Actualités

Here's your daily dose of an indie film in progress; at the end of the week, you'll have the chance to vote for your favorite. In the meantime: Is this a movie you’d want to see? Tell us in the comments. "Election Night" Tweetable Logline: A comic whirlwind of wild theories & long-held secrets rattle a politician’s family at the end of a campaign for Senate. Elevator Pitch: A politician's family marches in the green room on election eve to wait for the result - will the speech be a celebration or a concession? The last 350 votes have yet to come in, and the nerves rattle the family into a comic whirlwind of wild theories, long-held secrets, and a revelation nobody saw coming. Production Team: Tessa Blake (writer/director) Theatrically released documentary Five Wives, Three Secretaries & Me Ian Williams (writer) Catherine Dent (producer) Actress in The Shield, Director/Producer...

The end of 2010 is almost upon us, which is why MTV News is rounding up the Top Songs of 2010. We had over two dozen MTV News staffers submit their own personal lists of their 25 favorite songs, and from those lists we derived a master list whose top 10 will be slowly rolling out over the course of this week. Check out one of the 25 lists below, with an argument or two for the greatness of some of the under-appreciated tunes of the year.

By Rya Backer

1. "Omg," Usher

This is just the best song ever, and I want to listen to it on loop for the rest of my life so I can always be in a constant state of joy.

2. "In a House With No Mirrors (You Never Get Old)," Gruff Rhys

I really like the story behind this song. Gruff Rhys (lead singer of Wales' Super Furry Animals) went to find his uncle,...

By Rya Backer

The Drums are a great (albeit difficult to Google) Brooklyn-based quartet who make music that wouldn't have been out of place in a John Hughes movie prom scene (or a John Hughes movie make-out scene, depending on your mood). On Wednesday night (January 13), I saw them at their sold out show at Manhattan's Bowery Ballroom (alongside the very great Surfer Blood), where they played nearly an hour's worth of music from their sunny and melodic Ep Summertime! and their forthcoming album, which, according to lead singer Jonathan Pierce, they've just finished recording.

Let me just start with this: As a lady, it'd be irresponsible to disregard how the band is populated by some serious studs. Adam Kessler, one of the band's two new members (they began life as a duo), picked the best features from the hottest babe in showbiz: Ian Williams of Battles and my office...

2009 is coming to a close, which means it's time to look back on some of the best songs, albums, artists and moments that passed through our collective consciousness in the past 365 days. Stay tuned for more insights from the folks here at MTV News (including James Montgomery's list of the 25 best songs of the year), but we begin our 2009 retrospective with the answer to this week's MTV Newsroom poll question: What was the best concert you saw in 2009? Check out what the staff thought below, and let us know what your best live show was in the comments.

Sabrina Rojas Weiss

After missing many chances to see the Beastie Boys in the past two decades, I was super excited to finally see them at All Points West this year. Then McA had to go and get cancer. But as consolation prizes go, Jay-z wasn't too shabby, especially after we'd...

By Rya Backer

Battles, the twitchy math rock band whose 2007 debut Mirrored made huge waves among both the indie rock and dance communities, play exciting and inventive music with minimal vocals and song structure. So it was really no surprise that when I saw them Friday night (September 4) at New York's Terminal 5 for Warp20 — the birthday party for Warp Records, the English label and home to electronic pioneers like Broadcast, Aphex Twin and Anti-Pop Consortium — that they delivered an incredibly well-polished and curious gig. It was the first show the quartet had played in their native New York in over a year and their only North American show of 2009. They promised to debut new compositions at this very special show, and they delivered.

Early on in their set, Battles stuck to scorchers from their debut, like "Atlas," "Race: In," "Dance" and "Leyendecker," which played seamlessly into the night's standout, "Tonto.