BuzzSugar

Buzz News Roundup, 8/28

BuzzSugar — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:30:27 -0700

Kristin Chenoweth will be a guest judge on the next season of American Idol. - Zap2it
Mad Men's Christina Hendricks will join Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel in Life as We Know It. - Variety
Laura Linney will star in The C Word, a new comedy pilot for Showtime about a suburban wife battling cancer. - The Hollywood Reporter
Robin Williams will star in the romantic comedy Wedding Banned. - Reuters
Brandon Routh, most famous for his role in Superman Returns, will have a recurring role on the upcoming season of Chuck. - Entertainment Weekly
Daniel Craig will star in the psychological thriller Dream House. - Coming Soon
TNT has ordered a third season of Leverage. - Variety
Helen Mirren has signed on for a film adaption of Graham Greene's Brighton Rock. - Variety

Movie Preview: Robin Williams in World's Greatest Dad

PopSugar — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 07:30:56 -0700

I have a love/hate relationship with Robin Williams' movies. In films like Good Will Hunting and Dead Poets Society, he brings a certain brilliant sincerity to his roles, which I admire and find so entertaining to watch. On the other hand, I've come to dread his over-the-top, cringe-worthy antics in cheesy comedies like License to Wed.

I'm happy to report that Williams's role in the upcoming movie World's Greatest Dad falls into the category of performances I think I can get behind. Williams stars as Lance Clayton, teacher of poetry, aspiring writer, and father of a typically bratty teenager. At first, Lance seems like a dad who has given up trying to connect to his son, but as the trailer goes on we see that Lance has his own brand of snark and retorts for his son's wisecracks. Eventually, a freak accident leads to Lance's big break, and he owes all of his success to his relationship with his son. The movie looks darkly funny if not a bit sad, but I'm definitely interested in seeing if Williams shines as well in the film as he does in the preview. World's Greatest Dad opens Aug. 21 and to check it out, read more.

Do You Watch Stand-Up Specials on TV?

BuzzSugar — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:30:53 -0700

Robin Williams is bringing his comedy act back to HBO this Fall, taping his first stand-up special for the network in seven years and his fourth HBO special overall. He's just the latest comedian to book a special on HBO, which has long been a showcase for comedians including George Carlin, Will Ferrell, Ricky Gervais, Dana Carvey, and many more. Comedy Central has also been a big outlet for stand-up over the years with its Comedy Central Presents series. I'm wondering: Do you like watching stand-up specials on TV? Does it depend on the comedian? Or do you think this kind of thing is best suited to live shows?

Buzz News Roundup, 7/16

BuzzSugar — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:33:58 -0700

Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio may star together in Quentin Tarantino's movie Inglorious Bastards, according to Variety.
ComingSoon reports that Diablo Cody will develop a comedic movie script based on an idea that Steven Spielberg came up with, though no further plot details are available to us at the moment.
Tween alert! The Desperate Housewives kids have officially been recast, writes the Hollywood Reporter.
Autumn Reeser is one of three additions to the cast of Valentine, Inc., a show about Greek gods living among us that will air on the CW this Fall, writes Zap2it.
According to Variety, Danny DeVito will direct The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, with Morgan Freeman, Pierce Brosnan and Saoirse Ronan starring.
The Hollywood Reporter has the scoop on The World's Greatest Dad, an indie comedy in which Robin Williams will star as that great dad.
The Letters from a Nut books, in which a guy writes angry letters to various corporations, are being developed into a TV series for Fox, Reuters reports.
Actor Justin Theroux may be writing the script for Iron Man 2, writes Zap2It.
William Petersen is leaving CSI, The Associated Press reports.

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How Do You Feel about High-Profile Guest Stars on TV?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:33:17 -0700

This week, Law & Order: SVU announced something of a casting coup, saying it had gotten Robin Williams to guest-star on the show's 200th episode on April 29. It was already a big week for news about cameo appearances, anyway, as we're now counting down the days till Britney's big appearance on How I Met Your Mother.

Show producers seem to especially love getting big-name guest stars for milestones and key ratings periods, like the February and May sweeps - and I expect we'll be seeing more guest stars this spring as shows try to drum up some attention in the aftermath of the writers' strike. I'm wondering: Do you like it when big-name actors or personalities show up on your favorite TV shows? Or do you just find it distracting?

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Link Time! 7/5

BuzzSugar — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 13:15:12 -0700

The Film Experience's hottie of the week is James Marsden (of Hairspray, among other things) whom I think is underused and highly attractive.
MTV's Movie Blog has a chat with John Travolta and Robin Williams about a movie they're doing together called Old Dogs.
Cinematical reports on the rumor that Jim Carrey and director Robert Zemeckis teaming up to make A Christmas Carol utilizing the same animation used in The Polar Express and the upcoming Beowulf.
The TV Addict has video of the "Battlestar Galactica" panel at Sci Fi's digital press tour.
I missed the anti-drug commercial that features a talking dog, so I'm glad BestWeekEver posted it.

Speaking of commercials, You Ain't No Picasso finds video of a couple of ads featuring songs by Feist and Architecture in Helsinki.
TV Squad tells us how to get a sneak peek of the new Ken Burns documentary, The War.
BellaSugar looks at Joan Jett's beauty with attitude.
Idolator wants to know what the soundtrack was for your local fireworks display.

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License To Wed: Don’t Walk Down That Aisle

BuzzSugar — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 10:30:00 -0700

I would love to write wonderful things about License to Wed. I wish I had things to say about the comedic timing, the brilliant acting and the warm fuzzy feeling you get from just the right amount of cheesiness in the ending. These would be the makings of a great romantic comedy, which unfortunately, License to Wed just isn't.

From the moment the movie begins, the story is rushed. The first few minutes give us a montage showing how our leading characters meet each other, fall in love and are catapulted into the hellacious chain of events that is License to Wed. John Krasinski and Mandy Moore are Ben and Sadie, the adorably average couple who find themselves trying to gain a minister’s approval with their big day just 3 weeks away. In order to get their marriage license, Reverend Frank (the obnoxious and cringe-worthy Robin Williams) puts the couple through trials that are supposed to test their compatibility and their ability to act as responsible parents and spouses. These pose problems for the couple, of course so read more

Of course, as anyone can predict, Ben’s patience is tested more than anything else. Since it was Sadie’s wish to be married by Reverend Frank, she sees nothing wrong with his absurd antics, which range from prohibiting the couple from having sex to leaving two hideous robotic babies in their care. I begrudgingly accepted this behavior from Teri Polo in Meet the Parents but coming from Sadie, it is virtually unforgivable. Not only does she candidly discuss her sex life with the Reverend while Ben watches with incredible embarrassment, but she agrees to drive her car blindfolded as a means to test her communication skills with Ben, with no reservations whatsoever. There were about 50 things in License to Wed that were pretty inconceivable, but that one takes the cake for sure.

The movie does have aspects that could have been developed a little more for the greater good. The supporting cast, which includes Christine Taylor and a handful of John's quirky co-stars from The Office are very funny, but their on-screen time is little more than teasing cameos that leave us wanting more.

As bad as this movie is, there is a glimmer of hope which can be found in Mandy and John. While there are no surprises in the way Ben and Sadie seem to mirror John and Mandy’s personalities, the characters compliment each other in a way that is at times delightful. They are both so likable and exude that air of being a couple that you want to root for. Unfortunately, my affinity for the couple only made it that much more frustrating when they were overshadowed by Robin Williams and his ridiculousness. It is refreshing to see a fairly new pair of actors on the screen, but it is wasted on a movie that never really takes off.

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.

Movie Clip: License to Wed

BuzzSugar — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 09:39:12 -0700

Thank you to MTV.com for this little clip of John Krasinski, Mandy Moore and Robin Williams from License to Wed, their romantic comedy opening next week on July 3. As you may have seen from the previews, Robin Williams plays the minister advising soon-to-be newlyweds Sadie (Moore) and Ben (Krasinski) on all things marriage. For one of their ill-conceived pre-wedding challenges, Ben directs a blindfolded Sadie as she drives. My favorite part of this whole thing may be the intro, however, when the three are in bed together, and then Mandy drives them away, only to have Williams flop back on the bed. The clip itself features Krasinski being adorable as usual, so read more

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First Look: Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers in August Rush

BuzzSugar — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 07:30:00 -0700

August Rush is a fantasy-drama (I think) that comes out in October, but I know many of you are fans of Jonathan Rhys Meyers (don't forget to enter my "Tudors" DVD giveaway!), so I'm passing along this brand-new trailer. Keri Russell also stars, as Louis Rush's (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) love interest. Together the two have a child, August Rush, who they are forced to give up (played by Freddie Highmore who played Charlie in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). Later, they all magically seek each other out via their unique musical talents. Or something.

All I know is that it looks like Robin Williams plays an advice-doling urban cowboy - without a trace of irony. The jury's still out as to who, exactly, this movie is geared toward, but if you like any of these actors the trailer is worth checking out, so read more

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BuzzSugar at Conan: Stood Up by the Frolf Champ!

BuzzSugar — Thu, 03 May 2007 15:50:26 -0700

Well, if you saw Wednesday night's "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," you know that Conan got stood up by one very important, previously promised guest: frisbee golf national champion David Feldberg. I'm sure Mr. Feldberg is a busy man - frolf is a very big deal, after all - but really. Couldn't he have taken just a few minutes out of his jam-packed schedule to chat with my favorite red-haired comedian?

As a result, I only got to see one guest at my first live "Conan" taping: Robin Williams, the Bay Area's resident jokester and accent-doer, who's always a good on a talk show. My favorite part of his interview came when he launched into an imitation of a couple of the birds from Discovery's "Planet Earth" series.

But the best part of being at "Conan" was just seeing what goes on behind the scenes at a live taping, so for more (and a video of one of my favorite moments) read more

First of all, the crowd was much more raucous in person than you could hear or see on TV. I know it's San Francisco, and we tend to be fairly celebrity-deprived. But honestly, from the reaction when Conan arrived on set, you'd think we'd never seen a famous person before. By the time Conan tried to calm the crowd by pretending to go to sleep on stage, we'd been cheering for a steady five minutes, at least.

I'm not sure how many people fit into the Orpheum Theatre ("San Francisco's finest theater, in its 25th finest neighborhood"), but considering my spot in line was a city block away, there were lots of us. The line zigzagged back and forth, and students from one of the local universities walked around selling the orange foam "hair" that Conan briefly wore on TV. When we finally were let into the theater, I discovered I'd be sitting way up in the balcony, in the next-to-last row; the woman behind me actually used binoculars.

Here were some of the other things I noticed:

The fake Golden Gate Bridge is so much more impressive than it looks on TV. I mean, it's huge!
Conan's clearly taken his trip to San Francisco seriously; on Wednesday he paid homage to local grocery and music stores, infamous neighborhoods, and - of course - the cable car. Then there was this charming tribute to a local hole-in-the-wall eatery:
I'd never really appreciated the Max Weinberg Seven before, but they're actually totally awesome. At one point the trumpeter held a single note for what seemed like an impossibly long time. Rock on, Max Seven.
The San Francisco interview set - desk, couch, chair, end table - is all on a big platform that the crew rolled out after the opening monologue, then rolled away again before the Glide Ensemble performed.
Because Robin Williams was the only guest, it was a pretty clip-happy show. During the clips, Conan mostly just paced around the stage, occasionally cracking up at one of the jokes.
The taping actually pauses to leave room for commercial breaks. During one of them, Conan broke into a pretty elaborate dance routine for us.
At one point, the taping stopped for an extra-long time. Conan, who'd been poised to introduce the musical group from the center of the bridge, kept looking at his watch and even giving exaggerated "I don't know!" shrugs to the audience. At one point, he even dropped to the ground and did a few push-ups, just to get the energy in the room back up.
After the show, Conan stuck around for a while, signing foam hair and posters, but the crew ushered him offstage after about five minutes. Max hung out for longer.

I'm going back for today's taping with Randy Jackson and Patton Oswalt, so I'll be back tomorrow with the scoop!

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