'Rock Of Ages': Behind The Star-Studded Cameos

Director Adam Shankman explains how '80s icons like Sebastian Bach and Debbie Gibson ended up in the movie musical.
By Amy Wilkinson

Julianne Hough and Diego Boneta in "Rock of Ages"
Photo:

The '80s are alive and well in director Adam Shankman's movie musical "Rock of Ages," which shimmied into theaters Friday (June 15).

Based on the hit Broadway production of the same name, the flick follows would-be musician Drew Boley (Diego Boneta) as he falls for new-in-town Sherrie Christian (Julianne Hough) and lands his big break opening for rock legend Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise) at the famed Bourbon Room.

The soundtrack is stuffed with the era's biggest hits like "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," "Don't Stop Believin' " and "I Want to Know What Love Is," but the toe-tapping tunes aren't the only throwbacks to the decade of decadence. Pay close attention and you'll spot a number of '80s music mavens.

A major plotline in the film centers around conservative advocate Patricia Whitmore's (Catherine Zeta-Jones) attempt to shutter the Bourbon Room and reclaim the Sunset Strip for more wholesome pursuits. The struggle reaches its climax in a rocking protest outside the club with Patricia and company facing off against club employee Lonny (Russell Brand) while singing a mash-up of "We Built This City" and "We're Not Gonna Take It." It's here among the assembled masses that you'll recognize a few familiar faces, like Skid Row's Sebastian Bach and Debbie Gibson. But how did the cameos come to be?

"I had said if anyone from the period wants to participate, there is a scene I'm happy to accommodate, 'cause it just felt right. ... So the studio just kind of put out the word, and that's what happened," Shankman said. "I would get the phone call the day before going, 'This is who's coming tomorrow,' and I'm like, 'Seriously?!' "

Having a bevy of rock stars on a single set might sound like a nightmare of warring egos and AquaNet, but in fact, Shankman said the stars sang for their supper, staging an impromptu concert.

"The greatest part of having those guys — [REO Speedwagon's] Kevin Cronin, [Extreme's] Nuno Bettencourt and Sebastian — all of them, our lunch that night was at 3:30 in the morning, and during lunch for the whole crew, they did a whole concert, and they sang all the songs."

Now that's a scene we want to see on the DVD bonus reel!

Check out everything we've got on "Rock of Ages."

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

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• MTV Rough Cut: 'Rock Of Ages'

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Nintendo's Iwata says Wii U's second screen was nearly scrapped due to price

The idea of a second screen experience is fairly central to the Wii U as it is today, but it looks like it could have nearly been shoved aside as just another concept. In an interview published today by The Telegraph, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said that the company "almost gave up on the idea of the additional screen" during its final discussions about the console, adding that "this was due to our concern over the expected high cost, it may not have been feasible to create this and sell it at a reasonable price point for the consumers." As Joystiq notes, that does suggest it was ultimately able to land on a "reasonable" price for the console, although we're still only hearing unofficial numbers tossed around at this point. You can find the full interview at the source link below.

Nintendo's Iwata says Wii U's second screen was nearly scrapped due to price originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jun 2012 16:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Texas Schools Foot Big Bill for STAAR Retakes

The school year ended the first week of June for most Texas students, but for hundreds of thousands of them, it won?t mean the end of class.

Because of low scores on the state?s new end-of-course exams, or EOCs, many incoming 10th-graders will have to retake them in July, landing them in summer classes to prepare ? and leaving school districts with a hefty bill.

This year, the scores on the exams don?t count toward high school students? final grades or toward school districts? accountability ratings. But a requirement that students retake a test if they do not achieve a minimum score remains in place.

As part of the new accountability system, high school students ? starting with this year?s ninth-graders ? must achieve a cumulative score across 15 standardized tests in order to graduate. Though students are getting a short-term break from having the exams factor into their final grades, this year?s round of tests will count for that cumulative score. That?s bad news for the students who are eligible to retake the exam in early July, and also for the school districts who must foot the bill for summer school, or what some districts are calling ?EOC camp.?

The Texas Education Agency does not know the exact number of students eligible to retake the exam; according to score summaries from the agency, there were about 430,000 failed exams, but the same student could have failed more than one.

Many districts did not receive notice of how well students did on the exams until after classes had already let out for the summer. That, combined with the logistical challenges of organizing summer classes for what could be thousands of extra students ? explaining to parents why their children need to attend, finding teachers, facilities and transportation ? has made for an ?extremely frustrating situation,? said Pascual Gonzalez, spokesman for San Antonio?s Northside Independent School District.

At around 95,000 students, Northside is the state?s fourth-largest district. It will spend an estimated $750,000 for roughly 2,100 students to attend score-improvement summer classes for 13 days.

?Legislators do not understand the logistics and operation of what it takes to implement laws,? said Gonzalez, whose district has already dipped into its reserves to pay for the summer classes. ?It's very unfair that they brag about cutting the state budget and balancing the books in Austin when all they've done is push these expenses to the local level.?

Houston ISD, the state?s biggest district, has hired more than 200 extra summer school teachers this year to handle an enrollment of up to 7,000 students. Depending on the potential bonuses the teachers earn ? they will be rewarded based on the number of students who pass the exams ? it could end up costing the district $1 million to $1.5 million. The funds are coming out of the pot of money usually reserved for teacher performance pay.

In the Panhandle, Amarillo ISD, which has about 32,000 students, has hired roughly 20 new summer teachers with more likely to come, spokeswoman Holly Shelton said. She estimated the total cost for the district would be around $50,000.

For smaller districts and those in rural areas, there can be an added challenge: Many of them have never operated summer school to begin with. Angelina County?s Hudson ISD has never offered summer school, said Superintendent Mary Ann Whiteker, because the district simply can?t afford it. Transportation for students in the rural East Texas district often ends up costing more than paying the teachers to be there. The district is still investigating how it will pay for remedial STAAR instruction.

Debbie Ratcliffe, a spokeswoman for the TEA, acknowledged that the test retaking requirement does create an added cost for schools.

?That's one thing that the districts are frankly chafing at right now,? she said.

The agency provides online training for teachers looking for tips on how to prepare students for the exams, and Ratcliffe said that in many cases instructors may be able to raise their scores with only a few adjustments in their curriculum.

The House Public Education Committee will hold its second interim hearing on the rollout of the new STAAR system on June 19 ? but so far, it has not gone smoothly. After outcry from parents and lawmakers and widespread confusion among school districts about how to apply a rule that new end-of-course exams account for 15 percent of high school students? final grades, TEA decided to delay its implementation for a year. More than 400 school boards have passed a resolution against high-stakes testing, saying that it is ?strangling our public schools.?

New passing standards set this year ? which the agency will phase in over the next few years ? have drawn criticism for being too lax from everyone from the Texas Association of Business to Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier. Even with the lower standards in place, only 55 percent of students passed the English writing exam and 68 percent passed the English reading test; the passing rates for all three other tests were in the 80s.

(Had the new passing standards been in place this year, the students? rate for the five tests would have been much lower: 41 percent for biology, 39 percent for algebra I, 40 percent for world geography, 46 percent for reading and 34 percent for writing.)

Anxiety over the new testing system has prompted the formation of several parent groups pushing for reforms. Susan Schultz, an Austin attorney and parent of a ninth-grader in Austin ISD, is a founding member of Texans Advocating for Meaningful Student Assessment.

She said the poor results on the tests were concerning, and she feels for the parents whose kids will have to spend the first part of their summer studying for the retakes.

?Do we really have confidence that these tests are truly aligned with the curriculum?? she asked. ?It's hard to believe that 55 percent of ninth-graders all of a sudden became bad writers. It makes you question ? who designed the tests, and how are they being scored??

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Cain throws first Giants perfect game

Right-hander strikes out 14 in setting down 27 straight Astros

updated 4:35 a.m. ET June 14, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO - For all those Giants masterpieces, from Christy Mathewson to Juan Marichal and Gaylord Perry, Matt Cain topped them all.

Cain pitched the franchise's first perfect game and the 22nd in major league history, striking out a career-high 14 and getting help from two spectacular catches to beat the Houston Astros 10-0 on Wednesday night.

Cain's 125-pitch gem for San Francisco featured a pair of great plays by his corner outfielders. He got pinch-hitter Jason Castro on a grounder to third for his 27th and final out with the sellout crowd of 42,298 roaring.

"This is incredible right now," Cain said. "It was unbelievable. The guys did a great job making it, in a way, kind of relaxing, because they were able to get on the board early."

It was the fifth no-hitter in the majors already this season and second perfect game.

Another Year of the Pitcher? You bet.

In the very ballpark where Barry Bonds made home run history five summers ago, Cain produced the signature moment for pitchers. It was the 14th no-hitter in club history - Mathewson pitched Nos. 2 and 3 in 1901 and '05, and Marichal and Perry had one apiece.

Left fielder Melky Cabrera chased down Chris Snyder's one-out flyball in the sixth, scurrying back to make a leaping catch at the wall. Cain raised both arms and slapped his glove in delight when Cabrera made the play.

Then, right fielder Gregor Blanco ran into deep right-center to make a diving catch on the warning track and rob Jordan Schafer for the first out of the seventh. The 27-year-old pitcher hugged Blanco in the dugout after the inning.

"Those were unbelievable catches," Cain said. "I mean that right there, that changes the whole thing."

Philip Humber of the Chicago White Sox tossed the majors' last perfecto at Seattle on April 21. This is the second time in three years there have been two perfect games in the same season - before that, the only other time it happened was in 1880.

Cain (8-2) accomplished a feat last done in the Bay Area by A's lefty Dallas Braden on Mother's Day 2010.

Braden tweeted Wednesday night: "What a beautiful game. Congrats 2 Matt Cain & a historic franchise & city. A special memory ill tell someones kids about! (hash)eraofthepitcher."

Not since 1917 have there been five no-hitters in a season by mid-June. The only year that came close was 1990, when Fernando Valenzuela and Dave Stewart each pitched no-hitters on June 29 - the fourth and fifth of the season.

This year, Johan Santana tossed the New York Mets' first no-hitter on June 1 and six Seattle pitchers shut down the Los Angeles Dodgers last Friday. Jered Weaver had one for the Los Angeles Angels on May 2.

The Astros were no-hit for the fifth time and first since Carlos Zambrano did so for the Cubs on Sept. 14, 2008.

"Just an incredible night," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "We were all pulling so hard."

The Giants made a big commitment to Cain this spring, locking him up for a long haul - and he showed exactly why general manager Brian Sabean has vowed to keep his talented pitchers. In a week when the city's attention turned to golf and the U.S. Open, Cain delivered his most impressive gem yet in his 216th career start.

The 125 pitches were the most ever thrown in a perfect game.

The two-time All-Star who had long been the Giants starter who endured a lack of run support already was rewarded with a new $127.5 million, six-year contract in early April before the season started. This certainly meant as much or more to the homegrown pitcher.

Cain threw 86 pitches for strikes, faced just four full counts and still clocked 90 mph in the ninth. Cain followed up Madison Bumgarner's 12-strikeout gem in Tuesday night's 6-3 win.

"I know when I haven't given up a hit, I'm always conscious of it," Cain said. "Probably the first time through the lineup I felt like I had good stuff. The first time through the lineup I felt like something could happen."

Something special, all right. It was the first no-hitter by San Francisco since departed left-hander Jonathan Sanchez did it July 10, 2009, against the Padres at AT&T Park.

The Astros were no-hit by the Giants for the second time. Marichal did it on June 15, 1963.

Even Cain thought Snyder had enough to clear the fences in the sixth. That's when the Astros realized it might be a long night.

"When the ball I hit doesn't go out and the ball that Schafer hits is caught ... I've never seen a ball hit like that into that gap," Snyder said.

Blanco said of his catch: "I didn't think I was going to make it, but I did,"

Ted Barrett became the first umpire to work behind the plate for two perfect games. He also worked David Cone's 1999 perfecto at Yankee Stadium.

"He could put the ball anywhere he wanted," Barrett said. "He knew where he wanted to throw it, and he threw it there. Cone had the big, big backdoor breaking ball. It was against the Expos and I don't think they had faced him before. They were a little bit baffled by Cone's stuff."

Cain pivoted on the mound to watch third baseman Joaquin Arias make a long throw from third for the final out, then the celebration began. First baseman Brandon Belt caught the last throw, tucked the ball in his back pocket for safekeeping and rushed to the mound.

Catcher Buster Posey ran out to Cain, who raised his arm. His teammates jumped the dugout rail as the final out was made, a moment reminiscent of that improbable World Series championship in 2010 at Texas.

"I can't thank Buster enough," Cain said. "I didn't even question once what he was calling."

Cain's wife, Chelsea, fought tears when shown in the stands as the celebration began, then made her way to the dugout for a congratulatory hug and kiss.

Cain had come close already this season - not once, but twice. In his second start of the year, in the team's home opener April 13, he one-hit the Pirates in a 5-0 win, then allowed only two hits over nine innings in the Giants' 11-inning, 1-0 win over Cliff Lee and the Phillies.

"I've had some opportunities in the past. There's really nothing like it," Cain said.

Cabrera, Belt and Blanco each hit two-run homers and the Giants produced an offensive outburst rarely seen at home this season and rarely seen when Cain has pitched.

On this night, he threw nine of his initial 11 pitches for strikes, commanding his repertoire with a dazzling fastball.

Cain, who hit one drive into McCovey Cove alongside U.S. Open golfer Dustin Johnson before the game to show off one of his other favorite pastimes, sat by himself in the dugout between innings.

J.A. Happ (4-7) lost his fourth straight start after giving up eight runs and 11 hits in 3 1-3 innings.

NOTES: Blanco called it the best catch of his career. "I still don't know how he caught that ball," Bochy said. ... Cabrera's first-inning homer marked his first clout at home this year. ... Astros bench coach Joe Pettini will join Tony La Russa's NL All-Star coaching staff. ... Of the 22 perfect games, half have come in the last 24 years. Roy Halladay and Dallas Braden each threw one two seasons ago.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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New standard of perfection

??HBT: Not only did Giants right-hander Matt Cain throw a perfect game on Wednesday, it was statistically tied for the second most dominant pitching performance ever.

Jason O. Watson / Getty Images

Cain throws first Giants perfect game

??Matt Cain pitched the 22nd perfect game in major league history and first for the Giants, striking out a career-high 14 and getting help from two spectacular catches to beat the Houston Astros 10-0 on Wednesday night.

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What WWDC and Apple's 2012 Keynote meant for Apple investors

Monday was packed with the pure excitement and adrenalin of Apple's annual WWDC keynote. Sure, the stock may have declined slightly that day, but this is mostly due to overall market weakness that day and not Apple pessimism. Now that we?ve had a couple of days to digest Apple?s announcements let?s discuss what it means to investors.

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