BuzzSugar

7 Hot Young Men With Hot Upcoming Projects

BuzzSugar — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 05:30:48 -0700

Move over Brad, Will, and George - there are some hot young actors racking up stellar movie roles and looking good doing it. Not only is this group of guys easy on the eyes, but they all seem serious about cultivating long and prosperous film careers. Some of these fellas have been kicking around Tinseltown for a while and some only recently broke out onto the scene in a major way. They're all names that are in demand and the following is a list of some of their interesting upcoming projects.

View Slideshow ›

Terminator Salvation: Why So Serious?

BuzzSugar — Fri, 22 May 2009 10:30:27 -0700

I remember being awed by James Cameron's Terminator 2: Judgment Day when I first saw it in theaters. I was young, but I knew even then that this was the kind of blockbuster that only comes around once in a while. It had heart-stopping action sequences, and parts were genuinely terrifying. I was drawn in by a charismatic, wisecracking teenager named John Connor, who would grow up to become a powerful post-apocalyptic leader of the human race. And the best part was the funny and touching relationship young Connor developed with the Austrian-accented Terminator sent to save him from the future.

Now, here comes director McG, reviving the franchise with Terminator Salvation by taking us into the nightmarish future that previous movies only hinted at. The year is 2018, and Skynet, an evil computer robot dictator, has bombed up the earth. Only a small population of humans has survived. Large and in charge is none other than John Connor, all grown up and looking like Christian Bale. In fact, grown-up Connor sounds just like Bale's other famous Summer movie character, Batman. And like Bale's Batman, his Connor is very serious - because, you know, these are serious times. But this movie would have been a lot more entertaining if both McG and Bale had lightened up a bit. To see why, read more.

The movie actually opens in 2003, where we meet Marcus Wright (played by newcomer Sam Worthington), who is a murderer on death row. He donates his body to science, and before we know it he's emerging muddy from a pile of futuristic rubbish without a clue as to what's gone down. Wright might be human, he might not be, and that's the question that haunts him throughout the movie. Worthington is a godsend in the role, and he manages to infuse his brutish, indestructible character with some humanity.

Things get interesting when Wright bumps into a young teenager named Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin) - who, we know from previous movies, will become John Connor's father. Some time in the future (even beyond 2018), Reese will travel back in time to impregnate Connor's mom, Sarah (Linda Hamilton, whose voice appears in the movie).

The timeline gets even more mind-blowing when Connor realizes that a teenager out there is his dad and Skynet is working on killing him. I kept thinking, "If Skynet kills Reese does Connor go poof right now?" A big disappointment, though, is that Reese isn't, like his son was once upon a time, more of a smartass. There is so much opportunity in this story to give Wright and Reese some fun dialogue, but alas, they don't say much to each other and spend most of the movie running from a wide variety of incredibly loud robots.

Overall, dialogue is the big thing missing from this movie. There are impressive action sequences galore, but no one really talks. And the talking that is there is earnest but somehow empty. McG and his team don't bother digging into - and having fun with - the lore that Cameron created, and it feels like a missed opportunity. Also, while everything is open to interpretation, I would have thought more effort would have been made to preserve the original tone. Edward Furlong established John Connor as a scrappy and unlikely hero with a wicked sense of humor. Christian Bale is humorless, dour, and void of human emotion. In other words, he's robotic - and the movie follows his course. In the end, it's hard to figure out which robot you want to win.

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.

Star Trek: Move Over Kirk, Spock Is Hot

BuzzSugar — Fri, 08 May 2009 10:30:01 -0700

To be honest, I'm not a huge Star Trek fan. Obviously as a member of the human race who was raised in the United States, I've been exposed to the original television show and many of its different iterations. I've even seen some of the movies including Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (responsible for my lifelong fear of earwigs) and the movie I commonly refer to as "the one with the whales," aka Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

So, getting me to be excited for anything Star Trek related is a bit of an uphill battle. Given that, it's a pretty amazing thing director J.J. Abrams and his team have accomplished with this reboot. The movie successfully turns back the clock on a franchise four decades old and brings it back to life with an adrenaline shock to the system that will leave you breathless. And in pure Abrams fashion, the story and characterization do not suffer. The result is popcorn cinema at its best. Despite not being a Trekkie (or Trekker, or whatever you call megafans these days), I can't stop thinking about this movie. To see why, read more.

The question I had going into this movie was: How does one reimagine Star Trek for today's audience without completely alienating hardcore fans? The answer, it turns out, was to simply start over. In a clever twist, the opening sequence sets into motion events that alter the space/time continuum. Yes - and this will come as no surprise to Lost fans - Abrams uses time travel that bends around certain facts. Rather than disregard Trek lore, the filmmakers simply figured out an acceptable way to start fresh with the characters.

Because of these time-bending events, James T. Kirk, the future captain of the USS Enterprise, grows up fatherless in Iowa. He's brilliant but extremely self-destructive. Meanwhile, on Vulcan, a young Spock is teased and discriminated against for having a human mother (Winona Ryder). We know the two young men are destined to meet but when they finally do it's different than what you might imagine. When Kirk (played by Chris Pine with a wink and nod to the original performance) meets Spock (Zachary Quinto) at the Starfleet Academy they do not get along. Kirk is all swagger and machismo. Spock is, of course, logical but Quinto plays him with a smug know-it-all edge that hints at the human emotions beneath the surface.

However, when the movie's villain Nero (Eric Bana) declares war on Vulcan and then Earth, it's all-hands-on-deck time and the two must work together. A bunch of green, yet familiar, cadets - Dr. "Bones" McCoy (Karl Urban), Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Sulu (John Cho), Chekov (Anton Yelchin), and eventually Scotty (Simon Pegg) - suddenly find themselves in charge of a brand-new ship. There are moments when seeing these good-looking youngsters in such a well-known uniform feels a little bit like the Trek version of Muppet Babies. But that feeling is fleeting and for the most part the performances are heartfelt and quite funny.

In the midst of chaos and war, Kirk and Spock become friends - but not before Spock violently pins Kirk's cocky butt to the floor. In Abrams's universe, Spock aims for logic but often succumbs to his emotions, messy though they may be. Pine charges through the film with all the charisma needed in a golden-haired leading man, but in a lot of ways this is Quinto's movie and he actually turns Spock into something of a sex symbol. Some fans might find these changes to the characters' personalities sacrilegious, but I just appreciate the fact that their friendship provides the movie with an emotional center.

In the end, the experience is completely satisfying. There are in-jokes galore that even a Trek philistine like myself found thrilling and there are action sequences that had me on the edge of my seat. It's thoughtful, it looks great, and it's completely absorbing. In terms of epic action-adventures, it doesn't get much better than this.

Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Buzz News Roundup, 3/19

BuzzSugar — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 13:29:33 -0700

TV Guide reports that Michelle Trachtenberg will head to Gossip Girl to play a nemesis from Serena's past.
The Sci-Fi Channel has signed Rosario Dawson to develop True Believer, the pilot for a proposed series based on a comic book she co-created, Variety reports.
Billboard reports that the Dave Matthews Band and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers will headline the first Mile High Music Festival in July in Commerce City, Colorado.
ComingSoon reports on the all-star cast - including Gerard Butler, America Ferrera and Jonah Hill, among others - set to provide voices for the 3-D animated movie How to Train Your Dragon.
Anton Yelchin will play Kyle Reese in the next Terminator movie, writes The Hollywood Reporter.
Ellen DeGeneres will return for a second year as host of Idol Gives Back, Broadcasting & Cable reports.
Snoop Dogg's latest album had his lowest first-week sales total ever, finishing at No. 3 on the charts and being beaten by Miami rapper Rick Ross and a NOW compilation, Billboard reports.
The Hollywood Reporter has news on the cast set up so far for the gay wedding comedy For Better or for Worse, which includes Janeane Garofalo, Rebecca Gayheart and new mom Soleil Moon Frye.
3:10 to Yuma director James Mangold will helm a Cyclops movie, ComingSoon reports.

Source

New York, I Love You: A Jigsaw Puzzle That Doesn't Quite Fit

BuzzSugar — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:30:00 -0700

As a city with so much personality and penchant for possibility, it's no surprise that the follow-up to Paris, Je t'aime heads to New York. New York, I Love You is a tale of the connections and personal missteps that occur every single day in the city that never sleeps. It plays out like a movie version of a song mash-up: some story lines are linear and independent of the rest while other characters wander in and out of each other's lives. Throw an all-star cast in there, and you could possibly have a recipe for perfection.

Unfortunately, the ingredients don't blend together as well as I had hoped, and instead we're left with an engaging but bland look at a handful of trials and tribulations in relationships. To see what I mean, just read more.

Made up of a series of short films, New York, I Love You is an homage to the city as well as the residents who hold it near and dear to their hearts. The "anything can happen" theme is alive and well, as strangers become acquaintances and friends, putting so much emphasis on each and every interaction that we take part in on a regular basis.

You meet a few characters that represent New York well enough; Bradley Cooper is the guy who's constantly jumping into a cab the same time as someone else, Orlando Bloom is the struggling musician who turns to Central Park for inspiration, Hayden Christensen is the pick-pocket who's as sexy as he is dangerous. But sometimes it feels just a little too forced; like the film is primarily concerned with proving that New York is a melting pot. Rather than seeing a few love stories shine through stereotypes, I was more distracted by the fake accents.

As with Paris Je t'aime, some of the stories shine brighter than others. Natalie Portman directs a sweet piece about a relationship between a father and daughter; Olivia Thirlby and Anton Yelchin are refreshing as a younger pair who makes the prom a night to remember. The lighter films are breaths of fresh air amongst others that are trying too hard to be hip and stylized.

The ensemble cast certainly gives the movie a boost; even when it's not provoking the deepest of emotions, the film always had my attention. There are solid performances all-around, particularly from Chloris Leachman and Eli Wallach as an aging couple who are still bickering when they aren't helping each other cross the street. It is the most hopeful of the scenarios, and by far the sweetest and most touching.

The film provides plenty of the standard money shots of Manhattan: a typical day in Grand Central Station in fast forward, subway rides, hours of people watching in a coffee shop. The encounters feel authentic and realistic, but the failure lies in the inability to make us feel something on a deeper level. Sometimes you can relate to the characters, and sometimes you feel sorry for them, but it doesn't squeeze your heart nearly enough - and with a title like New York, I Love You, this a disappointment.