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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: Michelle Monaghan, Nathan Fillion in Trucker

BuzzSugar — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 05:30:00 -0700

When I saw Trucker at the Tribeca Film Festival back in 2008, I acknowledged that it's not the world's finest movie, but it was definitely one of my favorites of all the festival movies I saw. It's a relatively quiet indie drama starring Michelle Monaghan as Diane Ford, a tough truck driver who enjoys her carefree life of trucking, bars and one-night stands - until her 11-year-old son shows up one day. Their relationship is rocky, and Diane is none too pleased to suddenly shoulder so much responsibility, but as long as her ex-husband (Benjamin Bratt) is hospitalized, mother and son are stuck with each other. Nathan Fillion plays her sweet, handsome neighbor and friend who is married but clearly has feelings for Diane.

The film will open Oct. 9. If you like these actors and feel like a sometimes slow and harsh but ultimately warm-hearted drama, you'll likely find Trucker worthwhile. To check out the trailer, read more.

TV Tonight: The Castle Finale

BuzzSugar — Mon, 11 May 2009 05:30:10 -0700

Sometimes I don't understand the people who become mega-fans of something that has only barely begun. I've often wondered: How can you possibly be that attached to something already? Well, I'm eating those words now because I'm a little broken up about the fact that tonight's episode of Castle is the finale. I've grown absurdly attached to Castle's punny little witticisms (like "Look who's stalking"), the growing camaraderie between Beckett's fellow detectives and Castle, and the banter between Castle and Beckett that's always a mixture of annoyance and flirtation. I also think the cases they work on are really intriguing. I just love this show!

On tonight's finale (booooooo!), "Castle and Beckett investigate the murder of a missing plastic surgeon who is found dead in the front seat of his car after a week of being parked curbside. As they delve into the twisted world of surgery obsessed patients and secret operations, Castle experiences a fatherly rite of passage as Alexis attends her first prom. And while looking into Beckett's past, he unearths information that could end his relationship with her forever." To check out some preview clips (in one, Castle does a Christopher Walken impression!), read more.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

"What is it with men and boobs?"

Nathan Fillion on Playing the Childlike Richard Castle

BuzzSugar — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 07:30:27 -0700

Castle, which premieres tonight on ABC, stars fan favorite Nathan Fillion as Richard Castle, a crime novelist who finds himself sucked into assisting the New York Police Department when a murderer starts carrying out crimes based on scenes from his books. There, he finds himself working (and flirting) alongside Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) while also navigating the relationships with his Broadway diva mother (Susan Sullivan) and wise-beyond-her-years teenage daughter (Molly Quinn). A few days ago, Fillion hopped on the phone to chat with me about the appeal of Castle, what it's like to be a leading man again, and whether there will ever be another Dr. Horrible. Read on for highlights:

When you first heard about Castle and read the pilot script, what appealed to you about the character?
I heard that Castle was a crime drama. I'd been reading a lot of police procedurals that ABC had for pilots - I have a deal with ABC, so I'm gonna do something with ABC. And I was reading a lot of dramas, a lot of heavy stuff, a lot of heavy, emotional dramas that they were putting out there. And then Castle, for some reason, was at the bottom of the list of all the pilots I was going through.

I was 15 pages into reading Castle, and I stopped, and I turned to my girlfriend and said, "I'm going to start at the beginning of this pilot and I'm going to read it out loud to you, and you tell me if you don't think this wouldn't be an amazingly fun job to do." Because here's a guy who enjoys every day of his life like he's on a field trip - he is thrilled to be there. He's thrilled to be around crime and murder and he's having a blast. He doesn't get emotionally involved. He's not without heart, he's just simply very lighthearted. He doesn't see crime and say, "I've got to find this murderer before he gets the chance to do it again. He just simply says, "Whoa! Did you see the way that fella was hangin' there?" He's crazed by these phenomenal endings to what he believes would be an incredible story, and he wants to find the beginning and the middle to the ending that is the murder.

Watching the pilot, I thought of him as kind of a playboy - but not just with women, with everything in his life.
I kind of started [filming] thinking, 'Well, here's a wild partier, drinker, womanizer . . . " but actually he's far more childlike than I even knew when we were shooting the pilot. He has a joy - he's playing all the time. He's playing grown-up games.

To find out the secret to Castle's lightheartedness, just read more.

Is there something in his past that has made him be so lighthearted about everything? He's dealing with a lot of crime, both in his novels and, when he gets involved in the case, in his everyday life, and sometimes it's nasty. How does he stay so upbeat?
He's a writer of mystery novels, so the genre of what he's doing pleases him - he likes it, he writes it, he knows it, he's studied it. When he was a kid, his mother was an actress, and she did a lot of moving around and a lot of touring and just not a lot of parenting. He spent most of his days locked up in the New York Public Library reading. He taught himself to be a speed reader; he reads voraciously. But I think he almost missed out on his childhood, so when he began writing and began enjoying success and got a lot of money - I mean, he doesn't have a lot of responsibilities. He makes his own hours, he lives in a beautiful apartment, he can afford the nicest toys. It's kind of like my life.

One of the things I thought was interesting in the pilot was his relationship with his daughter. How would you describe Castle as a parent?
Castle is very much mothered by his 15-year-old daughter, and at the same time he turns around and mothers his own mother. So it's not a typical nuclear family. It's a very interesting relationship. His daughter does a great deal for him and makes him a better person.

Without giving too much away, how will Castle's relationship with Kate Beckett change over the course of the first few episodes we'll be seeing?
We're going to be able to solve a case every week - there's not going to be a murder that lasts three episodes. However, just like in real life, the more time you spend with a person, the more you learn about that person, the more you say, "Oh, well I did this when I was a kid, I know what this is about because I used to . . . " You learn more about people as you spend time with them, and he gleans more and more understanding of Kate Beckett as time goes on.

You said you were reading a lot of procedurals. What do you think makes Castle more than just a cop show?
I think Castle is a little bit more in tune with real life, in that we're not walking around heavy and brooding about murder. Life is simply life. We spoke to some homicide detectives when we were in New York City. These guys were not darkened souls, you know, meandering the earth looking for justice. They were very jovial, very funny guys who would tell you incredible stories . . . It's real life, and there's comedy in real life. So I would say that in the lighthearted part of Castle, the comedic part of Castle, is truer to real life.

Quickly changing subjects - do you think there could ever be another Dr. Horrible?
I'm crossing both my fingers.

What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 07:30:47 -0800

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. In addition to my picks below, you can now watch Beverly Hills Chihuahua as many times as you'd like.

Australia
In my mind, there are many reasons to bring home Baz Luhrmann's Australia. There's Hugh Jackman, the costumes, a lot of cool scenery, and did I mention Hugh Jackman? He's just so gorgeous and manly as an outback cowboy. . . . Anyway, I'm just saying that I enjoyed his performance.

The story follows Kidman's character, Sarah Ashley, who gains sudden control of a cattle station in Australia called Faraway Downs. She relies on a rather motley crew to help her out there, including the sexy, no-nonsense Drover (Jackman) and a mixed-race Aboriginal child, Nullah. Things are grueling enough in the outback for these folks but then the war also engulfs their country, making for a very dramatic and epic cinematic journey. Special features include deleted scenes.

One more up next, so read more.

Wonder Woman
While I will continue to hope for a live-action Wonder Woman film, this animated straight-to-DVD movie about DC Comics's Amazon princess looks like it will suffice for now. Keri Russell voices Wonder Woman, a.k.a. Princess Diana, and is joined by Virginia Madsen, Alfred Molina, Rosario Dawson, Oliver Platt, and Nathan Fillion to tell the origin story of this superhero.

I've read some reviews about it and so far the buzz is pretty great. One reviewer called it "a terrifically entertaining action picture, with fully drawn characters, clever dialogue, and a clear and specific point of view." Also, FYI, the movie is PG-13 which means not necessarily suitable for the kids. And it means I can feel less dweeby about watching this at home.

Special features include commentary by the film's creative team and two in-depth documentaries titled "Wonder Woman: A Subversive Dream," and "Wonder Woman: Daughter of Myth."

First Look: ABC's Castle Starring Nathan Fillion

BuzzSugar — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:39:41 -0700

What's that? Nathan Fillion back on my TV screen? Indeed. Fillion - most recently known by the alias of Captain Hammer - is preparing to return to TV in Castle, an ABC crime dramedy that will debut sometime later this season.

Fillion plays Nick (or possibly Rick - ABC seems unsettled on this matter) Castle, a crime writer bored with his work until a real-life murderer starts ripping off his plots for his or her crimes. Castle's quickly pulled into service by the NYPD and teamed with a detective named Kate Beckett (Stana Katic), whom he naturally a) clashes with and b) finds insanely attractive. Oh, and did I mention his ex-wife is still his book editor?

The first trailer for Castle is pretty ridiculous, with Castle acting roguish and disrespectful but atoning for his rude behavior with just a wink and nod in Beckett's direction. (Just once, I'd like to see a cop show have the female partner be the frustrating but lovable jerk.) That said . . . it's Fillion. Charisma everywhere. That's enough to make me curious to see more. Want to see what you think? Just read more.

ABC Picks Up Five Shows for Midseason

BuzzSugar — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:37:54 -0700

The Fall TV season hasn't even started yet, and already, at least one network is looking a few months ahead. ABC, which only has one new scripted show (Life on Mars) on its Fall schedule, has picked up three dramas and two comedies for midseason.

Among them: Rob Thomas's Cupid, his remake of his own 1998 show, which now stars Sarah Paulson and Bobby Cannavale (at right). I've been curious about that project for a while now, so I'm glad it's taken the next step toward becoming a series.

The other dramas:

Castle - Starring Nathan Fillion, the show focuses on a horror novelist who helps the NYPD solve crimes.
The Unusuals - Starring Amber Tamblyn, this one's described as an "ensemble dramedy" set in a police precinct.

For descriptions of the comedies, and to see what else ABC has in its pipeline, read more.

ABC's midseason comedies are:

Better Off Ted - Jay Harrington stars as a moral man trying to do the right thing in this office-set show.
Single with Parents - This comedy from How I Met Your Mother producer Kristin Newman stars Alyssa Milano as a woman juggling a dysfunctional family.

ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson hinted to the Hollywood Reporter that some of ABC's other pilots might be getting the go-ahead later on. The network still has Captain Cook's Extraordinary Atlas starring Janel Moloney and Rob Thomas's other pilot, Good Behavior, as well as the Alicia Silverstone/Alia Shawkat comedy Bad Mother's Handbook, as possibilities.

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Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog Is Awesome, and Now Working Just Fine

BuzzSugar — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:32:30 -0700

I would have posted this yesterday when the first act of Joss Whedon's online musical series was available online except for the fact that it wasn't actually available for most of the day. All the fans (like me) who were lured in by the funny preview for the series were trying to view the first webisode, and too many curious eyes caused the site to slow to a halt.

Now it's working fine and it is my pleasure to announce that Act I of this funny, bizarre musical starring Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion is awesome. It's adorable and sweet and tons of fun to watch. The first few minutes of Dr. Horrible just talking to camera is a little slow, but once you get through that, there's a super-cute little musical number/love song set in a laundromat and the rest flows along nicely from there.

The only thing I'm not getting is why it's called "sing-along" when there's no real way to sing along (unless you watch a few times, I guess!). Tell me your thoughts below after watching the first act here. Enjoy!

Teaser for Joss Whedon's Web Series Starring NPH

BuzzSugar — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:32:07 -0700

Joss Whedon + Neil Patrick Harris + Nathan Fillion = awesome and hilarious. But of course, we already knew Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog would probably be great even back in March when we first heard the news. Now there's a teaser trailer for the musical Internet series, and it's campy, wacky, funny and adorable. As we learned before, the story is about "a low-rent super-villain, the hero who keeps beating him up, and the cute girl from the laundromat he's too shy to talk to."

Still not sure when the actual series will hit the Web, but for now, the teaser is really entertaining. To check it out, read more.

Teaser from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on Vimeo.

Tribeca Review: Trucker

BuzzSugar — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 08:30:33 -0700

Trucker largely reminded me of another indie movie titled Come Early Morning, which was written and directed by Chasing Amy's Joey Lauren Adams (who, incidentally, also stars in Trucker). The tone of both movies features a kind of weary, weathered fondness for the southern American landscape (in Come Early Morning it's the South, in Trucker it's the dusty deserts of southern California). At the heart of both movies, too, are hard-edged, tough-talking women in jobs that others in the movie ridicule for not being "women's jobs": Ashley Judd's character in Early Morning worked in construction, while the main character of Diane in Trucker, played by Michelle Monaghan, is a truck driver.

On the surface these two films might blur together in my mind as one unrecognizable narrative of the rough-around-the-edges woman learning to soften and accept love as well as give it. Trucker stands out a bit, though, as a more interesting story, more layered with higher stakes. And while it's not the most memorable movie in general, it's captivating enough and ultimately sends a heartwarming message. To see what I mean, read more.

The movie opens with a scene not suitable for watching with, say, your parents: Diane is seen having a one-hour stand with a young man (played by Joey Lawrence's brother, Matthew!) she picked up for the night. From here, it's established that she lives a loner's life on the road, driving trucks and picking up random men. But she always goes back to her California home where her neighbor Runner (Nathan Fillion) lives to hang out with Diane and pine after her - despite the fact that he's married. Soon drama comes in the form of Diane's young son Peter (Jimmy Bennet) who she abandoned, along with Peter's father (Benjamin Bratt) many years ago. Diane learns that Peter needs stay with her because his father has cancer, and there's a chance that Peter will need to move in with Diane permanently.

The relationship between mother and son is often uncomfortably contentious, with Monaghan's intense Diane walking around like a stick of dynamite about to blow up. Yet, we start to understand Diane's reasoning: she's just not the type of woman who wants to be a steady mom. She wants to be always moving, on the road, and the kid cramps her style. Thus, when the moments that include any inkling of tenderness between Diane and Peter do come along, they are hard-earned. Nathan Fillion is extremely handsome in the movie, though his role confounded me, as it was never explored why he spent all his time with Diane while his wife sat at home right next door. Unexamined and unexplained things like this make the movie frustrating, though by the time the sweet ending comes around, you might just forgive it.

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