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Link Time!

BuzzSugar — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:45:07 -0700

It's Jim and Pam's wedding website! - Halpert Beesly
Get a load of new Edward, Bella, and Jacob stills from New Moon - PopSugar
Glee has been picked up for a full season! - Fox
Sacha Baron Cohen will lend his voice to an episode of The Simpsons - Entertainment Weekly
The NPH Effect: Emmy ratings were way up this year, improving on 2008's low viewership - The Wrap
Listen to new tracks from Built to Spill's upcoming album, There Is No Enemy - Stereogum
Can Michael Cera break out of his hipster-nerd pigeonhole? - PopWatch
The dreamy Nathan Fillion talks Castle, Dr. Horrible, and Joss Whedon - Pop Candy
Johnny Depp may be losing interest in doing Pirates of the Caribbean 4 - Vulture
There might be a Big Lebowski spinoff about John Turturro's the Jesus character - MTV Movies Blog
Patrick Swayze was supposed to have a cameo in upcoming horror comedy Zombieland - Coming Soon

Movie Preview: Michael Cera in Youth in Revolt

BuzzSugar — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 13:30:48 -0700

I haven't read the book on which Youth in Revolt is based, so there are more than a few parts of this trailer that are lost on me. Still, it keeps my attention and the questions I have are ones that I think will actually propel me to see the movie, rather than make me want to avoid it. It's a bizarre-looking story about Nick Twisp (Michael Cera), a cynical teenager who decides that Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday) is the girl of his dreams, and he'll do anything to win her heart.

Though Cera is once again playing an awkward young man, this role (or, roles, maybe?) is far more complex, interesting and demanding than anything we've seen him do before. I think it's safe to say George Michael Bluth is nowhere to be seen here.

The movie is scheduled to open Oct. 30. To watch the trailer, read more.

Year One: Primitive Humor

BuzzSugar — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:30:45 -0700

The trailer for the new movie from director Harold Ramis, Year One, kind of confused me. How were two cavemen types (Michael Cera and Jack Black) bumping into Romans? What? Well, it turns out nothing regarding an accurate historic timeline in this movie makes sense, but that's OK. It's the least of its problems.

If I had to describe this comedy in one sentence I would say it's as if a Mel Brooks comedy and a so-so Saturday Night Live sketch had a baby. It's a gross-out buddy comedy set in the Old Testament that generates a few good laughs. As a comedy duo, Black and Cera are surprisingly good together - although each relies heavily on his respective well-worn shtick. I'm also genuinely surprised at how much mileage the script is able to get out of riffing on what is essentially one big joke about ancient humans and the Bible.

So that's the good news. There is some bad news, though, which you can learn about if you read more.

Black and Cera play two men from a tribe that is apparently separated from the rest of civilization. They are both really bad at the things humans in their tribe need to master (hunting and gathering) and they get themselves banished. Before long they're rubbing elbows with Biblical celebrities like Cain (David Cross) and Abel (Paul Rudd) and they find themselves in and out of slavery. In the end, they're mostly concerned with boobs and hitting on ladies.

This movie is packed full of gross-out humor, and I use the word "humor" lightly. There are fart, poop, pee, sex, and armpit hair jokes galore. And they are rarely funny. OK, fine. The scene where Cera pees on his own face is a little funny but the rest of it is just really . . . tiresome, not to mention disgusting. It just never ends. There's another scene with Cera in which his character is forced to sleep in a bed with a country boy who farts a lot. It's about five full minutes of screen time devoted to farting. I laughed a little at the beginning but there comes a point when one just wants the farting to end.

The saving grace here is the supporting cast. Cera's mumbly shtick only goes so far, as does Black's exuberance. It's a blessing when someone like Hank Azaria shows up on screen to give the audience a little break from those two. Azaria plays Abraham, a man obsessed with circumcision. There is a decent amount of brain power and wit behind Azaria's performance that elevates what is basically a silly fourth grader joke about male genitalia to a slightly higher level. This movie could have used more of that.

Mostly, though, there isn't anything particularly new or inventive about the gags in this movie. The broad humor feels borrowed from other, funnier movies like History of the World, Part I. It's not that Year One is terrible; it's just that you've seen it all before and you've probably seen it done better. And you know, I bet in year one, early humans gathered around to watch someone fart and then they laughed hysterically. Maybe that even counted as an entire standup routine. But this is 2009. A little wit with that fart would be nice.

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures

Superbad Sequel or a Superbad/Pineapple Express Hybrid?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 07:30:26 -0700

It looks like Michael Cera (or maybe someone pretending to be Michael Cera) has been thinking "aloud" (or via Twitter) about future Superbad projects. He first twittered that he wants to do a movie with Jonah Hill and Jason Bateman (ending with the words: "Good idea?!"), and then he followed up with this one:

Decided I'm gonna contact Jonah and Jason tomorrow. See what they think about doing a movie. Maybe, just an idea, but maybe Superbad 2.

But that's not the only Superbad-related idea to be tossed out there - apparently James Franco has mentioned a Superbad/Pineapple Express combo film, with the movies' directors each taking on half of the movie. Franco mused about the plot, "Somehow the kids get in trouble and we have to get them out of it. And Seth plays characters in both movies, so somehow we'd have to kill one of them off."

I have to say, it's a funny image to consider: Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Cera) - and of course Fogell/McLovin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse)! - on a hilariously ill-fated adventure alongside the bromantic stoners Dale (Seth Rogen) and Saul (Franco) - and Red (Danny McBride)! But just a straight sequel with the Superbad kids would also be pretty funny. Which idea do you like better?

Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures

Movie Preview: Paper Heart

BuzzSugar — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 09:30:07 -0700

Funny, adorable duo Michael Cera and Charlyne Yi are sweet enough for a whole movie about love, but as an added bonus to the cute-looking Paper Heart, several other great, hilarious people (like Seth Rogen and Demetri Martin) make cameos. In this new trailer, it looks like the movie starts out as a documentary (er, "documentary") about love, with Charlyne Yi interviewing folks around the country - from older couples to little kids on a playground - about their takes on the subject. But everything changes when Charlyne herself finds love with Michael Cera.

Paper Heart was well-received at this year's Sundance Film Festival, where Yi accepted the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. Now that I've seen the endearing trailer, I am more anxious than ever to check out the film. Paper Heart opens in limited release Aug. 7, with a wider release to follow. To watch the trailer, read more.

Source

2009 Sundance Spotlight: The Missing Person, Paper Heart, Spread

BuzzSugar — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 07:30:51 -0800

While I won't be heading down to the 2009 Sundance Film Festival this year, I will be sorting through the humongous pile of festival entries to share with you some of the films I think look most promising. From quirky documentaries to talented young filmmaker debuts to a potential runaway hit, Sundance is filled with entertainment possibilities. Here are today's selections:

The Missing Person
Michael Shannon is getting all kinds of attention for the creepy role he plays in Revolutionary Road, which is one of the reasons this movie is already earning some early buzz out of the festival. Also starring Amy Ryan, The Missing Person looks like a slow-boiling noir that follows "a private detective prone to sardonic wit, gin, and the endless repercussions of what happens when you mix the two." Intrigued?

You can check out the trailer for this one and see some more of my picks (which include Ashton Kutcher and cutie Michael Cera) if you read more.

Paper Heart
What would a film festival be without an adorable Michael Cera film? This time around he's paired with Charlyne Yi (who was one of my favorite things about Knocked Up), his friend (maybe girlfriend?) who came up with the idea for this movie. The movie is semi-autobiographical and follows Yi on her quest to find the kind of love that isn't "fairy-tale love or the Hollywood mythology."

While there isn't a preview clip available just yet, check out this YouTube video of Yi auditioning for Saturday Night Live to get a sense of her comedy style:

Spread
And what would a film festival be without Ashton Kutcher? Well, normal. That is to say, he's not exactly who I think of when I think Sundance. But he'll be there this year starring in Spread, which is described thusly: "Set in modern-day Los Angeles, Spread is a hard-biting story about a high-end lethario, Nikki (Ashton Kutcher), who has slept his way into a life of privilege. He shares his secrets with us as he hosts parties and beds scores of women, all while living it up at the Hollywood Hills home of a middle-aged female attorney, Samantha (Anne Heche)." I can definitely buy Kutcher as someone women would rather sex up than talk to. This thing can either go really well for him or really badly. Check out a clip from the movie below:

Source and photos and Spread clip courtesy of Sundance

Link Time! 1/20

BuzzSugar — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 13:30:29 -0800

Sony has moved the release date for the Katherine Heigl-Gerard Butler comedy The Ugly Truth almost four months to July 24. - Cinematical
Check out Band From TV's TV debut! - TV Squad
I'm really, really loving this song "So Far Around the Bend" by National, which is only streaming on MySpace today. - Stereogum
I'm also loving these Obama poster-fied movie posters. - FilmExperience
An attempt to rank the best and worst TV presidents. - Clique Clack TV
Michael Cera on the Arrested Development movie: "More hypothetical than people think." - MTV Movies Blog
Wow, MTV's 120 Minutes was so awesome. - Monitor Mix
Buy your very own piece of Battlestar Galactica! - geeksugar
Lisa Edelstein on playing a mom and stripping for House. - The TV Addict

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures

Behind the Scenes at Sundance: The Photobooth

BuzzSugar — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 06:30:26 -0800

You know the Sundance Film Festival is really in full swing when the adorably candid photos of some of our favorite actors and actresses start flooding in. There's something refreshing about these portraits of the stars, as they are a far cry from the glitz and glam of the red carpet. These pics are goofy and natural and people often just wear jeans for them. My kind of photo collection!

In this batch, cuties like Zooey Deschanel (in that royal blue coat I would love to find) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt snuggle up (in town for their quirky rom-com, 500 Days of Summer) while Mexican heavyweights Gael Garcia Bernal (sigh, cute) and Guillermo del Toro pose to promote their movie about Mexico and soccer, Rudo y Cursi. Also, I cannot look at the picture below of Michael Cera and Charlyne Yi, who star together in Paper Heart, without cracking up.

To check out these fun pics up close for yourself, just read more.

View 19 Photos ›

Source

Fox Searchlight Reportedly Picks Up Arrested Development Movie!

BuzzSugar — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:40:05 -0800

If all the "sources" are correct, Arrested Development fans have something to celebrate today: The movie is a go!

Yup, I think I just blue myself.

The Hollywood Reporter is saying today that Mitch Hurwitz and Ron Howard are "reportedly closing deals for the long-gestating project from Imagine and Fox Searchlight."

E! Online's Watch With Kristin is going a step further to confirm that without a doubt, the "Arrested Development movie will happen." However! There is apparently some behind-the-scenes drama already, since "one of the show's original cast members has not signed on to the movie." Kristin continues, "The good news is that aside from this actor (who, sorry, cannot be named), I'm told that all of the other main cast members have committed to be a part of the big-screen project." That utterly sucks about the one "holdout," though maybe he or she will come around? Fingers (and hooks!) crossed!

Now, if you need me I'll be in the hospital bar, wearing my "slut" t-shirt.

Source

Link Time! 11/11

BuzzSugar — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 13:38:15 -0800

Beyonce to play Wonder Woman? For reals? - Popwatch
Absurd rumors I hope are true: Could Pushing Daisies end after 13 episodes this year but still return for a third season? - Defamer
Check out the seven best Bond theme songs. - Cinematical
Teen star faceoff: Taylor Swift vs. David Archuleta. - Vulture
Booted Stylista contestant Cologne has her own fashion line. - FabSugar
Sometimes movies really do make people want to smoke. - Premiere
Breaking down the "Tao of Michael Cera." - The TV Addict
Do you waste a lot of time channel surfing? - geeksugar
For our neighbors to the North who get rejected by Hulu: A list of sites where Canadians can watch US TV shows online legally. - TV Squad