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Summer Reading: 12 New Books to Check Out

BuzzSugar — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:30:29 -0700

Every Summer, book publishers dress up new titles in breezy, summery covers that feature ladies on the beach, or a house on the beach, or flowers, or flowers on ladies - it's sometimes hard tell the whimsical poolside read from the heart-wrenching memoir. So when I came across a helpful article that sorts through this Summer's new releases , I just had to share. May you spend many long, lazy Summer days reading!

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Summer Reading: Conan Takes On Tonight

BuzzSugar — Mon, 25 May 2009 08:30:36 -0700

I hope you've got big plans to grill up some food and sip some drinks (ideally with little umbrellas) on this Memorial Day, but if you need some light reading to keep you company, I recommend checking out the New York Times Magazine's take on Conan O'Brien. O'Brien, whom a lot of you have been missing these past few months, steps into The Tonight Show's vaunted hosting seat on June 1, and the Times profile explores whether his brand of humor can work on the legendary show.

Writes reporter Lynn Hirschberg:

O’Brien’s approach to comedy and television is analytical and exact. There’s a split in his psyche: he can be goofy, but he obsesses over the nuances of that goofiness. He’s constantly trying to puzzle out how best to be funny five nights a week for an audience of millions.

To see what makes this piece worth checking out, just read more.

The profile talks about his "Darwinian" approach to crafting a show (and includes some glimpses of early Tonight Show ideas), as well as glimpses of how much serious thought went into O'Brien's last Late Night show back in February. There are also a few revealing tidbits about Jay Leno's move to 10 p.m. after he vacates Tonight - including Leno bragging that, "We can do five of my new show for the cost of one CSI: Miami" and an NBC executive's revelation that he once wanted Oprah to do a five-nights-a-week talk show in primetime and resurrected the idea with Leno instead to get him to stay at NBC.

But my favorite parts of the profile are the ones that really get at what O'Brien's dealing with as he gets ready to take the high-profile spot. In one passage, he says:

"I just have to block that nonsense out. In entertainment, you have to stake out what you think is right, you have to put out that signal, make sure it’s pure and then do it and do it and do it and know that they will come. And if they don’t, you have to pack up your bags and say: 'I enjoyed my time here. Sorry it didn’t work out.' But the biggest mistake would be to alter my signal to make sure that I reach all these different people. Because then you’re lost."

In all, this extended peek into O'Brien's psyche just gets me even more pumped to see what happens when he's behind the desk at The Tonight Show next week. Take a peek and then let me know what you think.

Photo courtesy of NBC

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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Summer Reading: Is Independent Film Dying?

BuzzSugar — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 10:30:45 -0700

One of the more interesting entertainment-related stories I came across this past week is a Salon "Beyond the Multiplex" column about a subject near and dear to my heart: independent film. In the story, writer Andrew O'Hehir looks at the signs that indie films - so hot just a few years ago - are undergoing a pretty serious slide at the box office. Among the evidence:

Several "independent" divisions of major studios are slashing their workforce or shutting their doors.
Though Juno was a success last year, none of this year's indie films have broken through in a big way at the box office.
The "digital revolution" has led to more films being produced than the market can hold, and many of them aren't great quality.
Despite all that, more people than ever are saying they'd rather see independent films than studio fare.

It's an interesting look at a possibly outdated model for distributing smaller, quirkier films. So, go give it a read, and then come back here and tell me what you think about the state of independent film today.

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Summer Reading: The NYT Delves Into Mad Men

BuzzSugar — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 14:00:07 -0700

If you've got some extra time today, I recommend taking a read through this New York Times Magazine story about Mad Men (it's also out in today's edition of the print magazine, if reading thousands of words online isn't your cup o' chai). It's a fascinating look at the show and its creator, Matthew Weiner. Among the best tidbits:

Weiner wrote the pilot of Mad Men while working on the show Becker; it got him a job on The Sopranos but his series pitch was rejected by both HBO and Showtime.
At least one prominent ad man of the '60s is annoyed by the show, which he think plays down the work he did in favor of "three-martini lunches" and ogling women.
If someone's tie is tied wrong on the show, that's probably because the actor tied it himself. Weiner thinks a slightly imperfect look enhances the show's authenticity.
The show has only made two blunders that Weiner regrets . . . but you should go read the story to find out what they are!

If you're just getting into Mad Men, beware of some spoilers in the story -but if you love the show, it really is a great read. Enjoy, and then come back here to discuss!

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I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell: An Unfunny Waste of Time

BuzzSugar — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 08:30:13 -0700

You're supposed to think that the jokes in I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell are so shocking, so offensive, that you laugh because you forget being PC for a moment. And if you don't laugh, you're the kind of square that Tucker Max, the lead character, takes aim at.

The real story is that the movie is offensive, but not because it's just so edgy. It's offensively unfunny - that is, the movie's jokes are not so offensive that they're not funny, they're such bombs you're shocked someone got paid for this. To see why I thought this movie was so terrible, just read more.

The Tucker Max of the movie (played by Matt Czuchry) is based on the real-life Tucker Max, who wrote the memoir the film is based on, which was based on his blog. I read the blog a bit and found it mildly amusing - so what changed in the film version? Nothing, really, I just think the larger scale of a movie can't validate the boringly immature Max. There's a plot, here, sort of: Tucker wants to give his best friend an epic bachelor party and whisks him out of town, where hijinks ensue (sound familiar? More on that later).

Tucker is supposed to be totally boorish and offensive, but his crudeness and raunchy jokes are not shocking; they're just lame. He talks about killing a fat girl and brags about having sex with a deaf girl. Yeah. Laughing at the inappropriate is not the new territory this movie acts like it is; five minutes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia provides more laughs than this movie does in its 105 minutes.

The one emotion I had watching I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell that wasn't disgust or boredom was sympathy. I felt bad for the poor actors, especially Gilmore Girls' Matt Czuchry, whom I've rooted for - I hoped he would land a great role that would invigorate his career. This is not that role. (All is not lost: he's in this Fall's The Good Wife.)

Even the adorable Czuchry can't make Max charming, nor can cute Jesse Bradford make Max's best friend Drew anything but abhorrent. It's painful watching him force out such pathetic one-liners. By the time Max and Drew are supposed to be redeemed, you don't believe any of it (but it does signal the end of the movie, so that's a relief). And I have to mention: there's the grossest fecal scene I've ever seen in a movie (it puts the poop monster in Dogma to shame).

Pouring salt in the movie's unfunny wounds is timing - The Hangover was released earlier this summer with a similar storyline, and it was a huge hit. But to call it a poor man's The Hangover is too generous; The Hangover was funny.

What movies are you seeing this weekend? Review them in our Movie Review Group!