BuzzSugar

What Is the Best Action Movie of 2009?

BuzzSugar — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:30:17 PST

2009 had an amazing Summer at the box office, and that was due in part to some amazing action flicks. Surprisingly, they weren't all blockbusters, and they weren't all about just blowing stuff up. What was your favorite action flick of the year?

Don't forget to vote on all of my Best of 2009 polls!

2009 Biggest Headline: Christian Bale's Expletive-Filled Rant Leaks

PopSugar — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:00:00 PST

We've been counting down the biggest headlines of 2009, and we'll be revealing more throughout the month of December. We hope you enjoy this look back at some of the posts and stories that created the most buzz throughout the year.

It was the leaked recording heard around the world - Christian Bale's explicit outburst on the set of Terminator: Salvation emerged in February, setting off a PR nightmare for the actor. It all started when a crew member walked into a intense scene and supposedly ruined a shot for Christian, who then start spewing profanity that was all caught on tape.

Christian decided to apologize for his actions, calling into a radio show a few days after the tape leaked to take full responsibility for his actions. He kept an intentionally low profile for a while following the incident, before publicly showing his support for the crew a few months later. He received a lot of criticism at the time, but by Summer everyone seemed to have moved on and Christian was about to attend the film's premiere with a smile. The incident resulted in one funny upside - Christian Bale's Rant: The Remix.

What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 07:30:00 PST

Looking to add some new DVDs to your entertainment library? It's Tuesday which means there's a slew of movies hitting shelves, including these three releases.

Terminator Salvation

Christian Bale plays John Connor in this latest installment in the Terminator franchise. The film follows an ex-con turned robot (Sam Worthington) who meets up with Connor in the hopes of saving Connor's father (who is currently a teenager), and therefore the human race. Confusing? Yes. But strange time-traveling aside, my biggest complaint is that I miss the humor from the previous films. Still, it's a Netflix possibility thanks to some solid action sequences and Worthington's standout performance (not to mention he's nice to look at).

If you're a die-hard Terminator fan, you may consider the special three-disc Blu-Ray edition, which includes a Director's Cut and behind-the-scenes featurettes.

32%

Two more DVD releases to check out when you

read more. Paper Heart Written by actress/comedian Charlyne Yi, the part documentary, part scripted Paper Heart trails Yi as she interviews a mix of scientists, kids, and even an Elvis impersonator in the hopes of finding out what love is. (And just why she hasn't found it.) Matters get complicated when she meets actor Michael Cera during the course of filming and the two start dating. While their adorable-but-awkward interactions and the puppet-like cartoon sequences may be a bit too cutesy for some, it's a solid pick if you like sugary rom-coms. (Yi even won a screenwriting award at Sundance for it). Special features include a music video for "Heaven" which Cera and Yi co-wrote for the film. 60%
Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian In this sequel to Night at the Museum, Ben Stiller returns as security guard Larry Daley. This time, he's trying to sneak into the Smithsonian to rescue Jedidiah (Owen Wilson) and Octavius (Steve Coogan) who were accidentally shipped there. The first Night at the Museum was fun - and you have Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart this time around - so I wouldn't mind sitting down to watch this with my little cousins during the holiday season. (Plus, I'm a sucker for Hank Azaria who puts on a goofy voice as Egyptian pharaoh Kamunrah.) Bonus material includes an alternate ending and a gag reel, which should be especially entertaining given the cast of comics. 44%

Up Soars at the Box Office

BuzzSugar — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:15:14 PDT

Pixar's Up had a great weekend at the box office, coming in at No. 1 with a whopping $68.2 million. That makes Up the third biggest Pixar debut ever (out of ten) behind The Incredibles and Finding Nemo. It's also worth noting that Up's debut bested Wall-E, which opened last year to $63.1 million.

Interestingly, this particular box office win "validates Disney’s decision to let its Pixar unit put creativity before commerce. Some Wall Street analysts . . . had predicted the film would have a difficult time attracting children because of its geriatric action hero." Hurray for putting story first!

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian continued to do well and scored second place over the weekend. Drag Me to Hell debuted at No. 3 followed by Terminator Salvation and Star Trek.

Image courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures

Found: John Connor's Handy Mobile Computer

GeekSugar — Fri, 29 May 2009 03:46:05 PDT

In the future . . . you must carry an Ultra Mobile PC! Even after "Judgment Day," it's good to see that the Resistance can still get their hands on some hot gadgets to fight the good fight. I saw Terminator: Salvation last week and was happy to see the Sony Vaio UX ($2500) make a cameo just as John Connor rushes to save the world (don't worry, I won't reveal any spoilers!).

Hitting the scene at CES back in 2007, the Vaio UX is not a smartphone - it's a micro computer. It's built with a solid-state drive, Bluetooth, GPS, Wide Area Network 5 (WAN5) technology (to get a wireless signal faster and farther), USB 2.0 ports, and two cameras designed to make video conferencing easy while on the go (or, in this case, on the run).

I was hoping to find a picture of this bad boy in full cinema action, but no dice. I guess you'll just have to go see it in theaters for yourselves!

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Christian and His Ladies Find Paris Salvation

Molly — Fri, 29 May 2009 02:00:00 PDT

Christian Bale donned another dark suit for the premiere of Terminator: Salvation in Paris yesterday. His female costars Moon Bloodgold and Bryce Dallas Howard smiled by his side, but as usual Christian's leading lady was his wife Sibi. The movie failed to earn the top box office spot over Memorial Day weekend in the US, so we'll have to see how the newest installment in the saga does overseas. It's only the first of Bale's blockbusters due out this Summer, but already most of you preferred to see him playing Batman in last year's record breaking hit The Dark Knight.

To see more from the premiere including Christian, Sibi and others just read more.

View 5 Photos ›

Source

John Connor vs. Bruce Wayne: Which Blockbustin' Bale Is Better?

BuzzSugar — Thu, 28 May 2009 08:30:28 PDT

Now that Christian Bale has lit up the big screen for another Summer blockbuster in Terminator Salvation, tell me: How do you like your Bale? As the gravel-voiced Bruce Wayne of the Batman movies? Or as the intense leader, John Connor, in a futuristic Terminator world?

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.

Box Office: Night at the Museum Beats Terminator!

BuzzSugar — Tue, 26 May 2009 07:30:52 PDT

Ben Stiller's Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian blew Terminator Salvation out of the water over Memorial Day weekend, earning an estimated $70 million.

However, despite coming in second place, McG's effort to revive the popular sci-fi franchise is still a success, earning a solid $53.8 million. That's impressive considering Terminator's less-than-glowing reviews, as well as competition in the action-adventure genre from Star Trek, which came in third place.

Angels & Demons came in at No. 4 followed by Dance Flick which debuted at No. 5.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Terminator Salvation: Why So Serious?

BuzzSugar — Fri, 22 May 2009 10:30:27 PDT

I remember being awed by James Cameron's Terminator 2: Judgment Day when I first saw it in theaters. I was young, but I knew even then that this was the kind of blockbuster that only comes around once in a while. It had heart-stopping action sequences, and parts were genuinely terrifying. I was drawn in by a charismatic, wisecracking teenager named John Connor, who would grow up to become a powerful post-apocalyptic leader of the human race. And the best part was the funny and touching relationship young Connor developed with the Austrian-accented Terminator sent to save him from the future.

Now, here comes director McG, reviving the franchise with Terminator Salvation by taking us into the nightmarish future that previous movies only hinted at. The year is 2018, and Skynet, an evil computer robot dictator, has bombed up the earth. Only a small population of humans has survived. Large and in charge is none other than John Connor, all grown up and looking like Christian Bale. In fact, grown-up Connor sounds just like Bale's other famous Summer movie character, Batman. And like Bale's Batman, his Connor is very serious - because, you know, these are serious times. But this movie would have been a lot more entertaining if both McG and Bale had lightened up a bit. To see why,

read more. The movie actually opens in 2003, where we meet Marcus Wright (played by newcomer Sam Worthington), who is a murderer on death row. He donates his body to science, and before we know it he's emerging muddy from a pile of futuristic rubbish without a clue as to what's gone down. Wright might be human, he might not be, and that's the question that haunts him throughout the movie. Worthington is a godsend in the role, and he manages to infuse his brutish, indestructible character with some humanity. Things get interesting when Wright bumps into a young teenager named Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin) - who, we know from previous movies, will become John Connor's father. Some time in the future (even beyond 2018), Reese will travel back in time to impregnate Connor's mom, Sarah (Linda Hamilton, whose voice appears in the movie). The timeline gets even more mind-blowing when Connor realizes that a teenager out there is his dad and Skynet is working on killing him. I kept thinking, "If Skynet kills Reese does Connor go poof right now?" A big disappointment, though, is that Reese isn't, like his son was once upon a time, more of a smartass. There is so much opportunity in this story to give Wright and Reese some fun dialogue, but alas, they don't say much to each other and spend most of the movie running from a wide variety of incredibly loud robots. Overall, dialogue is the big thing missing from this movie. There are impressive action sequences galore, but no one really talks. And the talking that is there is earnest but somehow empty. McG and his team don't bother digging into - and having fun with - the lore that Cameron created, and it feels like a missed opportunity. Also, while everything is open to interpretation, I would have thought more effort would have been made to preserve the original tone. Edward Furlong established John Connor as a scrappy and unlikely hero with a wicked sense of humor. Christian Bale is humorless, dour, and void of human emotion. In other words, he's robotic - and the movie follows his course. In the end, it's hard to figure out which robot you want to win. Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.

How Well Do You Know Christian Bale?

BuzzSugar — Fri, 22 May 2009 05:50:28 PDT

Christian Bale has been making movies for decades and he's only 35 years old! He successfully made the transition from child actor to respected thespian and has even become a bona fide blockbuster star. He found his way into my heart as a Newsie, and then even more so as a "swing kid," and by the time he played Laurie in Little Women I was a goner. I try to remember what a talented guy he is even in the midst of controversy. Now in honor of his leading role in Terminator Salvation, I thought I'd test your knowledge of the one and only Christian Bale.

Source

Take the Quiz