BuzzSugar

Helen Mirren Smites Russell Brand in The Tempest Trailer

Becky Kirsch — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 12:30:00 PDT

In the classic Shakespeare play The Tempest, a magician and rightful duke named Prospero is banished to a distant island by his jealous brother, who seeks the crown. Julie Taymor gives her film adaptation a girl power makeover, turning Prospero into Prospera and making her leading lady (Helen Mirren) the wife of a duke. When her conniving brother-in-law, Antonio (Chris Cooper), accuses Propsera of killing her husband with witchcraft, she's sent away on a ship with her 4-year-old daughter. She conjures a storm to lure Antonio to the island she and her daughter have been inhabiting.

It sounds like typical Shakespeare tragedy (murder! treason! banishment!) but The Tempest is actually a comedy, and the trailer's got some funny moments (thanks to Russell Brand and Alfred Molina). If you're expecting to see Brand branching out from his typical fare, then you may be disappointed, but he's oddly fitting here as a jester. As expected for a film about a sorcerer, there's also special effects to spare here - not to mention a stellar cast. Check it out after the jump.

Link Time - New Green Lantern Poster Revealed!

BuzzSugar — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 13:35:41 PDT

Four new posters for Green Lantern - Cinematical
Glee gets a new female football coach - TVGuide.com
The trailer for Drive Angry 3D features cars, explosions, and Nic Cage - MTV Movies Blog
Hugh Laurie will record a blues record - Vulture
Gabriel Macht to star in USA's A Legal Mind - Ausiello Files
Halle Berry and Paul Rudd will guest star on The Simpsons - TV Squad
Alfred Molina joins Law & Order: Los Angeles - Zap2it
It's official: Daniel Craig signs on for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - Collider
Which Draper is a better parent, Betty or Don? - LilSugar

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Prince of Persia: A Forgettable but Fun Adventure

Becky Kirsch — Fri, 28 May 2010 05:30:00 PDT

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time teeters right on the brink of movie mediocrity. It's neither amazing nor offensively bad, the action sequences are entertaining but not mind-blowing, and the performances are fine but not nuanced. Using Jake Gyllenhaal's familiar face and jacked up abs as a promotional tool helps to tip the scales in the right direction, but ultimately it's not enough to keep the film afloat against Summer's heaviest hitters.

Gyllenhaal plays our scrappy titular prince, Dastan. Born a street urchin and taken under the King's wing as a boy, Dastan's lack of royal blood doesn't make him any less a part of the family, which consists of his two brothers and uncle (an always-excellent Ben Kingsley). That is, until he's framed for his father's murder and forced to flee the city. With only a mysterious dagger that can turn back time and a hot-headed princess in tow, Dastan sets out to prove his innocence and set things right - finding romance, hijinks, and some ostriches along the way.

So is Jakey G worth your money or not? Find out when you

read more. For a movie that's based on a video game, I was impressed with how well the plot holds up throughout the two-hour film. There are plenty of weapons and choreographed fight sequences that had me reminiscing about the days I spent mastering Nintendo moves, but I certainly didn't feel like I was simply watching someone else play a video game. The story is predictable but still engaging, and is packed with enough characters (Alfred Molina is particularly fun as a wisecracking thief Dastan encounters) and twists to balance out the action and often (literally) blinding special effects. There's no questioning that the movie is entertaining but it's unfortunately lacking in script and character development. The dialogue is often painfully cheesy, chock-full of badly delivered lines like "It is your destiny, not mine." We scratch the surface of Dastan and Tamina's chemistry, but not enough to really root for their romance or care about what happens to them. Yes, it's a cookie cutter superficial Summer blockbuster, but Prince of Persia could have gone so much further had it spent just a little more time getting the audience acquainted with the major players. In the end, Prince of Persia is the kind of movie that's perfect for one-time use. If you end up seeing it, you just might be pleasantly surprised -but you're not missing out anything if you let it pass you by.

Photos courtesy of Disney

Link Time - Drew Barrymore Takes Us Back to Oz

BuzzSugar — Wed, 19 May 2010 13:30:00 PDT

Rumor is Drew Barrymore will direct the Wizard of Oz sequel Surrender Dorothy - Pajiba
Whew! Kellan Lutz and Ashley Greene have agreed to Breaking Dawn salaries - THR, Esq.
Sarah Silverman interviews Lost guys Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse - Vulture
Kyle MacLachlan is leaving Desperate Housewives - Ausiello Files
Jemaine Clement will play the villain in Men in Black III - Cinematical
Alfred Molina joins Abduction - Deadline
Mean Girls gets a quasi-spinoff called Mean Moms - A.V. Club
New sci-fi shows to get excited about - GeekSugar
Sneak peek at Rihanna's new video - The Frisky
Smallville will end after next season - TV.com

An Education: A Wonderful, World Weary Coming of Age Tale

Shannon Vestal — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 05:30:00 PDT

There's very little time left for Carey Mulligan to be an unknown. She plays the central character in An Education, and it's a mesmerizing, star-making turn.

Nick Hornby is behind the screenplay, which follows 16-year-old schoolgirl Jenny as she navigates her strict school-minded parents and the affections of a man twice her age in '60s London. Though some might be turned off by the Lolita-esque premise, this isn't a movie about a May-December romance but the story of Jenny's discovery of the world and adulthood.

To see what I liked about the movie, just

read more. Peter Sarsgaard is the older man, who he plays with the seductive blandness the role calls for. It's not Sarsgaard's character, David, who tempts Jenny; it's the idea of him. Before David shows up, Jenny has a path set forth by her parents and her English teacher: Oxford. When David enters the picture by chance, Jenny suddenly has a choice: Oxford or the glamorous life David exposes her to that doesn't require a college degree. She declares her first date with David as the best night of her life. It's easy to see why: fabulous dinners and concerts in London with David's friends, played by Rosamund Pike and Dominic Cooper. Pike is really too worldly looking to be playing such a dim bulb, but she's luminous as a representation of Jenny's possible future. Jenny soon learns that David’s seemingly easy life may not be what she truly wants, and she finds herself at a crossroads. The movie does an excellent job at making you live the conflict too - it's not obvious what life Jenny will choose, even though a traditional Hollywood movie would make it clear what the "right" thing to do is. Instead, you find yourself in Jenny's shoes thanks to the engrossing performance of Mulligan, whose angelic face and throaty voice shift easily from dedicated student to London sophisticate. Mulligan's likability is matched only by her Oxford-pushing father, played by Alfred Molina. Some of the most entertaining scenes are those in which Molina is either brusquely insulting one of Jenny's suitors or being entranced by David himself. At first I wondered why Jenny's parents would let her go off so easily with David when I watched the trailer, but it plays out plainly: David is irresistible. Like a snake-oil salesman, that is. He feeds Jenny and her parents what they want to hear, and when things go awry, Jenny angrily confronts her father about how he could have been so seduced by David. This is one of the lessons Jenny learns from her affair with David; that despite education, maturity, and age, authority figures are fallible. The other authority figures of this movie are compelling as well: Olivia Williams plays Jenny's encouraging teacher (whose radiance can't be hidden by a pair of horn-rimmed glasses) and Emma Thompson has a cameo as a rigid headmistress who seems to take pleasure in threatening Jenny about her future. However, no one shines brighter than Mulligan. Her Jenny is a strong, bright young woman who never completely loses her way, despite the situation she gets caught up in. It's her performance in An Education you'll be talking about when you leave the theater - and maybe in a few months when awards season begins.

Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures

Movie Preview: Nick Hornby's An Education

BuzzSugar — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:45:12 PDT

The description for An Education goes like this: "A coming-of-age story about a teenage girl in 1960s suburban London, and how her life changes with the arrival of a playboy nearly twice her age." And the new trailer for the movie, written by Nick Hornby, shows just that. In fact, the whole movie seems to unfold within this trailer, and yet, I still really, really want to see the movie. In a rare occurrence, I'm anxious to find out what happens in between all the scenes we see in the preview. This is largely due to the engaging cast, which includes Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Emma Thompson, Alfred Molina and Rosamund Pike. Carey Mulligan, as the young woman at the center of the story, is particularly riveting, a spirited pixie with a sharp mind and the sweetest, most innocent face in the world.

An Education opens in limited release here in the U.S. Oct. 9. To watch the trailer,

Nothing Like the Holidays: The Fruitcake of the Holiday Movie Season

BuzzSugar — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 07:30:52 PST

The Christmas dramedy Nothing Like the Holidays really is like a fruitcake: Seasonal, obligatory and cliche. It's unoriginal in its presentation, but then again, it is the holidays and someone put in the effort to make it, so a part of you appreciates it a little. You just don't want to taste it ever again. And maybe another part of you is the teeniest bit resentful that you were given something so forgettable.

Having said all that, there are some refreshing aspects to this particular sweet-sour overbaked good. The plot relies heavily on that tiresome declaration of "look how totally wacky and loud we are but we are also so loving!" But at least this time it's a Puerto Rican-American family, an ethnic group that's pretty severely underrepresented in mainstream film. The adult children in the Rodriguez family are gathering together at their parents' Chicago home for Christmas, including big-time New York City lawyer Mauricio (John Leguizamo) and his Jewish fish-out-of-water wife Sarah (Debra Messing), aspiring Hollywood actress Roxanna (Vanessa Ferlito), and soldier Jesse (Freddy Rodriguez) who is just now returning from Iraq. A circle of extra players surrounds the group: cousin Johnny (Luis Guzmán), family friend with a history of gangster life Ozzy (Jay Hernandez), and Jesse's old flame (the one that got away) Marissa (Melonie Diaz) - along with her son and new boyfriend. For more on why there's just nothing like the holidays,

read more. The familial relationships are equal parts tension and love, anger and sweetness, cruelty and warmth. Emotions run high all the time and everyone's got some kind of drama going on. Sarah feels unfairly pressured to have kids, Roxanna fears her fledgling career in TV and film will never take off, and Ozzy is filled with rage toward the recently-sprung-from-prison guy who killed his brother. Jesse's storyline is the most intriguing, largely due to Freddy Rodriguez's wonderful onscreen charisma: Trying to adapt to civilian life again, he wonders what his purpose is and desperately wants to be with Marissa. Finally, there's the ridiculously lame plotline of the parents: Edy (the magnificent teddy-bear-dad Alfred Molina) is hiding something, Anna (Elizabeth Peña) thinks he's cheating on her and thus wants a divorce, leading the kids to think this is their last Christmas together. All these storylines get knitted together in one big tangly ball of mess, which doesn't give any one character the space to grow beyond the one-dimensional stereotype he or she is given. The actors try mightily to counter this, however, and at times they succeed. These are heavyweight actors who are way above this material, and if there's a reason to see this movie at all, it's them. Their determination to be a part of this story is admirable, and in certain scenes they even manage to add some flavor to an otherwise bland Christmas offering. Overall, though, I'd say you can pass on this dessert - at least until it's re-gifted on TV during next year's holiday season. Source

Movie Preview: Nothing Like the Holidays

BuzzSugar — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 05:30:24 PDT

Sure, when I first saw the poster and description for Nothing Like the Holidays, I kinda groaned inside. Nothing like another reheated family holiday flick! And yet, now that I've watched the trailer, I'm charmed by this new take on an old genre.

For one thing, the film focuses on a Latino family, which is unusual (embarrassingly so) in both film and television. For another thing, the cast is fantastic. John Leguizamo has already won me over (being one of my favorite actors ever helps), as has another favorite of mine, Alfred Molina. In addition there's the lovable Debra Messing and (ready, Getty Girls?) the winsome Freddy Rodriguez.

The movie's description goes like this: "A Puerto Rican family living in the area of Humboldt Park in west Chicago face what may be their last Christmas together." It starts out seeming tamely cute/funny, and then moves into some more poignant territory. Nothing Like the Holidays opens Nov. 21, and to watch the trailer,

Silk: Pretty but Empty

BuzzSugar — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 14:39:10 PDT

Silk is like that good-looking celebrity you admire from afar for a while, and when you finally get the chance to sit down and talk to them, they turn out to be vapid and uninteresting. The strength of this movie lies in the visuals, as was the case with another of director François Girard's aesthetically appealing films, The Red Violin. Nature appears to be at its most lush and there are some gorgeous costumes. François Girard and his cinematographer Alain Dostie also seem to have a love for Asian cultures, creating stunning shots of the landscape and people alike. Yet beyond the visuals the movie has an empty feeling to it.

Michael Pitt sleepily plays Hervé, a young silk merchant who travels to a remote part of Japan for healthy eggs at the prompting of his ambitious boss Baldabiou (Alfred Molina, bringing his usual strength and warmth). While there, he encounters a beautiful concubine with whom he becomes obsessed. Even when he's not required to return to Japan and despite political strife rendering the journey dangerous, he goes anyway, inexplicably drawn to this woman with whom he can't even communicate. For more about Silk,

read more Keira Knightley plays Hervé's willowy and devoted wife Helene, and she does just fine with the role. In many ways, this is Helene's story more than her husband's, and while Knightley is pretty and tries her best, the material she's given is flimsy at best. Pitt gives her blessed little to work with as well, his efforts to be (I think) introspective and thoughtful coming across instead as sluggish and confused. Silk is based on a lovely, sensual, Italian novel by Alessandro Baricco, and I can easily understand why one would want to visually interpret the lyrical beauty of the words. It's a sweet story but doesn't lend itself to a lot of intriguing action or dialogue - only a succession of beautiful frames. That's nice and all, but I left the movie wishing the filmmakers' efforts had gone toward making paintings or photographs rather than an ill-conceived movie. Source

Movie Preview: Silk

BuzzSugar — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 15:25:48 PDT

Opening in limited release this Friday, Silk follows "a married silkworm merchant-turned-smuggler (Michael Pitt) in 19th century France traveling to Japan for his town's supply of silkworms after a disease wipes out their African supply. During his stay in Japan, he becomes obsessed with the concubine of a local baron." Keira Knightley and Alfred Molina also star, so I look forward to seeing Silk as soon as possible. To check out the gorgeous trailer,