BuzzSugar

Buzz News Roundup, 8/21

BuzzSugar — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 13:30:33 -0700

The release date of Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island has been pushed back to Feb. 19, 2010. - Coming Soon
Catherine Hardwicke will direct The Girl With the Red Riding Hood, produced by Leonardo DicCaprio's company Appian Way. - Variety
Check out the details on Weezer's seventh album, Raditude. - Billboard
Heather Locklear is in talks to reprise her role on Melrose Place. - People
Josh Zetumer will write the fourth Bourne movie, which is expected in 2011. - Coming Soon
Project Runway brought in huge ratings for Lifetime. - The Hollywood Reporter
Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson will star in The Sunset Limited. - Variety
Warehouse 13 and Drop Dead Diva have been picked up for second seasons. - Zap2it
Legendary Pictures is planning a feature film about Jimi Hendrix. - Variety

Buzz News Roundup, 2/27

BuzzSugar — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 13:30:28 -0800

Jessica Capshaw will continue playing Arizona Robbins on Grey's Anatomy through the end of the season and may return next year. - E! Online
A Total Recall remake is in the works. - ComingSoon
Also on the way: a followup to the most recent Friday the 13th. - The Hollywood Reporter
Jerry Seinfeld is producing a reality series called The Marriage Ref. - AP
The final Harry Potter movie has a release date of July 15, 2011. - Zap2it
Warner Bros. will release Guy Ritchie's Robert Downey Jr.-Jude Law movie, Sherlock Holmes, on Dec. 25 of this year, instead of Nov. 13. - Variety
Two more editions of Survivor are on the way for the 2009-10 TV season. - The Futon Critic
Samuel L. Jackson has signed on to play the role of Nick Fury in Iron Man 2, and potentially many other films. - Variety

The Spirit: A Flashy Story Lacking Soul

BuzzSugar — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 13:30:50 -0800

From dime-store digests to lush graphic novels, the comic-book genre has fully established itself as part of high culture. Along with the literary upgrade have come equally artful films, including The Dark Knight and Sin City. But for all its highbrow hopes, The Spirit plays like a B movie.

Written and directed by Frank Miller of Sin City and 300 fame, The Spirit is no Sin City or even the less cerebral 300. As both artful sketch and pure entertainment, The Spirit is lacking. For all the highs and lows, read more.

With its black-and-white brushstroke canvas and film-noir narration, The Spirit starts with promise. In cahoots with the local cops, the Spirit (Gabriel Macht) is a slain policeman turned subdued superhero and ladies man who feels indebted to keep watch over his city.

Our hero has a campy rivalry with the requisite villain, a theatrical mad scientist known as the Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson) with a genetically engineered posse of doofus henchman. When one brute gets killed off, Octopus and his evil assistant (Scarlett Johansson) just make more, all in pursuit of an urn containing the blood of Heracles that the Octopus needs to secure his immortality.

The plot is fairly simple. Yet with each new character who is introduced- a devoted doctor smitten with the Spirit, an angel of death draped in a sparkly veil, a jewel thief who is the Spirit's childhood love (Eva Mendes) - the movie gets ever more spiritless. Despite its loftiest constructs, mythic undertones, and bizarre Nazi imagery, The Spirit is almost cool but mostly just awkward. The aesthetics look impressive, but the tone is all off. It's like the comic-book film equivalent of a one-camera sitcom without a laugh track that just isn't funny enough.

Photos Courtesy of Lionsgate

Watch, Pass, TiVo, or Rent: Soul Men

BuzzSugar — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:30:32 -0800

This Friday's Soul Men features both the late Bernie Mac and the late Isaac Hayes, lending a bittersweetness to this comedy. What's more, the story follows two estranged musical legends (played by Bernie Mac and Samuel L. Jackson) who pair up again for a reunion performance at the Apollo Theater to honor their recently deceased band leader.

Do you think you'll head out to theaters for this one, catch it later on TV or DVD, or pass altogether?

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Movie Preview: Soul Men

BuzzSugar — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 14:00:59 -0700

After seeing a few clips of Soul Men a little while ago, I was intrigued by this comedy starring Samuel L. Jackson and the late Bernie Mac (it also includes one of Isaac Hayes's final performances), which is why I was happy to recently find an actual trailer.

Everyone knows that Jackson is perfectly suited for roles in dark comedies, but to see him as one half of a straight-up buddy movie is kind of unexpected and fun. He looks quite comfortable playing the straight man here. Of course, there are pangs of grief that come with watching this trailer, but it's also joyful to see Bernie Mac on the screen in a warm, bumbling, and funny role. He's the kind of comedian who makes me laugh just with his gestures and the inflection in his voice.

Needless to say, I will definitely be in line with bells on for this one when it hits theaters November 7. To take a look for yourself, read more.

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First Look: Bernie Mac, Isaac Hayes, Samuel L. Jackson in Soul Men

BuzzSugar — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:30:46 -0700

I knew this movie was being made, but I wasn't paying a ton of attention to it, since there was nothing to check out yet. But now that I've seen a few clips of Soul Men, I honestly can't wait to see it. Sadly, these are now some of the final performances for both Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes, but the good news is that this movie looks great, and yes, soulful. It makes me happy for the two entertainers, may they rest in peace.

Bernie Mac and Samuel L. Jackson star as Floyd and Louis, "two estranged soul-singing legends [who] agree to participate in a reunion performance at the Apollo Theater to honor their recently deceased band leader." Isaac Hayes appears as himself. In one brief clip, Hayes goes to wish Floyd and Louis luck backstage, and Jackson says, "Thanks, we're gonna need it," and then the clip ends right there. Of the three people in that scene, two died in the same weekend. It's a little spooky.

The video will just redirect you to MTV's site anyway, so click here to see all four clips of Soul Men.

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Jumper: Teleport Yourself Far Away From This One

BuzzSugar — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 13:31:55 -0800

The sci-fi "thriller" Jumper can be described in one word: empty. Pretty much everything about this movie is devoid of any real energy, passion or substance. The performances are stale and lifeless, the plot is interesting in theory but fails in execution and the visuals aren't cool enough to keep us engaged. The plot is boringly similar to that of Heroes (which is itself like a clone of X-Men), and yet Heroes is so much more enjoyable. At least Heroes features intriguing characters who might band together for a higher purpose. Lacking both good characters and any kind of higher purpose, Jumper just lays there.

Here's the plot: David (Christensen) is a "Jumper," someone who can teleport himself. The Jumpers of the world are at odds with the Paladins, and one Paladin in particular, Roland (Samuel L. Jackson) is on a mission to rid the world of all Jumpers everywhere. In his pursuit, he has no problem killing all of the jumpers' loved ones. Hence, David's lady friend Millie (Rachel Bilson) is in danger, and David must protect her as well as elude Roland's grasp. That's it for the story, but for more of my thoughts on the film, read more.

In a seriously empty movie, the emptiest part is Hayden Christensen on whom I think we'd be hard-pressed to find a pulse. He must have been stoked to get this part that requires so little of him because this way he can be comatose onscreen and people are left to wonder if it's the actor or the material. I suspect it's a little bit of both, though Christensen definitely needs to be held accountable for his dismal performance. It angers me that he can't even be bothered to, say, add any kind of inflection to his voice. As though we're the ones wasting his time and not the other way around.

And in tired repetition of an old formula, the main female character is helpless and outrageously stupid and the lone black character is the face of evil. David's mother, played by Diane Lane, is also a hateful character. Christensen makes it impossible for us to care about David, so that leaves one interesting character: David's fellow Jumper Griffin, played with some degree of liveliness by Jamie Bell. When the audience is longing to find out more about this secondary character to the point of being annoyed with the protagonists for getting in the way of his story, there's a problem. Unless your eyes need some exercise in rolling, I think it's best you jump away from this movie.

For exclusive videos about Jumper - including a preview video - check out movies.ivillage.com.

Photos courtesy of 20th Century Fox

Movie Preview: Jumper

BuzzSugar — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 10:28:04 -0700

Jumper is a sci-fi movie starring Hayden Christensen, Samuel L. Jackson and Rachel Bilson. Christensen plays a teenager who discovers that he has the power to teleport himself to various places. Using this power, he begins an extensive search for the man he believes killed his mother. None of this is very apparent from the new trailer for Jumper, however, which mainly shows off the teenager's teleporting skills, a little Star Wars-y reunion with Christensen and Jackson, and Rachel Bilson playing the cute girlfriend. Jumper hits theaters February 15, 2008. To watch the trailer, read more

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Link Time!

BuzzSugar — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:30:14 -0700

Stephenie Meyer's The Host will be made into a movie - MTV Movies Blog
Betty White will play herself on 30 Rock - Zap2It
Dwayne Jones, Samuel L. Jackson, and Steve Coogan cast in Adam McKay's The Other Guys - Coming Soon
K-Fed joins the cast of Celebrity Fit Club - TMZ
True Blood's jewelry line has stainless steel and dastardly silver pieces - FabSugar
Bruce Willis' 10 best movies - Rotten Tomatoes
Where's Kirk Cameron? Preachin' about Darwin - Best Week Ever
The early Oscar predictions get started - Moviefone
Pee Wee Herman: Planning a comeback - Vulture
Can Modern Family be the new Arrested Development? - TV.com