BuzzSugar

Lawrence and Foxx to Take Their Female Alter Egos to the Big Screen

BuzzSugar — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:30:50 -0800

After countless box office hits, Jamie Foxx and Martin Lawrence are going back to their roots on network shows In Living Color and Martin.

Each actor portrayed an unfortunate-looking female character on their respective '90s shows - "Sheneneh" for Lawrence and "Wanda" for Foxx, and now the pair will team up to portray them in a movie called Skank Robbers. Stemming from a fake trailer of the same name at a recent awards show, studio Screen Gems picked up the movie, with Foxx and Lawrence writing and producing. Sure, this could be a dime-a-dozen, groan-out-loud flick like one you'd see from Eddie Murphy, but my appreciation for '90s comedy is telling me it could be funny.

Law Abiding Citizen: Deserves a Death Sentence

BuzzSugar — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:30:13 -0700

Oh, Gerard Butler, what were you thinking? You might be able to forgive the 300 actor for starring in this horror flick disguised as a meaningful thriller, but he also served as producer to help finance the train wreck. Did he not even read the script?

Law Abiding Citizen opens with Butler as Clyde Shelton, a devoted father and husband who witnesses the murder of his family by two psychopaths after a break-in. When his lawyer, Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx), strikes a deal in the case that lets one of them free, Shelton begs Rice to reconsider. And that’s where Shelton's deadly resentment - and the slasher flick stuff- begins.

To hear more about what I mean, read more.

Ten years later, Shelton returns to seek vengeance against Rice and the entire Philadelphia legal system through a series of mass killings and car bombs. The man is understandably still distraught over his family’s deaths, but he’s clearly gone cuckoo.

This is when the movie becomes less of a drama and starts resembling the Saw franchise instead. While Shelton starts off as the good guy, he's later partaking in gruesome torture scenes that leave him completely in covered in blood like the prom scene in Carrie. To make matters worse, Shelton throws out bad jokes as he's wreaking havoc for a few cheap laughs. It negates any possibility for the audience to feel sympathy for Shelton, and the attempted shock value also completely ruins the movie's credibility.

The film wants to make us question the inner-workings of law - when dealing with a killer, is it better to leave things to the justice system or take matters into your own hands? Really though, it would’ve worked better as a cheesy horror movie. It has all of the requirements: splattered body parts, a giant chain saw, abandoned warehouses, goofy wigs and costumes, creepy music, the obligatory muffled voice on the end of the phone - and loads of plot holes. Like, why is Shelton rich enough to buy all of his assassin-style supplies and how does he know how to use them all? The film attempts to answer the question for us later in the film, but it feels tacked on and much too late.

In other words, if you do go see this film, don't try to think too much about it. Foxx and Butler do their best with what they're given, but the film is only good for a couple of thrills that make you jump in your seat. As for me, I just wanted to walk out.

P.S. Don't forget to check out the Movie Reviews community group if you want to weigh in about your own weekend film picks.

Link Time!

BuzzSugar — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:30:03 -0700

Please, Tracy Morgan, join Twitter! Check out the public plea, all you 30 Rock fans - Best Week Ever
Emma Stone talks about shooting zombies - Rotten Tomatoes
A list of the 13 best South Park episodes (with clips!) - TV.com
Alas, another Simpsons movie looks unlikely. Sigh . . . - Moviefone
A Mike Tyson biopic? It'll happen if Jamie Foxx gets his way - MTV Movies Blog
David Bowie and Iggy Pop get Lego'd - Stereogum
Bored to Death gets picked up for a second season on HBO - The Futon Critic
Concert video of Kelly Clarkson covering The White Stripes, Alanis Morissette, and Kings of Leon - Rolling Stone
Take this tech quiz on last night's episode of The Hills - GeekSugar
Mariah Carey dishes on her new album . . . and wearing Nick's clothes?! - HitFix

Movie Preview: Valentine's Day Starring Everyone

BuzzSugar — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 09:52:36 -0700

By now you've probably seen the myriad on-set shots for the upcoming ensemble romantic comedy Valentine's Day. Oh and by "ensemble", I mean the most star-studded cast to hit Hollywood in years.

This movie has (take a deep breath with me) Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Jamie Foxx, Bradley Cooper, Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Emma Roberts, Jennifer Garner, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Topher Grace, Shirley Maclaine, Ashton Kutcher, Taylor Lautner, and Taylor Swift. Did I miss anyone? Probably.

Put all these beautiful stars in a rom-com, set the trailer to a booming pop song, and you've got me excited. The preview doesn't give a ton of the plot away (though I can make some educated guesses based on the title), or but I'm already analyzing the couplings we see in the clip. Anne Hathaway and Topher Grace? Brilliant. Bradley Cooper and Julia Roberts? I'm not sure about their chemistry, but I guess he does like older women. Zing!

The only question is, with these components, are we looking at He's Just Not That Into You 2.0 or Love Actually 2.0? Or neither? Watch the new trailer and let me know what you think when you read more.

Movie Preview: Foxx, Butler in Law Abiding Citizen

BuzzSugar — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:30:57 -0700

After starring in the romantic comedy The Ugly Truth this Summer, Gerard Butler is doing a complete about-face with Law Abiding Citizen. In the movie, Butler plays "a man who, 10 years after his wife and daughter are brutally murdered, returns to extract justice from the assistant district attorney [Foxx] who prosecuted the case against their killers. His vengeance threatens not only the man who allowed mercy to supersede justice, but also the system and the city that made it so."

It looks like a fairly generic thriller about revenge, but I'll probably still be curious to see how it all plays out. I'll give it a shot when it opens Oct. 16. To check out the preview, read more.

Buzz News Roundup, 7/31

BuzzSugar — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:30:55 -0700

Amy Poehler will anchor a couple of episodes of Saturday Night Live: Weekend Update Thursday to promote Parks and Recreation. - Entertainment Weekly
Matthew McConaughey and Eva Mendes are in talks to star in the drama Southbound. - ComingSoon
Russell Crowe will star in The Next Three Days, the adaptation of the 2008 French film Pour Elle, for Crash director Paul Haggis. - Variety
Jamie Foxx, Queen Latifah, and Carter Jenkins have joined the all-star cast of Garry Marshall's romantic comedy Valentine's Day. - The Hollywood Reporter
House executive producer David Shore is working on a remake of The Rockford Files for NBC. - Variety
Ridley Scott is reportedly confirmed to direct the Alien prequel. - Entertainment Weekly
Kimberly Peirce, the award-winning filmmaker behind Boys Don't Cry, is working with Judd Apatow on an "untitled romantic sex comedy." - ComingSoon
Christopher Gorham will join Piper Perabo in USA's Covert Affairs, while Donal Logue will star in FX's Terriers. - The Hollywood Reporter
Ron Howard is in talks to direct The Parsifal Mosaic, an adaptation of the espionage thriller by The Bourne Identity author Robert Ludlum. - Variety

Beyonce's Box Office Surprise

BuzzSugar — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 08:15:34 -0700

The Beyonce Knowles thriller Obsessed topped the box office over the weekend earning an estimated $28.5 million-kind of amazing given the critical reaction wasn't pretty. Zac Efron's 17 Again came in at No. 2 followed by Fighting, another movie that debuted much better than expected.

The Soloist, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx had a somewhat disappointing debut at No. 4. and earned about $9.7 million. According to Variety, "box office observers had expected Soloist to debut in the $10 million-$12 million range. They say the pic could have been dinged by so-so reviews." Interestingly, Disney's Earth rounded out the top five, earning an estimated $8.6 million.

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures

The Soloist: The Lead Actors Are the High Notes

BuzzSugar — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:30:08 -0700

I'll be honest with you: If it stars Robert Downey Jr., I'm probably going to like it, at least a little. Such is the case with director Joe Wright's (Atonement) new movie, The Soloist. Honestly, I'm not sure I would like this movie as much were it not for this excellent casting choice. It's amazing, the guy never disappoints, and in this movie he is a revelation. Downey digs deep to find the humanity and nuance in this true story and knocks his performance out of the park.

His costar Jamie Foxx gets an "A" for effort for fading into his character and successfully achieving what is no doubt a difficult job: realistically portraying a mentally ill man. For the most part, this is Downey's show, though the two actors work well together to give this already sentimental movie its heart. That said, it's not without some missteps. To find out what they are, read more.

The movie's plot is made up of the kind of stuff that might be referred to as "Oscar bait." Downey plays Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez, a middle-aged divorcee who appears discontent despite his relatively successful writing career. One day, Lopez meets a homeless, violin-playing schizophrenic man named Nathaniel Ayers (Foxx). He discovers that Ayers was once a talented cello player at  Juilliard, and Lopez begins writing columns about this virtuoso wandering the streets. These columns captivate the city.

Wright's visuals are slick and the movie is so stylish and pristine that the effect, at times, is emotionally alienating. He's also a little trigger-happy with the middlebrow symbolism (pigeons take flight like doves, etc.). Also, there are a lot of themes coursing through this movie - homelessness and mental illness, friendship, grace, the meaning of life, the state of the American newspaper, the virtue of commitment, the healing power of music, and on and on. Just like the freeway system in LA, Wright's movie is sprawling and congested.

So while the film itself has lofty ambitions, it's the friendship between the two men that keeps this thing grounded. The closer Lopez gets to Ayers emotionally, the more he's drawn into the world of the mentally ill who inhabit parts of the city most people choose to ignore. We spend a lot of time on skid row and witness the tragic figures who migrate to the area (real-life people from this part of LA play extras). As Lopez witnesses the reality of life on the street, it becomes harder for him to resist committing to friendship with Ayers.

Thankfully the director practices restraint here and avoids easy answers when it comes to the plight of the homeless. Instead, catharsis comes slowly in the form of the budding relationship Downey and Foxx so convincingly portray. Lopez works hard to bring music back into Ayers's life and finds out the hard way that saving someone is easier said than done. The question toward the middle of the movie becomes: how do you help someone who doesn't want to be helped? Instead of railing against a system that would let the most vulnerable among us suffer indignities on the street, the movie's central relationship is a reminder that a lot of good things begin when we simply take a second to notice each other.

Photos courtesy of Paramount

Link Time! 4/21

BuzzSugar — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 13:30:35 -0700

Jack Black and Michael Cera talk cavemen dating tips in this exclusive Year One clip. - MTV Movies Blog
Has Jamie Foxx's career jumped the shark? - Cinematical
Kelly Clarkson's "I Do Not Hook Up" video: Love it or leave it? - PopSugar
Ten actors ready for a breakthrough. - TV.com
Why is it hard to like Lady GaGa? - Vulture
Do you love or hate HBO's Grey Gardens interiors? - CasaSugar
Which books have made you cry? - Popwatch

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures

Movie Preview: RDJ and Jamie Foxx in The Soloist

BuzzSugar — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 10:31:26 -0700

About a year ago, when I first heard about the casting news for The Soloist, I thought it sounded similar to a movie in theaters at the time, Resurrecting the Champ. Both feature a white guy helping an exceptionally talented black homeless guy. So, I created a helpful chart pointing out some of the similarities and differences between the two movies. Resurrecting the Champ didn't do too well in box office sales (approximately $3 million total) and received a so-so critical response.

I'm sure The Soloist will find more success. Though it seems like an extremely familiar story (and not just because of the Champ), it may be aided by its director (Atonement's Joe Wright) and the two acclaimed actors at the center of it all: Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. In the real life story, RDJ plays journalist Steve Lopez who "discovers Nathaniel Anthony Ayers (Jamie Foxx), a former classical music prodigy, playing his violin on the streets of L.A. As Lopez endeavors to help the homeless man find his way back, a unique friendship is formed, one that transforms both their lives." The drama opens Nov. 21. To check out the trailer, read more.

the soloist | Movies & TV | SPIKE.com

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