BuzzSugar

Link Time: Watch Kris Allen's Video For "Live Like We're Dying"

BuzzSugar — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:00:39 -0800

Kris Allen's music video for "Live Like We're Dying" is here - Music Mix

Jemaine Clement says that he and Bret may not return for Flight of the Conchords because they're dads now - Vulture

New Moon's Jamie Campbell Bower thinks Tim Burton should direct Breaking Dawn - MTV Movies Blog

Watch Jay-Z and U2 perform "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" in Berlin - Pitchfork

Five Mad Men spinoffs that would be great ideas - TV.com

Jim Carrey's new website may freak you out - MTV Movies Blog

JJ Abrams is directing and exec-producing the pilot for his show Undercovers for NBC - Coming Soon

Top Chef Masters is cooking for the cast of Modern Family today! - Steve Levitan's Twitter

This week's Parks and Recreation brings up an interesting relationship issue - TresSugar

Stephen Frears reunites with his High Fidelity screenwriter D.V. De Vincentis for Lay the Favorite - Cinematical

An Open Letter to Breaking Dawn's Screenwriter

Buzz Community — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:30:00 -0800

This post comes from the group The Books of Twilight from member Audreystar.

Dear Ms. Rosenberg,

First let me say that I thought you did an impeccable job at screenwriting Twilight from Stephenie Meyer's novel. From what I can see you did a great job on New Moon as well. I can only assume that Eclipse will be no different. You have proven yourself a competent and talented screenwriter. Hell, you write episodes of Dexter for goodness sake! Your ability is not in question.

I am here to discuss Breaking Dawn. This will be the ultimate test of your career. If you can manage to pull a workable movie out of that piece of literature you should (hands down) win the Academy Award in screenwriting. Everyone seems to be wondering who will be chosen to direct Breaking Dawn because they believe that is (ultimately) the person who will sink or swim in making a film work on the last book. I beg to differ. This all lies with you and that is quite a big burden to bear. The world is on your shoulders. The movie will make a ton of money so Summit can't be THAT concerned with the script. But I know you aren't a writer to please all the people who will watch anything with Robert Pattinson in it. You actually care about putting out quality work.

To read the rest of the letter (WARNING: Breaking Dawn spoilers ahead!), just .

So here are my questions. How are you honestly going to manage to write the birth scene and still maintain a PG-13 rating? How are you going to write for Renesmee and her not look like a freak of nature? Regarding Renesmee, the hardest challenge will be for the casting directors/CGI geniuses. They have a daunting and hard and impossible job. The honeymoon scene is what everyone will be flocking to the cinema to see (the rabid fans I mean) and I am sure Mrs. Prude Meyer will be ALL OVER the writing and filming of that. Look I know she didn't write the books for a mature audience and is trying to keep it morally sound. But this is the last movie and we have to have more than just a fade to black. But I know it won't happen because SM wouldn't even let the first kiss scene stay the way Catherine had it (i.e., steamy). I find it rather hypocritical that SM has an issue with a tasteful sex scene however has ZERO problem with blood and gore which Breaking Dawn the novel is filled to the brim with. You want to see Edward and Bella consummate their relationship. . . sorry, you aren't gonna get it. But if you are excited to see Edward rip Bella's belly open with his sharp vampire teeth, well you are in luck.

And don't even get me started on how you are going to work out the awful anti-climatic ending. This is going to be the last film in the series and as a talented screenwriter you know you can't end it that way. Sure, if this were an indie film you could get away with it. But, it isn't.

So in conclusion, I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers while dealing with this huge predicament and the test of your career. You will deserve a Pulitzer if you can pull this off.

Best regards,
Audreystar

(Please note: I have no clue if she has even been signed as the screenwriter for the fourth film).

There's lots of fun stuff going on in our community - join it, check it out, share your stories and posts in the great groups and maybe we'll feature them here on BuzzSugar!

Pattinson to Play an "Amoral Character" in Bel Ami

BuzzSugar — Wed, 20 May 2009 10:30:07 -0700

The pile of projects on Robert Pattinson's plate just keeps getting higher and higher. In addition to filming Remember Me (which he's currently talking up at Cannes), he was recently cast in Unbound Captives alongside Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz and now he'll star in an adaptation of Guy de Maupassant's story Bel Ami. The movie is set to shoot next year in Paris (ooh la la) and Pattinson says this role is quite different for him, claiming "[i]t's a totally amoral character."

While in Cannes, Pattinson chatted some more about the other projects, saying that the female lead in Remember Me has yet to be cast and whoever does come in "needs to be literally inspirational." (Anyone want to audition?!) Adorably, Pattinson also praised Remember Me screenwriter Jenny Lumet (who also wrote Rachel Getting Married), saying "I have no qualms saying that she's a genius."

As for Twilight, Pattinson assures fans that Edward will be featured enough in New Moon, as apparently he "will log screen time as Bella's 'hallucinations.'" In a separate interview, Pattinson confirmed that he plans to be in the fourth film, Breaking Dawn, but that his schedule is so busy they have yet to figure out when, exactly, Breaking Dawn will be in production.

Source

Should Young Adult Authors Be Careful With Their Messages?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 07:30:36 -0700

Now that the Twilight series's popularity has reached a deafening pitch with the release of Breaking Dawn, there is starting to be a bit of blowback, particularly concerning the messages it might be sending to young, female readers. Many have noted Bella's low self-esteem, stating that she may not be the best role model for the young tweens captivated by this tale of vampire love.

But Twilight is not the first young adult series to cause a stir. C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia books were often accused of having heavy religious undertones, while Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy (which includes The Golden Compass) has weathered the opposite criticism as a purportedly negative portrayal of organized religion.

Do you think young adult authors have a greater responsibility to their readers when it comes to messages they might be sending? Or is the simple fact that they get kids reading good enough?

Source

Buzz News Roundup, 8/4

BuzzSugar — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:30:01 -0700

Stephenie Meyer's final installment in the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn, sold 1.3 million copies in one day, the AP reports.
The new Metallica album, Death Magnetic will be released on a Friday - September 12 - rather than on a Tuesday, which is the norm, writes Billboard.
Stephen Root of Office Space and NewsRadio is joining Pushing Daisies for four episodes as a character with connections to both Ned's dad and Chuck's dad, Entertainment Weekly reports.
According to ComingSoon, Universal Pictures will make an action-adventure Island of Lost Souls, an adaptation of the Danish film De fortabte sjaeles o.
So You Think You Can Dance has been officially renewed for a fifth season, Variety reports.
Zap2It has the news that Robert De Niro will join Mel Gibson for the dramatic movie Edge of Darkness.
E! reports that, according to Shonda Rhimes, the rumors that Izzie will have a brain tumor on Grey's Anatomy are totally bogus.
Billboard reports that James Taylor is covering songs from the '50s, '60s and '70s for an album put out by Starbucks' music label.

Source

BuzzSugar's Must Haves for August

BuzzSugar — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 08:30:27 -0700

August is the month when Summer comes to a close and entertainment-land gets a case of the doldrums. It's typically slow for music releases, and Hollywood doesn't necessarily put out the year's best films this month either. But that doesn't mean there aren't a few good gems out there that you'll want to get your hands on this month. To see what I uncovered, hit "Start."

View Slideshow ›

Talking New Moon With Kellan Lutz and Ashley Greene

BuzzSugar — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:15:50 -0800

Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner may be dominating the promotional circuit right now, but they're not the only cast members with something to say about New Moon. I had the opportunity to chat with costars Kellan Lutz and Ashley Greene, aka Emmett and Alice Cullen, during their recent stopover in SF. They chatted about their characters, the vampire craze, and what it's like to be a "Twilight celebrity." Here are highlights:

On why so many people are crazy for the Twilight Saga:
Ashley: I think this film in particular is highly relatable. There are a lot of situations that people can relate to. The love story - everyone can relate to being in love or being in lust. You add the vampire, and it adds that next level fantasy. Vampires are mysterious and sensual and dangerous and unattainable. And everyone wants what they can't have. I think on another level that this came together at the perfect time. All the elements just fit, the casting was spot on, and we're in a difficult time right now with our economy. That's why you never have a drop in ticket sales because everyone wants an escape, and this movie is very much an escape from reality.
Kellan: It's a good escape but also it deals with so many situations, on so many positive notes. Just looking at it from the vampire coven to the wolf pack. It just deals with everyday issues just on bigger levels, in a way. And you have Bella as the keystone in many situations. You can just all relate from different countries to issues within the United States. It's easily relatable.

To read a lot more about working with three different directors and why they feel so lucky, just read more.

On how their portrayals of the Cullens are similar or different from the books:
Kellan: We got the jobs because we brought something new to it. You can interpret the characters each their own, but I think it's what we did alongside. Just like Kristen said - she's playing Bella but she's putting her Kristen spin on it, just like all of us are. And I think that's what's making it unique. We're still following the cheat sheets that Stephenie created by making the books, and there's Wikipedia. We have a lot of information to go off of. But I hope it's what I did in my audition that set it apart from the other guys trying out.

Ashley: I think it's mannerisms too. People do fall in love with this book, but I think part of it is that they always want more. You can't write out every human mannerism. You can imagine it, but seeing the emotion in someone's eyes and seeing them be affected it - it was kind of easy to give something to it, because we were just being people. We kinda just got lucky.
On how much more of the Cullens we can expect in the remaining movies:
Kellan: Realistically, we stick pretty close to the books. Obviously us Cullens would love to be in the books a lot more, which would mean we'd be in the movies a lot more. Talking New Moon, the scenes that the Cullens - except for Ashley, playing Alice who gets to go to Italy and be a main lead in the movie - us Cullens, we have to stick really close to the books, and the scenes that we're in are really crucial to the story, as you know - the birthday scene, the voting scene. I don't know, it was kind of a tease. Chris Weitz is such an amazing director, and for us, for myself - I only worked about a week on that movie. And it didn't even seem like I really got a taste for what it was.

Ashley: In the third film, you'll see a lot more of the Cullens because it's all of us collaborating and then getting ready to fight this war that's coming up. In the second one, my character got a much larger role because Alice is the Cullen, other than Edward, that really embraces Bella and they end up becoming best friends. In the beginning, you see her throw this huge party for Bella, and then Alice is the one who does, in fact, come back for Bella when everyone else decides to skip town. Alice is responsible for dragging Bella over to Italy, and she and I the whole time are fighting to save my brother's life. And then of course we get held up by the Volturi and stuff like that. My character got to grow a lot, which is really cool. You get to actually see the relationship develop between Bella and Alice, where in the first one you didn't. The first one was very much about the romance and showing the audience why these two people are willing to die for each other.
On working with a different director on each film:
Ashley: Each director is going to be very different. They're artists as well, and I don't think any of them are quite the same. The books, when you read them, all have very, very, different tones. So I think it's highly appropriate that we switch directors each go. The first one is very much a romance and is a very scenic, beautiful film. And Catherine's really, really great at capturing that. She's very high energy and works well in chaos and stuff like that. And it was fantastic because we didn't quite know what we were getting ourselves into, and so it was nice to have her to guide us when we were freaking out a little bit. She was just so high energy, and it was really contagious. We were sad to lose her and move on to the second film, but then we got Chris Weitz and he's the complete opposite! But great as well. He's so giving and caring and collaborative and created this atmosphere that was kind of a safe haven for us. And it was really nice because we didn't know, switching directors, if they were gonna embrace us or if they had a completely different vision than what we created in the first one. It was nice that he was right there on the same page with us. And the second one is a warmer film, even from the color scheme. The first one is very blue tones, and the second one is much richer and warmer and I think he did a great job at capturing that. And we just finished shooting with David Slade, and I think he's highly appropriate as well. He just finished shooting 30 Days of Night and Hard Candy, and they're both very dark, edgy films. And Eclipse is very much that. It's all centered around the anticipation and us getting ready to fight this huge war. We just finished filming, we haven't gotten to see much of it, but I think it's gonna be fantastic. He is, technically, the most advanced director. The angles that he shot and how he knows that tweaking something can affect a whole scene and the lenses. He was really nice to work with.
On coping with the fan effect and being a "Twilight celebrity"
Kellan: That's what blows my mind, 'cause I feel like it's really unearned in a way. The fans are making our careers. Without them, we wouldn't be working and doing the saga. There's so many times that trilogy books become a movie and the first one bombs, and then that's it. And you're always hopeful that you get to do them all. Especially since we're all in love with our characters. I love Emmett Cullen to death, he's my favorite character I've ever played. It's just so cool to have made it this far, and I think we all hope that we get to finish this series and do Breaking Dawn. This is such a blessing, it's every actor's dream to be part of something like this. It's not terribly hard either. We don't shoot halfway around the world; we don't shoot for a year of our lives. I know a lot of us have homes, we have pets, we have family. And it's really nice to shoot on the West Coast, either Portland or Vancouver, and have the chance to fly down if we need to. But it's definitely amazing to be part of something like this. And I don't think any of us knew how crazy it would be and how exhilarating it would turn out to be. Going to the premiere, really just, wow. I don't even remember it because I was really just starstruck by how many fans and signs and cameras. It felt like I was just walking through a strobe light room. It's amazing.

Ashley: I still think we can't really wrap our heads around what's going on and what's happening. We're still in the midst of filming and kept very busy from one film until the next. It's only these brief moments where you sit back and are actually able to take a breath where you go "Whoa. Wow. This is crazy." I mean, the amount of tickets they've already sold for New Moon - I'm pretty sure I can't even get a ticket if I tried to see my film in Jacksonville and it's mind boggling. We're just very lucky. I went into this film thinking "Oh my gosh, I got a job" and the it turned into the biggest break of my life. I think we all feel very blessed to be a part of this.
On how it feels to be part of Twilight fan fiction:
Kellan: It's an escape, in a way. We do live in a trivial time period right now. There's so much depression that it's kinda cool to be a part of something where people use it to be an escape. In a way that's kinda what Stephenie did -she had a dream and just elaborated on it. It became a huge success and it's really encouraging that people are doing the same and just making up this journey.

Ashley: That's why people love it so much I think. You can take it and make what you want of it. Before the demographic was teenage girls, but now it's women of every age and guys are starting to get into it, too. It's because there is that element of fantasy. If you're 8 years old you look at it one way; if you're 80 years old you look at it another. I think it's fantastic that we can draw such a huge crowd. The other thing is - it blows my mind but people are making connections over this film and over this book. there are mothers and daughters and grandmas who can all sit and talk about the same story and all fantasize about it and I think that's a really cool thing. I think it's rare.

To see all of our Twilight and New Moon coverage, check out TwilightSugar!

Want to Be Featured on BuzzSugar? Join Community!

BuzzSugar — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:30:00 -0800

I'm putting out the call: I'm looking to showcase content written by you guys on BuzzSugar!

Are you a rabid fan of a show that I don't recap and want to do your own synopsis? (I know I've got some die-hard Friday Night Lights followers.) Or maybe you've been listening to a killer new album that you'd like to detail. I'm open to all your ideas, and there are plenty of opportunities to get featured. For some inspiration, check out this entry that I posted from Audreystar who penned an open letter to the screenwriter for Breaking Dawn.

To get started, just browse through community, join a group that strikes your fancy, and begin posting. I'll be sifting through the new entries to select ones to debut on the site. And if you don't find an existing group that you like, you can always create your own. Looking forward to reading your creative content!

Rewind: This Week's Buzz

BuzzSugar — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:00:54 -0800

We have four movies hitting theaters this weekend, including The Box, Precious (check out my interview with star Gabby Sidibe), The Men Who Stare at Goats, and A Christmas Carol if you want some early holiday cheer.
Speaking of the holidays, if you're already thinking up presents, I've got suggestions for your mom, dad, and grandma.
In Twilight-related news: I asked you to speculate which New Moon actor would have the biggest post-Twilight career. Plus, Books of Twilight member audreystar had a few words of advice for the Breaking Dawn screenwriter.
I took a peek at two highly anticipated film trailers: Angelina in Salt and a very beefy Jake Gyllenhaal in Prince of Persia.
Angelina also popped up on my list of 10 favorite actors with famous parents!
Weezer's new album came out. I gave it my review and watched their performance with Leighton Meester.
Alec Baldwin had a good week: First, he got tapped to host the Oscars alongside Steve Martin, and he's reportedly getting a new love interest on 30 Rock - Julianne Moore!
V premiered, so I asked for your opinion on it - and on these 10 TV shows that transitioned to college.
Don't forget that Sunday is the season finale of Mad Men! But don't be sad, there's always their Office doppelgangers.

Photos courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures, Lionsgate, Warner Bros. Movies, and Source

House Season 6 Premiere Rundown: "Broken"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:46:36 -0700

After an entire Summer without House, you can believe I was ready for last night’s two-hour premiere. With House checked in to an asylum, we knew season six was taking us in to new territory.

From the start they let us know that this was not your typical episode. If the removal of Massive Attack's opening music, replaced with Radiohead's "No Surprises" wasn't enough to tip you off, then maybe the washed-out, dream-like detox scene was. Did you watch, and are you ready to discuss? Find out some of the things I'm dying to talk about (spoilers ahead!), when you read more.

Where was the medical mystery? I have to admit, while I loved this episode, I kept waiting for the medical mystery. Every time Annie (the catatonic cello player) was on screen, I would think, "Oh he's going to solve this, surely she must have some rare disease." Then after superhero Steve becomes catatonic, I figured the same thing. And when neither of those panned out, I thought it would be Dr. Nolan's father who would be saved. However once the clock started ticking down, it dawned on me. This is the episode where the person who gets saved is House.
What did you think of the dynamic between House and Nolan? I think Andre Braugher is the perfect foil to House. Their dynamic seems so real, and I love that he essentially blackmails House into getting better and thwarts his attempts to trick Wilson.
Speaking of Wilson, did you notice that he is the only other cast member to appear? Did you miss the rest of the cast, or were you fine with the new faces? Do you think any of these faces will show up again? I think it would be a treat if Alvie turned up at Princeton Plainsboro with a rap for our favorite diagnostic team.
While the tone of the episode is admittedly dark, two of my favorite moments had to be when House and superhero Steve are flying at the carnival, and when House joins Alvie on stage for the talent show. I don't think we've ever seen House smiling unless it's to cause the frustration of someone else. How about you, what was your favorite scene?
How important do you think House's relationship with Lydia (Franka Potente) is? Do you think House would have been "cured" had she not been there?
Now for another somber moment. Were you also tricked into thinking superhero Steve actually died? I was glad to hear that he's still alive. I don't think House (or myself) could've handled yet another death on the show.
There were a lot of great quotes during the evening. However, my favorite line of the night is when Alvie tells House that they broke him, and House replies with, "They didn’t break me - I am broken." What was your favorite line?
Do you think House has really been cured? Or do you think he'll be back to his old tricks and Vicodin pill-popping ways by next week's episode?

Really, there was so much to this week's episode. In fact, it felt like House the Motion Picture, and I think it did a great job in covering the gap between last season and this one. I have no idea where the writers are taking us, but if the rest of the season is as good as last night's premiere, we're in for a treat!

To meet more House fans and keep the discussion going, join the House Group on the BuzzSugar Community!

Photo courtesy of Fox