BuzzSugar

Buzz Gift Guide: The Girly Girl

BuzzSugar — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:30:56 -0800

We've all got one: that best friend, sister, cousin, or co-worker who just can't enough pink. She's the one who's hosting the Sex and the City marathons and insisting that everyone drink cosmos. Luckily, the girly girls of the world are among my favorites to shop for!

Confessions of a Shopaholic is the perfect chick flick to watch with friends, while Madonna's Celebrations anthem is a must for great pre-party tunes. Be sure to check out all of my gift guides plus holiday coverage across the PopSugar Network as the most wonderful time of the year steadily approaches!

Get Over It . . . He’s Just Not That Into You

Sponsor — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 05:45:00 -0700

Join the all-star cast of He’s Just Not That Into You as they look for love and find laughter in this of-the-moment romcom.

Available today on Blu-ray and DVD.

What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 08:30:01 -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 my selections below you can also add Defiance, Army Wives: Season Two, Reaper: Season Two, and Prison Break: Season Four to your queue.

Revolutionary Road
When I first read Richard Yates's 1961 novel, Revolutionary Road, I wasn't positive it would make a good movie. However, Sam Mendes does an artful job directing his wife, Kate Winslet, and her Titanic costar Leonardo DiCaprio in this story of domestic discontent set in the '50s. I also love the costuming in this movie, inspired by the era's amazing fashions.

If you didn't catch this one in theaters, it's well worth your time at home - just be prepared feel a little sad about life afterward. It's not exactly uplifting.

Special features include commentary with director Sam Mendes and screenwriter Justin Haythe, deleted scenes with commentary, and a featurette titled, "Lives of Quiet Desperation: The Making of Revolutionary Road."

70%

Lots more up next so read more.

He's Just Not That Into You
The movie adaptation of the bestselling "self-help" book He's Just Not That Into You has a very large, very recognizable ensemble cast. Most of the screen time goes to the adorable Ginnifer Goodwin who plays a Baltimore woman desperately attempting to decode what she perceives to be mixed signals from men. Justin Long plays a bartender whose harsh words of advice ultimately spark a friendship between the two.

The rest of the cast features Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Connelly, Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Aniston, and Ben Affleck.

Special features include deleted scenes, audio commentary, and featurettes titled: "Birthday Party/Walk Home," "Anna Visits Her Mom," "Anna's Song," and "Gigi's Date With Bill."

43%

Spring Breakdown
I'm fairly certain Spring Breakdown went straight to DVD and it doesn't even qualify for a Rotten Tomatoes score. None of this bodes well, but I still want to see this comedy because I'm such a huge fan of the leading ladies: Amy Poehler, Rachel Dratch and Parker Posey. Amber Tamblyn's even in it! I feel like it's hard to go that wrong with that cast. (Those may be famous last words.)

Here's the Netflix plot description: "Desperate to spice up their boring lives, three thirtysomething women set off for a vacation on a tropical island known for its raucous Spring Break parties. But instead of recapturing their youth, they wind up mothering a senator's shy daughter. As they help the awkward girl grow more comfortable in her own skin, they, too, learn to embrace aging with wit, joy and grace."

Special features include commentary by Director Ryan Shiraki and Rachel Dratch plus a gag reel.

Weeds: Season 4
June 8 is just around the corner, folks, so now is the time to catch up on Showtime's wickedly funny fourth season of Weeds before the new season premieres.

These 13 episodes include Albert Brooks as Mary-Louise Parker's crazy father-in-law. We also watch Parker's character Nancy take her kids and her business partner, Conrad, to set up "the business" down at a border town. As usual, questionable parenting decisions abound and it's totally awesome.

Special features include gags, cast and crew commentaries, and featurettes titled: "Little Titles by Jenji Kohan," "Moving Weight," "I'm a Big Kid Now," "The Real Hunter Parrish," "Tour of Bubbie's House," "One Stop Chop Shop," "The Weed Wranglers," and "Burbs to the Beach."

Box Office: Madea Makes Money

BuzzSugar — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 09:30:56 -0800

It's no surprise that when Tyler Perry has a movie out, it's going to do well at the box office - but $41 million well? Dang! Madea Goes to Jail took the top spot over the weekend and is Perry's best debut to date.

Taken, Coraline, and He's Just Not That Into You continued to do good business, coming in second, third, and fourth respectively. Meanwhile, the fifth spot went to this year's "little film that could" and newly crowned Oscar-winning Best Picture. Variety reports:

Fox Searchlight reached Oscar Sunday with Slumdog Millionaire enjoying a ninth straight week in the top 10.

The weekend's other wide release debut, Fired Up, opened at No. 9.

Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

Box Office: Jason's Back as Audiences Make Him No. 1

BuzzSugar — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 08:15:26 -0800

The economy may be on shaky ground but you wouldn't know it by looking at the box office totals from this weekend. The Friday the 13th remake actually set records and had "the best opening ever for a horror movie in grossing an estimated $42.2 million from 3,105 theaters through Sunday." Meanwhile He's Just Not That Into You exceeded expectations by snagging the No. 2 spot over the weekend, while Liam Neeson's Taken continued to do strong box office business and came in third place. Confessions of a Shopaholic had a disappointing debut at No. 4.

Coraline rounded out the top five while Paul Blart: Mall Cop, at No. 6, became the first original January release to reach $100 million. Dang!

Finally, Clive Owen and Naomi Watts weren't enough star power to save The International from a lackluster debut. The thriller managed seventh place.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Caption It: Which Caption Should Win?

BuzzSugar — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 05:30:45 -0800

Thanks for tossing in some funny caption ideas for this pic from He's Just Not That Into You:

There can only be one winner, though, so here are the finalists:

"The first time I wore pigtails, I hung out with an alien. Today? Who knows!"
"Ahh men's razors, they really do give me a way better shave. Don't you agree Scarlett?"
"Why yes - I DO get that 'not quite fresh feeling' sometimes . . ."
"We are way too pretty for CVS."
"Scarlett, girl, you better stick to those indies because you are NOT dethroning me, the reigning queen of romantic comedies. Don't even think of reading that Nancy Meyers script, woman!"

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Box Office: Everyone's Into He's Just Not That Into You

BuzzSugar — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 08:15:27 -0800

Big name stars plus romantic self-help equals box office bucks this past weekend as He's Just Not That Into You took the No. 1 spot earning an estimated $27.5 million. The action flick Taken slipped to No. 2 though it still performed well, and was followed by Coraline, The Pink Panther 2, and Paul Blart: Mall Cop.

Variety notes how a weekend like this affects smaller, Oscar-nominated films: "The torrent of highly commercial new releases dinged the Oscar-nominated pics, which-outside of Slumdog Millionaire, The Wrestler and The Reader - saw virtually no bump. That's rare for kudos contenders in February."

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

He's Just Not That Into You: I Wouldn't Call It Back

BuzzSugar — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 07:30:45 -0800

The book on which He's Just Not That Into You is based is full of mostly common sense advice for women about guys and relationships. If he's not calling you back, say, he's just not that into you. It's cool, just move on. These are not revolutionary theories. The movie tries to illustrate many of the more common relationship mistakes and misunderstandings in a series of "chapters."

The thing is, for a movie about facing the harsh truth about things, it's painfully unaware of the truth about itself. If they're going to preach to us about when our thick skulls should just accept these relationship "rules" (because you're never the exception to the rule, just FYI) then I think we can point out some "rules" that maybe a movie like this should follow. To see some that I'd suggest, read more.

It's just not that great a movie if. . .

. . . it's a romantic comedy that runs (and feels) over two long hours. Plain and simple (ahem, common sense), this film is just way too long.

. . . there is an absurd number of storylines going on, seemingly for the sole purpose of utilizing more high-profile actors. I like the first section of the film because we're following the quirky, delusional and desperate Gigi (Ginnifer Goodwin) who is funny to watch because she is an outrageous caricature. Far from a relatable protagonist she's like an exaggerated version of every man's nightmare. She's silly and obsessive and most of her actions and assumptions about guys make the audience groan and chuckle because who does that? But then come allllllllll the other characters. There's the sexless married couple in which the man (Bradley Cooper) is tempted to cheat with the buxom Anna (Scarlett Johansson), and there's the guy (Kevin Connolly) who's blindly pining over Anna, and there's the woman (Drew Barrymore) who is exhausted by how technology has complicated dating, and finally, there's the one relatively healthy couple in which the man (Ben Affleck) is fully committed to her (Jennifer Aniston) but just doesn't want to get married. And that is unacceptable. These storylines range from amusing to obnoxious but by the end (of the - did I mention? - over two hours) they are all completely exasperating. In fact. . .

. . . by the end of it we've gone from laughing with the characters to laughing at them. Yeah. This happened at my screening.

. . . it's sloppy. At first we're following one character through her funny/ridiculous relationship woes. That's fine. Then we're following a bunch of other characters. Then Drew Barrymore's character is tossed in as an afterthought. Then, a good chunk of the way into the thing, they try to establish "chapters" by which point we're confused about why there are suddenly chapters. There are also, out of nowhere (and not having established this for forever), confessionals from random strangers talking straight to camera about their love lives. What? Where did they come from? Why?

. . . there seems to be no point. It's too long and empty to be entertaining or enjoyable, it's overcrowded with storylines, and it's definitely not saying anything interesting about modern-day relationships (it's not even modern! "MySpace is the new booty call"? Does anyone actually think that?). Finally, it's not exactly hopeful or inspiring or touching.

All in all, there are some funny moments and some pretty people, but is it worth two hours and some hard-earned cash? I don't know. I think it's just not that great.

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Caption It!

BuzzSugar — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 09:30:44 -0800

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!

First, congrats to Ashfilm17 for her winning caption from last week's challenge:

"Ugh. Where's that dancing baby when you need him?"

Now onto this week's photo from He's Just Not That Into You:

Leave your captions in the comment space below before 5 p.m. PST on Monday, Feb. 9 to be considered for a spot in the voting round. Have fun!

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Drew and Ginnifer Talk Relationship Advice and Movies

BuzzSugar — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 05:30:27 -0800

As the movie based on the relationship advice book He's Just Not That Into You opens this Friday, Drew Barrymore and Ginnifer Goodwin are opening up about their thoughts on the whole thing. Ginnifer gushes about her costars while Drew says she admires the "sage wisdom" of the movie. Plus, she gives a bit of info on her directorial debut, Whip It! starring Ellen Page. Check it out:

Drew, what do you think is the best piece of advice in the movie?

Drew: There are two things. One, a lot of the stuff that Justin Long says about the rules, like don't buy into this behavior. His sage wisdom, I love. We all need a friend like that. And I love Jennifer Aniston and Ben Affleck’s character which is that sometimes society forces you into thinking that love is supposed to be this certain mold or it’s supposed to look a certain way, it's supposed to entail certain things, and really it’s about the person and the partnership. I love that.

Do you think every woman has a He’s Just Not That Into You moment in her dating life?

Drew: If you're human, yes.

For more from Drew and Ginnifer, read more.

Can you tell me a little bit about Whip It!? We’re very excited about that.

Drew: I'm really excited about it. . . It’s very personal for me, it's about finding a tribe in this world and it's a love story between the mother and the daughter. If you feel different and you’re trying to get your family to accept you, finding, like I said, your tribe in this world is crucial and just coming into yourself and feeling comfortable with that. Ellen Page is incredible and people really root for her in the movie and in life and I’m so lucky that she’s the person I got to do this with. I'm honored.

Ginnifer, did you read the book before taking the part, filming the movie?

Ginnifer: I did not. I purchased the book when I got the role. I take a very academic approach to my crafting of characters. I think I read the intro and I realized that I was going to be affected by this book, that I was going to grow somehow. I believe strongly that what an actor thinks or feels is expressed through the eyes when we’re talking about a screen the size of a school bus. It was important to me that I not have this information before the end of the movie.

Do you feel like your character Gigi is the most relatable character in the movie?

Ginnifer: I hope so because I found her the most relatable. To me she was the audience. She's every woman. She's fiercely intelligent and it’s not that there are foibles out of naïveté or ignorance or air-headedness. It’s that she’s been given the same skewed dating compass, the same bad fabricated, misleading man manual that we’ve all been given. It’s because of this that she walks boldly in the wrong direction. I found her so relatable. I didn’t want the audience to be able to excuse her actions because she was an idiot. I wanted them to say "I am brilliant. I am beautiful and I have this mistake, but it's only because I've been misled. I've been given the wrong guidance."

What was it like working with so many seasoned actors? Did you learn anything from them? Was it exciting to work with them?

Ginnifer: Oh my gosh, every last one! When I signed on to this project I was completely unaware of the casting. I read it a long while back and was obsessed with it because the writing was so brilliant. I actually cried with happiness when I was sent the list of the people who were interested and the people with whom they were talking because I admire them all so much. Their caliber is unparalleled, their talent untouchable. Their choices are always brilliant and the movie can only be made better surrounded by such people.

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.