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Movie Preview: Adam Sandler and Chris Rock in Grown Ups

BuzzSugar — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:30:36 -0800

I've been watching over the past several months as the cast roster for Grown Ups continued to add more of Adam Sandler's previous SNL colleagues and close friends - Tim Meadows, Maya Rudolph, Colin Quinn. It's like he decided to make a project where he could invite everyone he knows to jump on board and have fun. And the cast really does appear to be having a good time in the trailer - I'm just not 100 percent sure I'm right there with them.

The film follows Sandler and his childhood friends (Kevin James, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, David Spade) as they reunite one Fourth of July weekend to honor the death of their basketball coach. Sounds kinda like The Big Chill, but as to be expected with a Happy Madison film, it's ridiculously slapstick. I love all of these guys, but the bits in this teaser definitely aren't as roll-on-the-floor funny as I had hoped with such a star-studded cast. (Really, a breast-milk joke?!) But maybe I'm just judging it too quickly. The film opens in June, but take a peek at the video and tell me your thoughts when you read more.

Buzz News Roundup, 4/27

BuzzSugar — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:30:51 -0700

Chuck, Privileged, Life, Dollhouse, and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles are the five finalists in E!'s Save One Show competition. - E!
Meet Susan Boyle's latest Britain's Got Talent competition: a 10-year-old girl. - TV.com
After much controversy, The Flaming Lips' "Do You Realize??" will be named the official rock song of Oklahoma this week. - Billboard
Warner Bros. is developing a big-screen version of Odysseus, written by the screenwriter of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. - Variety
Acting couple Jon Hamm and Jennifer Westfeldt have formed a production company. - The Hollywood Reporter
Fox is holding a script contest to find new writing talent. - New York Times
Maria Bello and Craig T. Nelson have joined the cast of The Company Men, which also stars Ben Affleck and Tommy Lee Jones. - Variety

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Buzz News Roundup, 12/22

BuzzSugar — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:00:31 -0800

U2's new album will be available five different ways - and that's not counting digital versions! - Billboard
Jennifer Lopez, Seth Rogen, and Amy Poehler are among the first presenters announced for the Golden Globes. - Zap2it
Hossein Amini will write the next Jack Ryan movie. - The Hollywood Reporter
Maria Bello will star in a new series for HBO about a woman whose husband's death drives her to a life of crime. - TV Guide
MTV has 16 new reality shows premiering between now and the Spring. - Variety
Warner Music has pulled all of its artists' music videos off YouTube. - Reuters
Ugly Betty has cast a new love interest for Betty. - Entertainment Weekly

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A Chat With My Boyfriend About The Mummy

BuzzSugar — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 06:30:38 -0700

Full disclosure: I've never paid too-too much attention to these Mummy movies starring Brendan Fraser, but I know they're meant to be fun action-adventures that we shouldn't take too seriously. For this third installment, I thought it would be a good idea to take my manfriend along with me to see The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Sometimes instead of spending brain power on a review of a movie like this, it's more helpful to just talk it out with someone who's more likely than I am to passingly enjoy this kind of Summer action flick.

But as generous as my boyfriend can be about action movies and CGI, even he wasn't swayed by the "charms" of Brendan Fraser, and came away feeling like the movie's kind of a mess. I don't want to give away too much of our conversation before the break, other than the big takeaway: he really likes the Yetis, and I don't think he'd object if the fourth movie were to star them instead of the humans.

To check out our review discussion, read more.

We laughed (at all the wrong places), we cried (because of the acting), we conquered (it's over now). Here are some thoughts, with the bolded parts being me and the un-bolded being him:

On a scale of 1-10, 1 being "I wouldn't even pause the remote for this on Spike TV," and 10 being "I want to see it eight times in the theater!" - Where does this movie fall for you?
I would say a three. I would watch it on Spike long enough to be temporarily dazzled by some special effects, but then I as soon as I saw some of the acting I would change the channel. Especially that kid who plays Brenden Fraser's son. That guy should find a new line of work.

Yikes. You've seen the first two movies of this franchise before - have they always been such blatant Indiana Jones rip-offs?
Well, there are often comparisons to Indiana Jones for adventure movies, but this was pretty bad. It was like a pair of fake Adidas that has four stripes instead of three. You know the kind they sell at Wal-Mart or something? The only original things were the Yetis. It's all about the Yetis.

How do you feel about Brendan Fraser the actor, and did this movie change your feelings toward him?
I really liked Brenden Fraser in School Ties, but I think he's found his niche now as family action-adventure guy. He's a physical actor at the end of the day and should have limited lines. That will bring out the best in him. I think the writing for his parts is pretty lame, too, so it's not all his fault.

I kinda wished Brendan Fraser and friends weren't in it and it was just Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh. What about you? Or should I just rent Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon if I'm looking for that kind of cast?
Well, Michelle Yeoh is a very good actor, especially in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and Jet Li has played great bad guy roles (Lethal Weapon 4). But this is a big American mummy movie, so you can't compare the two.

About those mummies . . .
Yeah, the plot is ridiculous. There are too many books that open eggs, that tell a legend, that open a door, that does something magical, that they have to blow up and cast a spell on. Also, last time I checked, metal wasn't one of the elements (you know, earth, fire, wind, water). Isn't metal found in the ground, so wouldn't that make it earth? Sorry, tangent. Anyway, I also think Jet Li is great in one-on-one situations where he can act a lot with body language and facial expressions. But hearing him yell in a modulated voice over thousands of CGI baddies didn't do anything for me.

OK, if a person really likes Jet Li/kung fu movies, will he/she be annoyed with this?
This is not a martial arts movie. We only see 30 seconds of Jet Li doing anything cool - 30 seconds! Come on, this guy is one of the baddest dudes when it comes to kicking the snot out of somebody. Having Jet Li in this movie is pure pay-day for him and pure name dropping from the studios to get people to see it. At the end of the day, like I said before, there's really only one redeeming quality: the Yetis.

Photos courtesy of Universal Pictures

The Jane Austen Book Club: Sweet, Comforting, Womanly

BuzzSugar — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 09:29:42 -0700

I was totally right about The Jane Austen Book Club: It makes a far better movie than it did a book - though yes, I'm aware that Austen herself would blanch at my saying that about any written work. In this situation, however, we don't particularly need to know the inner workings of these characters' emotional lives. We don't need to read their thoughts. The intersecting stories of five women - and one man - who make up the Jane Austen Book Club are interesting enough on the surface to sustain a movie. All told, The Jane Austen Book Club is now one of my favorite movies of 2007.

The film's premise keeps it going at a nice steady clip: six people form a book club devoted to reading Austen's six novels over the course of six months. Bernadette (Kathy Baker) is a boisterous, life-loving older woman who has been married several times and has a warm way of making friends with everyone. Her friend Jocelyn (Maria Bello) is an unmarried successful dog breeder, and Sylvia (Amy Brenneman) is struggling to understand the unraveling of her marriage. Sylvia's daughter is the adventurous Allegra (Maggie Grace), a lesbian jewelery-maker. Rounding out the club is the controlling high school French teacher Prudie (Emily Blunt) and the lone male of the group: the sweet and energetic Grigg (Hugh Dancy).

How (and why) do I love thee, Jane Austen Book Club? I will count the ways (wrong writer, I know, just go with it) if you read more

This is very much a woman's world. The Jane Austen Book Club is for women to talk about, well, women. The addition of the one male, Grigg, provides endless comedic relief, and somehow highlights the empowerment that comes from these womens' shared love of Austen. In many ways, men (often including Grigg) are utterly on the outside of this circle, and the circle consists of some awesome ladies. Certainly I found myself wishing I could be friends with these characters.
The film is a wonderfully affirming ode to the joys and comforts of female friendship. There isn't the cattiness of soapy "Melrose Place"-type dramas though there is also a blessed lack of the silliness of, say, The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. It's just a simple, lovely, funny portrayal of the kinds of relationships real women often have with one another.
Writer/Director Robin Swicord has achieved what I think is a most admirable thing: the perfect balance between drama and humor that keeps everything real enough while always quickly providing an opportunity to laugh after a somber moment. This way, things don't get too precious or bogged down in the mire and muck of life.
The differences between "women's literature" (i.e. Austen) and "men's literature" (i.e. science fiction novels) are explored, and it's a curious topic. Grigg is a huge fan of science-fiction, and for him, being a man is intrinsically tied to science-fiction. He even tries to understand Austen's works in the best way he knows how: by comparing them to Star Wars. On the other hand, Jocelyn scorns the entire sci-fi genre - until Grigg points out that many of his favorite sci-fi works are written by women under ambiguous pseudonyms.
In a move that would be completely Austen-approved, there is a beautifully happy ending. Admittedly, if this ending weren't as abrupt as it is, it would be gratingly cheesy. But to my relief, our protagonists having "all that they desire" in the end (as Austen aimed to do for her characters) is perfectly satisfying.

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Buzz News Roundup, 5/14

BuzzSugar — Mon, 14 May 2007 14:07:14 -0700

Maria Bello is set to replace Rachel Weisz in the next Mummy movie, Variety tells us.
The Smashing Pumpkins plan "residencies" in San Francisco and Asheville, N.C. this summer, Billboard reports.
The Los Angeles Times profiles Judd Apatow, whom they call "the mayor of comedy."
CBS is giving up on Innertube and looking for new places to put its online videos, writes the Wall Street Journal.
Speaking of CBS, the network has some crazy shows lined up for fall, Variety reports.

Hollywood Reporter says Guy Ritchie's next directorial project will be RocknRolla, an "ensemble British gangster flick" in the vein of Snatch.
The AP reports that Serbian singer Marija Serifovic won this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Finland. In other Eurovision news, the co-screenwriter for Borat is working on a comedic movie about the contest, says Variety.

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