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Buzz Gift Guide: Goodies For Gramps

BuzzSugar — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 06:30:06 -0800

Welcome back, folks, to the next installment of my Buzz Gift Guide series for all the entertainment lovers in your life. Yesterday I suggested some fun gifts for grandma (after tackling mom and dad), and that leaves us with grandpa!

The first thing I thought of for my grandpa was the soundtrack to AMC's hit show Mad Men. I know he'd enjoy the collection of tunes by artists like The Andrews Sisters, Bobby Vinton and Rosemary Clooney.

A lot of grandpas might also appreciate some help with ditching the old rabbit ears and updating to a digital converter. This model looked pretty sleek and shiny to me, and you can even help him apply for a coupon!

If your gramps is squared away technology-wise then he also might appreciate this Alfred Hitchcock DVD collection or the complete series of Get Smart.

Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection ($83.99)	Mad Men: Original TV Soundtrack ($13.99)
Get Smart - The Complete Series ($109.99)	TV Converter Box ($59.99)

Check out HolidaySugar for all of our holiday coverage and gift guides.

Frightful Friday: Psycho

BuzzSugar — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 11:27:33 -0700

To wrap up my Frightful Friday series this week, I'm taking a little trip back in time to when horror movies were all about suspense and Bosco chocolate syrup. Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 thriller Psycho is the perfect movie for a spooky fall night, its chilling story seemingly old-fashioned to us now for its lack of gore (or, "gore" by our modern standards). Also, that terrifying string score! It's up there with the theme music from Jaws as some of the most iconic and evocative of all movie music.

Psycho is also, in some ways, a very sad story. The character of Norman Bates is deeply disturbed, and if he weren't so murderous he'd be rather pitiable. Janet Leigh plays Marion Crane, a secretary who has just embezzled a bunch of money from her employer and is on the run. She goes to the Bates Motel to hide and its there that she meets the lonely, reclusive Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), a young, handsome man who looks after the motel as well as his ailing mother... or so it seems.

Apparently, the initial critical reviews for this film were mixed at best, but after the overwhelmingly positive audience reaction to the film, critics re-reviewed it, publishing glowing reviews the second time around.

Final little bit of trivia for you: Psycho was the first movie to show a woman in just a bra and slip.

Link Time! 10/23

BuzzSugar — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 13:45:50 -0700

In his interview with MTV Movies Blog, Anthony Hopkins reveals that he's going to play Alfred Hitchcock, and he has Hitchcock's voice all figured out.
TV Squad tells us how to rate the Schrute Farms B&B on TripAdvisor.
Idolator watched The Next Great American Band so you don't have to.
Popwatch wonders who else is trapped in the closet with Dumbledore, with suggestions ranging from Ernie of Sesame Street to Wonder Woman.
TV Filter analyzes some common TV careers.
Cinematical's Retro Cinema post reexamines an oldie but goody: Interview With a Vampire.
Stereogum is among those mourning the demise of file-sharing site OiNK.
TV Cocktail looks into how the California wildfires are affecting TV shoots.
Check out Spinner's countdown of the craziest costumed musical acts, starting with - who else? - Marilyn Manson.
Give Me My Remote posts a video of Steve Carell on Monday Night Football.

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Buzz News Roundup, 6/27

BuzzSugar — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 14:00:22 -0700

Just when we thought it was gone, "According to Jim" is back from the dead for 18 more episodes, TV Guide reports.
Reuters is reporting on a remake of Hitchcock's 1927 movie The Lodger, this time as an "urban thriller set in Los Angeles" and directed by documentarian David Ondaatje.
Blood Diamond's Djimon Houndsou has been cast in the drama Get Some about an underground fight club, Variety reports.
Zap2It reports that Molly Shannon has signed on for a Lifetime original movie titled More of Me about a woman so busy she splits into three people.
Billboard tells us that for the first time since 1988, Bon Jovi takes the No. 1 spot on The Billboard 200.
Lots of casting news: Zap2it reports that Oliver Platt and Lauren Hutton will guest-star on "Nip/Tuck," and the Hollywood Reporter says Portia De Rossi will join them. The Hollywood Reporter also says Sofia Myles is the new female lead in "Moonlight," while DW Moffett is the new star of the CW's "Life is Wild."
NME gets word that Lily Allen has started working on her second album in New York.
I'm not sure if we really needed another online video site, but MySpace will launch one this week anyway, the New York Times reports.
Slate wonders: Did Die Hard spawn the greatest one-liner in movie history?

Recast Rear Window and Win a Prize!

BuzzSugar — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 12:20:50 -0700

Every Wednesday on BuzzSugar, I post a Recast challenge, where I ask you to choose new actors for a classic TV show or movie. Starting this week, we're sweetening the pot: From now on, the reader who submits the best cast will win a BuzzSugar t-shirt!

I've been thinking a lot lately about the 1954 Hitchcock movie Rear Window, so I thought I'd see what you guys can come up with for this one. Blending nail-biting thriller with a romance between two beautiful people, Rear Window shows what happens when "Jeff" Jeffries, a freelance photographer with a broken leg, becomes obsessed with spying on his neighbors. Through Jeffries' telephoto lens, the photog and his well-dressed girlfriend (played by Grace Kelly) become convinced that Lars Thorwald across the way has murdered his wife.

If you were recasting this stellar movie for the modern age, who would you choose in the main roles? Leave your entry in the comment section by end of day TODAY, and I'll pick one winner to feature Tuesday, April 3, complete with a "new" cast photo. To see a list of characters to recast and a photo of the BuzzSugar t-shirt, read more

Characters to recast:
L. B. "Jeff" Jefferies (Jimmy Stewart)
Lisa Carol Fremont (Grace Kelly)
Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr)
Detective Thomas J. Doyle (Wendell Corey)

The BuzzSugar t-shirt

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