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Movie Preview: Valentine's Day Starring Everyone

BuzzSugar — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 09:52:36 -0700

By now you've probably seen the myriad on-set shots for the upcoming ensemble romantic comedy Valentine's Day. Oh and by "ensemble", I mean the most star-studded cast to hit Hollywood in years.

This movie has (take a deep breath with me) Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Jamie Foxx, Bradley Cooper, Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Emma Roberts, Jennifer Garner, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Topher Grace, Shirley Maclaine, Ashton Kutcher, Taylor Lautner, and Taylor Swift. Did I miss anyone? Probably.

Put all these beautiful stars in a rom-com, set the trailer to a booming pop song, and you've got me excited. The preview doesn't give a ton of the plot away (though I can make some educated guesses based on the title), or but I'm already analyzing the couplings we see in the clip. Anne Hathaway and Topher Grace? Brilliant. Bradley Cooper and Julia Roberts? I'm not sure about their chemistry, but I guess he does like older women. Zing!

The only question is, with these components, are we looking at He's Just Not That Into You 2.0 or Love Actually 2.0? Or neither? Watch the new trailer and let me know what you think when you read more.

St. Elmo's Fire Series Heats Up ABC

BuzzSugar — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 10:30:35 -0700

St. Elmo's Fire - the movie that made Joel Schumacher famous and put Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, and Ally Sheedy in the same room together - is coming back to life, but not on the big screen. ABC is developing an hourlong TV dramedy version of the 1985 movie.

The series will follow six new friends - three guys and three girls - as they graduate from Georgetown and hang out at their favorite local spot, the St. Elmo's Bar and Grill. It's, y'know, Friends in DC . . . and that's kind of the point. No, really: As writer/producer Dan Bucatinsky said, "I feel it is time to re-create Friends in the hourlong genre and feel like this is the perfect opportunity."

Weirdly, the idea to turn the movie into a series came from actor Topher Grace, who saw the movie on TV and took the suggestion to Sony Pictures TV - and, eventually, also reached out to Schumacher, who's on board with the project as a producer. ABC landed the show "after strong interest from multiple networks," according to The Hollywood Reporter.

I do think it's high time we got another great TV show about folks in their 20s. Could this be it? Or is this one of those sacred projects that shouldn't be touched, especially like this? To get all nostalgic with some music from the movie, read more.

St. Elmos Fire

Could Topher Grace Carry an Entire Venom Movie?

BuzzSugar — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:30:35 -0700

To be honest, I actually think a Spider-Man spinoff focusing solely on Venom would be a good way to rejuvenate the Spider-Man franchise, since Spidey's stories themselves seem to be getting pretty tiresome. It seems like this idea is going to work out well for the X-Men series, as they devote one whole movie to Wolverine's story.

However, while it sounds like the bigwigs at Sony are interested in the Venom movie idea, they're not convinced that Topher Grace - who played Venom in the last Spidey flick - could carry an entire blockbuster superhero movie.

What do you think? Would you want to watch Topher venomize for a full movie? And if not Topher, then who?

Source

Spider-Man 3: It Is What it Is - A Good Comic Book Movie

BuzzSugar — Fri, 04 May 2007 10:41:31 -0700

What can I say about Spider-Man 3? It's good. It's a comic book movie. I don't understand the vitriol aimed toward this movie from other critics unless, of course, the relentless marketing and hype leading up to the movie has caused anyone to believe this would be more than it is: another movie about Spider-Man. It certainly has its flaws - most notably there's a thoroughly bizarre sequence featuring the new "evil" Spider-Man, but more on that later. Overall, it's cool in the computer effects sort of way, but it's not a masterpiece. It's just fun and flashy and will more than satisfy Spider-Man fans.

The biggest flaw on which I must agree with all the other critics is that there is way too much stuff packed into this one story. There are several superheroes, each with his own set of issues to figure out, Peter Parker's struggle with his own ego and then his obsession with revenge, and the whole Peter-Mary Jane saga, which is weirdly drawn-out in a movie that has little to no room to spare. There's a lot more to it than this, though, so read more

The old sweet Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) has become something of an egomaniac, loving his fame a little too much, while nothing is coming up Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) as her stage musical career stalls. To make matters worse, there's another woman in the picture now, Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard), a classmate of Peter's who seems to have a crush on both him and Spider-Man. Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church), the guy who killed Peter's Uncle Ben is on the loose, a sad, misunderstood man who needs money to help his sick daughter and in a really neat scene he turns into the Sandman.

Gwen's boyfriend Eddie Brock (Topher Grace) is Peter's competition as a freelance photographer at the newspaper. After Peter humiliates him in front of their boss, Eddie becomes vengeful and then becomes Venom. Meanwhile, Harry/Goblin (James Franco) is haunted by his angry Green Goblin dad's ghost who instructs him to avenge him by killing Spider-Man. So, there are a lot of superhumans to keep Spidey busy, and of course, Mary Jane is the pawn used to lure him around.

Adding to all this, Peter gets taken over by the evil, parasitic black stuff which forms his black Spidey suit and causes Peter to become powerful and cruel. However - and here's the weirdest part - Peter acting "evil" consists mostly of ogling women while dancing down the street to disco music and saying things like, "I think you're going to really dig this joint, baby." What? He awkwardly tries to dance around at the jazz club where Mary Jane is singing, followed up by a little sexy dance with Gwen. I guess if Peter's supposed to become dashing and aggressive because of the black suit, that's fine, but aside from being virtually graceless the whole thing is strange because Tobey Maguire looks utterly uncomfortable. There are a lot of campy things in these films, and I can't deny that this part is entertaining - it's just so weird.

Strange homage to the '70s as a reflection of "evil Spidey" aside, the coolest parts of the movie are, unsurprisingly, the visual effects and the action sequences. The Sandman is particularly awe-inspiring to see on the big screen and the final scenes with all four superheroes are definitely cool. The movie is what it is: The "real plot" parts are mostly dull, and the computer animation is impressive. Expect a lot more and you will be disappointed. But as a Spider-Man movie, it more than does its job.

Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures

Yet Another Awesome Spider-Man 3 Trailer

BuzzSugar — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 00:00:07 -0700

It's a good thing that Spider-Man 3 looks like it's going to kick ass, because after all this build-up, the movie has a lot of hype to live up to. I already told you guys about the trailer that premiered during "Heroes," but now everyone is excited about the even newer (and final) version that just hit theaters.

This preview has a few more shots of Venom (Topher Grace) that we haven't seen before, with a little bit less footage of Sandman. You can watch a high-bandwidth version along with some cool behind-the-scenes clips on the Comcast site, or you can watch it right here if you read more

Image courtesy of Sony Pictures

Adrien Brody and Topher Grace to Take on Predators

BuzzSugar — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 10:30:23 -0700

While it's not a shock that Fox is rebooting yet another franchise with the upcoming Predators - the casting is kind of surprising: Oscar-winner Adrien Brody has signed on for the movie, and Topher Grace is in talks to star as well.

Robert Rodriguez's Predators is quite the departure for Brody, usually seen in moving dramas like his award-winning role in the The Pianist and quirky comedies like last year's The Brothers Bloom. Grace isn't a stranger to action adventure, though, since he starred as villain Venom in Spider-Man 3. I just have to laugh at the fact that Arnold Schwarzenegger is the star of the original film - so far, it seems like Rodriguez doesn't have the same need for beefy actors in his own hunt for aliens.