BuzzSugar

What to Rent: New DVDs This Week

BuzzSugar — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 03:05:00 PDT

In this dark comedy, Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, and Jason Sudeikis star as three friends who are fed up with their respective bosses and hatch a plan to kill them. The evil employers are devilishly good, with Jennifer Aniston playing against type as a filthy-mouthed dentist, Colin Farrell as a balding, drug-addict loser, and Kevin Spacey as a villainous CEO. The very funny ensemble cast is made even better thanks to a great script. The extras on the DVD include deleted scenes and a few making-of featurettes.

69%

Green Lantern

Ryan Reynolds dons a CG green suit to play superhero Green Lantern, the alter ego of pilot Hal Jordan. When Hal intercepts a crashed alien craft and receives a special ring, he becomes part of the Green Lantern Corps and fights intergalactic villain Parallax and scientist Hector Hammond (Peter Sarsgaard). He also finds time to romance fellow pilot Carol Ferris (Blake Lively). While it's not the standout superhero film of the year, Reynolds is a charming lead. DVD extras include additional scenes, featurettes, an extended cut, and a preview for Green Lantern: The Animated Series.

27%

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Green Lantern Stars Ryan Reynolds and Peter Sarsgaard Say Guten Tag to Germany

Lindsay Miller — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 15:10:00 PDT

Ryan Reynolds and Peter Sarsgaard kept their European Green Lantern trip going today at the Berlin premiere of the movie. The onscreen nemeses threw their arms around each other to pose for pictures and cracked each other up on the green carpet as they debuted the superhero film in Germany. Peter's promotional duties prevented him from joining his wife Maggie Gyllenhaal at her father, Stephen Gyllenhaal's, wedding this weekend in Oahu. Instead, Peter and Ryan are globetrotting, as their 3D film enjoys an international rollout, kicking things off with a stop in Spain last week. Green Lantern hit theaters in America on June 17, and while it took the top spot at the box office its first weekend, it didn't perform quite as well as some of this Summer's other big action features like Thor and current number one Captain America.

Ryan Reynolds and Peter Sarsgaard Take the Green Lantern to Spain

Lindsay Miller — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 03:05:00 PDT

Ryan Reynolds and Peter Sarsgaard teamed up in Madrid yesterday for the Spanish debut of Green Lantern. The superhero movie opened in the USA in late June, taking the top box-office spot in its first weekend of release, but is just now hitting some European countries. Peter and Ryan didn't have their leading lady Blake Lively along for their trip overseas, since she's already back to work shooting Gossip Girl. Blake, Ryan, and Peter all joined forces at the LA premiere of Green Lantern earlier this Summer, where Ryan dished to us on Blake's impressive baking skills. Ryan's continued promotional duties for the action film are overlapping with his press rounds for his body-swap comedy The Change-Up, which hits theaters in early August.

Buzz In: What Movie Sequel is Better Than The Original?

Becky Kirsch — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 12:00:22 PDT

When Warner Bros. made Green Lantern, the new superhero movie starring Ryan Reynolds, there was no doubt that the studio was hoping to launch a franchise. Unfortunately, the film didn't quite deliver with critics or at the box office, which is typically a bad omen for those hoping to see Reynolds back in his CG suit. That said, it looks like Warner Bros. is ready to move forward with a Green Lantern sequel, which could be a great idea or a disaster, depending on how you look at it.

Though the first movie has its issues, there's definitely potential thanks to Reynolds. A sequel could allow for a more developed story, especially if the filmmakers learn from the mistakes they made the first time around. Hey, it wouldn't be the first time a sequel has topped an original: it's pretty universally accepted that Terminator 2: Judgment Day raised the bar, and many loved the sequel to Spider-Man 2.

What movie sequels do you prefer to the originals?

Box Office: Cars 2 Zooms to First Place

BuzzSugar — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 03:05:00 PDT

Cars 2 may not have received the same critical acclaim as its Pixar predecessors, but it still earned box office success. The kids' movie scored the top spot and took in $68 million for its debut weekend. Right behind it was Bad Teacher, which opened with $31 million. Green Lantern dipped to third with $18.5 million, while Super 8 took fourth with $12.1 million. Mr. Popper's Penguins completed the top five with $10.3 million.

Photo courtesy of Pixar

Box Office: Green Lantern Glows

BuzzSugar — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 03:05:00 PDT

Ryan Reynolds's superhero movie Green Lantern took the crown at the box office this weekend, but the film's earnings of $52.8 million fell short of heroic, taking in less than the debut weekends of other films in its genre like Thor and X-Men: First Class. In second place was Super 8 with $21.2 million, followed by Mr. Popper's Penguins, which took in $18.2 million in its opening weekend.

The Hangover Part II slipped to fourth with $9.6 million, followed by Kung Fu Panda 2, which clung on to to the top five with $8.7 million. Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris continued to make waves as it rolled out into more theaters and earned $5.2 million this weekend.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Movie Sneak Peek: Green Lantern and The Art of Getting By

BuzzSugar — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:57:08 PDT

Another weekend is here, and it's bringing a fresh crop of movies along with it. Whether you're looking to check out the latest superhero fare or you'd rather check out a cute new indie film, take a look at the movies first to get a taste of what you're in for.

Watch, Pass, or Rent: Green Lantern

BuzzSugar — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:37:51 PDT

Green Lantern is the latest superhero to fly into theaters, but is Ryan Reynolds's 3D adventure a worthy Summer blockbuster? Watch our review to find out!

Ryan Reynolds Holds a Special Green Lantern Premiere For Troops in San Diego

Allie Merriam — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 08:32:51 PDT

Ryan Reynolds makes a special appearance at a screening of Green Lantern that was organized for the troops at the Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego yesterday. It was Ryan's latest screening of the action film following Wednesday's big LA premiere with Blake Lively. The Green Lantern reviews don't seem to be overwhelmingly great, despite Ryan and Blake's most dedicated efforts to promote the project. Ryan even interviewed himself for the new EW, a unique spin on doing press that you found to be rather charming. Once the blockbuster arrives in theaters, Ryan will have a little downtime before getting to work on his next project. He's set to star in R.I.P.D. with Jeff Bridges while preproduction continues on his much-anticipated X-Men project Deadpool.

Green Lantern: Ryan Reynolds Is the Brightest Day in Blackest Night

Becky Kirsch — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 05:46:55 PDT

It's a bad sign when the opening sequence of a movie not only fails to grab your attention, but has your eyelids drooping before you even meet the main character. Such is the case for Green Lantern, and the frustratingly dull first few minutes set the tone for rest of the film, which is based on the popular comic book series.

Ryan Reynolds is the actor throwing his hat into the superhero ring this time, and he's actually a great choice. With charisma coming out of his ears and a perfectly chiseled body, Reynolds easily fits the bill as Hal Jordan, a self-assured test pilot with a taste for adrenaline. Hal's fearlessness eventually makes him a candidate for the Green Lantern Corps., a league of alien warriors that keep the peace amongst the galaxies. Seemingly out of nowhere, Hal is absorbed by a large green bubble and transported to a site where a dying alien gives him a ring that signifies his place as a Green Lantern (and provides Hal with a slick CG suit and superpowers in spades). If you think the green bubbles and purple aliens sound silly, it only gets more convoluted from there. To see what else I thought of Green Lantern, just

The movie shifts back and forth between the Green Lantern realm in outer space and Earth. On his home planet, Hal wrestles with his new superhero status, which makes for a few entertaining scenes as he shows off his suit to his best friend Thomas and tries to repair his fractured relationship with his childhood sweetheart, Carol Ferris (a mostly bland Blake Lively). I found myself cringing every time Hal skyrockets off into space again where Reynolds's charm is swallowed up in a world that's almost entirely CG. Even Hal's suit is animated, which makes him look like a floating head performing stunts on a cartoon body.

There is some semblance of a good story when you're not having comic book facts spewed at you in rapid succession, thanks in part to Peter Sarsgaard's performance as Hector Hammond. He's Hal's nemesis, (though their history is a little foggy), who's recently acquired some superpowers of his own. Though Sarsgaard doesn't get as much screen time as a standard comic book villain, he makes his mark as a nerdy loser turned evildoer who's drunk on power and literally grows a giant head.

Trying to tell too much at once is ultimately Green Lantern's downfall. Hal's human interest story isn't nearly developed enough, and the climax of the film feels rushed and stuffed in between everything else. The space aspect is what makes Green Lantern stand out as a superhero, but it's an other-worldly experience that's hard not to scoff at. You can't blame Reynolds for seizing the opportunity to get his own action figure, but he may end up with nothing more than a souvenir of a failed attempt at a franchise.