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Summer Reading: Is Summer Blockbuster Hype Too Much?

BuzzSugar — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 13:00:51 -0700

After seeing Tropic Thunder, I felt a teensy bit of relief that the Summer blockbuster events of 2008 seemed to be over at long last. Not that I didn't have fun, but I'm a little maxed out on major hype, epic special effects, and huge box office totals. I'm ready to dig out my warm jackets and sweaters and settle down with some little Fall movie gems.

I'm not alone in this feeling, as Salon's movie critic Stephanie Zacharek describes her own fatigue in a thoughtful piece she wrote this week called "Do You Suffer from Blockbuster Fatigue?" She broaches some interesting topics and makes some good points, including:

Zacharek says that "this year the assortment of big Summer movies hasn't been that different from other Summers in recent memory," but she wonders: "So why has the Summer of 2008 seemed exhausting in a way previous Summers haven't?"
Here's one excellent point she makes: "The most important element of Summer-blockbuster culture isn't the selling of movies; it's the selling of anticipation, because the amount of time we might spend looking forward to a big Summer movie is almost always longer than the shelf life - in theaters, at least - of the actual movie."
Also, did you know the all-important opening weekend summer box office precedent started with Jaws in 1975? Zacharek notes that after that fateful and lucrative summer, Jaws became "the picture to beat, and to emulate." Thus the action-adventure tradition.
She concludes her column by accepting that Summer blockbusters that have "great characters, an arresting visual style, and brilliant storytelling" and also draw millions to see them are "rare and elusive." She says fatigue comes when Hollywood tries to repeat a winning formula, like with The Dark Knight. "The minute you try," she writes, "you've already diluted some of the magic."

What do you think? Has the summer of 2008 been overwhelming in hype? Or do you hope blockbuster season gets bigger and better each year?

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What to TiVo: Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:50:52 -0800

ABC is new with V, Dancing With the Stars, and The Forgotten
CBS is new with NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, and The Good Wife
FOX is new with So You Think You Can Dance
NBC is new with Merry Madagascar and The Biggest Loser
The CW is new with 90210 and Melrose Place
AMC is new with The Prisoner
Bravo is new with Tabatha's Salon Takeover
Comedy Central is new with Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report
E! is new with Fashion Police: New Moon
FX is new with Sons of Anarchy
MTV is new with The Hills, The City, and Styl'd
Late-night highlights include Andy Garcia on Lopez Tonight on TBS; Tyra Banks on The Jay Leno Show on NBC; Penelope Cruz on The Late Show With David Letterman on CBS; 50 Cent and Jane Lynch on The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien on NBC; Woody Harrelson on The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson on CBS; Neko Case on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on NBC; and John Stamos on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC

What to TiVo: Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:50:44 -0800

ABC is new with V, Dancing With the Stars, and In the Spotlight with Robin Roberts: Bright Lights, Big Stars, All Access Nashville
CBS is new with NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, and The Good Wife
FOX is new with So You Think You Can Dance
NBC is new with The Biggest Loser
The CW is new with 90210 and Melrose Place
Bravo is new with Tabatha's Salon Takeover
Comedy Central is new with The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report
FX is new with Sons of Anarchy
MTV is new with The Hills, The City, and Styl'd
Late-night highlights include Jamie Foxx and Marc Anthony on Lopez Tonight on TBS; Jack Hanna and Shakira on The Late Show With David Letterman on CBS; Jessica Biel on The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien on NBC; Amerie on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC; and Nina Garcia on The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson on CBS

What to TiVo: Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:50:05 -0800

ABC is new with V, Dancing With the Stars, and The Forgotten
CBS is new with NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, and The Good Wife
FOX is new with So You Think You Can Dance
NBC is new with The Biggest Loser
The CW is new with 90210 and Melrose Place
Bravo is new with Kathy Griffin: Balls of Steel and Tabatha's Salon Takeover
E! is new with Secret Celebrity
MTV is new with The Hills and The City
Comedy Central is new with The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report
FX is new with Sons of Anarchy
Late-night highlights include Al Gore and Brad Paisley on The Late Show With David Letterman on CBS; Pamela Anderson on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC; Valerie Bertinelli on The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson on CBS; Arnold Schwarzenegger on The Jay Leno Show on NBC; Neil Patrick Harris and Creed on The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien on NBC; and Matthew Broderick and Reba McEntire on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on NBC

Good Hair: A Funny, Informative Doc For Everyone

BuzzSugar — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:06:03 -0700

Chris Rock's first shot at a documentary was spurred on by a simple question his daughter asked: "Daddy, why don't I have good hair?" Good Hair is Rock's quest to find out what that is, and why we - men and women, black and white - care so much.

It's not a race relations angle as much as the trailer makes it seem, but rather an investigation into the phenomenon his two young daughters are growing up into: that straight European hair is what's desirable, beautiful, and worth lots of money and pain to get.

Check out Bella's review, and to hear what I liked about the film, just read more.

As a documentarian, Rock excels at putting his subjects at ease, and his experts run the gamut. There are African-American women (particularly actresses like Nia Long and Eve), who can report their feelings firsthand about their hair and the extra pressure from Hollywood they endure to conform. Ice T is hilarious whether he's talking about silicone or wearing curlers in his hair for mugshots. Rock even gets Maya Angelou and Al Sharpton to deliver some of the documentary's biggest laughs. Yes, that's the kind of doc this is - one in which a political figure can make the momentous occasion of lobbying for Martin Luther King Jr. Day into a knee-slapping anecdote.

Watching a doc with as many one-liners as a Judd Apatow flick, I left wondering why more comedians don't make documentaries. Then again, Rock shows that he's green as a nonfiction filmmaker when he initiates conversations only to abruptly drop them. There is a lot to be said for black women striving for straight hair in a cultural context, and Rock raises this issue, but doesn't make a strong point about it. Particularly frustrating is Rock's discovery that most of the human hair sold as weaves in the US comes from India; specifically, from worshipers in India who sacrifice their hair to God in a ritual called Tonsure. Rock shows the Tonsure ceremony and the hair removal, but stops short of questioning what I think is a gross offense.

That's not to say Rock doesn't have some major revelations; he exposes the harms of sodium hydrochloride, also known as chemical relaxer (street name: "creamy crack"). His tenaciousness at that issue makes me wish he'd delved further into the other important matters of the movie.

On the whole, though, this is a solid effort for a first documentary, and it's surprisingly weighty subject matter. When you might think that he's gone a bit too far from his own point of reference, he brings it back to why he's looking at "good hair" in the first place -for his daughters. From salons in Beverly Hills to barber shops in Compton, Rock makes you laugh while opening your eyes to a hairy social subject.

Photos courtesy of Roadside Attractions

90210 vs. Melrose Place: Which Was More Scandalous?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 07:30:00 -0700

Meh. Maybe I'm still feeling down on the Tuesday night double-header after last week, but the latest episodes of 90210 and Melrose Place seemed irksome. Really Sasha, did you actually take Dixon back after learning he's in high school?! Come on. And then there's the whole Lauren prostitution storyline that, to me, is feeling a little tired already. Still, leave it to The CW to give us several salacious plot points! Let's dissect them, shall we?

Check out my list of big moments from both shows, and then tell me which one you think deserves the award for this week's drama queen when you read more.

90210 point: Naomi finds out that her grades aren't good enough to get into her dream college, so she fakes being a tree-hugger to woo the dean's son into dating her. How hilarious was it to see her on a bike with a helmet and a Sigg bottle?!
Melrose Place counterpoint: David and Jonah's friendship gets tested when Jonah is accused of stealing a necklace. Jonah believes that David might have taken it, confronts him, and a nervous David denies, denies, denies. Then the jewelry miraculously reappears...

90210 point: Teddy and hottie classmate Jasmine double date with Navid and Adrianna. After an icky spit-swapping battle between the couples. Adrianna and Teddy confront each other in the hallway and start a mini makeout sesh of their own.
MP counterpoint: Violet is trying to get between Auggie and well, anyone. When she realizes that he's friends with a female bartender at the restaurant, Violet plants money in her purse so the poor girl gets fired. Looks like Violet is going to take over her job so she can sink her claws more into Auggie.

90210 point: Dixon loses his cover when Sasha runs into his mom at the nail salon. He spends the rest of the episode trying to win her back - and succeeds. I'm only further convinced that Sasha is an idiot. First, she doesn't realize that Dixon's only 17, and then she still sleeps with him knowing the truth? Oh, Sasha, this will not end well for you.
MP counterpoint: Lauren gets into her new call girl career and enters into an agreement with her madam. (Hello, did you see that crazy pimp hair?!) Then Lauren does a striptease for a client that was a bit borderline porno. I actually wanted to shower afterward.

90210 point: Silver bolts after seeing her mother at Adrianna's AA meeting. Later, her mom tries to give her a car to make amends, so Silver shows up to AA - then gets up in front of the room and tells her mother to stay away from her. Ouch. What's even worse: We later learn that Jackie has cancer.
MP counterpoint: We learn a whole lot more about Ella, like that she hired a P.I. to break into Sydney's apartment on the night of her murder to find evidence that Sydney was trying to ruin her career. With her alibi ruined, it seems she may just end up in handcuffs very soon.

Okay, this one goes to Melrose Place. Even though Dixon and Teddy both make solid cases for 90210, Lauren's impromptu bedroom dance was one of the racier things I've seen on TV in a while. What do you think? Does 90210 deserve more credit?

Can't get enough 90210? Check out the 90210 Superfans group in the Buzz Community!

Photos courtesy of The CW