BuzzSugar

Rocket Science: Charming, But Not Quite Enough

BuzzSugar — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 14:03:57 -0700

Rocket Science is the kind of movie that people, including me, will describe as charming or endearing. The problem with the film - the first narrative feature from Oscar-nominated director Jeffrey Blitz, who directed Spellbound - is that it's not quite as charming as it thinks it is.

Rocket Science centers on Hal Hefner (Reece Thompson), a meek high schooler with a serious stutter and a wrecked home life. After embarrassing himself by going mum during a school assembly, he's recruited for the school's debate team by Ginny Ryerson (Anna Kendrick), the state debate runner-up who's still nursing the wounds from being abandoned mid-finals by her former partner, Ben Wekselbaum (Nick D'Agosto). Ginny tells Hal she sees real potential in him, and he falls completely for her ploy, never thinking that Ginny might have more self-interested motivations in mind. In normal high school underdog tales, Hal would lose the stutter, get the girl and win the state debate trophy, but Rocket Science is more complicated than that, so read more

From the opening scenes, the central idea of Rocket Science is that on the night Ben Wekselbaum stopped speaking at the New Jersey state debate championships, his voice started slowly making its way toward Hal. And it's an appealing idea, because Hal is obviously smart and witty and easy to root for; you want him to be able to tell the lunch lady he wants pizza without suffering through two minutes of "um"s and "uh"s first. Basically, you want Hal to get what he wants, which is 1) the ability to speak clearly and 2) Ginny. Thompson and Kendrick deliver nuanced performances far beyond their years here; there's one scene that ends with a cello through a window that's simultaneously hilarious and deeply moving.

Rocket Science isn't content just to tell a story of a stuttering, lovelorn wannabe debater, though, and that's where the movie's weaknesses lie. I assume Blitz, who also wrote the film, was aiming for a universal "finding your voice in a messed-up world" theme, with broken marriages, deviant teenagers and unhelpful school counselors to spare. But the movie is bloated with supporting characters and plot threads that don't ever seem to tie into the whole. The counselor, a staple of every high school film, fades in and out of relevance; Hal's mother's lover is little more than a caricature. I would have been content to lose virtually all of those characters and plot lines in favor of spending more time with Hal and Ginny.

The movie starts coming back together toward the end, however, when Hal seeks out Ben for advice. D'Agosto, so so young and goofy-looking in photos, looks positively like a man next to tiny, insecure Hal; Ben's confidence couples with Hal's insecurity to create some of the funniest and truest scenes in the film. I just wish Rocket Science had stuck to dealing with love, revenge, and high school debate; it's a smaller story, true, but one that the film could tell very well indeed.

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Twilight Leads the People's Choice Awards Nominations

BuzzSugar — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:43:12 -0800

The 36th annual People's Choice Awards nominees are here, and last year's Twilight is leading the charge! American Idol's Kris Allen was among the announcers this morning for the nominees, which also include lots of nods for The Proposal - but of course, everyone's favorite bloodsucking love story landed in many categories, including favorite on-screen movie team.

Why didn't they look to 2009's New Moon? Because last year's nominations debuted before the first movie in the Twilight saga.

To see the full list of nominees, just read more.

MOVIES

FAVORITE MOVIE
Twilight
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Star Trek
The Hangover
The Proposal

FAMILY MOVIE
Hannah Montana: The Movie
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Up
Where the Wild Things Are

COMEDY MOVIE
17 Again
Bride Wars
He's Just Not That Into You
The Hangover
The Proposal

INDEPENDENT MOVIE
(500) Days of Summer
District 9
Inglourious Basterds
Paranormal Activity
Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail

FAVORITE MOVIE FRANCHISE
Twilight
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Star Trek
Transformers
X-Men

FAVORITE MOVIE ACTOR
Brad Pitt
Hugh Jackman
Johnny Depp
Robert Pattinson
Ryan Reynolds

FAVORITE MOVIE ACTRESS
Anna Hathaway
Drew Barrymore
Jennifer Aniston
Kristen Stewart
Sandra Bullock

FAVORITE ACTION STAR
Christian Bale
Gerard Butler
Hugh Jackman
Shia LaBeouf
Vin Diesel

FAVORITE COMEDIC STAR
Adam Sandler
Ben Stiller
Jim Carrey
Ryan Reynolds
Vince Vaughn

FAVORITE BREAKOUT MOVIE ACTRESS:
Anna Kendrick
Emily Osment
Ginnifer Goodwin
Miley Cyrus
Zoe Saldana

FAVORITE BREAKOUT MOVIE ACTOR
Chris Pine
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Sam Worthington
Taylor Lautner
Zachary Quinto

FAVORITE ONSCREEN TEAM
Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, The Proposal
Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner, Twilight
Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Ryan Reynolds, will.i.am, Dominic Monaghan and Daniel Henney, X-Men Origins: Wolverine

TELEVISION

FAVORITE TV DRAMA
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Grey's Anatomy
House
Lost
NCIS

FAVORITE TV COMEDY
Desperate Housewives
How I Met Your Mother
The Big Bang Theory
The Office
Two and a Half Men

FAVORITE TV DRAMA ACTOR
Hugh Laurie
Kiefer Sutherland
Mark Harmon
Matthew Fox
Patrick Dempsey

FAVORITE TV DRAMA ACTRESS
Anna Paquin
Blake Lively
Jennifer Love Hewitt
Katherine Heigl
Mariska Hargitay

FAVORITE TV COMEDY ACTOR
Alex Baldwin
Charlie Sheen
Jim Parsons
Neil Patrick Harris
Steve Carell

FAVORITE TV COMEDY ACTRESS
Alyson Hannigan
America Ferrera
Amy Poehler
Eva Longoria Parker
Tina Fey

FAVORITE TV OBSESSION
Dexter
Gossip Girl
The Hills
The Secret Life of the American Teenager
True Blood

FAVORITE TV TALK SHOW
Chelsea Lately
Live with Regis & Kelly
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Tyra Banks Show

FAVORITE TV SCI-FI/FANTASY
Heroes
Lost
Supernatural
The Vampire Diaries
True Blood

FAVORITE TV COMPETITION SHOW
American Idol
Dancing With the Stars
Project Runway
So You Think You Can Dance
Survivor: Samoa

FAVORITE ANIMAL SHOW
Animal Cops
DogTown
Dog Whisperer
It's Me or the Dog
Rescue Ink

FAVORITE NEW TV DRAMA
Eastwick
FlashForward
Melrose Place
Mercy
The Forgotten
The Good Wife
The Vampire Diaries,
Three Rivers
NCIS: Los Angeles
V

FAVORITE NEW TV COMEDY
Accidentally on Purpose
Brothers
Community
Cougar Town
Glee
Hank
The Cleveland Show
The Middle
Modern Family

MUSIC

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST
Eminem
Jason Mraz
John Mayer
Keith Urban
Tim McGraw

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST
Beyonce
Britney Spears
Carrie Underwood
Pink
Taylor Swift

FAVORITE COUNTRY ARTIST
Brad Paisley
Carrie Underwood
Keith Urban
Rascal Flatts
Taylor Swift

FAVORITE BREAKOUT MUSIC ARTIST
Adam Lambert
Demi Lovato
Kris Allen
Lady Gaga
Susan Boyle

FAVORITE HIP-HOP ARTIST
Eminem
Flo Rida
Jay-Z
Lil' Wayne
T.I.

FAVORITE ROCK BAND
Daughtry
Green Day
Kings of Leon
Muse
Paramore

FAVORITE MUSIC COLLABORATION
Cobra Starship & Leighton Meester, "Good Girls Go Bad"
Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat, "Lucky"
Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye West, "Run This Town"
T.I. & Rihanna, "Live Your Life"
The Lonely Island & T-Pain, "I'm on a Boat."

FAVORITE R&B ARTIST
Alicia Keys
Beyonce
Jennifer Hudson
Mariah Carey
Usher

FAVORITE POP ARTIST
Britney Spears
Katy Perry
Lady Gaga
Taylor Swift
The Black Eyed Peas

FAVORITE WEB CELEB
Andy Samberg
Ashton Kutcher
Miley Cyrus
P. Diddy
Will Ferrell

Link Time! Rumer Willis to Romance a Major 90210 Character

BuzzSugar — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:30:34 -0700

Guess who Rumer Willis's character on 90210 is going to have a girl-on-girl relationship with? - Ausiello Files
Hulu will not start charging for content after all - PopWatch
Zooey Deschanel will make a guest appearance on Bones - The Futon Critic
Natalie Portman was the guest judge on Top Chef last night - test your knowledge! - YumSugar
Dave Eggers's novel Zeitoun is going to be made into an animated film - Vulture
The new Avatar trailer is a bit more exciting than the first - Cinematical
Keanu Reeves will star in romantic comedy Henry's Crime with Vera Farmiga - Coming Soon
Abigal Breslin will star as Helen Keller on Broadway, along with Alison Pill - Hollywood Crush
Will Twilight's Anna Kendrick get a supporting actress nomination for Up in the Air? - HitFix

Photos courtesy of The CW