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What to Rent: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 06:30:00 PDT

It's Oscar DVD Tuesday! That's right, all of the featured new releases today are films that were nominated for at least one Academy Award. So you can feel very cultured as you're popping your popcorn and settling in to your sofa with one of these flicks.

Crazy Heart

Jeff Bridges won the best actor Oscar for his role as Bad Blake, a grizzled, alcoholic country singer whose poor life choices have led to a life of playing bowling allies. Things change for him a bit when a journalist (played by Maggie Gyllenhaal, who was also nominated) comes to interview him, and winds up falling for him.

Colin Farrell has a memorable cameo as Bad's protege, but don't be fooled: this movie is all about Jeff. DVD extras include some deleted scenes and alternate music takes.

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The Lovely Bones

Alice Sebold's heartbreaking novel gets an adaptation at the hands of director Peter Jackson, who succeeds at getting good performances from his actors. Saoirse Ronan stars as Susie, a murdered 14-year-old girl who watches her family grieve from the afterlife. Where he fails is in the depiction of her "in-between," which is both cartoonish and disturbing. Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz are her impassioned parents, and Stanley Tucci plays the creep who kills her in the part that nabbed him a supporting actor nomination.

There are no DVD extras, though the Blu-ray disc has a production diary from Jackson.

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To see one more release, just

read more. The Young Victoria In this beautiful, lush period piece, Emily Blunt stars as the pre-coronation Queen Victoria. It's a historical drama depicting the events in her early life, but the real draw is in the romance between her and Prince Albert, played skillfully by Rupert Friend (whose gorgeous looks certainly don't hurt anything). I loved the movie, and was surprised when Emily Blunt wasn't nominated for an Oscar, but the costumes did manage to finagle an award. In the DVD extras, you'll find a commentary, a making-of featurette and a highlight of the real Queen. 75%

Who Is the Best Dramatic Actress of 2009?

BuzzSugar — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 13:30:00 PST

Sandra Bullock ran away with your votes in my best comedic actress poll, and she's on my list here, too (a double nomination just like the Golden Globes!). But she has some fierce competition, as several Hollywood ladies - including a couple up-and-comers - moved us with their challenging, award-buzzy roles this year. Who deserves the most acclaim?

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

Watch, Pass, or Rent: Did You Hear About the Morgans?, The Young Victoria, & Avatar

PopSugarTV — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 00:01:00 PST

In this week's Watch, Pass, or Rent, find out why our BuzzSugar editors recommend watching Avatar and The Young Victoria but say Did You Hear About the Morgans? will make a better rental.

Ashley Parties in NYC, Jude Forgets About Fourth Child, & Nigel on Ellen's Move to Idol!

PopSugarTV — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:04:55 PST

Ashley Greene leaves the Sherlock Holmes premiere afterparty with Jessica Szohr, Jude Law forgets to acknowledge his daughter with Samantha Burke, and Nigel Lythgoe thinks Ellen DeGeneres will give Simon Cowell a run for his money on American Idol.

The Young Victoria: A Lush, Royal Romance

Lauren Bradshaw — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:30:47 PST

When it comes to period films that involve corsets and longing romantic looks, Keira Knightley is usually, er, queen. But in The Young Victoria she gets some stiff competition from Emily Blunt as a teenage version of the 19th century royal.

Blunt is already up for a Golden Globe for her performance in the film, and it's easy to see why. As an 18-year-old woman learning the ways of government and love, Victoria isn't the stuffy version of the queen that you associate with history books. She's sharp, silly, bullheaded, and vulnerable at the same time - all of which Blunt captures adeptly. But Blunt's performance isn't the only element that shines in this film, which, it should be noted, counts Martin Scorsese and Sarah Ferguson as producers. For more of my thoughts,

read more. The film opens by flashing from Victoria's coronation to a year before her reign, as she prepares to take over the throne from her uncle, King William III. She's constantly smothered by her mother (case in point: Victoria is not even allowed to walk down the stairs without an adult holding her hand). Her mother knows that Victoria is her meal ticket, so she fears that if she loosens her leash, she'll lose her fortune. But in a bumbling, shy Prince Albert (Rupert Friend), Victoria finds a fellow imprisoned soul. As the nephew of King Leopold of Belgium, he's coached by his uncle to woo Victoria so that he may benefit Belgium as her husband. Albert meets Victoria almost out of duty, but he falls in love with her on his own. Though the film begins with Victoria as she adapts to her role as monarch, the story of her reign takes a backseat once Albert arrives on the scene. The political drama just can't compete with their courtship, and ultimately it's what the film is about. Friend and Blunt have a slow-burning chemistry that feels palpable - a testament to both their skills. Despite wealth and royal titles, their romance feels just as real and relatable as any in modern day, and they're undoubtedly one of my favorite onscreen couples this year. Without Friend or Blunt, Victoria could have been written off as just another snoozy piece of historical fiction, but thanks to their star turns, it's easy to get swept up.

Victorian Wedding Traditions Alive Today

TresSugar — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:30:29 PST

We've been counting down to the opening of The Young Victoria tomorrow by looking at the Victorian era and how people flirted and celebrated Christmas. Today we're checking out how people married and what traditions endure today.

Queen Victoria married for love - a rare affair for a woman of royalty in the 19th century. While poorer women had been doing this for ages (less money was at stake), it was during the Victorian era that romantic love became a priority for marriage. See what other customs grew out of this period.

Source: Flickr User onenjen

Victorian Courtship: Flirting With a Fan - Only!

TresSugar — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:30:43 PST

If you were a young woman following Victorian dating rules by the book (and there was a book!) then you did not flirt. “It is only the contemptible flirt" - wrote John H. Young in 1882's Our Deportment, or the Manners, Conduct, and Dress of the Most Refined Society - "that keeps an honorable man in suspense for the purpose of glorifying herself by his attentions in the eyes of friends." So I guess it was OK to flirt with a dishonorable man!

Of course, where there are pointless dating rules, there are women with fans. And Victorian women used fans to convey their intentions because courtship was serious business, and there was no time to waste on Sir Right Now. As we wait for the premiere of The Young Victoria, see if you can decode the fanned messages that all the honorable men were expected to read.

Take the Quiz

5 Holiday Traditions From the Victorian Era

TresSugar — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:15:11 PST

The Young Victoria comes out this Friday, and since we love period pieces around here we thought we'd dive right into the Victorian era this week.
Queen Victoria came to power in 1837, right around the time many of our modern holiday traditions started to blossom. In fact, it was during the Victorian era when Charles Dickens published his classic A Christmas Carol in 1843, cementing the holiday spirit in the collective consciousness. But right before Victoria's time, the holidays were much less significant - the London Times didn't even mention Christmas between 1790 and 1835. Find out how the Victorian era helped England and the rest of the world go from indifference to total overload when it comes to holiday traditions.

The Disparity of Queen Victoria and the Victorian Era

TresSugar — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:30:02 PST

The Young Victoria is finally debuting in the US this Friday, after its UK premiere earlier this year. Other than marrying her cousin and having a stuffy, misogynistic era named after her, I've never thought much of the queen. But the trailer for The Young Victoria depicts her as a vibrant young woman, aware of her of burden but determined to find happiness.

The Victorian era was not a good time for women. They were expected to be selfless, pure, and pretty much perfect. The Victorian Angel of the House was a common theme in literature, which Virginia Woolf best described in "Professions For Women:"

She was intensely sympathetic. She was immensely charming. She was utterly unselfish. She excelled in the difficult arts of family life. She sacrificed herself daily. If there was chicken, she took the leg; if there was a draft, she sat in it - in short she was so constituted that she never had a mind or a wish of her own, but preferred to sympathize always with the minds and wishes of others. Above all - I need not say it - she was pure. Her purity was supposed to be her chief beauty - her blushes, her great grace. In those days - the last of Queen Victoria - every house had its Angel.

Was the Victorian Angel of the House made in the likeness of the queen? To find out,

read more. Like her eponymous era, her image and legacy were a veneer. England was already a constitutional monarchy when Victoria ascended the throne, and it shifted even more into a symbolic role throughout her reign. But the crown had been so tarnished by sexual, financial, and personal scandal by previous monarchs that it was vital for her to project an air of morality in line with middle class virtues. In love with her husband and the mother of nine children, that air was not hard to maintain. Yet the queen enjoyed sex enough that her husband had a lockable door installed within reach of his pillow for extra privacy, and she did not regard self-denial as pious. Image and reality were not entirely separate, though. Victoria did not receive divorced women in court until late in her life, and she had a law which criminalized non-marital sex between consenting adults, amended to refer to men only because "women didn't do such things." It's kind of like reverse sexism! But ultimately, her legacy was written by men. In a "textbook for girls," Henry Davenport Adams suggested her as a role model that "English girls may well do their best to imitate." He continued, "[The Queen's] moral courage, her fortitude, her industry, her elevation of aim, and her tenacity of purpose - these are qualities which they may successfully cultivate, even if they cannot hope to equal the Queen."

Buzz's December Movies Preview

BuzzSugar — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 07:00:00 PST

December is always a very big month for movies; with just a few weeks left until awards season starts up, this time is seen as the last chance for filmmakers to show off their biggest works of the year. In the coming weeks there will be no shortage of highly anticipated films and top-notch performances. Let's take a look at my top 12 picks.