BuzzSugar

Confessions of a Shopaholic: Worth Every Penny

BuzzSugar — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 05:30:21 -0800

The irony of releasing a movie about shopping right as the nation's economy is flailing is not lost on many. Confessions of a Shopaholic could have probably gone in one of two ways: Exacerbating the general sense of frustration and helplessness, or providing us with a fun, satisfying escapist's jaunt. Thankfully, it's pure escapism - and not just because of the script, which is surprisingly tight, or the editing which makes the narrative clip along briskly, rarely dwelling in sentimentality. No, this movie is wonderful, happy escapism largely because of Isla Fisher in the role of Becky Bloomwood: Bumbling, adorable, joyous shopper extraordinaire.

Fisher plays Rebecca Bloomwood, a journalist with an intense shopping habit. Like a drug addict or alcoholic, she literally appears to have no restraint when it comes to spending money - even when she is thousands of dollars in debt. Her practical friend Suze (Krysten Ritter) tries to help her rethink her financial situation, but Becky's addiction runs deep and it's going to take a great deal to make her hit rock bottom. The stakes are raised when Becky ends up working at a financial magazine - with a dashing cutie of a boss, Luke (Hugh Dancy) - and receives acclaim for being able to explain money matters in layman's terms. But as she gains more fame, an ornery debt collector (Robert Stanton) is hot on her trail, harassing her about her debts and posing a threat to her new image as a sensible financial writer. You'll have to see the film (and I hope you do!) for all of the funny storylines, but for more of my take, read more.

While I enjoyed Sophie Kinsella's novels as silly fluff, I wasn't always very sympathetic toward Becky, and at times I didn't even really like her. But it's impossible not to like Isla's Becky. Even when she's being ridiculous, even when you know full well that her debt crises are disturbingly stupid in comparison to the challenges facing families across the nation right this minute (and challenges they didn't willingly bring upon themselves, as Becky has) - still Becky earns our sympathy with her well-intentioned silliness and her big, teary eyes. Indeed, she is often endearingly naïve - but thankfully, she doesn't stay that way forever. In a scene in which Luke buys Becky a fan, she sifts through the fans with a childlike excitement, trying to decide on one. It's cute - she's so cute - but in this film, at last, childlike behavior has consequences when you're a grown woman. Contrary to what so many movies (particularly modern films aimed at a young female audience) would have us believe, women actually aren't children, and shouldn't be treated as such.

This is the most refreshing difference between this movie and others that are similarly billed - there is at least some recognition that shopping can be meaningless, or an indication of a deeper problem. That it can be a problem at all is a new and shocking concept for this kind of movie. In other similar films there's a smugness, or defiance about the idea of overspending (the kind that's far beyond just treating oneself occasionally), as though there's always a way to excuse it. Finally, here's a story that sheds a humorous light on it, showing how absurd and truly empty it can be.

What's more, there's way more love (and there's more to love) in this movie's "labels and love" theme. Becky earnestly and deeply loves to shop. She visibly enjoys it. Instead of just a montage of wedding dresses for the sole purpose of listing off a bunch of fancy names, there's Becky's lit-up face, her ecstasy at finding wonderful things and buying them. We see how outrageous this can be, instead of the actual suggestion that buying expensive stuff is something we should want to do all the time.

There is also the character of Becky's best friend, Suze, providing a sensible contrast to Becky's blithe ignorance of all things financial. Suze acts as the straight man in many ways, and I found myself grateful for a female voice of reason (and a strong, funny voice of reason, too - not that of the "unattractive," grumpy, manless friend, a device that might (maybe? Hopefully?) be retired for now). Not all women are psychopaths who would physically harm another woman to get a sale; look at the reasonable Suze. But Becky is that hysterical label-hungry woman at times and it's funny to watch. At long last, there is some self-awareness in this kind of story. It's satirical, and it's about damn time.

And still, even as we recognize that we're laughing at Becky's absurd hijinks and over-the-top addiction to the shopper's high, we can't disparage her. She's too damn lovable! Sure, she's materialistic, but she's also vibrantly warm, loyal and pulsing with a bright light. There's so much more to her than just the constant buying of stuff, and by the end of the movie, to our great satisfaction, she learns that, too.

Photos courtesy of Walt Disney Studios

Bruckheimer Asks You: Who Should Play the Lone Ranger?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 10:30:12 -0800

Director Jerry Bruckheimer is out and about doing press for his next movie Confessions of a Shopaholic, but while he's at it, he's chatting a bit about upcoming projects, like The Lone Ranger. Bruckheimer confirms that the script is all set and Johnny Depp has signed on to play Tonto - but who should play the Lone Ranger himself? Who should portray the masked ranger, trotting about on his trusty horse, Silver? In an interview Bruckheimer says he thinks viewers should suggest the next Lone Ranger.

Here we've got an actual director putting forth a recast challenge! My first thought is George Clooney, though that may partially be because I think Clooney and Depp would make for a ridiculously beautiful and funny duo in this story. What do you think?

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Odds and Ends From the Emmy Press Room

BuzzSugar — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:30:51 -0700

I'm still feeling the afterglow today from my time in the Emmy press room, where so many happy stars came to talk about their big awards. There are a bunch of tidbits I didn't get to share with you live, so to see what Bryan Cranston, Paul Giamatti, and Laura Linney had to say, read on!

Bryan Cranston was maybe the happiest guy on Earth when he came back to the press room, clutching his Emmy in one hand and the envelope with his name on it in the other. "I thought I was the dark horse, I really did," he said. "I thought I should have been in the back of the pack. Breaking Bad only had seven episodes to air. I didn't know if that would be enough sampling for the academy to take a look. I'm shocked and wonderfully surprised."
Cranston also talked a little about his bald head, a look he's currently sporting for the role as his character is going through chemotherapy (he's also lost 17 pounds, he said). Immersing himself in a character that way, he said, is "something actors dream about." That said, he compared baldness to having a skull made of velcro. "There are all kinds of things that are sticking to my head - fuzz, a jujube . . . "
Someone asked Jon Hamm about his reaction to his success and whether he was getting either a) shy or b) a big head. After laughing that both of those things were true, Hamm got serious: "I still feel like I'm in 10th grade and no one will talk to me at lunch," he said.
Laura Linney said she's still got a huge stack of history books by her bed, long after her work on John Adams was done. "I had a real understanding of how people get addicted to American history," she said, because each person leads to another. "I'm still reading, actually."

To hear from Jerry Bruckheimer, Jeff Probst, and January Jones, just read more.

Jeff Probst shrugged off criticism about the Emmys opening when he came backstage to talk about winning the Outstanding Reality Host award. "Did that work? I don't know," he said. "I give a lot of credit to [producer] Ken Ehrlich and those guys in terms of putting up with us."
Speaking of that opener, Jeremy Piven poked some fun at it during his acceptance speech and then went on at length about it backstage. "I thought we were being punked as an audience," he said. "There was that awkward - you know, like in the movie The Producers, [play-within-a-play] Springtime for Hitler? It was that confusing moment like, you know, what's happening right now?"

During the Mad Men session, January Jones declined to hint at where Betty's storyline is going, but she did say it's been fun to play the darker side of Betty. "The first season was all Betty sort of imploding," she said, "and the second season she's sort of exploding."
Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner made an interesting point when reporters asked how it felt to be the first basic cable show to win an outstanding series award. "I'm surprised that there's such a segregated and caste system at the Emmys - I was unaware of it," he said. "I have this amazing cast. None of them were asked to present tonight."
Before he started rambling about inappropriate things, Barry Sonnenfeld praised the upcoming season of Pushing Daisies: "The scripts are better than last year," he said. "I think they're funnier. I think all of the actors have really gotten into their characters."
Wishing The Amazing Race would stop submitting its name after six straight Emmy wins? Don't count on it. "I doubt it, I really do," producer Jerry Bruckheimer said when asked if the show would step aside. "We love these statues."
Though Paul Giamatti was widely expected to win for playing John Adams, he claimed he had no expectations himself. "Not an optimist," he said. He compared his work on the miniseries to an endurance test (while wearing a hot wig): "I had to do everything," he said. But, on the other hand, "I got to do everything, which was amazing - run the emotional gamut and ride a horse . . . "

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Jake Gyllenhaal to Become the Prince of Persia for Disney

BuzzSugar — Tue, 20 May 2008 14:23:14 -0700

According to Hollywood Reporter, Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton will star together in a film adaptation of the Prince of Persia video game for Disney. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Mona Lisa Smile, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time will be a "fantasy adventure" in which "Gyllenhaal will play Dastan, a young prince in sixth century Persia who must join forces with Tamina (Arterton), a feisty and exotic princess, to prevent a villainous nobleman from possessing the Sands of Time, a gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world."

Jake Gyllenhaal in a fantasy adventure for Disney. . . Thoughts?

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Bay and Bruckheimer, Together Again for HBO?

BuzzSugar — Tue, 06 May 2008 15:34:22 -0700

They brought us Armageddon. They brought us The Rock. And now, they might be bringing us . . . a TV drama about cocaine?

Rumor has it that Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay might reteam for an HBO series. The inspiration for the show is the 2006 documentary Cocaine Cowboys, which focused on Miami's cocaine trade in the 1980s. According to Variety, the series "would focus on the cutthroat world of drug dealers and the Colombian cocaine kingpins who set up shop in the once-sleepy Florida city."

Both of these guys have a lot on their plates these days - Bruckheimer is a producer on what seems like half of all CBS programming and has almost a dozen movies in various stages of development, while Michael Bay is on Transformers duty. So the two of them squeezing a TV project into their schedules would be a pretty big deal.

Meanwhile, I'm now quite intrigued by Cocaine Cowboys itself. The film's director has produced a sequel, and Variety notes that a feature film is in development based on the life of one of the kingpins, with Mark Wahlberg pegged for the lead role. Looks like I'll be putting that in my Netflix queue!

What do you think? Can you picture a Bruckheimer and Bay project on the small screen? Would your TV just explode?

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How Many Pirates Are Enough?

BuzzSugar — Mon, 21 May 2007 09:58:22 -0700

According to a recent article in the UK's The Telegraph, Johnny Depp claims he is "not finished" with the character of Captain Jack Sparrow, and would welcome more installments of the Pirates of the Caribbean series after At World's End, which opens this Thursday night. Depp is quoted as saying,

"I'm the luckiest guy in the world to have had such a great experience. If I walk away from Jack now, I'll walk away with some amazing memories. But At World's End leaves open the possibility of a fourth or fifth movie, which I wouldn't be opposed to on an actor level because I feel there is a lot more territory to explore with Captain Jack."

I don't know about you guys but there would have to be some extremely awesome "character work" on the part of Johnny Depp to stretch out the Pirates movies even more than they have been. I might be tapped out after this third movie. But tell me: Would you be interested in more Pirates of the Caribbean movies?

Sequels, Part 2

BuzzSugar — Fri, 11 May 2007 04:33:10 -0700

Sigh. I can rant all I want, it looks like sequels are still where it's at these days. There was the recent rumor about a possible Austin Powers 4, then there was news of a Wall Street 2, and now the sequel party rages on:

The Terminator series will continue with Terminator 4 for which they have a script but no director in place. Thankfully, Arnold Schwarzenegger will not be starring because, oh yeah, he has a giant state to pay attention to.
I guess Step Up was interesting enough to warrant a Step Up 2 which goes into production in July. We should be getting closer to the top of the staircase now, right?
Jerry Bruckheimer has adamantly confirmed that this third installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean series will be the last! Hallelujah! Wait... what? What's that? A spin-off?! I repeat: Sigh.

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Pirates photo courtesy of Buena Vista Entertainment