BuzzSugar

Queen Latifah to Find Romance With Common

BuzzSugar — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:30:51 -0700

Queen Latifah is preparing to hate neither the player nor the game in her next project, Just Wright, a romance in which she'll star opposite Common. Latifah's character is "a sports trainer who finds herself falling in love with a professional basketball player while rehabilitating him from a career-threatening injury."

I'm interested to see Queen Latifah play one half of a lead couple in a romantic movie - more often than not, she plays a sassy supporting character. With the right (or "Wright" . . . oh, man, that's the Friday talking) material, she can be really engaging onscreen. I wonder what the dynamics will be like between Latifah and Common. Do you think they make a good movie couple?

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BuzzSugar at WonderCon: Star Trek and Terminator Preach to the Choir

BuzzSugar — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 09:30:10 -0800

It was an insane - not to mention insanely fun - weekend at WonderCon here in San Francisco. I already reported back on the exciting Watchmen panel, and now I'm giving the lowdown on the panels I attended for Star Trek and Terminator Salvation. The directors of both movies showed up to explain to a crowd of devotees how they think they've done right by fans with these reboots. To read what J.J. Abrams and McG had to say about reviving beloved franchises with care, read more.

Warning!: The following might be considered spoilery.

Star Trek:

Well, Heroes may not be pleasing all the fans lately, but Zachary Quinto (who plays Spock in the movie) remains a hot commodity to this crowd - the lady screams were loud and long when he appeared onstage. Chris Pine (Kirk) and Zoe Saldana (Lt. Nyota Uhura) also showed up alongside J.J. Abrams for the panel.
Anton Yelchin has big parts in both Star Trek and Terminator but didn't take the stage for Star Trek.
Everyone talked with deep reverence for the Trek canon, though their levels of fandom vary (Abrams admitted he never really watched the show but was still excited about this movie).

It sounded like Quinto got a lot of time with Leonard Nimoy, and Pine said of following in William Shatner's footsteps, "Mr. Shatner's incredibly funny . . . it's that twinkle in his eye that's like, you know, anything can happen. Something I couldn't try to re-create for the life of me."
We saw a brand new world premiere trailer that is similar to the last one, but includes new goose-bump-inducing scenes like a young Kirk sitting down in the captain's seat on the Enterprise bridge for the first time.
J.J. Abrams threw the crowd some Cloverfield sequel news crumbs, too, saying, "We have an idea for something that's pretty cool . . . the idea is pretty sweet!"

Terminator Salvation

Director McG entered the stage and was pumped about his movie. He kicked things off with the premiere of a whole new trailer that fans will see before Watchmen and that is totally different than anything we've seen so far. This one focuses more on story and less on robots, as we learn that humans are being collected and harvested by Skynet.
One of the funniest moments of the panel was when McG responded to the moderator's request to address the now infamous Christian Bale on-set meltdown with, "What don't you f*cking understand?"
Talent included Yelchin (who plays Kyle Reese, Connor's dad), Bryce Dallas Howard (Kate Connor), Common and Moon Bloodgood. They all seemed genuinely impressed and speechless after seeing this new trailer along with the crowd for the first time.
Another cute moment came from Common who answered a question about how he got involved with this movie: "I wanted to do a movie with Christian Bale."
We saw a few more unfinished clips and it's a lot of action, a lot of robots, etc. Pretty heart-pounding, though not at all unexpected.
I thought it was funny how everyone on the panel constantly gushed about the first two Terminator films - the elephant in the room being the third movie, directed by Jonathan Mostow. Everyone sort of agreed to be polite about it but it was clear they consider it a blemish on the franchise.
Finally, McG danced around it a bit, but he made it seem like the odds were pretty decent that the T-800 will make an appearance, which is the model Arnold Schwarzenegger played in the series. Will the Governator make an appearance? I'm betting yes.

What to Download: New Music on iTunes

BuzzSugar — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 16:32:26 -0800

Tuesdays are big in entertainmentville: Not only do all the new DVD releases hit Netflix, but new music also pours into stores, including iTunes. So I take a spin through each week's iTunes music releases and pick out some albums and tracks worthy of a download. Here are today's selections:

Hip hop hooray: I'm always looking forward to new Common albums and have been especially excited for his eighth release (I made it one of my must haves this month). This new album as a whole is getting mixed reviews that lean toward the negative side but I'm really enjoying several tracks. The title track, "Universal Mind Control (UMC)," is cool, as is his collaboration with Cee-Lo, "Make My Day." His duet with Kanye West, "Punch Drunk Love," is also a great track to download.

Cover girl: Oh boy, I do love me some Cat Power, and I really liked her covers album Jukebox when it was released earlier this year. So I was happy (and surprised) to see that a handful of other songs were originally recorded for that album and were just released today. I've already downloaded her cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son" and her amazing take on Otis Redding's "I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)."

One more still to come, so read more.

A single: The Raconteurs is one of my favorite bands these days, and I've really been enjoying the group's most recent album, Consolers of the Lonely. Today they've released what amounts to a bluegrass remix of a song from that album, "Old Enough," featuring Ricky Skaggs and Ashley Monroe. The harmonies in this version are pretty - well worth the re-do!

Link Time! 10/7

BuzzSugar — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:37:05 -0700

How do you handle Sleeping Beauty and other fairy tales with young girls? - Popwatch
Given Heather O'Rourke's tragic death, does DirecTV’s new Poltergeist commercial go too far? - MTV Movies Blog
Download two Bob Dylan tracks for free! - Spinner
Which Dunder Mifflin staffer would you actually want in your office? - Pop Candy
Is it weird when TV stars who play siblings date in real life? - TV Squad
Nick and Norah's Ari Graynor might be your next crush. - Vulture
The video for Common's "Universal Mind Control" (featuring Pharrell) is all robot-y and cool-looking. - Stereogum
If you've ever wanted to discuss Chuck Palahniuk's novel Choke, now's the time! - PopSugarUK

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Link Time! 8/28

BuzzSugar — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:30:17 -0700

The phrase "TV in the bathtub" makes me nervous immediately, but apparently, there's a safe version of this. - GeekSugar
One of the actors in Changeling learned that spontaneously improvising a kiss with Angelina Jolie in a scene can be exciting, but dangerous. - MTV Movies Blog
Did HBO chicken out by dropping its adaptation of Preacher? - TV Squad
Traveling over Labor Day weekend? Check out seven good movies to watch when stuck in an airport. - Cinematical
Apparently, you can stream a track from Jenny Lewis's album Acid Tongue over at NPR.org. - Stereogum
Kristin Chenoweth delivers an intervention - in song! - GiggleSugar
Can you imagine a sequel to Todd Solondz's Happiness? - Vulture
The video for Common's "Announcement" is pretty awesome. - Popwatch
Ten questions with Wentworth Miller. - The TV Addict

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Wanted: Overflowing With Blood, Bullets, Testosterone

BuzzSugar — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:36:31 -0700

A few things Wanted is not: quiet or steadily shot. It's also not all that enjoyable. But then again, I'm surely not the target audience for this film. Watching the early trailers for the movie I was initially intrigued by the visuals - the way you can see every shard of glass as someone leaps out a window, for example. But the repetition of the same old thing - no matter how cool at first - gets tiresome, as is the case with the visuals (and the gratuitous violence) in Wanted. Often set to loud, racing music (or loud, brooding music), much of the movie would be better used in 3-minute segments on MTV (or whichever channel actually plays music videos).

James McAvoy plays poor, spineless Wesley, an accountant with major anxiety issues who is full of self-loathing, perhaps due to being walked over all the time. His boss is a heinously abusive woman, his coworker is sleeping with his girlfriend (who's also heinously abusive), and he just lets it all happen to him. Then he meets Fox (Angelina Jolie), a hot lady who tells him his heretofore absent father was actually a talented member of an assassins circle known as The Fraternity and was recently killed by a rogue member of the group. The Fraternity's leader Sloan (Morgan Freeman) recruits Wesley into the ring because Wesley has special assassin abilities and they need him to go after his father's murderer. What follows is a story of the unlikely pipsqueak "everyman" becoming an action hero by being as violent as possible. For more on this, read more.

The bottom line of the mostly weak story is that men can't be happy or in control of their lives unless they are violent. True, in this case Wesley doesn't even remotely stand up for himself in the beginning, and people should try not to be doormats. But Wesley learning to toughen up and be a man means getting horribly beaten (though nothing a warm, magical bath can't cure!) and then learning how to brutalize and kill others without that pesky conscience weighing in. And not that it's unusual in this genre, but women are barely included - oh, except for the smoking Hottie McFierce whose name in this case hilariously says it all (Fox) and who exists to slither around killing people and somehow beating Wesley to a pulp with her matchstick arms.

The gore is, I guess, supposed to be so preposterous that it's almost funny, which has been known to happen, like in Shoot 'Em Up. Or perhaps it's meant to be stylistic, in the vein of Kill Bill. But there's something insanely off about the violence in this movie, as though it means not just to entertain but to provoke people to be violent themselves. It's so sexy! Look how hot Angelina Jolie is! Don't you want to be like Angelina Jolie, or be the kind of guy who gets Angelina Jolie to respect him? Being a man - being a strong person in general - is achieved only through violence and aggression, and the visuals, the music, the pumping adrenaline coursing through James McAvoy make it all appear seductive, easy, and fun.

Oh, and we get to watch rats full of peanut butter explode. Yeah. Rats full of peanut butter.

I would say it's not slow-moving because the story clips along swiftly, but director Timur Bekmambetov seems extraordinarily obsessed with slow-motion, and the movie is probably about 20 minutes total if all those slowed-down moments of brutality and bullets slicing through air were run at normal speed. In truth, Wanted is pretty long for what it is: a testosterone-fueled bloodbath with a cute protagonist.

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Common Gives Us A Reason to See Terminator 4

BuzzSugar — Tue, 06 May 2008 14:38:49 -0700

Well, OK, we already had one reason: Christian Bale. But now that Common's joining the cast of the fourth Terminator installment, Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, it's pretty much guaranteed I'll check out this movie.

According to Variety, "Story centers on John Connor (Bale), now in his 30s, who leads what is left of the human race in a battle against the machines. Common will play a freedom fighter and member of Connor's inner circle."

Oooh, "freedom fighter." Hot.

So, I know what I'm doing Memorial Day weekend, 2009. What about you?

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Street Kings: Police Officers Gone Wild

BuzzSugar — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 14:00:51 -0700

Street Kings is primarily focused on examining two types of police officers seen in many a film before: the rogue cop who disregards the law in the name of justice and the cop that appears to follow the rules but is deeply corrupt. You would think that in the hands of a talented guy like director David Ayer, who is well-versed in the handling of this kind of gritty material (having written Training Day and directed Harsh Times) this movie would be not only entertaining but also darkly unnerving.

So, was it entertaining? I think for some people the answer is definitely "yes" - the violence is raw and in your face, the story is intriguing, and the smorgasbord of famous male actors makes for a fun ride. Did it make me feel anything? Nope. And that's actually a shame because there was so much there to work with, but instead I left with the sense that everyone involved decided to sit back, tap into their inner nihilist, and get down to killing.

To see what parts I think are fun and what parts are downright silly, read more.

Reeves plays Detective Tom Ludlow, a man who's having a hard time and numbs whatever pain haunts him with a lot of alcohol. He also has zero regard for the "law" part of "law enforcement," and seems to break all the rules those lawyers on Law & Order are always concerned with, lest their cases get thrown out on a technicality. He doesn't necessarily take pleasure in blowing people's brains out once he's determined they're wrong, but he definitely doesn't show restraint either. In other words, the man's a live wire. And this is the guy who ends up being the moral center of a universe full of some very corrupt people.

Those people include, well, just about everyone in the film. Once Ludlow begins to yank at a string he's been repeatedly warned against yanking by his boss, the ambitious Captain Jack Wander (Forest Whitaker), it becomes clear that an entire division of L.A.'s finest are dirty. Thus, Ludlow starts heading down a trail into some of L.A.'s harshest neighborhoods and the dens of some extremely bloodthirsty villains.

The movie relentlessly strives for realism with each violent act, and bookends each one with the kind of machismo dialogue you can't help but roll your eyes at. Similarly, anytime a character waxes poetic about the nature of good and evil or the seductive influence of power and greed, it's delivered in such oversimplified prose that you might find yourself screaming "No duh!" at the screen. The best parts about the movie are the unexpected and talented performances that pop up, like Hugh Laurie as a salty captain, Cedric the Entertainer who's totally convincing as a thug, and Common who, with the delivery of no more than three lines, perfectly embodies pure evil.

If you don't require a little nuance with your bloodbaths, you might have fun. Otherwise it's a frustratingly dumbed-down experience.

To see the trailer and more clips from Street Kings, check out movies.ivillage.com.

Photos courtesy of Fox Searchlight Films

Music Video: Kanye Feat. Chris Martin, "Homecoming"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:30:55 -0700

Chris Martin of Coldplay fame is a popular guy in the land of hip-hop. He popped up on a track from Jay-Z's 2006 comeback album Kingdom Come, and he teamed up with Kanye West for "Homecoming" on Kanye's most recent album, Graduation.

The new black-and-white video for "Homecoming," which features Kanye and Chris Martin (as mostly an outline of himself), is a refreshing change of pace from some recent videos that seem like frantic strobe-lit messes of neon colors. It may make some people yawn, but I find it to be a welcome change.

Plus there are random shots of Common throughout, and Common's really easy on the eyes.

So what do you think? Do you love this song? Is the video boring or kind of nice? To check it out for yourself, read more.

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Link Time! 10/25

BuzzSugar — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 13:33:27 -0700

TV Squad makes my day by finding a story about how 30 Rock's "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah" has become a sensation. I'm not the only one obsessed!
Popwatch understandably has some questions about the CMT reality show Trick My Trucker.
Cinematical's weekly list examines the horror of fairy tales.
Stereogum is streaming a Karen O cover of "Highway 61 Revisited" from the I'm Not There soundtrack.
Buddy TV wonders if Marie Osmond should have to leave Dancing with the Stars after her fainting spell.
MTV Movies Blog thinks Common should play the Green Lantern in the Justice League movie, and apparently RZA agrees.
In case you're confused about this whole World Series thing that keeps preempting your favorite Fox shows, TV with MeeVee has an explanation.
Aquarium Drunkard is psyched to see Phosphorescent play in LA, and rightfully so.
TV Filter wants to know what would be on your stakeout mix, a la Chuck.

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