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What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 26 May 2009 15:30:01 -0700

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 selections below, you can also add Jessica Biel's Powder Blue to your queue, along with the first season of Designing Women.

New in Town
Renée Zellweger stars in this quirky romantic comedy as Lucy Hill, a tough Miami executive who is sent to take over a processing plant located in the frozen tundra of New Ulm, MN. Lucy is supposed to lay off a bunch of employees, but the longer she's in town the more she sees how devastating her actions would be to the people of New Ulm who have been so gosh darn nice to her. The plight of the townfolk is given voice through the local ~~hottie~~ union rep, Ted (Harry Connick Jr.), who has lots of initial contempt for the new lady in town and sees Lucy as a corporate stooge. Until, of course . . . he doesn't.

This isn't the best thing you'll ever see but it's fun enough for a little movie romance on the couch. Special features include featurettes titled "The Folk Art of Scrap Booking" and "Pudding's Delicious Role," along with deleted scenes and audio commentary with cast and crew.

18%

One more up next so read more.

The Closer: Season Four
I haven't watched The Closer in a little while so I'll definitely be adding this to my queue. There are lots of fans of this show out there so I'll leave the season's description to some folks who know better than I (Netflix): "L.A.'s top high-priority homicide detective, Brenda Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick), returns to tackle more intriguing cases, such as the reappearance of a wanted psychopath, while trying to maintain her relationship with her fiancé, Fritz (Jon Tenney). This exciting and powerful fourth season blazes onto the screen as a murdered body is discovered in fire-ravaged Griffith Park."

Special features include unaired scenes, observational tips from an FBI interrogator, a gag reel and a featurette titled, "A Day in the Life of a Homicide Detective: Series star Corey Reynolds rides along with retired LAPD detective Mike Berchem."

Box Office: Audiences Taken With Taken

BuzzSugar — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 07:00:40 -0800

Liam Neeson's thriller Taken scored the top spot at the box office this weekend, which according to Variety, proves that "male-driven pics can open successfully on Super Bowl weekend." Last year Miley Cyrus brought her magic to the big screen over Super Bowl weekend and broke records.

Meanwhile, Paul Blart: Mall Cop continues to do well and dropped to the No. 2 spot after two weeks in first place. People love this movie! Elizabeth Banks's horror flick, The Uninvited, came in No. 3 followed by Hotel for Dogs and Gran Torino.

Finally, New in Town, the romantic comedy starring Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr. had a disappointing (though not unexpected) debut at No. 8, only earning an estimated $6.8 million.

Photo courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

New in Town: Lovin' in the Cold

BuzzSugar — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 08:30:40 -0800

New in Town is packed with a lot of bad, wrong-headed moves including small-town stereotypes, predictability, conventionality, and in one bizarre scene, hard nipples. Despite a talented and likable cast with wonderful character actors like J.K. Simmons and Frances Conroy, this romantic comedy was probably doomed from the start due to a script that can't decide if it wants to be Fargo, Norma Ray, or Working Girl.

That said, there is something in this movie that no script can write in and that's some honest-to-goodness chemistry between the two leads. Maybe I'm a sucker for Harry Connick Jr., maybe it's rare to witness some genuine onscreen sparks, or maybe I've been suffering too long from generic rom-com fatigue. Whatever the reason, I couldn't help but get a moderate case of the warm fuzzies after watching it.

To see some more of my thoughts on New in Town, read more.

Renée Zellweger plays Lucy Hill, a tough Miami executive at some kind of food-making corporation who storms around in sky-high heels as if they were running shoes. We see Lucy at a meeting full of suits and jogging on the shore, but beyond that we don't really get any more insight into her character, which is one of the problems with this script. It makes it difficult later on to sympathize with her or even to understand why she does some of the things she does when she has to take over a processing plant located in the frozen tundra of New Ulm, Minnesota.

Lucy is sent to lay off a bunch of employees, but the longer she's in town the more she sees how devastating her actions would be to the people of New Ulm who have been so gosh darn nice to her. The plight of the town folks is given voice through the local union rep, Ted (Harry Connick Jr.), who has lots of initial contempt for the new lady in town and sees Lucy as a corporate stooge. Until, of course . . . he doesn't.

There are lots of tiresome homespun-isms by the sweet, down-to-earth townspeople, as well as much scrap-booking and tapioca-making, stuff like that. And at first Zellweger plays Lucy as a stiff "ice queen" (another extreme stereotype this movie can claim: that of the callous, powerful working woman). But once things heat up between her and Ted, she warms up and the performance takes on a more natural, playful tone. If fact, it's right in the middle that the characters emerge as more than caricatures and things get charming. Lucy is especially fun to root for midway through because she's smart and determined and also hilariously out of place on dates with Ted. The bottom line is that there is plenty to roll your eyes at, including an ending that's silly and syrupy, but I'll admit it: I laughed and I wanted these two opposite lovebirds to be together forever.

Photos courtesy of Lionsgate

Watch, Pass, TiVo or Rent: New in Town

BuzzSugar — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 08:15:00 -0800

This Friday, Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr. star in New in Town in which a "Miami businesswoman adjusts to her new life in a tiny Minnesota town." Do you think you'll watch this one in theaters, or wait for it to be on DVD - or even for it to be on TV when you're lazing around some Saturday afternoon? Or is this a total pass?

One-sheet image courtesy of Lionsgate

Movie Preview: Renée Zellweger Is New in Town

BuzzSugar — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:31:48 -0800

The trailer for the romantic comedy New in Town, starring Renée Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr., seems to tell the whole story, and it looks like a predictable story at that. As the plot description states, "Renée Zellweger stars as a Miami-based consultant whose latest assignment, to restructure a manufacturing plant in small-town Minnesota, causes her to reconsider her professional and personal objectives once she settles into her new life."

And yet, if it's so predictable, why did I laugh out loud a few times while watching the trailer? There's something kind of adorable and funny about this movie, and I'm actually excited to see it. New in Town (which was previously titled Chilled in Miami) opens Jan. 30. To check out the trailer, read more.

Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr. Chill in Miami

BuzzSugar — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 16:40:09 -0700

As the title suggests, these two are in negotiations to star together in a movie. The "fish out of water comedy" is titled Chilled in Miami and "centers on a Miami businesswoman who's transferred to the sticks of Minnesota."

The original title for this project was 32 and Single, so I'm certainly relieved to see that at least they changed that up (because, you know, it's the 2000s now and being 32 and single isn't all that unusual or tragic). However, I must say I don't really understand what Chilled in Miami means, exactly. I assume it has something to do with Zellweger's character's icy cold personality before slowing down and warming up to the Minnesotans charming small town ways.

Yawn. I so hope there's more to the storyline than this!

Source, source

Link Time!

BuzzSugar — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:50:10 -0700

Bradley Whitford is heading back to TV in Jack and Dan - TV Squad
A few early predictions for the 2010 Oscars - Vulture
The release date of Nine has been moved from Thanksgiving to Christmas - Cinematical
Ellen Pompeo may not miss any episodes of Grey's Anatomy for maternity leave after all - Watch With Kristin
A countdown of Vince Vaughn's funniest moments (including video clips!) - Moviefone
Daniel Radcliffe will return to Broadway in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying - MTV Movies Blog
Amazon has New Moon soundtrack snippets! - Pitchfork
Desperate Housewives' creator Marc Cherry is working on a new show for ABC - Hollywood Reporter
ABC picks up The Middle, Cougar Town, and Modern Family for full seasons - HitFix
Fine Living Network is changing over to the Cooking Channel - Yum Sugar
The Top 15: Greatest Opening Title Sequences - TV.com

The Men Who Stare at Goats: Glaringly Unfocused

BuzzSugar — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:30:00 -0800

I went into The Men Who Stare at Goats with high expectations. How could a film possibly disappoint when you have the acting trifecta of George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, and Jeff Bridges? But unfortunately, while the pros work hard to generate laughs - and they do deliver at times - the film on the whole is all over the place.

Goats is based on the non-fiction book by Jon Ronson. That's right - non-fiction. The film opens with the line, "More of this is true than you would believe," which is a nice reminder, because the plot is intentionally convoluted. At first, this far-fetched quality makes the story feel fun and quirky, but as time goes on, it gets mucked up in its own self-aware confusion and starts to feel stale. To see what I mean, read more.

McGregor stars as the movie's hero, Bob Wilton, a small-town journalist whose wife has just left him for his editor. So Bob decides to do what most men do when they're heartbroken - he goes to war. Or at least he tries to, but he only gets as far as a hotel pool bar in Kuwait. That's where he meets Lyn Cassady (George Clooney), a former "Jedi warrior" with the U.S. Army - or simply put: soldiers with superpowers. (Yes, note the coincidence: McGregor and Jedis.)

Lyn begins to tell Bob about the former founder of his unit, Bill Djanjo (Jeff Bridges), a vet who goes to find himself after Vietnam in the drug and orgy, peace and love '70s. Armed with a new, zen persona, Bill returns to the Army to share his more peaceful point of view and take charge of a new special force that uses mind control over traditional weapons. That's when Lyn comes in. As a new recruit, Lyn is exceptionally psychic, and he quickly gets a reputation for being able to find anyone, including terrorists, strictly using his mind.

So Bob and Lyn begin on a journey into Iraq. Where they're headed, Lyn's not exactly sure. He just assumes he'll find it, thanks to his extra sixth sense. As for the audience, we're sort of in the same boat - along for the ride without any real direction.

The movie tries to comment on the inhumanity (and stupidity) of war, but has a difficult time making its point alongside the slapstick elements. The actors are great with comedic timing and deliver one-liners to entertain the audience in many moments, but that was ultimately the only aspect that held my interest. (That and Jeff Bridges's sweet hippie braided hair.) What had the potential to be a funny, original story or a satire instead starts to feel boring. The characters wander aimlessly, the flashbacks float in and out, and without a clear focus, you stop caring. And that's not an easy feat where Clooney's usually concerned.

What to TiVo: Wednesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:50:13 -0800

ABC is new with Hank, The Middle, Modern Family, Cougar Town, and Eastwick
CBS is new with The New Adventures of Old Christine, Gary Unmarried, Criminal Minds, and CSI: NY
FOX has Game 6 of the World Series
NBC is new with Mercy and Law & Order: SVU
The CW is new with America's Next Top Model and has a repeat of The Vampire Diaries
Bravo is new with Top Chef All Stars Dinner
Comedy Central is new with South Park, The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, and The Colbert Report
FX is new with Nip/Tuck
MTV is new with Real World/Road Rules Challenge
Late-night highlights include Bill Cosby on The Late Show With David Letterman on CBS; Joshua Jackson, Big Bird, and Slayer on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC; Jenna Bush and Laura Bush on The Jay Leno Show on NBC; Amy Poehler, Magic Johnson, and The Bravery on The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien on NBC; and Cameron Diaz on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on NBC

What to TiVo: Wednesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:50:36 -0700

ABC is new with The Middle, Modern Family, Cougar Town, and Eastwick
CBS has repeats of The New Adventures of Old Christine, Gary Unmarried, Criminal Minds, and CSI: NY
FOX has Game One of the World Series
NBC has Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins From Outer Space and is new with Law & Order: SVU
The CW is new with America's Next Top Model and has a repeat of Vampire Diaries
ABC Family has Hocus Pocus
AMC has House on Haunted Hill
MTV has a repeat of My Super Psycho Sweet 16 and is new with Real World/Road Rules Challenge
Bravo is new with Top Chef: Las Vegas
Comedy Central is new with South Park, Secret Girlfriend, The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, and The Colbert Report
FX is new with Nip/Tuck
Late-night highlights include Patrick Dempsey and Sting on The Late Show With David Letterman on CBS; Chelsea Handler on The Jay Leno Show on NBC; Edward Norton, Hulk Hogan, and "Weird Al" Yankovic on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on NBC; and Madeleine Albright on The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson on CBS