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What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 08:30:47 PST

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.

Henry Poole Is Here
What a difference a year makes! Last Winter I was reporting live from Sundance that I really enjoyed this little movie starring Luke Wilson. I know many people didn't get the chance to check it out in theaters, which makes it a great rental.

Wilson plays Henry Poole, a grouchy man who buys an ordinary house in Southern California. Soon after, his very friendly neighbor Esperanza (Adriana Barazza) notices a stain on the outside of Henry's house that she thinks is the face of Jesus. She calls in a priest (George Lopez) and starts telling everyone in town about "the miracle" at Henry's house, much to Henry's annoyance. This movie features great performances and a quirky look at the old discussion of faith vs. reason.

Special features include audio commentary with director Mark Pellington and writer Albert Torres, a featurette titled "The Making of Henry Poole Is Here," and the Henry Poole Is Here music video directed by Mark Pellington and featuring the MySpace.com theme song contest winner Ron Irizarry.

Two more up next, so

Max Payne
Mark Wahlberg had an October hit on his hands when this dark, slick-looking action flick hit the screens. If you missed this one in theaters now's your chance for a mindless adrenaline rush from the comfort of your couch.

Max Payne (Mark Wahlberg) has been searching for his wife's murderers for three years when he meets the sexy Natasha (Olga Kurylenko) who leads him into a sinister world of drugs, which provides more clues toward solving the mystery. Before long, Natasha winds up dead with certain details linking her death to Max's wife's. Natasha's sister Mona (Mila Kunis) joins Max in his hunt for answers and revenge.

Special features include audio commentary by director John Moore, production designer Daniel Dorrance and visual effects supervisor Everett Burrell, and a featurette on adapting the graphic novel for film.

Chris Rock: Kill the Messenger
A Chris Rock comedy special is kind of like an eclipse to me: They don't happen all that often but when they do, I'm ready to watch and savor. I'm excited to add this one to my own queue and kick back and laugh my butt off.

Not having seen it yet, it's hard to describe what we can expect from this DVD, so I'll leave it to the product description: "Three-time Emmy Award-winning comic Chris Rock returns to HBO with his first stand-up comedy special in nearly five years, offering his unique, uncensored take on a variety of topics ranging from politics to celebrities, and never holding back while exposing the many absurdities of modern living. Compiled from footage captured during performances at South Africa's Carnival City Casino, New York's Apollo Theater, and Carling Apollo Hammersmith in London, this ninety-minute special marks Rock's eagerly-anticipated return to the stage after taking a break."

Box Office: High School Musical Dances to No. 1

BuzzSugar — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 07:00:23 PDT

We knew High School Musical was a huge television hit but now it's a bona fide silver screen success. The third installment of the perky Disney musical bonanza scored the top spot at the box office over the weekend, earning an estimated $42 million.

Meanwhile, Saw V did excellent business over the weekend as well, earning an estimated $30.5 million in the No. 2 spot. Variety notes that both titles were record breakers:

The top two films each entered record territory. Disney’s High School is by far the biggest musical bow ever, besting Mamma Mia! Lionsgate’s Saw franchise is within $2 million of eclipsing Friday the 13th to become the top-grossing horror series ever.

Max Payne and Beverly Hills Chihuahua came in at No. 3 and No. 4 respectively, with the top five being rounded out by the Ed Norton cop thriller Pride & Glory.

Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures

Sugar Bits - Worst Dressed List's Mr. Blackwell Dies at 86

Molly — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 09:30:24 PDT

Mr. Blackwell, a designer and the creator of the Worst Dressed list, passed away yesterday due to complications from an intestinal infection at age 86. - FabSugar
Mark Wahlberg's Max Payne scored the top spot at the box office with $18 million. Beverly Hills Chihuahua and The Secret Life of Bees came in second and third place, respectively. - BuzzSugar
When asked by a reporter, David Duchovny's tennis coach, 28-year-old Edit Pakay, said she won't deny that she had an affair with him. The two met a year ago, and a source said they have been physically intimate for at least six months. - Daily Mail
Madonna's rep said Madonna and Guy Ritchie's divorce has not been settled yet, despite reports to the contrary. - AP
Travis Barker was released from the Grossman Burn Center in Los Angeles, just as he predicted. - Us Weekly
Natascha McElhone gave birth to her third child with her late husband, Martin Kelly, who passed away five months ago. - The Mirror
Lil Wayne said he's expecting his baby son to be born "any day now." - People

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Wahlberg Feels No Payne at the Box Office

BuzzSugar — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 07:30:34 PDT

Mark Wahlberg had a good weekend. His movie Max Payne was No. 1 at the box office, with an estimated $18 million. Plus, it looks like he made nice with Andy Samberg, after things got tense last week.

Second place turned out to be what Variety calls a "photo finish" between those dancing dogs and The Secret Life of Bees. Disney's Beverly Hills Chihuahua just barely eked out a second place finish its third weekend in theaters with an estimated $11.2 million with Bees close behind with about $11.1 million.

Oliver Stone's biopic W also did well, coming in at No. 4 with an estimated $10.6 million its first weekend out followed by Eagle Eye at No. 5.

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox

Max Payne: Awesome Style, Not Much Else

BuzzSugar — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 15:30:09 PDT

In its own haunting way, Max Payne is beautiful to watch. I knew that director John Moore had utilized some new digital technology while filming, but I didn't quite expect the movie as a whole to be so visually mesmerizing. This world never strays from its grainy state, everything awash in a blue-gray sheen - except for striking spots of bright red, and sometimes twinkly orange sparks - and there is near-constant precipitation usually large snowflakes swirling through icy air.

In other aspects (you know, the actual story and stuff), there's not too much to chat about. The story is fairly simplistic and the visual symbolism of this sad, dark world is obvious (in his memories of his past life, the world is bright and lovely, his miserable present-day life is only cold darkness). This isn't a subtle film by any means. But while there's plenty of violence and gunfire, somehow it doesn't seem to be fetishizing it. There's a greater goal to be met, and violence is par for the course in reaching this goal. To see why else I kinda liked this movie,

Max Payne (Mark Wahlberg) has been searching for his wife's murderers for three years, and one night he meets the sexy Natasha (Olga Kurylenko) who leads him into a sinister world of drugs which provides more clues toward solving the mystery. Max even starts sniffing around the company where his wife worked alongside a kindly older friend of Max's family, BB Hensley (Beau Bridges). Before long, Natasha winds up dead with certain details linking her death to Max's wife's, and Natasha's sister Mona (Mila Kunis) joins Max in his hunt for answers and revenge.

Mark Wahlberg is tasked with playing what he does quite well: a hot-headed, broody guy with not too many lines. Mila Kunis plays the badass chick convincingly, and Ludacris is more or less OK in his role as a tough guy detective with some sassy one-liners (though I'm wary of seeing him take on meatier roles). No real acting chops are required for this movie (the acting's not really central to the film's success), though Beau Bridges puts his all into it anyway, and comes out the best of the bunch. He's got that fatherly businessman-with-shady-secrets thing down pat. We see Marky Mark the most in the movie, but it was Bridges's performance that I kept thinking about.

I might've liked the ending more if they hadn't taken such pains to ensure there will be a sequel. I understand the urge to do that (studios love nothing more than an endless number of unnecessary sequels), but it seems like a lame move here. It also felt like the movie ended a few times before it finally ended. Still, the journey getting there is captivating from start to finish, and extremely cool to watch.

Photos courtesy of 20th Century Fox

Watch, Pass, TiVo or Rent: Max Payne

BuzzSugar — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:34:45 PDT

Time to weigh in on one of this weekend's new releases, the darkly stylized Max Payne. Based on a video game, the story follows our hero Max Payne as he tries to hunt down the people who killed his wife and child, but every step he takes towards solving their murders only brings up more questions and lead him into a sinister world.

Are you familiar with the video game? Will Marky Mark make you want to go (or make you want to avoid going)? Is this an in-theater flick, a rental, a pass or something you'll lazily watch when it eventually airs on TV?

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Mark and Mila Bring Their Payne to Los Angeles

Molly — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 07:45:00 PDT

Max Payne may be an action packed video game come to life, but it was all glamor at last night's LA premiere. Mark Wahlberg may not have loved his SNL skewering, but he looked to be in great spirits with Rhea out on the red carpet for the first time since recently giving birth. The two have been together for years but according to Mark they're looking to finally tie the knot next August. Just a few feet down the red carpet, one of our favorite underrated actresses, Mila Kunis looked just stunning in white. While Heidi and Spencer managed to scrounge up an invite and smiled for the cameras as usual. The movie hits theaters this weekend so we'll see if Mila, Mark and Ludacris can knock those chihuahuas out of the top spot at the box office.

To see more from the premiere including Mila, Mark, Rhea and others just

View 20 Photos ›

Images include: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Rhea Durham, Aisha Tyler, Nelly Furtado, Ludacris, Kristin Cavallari, Heidi Montag, Spencer Pratt, Tyrese Gibson, Rex Lee, Bai Ling, Isaiah Washington

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BuzzSugar at Comic-Con: Day One!

BuzzSugar — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:43:25 PDT

Greetings from sunny San Diego! And I'm not kidding about the sunny: Though I'll be spending most of the weekend indoors, I at least got to bask in the rays (or, OK, sweat next to other sweaty people) while waiting in line for this morning's 20th Century Fox panels.

Frankly, it's been a pretty insane trip so far. The morning's big events (panels for Max Payne and The Day the Earth Stood Still and surprise appearance by Wolverine himself!) were delayed because of collapsing curtains and rods. I did have some time to wander the floor, as well as to catch a Disney panel where some of the studio's storyboard staff took us through the creation of a sequence from the upcoming Bolt, which looks like it could be pretty clever. You can check out some of my initial observations - and a whole lot of photos from the floor, including a super-geeky sequence with this year's special Comic-Con My Little Pony - if you

The Dharma Initiative from Lost was on the floor recruiting for new members. They're giving an eligibility test in their booth, but it was already booked for most of today, so it'll be a while before I learn whether I'm fit for service.
On my "gotta do this before I leave" list: sit on the unicorn from Harold and Kumar (see gallery for picture of someone else doing this).
My personal favorite piece of swag so far: a replica copy for Dwight K. Schrute's organizational chart from The Office booth.
In terms of impressive floor displays, the Sci Fi network totally wins. That's their big, swirling purple thing in the photos below; every so often lights blink and twirl around it.

As for today's movie panels. . .

The ladies. . . they love the Keanu! At the panel for The Day the Earth Stood Still, he barely had to speak to get a fresh round of screeching and cheering. It was intense! From afar, he looked great with a bit of scruff. When the cameras got up close, however. . . not so much.
Jennifer Connelly was beautiful and incredibly well-spoken. About the movie she said that "at the core, it's about human spirit." Which is comforting because on the surface it kinda just looks like yet another remake.
And I'm really not sold on this particular remake, even after viewing a bunch of clips. Keanu plays a cold, emotionless alien guy, so, you know, he seems to get the job done easily. And when all the special effects are done, they might make the film more impressive because so far it doesn't have the "wow" factor.
Max Payne, on the other hand, I've decided might end up being one of the coolest action flicks of the year. It's based on a video game so it's, you know, incredibly violent. But visually, stylistically, it's really impressive. As the moderator put it, director John Moore is "a wonderful, wonderful visual storyteller."
Mila Kunis said she gets to "kick ass in five-inch heels."
Finally, Mark Wahlberg (another favorite among the ladies) equated doing the Comic-Con panel to doing a rock concert in Japan (because of all the screaming from said ladies). He said the cheering and such makes him "all warm in the pants." I believe that's a direct quote.

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Movie Preview: Max Payne

BuzzSugar — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:26:09 PDT

The trailer for the video game-turned-movie Max Payne looks dark and spooky, though the story doesn't seem particularly new. According to the plot description, Mark Wahlberg's character, Max Payne, is looking to avenge the deaths of his family members. Mila Kunis costars as an assassin who is also looking to avenge a loved one's death (her sister's). Lots of avenging going on.

Ludacris and Chris O'Donnell also star. Additionally, there is a giant bird.

The dark thriller hits theaters October 17. To check out the new trailer,

Marky Mark Is Ready For Some Payne

PopSugar — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 23:39:40 PST

Mark Wahlberg gave a wave from the set of his new movie Max Payne in Toronto yesterday. In this film, he plays a cop who is chased by the police and the mob after being framed for murder. We love seeing Mark being a badass like in The Departed, but we'd love to see him take on a romantic comedy every once in a while too.

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