As far as stunts go, the legendary stunt team led by Andy Armstrong was called in.

"It was a great challenge and a lucky one," recalled the actor. "A lot of the stunts are practical and grounded in reality and that was something Marc…really wanted to make sure happened in this movie and set it apart from previous ones...I had about four months of training...before we started doing any shooting where I'd exhaust myself every day and get into near-death experiences on the hour every hour."

“When pop died, I didn’t cry; didn’t know him that well,” Jay-Z once sang.

“This sounds cold,” he explained in his popular memoir “Decoded.” “But the truth is that my father left my family for good when I was young.”
Jay-Z’s father walked away from his family for nine years.

“Three months after we had our first conversation in 20 years, he died. ... I realized that yeah, of course every father that bounced had a reason. I didn’t excuse him for leaving his kids, but I started to understand.”

The singer also learned how to forgive. He wants to be a great father himself and encourages other men to do the same. Seventy-two percent of African-American children are raised by one parent, who in most cases is the mother. It is believed that this is a legacy of the tearing apart of slave families back in the 1930s. Leaders of the black families’ movement cheered Jay-Z’s initiative.

“Jay-Z is opening his heart and exposing the raw emotion behind his growing up fatherless, and his conviction to never let his daughter suffer the same fate,” wrote one mother called Denene Millner on her site mybrownbaby.blogspot.com.

“It was unfortunate that people seemed to turn on her so quickly,” Daniel during the BAFTA awards nominations.“I also think people are making it about things other than the performance,” he continued. “If you read what people are saying about her online, it’s all about her past and her family, and stuff that’s nobody else’s business.”

On the 31st of January Daniel is going to co-host Live! With Kelly. There he will interview The Vow‘s Rachel McAdams.

Lana del Rey decided to put the unfortunate SNL event behind her and focus on her upcoming album. ”Born to Die” is due to be launched on the 31st of January.

"Sonically, I always knew exactly what I wanted," Del Rey said. "That's really the only thing I do know. The rest of it was sort of up in the air. I've been a writer for a really long time, and a sort of bad composer, but a composer nonetheless. It was something I did alone for some time and then became a collaborative effort as I met better and better people."

The people Del Rey mentioned are Justin Parker, who composed many songs from her album, Philadelphia legend Larry Gold and producer Emile Haynie who is best known for a track developed for Kanye West and Eminem.

"I got to be physical with some of the hottest guys in Hollywood," Carano, who sparred with Channing Tatum, Ewan McGregor and Michael Fassbender in the film, explained for PEOPLE at the Cinema Society screening that was sponsored by Blackberry and took place last week.

While they were filming, Fassbender received a vase in the face when he accidentally KOed the woman.

"When Fassbender slammed my head into the wall, that's the only time I went black," the 29 year old martial arts expert, said talking about the particular shoot, during which she also knocked out a stuntman. "And then I slammed a vase right into his face when he wasn't expecting it.He didn't get cut," Carano decided to clarify, before adding, "maybe a little bit."

McGregor admitted he was sore from the fight scenes filmed with Carano, however he added he enjoyed them.
Talking about Tatum, whom Carano describes to be "like a bro," is an actor the woman would not want to fight in real life. "I'd probably want to choke him out real quick," she said. "Because he's actually very athletic."
Carano is known to have retired from the MMA, but said she did not rule out returning.

The last couple of days had been pretty bad for singer Lana Del Rey. Her awkward debut on "Saturday Night Live" has been both defended and discussed endlessly the past week. Even though she did not comment on the critics she received, she stated that live performances were not for her.

"You can't expect too much from my show," Del Rey said, adding that her fans knew she is in fact a songwriter and studio musician and not a performer."Sometimes I feel less nervous than other times," she added. "I don't love live television. The only tip I have is just pray and just hope that things work out."

The singer mirrored this attitude before Saturday Night Live.

"[It] depends on the day," Del Rey said in an interview to MTV News. "Depends on what's going on with my family and everyone around me. If I have other things to think about, or I'm trying to get things done for somebody else, and I'm not in my own way, then ... I'm like, 'This doesn't really matter.' Sometimes it seems more important to me than other times."

Stand-up comedian Whitney Cummings made sure to defend the singer on her blog:

"I have many random thoughts. First, everybody calm down," she wrote. "It's a little troubling that when a young girl fails at something that we keep kicking her why she is down. I get very protective of girls, especially young performers, because they live a hard, emotionally challenging, often physically challenging life where you are constantly given reasons to be insecure and have panic attacks. I totally get the stuff about her not deserving to be there and I don't mean to insult musicians in any way if that's how they feel obviously, but this is an opportunity to show us how hard being a performer is so maybe they can all be cut some slack."

The two sons of the R&B diva, Etta James, who passed away on Friday morning, stated their mother was a warm, loving person who was not afraid to tell the truth no matter how harsh it was. Donto and Sametto James were next to their mother when she passed away at Parkview Community Hospital in Riverside. The 73 year old singer had been battling numerous diseases by the time of her death. The complications she developed from leukemia were the ones to make her pass away.

"We find it a blessing that me and my brother were there to help here though this, to have a chance to tell her how we felt about her; to hold her and see her,'' said her oldest son, Donto James.

During her life the singer managed to battle drug addictions and weight problems. About three years ago she had even went on tour.

"She was real, that's for sure. She didn't hold anything back from us. She always told us the truth and how things really were,'' Donto James said. "She didn't sugarcoat anything, and we loved her for that.''

Donto said that until the 2009 tour he had never understood just how popular his mother really was.

"My mother did things her own way, and I think a lot of people picked up on that,'' Sametto James, her youngest son said. "I know everybody says this, but she was one of the best moms a person could have. Really down to earth. You could tell her anything.''

“When people see me do stand-up, I want them to see me as doing it in the spirit of all the people who came before me — Jackie Gleason, Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor,” he explained.

On Saturday night, Morgan will make sure to bring his “politically incorrect humor” to the Mayo Performing Arts Center. In the opening of his show fans will be able to see Dominique. Tracy Morgan made sure to point out that he is nothing like his character, Tracy Jordan.

“He’s an image,” he said. “It’s like an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ version of me. I love to play that image.”

Morgan’s father died when he was young. In his youth, the man learned that comedy is a good way to protect yourself.

“I heard someone say once that comedy is the sword we use to cut through the despair,” he said.

Morgan’ stand-up comedy caught the eye of Martin Lawrence. The actor proposed him for the role Hustle Man in his HBO sitcom “Martin.”

“I realized when I was doing Martin’s show that this was what I was meant to do,” he recently said.

"This is a huge loss. Etta James was one of the greatest vocalists of our time," Beyoncé, who even got to play James in the movie Cadillac Recors, wrote a message on her website. "I am so fortunate to have met such a queen. Her musical contributions will last a lifetime."

Talking about the 2008 movie, the singer added:
"Playing Etta James taught me so much about myself, and singing her music inspired me to be a stronger artist. When she effortlessly opened her mouth, you could hear her pain and triumph. Her deeply emotional way of delivering a song told her story with no filter."

With a final recognition to the diva, she said: "She was fearless, and had guts. She will be missed."
Pink also praised the R&B diva. The pop star wrote:
"Very sad news to pass along today. Legendary singer Etta James has passed away due to complications from her ailing health. We've been hearing for a couple of months now that Etta was not doing well. The singer, who was diagnosed with leukemia back in 2010 and also suffered from dementia, was in and out of the hospital over the past year. I understand that Etta was allowed to be home for the New Year at the start of this month but, unfortunately, she did succumb to her failing health."