BuzzSugar

Box Office: 10,000 B.C. Has a Mammoth of a Weekend

BuzzSugar — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:30:00 -0700

The lion's share of box office dollars went to director Roland Emmerich's 10,000 B.C. which earned an estimated $35 million. This same weekend last year saw the outrageous success of 300, but while 10,000 B.C.'s opening comes nowhere near the debut weekend of that blockbuster, it still fulfilled studio expectations, Variety reports.

Disney's College Road Trip starring Raven-Simone and Martin Lawrence secured second place, despite poor reviews. Vantage Point and Semi-Pro took the third and fourth spots, respectively. Coming in at No. 5 was the R-rated bank heist thriller The Bank Job, which stars Jason Statham. The Other Boleyn Girl fell three spots this weekend to seventh place behind The Spiderwick Chronicles which was No. 6.

The charming Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day failed to crack the top ten (rounded out by Jumper, Step Up 2 the Street, and Fool's Gold) as it was only playing in limited release. Not an Oscar nominee in sight for the top 10 this week, so it looks like awards season might officially be over.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Box Office: Semi-Pro Semi-Beats Out Competition

BuzzSugar — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 08:30:00 -0800

Despite earning the top spot at the box office, the predictable laughs in Will Ferrell's Semi-Pro only earned $15.3 million over the weekend. This is considered a disappointing sum, especially compared to opening weekends of other Ferrell films like Talladega Nights and Blades of Glory. Variety reports that this underwhelming performance by the basketball comedy may have been due to mediocre reviews and an R-rating.

Vantage Point was only bumped down one spot to No. 2 over the weekend followed by The Spiderwick Chronicles at No. 3. The adaptation of Buzz Book Club's February selection The Other Boleyn Girl took the fourth spot earning an estimated $8.3 million. Penelope starring Reese Witherspoon and Christina Ricci also opened this weekend coming in at No. 8 behind Jumper, Step Up 2 The Streets, and Fool's Gold.

Filling out the top ten were Oscar-nominated films No Country for Old Men and Juno.

Photo courtesy of New Line Cinema

Box Office: Jumper Leaps Ahead

BuzzSugar — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 06:30:00 -0800

Despite mediocre reviews (including my own) audiences were still game for director Doug Liman's sci-fi movie Jumper which earned the top spot at the box office its first weekend out. Whether it was the combined star power of Rachel Bilson and Hayden Christensen or the craving for an action flick this Presidents Day weekend, audiences put Jumper ahead of the rest by a long shot, grossing nearly $33.8 million, according to Variety.

The other big surprise over the weekend was the No. 2 spot which belonged to neither the rom-com Definitely, Maybe nor family friendly The Spiderwick Chronicles but rather Disney's Step Up 2 the Streets. In fact, The Spiderwick Chronicles slid in at No. 3 and Definitely, Maybe came in fifth, behind Fool's Gold which has earned an estimated $42 million since hitting theaters last weekend. Juno, the only Oscar nominee in the top 10, came in behind Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins at No. 7.

Photos courtesy of 20th Century Fox

Box Office: Hudson and McConaughey Strike Gold

BuzzSugar — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 08:15:00 -0800

The chemistry between Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey proved lucrative once again as their comedy, Fool's Gold, won the top spot at the box office over the weekend, earning $22 million. Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins, starring Martin Lawrence and Cedric the Entertainer, came in No. 2 grossing $17 million, followed by Disney's super tween 3-D concert experience Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour in the third spot.

Fans of Hudson and McConaughey seem like they're most in the mood for this duo around Valentine's Day as their previous rom-com How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days opened the same weekend in 2003 with similar box office results, Variety reports.

Oscar nominee Juno remained in the top 10 coming in fifth this week just behind Jessica Alba's thriller, The Eye. Katherine Heigl's 27 Dresses continued to draw fans coming in sixth place and There Will Be Blood came in at No. 10.

If you're still in the mood for love next weekend, there will be even more to choose from when Ryan Reynolds and super cutie Abigail Breslin hit the screen in Definitely, Maybe.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Rewind: This Week's Buzz

BuzzSugar — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 07:00:00 -0800

Fingers crossed people! - this strike looks like it could be resolved any minute now. This week I talked to a member of the Writers Guild of America to learn about life on strike while other striking writers hilariously penned some endings to a few of my favorite shows, like Gossip Girl (cartooned above).
The Super Bowl came and went and so did all the hype around the commercials. I told you the ads I loved and the ones I loathed, and asked what you thought of the Doritos singer and Paula's performance.
I discussed Lipstick Jungle with Brooke Shields and Candace Bushnell in the run-up to the premiere. So far, most of you prefer Cashmere Mafia over Ms. Shields' gang.
Kate Hudson is set to star in the drama Big Eyes. After reading Molly's review of Fool's Gold, I wonder if you guys still think she ought to stick to comedy?
Speaking of Fool's Gold, I need your help figuring out what in the world Matthew could be drawing-up for Kate in this week's Caption It challenge!
Oscar season is here which means it's time to fill out your Oscar Ballot! As part of my coverage leading up to the big ceremony, I'm helping you out by highlighting some films that might be harder to catch in the theater.
Rilo Kiley made one of my Valentine's Day playlists just as news broke that Jenny Lewis is going solo again! Along the lines of love, what do you think are the most romantic movies of all time?
The Buzz Book Club is off to a fabulous start! I'm still enjoying reading through all of your comments about the first assignment. If you haven't started reading yet, there's still lots of time to catch up, and there'll be lots more to discuss next week.

Source

Fool's Gold: One Treasure Map It'd Be Wise Not To Follow

Molly — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 23:56:33 -0800

Hey all, Buzz was kind enough to let me go see this movie for her and review it. I always get the good ones, wink.

About 45 minutes into Fool's Gold I found myself trying to think of clever titles for this review - Fool's Gold: That About Says It; Fool's Gold: Very Foolish, No Gold; Fool's Gold: At Least the Scenery Is Beautiful; Fool's Gold: Just Another Excuse for McConaughey to Be Shirtless - clearly not coming up with any winners. But that's about when I realized my biggest problem with the movie is that it bored me. I went in with both low and hopeful expectations; the trailer looked bad, but I enjoyed the Matthew McConaughey/Kate Hudson duo in How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days. Sadly, I was disappointed by Fool's Gold not because it wasn't lofty enough - who wants that from a romantic comedy - but because it wasn't any fun.

The premise of the movie is this, Tess (Hudson) and Finn (McConaughey) are a couple on their way to divorce after a rocky eight years of having a happy bedroom life and unsuccessfully searching for a treasure under the sea. While waiting for the legal split, Tess is working on the very rich Nigel Honeycutt's (Donald Sutherland) boat where Finn finds his way to pitch his latest hairbrained (but ultimately endearing!) plot to find the booty. Of course, there are enemies - in this case two sets, a rich rapper and old-timer rival treasure hunter. To read the rest of my review just read more

That's really all you need to know, and to be honest even if you zone out for the convoluted history lesson about the fortune they're looking for . . . you know, not that I did . . .you'll still be able to figure it out. There is no reason why this movie is more than a 90-minute funfest, but it's almost two hours long. That's what the issue is with Fool's Gold: All the excess plot and unnecessary characters take away from the lighthearted romp that this movie belongs to be.

While it's marketed as a romantic comedy, it's really more an action flick. It's a bit violent, though mostly in a slapstick way (example, at one point there is a geyser of bloody water). Kate and Matt have only a few scenes together, so there's really no opportunity to get lost in their adorable and famous chemistry. Don't get me wrong, both Kate and Matt are good looking and bronzed into oblivion, but there's just nothing there, and no opportunity to even just enjoy the beautiful people. That being said, if you're looking to watch Matteo run around without his shirt on and the photos on Pop aren't enough, this may be the movie you're looking for.

There were still some redeeming moments, though few and far between. Alexis Dziena plays Gemmy Honeycutt, the idiotic daughter, pretty well. Kate Hudson's charm is hard to ignore. There's no way it won't make you want to run away to the beach ASAP. All of that will remain, however, when you catch this movie OnDemand in a few months, or later when it makes its TV debut. Until then, let's just hope Kate and Matt find another script to agree on so we can bask in the duo again. Sadly, this movie just isn't any precious gem.

To see the trailer and more clips from Fool's Gold check out movies.ivillage.com.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Caption It!

BuzzSugar — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 16:28:44 -0800

Welcome to Caption It, a new game on BuzzSugar! Every other Wednesday, I'll post a funny TV or movie photo here and challenge you to think of the most hilarious caption possible. I'll announce the finalists the following Tuesday, and you'll get to vote for the best caption; the winner will get a fabulous BuzzSugar T-shirt!

The people have spoken and the winner of the last Caption It is CaterpillarGirl! Her caption for the American Idol audition photo definitely made me giggle: "At the American Idol AA meeting: Randy 'Just fall back Paula, Trust me.' Ryan (whispering to Randy), 'Dog please just let her drop.'"

Congrats, CaterpillarGirl! Now for this week's challenge, taken from the upcoming movie Fool's Gold:

Leave your captions in the comment space below before 5 p.m. PST on Monday, Feb. 11 to be considered for a spot in the voting round. Have fun! To see a photo of the BuzzSugar T-shirt, just read more.

The BuzzSugar t-shirt

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:30:32 -0700

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 the titles below, you can also pick up Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson's romcom Fool's Gold and the complete Jericho series on DVD.

Be Kind Rewind
Director Michel Gondry is known for a bizarre brand of humor (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) and Be Kind Rewind delivers just that. It stars Jack Black and Mos Def as friends who have to recreate old movies because Black's character accidentally erases all the videos in Def's video rental store. They tackle classics like Ghostbusters and Driving Miss Daisy using hilarious dumpy props and less-than-special effects. Surprisingly, their remakes are a big hit with customers. I called it a must-see for fans of Gondry, and everyone else might enjoy how endearingly funny Jack Black and Mos Def are as they play off each other.

Extras on the disc include the trailer for the film and a featurette titled "Passaic Mosaic."

A movie and a TV show up next so read more.

Under the Same Moon
I haven't seen this indie flick yet but am adding it to my queue because I've read really good things about it. Centered around a boy's journey across the U.S./Mexico border in search of his mother, Under the Same Moon sounds like a real tearjerker. America Ferrera has a small part in the film, but all the performances are supposedly quite touching. The movie earned a standing ovation at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.

Special features include a featurette on the making of the film and information about the murals featured in the movie.

Californication: Season 1
This Showtime original series starring X-Files hottie David Duchovny is not suitable viewing for kids or even alongside Mom and Dad. It's daring and often crass, but it's also smart and funny and I'm addicted! I've said before I wish more of my friends watched the show so that we could discuss the next day, and now there is no excuse not to catch up with the release of the debut season on DVD.

Duchovny plays a novelist in L.A. who's had one bestseller but is having a hard time following it up with another success. The love of his life wants nothing to do with him as he tries to balance his own self-destructive behavior with raising his daughter. Evan Handler (Sex and the City) stars as Duchovny's buddy and agent. Time to get started watching now before season two starts up!

Caption It: Which Caption Should Win?

BuzzSugar — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 05:30:00 -0800

Thanks to everyone who pitched in a caption for this week's Caption It contest! Your task was to caption this puzzling image from last weekend's new release Fool's Gold:

Now it's time to choose a winner. Here are my finalists:

MM: "According to my calculations, if we do a movie with X amount of rom-com cliches and Y number of gratuitous swimsuit shots, we'll end up with a Z profit."
KH: "....is Z good?"
M-A-T-T-H-E-W M-C-O . . . "Oh damn! How can I give you my autograph if I forget how to spell my name?"
"Ok, I'll draw it out for you. See, this is me in the middle and here's you and here's Camilla."
Matthew explains to Kate "How to Lose a Career with One Shirt."
"See Kate, I've got my list all made for things for the baby. Bandanas in every color, baby's first bongos, mini Airstream play set... Did I miss anything?"

Now, it's time to vote. Which caption wins?

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Do You Think Kate Hudson Should Stick to Comedy or Drama?

BuzzSugar — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 06:30:00 -0800

I was happy to see the recent news about Kate Hudson joining a dramatic film about the artist Margaret Keane because I look forward to seeing Kate flex her dramatic muscles once more. Then again, she's pretty darn charming in the fluffy comedies she's done.

How do you prefer your Kate Hudson: in comedies or dramas?