BuzzSugar

Link Time! 9/25

BuzzSugar — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 13:31:54 -0700

This redesign of the Changeling poster is cracking me up. - FilmExperience
Ray LaMontagne has made a great song about Meg White called, well, "Meg White." - Stereogum
Isn't it about time House gets some new opening credits? - TV Squad
This post about the American Psycho stage musical (I'm not kidding) is making me smile through the tears. - Popwatch
A chat with Supernatural's new angel. - TV Filter
FYI: Sex and the City Blue-ray discs come with digital copies. - geeksugar
I will never get sick of interviews with Amy Ryan. - Vulture
Welcome online, MySpace Music. - Rock&Roll Daily

How Do You Like Your Jack White Best?

BuzzSugar — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:30:08 -0700

Jack White is a bit of a jack of all trades. Last week his band The Dead Weather released its first album, but that's hardly the only thing on his plate. He's been rocking riotously with former flame Meg White in The White Stripes for more than a decade, jamming with Brendan Benson, Patrick Keeler, and Jack Lawrence of The Raconteurs for about half as long, and popping up occasionally on the big screen in the meantime. That's quite the eclectic résumé. For me, Jack will always mean The White Stripes, but I'm also really digging this Dead Weather CD. How do you take your Jack?

What to Download: New Music Today

BuzzSugar — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:30:26 -0700

Tuesdays are big in entertainmentville: not only do all the new DVD releases hit Netflix, but new music also pours into stores. So I take a spin through each week's music releases and pick out some albums and tracks worthy of a download. Here are today's selections:

Still making music 30 years later: Heads up, there's a new Depeche Mode album. My first reaction to music from these guys was "Really?" I was curious to see if they can still surprise us. But their new music is getting stellar reviews. One reviewer goes so far as to say the band succeeds once again at "crafting an inimitable sonic atmosphere that almost never sounds dated." Tracks I'm enjoying include "Wrong" and "Peace."

New music from Merge: I was just celebrating all the good music from Merge Records and here's even more music to love from the indie label. I'm a little late on this, but I'm really enjoying this debut album from singer-songwriter Michael Benjamin Lerner, who makes music under the name Telekinesis. The album was produced by Chris Walla of Death Cab For Cutie and the music has an emo-pop sound that's similar to Death Cab's. I am really enjoying "Coast of Carolina," and I think "I Saw Lightning" is so pretty and romantic.

One more up next, so read more.

Teen bop: I have no idea if the women of Meg & Dia are actually teenagers themselves, but they perform the kind of music on their latest album that I imagine makes the young ones swoon. Most of the songs on this album are upbeat, but Dia's voice has a nice little edge to it that makes it more interesting than your average MySpace band fare. Check out a cute duet called "Bored of Your Love" featuring Tom Higgenson from Plain White T's, and the fun "Hug Me."

What to Download: New Music on iTunes

BuzzSugar — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:30:41 -0700

Tuesdays are big in entertainmentville: Not only do all the new DVD releases hit Netflix, but new music also pours into stores, including iTunes. So I take a spin through each week's iTunes music releases and pick out some albums and tracks worthy of a download. Here's what's on my list this week:

Unmistakable voice: I've been excited about the new Ray LaMontagne album, Gossip in the Grain, and am so glad it's already getting some high marks from music critics. The trademark soulful, gruff vocals are all there and familiar on tracks like "You Are the Best Thing" and "Let it Be Me," but there's also something different going on in songs like "Meg White" and "Hey Me, Hey Mama" that's a pleasant surprise. I think I'll download the whole thing.

Pretty ditties: I like Ingrid Michaelson's big hit single, "The Way I Am," and was curious to check out her new album today called Be OK. The title track is upbeat and bouncy, there's a lovely cover of "Over the Rainbow," and "You and I" is pretty darn cute. There are also a couple of live recordings, including "The Chain" performed in Webster Hall.

One more selection, so just read more.

Finding a balance: I've been a fan of Keane through the band's ups and downs and am happy to report that Keane's newest album, Perfect Symmetry, is being received pretty well. USA Today says this album "finds the group moving onward and upward, at least musically speaking." The first song, "Spiralling," is great, and "Better Than This" is quirky and fun.

Movie Night: Far-Off Destinations

BuzzSugar — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:30:04 -0700

I've been really inspired by traveling this week - both because of my own itch to go on an adventure and because I have a handful of friends who are either planning their honeymoon or enjoying it right now. As part of my travel urge, I got to thinking about movies that captured a culture and a country so well that they've made me add a new entry to my list of places I have vowed to visit. Come away with me on a mini-jaunt around the globe via this movie night!

Out of Africa
This Oscar-winning classic directed by the late Sydney Pollack starred Meryl Streep and an extremely dreamy Robert Redford, but the biggest star of the film is East Africa. The movie is loosely based on Karen Blixen's 1937 autobiography about her real-life journey to Kenya. The character based on Blixen enters a loveless marriage but then meets Redford's character, a local-game hunter, and an epic romance ensues. The movie was filmed on location and is breathtakingly beautiful. If this doesn't make you consider Africa as a travel destination, I don't know what will.

Two more glorious locations, so read more.

French Kiss
Most people probably don't need their arms twisted to stick France on their travel list, but when a movie comes along that captures that certain je ne sais quoi of the French countryside, vineyards, and coast, it makes not being there feel nearly intolerable. French Kiss is one of those movies, and it stars Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline as unlikely partners in a trek across France. She's on a mission to get her cheating fiance back, and he's a petty criminal who helps her as a means to reach his own goal of buying back a vineyard he lost. Their chemistry is charming, but the way the film captures the spirit and nonchalance of the place is what makes it a lovely vicarious trip abroad.

Sex and Lucia
To call this movie racy is probably an understatement. The word "sex" is in the title for good reason, because there's a lot of it in this mystical Spanish film - and it's pretty explicitly discussed and enacted. You've been warned. That said, nearly five years after I first saw this, what sticks with me are the unbelievably gorgeous shots of nature: the azure skies and ocean set against the snow-white sands of Spain's Balearic Islands. After this movie, this semi-remote location has remained high on my list of places to get myself to.

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Buzz Gift Guide: Gifts for an Audiophile

BuzzSugar — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 15:33:11 -0800

Today's holiday gift guide is for your audiophile friend - the one who never hears the phone ring because she's got her headphones on and plans her social schedule around her favorite bands' tour dates.

Your audiophile friend might already own all seven pre-In Rainbows Radiohead albums - but just in case, check out this bizarrely cute USB stick that contains the band's complete recordings from 1993 to 2003, including bonus content. Too techie? There's a normal boxed set, too.

Does your friend have years and years of mixtapes languishing on a shelf now that cassette players have gone out of style? Pick up a Griffin iMic, which converts cassette and vinyl recordings to mp3. I've got one, and it's helped me get my favorite music from junior high and high school back in the regular rotation.

Rolling Stone and Spin not your friend's style? A subscription to Mojo might be a good alternative. The British music bible will cost you a bit if you need to ship it to the US, but helping your friend be a well-informed music fanatic might be worth it.

And OK, this one's not so much "audio" as just "phile," but the Meg and Jack White Lomo cameras are pretty craveworthy. Maybe your friend could use them to keep a record of her encounters with her favorite rock stars.

Buzz News Roundup, 9/12

BuzzSugar — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 15:33:48 -0700

Rolling Stone reports that the White Stripes have canceled their fall tour on account of Meg's "acute anxiety."
According to the BBC, Ang Lee has cut out 30 minutes of his sexy espionage thriller Lust, Caution for audiences in China.
Variety reports that if you have On Demand service, you can watch all of NBC's pilots for free right now.
Former "Saturday Night Live" star Chris Parnell has joined the cast of the ABC comedy "Miss/Guided," Zap2it reports.
Variety reports that Run, Fat Boy, Run is the No. 1 movie in the U.K.
Led Zepplin is reforming for one night only, at a tribute show for the late Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun, Billboard reports.
"The Closer" broke its own cable ratings record for its season finale on Monday, writes the Hollywood Reporter, drawing 9.2 million viewers.
Things weren't as rosy for "Tell Me You Love Me" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm," both of which had disappointingly low ratings for their premieres, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Paul Morrison will direct Little Ashes, a movie about the young life and loves of Salvador Dali, Luis Bunuel and poet Federico Garcia Lorca, says Variety.
Hollywood Reporter has news that Naomi Campbell will star in a film adaptation of the novel Bad Love.
Don Cheadle will star in a live-action film version of the 1971 children's book Hotel for Dogs, Variety reports.
Meanwhile, ComingSoon reports that Adam Brody and Josh Lucas have been cast in the drama Death in Love.

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