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Transsiberian: Spooky But Irritating

BuzzSugar — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:30:29 PDT

In select cities, a little indie thriller titled Transsiberian quietly opened over the weekend and did fairly well in the indie market (despite the long shadow cast by The Dark Knight's opening), which frankly surprises me. With some folks calling the movie "Hitchcockian" in its suspense, and featuring a cast that includes the enigmatic Emily Mortimer and a shape-shifting Ben Kingsley, I was interested in seeing it myself. But now I kinda wish I hadn't.

Emily Mortimer and Woody Harrelson play Americans Roy and Jesse, who are taking a train through Russia after completing a missionary assignment teaching English in China. Roy is your typical all-American tourist, boisterous, over-eager and naive, while Jesse has worked hard to get over her bad girl past, in which she struggled with alcohol and drug addiction. They meet another young couple, Carlos (Eduardo Noriega) and Abby (Kate Mara), who turn out to have some shady secrets of their own, and Carlos manages to rope Jesse into a dangerous world of drug trafficking. Enter the two-faced Russian cop Grinko (Ben Kingsley) who has interests in Carlos's activities extending beyond official police work. When Carlos goes missing and Jesse was the last to see him, Grinko focuses all his energies on the American couple, and the movie kinda derails from there. To see what I mean,

read more. In terms of setting up a chilling, unfamiliar atmosphere in which terrible things could happen, director Brad Anderson succeeds on all counts. The snow white light of middle-of-nowhere Russia casts everything in a filmy gray, and the bulk of the story takes place on a speeding train, evoking a panicky feeling of being trapped in an foreign country in close quarters with untrustworthy people. Certainly, there are moments of genuine suspense, and the setting is such that this could have been a real nail-biter. But then someone talks, or does something incredibly dumb, and it's all over. The most debilitating aspect of Transsiberian is the set of characters. At every turn Jesse does something (or doesn't do something - how hard is it to discreetly drop a bag in a trash bin in a public space where nobody is paying attention to you? Come on!) that is so inane, so illogical, there's no response but to throw your hands up in the air and curse under your breath. Indeed, this is the kind of film that was fun to watch with a few friends - but only because we could yell at the screen together out of bafflement and frustration. Though she admirably puts her all into it, even Mortimer can't elevate the quality of this character. And then there's Woody Harrelson, who brings the stock character of dumb American buffoon to preposterous levels. He could have easily taken the blithe ignorance down a notch and we would have still gotten the picture. As it was, his character was so incredibly stupid at times, I wondered if there were something wrong with him, mentally. In the end, you can have a spooky setting, but characters really matter, too, and if we don't root for, care about or even remotely like any of them, it's hard to find the film worthwhile.

What to TiVo: Monday

BuzzSugar — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 23:59:47 PST

8:00 The Bachelor (new)
10:00 Castle (new)
12:00 Jimmy Kimmel Live (new, with guests Kiefer Sutherland and Bear Grylls)

8:00 How I Met Your Mother (repeat)
8:30 2 Broke Girls (repeat)
9:00 Two and a Half Men (repeat)
9:30 Mike & Molly (repeat)
10:00 Hawaii Five-0 (repeat)
11:35 Late Show With David Letterman (repeat, with guests Mark Wahlberg and Heather Morris)
12:37 The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson (repeat)

8:00 House (new)
9:00 Alcatraz (new)

8:00 Who's Still Standing (new)
9:00 Fear Factor (new)
10:00 Rock Center With Brian Williams (new)
11:35 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno (repeat, with Michelle Williams and Josh Lucas)
12:35 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon (repeat, with guests Tina Fey and Jean Dujardin)

8:00 Gossip Girl (new)
9:00 Hart of Dixie (new)

Link Time - Brad Pitt Announces Retirement From Acting

BuzzSugar — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 14:20:05 PST

Brad Pitt has announced when he'll quit acting - Moviefone
Find out why Anna Kournikova won't return to The Biggest Loser - The Hollywood Reporter
Sneak a peek at Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - Rotten Tomatoes
See Pamela Anderson as the Virgin Mary - Aol TV
Check out the best of The Amazing Race in Copenhagen - BuddyTV
Find out when you might get to see a Doctor Who movie - Zap2it
Is Colin Firth playing the villain in Oldboy? - /Film
Get the details on the film Russell Brand is starring in and producing - The Playlist
See the latest big star Quentin Tarantino is recruiting for Django Unchained - NextMovie
Get fashion inspiration from Fall movies like Breaking Dawn - FabSugar

Gwyneth and Justin Already Won Emmys!

PopSugar — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 07:51:05 PDT

Gwyneth Paltrow and Justin Timberlake win Emmys! - Huffington Post
Ashley Tisdale and Vanessa Hudgens get tattooed together - People
Stacy Keibler warmed up the red carpet for George Clooney - Lainey Gossip
The Carrie Diaries is a go! - Us Weekly
Hollywood's hunks love the fashion week fun too - TooFab
So much Breaking Dawn hotness in these photos! - Rotten Tomatoes
Amy Winehouse's family joins Anderson Cooper on his talk show - Hollywood Reporter
Scott Disick and Kris Humphries are getting to be good friends - Wonderwall
Brad Pitt feels the pain of his football team's losses - Lifeline Live
Sarah Chalke is going to Cougar Town! - Zap2It
Justin Bieber wants to be a young dad around 25 - Celebitchy

Bryan Caswell Will Host Food Network's Best in Smoke

Susannah Chen — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 15:06:39 PDT

We've got more details on one of Food Network's brand-new primetime television shows, Best in Smoke: turns out the reality TV series, which premieres May 8 at 10 p.m., will be hosted by none other than The Next Iron Chef's "linebacker ballerina" Bryan Caswell.

The Texas restaurateur, who's no amateur when it comes to barbecue himself, will follow America's best pitmasters as they compete head to head in venues across Manhattan for a $50,000 grand prize and the title of "best in smoke." He'll be joined by judges celebrity chef Tim Love, cookbook author Amy Mills Tunnicliffe, and James Beard Foundation executive Mitchell Davis.

Contestants include "Famous Dave" Anderson, founder of Famous Dave's America; Chris Hart, winner of the 2009 Jack Daniel's Invitational; Sara Horowitz, runner-up at the Versus National BBQ Championship series; Matt Lang, former head chef at New York's Fette Sau; Chris Lilly, vice president at Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q Restaurant; and Brad Orrison, founder of The Shed BBQ.

I'm a huge fan of both barbecue and Bryan, so I can already smell the hickory smoke coming out of my TV screen. Will you tune in to watch?

Source

Morning Links - Prince William Does Karaoke!

PopSugar — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 08:20:39 PDT

Prince William did karaoke at Zara Phillips's wedding! - Us Weekly
Gwyneth Paltrow shares her beach bag essentials - People
Sofia Vergara didn't know what MILF means - Huffington Post
Are you excited for James Franco's next movie? - Rotten Tomatoes
Brad and Angelina won't give the paps a bad shot - Lainey Gossip
Inside Pamela Anderson's wacky 44th birthday party - TooFab
Jennifer Lopez has a win over her ex in a sex tape battle - Wonderwall
Kirsten Dunst says her unique teeth give her character in Elle UK - Celebitchy
Ryan Phillippe's third kid gets his last name - Amy Grindhouse
Justin Bieber tries coning - thoughts? - Lifeline Live
Helen Mirren gets named "body of the year" - I'm Not Obsessed
Lady Gaga gives her fans McDonalds - The Blemish