BuzzSugar

The Box: An Inadequate Package to Unwrap

BuzzSugar — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:30:56 -0800

I so wanted The Box to be a worthy successor to Donnie Darko, director Richard Kelly's first film and much-appreciated cult fave. Unfortunately, I didn't exactly get my wish.

The Box is a highly stylized, good-looking thriller, from the retro 1976 Virginia setting to the Barbie and Ken looks of leads Cameron Diaz and James Marsden. They play husband and wife Arthur and Norma Lewis, who run into a bit of a financial jam when a strange opportunity conveniently presents itself. A creepy, disfigured man (Frank Langella) offers them a million dollars if they push a button inside a box - but a stranger will die if they do.

Kelly has all the right elements and the creativity to give us a hip, entertaining thriller, but there are a number of blatant missteps that make the movie unsatisfying. To see more about what I mean, just read more.

Kelly puts his stamp on everything, namely the constant eerie atmosphere and the random sinister characters (apparently an old person standing still in the road is his trademark). Though many questioned the casting of Cameron Diaz and her requisite Virginia accent, there was a similar doubt when Drew Barrymore and Patrick Swayze were cast in Darko, and it ended up working. With Diaz, it's not that I would say that she nailed the part, but that the accent and greater aspects of the plot are very campy. And I like campy, but I don't know if that's what the film is going for.

If you're not taking it seriously, the movie is a pretty good time, with some frightening scenes and jumps. There are also many parts that are supposed to be creepy, but they're so labored that they come out as funny. Like, laugh out loud in the theater funny. I wouldn't call that a failure, I'd just invoke the term I used before campy.

The major problem the movie runs into is when it begins exploring these sci-fi and supernatural angles, which end up being red herrings. For instance, much is made of Arthur's job at NASA and Mars, which made me think we were in for a weird, wild sci-fi ride. I was ready to embrace something really out there (I'm a big David Lynch fan, after all), but you don't really get it. There are so many elements that are introduced but never followed to a conclusion, so you're left shrugging your shoulders when the movie ends. It's even more perplexing because the mystery of The Box itself is explained, but you're left with all these details that went nowhere, in retrospect. It's one thing to leave things open-ended, but you have to give the audience something to work with.

Honestly, if you're a Kelly fan, you'll probably find it enjoyable. But if you want complete resolution, I'd wait for the director's cut.

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.

Josh Duhamel's Supposed Stripper Fling Speaks, Rihanna Breaks Her Silence, and Cameron Plays Charades

Molly — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:50:53 -0800

Josh Duhamel's alleged stripper fling is sticking to her story, but Fergie's still standing by her man. Rihanna and Chris are opening up about their relationship and what went wrong. Cameron Diaz plays charades with Jimmy Fallon, but might need a refresher on the rules, and Taylor Swift gets her SNL Kanye West joke out of the way. Watch PopSugar Rush now!

Tom Cruise Says Sex With Him Is Like Flying, Lourdes Is Just Like Madonna, and Cutest Press Conference Ever!

Molly — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:35:00 -0700

We've got more than just Chris Brown's community service to show you. Check out Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz joking around about his sexual prowess, plus the famous 3-year-old Phillies fan talking about how she threw the foul ball back. Also, Lourdes is the spitting image of her mom Madonna in the new video for "Celebration." Watch PopSugar Rush now!

Cameron Diaz in Seth Rogen's Green Hornet Movie: Good Move?

BuzzSugar — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:30:38 -0700

Yesterday a rumor started swirling about Cameron Diaz possibly being cast in Seth Rogen's Green Hornet movie, though nothing is confirmed and we don't know any details about the part Diaz would play. Michel Gondry is directing the film based on a script by Rogen and his Superbad writing partner Evan Goldberg, and all that's known so far is that Diaz's role would be the "female lead."

Do you think this would be a good move? Can you see Diaz and Rogen getting silly together in a Green Hornet movie? After playing the haggard mother of a teenage cancer patient in My Sister's Keeper, would this be a good move for Diaz?

My Sister's Keeper: Climb Aboard the Weepy Express

BuzzSugar — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:30:17 -0700

In My Sister's Keeper, young Anna knows that she was genetically engineered and brought into this world in order to serve as a donor for her ailing sister, Kate. Well, My Sister's Keeper was engineered to make people cry - over and over and over again, for two hours. Anna sues her parents for medical emancipation, and by the end of this movie I wanted to file for emotional emancipation.

Anna (played sweetly by Abigail Breslin) was conceived after her parents, Sara (Cameron Diaz) and Brian (Jason Patric), learned that their young daughter Kate (the teenage version played by Sofia Vassilieva) had leukemia and their other child, Jesse (Evan Ellingson), was not a perfect match to be a donor for his sister. Throughout her life Anna has been required to give all sorts of things from her body to help keep Kate alive and now, at the age of 11, Anna finds a lawyer (Alec Baldwin) to sue her parents for medical emancipation. The lawsuit comes at a critical time: Kate's kidneys are failing, and without one of Anna's kidneys, Kate will die - soon. The story unfolds in a series of flashbacks that fill in some blanks about the family's journey up until this point. The flashbacks are interspersed with scenes of the present-day situation as Kate's condition worsens and Sara, a former lawyer, prepares to fight her youngest daughter in court. For more on this terribly sad movie, read more.

This drama is, of course, very moving. It centers around a kid with cancer! Of course there's inherent sadness just within that plot, and essentially, nothing more is really needed to make most people feel. But My Sister's Keeper takes this story and milks it for all its worth, stretching out heart-wrenching scene after heart-wrenching scene. I don't fault the movie for being sad, and I don't even think it's that poorly done, but it could have benefited greatly from some strong editing. Despite trying to cover a lot of ground in a relatively short period of time (we hear perspectives from each character - including quite a bit from Kate herself), the movie drags on languorously in many parts, and I just wanted to yell at the screen that we get it. It's sad. We're crying. There's so much more to this story, please move on!

At first, it takes a little while to warm up to these people - particularly so with Diaz's Sara, not because her character is a tough cookie but because Diaz is so shrill at times it's hard to take her seriously. I wondered if this role was too heavy for her to handle; there's just something insubstantial about the way she portrays Sara. It doesn't ruin the movie, but I still wish they'd cast someone else in that role. Sofia Vassilieva's performance as Kate is well done and requires a delicate touch that Vassilieva capably displays - she's sympathetic as a cancer patient, of course, but she also convincingly plays another side of Kate: a giggly, sometimes insecure teenage girl who wants to date boys and look pretty.

I knew going into this that my emotions would be manipulated, and they really do pull out all the stops - including the use of a heartbreaking song every eight minutes or so (like Greg Laswell's slow, haunting version of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun"). But even with all the music and all the horrors of cancer, by the end of the film, the sweet and complex bonds between these parents and these siblings are what deliver the gut-punch that forces the tears to start flowing.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Link Time! 6/25

BuzzSugar — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:00:14 -0700

What does playing a mom in My Sister's Keeper mean for Cameron Diaz's career? - Monkey See
Who are TV's best crime fighters? - TV.com
Check out My Morning Jacket's Jim James covering George Harrison. - HitFix
Who would be better as Facebook's founder: Michael Cera or Shia LaBeouf? - Cinematical
The Amazing Race winner Tammy Jih talks fitness in tough conditions. - FitSugar
Could AMC's Rubicon be our new West Wing? - Popwatch
10 reasons why it's good to have 10 best pictures. - Vulture
Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard tells us what's next. - YumSugar

Movie Preview: The Box

BuzzSugar — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 05:45:42 -0700

I've been watching out for director Richard Kelly's (Donnie Darko) movie The Box for a long time now, and I'm excited to say that while the premise sounds odd/silly, I think this could turn out to be a great film. Cameron Diaz and James Marsden play married couple Norma and Arthur Lewis who have a pretty storybook life but eventually run into money troubles. Cue very creepy music and Frank Langella showing up on their doorstep with a box. He tells them that if they push the button in the box someone they do not know will die and they will receive a lot of money.

Again, it sounds silly but so did a movie about a teenage boy who talks to a bunny rabbit named Frank, and we know how well that turned out (really well). The trailer is weird and creepy, and totally smacks of Richard Kelly. Count me in! The movie will hit theaters Oct. 30. To watch the trailer for yourself, read more.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz Reteam For Wichita

BuzzSugar — Thu, 28 May 2009 10:30:10 -0700

Well, the rumors are confirmed: Tom Cruise is following up last year's superserious Valkyrie with a comedy titled Wichita, in which he'll star opposite Cameron Diaz. James Mangold (Girl, Interrupted, Kate & Leopold, 3:10 to Yuma) will direct the story in which "Cruise will play a secret agent who pops in and out of the life of a single woman."

After working on Valkyrie, I bet an "action-comedy" will be a breath of fresh air. And after starring together as a couple in Vanilla Sky, I wonder how Cruise and Diaz will do with comedic material. Do you like these two together? Is this matchup any better (or worse) than Diaz and Zach Braff starring together in the comedy Swingles?

Source

Zach Braff's Next Directorial Project: Swingles

BuzzSugar — Thu, 21 May 2009 11:30:14 -0700

Fans of Garden State may be pleased to know that Zach Braff will once again take to the director's chair for the comedy Swingles, which already has Cameron Diaz in a lead role. Braff will also star alongside Diaz, as "a bachelor who is dumped by his wingman and teams up with a sharp-tongued woman he can't stand in order to meet singles."

I have often found that people either love or hate Garden State, and though I probably couldn't watch it a million times, I definitely loved the movie when I first saw it. I liked Braff's style, and I especially appreciated his use of music (that soundtrack is certainly popular). In fact, I'd love to trade playlists with Zach Braff.

Do you think Braff should stick to acting, or are you curious to see what he'll do as a director with a new comedy? Is Cameron Diaz a good matchup for him?

Source

Movie Preview: My Sister's Keeper

BuzzSugar — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 05:30:15 -0700

Well, after a bit of casting drama and some commotion over the fact that the film's ending will differ from the book's, we're finally getting a real glimpse of My Sister's Keeper. The story follows a family in which one teenage daughter is very ill while the other one, learning a difficult truth about her birth, tries to become emancipated from her parents. There is, of course, much more going on in this layered, heavy family drama, and from this new trailer it looks like the film captures the intensity of the story quite well.

Only thing is, I was never a supporter of Cameron Diaz playing the role of the mother and I have to say the trailer isn't changing this opinion. I'll try to go in with an open mind when the movie opens June 26, but at the moment I can't shake the thought that this was a dreadful miscast. To check out the trailer for yourself, read more.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.