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Link Time! Is Steven Tyler Leaving Aerosmith?

BuzzSugar — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:30:10 -0800

Joe Perry says that Steven Tyler may have quit Aerosmith - Vulture
Leighton Meester's music video with Robin Thicke involves a lot of writhing - E! Online
The team behind the movie Se7en is reuniting for a new film - Cinematical
Eminem, aka Slim Shady, takes on a horror 3D film appropriately titled Shady Talez. - MTV Movies Blog
Harriet the Spy is getting made into a TV movie for Disney, but this time, she blogs - TV.com
Here's what (500) Days of Summer would've looked like without a script - Movieline
Demi Moore promotes two new movies in December's W magazine - PopSugar
Ashlee Simpson may be coming to Broadway as Roxie in Chicago - Zap2it
The 20 worst cover songs ever - EW

Link Time!

BuzzSugar — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:30:44 -0700

Mark Wahlberg is set to star in the thriller Reykjavik-Rotterdam - Variety
Kristen Bell shares her five favorite movies - Rotten Tomatoes
Is Lauren Graham joining Parenthood? - Ausiello Files
Daft Punk has a cameo in the upcoming Disney film Tron Legacy - MTV Movies Blog
Get Gossip Girl decorating ideas from last night's episode - CasaSugar
MTV announces its 2009 mtvU Woodie Awards Nominees - MTV
Rivers Cuomo talks Raditude and his love for Lil Wayne - Pitchfork
Kenny Rogers is going to sing on How I Met Your Mother - Show Tracker
Photos from this weekend's Austin City Limits Music Festival - Stereogum
Fantasy Island is getting the reality TV treatment - Hollywood Reporter
A fun roller derby Halloween costume inspired by Whip It - Moviefone

The Princess and the Frog Looks Funny, Happy and Sweet

BuzzSugar — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 09:30:41 -0700

It was cool to get a glimpse of The Princess and the Frog back in May, but half of that video was simply about how great Disney is in general. Now there's a full-length trailer for the animated movie and it looks like Disney really is returning to the kinds of hand-drawn musical movies I so cherished when I was a kid. We have yet another Disney princess, Princess Tiana, but the similarities between this story and any of the others before it stop there. Set in New Orleans' French Quarter during the Jazz Age, the story is a spin on the old princess and the frog fairy tale.

The clean, vibrant animation and showstopping tunes make me feel a little nostalgic for my own childhood. So cute! The Princess and the Frog opens Dec. 11, and to check out the new trailer, read more.

Image courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures

Buzz In: Which Animated Movies Made You Cry?

BuzzSugar — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 06:30:02 -0700

As many of you likely discovered over the weekend, Pixar's new blockbuster Up is a total tearjerker. Who would have thought a funny-looking movie about a grumpy old man, talking dogs, and an inquisitive little kid could make me bawl like a baby?!

I was wondering how little kids are handling some of the sad scenes in Up, and then I remembered that animated movies have been making kids (including me) cry for years now. An obvious example is Bambi with - spoiler alert! Ha ha - the mom dying and all. Personally, I will never ever ~~forgive~~ forget the brutal emotional experience of watching Mufasa plummet to his death as his little baby cub looks on in The Lion King. Seriously, when it comes to this scene, I still cannot keep the tears back.

Which animated movies have done you in?

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12 Exciting Upcoming Animated Movies

BuzzSugar — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 07:00:31 -0700

The release of Pixar's Up has really put me in an animated mood. Ha! Get it? So I gathered up some of the upcoming animated movies (a few as far out as 2012) from Pixar, Disney, DreamWorks - and Tim Burton. There are some exciting movies on their way to the silver screen so get ready to mark your calendars!

View Slideshow ›

Ridiculous Cuteness: Toy Story 3 Teaser

BuzzSugar — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:30:12 -0700

It's a Pixar kind of week around here what with a quiz and an Up review. Now, to add to the Pixar madness we've got a cute little teaser for the third Toy Story movie, opening June 18, 2010. Story-wise, nothing is revealed in the video, it's mostly just Buzz trying to one-up Woody on the Toy Story 3 sign - but oh, golly, it is so adorable. And it made me laugh. So, for a little dash of sweetness with which to end your week, read more.

Up: Another Major Pixar Success

BuzzSugar — Fri, 29 May 2009 09:30:46 -0700

From the press notes handed out at my screening of Up, I learned that Walt Disney believed that for every laugh there should be a tear, a sort of Newton's third law of entertainment. If he were around to see this movie, which upholds that "law" to a T, I have a feeling Mr. Disney's head would swell with pride - and perhaps take him up into the air like one of the many colorful balloons in the movie. See? Up is so fanciful and fun that it has set my own imagination in motion, which will, presumably, remain in motion . . . OK, OK, enough with Newton's laws - back to my thoughts on Pixar's latest accomplishment.

"Accomplishment" is the word to use when referring to Up, as you can pretty much go down a checklist of the many things this movie gets right. Colorful and imaginative enough to keep kids' attention? Check. Genuinely interesting enough for adults? Check. Humor, sadness, action and tenderness - all rolled up together? Check. Astounding, vibrant visuals? Check. What's not to love about Up? Honestly, not much. To find out what else I did love about it, read more.

The story follows a little old widower named Carl (voiced by Ed Asner) who is determined to keep the house in which he lived with his beloved late wife Ellie while his neighborhood is being reconstructed on all sides of him. He attaches hundreds of balloons to his house and flies away, hoping to find his way to Paradise Falls, a remote South American locale where he and Ellie always dreamed of going and finding adventure. But while he's in the sky, Carl discovers that a persistently "helpful" young boy, Russell (voiced by Jordan Nagai), took off on the house along with him. Together they reach South America where they encounter some non-human friends: A dog named Dug with a collar that communicates his thoughts and a colorful, affectionate bird that Russell names Kevin. But there's a problem: Dug's owner is trying to hunt down Kevin and Russell immediately takes on the challenge of protecting the bird. So, despite Carl's desire to have a peaceful life by himself at Paradise Falls, he finds himself surrounded by - and suddenly responsible for - a trio of clumsy but well-meaning friends.

To us adults, at times the movie seems downright trippy - but that's the thing about imagination, isn't it? Strange, funny things like an elderly man dragging his house through the air above him strike us as the stuff of drug-induced dreams, but it's actually a scenario that a child might just paint in her head any day of the week. Movies like Up, when done as well as Up is done, take us right back to that childlike place of wandering thoughts and carefree creativity and it is so much fun to be there again.

And at the same time, there's an adult-like realism in this animated movie as well. There's death and great sadness and even a little blood. It's rated PG - not G - and some moments were clearly too scary for some of the more wee viewers at my screening. There are slow-moving, tender moments, too, that probably resonate more with those in the audience who have a bit more life experience. All told, I have tremendous respect for what the makers of this movie have done in creating something so whimsical, so exciting to watch, and so cute but something that also beats with a real heart, with all its vulnerability and love. As Mr. Disney prescribed, Up pulls you through practically every emotion available - but happily, it leaves you in sweet (if a little tearful) contentment.

Images courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures

Will You See a 3-D Beauty and the Beast in Theaters?

BuzzSugar — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:30:19 -0800

Disney has made it clear that its future is so bright, we're gonna have to wear (3-D) shades. From Robert Zemeckis's version of A Christmas Carol to Pixar's Up (which looks so cute!), Disney is all about the 3-D experience for the next two years.

This includes the re-release in theaters of a few oldies but goodies, including Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story and Toy Story 2. Producer Don Hahn says, "By going back to the original animation files, which have been carefully archived for 17 years, and using the separate background, effects and character animation elements, we're able to come up with a fun and unique 3-D experience for existing and new fans of the film."

What do you think of this idea? Are you just excited to see Beauty and the Beast on the big screen again, or would you go mostly for the 3-D aspect? Or does this not interest you in the least?

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First Look: Teaser for Disney's Princess and the Frog

BuzzSugar — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 11:31:16 -0700

We've been hearing about Disney's first black princess for a while now, and today they've released a brief teaser trailer that introduces us to both princess and frog in the animated Princess and the Frog. The story is described as "a fairy tale centered on a young girl named Princess Tiana who lives in New Orleans' French Quarter during the Jazz Age." Tiana is voiced by Dreamgirls's Anika Noni Rose.

Tiana was dreamed up after several rewrites of the original concept for this princess, and the animators have quite a while to continue working on the movie; The Princess and the Frog will open December 25, 2009. For now, you can check out the teaser trailer (which is strange to watch - yet kinda refreshing - after so many Pixar-y movies) if you read more.

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Should Wall-E Be Nominated for Best Picture?

BuzzSugar — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 08:30:24 -0700

Wall-E has been showered with praise from critics and audiences alike. These kinds of accolades haven't really been heard since, say, There Will Be Blood, or I dunno, Juno - both of which were nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars this year.

Now there's a a campaign afoot to get Wall-E out of the Best Animated Film category and into competition with the big guns. Vulture argues that Wall-E should be the second animated film (so far we've only seen Disney's Beauty and the Beast) to be included in this category because it's exactly the kind of movie that the Academy wants to consider for Best Picture: it's both well-reviewed and beloved by audiences.

Hollywood Elsewhere argues against this, stating that "the electric segregation fence must be respected and fortified" and that animation can't really hold a candle to the "unfettered dignity that comes from simply aiming a camera at real people and real locations and making it all sing."

Where do you stand? Do you think Wall-E deserves to be in the Best Picture category in February, or should everyone be happy with a Best Animation nod?

Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures