BuzzSugar

Buzz News Roundup, 12/8

BuzzSugar — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 13:30:30 -0800

Heath Ledger was posthumously given the Australian Film Institute's international award for best actor for his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight. - AP
Reflecting on Boston Legal, which will air its final episode tonight. - USA Today
The award-winning comic book series Fables is being developed into a TV pilot for ABC. - Zap2it
Leona Lewis went straight to the top of the British pop singles charts, taking the number-one slot with her latest single "Run." - Reuters
Bravo has renewed four of its "docu-series," including The Rachel Zoe Project and Flipping Out. - The Futon Critic
Taylor Swift and the Jonas Brothers have joined the guest list for Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve. - TV Guide
Lauren Holly and Luke Perry will star in the apocalyptic thriller The Storm, which will be directed by Uwe Boll. - Reuters

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

FlashForward Breakdown, "Believe"

BuzzSugar — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:30:32 -0800

The most central characters of FlashForward take a backseat this week, letting Bryce and Aaron take the spotlight. It's a nice relief from Mark and Demetri's constant agonizing over their own fates (though we still get a dose of that, too).

We learn that Bryce has been keeping a big secret, and Aaron's reunion with his daughter isn't all he had expected it to be. Ready to get into it? Just read more.

I want to believe: We finally get some insight into why Bryce tried to kill himself: he has stage four cancer and has been keeping it a secret from everyone but his therapist. We also get to see his saving grace - in his flashforward, Bryce is laughing and smiling in a restaurant with a pretty Asian woman. Determined to make his fate come true, Bryce takes up Japanese (with Nicole's help) and even heads to Asia when he's supposed to be in Houston testing out a wonder drug. Here's what confuses me: in Bryce's vision, he sees himself saying "you're really here" and he knows it's months into the future. Why does he try to rush fate? I wasn't surprised at all when he and Keiko don't make the connection in Japan (though I did feel a bit disappointed for him). Side note: Nicole is totally falling for Bryce.

Across the pond: Bryce isn't the only one who is featured this week; we get some background info on the (literal) woman of his dreams. Keiko is a young, bright woman living with her parents and working for a robotics firm. Though her life looks perfect on paper, Keiko is bored at work and with her personal life, longing to play her guitar and find her soulmate. She gets a shiny new outlook on life when she sees Bryce in her vision, and we realize that their meeting doesn't take place in Japan after all, but in LA.

Family ties: Aaron is having a hard time adjusting to life with Tracy. Her continual drinking habit causes a fight between them; Aaron can't be around alcohol, and Tracy feels entitled to drink after all she's been through. Tracy storms out and Aaron blames himself for her addiction and her post-war transformation. Mark only makes matters worse when he accuses Aaron of telling Olivia that he was drinking in his flashforward, and Aaron tells Mark he shouldn't be his sponsor anymore. Losing his sponsor can't be good for Mark and his vision.

Other major plot points:

Demetri finally makes strides on figuring out who called him about his murder. The call is traced back to Hong Kong, and though Stan doesn't want Demetri heading overseas, Mark offers to go with him in secret.
The FBI agents discover that suspect zero wears a ring with an alpha symbol on it but aren't sure what to make of it.

Did you like this week's episode, or were you longing for more action? Will Nicole get in the way of Bryce and Keiko?

2012: Apocalyptic Good Times

BuzzSugar — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:30:00 -0800

In terms of end-of-the-world movies, 2012 packs it all - a love story, teary family moments, action-packed adventure, over-the-top-CGI, and a ton of recycled film cliches - in a two and a half hour package. That's lengthy by today's standards, but I wasn't bored for a minute. This is pure escapist entertainment.

The film opens in 2009 as a scientist in India and his American associate Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) discover that the Earth's core is overheating. His forecast: Tectonic plates will shift, thereby causing a worldwide catastrophe that will wipe out the human race.

Dun, dun, dun! (Doesn't take long to pull you in, does it?) To hear my full assessment, read more.

The real action goes down three years later in 2012 when, according to the Mayan calendar, the Earth will reach its end. The entire So-Cal coast starts crumbling, so our hero Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) and his family begin a journey to China where the governments around the world have supposedly assembled spaceships to carry select humans to safety.

What? You expected this to be plausible?

Of course not, but the film does include tons of cool CGI - volcanos, snow storms, giant tsunamis. It's like every disaster movie you've ever watched combined. (That should come as no surprise seeing as how the director is Roland Emmerich who created The Day After Tomorrow, Independence Day, and Godzilla.)

As for the characters, we've seen them all stereotyped in other films before, but they're still enjoyable here. (Even though I admittedly winced over a Russian family complete with a fur coat, tiny dog, and an employee named Sasha.) This is thanks to the actors who play their parts with believability, even when the scenes feel ridiculous. Ejiofor portrays a great bleeding heart swept up in a governmental plan that's looking out for No. 1, and Cusack pulls off his father role without being over-the-top or sappy. Also, watch for Woody Harrelson as a nutty conspiracy theorist living in Yellowstone National Park.

2012 is purely meant to be fun, and it succeeds. There's a constant barrage of cliff-hanger moments that never let up, and though you pretty much know where things are headed, it's easy to get sucked in.

(Don't forget that if you see a movie that you'd like to review, you can post your write-up in the Movie Review Group in Community - I may even post it here on the site!)

Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures

The Weather Channel to Show Movies: Brilliant or Baffling?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:30:00 -0700

Pack your umbrella and your popcorn: 27-year-old cable network stalwart The Weather Channel is going to start showing movies on Friday nights.

The movies will be weather-themed or feature weather prominently, and the first is the George Clooney drama The Perfect Storm; others lined up include March of the Penguins, Deep Blue Sea and Misery. Of course, TWC won't leave you out in the cold - weather updates will show up on-screen while the movies are playing, so you'll still know when to actually expect the perfect storm (ba dum ching!).

While it's kind of a cute idea, I don't really know what the point is - to get the coveted Friday night viewers looking for a weather-inspired movie on TV? I guess it's not a terrible thing to stumble upon Clooney's face when all you were expecting was a weatherman telling you how cloudy it is in your neck of the woods. What do you make of this news?

Follow BuzzSugar on Twitter!

BuzzSugar — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 12:00:44 -0700

Want to get the latest news updates, plus get a peek inside my entertainment-loving brain? Follow me on Twitter, where I can give you all my musings about TV, movies, music, and pop culture live. You can usually find me twittering up a storm during some of my favorite new shows, like Glee. I've even got my page all ready to go for Halloween! Follow me @heybuzzsugar, and let me know if you'll be live tweeting any shows too!

Announcing the 2009 Emmy Winners!

BuzzSugar — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 23:32:15 -0700

Well, the Emmys are over, and we have our full list of winners. Were you guys surprised by this year's picks? (Check out all my Emmy polls here.) I thought the show started out pretty unexpectedly when underdogs Kristin Chenoweth and Toni Collete took home trophies, and there were a few other surprises along the way. Towards the end, though, the big wins seemed pretty predictable with Mad Men for drama, 30 Rock for comedy - no surprises there.

I had a lot of favorite moments of the night - more on those later - but mainly, I just enjoyed seeing Neil Patrick Harris as host. I loved everything from his opening to Dr. Horrible, and most of you thought his opening number was pretty great, too.

For the full list of 2009 Emmy winners, just read more.
COMEDY SERIES
30 Rock

DRAMA SERIES
Mad Men

MINISERIES
Little Dorrit

ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock

ACTOR IN A DRAMA
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad

ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Toni Collette, United States of Tara

ACTRESS IN A DRAMA
Glenn Close, Damages

MADE FOR TELEVISION MOVIE
Grey Gardens

REALITY HOST
Jeff Probst, Survivor

REALITY COMPETITION PROGRAM
The Amazing Race

ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Brendan Gleeson, Into The Storm

ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Jessica Lange, Grey Gardens

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA
Michael Emerson, Lost

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Ken Howard, Grey Gardens

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Kristin Chenoweth, Pushing Daisies

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA
Cherry Jones, 24

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Shohreh Aghdashloo, House Of Saddam

WRITING FOR A COMEDY
30 Rock ("Reunion," Matt Hubbard)

WRITING FOR A DRAMA
Mad Men ("Meditations in an Emergency," Kater Gordon, Matthew Weiner)

WRITING FOR A VARIETY, MUSICAL OR COMEDY SERIES
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart (Steve Bodow, Jon Stewart, David Javerbaum, Josh Lieb, Rory Albanese, Kevin Bleyer, Jason Ross, Tim Carvell, John Oliver, Sam Means, Rob Kutner, J.R. Havlan, Rich Blomquist, Wyatt Cenac, Elliott Kalan, Rachel Axler)

WRITING FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE, OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL
Little Dorrit (Andrew Davies)

DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
The Office ("Stress Relief," Jeff Blitz)

DIRECTING FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE, OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL
Little Dorrit (Dearbhla Walsh)

DIRECTING FOR A VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY SERIES
American Idol ("The Final Three," Bruce Gowers)

ORIGINAL MUSIC AND LYRICS
81st Annual Academy Awards" ("Hugh Jackman Opening Number")

VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY SERIES
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
ER ("And in The End," Rod Holcomb)

LIST OF WINNERS IN THE CREATIVE ARTS CATEGORIES

GUEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Justin Timberlake, Saturday Night Live

GUEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Michael J. Fox, Rescue Me ("Sheila")

GUEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Tina Fey, Saturday Night Live: Presidential Bash 2008

GUEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Ellen Burstyn, Law & Order: SVU ("Swing")

GOVERNORS AWARD
Sheila Nevins, HBO Documentary Films

ANIMATED PROGRAM (FOR PROGRAMMING ONE-HOUR OR MORE)
Destination Imagination (Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends)

ANIMATED PROGRAM (FOR PROGRAMMING LESS THAN ONE HOUR)
South Park ("Margaritaville")

ART DIRECTION FOR MULTI-CAMERA SERIES
How I Met Your Mother ("Shelter Island, Not A Father's Day")

ART DIRECTION FOR A SINGLE-CAMERA SERIES
Pushing Daisies ("Dim Sum Lose Some")

ART DIRECTION FOR A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Grey Gardens and Little Dorrit

ART DIRECTION FOR VARIETY, MUSIC, OR NONFICTION PROGRAMMING
American Idol ("Episode 821-822") and 2008 MTV Video Music Awards

CASTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
30 Rock

CASTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
True Blood

CASTING FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE, OR SPECIAL
Little Dorrit

CHOREOGRAPHY
81st Annual Academy Awards ("Musicals Are Back") and So You Think You Can Dance ("Adam and Eve/Silence")

CINEMATOGRAPHY FOR A HALF-HOUR SERIES
Californication ("In Utero")

CINEMATOGRAPHY FOR A ONE-HOUR SERIES
The Tudors ("Episode 303")

CINEMATOGRAPHY FOR A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Little Dorrit: Part 1

CINEMATOGRAPY FOR NONFICTION
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations ("Laos")

CINEMATOGRAPHY FOR REALITY PROGRAMMING
Out of the Wild: The Alaska Experiment ("What Did I Sign Up For?")

COMMERCIAL
"Heist," Coca-Cola

COSTUMES FOR A SERIES
Pushing Daisies ("Bzzzzzzzzz!")

COSTUMES FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE, OR SPECIAL
Little Dorrit: Part 3

COSTUMES FOR A VARIETY/MUSIC PROGRAM OR A SPECIAL
So You Think You Can Dance ("Episode 415-416A")

DIRECTING FOR A VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY SPECIAL
"Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony" (Bucky Gunts)

DIRECTING FOR NONFICTION PROGRAMMING
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (Marina Zenovich)

MAIN TITLE DESIGN
United States of Tara

MAKEUP FOR A SERIES, MINISERIES, MOVIE, OR A SPECIAL (PROSTHETIC)
Grey Gardens

MAKEUP FOR A SINGLE CAMERA SERIES (NON-PROSTHETIC)
Pushing Daisies ("Dim Sum Lose Some")

MAKEUP FOR A MULTI-CAMERA SERIES OR SPECIAL (NON-PROSTHETIC)
MADtv ("Episode 1405")

MAKEUP FOR A MINISERIES OR MOVIE (NON-PROSTHETIC)
The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler (Hallmark Hall of Fame Presentation)

MUSIC DIRECTION
"Streisand: The Concert"

MUSIC COMPOSITION FOR A SERIES (ORIGINAL DRAMATIC SCORE)
Legend of the Seeker ("Prophecy")

MUSIC COMPOSITION FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE, OR A SPECIAL
Into the Storm

ORIGINAL MAIN TITLE THEME MUSIC
Great Performances

PICTURE EDITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES (SINGLE-CAMERA)
Breaking Bad ("ABQ")

PICTURE EDITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES (SINGLE OR MULTI-CAMERA)
30 Rock ("Apollo, Apollo")

PICTURE EDITING FOR A MINISERIES OR MOVIE (SINGLE-CAMERA)
Taking Chance

PICTURE EDITING (SHORT FORM)
81st Annual Academy Awards and "Stand Up to Cancer"

PICTURE EDITING FOR A SPECIAL (SINGLE OR MULTI-CAMERA)
"Chris Rock: Kill the Messenger"

PICTURE EDITING FOR NONFICTION PROGRAMMING
This American Life ("John Smith")

PICTURE EDITING FOR REALITY PROGRAMMING
Project Runway ("Finale Part 1")

HAIRSTYLING FOR A SINGLE-CAMERA SERIES
Mad Men ("The Gold Violin")

HAIRSTYLING FOR A MULTI-CAMERA SERIES OR SPECIAL
Dancing With the Stars ("Episode 709")

HAIRSTYLING FOR A MINISERIES OR A MOVIE
Grey Gardens

CREATIVE ACHIEVEMENT IN INTERACTIVE MEDIA - NONFICTION
"The Late Night with Jimmy Fallon Digital Experience," nbc.com

CREATIVE ACHIEVEMENT IN INTERACTIVE MEDIA - FICTION
"The Dharma Initiative," DharmaWantsYou.com.

LIGHTING DIRECTION (ELECTRONIC, MULTI-CAMERA) FOR VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY PROGRAMMING
American Idol ("Finale")

VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY SPECIAL
"The Kennedy Center Honors"

SPECIAL CLASS PROGRAMS
"Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony"

SPECIAL CLASS - SHORT-FORMAT LIVE-ACTING ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMS
"Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog," drhorrible.com.

SPECIAL CLASS - SHORT-FORMAT NONFICTION PROGRAMS
"Writer's Draft"

CHILDREN'S PROGRAM
Wizards of Waverly Place

CHILDREN'S NONFICTION PROGRAM
Grandpa, Do You Know Who I Am? With Maria Shriver and Nick News with Linda Ellerbee: Coming Home: When Parents Return from War

NONFICTION SPECIAL
"102 Minutes That Changed America"

NONFICTION SERIES
American Masters

REALITY PROGRAM
Intervention

EXCEPTIONAL MERIT IN NONFICTION FILMMAKING
The Memory Loss Tapes

WRITING FOR NONFICTION PROGRAMMING
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

SOUND EDITING FOR A SERIES
Battlestar Galactica ("Daybreak: Part 2")

SOUND EDITING FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE, OR SPECIAL
Generation Kill: The Cradle of Civilization

SOUND EDITING FOR NONFICTION PROGRAMMING (SINGLE OR MULTI-CAMERA)
"102 Minutes That Changed America"

SOUND MIXING FOR A COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES (ONE HOUR)
House ("House Divided")

SOUND MIXING FOR A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Generation Kill: The Cradle of Civilization"

SOUND MIXING FOR A COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES (HALF-HOUR AND ANIMATION)
Entourage ("Pie") and Weeds ("Three Coolers")

SOUND MIXING FOR A VARIETY OR MUSIC SERIES OR A SPECIAL
81st Annual Academy Awards and The 51st Annual Grammy Awards

SOUND MIXING FOR NONFICTION PROGRAMMING (SINGLE OR MULTI-CAMERA)
"102 Minutes That Changed America"

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS FOR A SERIES
Heroes ("The Second Coming/The Butterfly Effect")

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE, OR SPECIAL
Generation Kill: The Cradle of Civilization

STUNT COORDINATION
Chuck ("Chuck Versus the First Date")

TECHNICAL DIRECTION, CAMERAWORK, VIDEO CONTROL FOR A SERIES
American Idol ("Episode 834A")

TECHNICAL DIRECTION, CAMERAWORK, VIDEO CONTROL FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE, OR SPECIAL
"Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony"

VOICE-OVER PERFORMANCE
The Simpsons ("Father Knows Worst")

WRITING FOR A VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY SPECIAL
"Chris Rock - Kill The Messenger"

What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:30:19 -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. Check out this week's picks!

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
I admittedly wasn't a fan of Ghosts of Girlfriends Past when it came out in theaters, but it may be worth considering if you're in the mood for a romantic comedy that doesn't make you think too much. The premise: When playboy Connor Mead (Matthew McConaughey) attends his brother's wedding, he runs into his first love Jenny (Jennifer Garner), setting off a Christmas Carol-like chain of events, complete with ghosts. Yes, the plot's contrived and Connor is incredibly smarmy, but I enjoyed the supporting cast of characters, especially Emma Stone as an 80's ghost with a bad perm and Michael Douglas as Connor's Lothario uncle.

27%

Two more up next, so read more.

Observe and Report
Observe and Report follows a self-important, semi-delusional mall security cop (Seth Rogen) who flips out when he realizes he may not become a police officer - or win over the makeup counter girl of his dreams (Anna Faris). When I first reviewed it, I was surprised by how dark the film turned out to be for a Rogen and Faris comedy. Still, it does have a few laugh-worthy moments, and Rogen fans will probably want to add this to their must-see list.

51%

Lymelife
Set in the 1970s, Lymelife is an ensemble drama that follows two families in a Long Island neighborhood dealing with a Lyme disease scare. It boasts a decent ensemble cast, including Cynthia Nixon, Alec Baldwin, and Timothy Hutton, but Rory Culkin (yes, Macaulay's brother) is the heart of the film as a 15-year-old struggling in the midst of messed-up chaos. (Emma Roberts also turns in a memorable performance as his crush.) The reviews were mixed when the film released in theaters, but if twisted suburbia is your thing (i.e., American Beauty or The Ice Storm), then Lymelife is worth checking out. Bonus material includes an alternate ending.

54%