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What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 19 May 2009 07:30:48 PDT

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue. In addition to my selections below you can also add Paul Blart: Mall Cop and Fanboys to your queue.

Valkyrie
In Bryan Singer's Valkyrie, Tom Cruise stars as Col. Claus von Stauffenberg, a German officer who leads the plot to kill Hitler. The story is one of those "little known" historical gems that's full of intrigue and political coups. A fantastic cast (including Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, and Tom Wilkinson) surrounds Cruise, lending some serious acting cred to the production.

Special features include audio commentary by Tom Cruise, Bryan Singer and co-writer/producer Christopher McQuarrie, and The Valkyrie Legacy Documentary.

60%

Two more up next, so

True Blood: Season One
If you don't have HBO but are dying to get a look at one of the cable channel's most talked-about new series, now's your chance! Plus, you have plenty of time to catch up with the show before the new season starts on June 14th. Created by Six Feet Under's Alan Ball, the show follows the trials and tribulations of one Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a mind-reading Louisiana waitress who falls for a vampire named Bill (Stephen Moyer). This gothic series quickly grew on me and now I'm addicted.

Special features include In Focus: Vampires in America a mockumentary about vampires in the U.S.A., both pro- and anti- vampire-rights public service announcements, and six audio commentaries with cast and crew, including Alan Ball, Anna Paquin, and Stephen Moyer.

Friday Night Lights: Season Three
Season three ended just a little while ago and now, here it is on DVD! The third season was so good that I've already started thinking about next season. If it's been a while since you have spent some time with the gang from Dillon, TX I recommend you get reacquainted.

Special features include deleted scenes (like 13 minutes of a lost storyline from the emotionally charged climactic finale), and audio commentary.

Fanboys: A Nerdy Nerd Movie

BuzzSugar — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 05:45:27 PST

Let's say you are familiar with Ain't It Cool News, have heard the name Harry Knowles and generally keep up with the navel-gazing world of geekdom. As such, you'll probably find it pretty funny when you watch a longish scene in which an actor playing Knowles gets the crap beat out of him.

However, if you are part of probably the majority of people who have no idea what I'm talking about, that scene will likely be a little bit funny (someone getting the stuffing kicked out of them is often good for a small laugh) but mostly perplexing. So it goes with Fanboys: It's funny, but most of the time you have to already be in on the joke. And in order to be in on the joke, I'll be the first to admit, you're probably pretty geeky. For more of my thoughts on this funny/weird movie,

The timing of the movie's release is fortuitous as it could been seen as a valentine to superfans everywhere. It's like a shout-out, goin' out to all the people in the house who have ever showed up to a movie in costume. It's a raise of the roof to anyone who's ever taken to the Web to insult a writer who doesn't share the love of a book series, like, say, Twilight. If you've ever been a die-hard fan of anything (particularly Star Wars and Star Trek), Fanboys is sincerely meant for you.

It follows a group of young friends who decide to fulfill a dream of breaking into Skywalker Ranch and getting a look at an early cut of The Phantom Menace. They take a road trip from Ohio to California and all sorts of bonkers things happen, including several run-ins with their arch enemies (led by a very funny Seth Rogen): Trekkies. Some of the scenes are really funny, some are trippy and some fall flat. The actors are cute and they work well together, although I found Dan Fogler to be a wee bit of a Jack Black knockoff and sometimes just wished for the original.

Kristen Bell is adorable in her role as a tough girl who doesn't take crap from the guys, although she's given some pretty nasty lady-hating lines that caught me off-guard. I've spotted this trend in several movies in the past few years and it disturbs me. Just because it's a woman spewing offensive, misogynistic words doesn't make them less vile. Can't a smart, comic book-loving girl with a sharp tongue be just that? Why does she have to accuse everyone of having a vagina as if that's a terrible thing? As if hanging with the boys means hating on the girls. Blech. Quit it, Hollywood.

All in all, though, it's not a bad movie and it's pretty silly and fun. I don't know if I can recommend non-Star Wars fans to rush to see this one, but I know that when it's on TV in the future, I'll totally stop and watch. And laugh at myself for being such a nerd.

Photos courtesy of The Weinstein Company

Movie Preview: Fanboys

BuzzSugar — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 06:30:09 PST

It was almost a year ago that I was writing about "Darth Weinstein" and the drama surrounding the release of the ultimate fanboy movie, Fanboys.

The movie, starring Kristen Bell and Seth Rogen, follows a group of die-hard Star Wars fans on a road trip across the country to the Lucas Ranch. They run into trouble when they cross paths with another geek tribe: Trekkies. I've seen it, and boy is this a nerdy movie but it's also a lot of fun (keep an eye out for my review this week).

There was a time when fanboys across the nation worried this movie might not come out, so this weekend is their big moment. To check out the trailer after the jump and get yourself reacquainted with Fanboys,

Fanboys Trailer
by Adamavich

One-sheet image courtesy of The Weinstein Company

Buzz In: Who Are Your Favorite Fictional Nerds?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:30:41 PDT

Between Chuck and Flight of the Conchords, The Big Bang Theory and Tina Fey's 30 Rock alter ego Liz Lemon, I'm not sure we needed any more proof that we're in something of a pop culture nerd renaissance right now. But just in case, here's something else: The guy who wrote Fanboys just had another script picked up, this time about "a video game junkie facing a midlife crisis who learns that a young punk had broken a record he set as a teen." The guy sets out to reclaim his position at the top of the gaming throne. Nerd power!

That got me thinking about some of my favorite on-screen nerds - from the aforementioned Liz Lemon and Conchords guys to more classic outsiders like My So-Called Life's Brian Krakow (and his volumeter) and Patrick Dempsey's Ronald from Can't Buy Me Love. So now I'm wondering: Who are yours? For the purposes of this conversation, let's assume that "nerd" and "geek" mean approximately the same thing, though of course we could debate the distinctions for days . . .

Weekend Box Office: 21 Wins the Pot

BuzzSugar — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 08:15:05 PDT

Well, it looks like 21, the film about MIT students who take Vegas by storm, was a safe bet as it easily won the top spot at the box office. However, the overall weekend box office total was down 17 percent compared to last year, Variety reports. 21 earned an estimated $23 million, beating Horton Hears a Who and firmly establishing Jim Sturgess as a viable leading man.

Compare these results to another new release this weekend: Stop-Loss, starring Ryan Phillippe, who is a household name. Another box office casualty in a long line of Iraq War-related film flops, Stop-Loss only earned $4.5 million, coming in at No. 8.

Which brings me to the other box office disappointment this weekend, Superhero Movie. Could it be that Round One of Harvey Weinstein vs. Fanboys' fanboys goes to the geeks (more on the feud here)? Protesters gathered on both coasts where Superhero was playing, though in LA it appears Weinstein was prepared with guards. One protester told the Hollywood Reporter:

Guards were everywhere. At one point, I counted nine, no joke. They hired a whole force and whenever someone showed up looking around for the protest, they were surrounded by guards and told to leave instantly or be arrested. I guess you can't really hold a protest on private property.

Ultimately the film came in the third spot with a measly $9.5 million. Is this a little bit hilarious to anyone else?

Finally, Run Fat Boy Run starring Simon Pegg came in 13th and only earned an estimated $2.3 million here in the US. The movie grossed $22.6 million in the UK last Fall.

Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures

Fanboys Battle "Darth Weinstein" Over Fanboys

BuzzSugar — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 08:30:29 PDT

Fanboys angrily defending Fanboys . . . This stuff writes itself.
So, there's this movie Fanboys, starring a brunette Kristen Bell and a dorky Seth Rogen, in which "a group of young, passionate Star Wars fans . . . drive cross-country to raid George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch, and watch Star Wars: Episode 1- The Phantom Menace." In the original version of the movie, which was finished long ago, the trip is motivated by the fact that one of the characters has cancer.

To cancer, or not to cancer . . .
Apparently, real-life "passionate Star Wars fans" have been eagerly awaiting this film's release, have seen parts of the film at Comic-Con and the such, and loved it the way it was. Yet producer Harvey Weinstein was not pleased with the sad plotline and reshoots were ordered to, well, remove the cancerous parts for the theatrical release (though there's still no actual release date, and I bet they're regretting their initial tag line for the movie: "Coming to our galaxy in 2007"). Outraged, the fanboys of Fanboys have dubbed Harvey "Darth Weinstein" and declared a boycott of all things Weinstein until they are certain that the original version will go to theaters.

Honestly, the movie probably won't even make it that far.
In a press release issued this week, the Weinstein Co. tried to find some compromise with the fans, promising to issue both cuts of the film when it comes out on DVD, but still don't have a date for when this movie will make it to the big screen.

Having recently watched the trailer, I'm not sure it should be released theatrically at all. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter, though, so to watch the trailer,

Fanboys Trailer
by Adamavich

May the Fourth Be With You - and Cake Too

Anna Monette Roberts — Fri, 04 May 2012 05:14:46 PDT

Today is May 4, the unofficial holiday that Star Wars fans have proclaimed Star Wars Day. If you encounter anyone wearing fanboy paraphernalia this Friday, make sure to greet them properly by saying, "May the fourth be with you." It will give you instant geek cred.

We made a Star Trek cake for Captain Picard's birthday, so of course we had to make a sweet treat for May 4 too.

To replicate this fabulous and fairly easy Star Wars cake, take a look at my decorating tips.

Gifts For the Apple Fanatic

Kristy Korcz — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 07:49:16 PST

Apple fans are some of the most dedicated around, which also makes them kind of hard to please if you can't afford a new MacBook Air or iPhone 4S. Don't default to an iTunes gift card - instead, grab one of these gifts that will sure to make your Apple fanatic smile.

4 George Lucas Revelations on Star Wars and Blockbusters

Kelly Schwarze — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:24:40 PST

Remember your first dose of cinematic geekdom? Whatever your age, it's likely the story of warring galaxies battling an evil Empire with something called "the Force" served as initiation to a lifetime of science fiction fandom.

George Lucas, the master behind the epic saga of good vs. evil in Star Wars recently gave an interview to the New York Times, in which he discussed his feelings towards devout Star Wars fans, and more about the popular films that made him a legend.

Blockbuster Retirement - After decades of involvement with pricey studio films, George is committing his cinematic focus to the more art-house, experimental filmmaking he worked on in film school and the years before Star Wars changed his life.
Indiana Jones 5 - Despite putting the star character in a refrigerator during the most recent Indiana Jones film to the audience's horror, Indiana Jones will make one more appearance on the big screen. Before he washes his hands entirely of Hollywood razzle-dazzle, George is contractually obligated to the fifth installation of the Indiana Jones story.
Star Wars Revisited - Considered by many fans an affront on their beloved films, the director's revision of an early Star Wars: A New Hope scene where Han Solo shoots bounty hunter Greedo in self defense was a necessary change, because it didn't blend with his view of Han as the saga's lasting hero.
On Fanboy Outrage - Further edits to the original Star Wars trilogy during the 1997 special edition release of the films left fans casting George to be just as much of a villain as a science fiction character. He now counters their criticism: ". . . My movie, with my name on it, that says I did it, needs to be the way I want it."

As George himself admits he's drawn to stories with "corn" and heroes at the forefront, it will be interesting to see how his future films follow the same themes of his big-budget work. Will you miss his blockbuster films?

What to TiVo: Saturday

BuzzSugar — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 23:59:00 PST

8:00 College Football: Notre Dame at Stanford

8:00 How I Met Your Mother (repeat)
8:30 How I Met Your Mother (repeat)
9:00 Unforgettable (repeat)
10:00 48 Hours Mystery (new)

8:00 Cops (new)
8:30 Cops (repeat)
9:00 Terra Nova (repeat)
11:00 Hell's Kitchen (repeat)

8:00 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (repeat)
9:00 Bee Movie
10:00 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (Repeat)
11:30 Saturday Night Live (repeat, with guests Melissa McCarthy and Lady Antebellum)