'Eclipse' Stars In New York

Drummer Benny Horowitz has some opinions about MTV's hit show.
By James Montgomery, with reporting by Matt Elias

The Gaslight Anthem
Photo: MTV News

As you can probably tell from virtually every single thing every written about them, rough-and-tumble rockers the Gaslight Anthem are from New Jersey — and proudly so.

So, of course, after they field the obligatory Bruce Springsteen question — something they've always brought upon themselves, especially with their new album, the just-released American Slang — the follow-up question always seems to be about MTV's hit show "Jersey Shore." Rather to their chagrin ...

"People say it's this 'movement,' but is it really a 'movement?' " drummer Benny Horowitz laughed backstage at the Hard Rock Calling fest in London. "As somebody from Jersey, that sh-- has been there forever. So to me, they've been the reason I've stayed out of Seaside Heights, New Jersey, for about 15 years.

"It's funny," he continued. "Literally, now, entertainment-wise, all people can associate with New Jersey is 'The Sopranos' and 'Jersey Shore.' And as a proud Jersey-ian — as somebody from the Garden State, the beautiful place it is, with our beaches and our 'Jersey Fresh' corn, the Bouncing Souls and all these amazing things — there's actually a Web site called ReclaimNewJersey.com."

However, what seems to get under Horowitz's proud New Jersey skin more than anything, it's that some of the castmembers aren't even from New Jersey. To him, it's a matter of authenticity.

"[Some] of the are from, like, Long Island," he laughed. "I don't know ... it's different there now. If they still drove El Caminos, I'd be cool with it."

• The Gaslight Anthem

My World 2.0 singer is 'hotter' than 'Eclipse' stars, and 'his music would save the world,' one fan says.
By Jocelyn Vena

Justin Bieber
Photo: Mark Von Holden/ WireImage

It's a question for the ages, and teen girls don't take it lightly. If there could be only one, which would you choose: Justin Bieber or "Twilight? Days before vampire frenzy spread on Wednesday (June 30) with the opening of "Eclipse," MTV News traveled to Hartford, Connecticut, to catch the teen singer's My World Tour kickoff, where we asked fans there to weigh in on the epic battle of Bieber vs. "Twilight."

One of the two pop-culture phenomena had to come out a winner, and Justin Bieber's fans made their case, with the pop star coming out the clear winner.

"He is amazing," Britney told MTV News, arguing that Bieber's famous head of hair is so much better than Pattinson's equally famous coif. "It's just gorgeous."

In addition to having that sugary-sweet voice, the girls had other important reasons for loving Bieber over the "Twilight Saga," one of them being 24-year-old Pattinson's age. "[Justin's] amazing! He's just amazing. Yes [he wins]. He's more our age and Robert Pattinson is just older, so obviously, Justin Bieber," Amanda said. Her pal, Nicky, agreed saying, "He's our age."

Another fan, Rihanna, said, "He sings better. He's a lot cuter ... and he's our age."

Apart from the age factor, the girls decided that Bieber wins hands-down because of his pop star status.

"He's the one that I worship," Christina gushed. "His music is amazing — it would save the world." Micaela added, "He's freakin' amazing! Taylor Lautner does not sing, neither does Edward, and they're not even that hot as Justin Bieber."

Oh yeah, did they mention he's hot? Or, as Lexi put it: "He's really hot!" Ashley said it was "because he's a singer. He has a really good voice." And, of course, she said, he's "cute!"

If you had to pick between "Twilight" and the Bieb, which would it be? Tell us in the comments!

Check out everything we've got on "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse."

For young Hollywood news, fashion and "Twilight" updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com.

• Justin Bieber

'For those of us who have been through childbirth ... it is a scary, terrifying experience,' she tells MTV News.
By Kara Warner, with reporting by Josh Horowitz

Stephenie Meyer
Photo: Jason Merritt/ Getty Images

While Stephenie Meyer's favorite scene in "Eclipse" was very much on par with that of her "Twilight" fans (the "tent scene"), she might stand alone with her favorite scene in "Breaking Dawn," which creeped out a lot of her devoted fans.

When MTV News chatted with the best-selling author at the Los Angeles premiere of "Eclipse" last week, Meyer revealed that she is most excited to see the very descriptive and messy "birth scene" on the big screen.

"I'd love to have the birth scene be every bit as awful — I know it freaked people out, but for those of us who have been through childbirth a couple times, it is a scary, terrifying experience," she said. "This is just taking that to an exponential power, and I love going there."

By Meyer's estimation, another challenging scene for "Dawn" director Bill Condon and company to tackle in their upcoming two films will be the infamous and also fairly controversial/creepy werewolf imprinting. "The imprinting thing, how do you have that come across?" Meyer wondered about Jacob's relationship with Bella and Edward's baby, Renesmee. "How do you make it clear what's going on inside someone that way? It's a challenge. I think Bill might be up to it, though. He's really smart and on top of it."

Meyer wouldn't reveal what she and Condon have discussed for each film specifically, of course, only that she is very happy with his work thus far. "I love his ideas so far," she said. "He's had some good ones."

Does the birth scene in "Breaking Dawn" creep you out? What scene are you most looking forward to seeing in the two "Dawn" films? Let us know in the comments!

Check out everything we've got on "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse."

For young Hollywood news, fashion and "Twilight" updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com.

• MTV Rough Cut: 'Eclipse'

Death of a Pop Star is due this summer on Banner's independent label.
By Jayson Rodriguez

David Banner and 9th Wonder
Photo: MTV News

David Banner had the best of intentions. The Mississippi-bred rapper wanted to give away a free mixtape produced entirely by 9th Wonder titled Death of a Pop Star. But when the pair connected in the studio to record, they soon discovered a problem with Banner's plan: The music was just too good.

"When we did the first three songs, we were like, 'Man, we ain't giving this jam away,' " 9th Wonder, who produced the entire set, told MTV News. "It was like, 'Man, this is really some good music.' "

The former Little Brother beatsmith said his and Banner's chemistry was apparent immediately. "Then about four or five [records] in, we were like, 'Oh boy, we can't give this away,' " he recalled.

The long-in-the-works collection is meant to critique the musical landscape Banner and 9th Wonder come from. According to both men, the idea of hip-hop not speaking to a range of current events left them both frustrated. Banner, in particular, questioned why his generation hasn't addressed the BP oil spill, for example.

The project's title, Death of a Pop Star, stems from the idea that an artist can no longer become an outsize entertainer in today's climate, like Michael Jackson or Lionel Richie, who were known for their philanthropic efforts just as much as their hit records.

Banner, however, stressed that the music on the project — due this summer on the rapper's independent label — is more important than the message.

"Before the message, before any of the rest of the stuff about this album, this album is jamming," he said of the collection, which will include collaborations with Estelle and Ludacris. "I want to get that straight. Something we both talked about, you got a lot of political rappers holding up their fists, but they not jamming. You got a lot of people that are killers and they kill for real, but they not jamming. At the end of the day, we need to get back to what this is about, and that's good music. If you choose to talk about something over a dope beat or dope song, that's fine. Whatever you choose to do when you get on it, if you have the lyrical depth, it's about what you decide to talk about."

Are you looking forward to hearing David Banner and 9th Wonder's collaboration? Let us know in the comments!

• David Banner

More than $30 million gross tops previous record-holder 'New Moon.'
By Kara Warner

Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner in "Eclipse"
Photo: Summit

In knowing the fervor and devotion of "Twilight" fans, it should come as no surprise that ticket sales for "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" have broken the record for highest-grossing midnight screenings — previously held by "New Moon."

According to the film's distributor, Summit Entertainment, "Eclipse" took in more than $30 million from midnight screenings on Wednesday (June 30), with final box-office numbers to be determined once the studio finishes its final count. The previous record for midnight showings is $26.3 million, set on the opening day for "New Moon" last November.

"Eclipse" will have to break $72.7 million to beat its predecessor in the all-time opening-day-gross category, but given the strong numbers Wednesday, and the fact that "Moon" opened on a Friday, not midweek, it is fair to say the third chapter in the hugely popular film franchise is on track to rake in serious dough throughout its opening weekend.

"Eclipse" ranks as the widest domestic release in history, opening in 4,416 theaters in North America, beating the record set earlier this year by "Iron Man 2." Four-thousand of those theaters held midnight screenings. Several theater chains also reportedly had 3 a.m. screenings to meet public demand. IMAX was expected to hold 3 a.m. screenings in 120 of its theaters.

In addition to being on par to break the "New Moon" opening-day and midnight-screening records, "Eclipse" has a shot at besting the record for a movie opening over the Fourth of July weekend. That record is currently at $200 million, set by last year's "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen."

Check out everything we've got on "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse."

For young Hollywood news, fashion and "Twilight" updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com.

• 'Eclipse' Hits New York City

• Highlights From The 'Eclipse' Cast's Talk Show Tour
• 'Eclipse' Premieres Around The World

Mother/daughter duo have teamed up for the juniors fashion line Material Girl.
By Mawuse Ziegbe

Madonna and Lourdes Leon
Photo: James Devaney/ Getty Images

Although Madonna has built one of the biggest pop careers in history on body-baring costumes, hip-thrusting dance moves, controversial music and all-around sensationalism, she doesn't tolerate that type of nonsense when it comes to her teen daughter Lourdes — not when she's heading to school, anyway.

Madge, who is collaborating with 13-year-old Lola on the juniors fashion line Material Girl, said that while she appreciates her pop progeny's daring approach to fashion, she's not down with her daughter tarting it up for the classroom.

"I always have two reactions when Lola comes into my room with an outfit on: One is, 'Oh my God, she looks amazing, what incredible style.' And then my second reaction is, 'She's dressed completely inappropriately for school,' " Madonna told People in a video interview. "I usually tell her to take off her 3-inch or 6-inch platforms and pull her skirt down just a little bit and take off some of the black eye makeup."

Even though Madonna has spent the better part of the last three decades strutting around onstage and entertaining millions of fans in some iteration of a figure-hugging bodysuit, the pop legend insists that her approach to Lola's look is a function of Madge's current identity as a regular ol' mom. "She does have amazing style, but I am the typical mother, where I say, 'Oh my God, you can't go to school dressed like that!' "

They may not agree when it comes to school clothes, but mother and daughter are working together on their Material Girl line, which launches August 3. While Madonna calls the shots when it comes to Lourdes' home-room fashion, the diva said Lola's style drives their joint collection.

"My role is really to make sure we were all going in the right direction ... and it was a line that I could stand behind and be proud of and feel good about and one that she could also feel represented her," Madonna said. "I really like the way Lola dresses, and I think this line is absolutely an extension of her taste."

What do you think about Madonna and Lourdes teaming up for a fashion line? Let us know in the comments!

• Madonna