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What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 07:30:33 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 picks below, you can now watch Cadillac Records, Let the Right One In, and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas in the comfort of your own home.

Milk
If you still haven't seen Milk after all the months of accolades and awards, now's your chance to learn what all the fuss is about. In addition to being an incredibly moving story based on the real life of San Francisco gay activist Harvey Milk, it's wonderfully acted and directed. It's everything a biopic ought to be, right down to beautifully recreating the events of such an extraordinary life.

The cast is full of talented, adorable actors, like Sean Penn (who won the Oscar for his portrayal of Milk), James Franco, Josh Brolin, Diego Luna, and Emile Hirsch. I am anxious to watch it again, even though it's so heartbreaking.

Special features include deleted scenes, a featurette about remembering Harvey, and another titled "Hollywood comes to San Francisco."

So much more to recommend, so

read more. Rachel Getting Married Even though this heavy portrayal of familial heartache and forgiveness is intense to watch, I highly recommend it. You may have noticed Anne Hathaway at a couple of awards shows this year - all due to this movie (not Bride Wars, just in case there's any confusion on that). Rosemarie Dewitt, also a phenomenal actress, is another reason to add this to your queue. Special features include deleted scenes, filmmaker and cast commentaries, and "A Look Behind the Scenes of Rachel Getting Married."
Synecdoche, New York You know him as the writer of such films as Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and now Charlie Kaufman can add "Director" to his filmography with Synecdoche, NY. The movie stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as Caden Cotard, a local theater director struggling to maintain his marriage with his more-famous wife, Adele (Catherine Keener). When she takes off for Germany with their daughter and Caden receives a grant, he decides to stage a giant-scale theater piece about life, setting it inside a towering replica of New York. It's a complicated, difficult, sometimes frustrating piece of cinema but I found the experience to be totally worthwhile. Featurettes include "The Story of Caden Cotard: In Conversation With Philip Seymour Hoffman," "Infectious Diseases in Cattle: Blogger's Roundtable," and "NFTS/Script Masterclass with Charlie Kaufman." Happy-Go-Lucky I called this movie a sweet slice of life when I first saw it and I was thrilled when the talented Sally Hawkins won the Golden Globe for her performance in it. The movie is essentially plotless, focusing mostly on a woman whose outlook on life remains defiantly sunny despite the world's inevitable darkness and sorrow. It's so moving because despite it's bright and colorful surface, the film is also a meditation on sadness, longing, confusion, and hopefulness. You know, the stuff of life. Special features include commentary by director Mike Leigh and the featurettes "Behind the wheel of Happy-Go-Lucky" and "Happy-in-character."

What Are Your Favorite Scenes From This Year's Oscar-Nominated Movies?

BuzzSugar — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:30:48 PST

I keep thinking about this great scene in The Wrestler between Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei's characters in a bar. I won't give it away for those who haven't seen the movie yet but it involves some funny dialogue between the two about the decade they agree was the best. It's a small, intimate moment rendered so perfectly that you completely forget you're watching two actors - it feels more like overhearing a conversation at your local dive bar.

Sometimes a movie contains a scene so well-done it has the power to stick around in our minds for years and years. Like one of the most romantic scenes in Wall-E: Eve and Wall-E's dance among the stars. So. Freaking. Cute. Not to mention beautiful. And Happy Go-Lucky contains an intense scene between the main character and her driving instructor that's so unsettling it will take me a long time to shake it off.

Sometimes I think there should be an Academy Award category for Best Scene! What do you think? Which scenes from this year's Oscar-nominated films stick out to you the most?

The Wrestler photo courtesy of Fox Searchlight, Wall-E image courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures, and Happy Go-Lucky photo courtesy of Miramax

Happy-Go-Lucky: A Sweet and Stirring Slice of Life

BuzzSugar — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 06:30:13 PDT

When Happy-Go Lucky begins we meet Poppy, a single woman in her 30s, who has just discovered a new bookstore and does her darnedest to charm the store clerk with her goofy persona - despite the fact he's completely annoyed and hardly acknowledges her. This opening struck me as awfully precarious and could have easily bombed due to Poppy's perkiness, but it doesn't.

And that's because the star of the movie, Sally Hawkins, who plays the optimistic Poppy, is so brilliant in this role, and this would-be cringe-worthy moment successfully launches one of the sweetest movies I've seen in a long time. To see why I loved it so,

read more. The movie is essentially plotless and is more of a character study, focusing on a woman whose outlook on life remains defiantly sunny despite the world's inevitable darkness and sorrow. Poppy has a great life: a wonderful roommate Zoe (played by Alexis Zegerman, a young actress I hope we see more often), a great job teaching kids, and eventually a sweet guy. She's so dang upbeat I almost felt resentful of her and I thought I'd be in for one long, perky, brightly-colored slog. But the effect is just the opposite because beneath the froth and the lightheartedness something much more substantive lies at the heart of this movie. Something that addresses much of the human experience at once: sadness, longing, confusion, and hopefulness. As we watch Poppy go about her life as a single gal in the city, we see her interact with various people that make up her world including a high-strung driving instructor named Scott whom she's hired to give her lessons. Scott is played by Eddie Marsan, another actor in this film who gives an amazing performance. At first I wanted to write Scott off as a grumpy guy who Poppy rubs the wrong way, but each new scene in the cramped little car gradually reveals that he is a complicated and disturbed paranoid. There are many things he says and does to Poppy along the way that would make any other person request a new teacher, but instead of feeling frightened or irritated by him, she gives him the benefit of the doubt and often challenges his views. It's in these scenes that we see Poppy as more than just a regular happy woman and as someone who, even in the face of bizarre and awful situations, can't help but understand that all that awfulness comes from a place she can probably understand. In her eyes Scott isn't someone to toss away as a racist nut-job, but a person who is so clearly in pain. The movie drives at this empathy, which extends to everyone from discontented married couples in the burbs to a mentally ill homeless man in the city. Rather than express disdain for the choices people make, Happy-Go-Lucky seeks to examine the things all of us have in common in a way that rings true. I couldn't help but see my own life reflected back at me as I watched Poppy with her friends and family and colleagues. To me that was so refreshing - a movie that depicted life as it is, instead of as a fantasy and that still gave me warm fuzzies. What an accomplishment! Director Mike Leigh has created something magical and irresistible in this little movie that is nothing short of brilliant. I recommend you rush to see it. Photos courtesy of Miramax

Movie Preview: Happy-Go-Lucky

BuzzSugar — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 13:30:23 PDT

As far as movies go, the Fall is probably going to get a little depressing. Not like "crap these movies are depressingly bad" - depressing, but more like "these movies are bleak and make me die a little inside" - depressing. That's why I feel like it's practically my duty to bring you the trailer for what will undoubtedly be a little ray of sunshine come this October: Happy-Go-Lucky.

It's a little British film that was written and directed by Mike Leigh, and while I can't seem to locate a plot from watching the trailer, I know this much is true: it lifts my spirits. Even the IMDB description of the movie makes me happy: "Poppy is a thirty-year old Primary School teacher in contemporary North London. She has great friends, a job she loves and a full life." I'm already charmed by Sally Hawkins who plays Poppy and, I dunno, this trailer just gives me the warm fuzzies inside. Which I'm pretty sure is the goal.

To check it out for yourself,

5 Surprising Health Benefits of Being a Sports Fan

Prevention — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:19:15 PST

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Prevention here on FitSugar!

By Cristina Goyanes, Prevention

It’s no wonder your friends aren’t available to hang out on Sundays in the Fall and Winter - according to a 2005 Gallup Poll, 64 percent of Americans claim to be professional football fans, and as of 2010, women make up 44 percent of the NFL fan base.

Being a sports fan doesn’t mean you’re expected to know all the players and stats of your hometown teams and destined for a beer gut - it’s about coming together in the name of good times as part of a community.

“Bonding over sports - the highs and lows of the game - strengthens ties, helps us feel supported, and makes it easier for you to open up about personal things,” says Renee Clauselle, PsyD, who runs a private psychology practice in Long Island, NY.

Seventeen Unexpected Side Effects of Exercise

Rooting for the same team creates an immediate sense of family, says Daniel Wann, PhD, a Murray State University professor who has been studying the psychology of sports fans for over 20 years. “If you identify with a local team, you build an instant connection to others around you,” he says.

Beyond the bonding aspects, watching sports can motivate you to pump up your own workouts - and even burn a few extra calories when you jump, cheer, and clap during the highlights of the game. Find out more ways being a sports fan is a winning situation for your health.

Keep reading to learn how being a sports fan benefits your health.

Michael Fassbender Goes Shirtless - And Reveals His Oscars Date!

Allie Merriam — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:15:05 PST

Michael Fassbender is hot and shirtless on this week's edition of The Hollywood Reporter. There was a lot of ground for Michael to cover with the publication, including his amazing 2011, full frontal nudity in Shame, and upcoming Steven Soderbergh movie Haywire. Shame has gotten Michael noticed this award season, and after getting a nod in the best actor category at the Golden Globes, odds are good that he'll add an Oscar acknowledgment to the list. In Michael Fassbender's Hollywood Reporter interview, he discussed that possibility and elaborated the differences between being a struggling vs. successful actor. Steven Soderbergh also weighed in to give Michael credit for his late-night abilities. Here are highlights from the article:

On going to the Oscars, and who he'd take: "It would just be a bonus, but of course I would take my mom down the red carpet."
On an odd job he took for money during lean years: "I had to call people who had filed complaints about the Royal Mail and see if they were happy with how their grievances were dealt with. Most of the time they weren't. My goal was for acting to become my main income. I would say to myself, 'I'm good enough.' That became my mantra."
On finally making it: "It's nice to have that security where you think if everything goes tits up, I've now got a flat I own and I don't have to worry about paying the bills and putting food on the table. I'm really lucky that it happened to me when it did, considering the recession."
Steven Soderbergh on Michael's abilities to party: "He’s a blast. We’re out one night and it’s 3:30 a.m., and we’re in someone’s kitchen and Michael is singing. I’m like, 'Dude, I gotta go.' The phrase Michael uses most often is, ‘So where are we going now?' He's the Duracell movie star.'"

Free and Inexpensive Ways to Treat Yourself

OnSugar Blog — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 03:05:49 PST

Sometimes we just need a break! OnSugar blogger Everyday Baby Steps shares free and inexpensive ways to treat yourself.

The other day I wrote about how my new hairstyle has improved my outlook. I also mentioned that I'm fortunate enough to blog for a wonderful local hair salon, and I'm able to trade my writing services for hair and beauty treatments. It's an awesome exchange! Even if you're not lucky enough to have your hairstylist on retainer, there are still tons of ways to treat and pamper yourself, as well as your family, without spending a ton of money. These are tough economic times. Throughout my working life, I've had various periods of ups and downs with my finances. The times when I was the least happy were the ones in which I constantly denied myself. Living in a mindset of lack or want is not healthy. It's no good for you, and it's no good for your loved ones. So I'm going to get you started with a list of things you can do to add some fun and pampering to your life without spending the big bucks that so many of us just don't have right now.

Health and Beauty

Going to the salon and buying beauty products can really take a chunk out of your budget. Consider these ways of pampering yourself on the cheap.

7 Types of New Year's Eve Kisses

Anna Monette Roberts — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 04:00:56 PST

New Year's Eve kisses can be hot and passionate, sweet and loving, or a complete disaster. You never know what to expect when you lock lips with someone new, which can be part of the thrill or part of the funny story to tell your girl friends the next day. Here's a quick rundown of seven kisses you might receive on New Year's Eve.

A friend: Whether there is mutual, pent-up attraction or it catches you completely off guard, this kiss could be the key to knowing if you and your friend should take things to the next level (or if you should keep things platonic).
A crush: If you've been eyeing someone for a while, now's the time to see if this lucky crush locks eyes (and lips) with you when the clock strikes.
A random: It can be a hit or miss with a stranger, but avoid going for someone totally inebriated. There is a difference between a wild kiss and a vacuum.

See more NYE kisses.

Hangover Cures That Work (and Ones That Don't)

Fitness Magazine — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 04:17:53 PST

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Fitness Magazine here on FitSugar!

You know you shouldn't, but sometimes a girl just can't help herself. You plan to meet up with friends for a drink after work, and one drink turns into many more, which then turns into a rough next morning. We hope you don't have a hangover reading this, because we bring you some not-so-good news. "There are a lot of myths about hangover cures," says Ruth C. Engs, RN, EdD, a professor at Indiana University who has done extensive research on the effects of drinking. "Essentially there is no cure other than consuming water and liquids like juice (i.e., not spiked) in the morning." The reason? Hangover symptoms are a product of dehydration, hypoglycemia, and the poisonous side effects from toxins in our drinks (sounds great, right?). Water will not only help hydrate your muscles and organs, but will also aid in flushing out the toxins. Juices such as orange juice accomplish both while replenishing your body with missing sugars.

That said, if you swear by a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel or a five-mile run after a night out on the town, you're not alone. We got the scoop on which remedies seem to prove real, and which ones are just part of the rumor mill.

Find out which hangover cures work after the break!

The 5 Worst Habits That Damage Your Immune System

Prevention — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 04:19:31 PST

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Prevention here on FitSugar!

Kick these surprising habits to keep colds, flu and other bugs at bay.
By The Editors of Prevention.com

Staying healthy isn't just about using hand sanitizer and avoiding coughing co-workers. It turns out some pretty surprising daily habits - like how you fight with your husband or whether you stay up late for Letterman - can impact how well your body fends off colds, flu and other pesky bugs. Here's a list of science-backed tips to add to your stay-healthy arsenal today.

1. You Avoid the Water Cooler
Friendship may be Miracle-Gro for your immune system. Research shows that the fewer human connections we have at home, at work, and in the community, the likelier we are to get sick, flood our brains with anxiety-causing chemicals, and live shorter lives than our more sociable peers. In one study, researchers who monitored 276 people between the ages of 18 and 55 found that those who had six or more connections were four times better at fighting off the viruses that cause colds than those with fewer friends.

What to do: Don't let a jam-packed workday or hectic schedule get in the way of your friendships. Stop by a co-worker's office for a quick Monday morning catch-up, or e-mail/text your friends at night to stay in touch when you're too busy for phone calls.

7 Ways to Work Out at The Office

2. You Often Feel Tired
Scrimping on sleep has a powerfully detrimental effect on immunity. The perfect example: college students who get sick after pulling all-nighters cramming for exams. Poor sleep is associated with lower immune system function and reduced numbers of killer cells that fight germs. In fact, University of Chicago researchers found that men who had slept only four hours a night for one week produced half the amount of flu-fighting antibodies in their blood (jump-started by a flu shot) compared with those who slept 7 1/2 to 8 1/2 hours.

Keep reading to learn how to keep your immune system strong after the break.