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Movie Preview: Crossing Over

BuzzSugar — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:34:13 -0800

Despite some moments that seem a little overwrought, this trailer for Crossing Over (not to be confused with the TV show about talking to dead people) is one of the most riveting previews I've seen in a while. It looks a bit like Crash (several storylines weaving together in various ways), but with the subject matter being illegal immigration (and what it means to be an American and what's right and what's wrong, etc. etc.).

The other intriguing aspect of the trailer is the impressive cast: Harrison Ford, Ashley Judd, Ray Liotta, Alice Braga (I Am Legend), Summer Bishil (Towelhead) and Alice Eva.

Oh, did I forget to mention Jim Sturgess?

Crossing Over opens sometime in 2009. This trailer really sucked me in, so to watch for yourself, read more.

Photo courtesy of The Weinstein Company

The Office, "The Lover": Best Lines of the Night

BuzzSugar — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 05:30:00 -0700

Yay! Jim and Pam return from their romantic honeymoon, but there is no rest for the newlyweds at The Office. Michael crosses the line - and Pam bears the brunt of his antics, like usual - while Jim fends off a nosy Dwight. I'll admit that Pam got on my nerves this week but I was glad to have Jim back so he could one-up Dwight.

I found this week to be much more engaging than last week's post-wedding episode, and I'm pretty excited to see where the storyline is headed now that the co-workers are all together again. But before I give away any spoilers, check out my favorite quips plus a few more thoughts when you read more.

Meredith: "What'd you bring us?"
Pam: "Some candy."
Meredith: "What else?"
Pam: "That's it."
Meredith: "Ohhhh, because you spent so much on the wedding."
Poor Pam and Jim. They walk into Dunder Mifflin bearing gifts with the honeymoon glow still on their faces - until they realize they're back to working with goons again. I love the bit between Pam and Erin over the candy distribution. (Erin's such a goody-goody that she has to clear everything with Michael.) But my favorite is definitely the rum with the stuffed parrot. Mainly because watching Steve Carell talk next to a stuffed parrot holding a bottle is kind of hilarious.

Michael: "You know what? I'm going to start dating her even harder."
Pam: "What's that supposed to mean?"
Michael: "You know what that means."
So yes, Michael is dating Pam's mom, which he reveals after she gets wind of his fancy dinner reservations. I agree with Pam's initial anger - no one wants their mother to date Michael Scott, especially when he keeps using the word "lover." (Though "pickle" may be worse). However, I'm giddy over this new development, because I can't wait to see what it spawns. Pam and Jim on a date with Michael and Pam's mom? That would be a-ma-zing.

"You know, I really would've appreciated a heads up that you were into dating mothers. I would've introduced you to mine."-Dwight
Just picture Dwight's mother in your mind for a second. That's funny in itself.

"I have plenty of female friends...My aunt, but she just blocked me from IM; the woman from Quiznos."-Michael
Poor guy. I'm curious to see how Michael's new romance ends up affecting his relationship with Pam. She's got to forgive him at some point, but do you think she's overreacting? Personally, I find her complaining kind of grating. She has every right to be P.O.'d, but as the episode went on, she seems angry more out of spite than anything else.

"Did you really think I would put my primary listening device in a wooden mallard? I'm not insane."-Dwight
The mallard! I always enjoy a good Jim versus Dwight scuffle, so this was one of the highlights for me, especially when Jim tries to throw Dwight off by playing opera music or giving the wooden duck to Kelly. Then just when you think Dwight is a total idiot, he pulls out a twist, having hid a pen recorder amongst Jim's office supplies. Jim may have won the promotion, but Dwight's out to win the war.

So what'd you think about the episode? Are you on Team Pam, or were you a little annoyed by her screaming fit like I was? Weigh in below in the comments, and tell me your favorite lines of the evening!

Oh, and don't forget that you can discuss the episode in full over at The Office! group in the BuzzSugar Community! Here's a topic to get you started: Ryan's fedora. Discuss.

Photo and videos courtesy of NBC

What to Download: New Music Today

BuzzSugar — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:30:14 -0700

It's one of my favorite days of the week: Tuesday! Which means I get to add DVDs to my Netflix queue, along with some brand new tunes for my iPod. So check out today's music releases for what you should download. (And if you like to review albums, don't forget to take a peek at the Music Review Group in the community.)

A smooth ride: Sufjan Stevens takes a breather from his states project with BQE, an ode to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. He originally performed the work to accompany a film about the road, but the music stands on its own as a beautiful orchestral arrangement. Warning if you like Stevens's mellow voice: BQE is all instrumental. Still, it proves that he has what it takes as a composer, and I'd like to see him lend his talents to more of this sort of work. My picks: Movement II: Sleeping Invader, which sounds like a ballet dream sequence, and Traffic Shock, which mixes in clashing electronic sounds like a busy gridlock.

Pretty packs a punch: If you haven't heard of Florence and the Machine, get ready. Florence Welch is the latest spunky Brit singer on the scene, and her debut Lungs already went platinum in the UK. Today, it's available to buy stateside. She's the singer I'd want to be if I had my own band - a woman who wails while banging the tambourine - and her album veers between tough-chick anthems and haunting ballads a la Sarah McLachlan. Make sure you try the hand-clapping, feel-good Dog Days Are Over or the romantic Cosmic Love.

See two more releases when you read more.

Freaky fun: If you're a Flight of the Conchords fan - or even if you're not - you'll want to check out I Told You I Was Freaky, a compilation of music from season two (including three previously unreleased tracks). Sure, half the fun is watching the boys act out each song on the show (and Jemaine's wicked dance moves), but when you listen to the music on its own, you realize just how talented they really are. Each selection could qualify for radio-play - or just a ridiculously fun karaoke night. The album includes favorites like Sugarlumps, Hurt Feelings, and the Emmy-nominated Carol Brown.

Lyrical wanderlust: Jay Farrar of Son Volt and Benjamin Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie team up on One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Music From Kerouac's Big Sur, an ode to the famous author's work. The two musicians met while working on a documentary about Kerouac and decided to collaborate on this album using words from his novel. It's fitting then that the result feels like a cross-country trip - lazy and laid-back with some twangy country, Americana sound. I'll be adding the title track and California Zephyr to my car playlist.

Buzz In: Which Actors Have Made Albums You Like?

BuzzSugar — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 13:30:00 -0700

Earlier this week, I gave the Dead Man's Bones debut album a listen. You may not recognize the band name, but you probably recognize the frontman: it's actor Ryan Gosling. I'm a big Gosling fan, but I wasn't expecting his music to have any substance, or for me to actually like it. Nothing against him, it's just that actors crossing over into music usually fall into a fitting cliche - epic failure.

Every once in a while, though, someone talented proves they're truly multi-talented and makes some enjoyable music. Last year, I fell for She & Him, Zooey Deschanel's project with M. Ward, and I loved Phantom Planet: The Jason Schwartzman years.

There's a longer list of tragic actor/musician crossovers, but I want to focus on the diamonds in the rough: What actors have made albums that you like?

The Boys Are Back: A Quiet Film With a Few Heart-Tugs

BuzzSugar — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:30:26 -0700

Has Clive Owen - a man who's best known for playing con artists, spies, and other brooding alpha males - gone soft? It appears so, and he's surprisingly good at it. In The Boys Are Back Owen plays Joe Warr, a recently widowed sports reporter raising two boys in the Australian wilderness. And thanks to his understated performance, what could've been an overwrought tearjerker worthy of a made-for-cable movie turns into something quietly moving.

Based on the memoir The Boys Are Back in Town by Simon Carr, the film opens with Joe driving on the beach with his son Artie. Did I mention Artie is sitting on the hood of the car with Joe at the wheel?! Parental guidelines haven't been a priority in the Warr household ever since Joe's wife passed away from cancer. Now, he has to explain her death to Artie, while his older son Harry from his first marriage moves into the house. Left to their own devices, the two boys play soccer in the hallway, zip line across the yard, and even defrost a chicken in the bathtub.

Typical parenting? Not so much. For more on the film, read more.

These moments of chaos are fun to watch and add levity to the heavier subject matter, but the movie really shines in the conversations that Joe has with his sons as he helps them grieve - Artie for his mother; Harry for a childhood void of a father. Neither boy really knows how to mourn his loss, but then again, neither does Joe. Instead, he relies on the parental guidance of his deceased wife in the form of visions and voice-overs to help rebuild his family. (This felt very heavy-handed to me, but luckily it was really the only part of the film that crossed over into overly contrived.)

Does it seem out of place to have man's man Owen pillow fight with a 6-year-old and shed tears? A bit. But because he almost seems uncomfortable with the sentimentality, he ends up playing the role with the light touch needed for the part.

The young actors who play his sons are brilliant, even at times stealing the spotlight right out from underneath him. (Not an easy feat when you act - and look - like Owen.) Their performances feel very real despite their ages, and they give us some of the film's most tender moments.

I also must mention the fourth character of the film: the Australian landscape. Oscar-winning director Scott Hicks (Shine) beautifully captures the countryside from sweeping fields to oceanside beaches strewn with rocks, and when paired with music by Icelandic group Sigur Ros, every frame feels almost like a sleepy dream.

All in all, The Boys Are Back is a nicely done portrait of the relationships between fathers and sons. It's not out to be a huge blockbuster, but if you appreciate a good character study kind of film, it's a solid choice for a subdued Saturday afternoon.

Photos courtesy of Miramax Films

Movie Preview: The Fantastic Mr. Fox

BuzzSugar — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:30:31 -0700

Some of my favorite directors are just rollin' out the trailers today - first the Coen brothers with A Serious Man, now Wes Anderson with his forthcoming project The Fantastic Mr. Fox. This animated film is based on the Roald Dahl book of the same name and follows a family of foxes and their animal associates as they struggle against the farmers who want to dig out their neighborhood.

I'm not sure whether the first word to describe this trailer should be "bizarre" or "hilarious" - but either way, I know I want to see this movie. George Clooney as Mr. Fox and Bill Murray as the "demolitions expert" badger seem like particularly inspired bits of casting, and Meryl Streep as Mrs. Fox isn't far behind. The trailer really won me over about halfway through, when the foxes start doing things like making bandit masks out of spare tube socks and drugging beagles with blueberries. Not unlike Where the Wild Things Are, it looks like a cross between a children's classic and a film hipsters will adore.

The movie - which Anderson co-wrote with The Squid and the Whale's Noah Baumbach - will be opening the London Film Festival in October and then hitting US theaters on Nov. 13. To check out the trailer, just read more.