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Very Funny Cast Signs Up For Mottola's Paul

BuzzSugar — Wed, 27 May 2009 12:30:33 -0700

So much about this movie news is exciting. First, we've got a great, funny director in Greg Mottola (Superbad, Adventureland). Secondly, there's a script written by the excellent and hilarious British duo Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Spaced). And now, there's a great group of comedic actors rounding out the cast: Seth Rogen, Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, and Jane Lynch (I love that she keeps getting more projects these days!). Here's more on the project, titled Paul:

Pegg and Frost, who wrote the script, will play two science-fiction fanatics on a road trip whose conspiracy dreams come true when they trek to Area 51 and encounter the title character, an escaped alien. Rogen will provide the voice of the alien.

It's not my ultimate comedic dream team, but I see nothing wrong at all with this group of funny people. I can't wait for Paul to invade theaters. Oh man, that's terrible. That's it. I'm done!

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Star Trek: Move Over Kirk, Spock Is Hot

BuzzSugar — Fri, 08 May 2009 10:30:01 -0700

To be honest, I'm not a huge Star Trek fan. Obviously as a member of the human race who was raised in the United States, I've been exposed to the original television show and many of its different iterations. I've even seen some of the movies including Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (responsible for my lifelong fear of earwigs) and the movie I commonly refer to as "the one with the whales," aka Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

So, getting me to be excited for anything Star Trek related is a bit of an uphill battle. Given that, it's a pretty amazing thing director J.J. Abrams and his team have accomplished with this reboot. The movie successfully turns back the clock on a franchise four decades old and brings it back to life with an adrenaline shock to the system that will leave you breathless. And in pure Abrams fashion, the story and characterization do not suffer. The result is popcorn cinema at its best. Despite not being a Trekkie (or Trekker, or whatever you call megafans these days), I can't stop thinking about this movie. To see why, read more.

The question I had going into this movie was: How does one reimagine Star Trek for today's audience without completely alienating hardcore fans? The answer, it turns out, was to simply start over. In a clever twist, the opening sequence sets into motion events that alter the space/time continuum. Yes - and this will come as no surprise to Lost fans - Abrams uses time travel that bends around certain facts. Rather than disregard Trek lore, the filmmakers simply figured out an acceptable way to start fresh with the characters.

Because of these time-bending events, James T. Kirk, the future captain of the USS Enterprise, grows up fatherless in Iowa. He's brilliant but extremely self-destructive. Meanwhile, on Vulcan, a young Spock is teased and discriminated against for having a human mother (Winona Ryder). We know the two young men are destined to meet but when they finally do it's different than what you might imagine. When Kirk (played by Chris Pine with a wink and nod to the original performance) meets Spock (Zachary Quinto) at the Starfleet Academy they do not get along. Kirk is all swagger and machismo. Spock is, of course, logical but Quinto plays him with a smug know-it-all edge that hints at the human emotions beneath the surface.

However, when the movie's villain Nero (Eric Bana) declares war on Vulcan and then Earth, it's all-hands-on-deck time and the two must work together. A bunch of green, yet familiar, cadets - Dr. "Bones" McCoy (Karl Urban), Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Sulu (John Cho), Chekov (Anton Yelchin), and eventually Scotty (Simon Pegg) - suddenly find themselves in charge of a brand-new ship. There are moments when seeing these good-looking youngsters in such a well-known uniform feels a little bit like the Trek version of Muppet Babies. But that feeling is fleeting and for the most part the performances are heartfelt and quite funny.

In the midst of chaos and war, Kirk and Spock become friends - but not before Spock violently pins Kirk's cocky butt to the floor. In Abrams's universe, Spock aims for logic but often succumbs to his emotions, messy though they may be. Pine charges through the film with all the charisma needed in a golden-haired leading man, but in a lot of ways this is Quinto's movie and he actually turns Spock into something of a sex symbol. Some fans might find these changes to the characters' personalities sacrilegious, but I just appreciate the fact that their friendship provides the movie with an emotional center.

In the end, the experience is completely satisfying. There are in-jokes galore that even a Trek philistine like myself found thrilling and there are action sequences that had me on the edge of my seat. It's thoughtful, it looks great, and it's completely absorbing. In terms of epic action-adventures, it doesn't get much better than this.

Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Link Time! 1/6

BuzzSugar — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:30:46 -0800

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are Tintin's Thomson and Thompson! Awww. . . - Cinematical
Are these the 10 most outrageous characters on TV? - TV Squad
Wall-E's EVE nominated for an Oscar? At least two writers (here and here) have fingers crossed on this one! - FilmExperience and Vulture
Check out the video for Bruce Springsteen's heavy - but pretty - "Life Itself." - Stereogum
What movies, music, and TV shows do you find yourselves pushing on your friends? - Monkey See
An attempt to rank the top 5 Sports Night episodes. - Give Me My Remote
Apropos of little but still a fun question: What songs do you sing in the shower? - Popwatch

Check Out the Full-Length Star Trek Trailer

BuzzSugar — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 05:30:00 -0800

"The wait is over." I wonder if J.J. Abrams was feeling cheeky when he made those the final words in this first full-length trailer for Star Trek, which premiered over the weekend before screenings of Quantum of Solace. The last thing we saw was a teaser all the way back in January, and it's been radio silence since then.

So, here we are: our first look at a young James Tiberius Kirk and the others in this quick, action-packed promo. By action-packed, I mean that a lot of things blow up, and there's some punching and some sex (but not in the same scene). And Zachary Quinto looks just as awesome as Spock as I'd hoped he would. Other than that, I leave it to you: What do you think of this trailer? Does it boost your expectations for the movie, or does it fall short? To check it out, just read more.

How to Lose Friends and Alienate People: Not Alienating, Just Not That Funny

BuzzSugar — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 14:00:53 -0700

It’s hard to care too much about someone as obnoxious as Sidney Young, the main character of How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, played by Simon Pegg. Having a main character as unlikable as Sidney is one of the key things that doesn't work in it. There are some things that do work - a few funny bits, some great comedic performances - but they don't quite make up for the experience of watching the movie as a whole, which ends up being just kinda "meh."

The character of Sidney Young is based on the real Toby Young, who wrote the memoir on which this movie is based. In the film, Sidney is a cynical British writer who is obsessed with the notion of celebrity while simultaneously finding it ridiculous. He puts out a magazine in England called Post Modern Review, full of snarky pieces about famous people. Amused by this, Clayton Harding (Jeff Bridges), editor of Sharps magazine in New York offers Sidney a job and the bumbling, uncouth Sidney sets off for glamorous New York. Once at Sharps, however, Sidney discovers that he's expected to write only "safe" celebrity profiles, and that his sarcasm and brutal honesty are unacceptable. Thus, Sidney struggles to succeed at Sharps - as a writer, but also as a boorish guy in a glamorous magazine world - without relinquishing his identity altogether. Of course, there's a love story tossed in, too, so for more on that and everything else, read more.

At Sharps, Sidney meets Alison Olsen (Kirsten Dunst), a droll aspiring novelist who has no problem calling Sidney out on his impertinence. They often engage in that sarcastic banter that is actually flirtatious, but Sidney's not interested in Alison because he's too busy drooling over the beautiful young starlet Sophie Maes (Megan Fox). This storyline is so obvious and predictable, I was certain it would surprise me in the end but alas, there's not a ton of surprise at the end of this movie in general.

I really like Simon Pegg, and his uniquely awesome comedic abilities sometimes save the day here, especially in the beginning when it's funny to watch someone so socially inept act inappropriately at all times. It can be refreshing to see Sidney call out the pretentious charade of American celebrity, but we don't really root for him to succeed because he's kind of a jackass. And then, when he starts to really try to succeed, we certainly don't want him to do so by selling out and writing the crap that Clayton insists he write. But then everything you could have predicted (but didn't truly want to have happen) happens - including the incredibly generic rom-com stuff - and it's a total disappointment. Like the pitiful kid at the party, the colorful balloon of the movie deflates, and we’re left disappointed and sleepy. But then again, after a nap we'll probably forget the entire thing ever happened.

Photos courtesy of MGM

What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 06:30:57 -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 check out the dreamboat special that is Leatherheads and Simon Pegg's comedy Run, Fat Boy, Run.

Sex and the City: The Movie
Well, the big day has arrived: the Sex and the City movie is here for you to rent or own. Whether you missed this one in theaters (hard to imagine) or are excited to fast-forward to your favorite parts, the fab four has come full circle back to your small screen. I'm interested in revisiting this one, since the movie is super long and there is a lot to take in.

This is the kind of movie for which special features were made. Get a load of these: commentary by director Michael Patrick King; a conversation with Sarah Jessica Parker and Michael Patrick King; featurettes titled, "The Fabulous Fashion of Sex and the City," "Fergie in the Studio: Watch a Hit in the Making as the Singer Records Labels or Love for the Movie Soundtrack," and additional scenes.

So, are you bringing this one home this week?

Three more selections to go, so read more.

More TV-to-DVDs
The neverending flow of TV-to-DVD continues this week as more of our favorite shows return to the air with new episodes. Here are two of my favorites, out today.

Samantha Who?: Season One
My mom called after the Emmys to ask about that show Jean Smart is on and I told her Samantha Who?. Then we got into one of those "who's on first?" (ha!) conversations where she kept saying, "Who?" and I would say, "No, that's the name of the show." Anyway, I convinced her to give it a shot because it really is one of the sweetest, most entertaining little scripted comedies around right now. Special features include a blooper reel, deleted scenes, and commentary.
Brothers and Sisters: Season Two
This ABC drama is coming back this Sunday, so catch up on last season while you can! Special features include featurettes ("TV Dinners: Food From Season Two," "Open House: Designing The Brothers and Sisters Set"), and bloopers.

This American Life: Season One
I know a lot of people who, despite my encouragement, still haven't checked out the TV version of this popular Ira Glass NPR radio series, so I'm hoping this DVD release will get more eyeballs on it. The show is unlike most things on television right now, as it gives Americans of all shapes, sizes, colors, and geographical locations a chance to tell their stories.

I can't help but think how nice it feels to explore America this way in the midst of a heated campaign season that can sometimes make the country feel bitterly divided.

Buzz News Roundup, 8/18

BuzzSugar — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:32:35 -0700

Pioneering music executive Jerry Wexler, who helped build Atlantic Records into a powerhouse in the 1950s and 1960s with artists like Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles, died on Friday at age 91. - Reuters
Adam Sandler's latest comedy, You Don't Mess With the Zohan, is banned from Arab cinemas. - Variety
Superbad director Greg Mottola will direct the next Simon Pegg-Nick Frost collaboration, titled Paul. - ComingSoon
The Food Network is looking into the competitive eating genre with a new series tentatively titled Eat the Clock. - Hollywood Reporter
Hanna-Barbera's 1960s show Banana Splits will get a modern makeover on Cartoon Network. - Variety
AC/DC's new album, Black Ice, will be sold exclusively in the U.S. via Wal-Mart, Sam's Club and the band's website, beginning Oct. 20. - Billboard
Now it's totally official: Laurence Fishburne will definitely succeed William Petersen on CSI. - Hollywood Reporter

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A Chat With Spaced's Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright, and Jessica Hynes

BuzzSugar — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 09:30:45 -0700

Hands down, one of the highlights of my Comic-Con experience was getting to meet Simon Pegg and his Spaced cohorts, despite the brevity of our interaction. I sat down for a quick roundtable interview with Pegg and his costar on Spaced, Jessica Hynes, along with Edgar Wright, Pegg's frequent partner in crime (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) and the director of Spaced.

In the British comedy, Pegg and Hynes play Tim and Daisy, who rent a flat in London under the pretense that they are a couple. The show is filled with pop culture references and surreal experiences, and if you haven't already, you ought to get ahold of the newly available Spaced DVDs. For now, check out some of the highlights from our chat.

Q: There are a lot of horror references in Spaced. How did that come about?

Edgar Wright: I think that really is my default setting of shooting everything like it was a horror film, for no apparent reason. I mean, there were definitely a lot of references in the script already, particularly to The Shining . . . The whole style of the show is very stylized and sort of kinetic because the characters are so drenched in pop culture, it’s almost like, if they ever had to describe their mundane lives, this [a horror movie] is what it would look like. So it’s almost like, you’re watching them recount their lives, rather than the actuality.

Simon Pegg: Yeah, 'cause they’re like, "I went to work in a kitchen and it was like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest." Or, "I walked into the room that time and it was like the f---ing Evil Dead," you know? And that’s what you actually see. All three of us love the idea of taking very mundane things and turning them into slightly more grand, cinematic things. Which we took forward into Shaun of the Dead as well after having learned that on Spaced. Jess and I certainly wanted to have this world that was defined by popular culture, shaped by it.

The trio expounds on this and other things (like their intense admiration of Arrested Development), so read more.

Q: Was that also a reaction to the way most sitcoms are shot?

Edgar: Yeah, I think so. I think at the time, when we made the show there were some critics in the UK who assumed that we were trying to sort of burn down traditional sitcoms and that isn’t the case, because some traditionally-shot sitcoms are just fantastic. And it was around the time that Friends was huge, and in the UK there were two or three shows that were kind of trying to do a British Friends, so we wanted to go against that, really.

Jessica: [With] Friends. . . however real it is or funny it is, ultimately there's an aspirational quality to it in terms of the lead characters - the way they look, their world - there’s something slightly unreal about it. And I suppose that I would differentiate between the style of Friends as aspirational and would think of Spaced as sort of inspirational . . . It was important to have it reflect absolutely and intimately our world and experiences and our friends and ourselves. And to have that kind of authenticity it needed to be kind of grubby and sort of . . . real. Because that was our world.

Q: In terms of American TV, do you think there are comedic shows that get it right?

Edgar: Arrested Development did. For the two and a half seasons that it was on-air.

Simon: Arrested Development was just so . . .

Edgar: Fantastic.

Simon: It was depressingly good. Sometimes you watch something as a writer and you think, "Aw, what’s the point?" That show was like that.

Edgar: That was great. Larry Sanders, obviously that’s a bit further back, Curb Your Enthusiasm is really good.

Jessica: I always really liked Seinfeld as a sitcom, just in terms of quality of gags, and characters.

Edgar: And Seinfeld had a big influence, particularly on the second series of Spaced, actually the plotting of Seinfeld was very influential for us.

Simon: I love the American Office, I think it’s great. I love the way that they've taken that and they’ve made it their own.

Photo courtesy of Channel 4

The Official Trailer: How to Lose Friends and Alienate People

BuzzSugar — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 10:35:34 -0700

"Based on the true story of a real idiot."

The teaser for How to Lose Friends and Alienate People was kinda "meh" and the international trailer was downright odd. Now we have the "official" trailer for us Americans who are curious about this movie starring Simon Pegg, Megan Fox, Jeff Bridges, and Kirsten Dunst, and I have to say it is definitely an improvement. I didn't necessarily laugh at any of the moments that are supposed to be funny, but at least I can figure out what to expect from this film.

Based on the true-life story of author Toby Young, the movie looks a touch forced. Still, I adore Simon Pegg (who I recently got to interview - stay tuned for that!) and want to keep an open mind until it opens October 3.

To check out the trailer, read more.

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Comic-Con Round-Up

BuzzSugar — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 07:30:05 -0700

I've been reporting from Comic-Con these past few days, but here's a hodgepodge of random extra bits and pieces from my weekend.

There was a panel I basically happened to attend by accident, which ended up being for this spooky-looking movie The Wolf Man, due in theaters April 3, 2009. Then, to everyone's surprise, the stars of the film, Benicio Del Toro and Emily Blunt, came onstage to talk about it. I'll post the trailer soon, so more on the movie itself later, but for now, how cute is this picture?!
The writers of The Office spoke to a packed house on Saturday, and while the 11 people on the panel (12 if you count moderator Rainn Wilson) felt like a few too many, there were plenty of funny moments, especially from BJ Novak, Michael Schur, and Mindy Kaling. I particularly liked this part of Novak's answer about why he likes writing for Michael Scott: "It's so interesting to see someone with authority be so innocent and so wrong."
Also a winner from that panel: Schur's description of how Dwight would act in the event of an actual robot invasion. "He would cross his arms in the middle of the street as the robots marched down the street, shaking his head and saying 'I told you so!'"
Yeah, the Heroes screening and Hugh Jackman appearance were cool - but one of my other favorite panels of the weekend was much, much smaller. On Friday, I got to hear some of the original voice actors from the classic Peanuts specials talk about what it was like to put together shows like A Charlie Brown Christmas and Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown. Several of the specials will be out on remastered, special-feature-laden DVDs this Fall, and I can't wait! Eventually, they're hoping to bring all the specials (more than 40 of them!) to DVD.
Also, some of the best trivia of the whole weekend came out of that panel: Did you know Fergie was once the voice of Charlie Brown's little sister, Sally? (For more Peanuts trivia, check out today's Brainteaser!)

To find out Seth Rogen's latest dirty comment and to see Zachary Levi's hand in a compromising position, read more.

Friday night’s bawdy session about Zack and Miri Make a Porno was moderated by Kevin Smith and included Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Traci Lords, and several others. The clip from the movie was pretty funny, mostly because of Rogen’s mugging and sarcasm. He's clearly cut out for Kevin Smith's style of comedy. At the panel, Elizabeth Banks had a funny comment when asked about what it was like to play Laura Bush after doing Zack and Miri: "Playing Laura Bush, it’s really just like playing a porn star. Just the hair is different." Rogen followed up with, "She wouldn’t even have to change her name." Yipes!
At the Chuck panel, moderator Kristin Dos Santos tried to get Zachary Levi and Joshua Gomez to repeat their 2007 feat of demonstrating an, er, compromising sexual position for the audience. They wouldn't do it - but did agree to reenact the moment with hand puppets. (See gallery for the image.)
Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright, and Jessica Hynes from Spaced were all over Comic-Con, doing interviews (stay tuned for mine!), panels, and signings to promote the US release of the complete series on DVD. They screened three beloved episodes on Friday night: "Art," "Epiphanies," and "Gone," the one with the finger gun fights. And, speaking of finger gun fights, they kicked off the screening with a gigantic one - Pegg speculated it was their biggest ever - with about 1,000 people participating.
Another smaller but still very cool moment of the trip came in the panel where several Disney artists showed how they created the storyboards for Bolt, the film about a TV superdog who thinks his powers are real. I'm still not sold on John Travolta as the voice of Bolt, but the drawings were adorable (see gallery) and the writing in the sequence we saw, in which some cats torture Bolt in his trailer, was totally clever.
The panel for It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia was fun, but for some reason I thought it would be more so. One of the coolest parts was that Damon Lindelof, executive producer of Lost moderated the panel, and is apparently a huge fan of Always Sunny. Also, little trivia: Rob McElhenney ("Mac" on the show) once played an Other on Lost.
The final celebrity of my trip: Red Fraggle! She made a special appearance at Sunday's Fraggle Rock DVD panel to lead the crowd in a sing-along of "The Beatle Song" and a recitation of the Solemn Fraggle Oath ("weeba weeba, woppa woppa, garpox gumbidge, whoopee!"). It should be noted that the vast majority of the crowd was not, in fact, parents with children but folks in their mid-20s, gloriously reliving their childhood. (The hand claps on the first runthrough of the Fraggle Rock theme were completely spontaneous and perfectly in sync.)

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