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What to Netflix: Weekend Edition!

BuzzSugar — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 13:30:58 PST

Usually the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays, but there are a handful of big releases out today so I thought I'd alert you. Today, just like I do each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I'm sorting through the best of the batch to suggest some additions for your queue.

The Duchess
I'm glad this sumptuous movie is out on DVD because it's so beautiful to look at. The costumes in this period drama starring Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes are gorgeous and the rest of the movie is pretty good too.

Knightley plays Georgiana, wife of William Cavendish (Fiennes), the Duke of Devonshire. While their relationship grows bitter in private, Georgiana starts to become quite popular in public and immerses herself in the world of politics and high society. As her husband puts other women between them, Georgiana finds herself falling in love with a young politician, Charles Grey (Dominic Cooper). However, the threat of scandal proves too great for the Duke and Duchess, and a relationship with Charles is forbidden.

Special features include a featurette titled, "Georgiana in Her Own Words," the making of the movie, and a costume diary.

Two more up next so

Ghost Town
Aw, Ricky Gervais. This comedy wasn't the smash hit that someone of his talent deserves but it's an easygoing and sometimes bittersweet comedy all the same.

Gervais plays dentist Bertram Pincus, an ornery, solitary man who comes out of a medical procedure to discover that he died briefly during it. His momentary death gives him the ability to see people who have died but who are still hanging out on Earth because they have unfinished business. One such restless soul is Frank (Greg Kinnear) who needs Bertram to prevent Frank's widow, Gwen (Tea Leoni), from remarrying. This is a good pick for something to watch with the family if you're still hanging around with them til the New Year.

Special features include commentary from Gervais and the making of the movie.

Eagle Eye
This is one of the most intense-looking DVD covers I've seen in awhile. In fact it's kind of stressing me out, which is about the right vibe for this movie. I actually thought this movie was rather thrilling, even if the actual stuff going on in the plot is a wee bit preposterous.

Shia LaBeouf plays Jerry Shaw, a slacker with low ambitions and little money. The sudden death of his estranged twin brother Ethan sets off a series of baffling occurrences for Jerry, starting with a strange woman contacting him on the phone just as he's being set up to look like a terrorist. Oh, this is only the beginning, though! Michelle Monaghan is also in this movie and she and LaBeouf make a surprisingly adorable onscreen pair.

Special features include a gag reel and a photo gallery.

Caption It: Which Caption Should Win?

BuzzSugar — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 08:30:59 PDT

This week's Caption It was brought to you by Ghost Town:

Here are your finalists:

The Verizon version of "dead calls"
"Oh, I'm sorry, was I narrating an action story in my sleep again?"
"Um, I normally don't do this with an audience . . ."
After 40 years, Haley Joel Osment has finally found the lighter side of
his power, but still sees dead people.
"Wow, this hotel sure is thorough with their wake up calls!"

Thanks for chipping in your great ideas! Now it's time to vote!

Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Box Office: Lakeview Terrace Wins So-So Weekend

BuzzSugar — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:00:01 PDT

Lakeview Terrace, a thriller starring Samuel L. Jackson, came in at No. 1 at the box office over the weekend and performed relatively well with an estimated $15.6 million. Second place went to the Coen brothers' comedy Burn After Reading which continues to also do well at the box office, earning an estimated $36.4 million over its first ten days.

Around the No. 3 spot on this weekend's box office report things start to look a little gloomy, starting with the Dane Cook-Kate Hudson comedy My Best Friend's Girl. The movie only earned about $8.3 million, perhaps a result of some harsh reviews (or maybe it was just the poster, as Cook whined, that drove audiences away).

The animated family film, Igor, came in fourth place followed by Righteous Kill in fifth. Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys and The Women rounded out the sixth and seventh place respectively, and a movie I enjoyed, Ghost Town, opened at No. 8.

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures

Ghost Town: Easygoing and Sweet

BuzzSugar — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 06:30:22 PDT

One of the things I like best about Ghost Town is that it doesn't ask anything of you. There's no brain power required, though it's not insultingly stupid or empty. It's not hysterically funny, but it's also not crude or painfully immature. For my money, it's certainly the most easygoing - easy to enjoy, easy to forget afterward - of all the movies out in theaters right now.

It's hard to categorize this movie, since it's not a romantic comedy, necessarily. There's not a lot of romance, and while there is comedy, it's often bittersweet, due to all the dead people. Ricky Gervais plays dentist Bertram Pincus, an ornery, solitary man who comes out of a medical procedure to discover that he died briefly during it. His momentary death gives him the ability to see people who have died but who are still hanging out on Earth because they have unfinished business. And now they implore Bertram to finish it for them. One such restless soul is Frank (Greg Kinnear) who needs Bertram to prevent Frank's widow, Gwen (Tea Leoni), from remarrying. The ghosts torment Bertram until he agrees to Frank's request, but as he goes about breaking up Gwen and her fiance, Bertram starts to fall for Gwen. To find out my take on it all,

The cast is great, and and I especially appreciate the female characters (and the actresses behind them), who are wonderfully funny and human. Kristen Wiig is hilarious as usual, and Tea Leoni is down to earth as the romantic lead: smart, funny and emotionally confused - but not to the point of hysteria. Her character is written as a person, not some weird parody of a woman. And Leoni easily embodies this beautiful, reasonable character.

Greg Kinnear is also well-cast, and with every new role I see him in, I warm to him more. He's got an honest, affable way about him that can be so endearing. Also, he's well-suited to play a counterpart to Ricky Gervais; Kinnear's more obvious humor and openness balances nicely with Gervais's dry, wry wit. Gervais is surprisingly capable as the leading man in this big American comedy, though with this material he's significantly aided by Kinnear who brings an almost clownish relief.

For some reason, I went into this expecting to laugh more than I did and feel less than I did. It's more emotional and heartwarming than I thought it would be. For any of the movie's faults (some scenes that drag, the occasional blandness of the tone overall), everything is forgiven in the final scene - specifically the last two lines - which is so full of hard-earned poignancy, it (I'll admit it) brought on the waterworks just a little.

Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Caption It!

BuzzSugar — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 06:30:55 PDT

Welcome to the Caption It game on BuzzSugar! Every other Wednesday, I'll post a photo still from a TV show or movie 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 votes are in and the winning caption for last week's 90210 challenge has been selected:

"Hey, how do you spell 'LOL'?"

Congrats to Phil!

This week's challenge comes from the upcoming Ricky Gervais comedy, Ghost Town:

Leave your captions in the comment space below before 5 p.m. PDT on Monday, Sept. 22, to be considered for a spot in the voting round. Have fun! To see a photo of the BuzzSugar t-shirt, just

The BuzzSugar t-shirt

Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Movie Preview: Ricky Gervais in Ghost Town

BuzzSugar — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:30:03 PDT

In the comedy Ghost Town, Bertram Pincus (Ricky Gervais) is "a man whose people skills leave much to be desired. When Pincus dies unexpectedly, but is miraculously revived after seven minutes, he wakes up to discover that he now has the annoying ability to see ghosts. Even worse, they all want something from him, particularly Frank Herlihy (Greg Kinnear) who pesters him into breaking up the impending marriage of his widow Gwen (Téa Leoni)."

From the new trailer, it seems silly and surreal, and not necessarily in a good way. Man, I wish I thought this looked awesome and funny. I love Gervais and he's pretty entertaining no matter what, but I only kinda-chuckled twice watching this trailer: once because of Kristen Wiig, once from a bit about shoes. Ghost Town opens September 19. To see the trailer for yourself,

Source

David Stops Off For Some Tea

Molly — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 15:03:05 PDT

David Duchovny stopped by to visit his wife Tea Leoni all bundled up in her big coat on the set of her new movie Ghost Town in NYC. I was never a big fan of The X Files but having fallen in love with Californication I am now fully on the Duchovny bandwagon. Especially after last night's season finale, which I loved, maybe I'll have to start brushing up on my 90s sci-fi.

View 5 Photos ›

Bauer-Griffin

Kristen Wiig Lands Two More Comedic Movie Roles

BuzzSugar — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 07:30:00 PDT

Recently I wondered where the great comedic parts were for all the great comedic ladies in Hollywood, and many of you said you'd love to see more of the hilarious Kristen Wiig. A regular on "Saturday Night Live," Wiig was also seen in Knocked Up playing Alison's (Katherine Heigl) catty and insecure coworker. Now she has a couple more opportunities to do her hilarious thing.

In Ghost Town, Wiig will star opposite Ricky Gervais and Greg Kinnear. She'll play "the surgeon of Gervais' character in the David Koepp-directed comedy, which centers on a dentist (Gervais) who has a near-death experience during routine surgery and gains the ability to see dead people who ask him for help in contacting the living."

Then she'll go on to play the female lead in Pretty Bird, an indie comedy that also stars Billy Crudup and Paul Giamatti. Soon, however, we can find her in The Brothers Solomon this September, and this December's Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (which also has Jenna Fischer!). I'm glad we don't have to wait too long to see this funny lady in more roles.

Source

What to Rent: New DVDs This Week

Maggie Pehanick — Tue, 22 May 2012 03:05:00 PDT

This Means War

In This Means War Reese Witherspoon plays a woman tasked with a tough challenge when she starts dating two guys (Tom Hardy and Chris Pine) at once, who just so happen to be secret agents and best friends. Her choice becomes harder as the super spies pull out all the stops to win her heart, including some hilarious hijinks meant to sabotage the other's efforts. It may be a corny premise, but it's easy to fall for both leading men and the script keeps it light and funny. Extras include commentary by Director McG, deleted scenes, and alternate endings.

25%

The Woman in Black

In the Edwardian era, a young lawyer (Daniel Radcliffe) travels to a small town to manage the affairs of a recently deceased local. While he is there, he finds the real case is a string of child suicides in the area. Though he still has many demons of his own, he attempts to investigate as more children die at their own hands. Locals alert him of the legend of the Woman in Black, and before long, he has his own run-ins with the ghost, who is none too pleased to have a man encroaching upon her space. DVD extras include commentaries and behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes.

65%

One more release when you

Red Tails

Cuba Gooding Jr. and Terrence Howard lead the cast in this World War II-era flick about the role of African American pilots, produced by George Lucas. Despite racial segregation, the Pentagon has no choice but to deploy the number of African American airmen enlisted for the war. Though they are initially outcasts, the squadron soon wins the respect of the entire air force with their dedication and skills in the air. Extras include "Double Victory: The Tuskegee Airman at War" mini-documentary and featurettes on the director and the cast.

36%

Exclusive: We Try On Madewell's New Rivet & Thread Collection

Chi Diem Chau — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:03:14 PST

Madewell always has something up its sleeve and today, we're sharing some exclusive news and photos with you. We got all the details on the brand's latest and greatest denim collection: Rivet & Thread. The seven-piece collection, ranging from $135 to $200, was conceived during a 2,000-mile road trip to the Wild West - yes, ghost towns and all - and hits all the notes of classic workwear-inspired pieces. We can't get enough of the denim overalls, slim selvedge jeans, and denim popovers. We can go on and on about how great the collection is, but today, we're showing you exactly why we love these denim pieces. Check out the slideshow to see us in Madewell's Denim & Rivet line, launching online this Thursday and in stores Jan. 24., and don't forget to check out the exclusive lookbook. Share with us your favorite look in the comments section!