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What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 07:30:47 -0800

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue. In addition to my picks below, you can now watch Beverly Hills Chihuahua as many times as you'd like.

Australia
In my mind, there are many reasons to bring home Baz Luhrmann's Australia. There's Hugh Jackman, the costumes, a lot of cool scenery, and did I mention Hugh Jackman? He's just so gorgeous and manly as an outback cowboy. . . . Anyway, I'm just saying that I enjoyed his performance.

The story follows Kidman's character, Sarah Ashley, who gains sudden control of a cattle station in Australia called Faraway Downs. She relies on a rather motley crew to help her out there, including the sexy, no-nonsense Drover (Jackman) and a mixed-race Aboriginal child, Nullah. Things are grueling enough in the outback for these folks but then the war also engulfs their country, making for a very dramatic and epic cinematic journey. Special features include deleted scenes.

One more up next, so read more.

Wonder Woman
While I will continue to hope for a live-action Wonder Woman film, this animated straight-to-DVD movie about DC Comics's Amazon princess looks like it will suffice for now. Keri Russell voices Wonder Woman, a.k.a. Princess Diana, and is joined by Virginia Madsen, Alfred Molina, Rosario Dawson, Oliver Platt, and Nathan Fillion to tell the origin story of this superhero.

I've read some reviews about it and so far the buzz is pretty great. One reviewer called it "a terrifically entertaining action picture, with fully drawn characters, clever dialogue, and a clear and specific point of view." Also, FYI, the movie is PG-13 which means not necessarily suitable for the kids. And it means I can feel less dweeby about watching this at home.

Special features include commentary by the film's creative team and two in-depth documentaries titled "Wonder Woman: A Subversive Dream," and "Wonder Woman: Daughter of Myth."

Box Office: High School Musical Dances to No. 1

BuzzSugar — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 07:00:23 -0700

We knew High School Musical was a huge television hit but now it's a bona fide silver screen success. The third installment of the perky Disney musical bonanza scored the top spot at the box office over the weekend, earning an estimated $42 million.

Meanwhile, Saw V did excellent business over the weekend as well, earning an estimated $30.5 million in the No. 2 spot. Variety notes that both titles were record breakers:

The top two films each entered record territory. Disney’s High School is by far the biggest musical bow ever, besting Mamma Mia! Lionsgate’s Saw franchise is within $2 million of eclipsing Friday the 13th to become the top-grossing horror series ever.

Max Payne and Beverly Hills Chihuahua came in at No. 3 and No. 4 respectively, with the top five being rounded out by the Ed Norton cop thriller Pride & Glory.

Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures

Wahlberg Feels No Payne at the Box Office

BuzzSugar — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 07:30:34 -0700

Mark Wahlberg had a good weekend. His movie Max Payne was No. 1 at the box office, with an estimated $18 million. Plus, it looks like he made nice with Andy Samberg, after things got tense last week.

Second place turned out to be what Variety calls a "photo finish" between those dancing dogs and The Secret Life of Bees. Disney's Beverly Hills Chihuahua just barely eked out a second place finish its third weekend in theaters with an estimated $11.2 million with Bees close behind with about $11.1 million.

Oliver Stone's biopic W also did well, coming in at No. 4 with an estimated $10.6 million its first weekend out followed by Eagle Eye at No. 5.

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox

Box Office: It's a Chihuahua World and We're Just Living in It

BuzzSugar — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:30:48 -0700

If the photo below were a Caption It contest based on this weekend's box office results, my entry would go something like: "Well Leo, there's no easy way to say this so I'm just going to come out with it. We got beat by the little talking dogs. Beat bad."

That's right, Disney's Beverly Hills Chihuahua was No. 1 for the second weekend in a row followed by the horror flick Quarantine. Ridley Scott's Body of Lies, which came in third, was expected to do much better "based on its star power alone" but the combination of mediocre reviews and the fact that audiences continue to eschew Iraq War-related movies probably worked against a successful opening weekend. Eagle Eye and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist rounded out the top five respectively.

The new sports film The Express came in at No. 6 followed by Nights in Rodanthe, Appaloosa, The Duchess, and City of Ember at No. 10.

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Chihuahua's Bark Is Loud at the Box Office

BuzzSugar — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 06:30:31 -0700

You know, the reviews for Disney's Beverly Hills Chihuahua were not as bad as I thought they might be, so that coupled with the fact that it's a family film meant that the movie about little talking dogs took the No. 1 spot at the box office over the weekend. The top dogs brought in a seriously impressive $29 million. That's about the same amount that Eagle Eye earned last weekend. This weekend, the Shia LaBeouf action-thriller came in second place.

Meanwhile, some smaller movies (a.k.a. "specialty films") also did well. Both Bill Maher's documentary Religulous and Anne Hathaway's Rachel Getting Married had terrific opening weekends. This was especially striking as "three of the new wide releases didn’t even crack the top 10 chart," including Flash of Genius, Blindness, and How to Lose Friends and Alienate People.

Finally, both Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and Appaloosa enjoyed solid debuts, coming in third and fifth respectively. Lots of options this weekend! Which one did you see? (And come on, you can admit it if it was the chihuahua movie - this is a safe place.)

Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures

Another Trailer for Your Consideration: Beverly Hills Chihuahua

BuzzSugar — Mon, 05 May 2008 15:30:07 -0700

We've discussed some of the big trailers that premiered over the weekend, and now I would like to point your attention to another little summer movie preview hitting the Web.

I think there are several ways to approach the movie Beverly Hills Chihuahua (previously known as South of the Border): with excitement (singing dogs!), dread (what the heck is going on in Hollywood?), or wonderment at the jaw-droppingly ridiculous fact that this thing is happening. I've chosen the last approach because this thing is just so funny to me.

Not that you'll get any of this from the preview, but the movie's plot is summed up by IMDB as such: "While on vacation in Mexico, Chloe, a ritzy Beverly Hills chihuahua, finds herself lost and in need of assistance in order to get back home."

There are a bunch of celebrities lending their voices to this canine bonanza, including Drew Barrymore (Chloe), Salma Hayek, Edward James Olmos, Andy Garcia, and Cheech Marin. Of course, I'd only subject you to something like this on Cinco de Mayo, as you're probably more likely to be in the mood for this little song and dance number on a holiday. As the poster says, the chihuahuas will rise September 26. To check it out, read more.

Source

Rewind: This Week's Buzz

BuzzSugar — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 07:30:37 -0700

The Beverly Hills Chihuahua movie got a poster that hilariously helps us out with pronunciation. Honestly, I think I'm more excited for the little talking dogs than the new Dane Cook flick. How about you?
Mariah Carey's appearance on American Idol not only brought out some surprising performances, but also a smoking hot Ms. Carey. She looked awesome and I'm happy for her. Kristy Lee Cook was sent home which was probably a long time coming, though it's a little ironic since I think she put in one of her best performances of the season.
MTV premiered the 20th season of Real World this week and let's just say the casting has, um, come a long way - to put it nicely. However, if Real World is no longer your thing, The Paper also premiered on MTV and it looks fun. Did you watch it? What did you think?
Project Runway news continues to pop up as LIfetime develops several spin-offs. Bravo isn't sitting idly by, however, and announced its own programming plans this week.
I featured a diverse collection of trailers this week including The Wackness, The House Bunny, Helen Hunt's directorial debut Then She Found Me, and The Battle in Seattle.
Remember when I was excited about Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski being cast in a movie together? Well now the movie has a name and Allison Janney!
In other casting news, there is talk of a Teen Witch remake starring Ashley Tisdale. My befuddlement at '80s remake mania aside, this news reminded me of one of the greatest rap scenes of all time which you simply must watch.
Author Jennifer Weiner is on board to help ABC develop more programming aimed at women. As for current female-centric hit shows, Samantha of Samantha Who? is the focus of this week's Caption It contest.

Link Time! 4/15

BuzzSugar — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 14:30:27 -0700

BestWeekEver has the new poster for Beverly Hills Chihuahua and has declared voting for the 2008 Oscars officially closed.
In celebration of tax day, TV Filter has a tribute to TV's greatest accountants.
Lucky lady PopSugarUK got to see Bjork live! Check out her thoughts here, and stay tuned for her reports from the upcoming Breeders concert.
Popwatch has posted a hilarious challenge: sum up classic movies in three lines.
TV Squad has a list of 10 awkward TV moments, and amazingly, only one is from The Office.
According to CasaSugar, Sting's NYC condo unit is freaking awesome.
TV With MeeVee wonders who really likes The Price is Right enough to buy a box set.
Give Me My Remote is less excited about the 90210 spinoff now that Rob Thomas isn't writing it anymore, but The TV Addict has some better news with a photo of cast addition AnnaLynne McCord.