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Why I Love . . . Gary Oldman

BuzzSugar — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:45:22 PDT

The Dark Knight hype machine continues to be gigantic. But as big as it is, it can't promote all the greatness: Between the rave critical reviews the movie's getting, the box office success, and Heath Ledger's performance that established his Joker as one of the classic cinema villains of all time, a lot of other pieces that made the movie so great have been lost in the shuffle.

Aaron Eckhart's performance as Harvey Dent, for one thing, was really brilliant and overlooked - and I keep forgetting that Gary Oldman is in the movie! That's a shame, since I love and respect him as an actor. So before all the hype dies, I wanted to share a little ode to one of the great (whom, yeah, I sort of have a crush on): Mr. Gary Oldman.

To see why I love seeing him pop up in movies,

Actually, I'm not that surprised he's been a bit of a footnote to the Batman coverage because he plays a good guy in the movie. Oldman is actually very well suited to playing bad guys, and that's how I'm used to seeing him on screen. In The Professional he played a corrupt cop who's so very bad that I get chills just thinking about his performance. And his character in The Fifth Element is so over-the-top that I probably should have giggled at half the lines, but Oldman is so freakishly good that he managed to pull it off.

Besides just his performances, I've heard lots of little tidbits about Oldman over the years that have always intrigued and impressed me. For example, that's actually him playing the piano in one of the scenes when he portrayed Beethoven in the 1994 movie Immortal Beloved.

To me, he's a welcome presence in Hollywood because he's clearly focused on the craft rather than the flashbulbs and has always struck me as a class act. Instead of wowing us with tight abs, he morphs into every character he's been asked to play: a good cop, a bad cop, Dracula, whatever. So I'm glad he's part of a major blockbuster movie, even if he's not grabbing the headlines. He's definitely got fans out there, myself included, who will always be glad when he shows up in a movie.

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Movie Preview: Taken

BuzzSugar — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 11:31:44 PST

If this pattern keeps up it will become "spooky trailer" week here on Buzz, starting with yesterday's preview for The Happening. Today I present the trailer for Taken, starring Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen and Lost's Maggie Grace. I have high hopes for this thriller as it was co-written by Luc Besson, the mind behind one of my favorite movies, The Professional.

Taken follows Neeson's character Bryan, whose daughter (Grace) goes on a fun, innocent trip to Paris with her friend. The scary stuff starts when Bryan gets a panicked call from his daughter as she's being kidnapped.

At first I thought this might be another run-of-the-mill ransom movie, but then Bryan informs the kidnappers that he does not have money, but rather a set of "skills" that makes him a "nightmare for people like them." Scary!

Taken opens in France on February 28, though there's no information yet on a U.S. release date. To check out the trailer,

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Top 10 Movie Dads

BuzzSugar — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 23:52:44 PDT

Father's Day is only a few days away, and as I search around for some way to properly honor my dad this year, let's take a look at some of the coolest, funniest, bravest or just plain "dadliest" dads in movie history. Honorable mentions include Daniel Hillard, Mrs. Doubtfire; Ted Kramer, Kramer vs. Kramer; Don Vito Corleone, The Godfather; Jack Byrnes, Meet the Parents; and Sonny Koufax, Big Daddy. As for the ones that made the final cut, read on...

10. Mr. Levenstein, American Pie
Mr. Levenstein's (Eugene Levy) earnest bumbling when it comes to discussing matters of sexuality with his son Jim (Jason Biggs) is so misguided and yet so endearing. The filmmakers take your average awkward exchange between father and teenage son and multiply it by about a thousand, creating moments of excruciating embarrassment many of us have only had nightmares about.

9. Peter, Michael and Jack, Three Men and a Baby
What's more endearing than three grown male friends teaming together to collectively parent a baby girl left on one of their stoops? Nuthin'. It's fun to watch three bachelors adjust their lives to include little Mary, from taking her to work with them to shielding her from the drug dealers that are chasing them down. Ah, those early formative years.

Eight more if you

8. The Old Man, A Christmas Story
Darren McGavin as "The Old Man" to Ralphie "you'll shoot your eye out" Parker scared the bejesus out of me as a kid. He's certainly not the sweetest dad on the list, but he's definitely unforgettable. Like Roseanne on my Mother's Day Top Ten TV Moms and Daughters list, The Old Man was much more true-to-life than many of the dads on TV and in movies. He's tempermental, impatient and a little self-centered. But he also loves his kids. He just has a less sappy way of showing it.

7. Clark Griswold, National Lampoon’s Vacation
Before Little Miss Sunshine, there was Vacation, the classic family road movie. Even in the most slapstick moments of this cross-country adventure, Chevy Chase as daddy Griswold is driven by one tender desire: to give his family the best vacation possible. But on the way from Chicago to Wally World, he's stymied by multiple obstacles, many of which he brings on himself. But in the end, he's still a worthy navigator of any beloved station wagon.

6. Leon, The Professional

Yes, I know Leon is not Mathilda's (Natalie Portman) real dad in The Professional, but the way he warms to her, protects her, and truly loves her by the end of the movie (even putting on a pink bandana!) is utterly heart-rending. Especially seeing as he's kind of a cold-blooded killer in the beginning and Mathilda teaches him how to feel love again. Sigh!

5. Sam Dawson, I Am Sam

This is one of those movies I can't even think about without feeling like I'm going to cry. Back when people weren't overexposed to Dakota Fanning she played Lucy Diamond Dawson, a precocious little girl (as always) with a mentally challenged dad, Sam (Sean Penn). Sam named his daughter Lucy Diamond after the Beatles song, and raised her on his own. Yet as she gets older, Lucy intentionally holds herself back at school to avoid seeming smarter than her dad. Thus ensues a legal battle, to Sam's great anxiety. Luckily, they have an excellent lawyer on their side: Rita Harrison (Michelle Pfeiffer). Sam's abilities may not be the same as other dads, but his love and devotion toward his daughter are just as strong - if not stronger.

4. Gil Buckman, Parenthood
The problems plaguing the Buckman family are myriad - and mighty familiar to just about anyone with a family. Like many dads, Gil (Steve Martin) is struggling to hold everything together and just barely succeeding. In this poignant dramedy, Martin strikes a perfect balance between desperation and levity, whether he's making makeshift cowboy chaps out of a bathmat for his son's birthday party, trying to explain away his sister's vibrator as an electric ear cleaner, or solemnly realizing that his even own father needs advice sometimes. Steve Martin really is one of the "dadliest" of all movie dads - his roles in Father of the Bride and Cheaper By the Dozen only further prove how well he can play the harried, frustrated yet ever-proud father.

3. Daniel, Crash

Whenever I think of Crash - which is a movie that has a lot going on - my first thought is of Daniel (Michael Pena) and his daughter Lara. Having experienced a stray bullet coming through her bedroom window, Lara is fearful and has taken to hiding under her bed. Daniel teaches her that she can tie an invisible cape around her shoulders and be protected. Later in the movie, of course, there is a callback to the cape which totally gives me the chills, even now. Ah, invisible cape!

2. Chris Gardner, Pursuit of Happyness

In this rare motion-picture depiction of a single dad, Chris Gardner (Will Smith) is hardly perfect, focusing relentlessly on the future while making some scary sacrifices in the present. As he gets beat-down working as an unpaid intern and living in shelters, Gardner tries to never let his son know how bad things are, and when that becomes impossible, he does the next best thing. He makes the kid understand that even when things get really really bad, dad will be there to protect him.

1. Guido Orefice, Life is Beautiful
The funny, sweet, do-no-wrong Guido Orefice (Roberto Begnini) tops my list of Movie Dads because he gave his son Giosué some of the best gifts in the world. Even in the most dire of situations, Guido is all about Giosué - making him laugh and generally distracting him from the gruesome world of war. The ending, when I first saw this movie, made me gasp. It could be called "manipulative" in how firmly this movie yanks on the heartstrings, but I completely fell for it - and for Guido.

10 Ways to School Yourself Post Graduation

SavvySugar — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:25:16 PDT

Education and intellectual growth shouldn't stop when the final bell rings and you walk across the stage to accept your diploma. Continuing brain development, mastering your chosen field, and sharpening your reading comprehension should be lifelong projects. Not only will it keep your brain active and sharp, but you'll have a leg up on the competition. You should learn something new every day, after all. Here are some ways to sneak smart activities into your tight schedule.

The Family Dinner - How Often Does It Really Happen in Your Home?

Lisa Horten — Fri, 25 May 2012 08:13:15 PDT

Like all good intentions (especially those pertaining to parenting, it seems), the family dinner is a concept that's great in theory but difficult in execution. If your kids are little, then you're likely to be walking a tight line between dinner and bedtime. Then, as they get older, sports practices and after-school activities get in the way. And that's not even factoring in Mom and Dad's professional, social, and otherwise time-consuming obligations.

Anyway, we "get it," so we're hoping you'll share . . . Exactly how often does your entire family sit down and eat dinner together? Let us know in the poll below, and share your additional thoughts, frustrations, tips, and tricks on the matter below. No judgment - we promise!

5 Steps to Your Best Blowout Ever

Allure — Thu, 24 May 2012 06:05:00 PDT

We're happy to present this story from our friends at Allure:

It's not every day you get a lesson in blowouts from Alli Webb, founder of the Drybar blowout bars. Rule number one: If you've gotten your blowouts down to 10 minutes, you're doing something wrong. (Sorry!) Webb gave me the rundown on the other most common styling mistakes - and how to get the ultimate results. Get her advice when you read more.

Nighttime Fasting: A New Way to Lose Weight?

Shape — Thu, 24 May 2012 04:09:52 PDT

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar. This week Shape turns to Cynthia Sass, a registered dietitian with master's degrees in both nutrition science and public health.

If you couldn’t let anything cross your lips from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m., but you were allowed to eat anything you wanted for eight hours a day and still lose weight, would you try it? That’s the apparent bottom line of a rat study published in the journal Cell Metabolism, which recently stirred up the weight loss pot.

Top 50 Summer Diet Foods for Weight Loss

Scientists put groups of mice on different diet regimens for 100 days. One group of rodents ate healthy food while animals in two of the groups chowed down on high-fat, high-calorie feed. Half of the junk food eaters were allowed to munch whenever they wanted to while the others only had access to feed for the eight hours they were most active. The conclusion: even though they ate a fatty diet, the mice who were forced to fast for 16 hours were almost as lean as those who ate the healthy fare. Interestingly, the round the clock junk food eaters became obese and developed health problems, even though they consumed about the same amount of fat and calories as the time-restricted junk food fed mice.

See if a nutritionist thinks nighttime fasting works after the break!

Pregnant Reese Witherspoon Takes on a Tennis Match

Lauren Turner — Wed, 23 May 2012 13:30:13 PDT

Reese Witherspoon hit the tennis court with friends in Brentwood, CA, this morning. She grabbed a racket for the workout session and showed off her pregnant belly in a fitted top - check out FitSugar's picks for comfortable maternity activewear. While Reese awaits the arrival of her third child, she's been spending time with family. She went for a hike with her kids, Ava and Deacon, and father, John, on Saturday and joined husband, Jim Toth, to watch Deacon's flag football game over the weekend. Reese also had some recent professional excitement, since her romantic comedy This Means War was released on DVD this week, and we got an exclusive look at a deleted scene from the movie.

Sarah Jessica Parker Preps to Host a Democratic Soiree

Katie Henry — Tue, 22 May 2012 10:35:27 PDT

Sarah Jessica Parker held hands and chatted with James Wilkie Broderick on their daily walk to school today in NYC. She dropped him off and then casually strolled home in her effortlessly cool cuffed jeans and Converse sneakers. SJP's known for her sense of style and a lucky fan could win the chance to get a sneak peek inside her home by entering a lottery. Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica are supporting President Obama's reelection campaign and hosting a fundraising event at their Manhattan home. By making a small donation to the campaign, you'll be entered to win an opportunity to rub elbows with SJP, Matthew, the president, and influential democrats on June 14. George Clooney held a similar event in LA that raised a record-setting $15 million. The Fall is shaping up to be an exciting season both personally and professionally for SJP. In addition to keeping a close eye on the presidential race, she's also one of the major stars making a cameo on Glee.

From the Fit Community: The Best Cardio Machine For Your Body

Fit Community — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:53:42 PDT

Which cardio machine is right for you? FitSugar reader JessicaSmithTV asks an expert for the answers. She shared what she found in our 10 Pounds Down! community group.

The stair master, the stationary bike, and the elliptical - we all have our favorite cardio machine at the gym, but which one is the best one for your body? We asked Dr. Yoav Suprun, DPT, a McKenzie physical therapist at Canyon Ranch in Miami Beach to weigh in on the pros and cons of some of your favorite gym staples.

The Stationary Bike
Pros: Low impact, easy on the joints, offers a wide range of intensity options
Cons: The riding position can bring on back pain, or aggravate sciatica for some. “We flex our spine all day and sit for hours - why sit for a cardio session?” asks Dr. Suprun.

The Elliptical
Pros: Low impact, upright position of the body, also easy on the joints and offers a wide range of intensity options
Cons: If you have a small structure or small frame, using an elliptical with handles would be pulling your body out of alignment. “People suffer from holding the handles as it pulls on the lower back and neck once the handle is moved forward,” explains Dr. Suprun.

Keep reading for more pros and cons of your favorite cardio machines.