BuzzSugar

Buzz In: What Movies Were Too Scary for You as a Kid (But You Watched Anyway)?

BuzzSugar — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:30:57 PDT

The Dark Knight is rated PG-13 and a lot of friends and relatives with kids have asked me if it's too scary for the little ones. Though it's a superhero story about Batman - and lots of kids love Batman - I think I would've been frightened by it if I were a kid!

It makes me remember when my parents would warn me that a movie was too scary, or would deny me access to one, even when I felt confident I could handle it. I was just a little kid at the time but I remember peeking through my bedroom door, furious that my parents were watching Gremlins while I was supposed to be sleeping, only to have seven nights of nightmares in a row as a result. I also sneaked a look at The Lost Boys at one point - during the scene when the noodles turn into worms, I recall - which sent me scrambling for safety under my covers.

What movies did you see that were probably too scary for you at the time?

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Straight-to-DVD Preview: The Lost Boys Sequel

BuzzSugar — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 14:29:15 PDT

Once upon a time, the sensational teen duo known as "the Cories" were hot young Hollywood talents. Over the years, though, neither of them have had much of a career, whatever celebrity sparkle they once possessed dulled by both obscurity and stints on reality television.

Given this, you can kind of see why both Corey Feldman and Corey Haim would feel compelled to reprise their roles in the quintessential cult vampire flick of the '80s The Lost Boys in the straight-to-DVD sequel, Lost Boys 2: The Tribe. I just wish they'd directed this need to become relevant again into something else.

In an interview with MTV News, Corey Feldman describes this next installment as the first film "on steroids," by which he means there is "more gore, there's more nudity, which there definitely wasn't in the first film." Ugh. As a fan of the original, I don't understand why the Cories feel the need to ruin my memories with this ridiculousness. To check out the trailer for the DVD,

The Vow: Channing Tatum Is More Memorable Than the Romance

Becky Kirsch — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:30:00 PST

It's no accident that The Vow's release date coincides almost perfectly with Valentine's Day. The film promises the kind of epic love story that many of us, like it or not, are more amenable to getting swept up in at this time of year: a man tries to make his wife fall in love with him again after a horrific accident leaves her with no memory of the last four years, or of him. Channing Tatum is endearing as Leo and though he has chemistry with Rachel McAdams's Paige, it almost goes to waste due to the film's lack of focus and uneven plot.

For starters, having a stranger for a husband is just the beginning of Paige's problems. Sometime in the four years she's lost, she went from being a preppy law student to a free-spirited artist. Naturally, when she wakes up, she wants an explanation for why she doesn't talk to her family anymore, what happened to her pretty boy fiancé (Scott Speedman), and why her hair is so "weird." It's understandable that she's a little different from who she used to be, but a complete life transformation is a bit hard to swallow - both for Paige, and for the audience.

To see why The Vow may not be the love story you're expecting, just

read more. Watching Tatum and McAdams play off each other is what keeps the movie engaging, and Tatum is particularly sympathetic. Though Paige is the one who has suffered the trauma, it's even more difficult to watch Leo quietly suffer as the love of his life continues to slip away in favor of the life she actually remembers. Leo represents a life that the new Paige is enticed by but can't imagine: he's goofy, laid-back, and immensely committed to her. But Paige can't come to terms with a life she doesn't feel part of, and instead reverts back to her former self. The sincerity and sweetness that Tatum brings to Leo are reflected in flashbacks of his life with Paige and in his current attempts to win her back, but the film isn't the epic romance that it's packaged to be. In fact, it's more depressing than it is joyful; not only are most of the characters in pain throughout the film, but with the exception of Leo, most of them are downright irritating. Paige's family and friends couldn't be more stereotypically conservative, which only makes Paige's decision to stay with them all the more frustrating to watch. As the film goes on, the love story starts to take the backseat to her family issues, and the crux of the film rests on a subplot that's both lame and contrived. The Vow is certainly watchable, thanks to the intrigue of the premise, and the mystery of how Leo and Paige will (inevitably, of course) find their way back to each other. But the film tries too hard to manufacture extra drama out of Paige's memory loss, when all the audience really wants to see is a love story to get swept up in.

Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures

Pirate Rock! Disney's Sharky and Bones Open Up About Pirate Culture, Jake, and Peter Pan

Rebecca M Gruber — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 08:37:27 PST

Can you talk like a pirate? If your lil one is between 2 and 5 years old, chances are he'll know exactly what we're talking about!

Since its launch last February, Disney's Jake and the Neverland Pirates has become the top-ranking series among kids in that age group. The animated show - about a new crew of pirates who work together to outwit Captain Hook and Smee around Pirate Island - is about to embark on its second season with a prime-time special Jake and the Never Land Pirates: Peter Pan Returns (airing Feb. 13), where the little boy who won't grow up enlists the minipirates to help him find his lost shadow. As with the daily show, the special will feature original pirate rock songs written and sung by Sharky and Bones of The Never Land Pirate Band. I spoke with Loren Hoskins and Kevin Hendrickson, the men behind Sharky and Bones and the stars of the live-action music videos featured at the end of each episode, about the popularity of pirate culture and what it can teach tots today.

LilSugar: Obviously you two are well versed in little kids' obsessions with pirates. How did it start for you two?
Kevin Hendrickson (Bones): It started before our kids. Loren and I met maybe 12 years ago, and we both just had a love of pirates and the old Disney records we grew up listening to. We decided to make a pirate album for kids, even though we didn't have kids.
Loren Hoskins (Sharky): We were pirates before pirate was cool. We had an affinity for pirate and pirate culture and the old Disneyland rides - you know the old Pirates of the Caribbean attraction - and we combined all those into a rock album for kids of all ages. We say "for buccaneers of all ages" because we had a lot of fans that were not kids and a lot of fans that were kids and then families that were fans. We just decided to not be a children's band, but a band for all buccaneers!

LilSugar: It's been almost 60 years since Disney released Peter Pan, and unlike other Disney flicks, it hasn't received a rerelease or a 3D upgrade. Why do you think the pirate obsession remains so strong today?
Loren Hoskins (Sharky): I have always maintained that what pirates represent for play is all the best things about play. That's imagination, adventure, being bold-hearted, silly voices, and fun dress-up costumes. You put all that together and you get classic kid play. It's like pirates and dinosaurs. Dinosaurs were huge for a while, and I think for the same reason – you can just go "roaar," and play all these great games, and they were bold and adventurous and from exotic locations. Pirates are the same thing. They're one of those classic play building blocks

Keep reading for more of our talk about pirate rock and the show's educational value.

Newest Obsession: ABC's Once Upon A Time

OnSugar Blog — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 11:41:01 PDT

The following excerpt is from OnSugar user disneycouture, who posted it on her blog, Life, Love, and Lace.

I have a love/hate relationship with television shows. I am either a devoted fan, obsessed with watching every episode on time or with the DVR, or I ignore the entire series. I cannot just jump mid-season into a television show due to hype. The last show I did this with was Lost and boy, was I lost. However, the creative team of writers from Lost are behind this fall's newest hit Once Upon a Time. I am a huge fan of Ginnifer Goodwin, my favorite sister wife from HBO's Big Love. I was so happy to see her continue on television despite her transition to comedies on the big screen.

Being a girl who still lives in a fairy-tale inspired world, I was so eager for this show to debut that I was scared that my high hopes would be crushed with a new series that could be canceled early (I am still upset about NBC's The Playboy Club being canceled. I thought it was great). However, by the end of the first hour, I was so sad to see it end. I ended my viewing of the show slightly confused, surprised at how great it truly was, and hopeful for a full series from ABC.

To read the rest of disneycouture's Once Upon a Time review, just check out the rest of her post.

More Teens Are Using Condoms Than Ever Before

Annie Scudder — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 11:50:53 PDT

American teens get an A+ in sex ed. According to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, use of condoms is on the rise, up nine percent from 2002. Among teen boys 15 to 19, eight out of 10 said they wrapped it up when they lost their virginity. Meanwhile, the popularity of riskier methods, like withdrawal, fell.

The rate of sexual activity among America's youth remains the same; 43 percent of teen girls and 42 percent of teen boys say they are sexually active. But in addition to a rise in condom use, more teens rely on two forms of contraception when they have sex by using condoms in addition to the pill or other hormonal birth control like the patch or injectables. Despite what you see on 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom, the CDC says the increase in condom usage is consistent with a decline in teen pregnancy across the US.

Real Steel: Real Predictable

Rose Curiel — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 05:30:47 PDT

When you sign up to watch a movie about boxing robots, chances are you want to see mechanical carnage, and plenty of it. In Real Steel, Hugh Jackman stars as Charlie, a man who makes his living piecing robots together and sending them to the ring, so the potential for spectacular robotic clashes is high. But when Charlie's estranged son Max (Dakota Goyo) shows up on his doorstep, what you get instead is a predictable father-son story that's a swing and a miss.

The film is set in the not-too-distant future, when machines have taken over the role of boxers because humans are hungry for more gore. The premise is a bit hard to believe - how do bolts win over blood, and why would sports fans be more invested in a machine than a human? On that note, the film barely lets the audience begin to connect with the beat-up, underdog robot Max uncovers in a junkyard, paying more attention to the relationship between the boy and his dad. When Max just so happens to share his father's passion for robot boxing, the film establishes a convenient means for the pair to bond. To find out why else you can pass on a ringside seat to this film, just keep reading

Super 8: Beware the Hype Monster

Shannon Vestal — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 07:28:17 PDT

I dare you to say that you're not curious about Super 8, J.J. Abrams's 1979-set film about a group of kids who witness a spectacular train crash. The film has generated a lot of hype for what it doesn't show in trailers and promos, and it's the mystery that's the big draw. The previews do reveal that something escapes the crash and then stalks and terrorizes a small Midwestern town, which Abrams uses as a premise for a sentimental, nostalgia-filled portrait of a group of boys making a movie.

Joel Courtney leads the charge as Joe, a sensitive boy who has just lost his mother in an accident. He and his newly widowed father (Kyle Chandler) are figuring out how to get along with each other without the woman of the house while dealing with their grief. Joe's group of buds help distract him from his home life, as they fill their Summer vacation by making a movie for an amateur film festival. When they're filming a climactic scene near the train tracks, they watch - and film - an intense accident that has some pretty distressing repercussions. With Steven Spielberg on hand as producer, Super 8 often feels like one of his classic sci-fi standbys, but it's just not quite as memorable. However, it's still a fun, heart-pumping ride (the train crash is one of the best action sequences I've seen in a long time). To find out what else I thought, just

read more. The movie owes a great deal of its charm to its disarming young cast. They're wonderfully drawn: there's bossy director Charles, firework-loving Cary, hopeful actor Preston and wide-eyed Martin. Their all-boy dynamic is unsettled when they add a girl to the cast, and Alice (Elle Fanning) shakes up the production with her sophistication and impressive acting skills. She also represents an element of growing up; the boys are on the verge of discovering girls, but the movie doesn't push it any farther than the first blush of a crush. It's very innocent in that way; ultimately, Alice, Joe's mother's death, and the ensuing crisis become key factors in the boys' coming of age. Abrams is a master of the creepy buildup. Mysterious objects show up in the train crash, the town's dogs run away, electronics go missing. Then, while you're trying to figure out what it all means, he brings out the thriller as the monster begins attacking unsuspecting townspeople. Unfortunately, Abrams isn't a master of follow-through, and there are many loose ends that never get tied up. Super 8's other shortcoming is in its inability to choose a distinct genre; it wavers between coming-of-age tale, a monster movie, and then a family drama. But, this is still a highly entertaining movie. It's worth it to see for the buoyant sense of humor and the jaw-dropping, spine-chilling moments, even if it doesn't quite live up to expectations.

Bristol Palin Shares New Details on Life With Levi

Tara Sharp — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 13:05:40 PDT

Twenty-year-old single mother and abstinence advocate Bristol Palin has a memoir coming out this Friday, Not Afraid of Life: My Journey So Far, and in it, she shares some more sad details about her relationship with her baby daddy, Levi Johnston. These revelations include how she lost her virginity to Levi after getting drunk for the first time on a camping trip, and that she was on birth control pills when she got pregnant. But many of the horror stories revolve around Levi, including that he cheated on her "about as frequently as he sharpened his hockey skates," got another girl pregnant, and said, "Better be a (bleeping) boy," when she told him about the pregnancy.

This Fall, Levi will counter the Palins with his own book, Deer in the Headlights: My Life in Sarah Palin's Crosshairs. But do you feel bad for Bristol after hearing more of her story?

Super 8 Cannes 20-Minute Sneak Peek: Five Reasons It Looks Awesome

Molly Goodson — Thu, 12 May 2011 16:28:23 PDT

The Cannes Film Festival screened 20 minutes of J.J. Abrams's highly anticipated new release Super 8 today. The movie takes place in 1979 when protagonist Joe is only 14. Joe's mom recently passed away and since then he is committed to helping his friend Charlie make movies. One illegal late-night shoot with Joe's crush Alice (Elle Fanning) and his buddies has the whole crew witnessing a terrible train crash that will change their lives. The clip that was screened gave a mysterious look at the sci-fi thriller, which hits theaters in June, and while most of it is still under wraps, there's a lot to get excited about.

To see the five reasons I'm most excited about Super 8, just