MTV Texting Documentary 'Thumbs' Opens Up The 'Secret World Of Texting,' Director Says

Texting has become more than a fad for some tweens and teens; it's become a lifestyle. MTV's new documentary "Thumbs" goes below the surface on the trend to try to crack into the secret world of texting. The movie follows a group of six teens who entered LG's U.S. National Texting Championship to try to earn the title of fastest texter in the United States, and a whopping $50,000 prize. Academy Award-winning director Bill Couturi was intrigued by the texting phenomenon and, after being approached by producer Michael Tollin, decided to create the first documentary showcasing the trend. MTV News got on the phone with Couturi to find out more about the film and what he learned about texting in the process. "I didn't know what I would find. And what I found is these kids are straight A students," he said. He added that parenting plays a major part in the addictive element of texting, saying that "like any kids with anything, you've got to give them some rules." Couturi was first intrigued by the project when he noticed his own 14-year-old son would be sitting there texting away with "thumbs flying." Many adults have a prejudice against kids texting too much, but Couturi found that for the most part that is unwarranted. "It's a generation gap thing," he explained, stemming from the fact that grown ups believe that if two people aren't talking face to face, they're not communicating, while young kids believe the opposite. It's that connection with their peers that Couturi believes is what draws teens to texting, and to other social networking outlets like Facebook. "Thumbs" centers on six kids between the ages of 13 and 16 who made it to the final 32 competitors in 2010's championship. Of the two guys and four girls he followed, the boys lost in the first round, leading Couturi to proclaim that girls are faster texters. Some of the teens competing could text up to 100 words per minute, which Couturi compared to secretaries being able to type 100 words per minute on their type-writers. But Couturi didn't find any sort of negative connection between teens who could text well and teens who exhibited bad behavior. The winner of 2010's championship, a 13-year-old from Brooklyn named Brianna, actually had the strictest parents of the kids he followed. She wasn't allowed to text at dinner or when doing her homework, never texted in class, and was totally fine with it. "It's a fun movie, it's about kids having a good time, but there's also a little bit of a moral in there that texting can be addictive, but if you just do a minimal amount of parenting, you can take care of it and everyone can have a good time," he explained. The documentary employed a special cell phone program that its subjects downloaded onto their phones that allowed Couturi to keep track of everything they were texting. The conversations occurring via their cell phones will appear in the movie for people to see. "It's kind of like this secret world of texting gets opened up and we get to see that, again, they're just talking like kids. Nothing terrible," Couturi said. "Sometimes they're a little racy, sometimes they're a little inappropriate, but by and large they're just goofing around having a good time." "Thumbs" premieres on MTV at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on Friday, August 19. Tell us your thoughts about the documentary in the comments section below or on Twitter!

Navy SEALs Drama From Bruckheimer TV Lands At ABC With Put Pilot Commitment

EXCLUSIVE: In its second sale this season, Bruckheimer TV has set up a Navy SEALs drama at ABC with a put pilot commitment. The untitled project, from Life creator/executive producer Rand Ravich, is based on the lives of Navy SEALs and their families. Ravich will write the script and executive produce the Warner Bros TV project with his producing partner Far Shariat, Bruckheimer and Jonathan Littman. KristieAnne Reed is co-executive producing. The Navy SEALs arena was expected to be hot this development season following the successful May assassination of Osama bin Laden by an elite team of SEALs. The ABC deal follows another major Bruckheimer TV sale last week, when the company's procedural drama from writer Aron Eli Coleite about a mom who becomes a New York State Trooperreceived a put pilot commitment at CBS.

Please Consider Signing the Movie Theater Etiquette Manifesto

Movie theaters: you used to love them. But slowly your enjoyment was eclipsed by irritation -- at the chatty patron to your left, or maybe it was the blinding glare from the gentleman texting three rows ahead. Perhaps you have given up. Perhaps you've resigned yourself to waiting for the latest blockbuster to appear in your cable provider's on-demand menu. Perhaps you won't watch anything anymore unless it's available for free from Netflix. But wait -- there is hope. Over at IFC, Matt Singer wants to help you take back movie theaters from the "a-holes." In fact, he's gone as far as to create a Movie Theater Etiquette Manifesto that includes such worthwhile declarations as: 1. Shut Our Mouths. Talking is permitted up to and including the trailers (we, the undersigned, also pledge to make fun of anyone who shushes people for talking over the MovieTickets.com ad). After that, we will be quiet. Valid exceptions: midnight movies and any film starring Nicolas Cage 2. Never Bring a Baby To An R-Rated Movie. Do you know why your baby is crying? Because it's 10:30 at night and you're forcing it to watch a man with knives for fingers use a naked woman as a whetstone. 5. Sit Directly In Front of Someone Only When There Are No Other Seats Available. Only a-holes sit directly in front of someone they don't know just because they "like" that seat. Number five always, always happens to me! Oh, and the always controversial: 8. Throw Our Garbage On the Floor. The movie theater is the only public space in the world where it is socially acceptable to act like a pig. That is the way it has always been, that is the way it always shall be. We, the undersigned, vow that no matter how many times multiplexes include "Please Throw Away Your Trash" messages in their pre-show entertainment, we will continue to ignore them. And Singer hasn't just created a manifesto -- he also started a petition. We, as a peaceful society, can take back out theaters. If we all agree to play by these rules, you won't have to wait three months to see the new 'Conan the Barbarian' movie you've desperately been waiting for. (I know you are out there, somewhere, Conan lover.)

'Dark Knight Rises:' More Footage Hits Web; See Batwing and Tumblers (Video)

Warner Bros. Even more The Dark Knight Rises footage has hit the web. As the Christopher Nolan film continues to film in Pittsburgh, clips of the Batwing, Tumblers and Anne Hathaway's Catwoman stunt double are flooding the internet. Watch a bunch below. PHOTOS: 'The Dark Knight Rises' First Look: On the Set Scenes from the set have been trickling out this month. Last week, Hathaway's stuntwoman was caught on camera driving a giant motorcycle into an expensive IMAX camera, Christian Bale's Batman and Tom Hardy's villain Bane were also spotted beating each other up amid a giant riot scene as snow swirled all around. The film hits theaters in 2012. RELATED: 'Dark Knight Rises': Batman Flies a Bat-Plane in Pittsburgh (VIDEO) Anne Hathaway Reacts to 'The Dark Knight Rises' Catwoman Criticisms (Video) 'The Dark Knight Rises' to Film Scene With Pittsburgh Steelers 'Dark Knight Rises' Fight Scene Hits Web (Video) 'The Dark Knight Rises:' Anne Hathaway as Catwoman (First Photos) The Dark Knight Rises

Lady Gaga To Appear In Interview Special On CW

FIRST PUBLISHED: August 4, 2011 5:19 PM EDT BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Platinum-selling pop star Lady Gaga will sit down with fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier for an interview special airing next month on the CW network. On the program, Gaga by Gaultier, Lady Gaga meets Gaultier in Paris to discuss her meteoric rise to fame, her love of fashion and art, and her strategy in marketing her image and music. The special, announced Thursday by the network, will air Sept. 12 at 8 PM ET/PT. Copyright 2011 by Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

VIDEO: Mila Kunis Provides a Verbal Smackdown in Russian!

Mila Kunis Don't wreck havoc on a bilingual bombshell. In a recent junket in Russia, a reporter requested Justin Timberlake, "Why movies?" Before it may be converted back for his response, Buddies with Benefits co-star Mila Kunis, who had been born within the Ukraine and showed up in the usa at 7, clicked: "Why movies? Why don't you? What type of real question is that? The reason for here?" You can observe within the video below it would be a huge hit using the crowd:

The New Trailer for Moneyball Changes the Game, For Good and Bad

Let’s get this out of the way up front: the latest trailer for Moneyball looks like the previous trailer for the film. It makes what many believed to be an unadaptable book into something dramatic, funny and altogether thrilling. At least in trailer form. (It helps that Brad Pitt is putting on the “full Redford” in the campaign; dude looks like Roy Hobbs’s son.) That said, there is a quibble — at least from a baseball standpoint. Says Pitt-as-Beane during a dramatic moment at the end of the newest clip, “If any other team wins the World Series, good for them. If we win, with this team, we’ll have changed the game.” Well, yes and no. If you don’t know the (very recent) history, that quote could lead you believe the third act of Moneyball includes a triumphant hoisting up of the World Series trophy. However, unless director Bennett Miller took some major dramatic license — spoiler alert if you’re not a baseball fan — that doesn’t happen. In fact, the Moneyball-era A’s never even made it to the World Series — they lost four straight American League Divisional Series match-ups between 2000-2003 (to the Yankees twice, the Red Sox and Twins), and, in 2006, were swept by Detroit in the American League Championship Series. They haven’t been to the postseason since. All of which is to say that Moneyball’s quote about changing the game is a bit disingenuous. Beane and Moneyball did change the game — the Moneyball A’s were a rag-tag group of “misfit toys” mixed with great starting pitching and at least one steroid user (Jason Giambi) that showed teams scouting wasn’t the only way to build a good team. Winning — or not winning — the World Series has nothing to do with Beane’s enduring legacy; why is the trailer pretending it did? Raise that AL West Champion banner with pride, Moneyball trailer! VERDICT: A walk is as good as a hit. [via Slashfilm]