BuzzSugar

Movie That Spoofs Spoof Movies in the Works

BuzzSugar — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:35:16 -0800

Didja get that? It's a spoof movie, but it's not spoofing serious movies - it's spoofing spoof films like Date Movie and Not Another Teen Movie (and the upcoming Wayans Brothers comedy, Dance Flick). Hence the title: Not Another Not Another Movie. This project is already making me chuckle, I can't wait to see it - especially since it stars Chevy Chase, whom I love. The Hollywood Reporter explains:

Chase plays a studio head who quits his floundering company, leaving his ex-con sibling ([Michael] Madsen) in charge. Soon their equally inept gangster friend ([Vinnie] Jones) takes over and assigns a production assistant (David Leo Schultz) to direct a spoof of spoof movies. [Burt] Reynolds plays an actor playing the director of the chaotic film within the film.

So, everything clear now? What do you think of this idea? A little too meta, or perhaps too silly? Or right up your alley? What will it look like to spoof spoof movies?

Source and source

The Blind Side: An Unexpected Delight

BuzzSugar — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:30:42 -0800

It's not that the trailer for The Blind Side isn't compelling; the problem is that it combines Sandra Bullock's twangiest, most-over-the top lines with a heartrending song, which makes it seem schlocky. That's exactly what I expected from the movie, but I have to admit that I was wrong - to my surprise, I found it to be a sentimental gem that's actually quite restrained.

The Blind Side is the true story (based on Michael Lewis's book) of NFL player Michael Oher, who grew up in Memphis's projects with his drug-addicted mother and landed in and out of foster homes. He ended up in a fancy private school and in the home of a wealthy family, the Touhys, led by tough-talking Leigh Anne (Bullock). The weaving of Michael's newfound life in the movie is effective, with sweet bits of humor and just enough emotion.

To see what I liked about the film, just read more.

The movie is full of many surprises: first, it looks like it's going to be mainly about football, but it's not all sports. There is proper attention given to Michael's life before he's taken in and the development of the relationships between the Touhy family members and Michael.

Another nice thing is how smoothly Bullock slides into her role. It's not just her wardrobe and hair that transforms her into the high-maintenance Southern matriarch; her manner as the tough mom who's not completely comfortable showing emotion is very natural - not what I'd expect from the laid-back actress.

Quinton Aaron is also impressive as a sad-eyed orphan turned well-adjusted student and son over the course of the movie. It's not an incredibly complex performance, but his teddy bear presence is irresistible. The supporting players are equally as enjoyable: Tim McGraw, whom I didn't expect much from, is charming, while the Touhy children win you over with their affection for their new brother. The late addition of Kathy Bates (whose role is basically an extended cameo) is hardly needed to bolster the movie, but she adds a nice touch as well.

At two hours and six minutes, the movie is a little too long; director John Lee Hancock seemed intent on fitting in nearly every detail of Michael's journey. Then again, at the end you're rewarded with the payoff: footage and photos of the real-life Touhys and Michael. It's an emotionally satisfying ending to a movie that makes no apologies for being so uplifting.

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.

Joel McHale and Ken Jeong Share Details About Community!

BuzzSugar — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:00:29 -0800

Community is one of those shows where you know the cast has an awesome time together. So I wasn't all that surprised to hear stars Joel McHale (Jeff) and Ken Jeong (Senor Chang) fawn over one another when they recently sat down with reporters. I've been waiting to see these two cement their friendship on-screen too, and it sounds like I'll get my wish tonight. Both actors shared a few tidbits from the episode, plus thoughts on Chevy Chase, the possible Jeff and Annie romance, and their mutual admiration.

Joel on Jeff and Annie's kiss last week: I haven't seen any scripts where it'll be revisited, because I'll probably be arrested, but believe me it was good times. I mean it's Alison Brie from Mad Men!
Joel on Jeff's relationship with Britta: His first initial reaction was, hey there's a really hot chick. And she has like an endless, you know, she has all the denim jackets that you can find. And so I think that was his first reaction. And then at the complete rejection of him he was like, ah, a challenge. And then as he got to know her, she was so much more than he expected, which was she was a totally grounded cool person...So that intrigued him, and she really is I think the moral compass of the show.

To hear more from Joel and Ken, including what's in store for this week's episode, read more.

Ken on Senor Chang's constant power trip: There is something to be said about being in a room where you have students hanging on every word. And it's definitely, as a teacher I think it's an ego rush, you know. You're definitely feeding off of that. It's really the only time in life you get to have a room where people are hanging on your every word and learning from it, and you have a power to influence.
Ken on tonight's episode: You really get to see why Senor Chang has the chip on his shoulder that he does. And some of that involves love and some of that involves friendship, and you really get to see more of the back story of Chang...And it's the relationship with Joel. Joel is really the guy that sees how [Chang's] character comes to be, and why he's developed all these traits along the way.
Joel on working with Chevy Chase: It's like working with Nolan Ryan. He's older than everybody, he's got the best stories. He has worked way more than any of us, but he still throws it harder than any of us...We have a lot to learn from that guy and it's so weird to be walking around with this kind of icon and legend that, you know, you grew up with.
Joel on Ken: Ken he will invent comedy where there is not comedy. He creates it...He's a damn good performer and you pray to God you get him in your movie or your TV show because it's like having a secret weapon.
Ken on Joel: I'm amazed at how Joel handles everything. He's always just grace under pressure this guy, because we'll be working, you know, on a Wednesday or middle of the week, and then he's got to do the Soup or another show and it's just how he switches gears is effortless. I just marvel at that. I'm like dude, how do you do it?
Ken on Community hitting its stride: I think that my wife has a good theory about sitcoms...They're like fine wine, you give them a little bit of time, and they just keep tasting better and better......The audience gets more familiar with the characters, the writers get more familiar characters, and so do the actors.

Do you like the theory that comedies get better with time? I think Community has gradually improved week after week, don't you agree? (Don't forget to watch tonight!)

What to Download: New Music Today

BuzzSugar — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:30:29 -0800

Time for more Tuesday entertainment! I've already shared a few new DVD releases to give your movie library a shot in the arm, but now, let's amp up your iPod. Big-name albums hit shelves today, so be sure to read up on these three. (And if you want to see your own music reviews featured on Buzz, submit them in the Music Review Group in the community!)

Fan-pleasing pop: American Idol fans rejoice: you've said that you're interested in post-AI albums, and now Kris Allen's anticipated self-titled debut is finally here. The song selections started a bit bland for me, but Allen picks up momentum with "The Truth" and the soft but moving ballad "Bring it Back." Both songs get needed oomph from orchestral accompaniment to create a sweeping sound that's sure to make Allen aficionados swoon. As for the rest of the album, it's predictable, but likable, much like the singer himself.

Why the sad face? Listening to John Mayer's latest, Battle Studies, you've got to wonder who ripped his heart out - Jessica Simpson? Jennifer Aniston? Every song is about a hurt guy who doesn't want to love again. Sensitive crooning isn't anything new to Mayer, but this time, it feels like mundane easy listening. I long for the days of "No Such Thing" when we had a more upbeat Mayer, or the Mayer who can riff on the guitar like nobody's business. But we don't really get either here. Still, it's worth noting his collaboration with Taylor Swift on "Half of My Heart," and my personal fave, "All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye."

See one more release when you read more.

Diva in training: Leona Lewis burst onto the scene two years ago with "Bleeding Love," and now she returns with her sophomore follow-up to Spirit, Echo. Lewis hits the high notes - and she'll once again draw comparisons to Mariah Carey - but the lyrics don't always pack the same punch, and they often feel like recycled love musings. I was pleasantly surprised, however, to see Lewis branch out of her usual comfort zone with the dance track "Outta My Head" and "Can't Breathe," which goes heavier on the R&B. If you've seen those Precious promos, you've heard another song from the album, "Happy," but it was recently announced that Lewis will be providing the title track for the film Avatar, so listen for her voice to show up there, too.

Talking New Moon With Kellan Lutz and Ashley Greene

BuzzSugar — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:15:50 -0800

Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner may be dominating the promotional circuit right now, but they're not the only cast members with something to say about New Moon. I had the opportunity to chat with costars Kellan Lutz and Ashley Greene, aka Emmett and Alice Cullen, during their recent stopover in SF. They chatted about their characters, the vampire craze, and what it's like to be a "Twilight celebrity." Here are highlights:

On why so many people are crazy for the Twilight Saga:
Ashley: I think this film in particular is highly relatable. There are a lot of situations that people can relate to. The love story - everyone can relate to being in love or being in lust. You add the vampire, and it adds that next level fantasy. Vampires are mysterious and sensual and dangerous and unattainable. And everyone wants what they can't have. I think on another level that this came together at the perfect time. All the elements just fit, the casting was spot on, and we're in a difficult time right now with our economy. That's why you never have a drop in ticket sales because everyone wants an escape, and this movie is very much an escape from reality.
Kellan: It's a good escape but also it deals with so many situations, on so many positive notes. Just looking at it from the vampire coven to the wolf pack. It just deals with everyday issues just on bigger levels, in a way. And you have Bella as the keystone in many situations. You can just all relate from different countries to issues within the United States. It's easily relatable.

To read a lot more about working with three different directors and why they feel so lucky, just read more.

On how their portrayals of the Cullens are similar or different from the books:
Kellan: We got the jobs because we brought something new to it. You can interpret the characters each their own, but I think it's what we did alongside. Just like Kristen said - she's playing Bella but she's putting her Kristen spin on it, just like all of us are. And I think that's what's making it unique. We're still following the cheat sheets that Stephenie created by making the books, and there's Wikipedia. We have a lot of information to go off of. But I hope it's what I did in my audition that set it apart from the other guys trying out.

Ashley: I think it's mannerisms too. People do fall in love with this book, but I think part of it is that they always want more. You can't write out every human mannerism. You can imagine it, but seeing the emotion in someone's eyes and seeing them be affected it - it was kind of easy to give something to it, because we were just being people. We kinda just got lucky.
On how much more of the Cullens we can expect in the remaining movies:
Kellan: Realistically, we stick pretty close to the books. Obviously us Cullens would love to be in the books a lot more, which would mean we'd be in the movies a lot more. Talking New Moon, the scenes that the Cullens - except for Ashley, playing Alice who gets to go to Italy and be a main lead in the movie - us Cullens, we have to stick really close to the books, and the scenes that we're in are really crucial to the story, as you know - the birthday scene, the voting scene. I don't know, it was kind of a tease. Chris Weitz is such an amazing director, and for us, for myself - I only worked about a week on that movie. And it didn't even seem like I really got a taste for what it was.

Ashley: In the third film, you'll see a lot more of the Cullens because it's all of us collaborating and then getting ready to fight this war that's coming up. In the second one, my character got a much larger role because Alice is the Cullen, other than Edward, that really embraces Bella and they end up becoming best friends. In the beginning, you see her throw this huge party for Bella, and then Alice is the one who does, in fact, come back for Bella when everyone else decides to skip town. Alice is responsible for dragging Bella over to Italy, and she and I the whole time are fighting to save my brother's life. And then of course we get held up by the Volturi and stuff like that. My character got to grow a lot, which is really cool. You get to actually see the relationship develop between Bella and Alice, where in the first one you didn't. The first one was very much about the romance and showing the audience why these two people are willing to die for each other.
On working with a different director on each film:
Ashley: Each director is going to be very different. They're artists as well, and I don't think any of them are quite the same. The books, when you read them, all have very, very, different tones. So I think it's highly appropriate that we switch directors each go. The first one is very much a romance and is a very scenic, beautiful film. And Catherine's really, really great at capturing that. She's very high energy and works well in chaos and stuff like that. And it was fantastic because we didn't quite know what we were getting ourselves into, and so it was nice to have her to guide us when we were freaking out a little bit. She was just so high energy, and it was really contagious. We were sad to lose her and move on to the second film, but then we got Chris Weitz and he's the complete opposite! But great as well. He's so giving and caring and collaborative and created this atmosphere that was kind of a safe haven for us. And it was really nice because we didn't know, switching directors, if they were gonna embrace us or if they had a completely different vision than what we created in the first one. It was nice that he was right there on the same page with us. And the second one is a warmer film, even from the color scheme. The first one is very blue tones, and the second one is much richer and warmer and I think he did a great job at capturing that. And we just finished shooting with David Slade, and I think he's highly appropriate as well. He just finished shooting 30 Days of Night and Hard Candy, and they're both very dark, edgy films. And Eclipse is very much that. It's all centered around the anticipation and us getting ready to fight this huge war. We just finished filming, we haven't gotten to see much of it, but I think it's gonna be fantastic. He is, technically, the most advanced director. The angles that he shot and how he knows that tweaking something can affect a whole scene and the lenses. He was really nice to work with.
On coping with the fan effect and being a "Twilight celebrity"
Kellan: That's what blows my mind, 'cause I feel like it's really unearned in a way. The fans are making our careers. Without them, we wouldn't be working and doing the saga. There's so many times that trilogy books become a movie and the first one bombs, and then that's it. And you're always hopeful that you get to do them all. Especially since we're all in love with our characters. I love Emmett Cullen to death, he's my favorite character I've ever played. It's just so cool to have made it this far, and I think we all hope that we get to finish this series and do Breaking Dawn. This is such a blessing, it's every actor's dream to be part of something like this. It's not terribly hard either. We don't shoot halfway around the world; we don't shoot for a year of our lives. I know a lot of us have homes, we have pets, we have family. And it's really nice to shoot on the West Coast, either Portland or Vancouver, and have the chance to fly down if we need to. But it's definitely amazing to be part of something like this. And I don't think any of us knew how crazy it would be and how exhilarating it would turn out to be. Going to the premiere, really just, wow. I don't even remember it because I was really just starstruck by how many fans and signs and cameras. It felt like I was just walking through a strobe light room. It's amazing.

Ashley: I still think we can't really wrap our heads around what's going on and what's happening. We're still in the midst of filming and kept very busy from one film until the next. It's only these brief moments where you sit back and are actually able to take a breath where you go "Whoa. Wow. This is crazy." I mean, the amount of tickets they've already sold for New Moon - I'm pretty sure I can't even get a ticket if I tried to see my film in Jacksonville and it's mind boggling. We're just very lucky. I went into this film thinking "Oh my gosh, I got a job" and the it turned into the biggest break of my life. I think we all feel very blessed to be a part of this.
On how it feels to be part of Twilight fan fiction:
Kellan: It's an escape, in a way. We do live in a trivial time period right now. There's so much depression that it's kinda cool to be a part of something where people use it to be an escape. In a way that's kinda what Stephenie did -she had a dream and just elaborated on it. It became a huge success and it's really encouraging that people are doing the same and just making up this journey.

Ashley: That's why people love it so much I think. You can take it and make what you want of it. Before the demographic was teenage girls, but now it's women of every age and guys are starting to get into it, too. It's because there is that element of fantasy. If you're 8 years old you look at it one way; if you're 80 years old you look at it another. I think it's fantastic that we can draw such a huge crowd. The other thing is - it blows my mind but people are making connections over this film and over this book. there are mothers and daughters and grandmas who can all sit and talk about the same story and all fantasize about it and I think that's a really cool thing. I think it's rare.

To see all of our Twilight and New Moon coverage, check out TwilightSugar!

Rewind: This Week's Buzz

BuzzSugar — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 07:00:00 -0800

Vampires, vampires, everywhere! The stars of New Moon got candid for EW, and there's even a romantic comedy about female bloodsuckers in the works.
Need help keeping all your vampires straight? Check out my slideshow where I break down the classic myths in Twilight, True Blood, and The Vampire Diaries.
New Moon's not the only movie to get excited about - check out these new trailers for Kick-Ass and Date Night.
James Franco's appearance on General Hospital is just a few days away - check out this sneak peek of his guest spot.
We said goodbye to another amazing season of Mad Men. What'd you think of the finale?
Out with the old in with the new: meet the next class of med students on Scrubs.
The holiday season is inching steadily closer. Check out my gift guides for kids, teenage boys and teen girls if you need some help with your shopping list.
Have you checked out the Buzz Community yet? Your content could be featured on BuzzSugar so get the creative juices flowin'!
The votes are in! Check out who snagged nominations for the 2010 People's Choice Awards.
Heading to the theaters to see 2012 this weekend? First, test your John Cusack movie knowledge!

New Charlie's Angels TV Show Planned on ABC

BuzzSugar — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:30:27 -0800

Word is that ABC is close to finalizing a deal to bring another version of Charlie's Angels to TV.

This new series would be a "modern version" of the '70s hit, and yes, I know you're thinking that we already got a modern version with the 2000 movie Charlie's Angels and its sequel. Interestingly, Drew Barrymore is involved in this new series somehow (I'm guessing production), as is Leonard Goldberg who produced the original series. Josh Friedman (of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) will write and exec produce.

Whether or not you think it's a great idea to remake, it would provide plum prime time roles for three actresses. If you had your pick, who would you cast in this new series? I hear Mischa Barton and Ashlee Simpson need new gigs. I'm kidding, but what are your ideas?

Movie Preview: Tina Fey and Steve Carell in Date Night

BuzzSugar — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:30:01 -0800

I freaked out a little (OK a lot) when it was announced that Tina Fey and Steve Carell would play a married couple in the comedy Date Night. Well, the trailer is here, and I'm still enthusiastic about it - though I wasn't expecting it to be so action-adventure-y.

The movie revolves around a single night out for typically bored (but atypically hilarious) married couple Claire and Phil Foster. When they take another couple's dinner reservation, their romantic evening turns into an issue of mistaken identity, and they spend the night running from trouble. While I'm not thrilled by the setup, there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments in this first preview, including some amazing appearances from Mark Wahlberg and James Franco.

To check out the trailer, just read more.

Date Night comes out April 9, 2010.

What to TiVo: Saturday

BuzzSugar — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:50:44 -0800

ABC has College Football
CBS has a repeat of NCIS: Los Angeles and Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers
FOX is new with Cops and America's Most Wanted
NBC has repeats of Mercy, Law & Order, and Law & Order: SVU
ABC Family has The Prince & Me and The Prince & Me 2
MTV has repeats of South Park and For the Love of Ray J 2, and has Not Another Teen Movie
VH1 has Drumline
Bravo has National Lampoon's Vacation
Late-night highlights include Taylor Swift on Saturday Night Live on NBC

Movie Preview: Despicable Me, Starring Lots of Famous Voices

BuzzSugar — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:30:56 -0800

The same guys who brought us the Ice Age franchise are back to create another potential hit with the 3-D CGI Despicable Me. Seems like every animated movie nowadays wrangles A-list names, but the Despicable roster is even starrier than most. Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Will Arnett, Kristen Wiig, Mindy Kaling, Jack McBrayer - it's like a laundry list of my favorite comedy people. And while I sort of wish we could see them all acting together in the flesh instead of just lending their voices, their involvement really has me hyped.

The story follows the world's No. 2 villain Gru (Carell) on his plot to steal the moon - a plan that gets thwarted by three little orphan girls who challenge his evil ways when they want him to be their dad. The trailer doesn't reveal much, but I'm sure we'll get more footage as we near the June release date. In the meantime, check out the cute preview when you read more.