BuzzSugar

Nicolas Cage Tops a Slow Weekend Box Office

BuzzSugar — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 09:45:46 PDT

Well, the Fall movie season came in with a whimper. According to Variety, "The first weekend after Labor Day is always sluggish, but this year the frame was affected by the start of the NFL football season and was particularly dreary." Bangkok Dangerous came in at No. 1, but it only earned an estimated $7.8 million and narrowly beat Tropic Thunder, which earned an estimated $7.5 million.

The House Bunny came in third place, followed by The Dark Knight in fourth and Don Cheadle's thriller Traitor in fifth place. Interestingly, Hamlet 2, which received major buzz at this year's Sundance Film Festival, is not doing too well in theaters and has only grossed an estimated $4.3 million over the two weekends it's been out.

Kind of a bummer of a weekend, but don't worry-next week The Women and Burn After Reading hit theaters! Who's excited?

Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

Do You Worry About Being Tracked Via Your Gadgets?

GeekSugar — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:00:23 PDT

Current releases Traitor and Pineapple Express both feature main characters convinced that they are being tracked and monitored by the police or some government agency. In some cases it's true and in others it's just drug-induced paranoia, but the fear certainly isn't limited to fiction.

I have a friend that is certain that Fastrak, a company that created an electronic toll collection system for Bay Area bridges, is in cahoots with the police and monitors drivers' activity and whereabouts. It's a notion that seems laughable to me, but cell phone carriers are required to provide the ability to trace cell phone calls to a location within 100 meters or less.

For the most part e-tracking is reserved for emergency situations, but the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice can locate a cellular customer and track their whereabouts. Is this something you consider or worry about?

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Box Office: Tropic Thunder Wins Again

BuzzSugar — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 13:00:50 PDT

Labor Day weekend officially signals the close of the Summer box office season, and this year's ended on, as Variety described it, "a whimper" as opposed to a bang. Tropic Thunder landed in the top spot for the third weekend in a row, pulling in an estimated $14.3 million over four days. The second spot went to Babylon A.D. which earned an estimated $12 million. The Dark Knight came in at No. 3, surpassing the $500 million mark on Sunday.

Traitor starring Don Cheadle and Guy Pearce opened this weekend and came in fifth place with $10 million, just behind The House Bunny, which came in No. 4 with $10.2 million.

Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Movie Preview: Traitor

BuzzSugar — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:33:55 PDT

If the always-amazing Don Cheadle weren't in this new movie Traitor, I probably would have greeted its trailer with a big old "meh." But while the preview makes it look like another one of those run-of-the-mill espionage thrillers Hollywood churns out regularly, the talent involved suggests that I shouldn't necessarily be so quick to judge.

In addition to Cheadle, the movie co-stars the terrific (and handsome) Guy Pearce (of Memento and an odd movie that no one's promoting with Catherine Zeta-Jones), as well as Jeff Daniels. Another fun fact about this project: Steve Martin (yes, the funny one) co-wrote the movie and is an executive producer.

Basically the trailer shows official-looking CIA types acting stressed out, and there is a lot of secret-keeping and secret-sharing. The movie opens August 27 so to take a look for yourself and tell me what you think,

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Game of Thrones "The Prince of Winterfell": What We're Still Talking About

Becky Kirsch — Mon, 21 May 2012 11:39:38 PDT

It's hard to believe that there are only two episodes of Game of Thrones left, and this week feels like the calm before the storm. As Robb, Theon, Tyrion, and Stannis prepare for some serious battles, the ladies in all of their lives start making some moves of their own.

Catelyn takes family matters into her own hands, Talisa finally seals the deal with Robb, and Osha's keeping a secret. As the tease for next week's episode reminds us, war is on the horizon, but let's get into this week's biggest moments when you

Catelyn sets Jaime free. Catelyn makes a decision of the heart and sends Jaime back to King's Landing under Brienne's watch. Naturally, Robb is none too pleased to hear about this, and calls his mom a traitor for negotiating with the Lannisters. So even if Jaime makes it all the way home (which I'm doubtful of, since he's weaseled his way out of the Starks' grip before), what's going to happen when Arya is nowhere to be found?
Robb and Talisa sitting in a tree. Robb's got a lot on his plate right now, what with Theon leading Occupy Winterfell and his mother freeing Jaime and all, but he's still got his flirtation with Talisa to keep him going. Their relationship gets taken to the next level after a deep conversation about life and death, and Robb adorably admits that he doesn't want to marry the Frey girl he's betrothed to. Talisa returns the sentiment and - after what feels like many minutes of trying to unlace Robb's shirt - they get busy on the floor tent. I love seeing Robb as the vulnerable teenager he really is under his kingly demeanor, but I have a bad feeling that his relationship with Talisa is not long for this world.
Bran and Rickon live (of course)! I wasn't really expecting Bran and Rickon to be the poor charred bodies that Theon proudly displays in the center of Winterfell, but I still breathed a sigh of relief when we see that they're safe. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the local farm boys who ultimately suffered Theon's wrath. Theon gets an earful from Yara, who essentially calls him a moron for killing the Stark boys, and he doesn't fight back - so does this mean he doesn't know who he actually ordered to death?
Arya and Jaqen go full alliance. With only one death order left under her belt, Arya starts getting clever with her pact with Jaqen. To get even more help from him, she asks that he help her escape - if not, she'll order his suicide. Since Jaqen knows that he's beat, he agrees and takes down the guards so that Arya, Gendry, and Hot Pie can flee Harrenhal. But where will they go from here? And is this the last we'll see of Jaqen?
Cersei gets the upper hand (and then immediately loses it). During a standard round of sibling banter with Cersei and Tyrion, Cersei starts acting obviously smug about something. Tyrion bites and she tells him that she's learned about the whore he's been hiding, and she threatens to kill her if anything should happen to Joffrey in battle. Tyrion starts to sweat, but then - twist! - Cersei's apprehended the wrong woman, and Shae is still safe.

What'd you think of the episode? And with war brewing, who do you think will make it through the rest of the season?

Photo courtesy of HBO

The Breaking Dawn Cast Talks Wedding, the Birth Scene and Shows Off Some Sexy Footage at Comic-Con!

Shannon Vestal — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 14:55:46 PDT

Twilight's principal cast of Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner hit Comic-Con to talk part one of Breaking Dawn. Along with director Bill Condon, they addressed the film's most anticipated scenes, like Edward and Bella's wedding and their ensuing honeymoon, as well as the infamous vampire-human baby birthing scene.

In addition, we got to see a couple of scenes in the movie that are not in the book. One showed Jacob talking to Carlisle and Esme about protecting Bella, and then having a confrontation with his own wolf pack, who see him as a traitor for helping the Cullens. The other scene we were shown got a ton of catcalls from the audience because it was a clip from Edward and Bella's honeymoon. In the sexy scene, Bella preps for a big milestone (brushing her teeth, shaving her legs . . .) and then meets her new husband on the beach in the moonlight - wearing nothing but a towel. The cast had lots of juicy tidbits to share about the film, and I've shared highlights from the panel below.

Kristen talked about what it was like to shoot the wedding scene, which she said she'd been "ramping up to shoot for four years" because she regarded it as the "most important part of the whole thing." She said it was "so beautiful" when she got on set and saw everyone in the pews, and was as nervous and terrified as she expected herself to be. However, she got into "wedding mode" when she put the dress on - but was locked away in a room to protect the dress and images of her in it, which required her to be under "Secret-Service-style crazy security."
On shooting the honeymoon in Brazil, Robert said the climate was amazing and beautiful on the first day, and then it started raining and turned into "hurricane storms." He said crappy weather made it feel like they were "having a honeymoon in England, playing board games, instead of making love on the beach."
Taylor said Jacob starts out as the same character we've always known at the beginning of Breaking Dawn Part 1, "then he gets his heart crushed." He said Jacob "becomes a totally different person, who is forced to mature and become his own man." Taylor said Jacob's journey was exciting to him and that he can't wait for the audience to see it too.

To find out more about the Breaking Dawn panel at Comic-Con, including what Kristen, Robert, and Taylor each think of the birthing scene, just

So, about that birth scene. Rob said it was his favorite scene to shoot because Edward is so different than he usually is, describing him as "very frail and human" in the scene. He's "so aware of his own helplessness" and is desperate to help Bella. For her part, Kristen described the scene as "so cool" because it's not your typical birthing scene (the understatement of the year). "We go hardcore," she declared, mentioning the detail that Bella is choking on blood at one point, because she'd been drinking it.
Taylor couldn't say enough good things about the birthing scene and emphasized that all the credit goes to director Condon. The end product, he said, is "stunning" and "phenomenal."
Other tidbits about the final parts the cast revealed? Kristen mentioned that the vampire contacts "suck SO bad, because you can't see anyone," and Taylor talked about getting punched by Robert when Jacob imprints on his daughter.
Other cast members like Ashley Greene, Nikki Reed, Elizabeth Reaser, and Julia Jones joined the rest of the cast on stage for a few questions, and everyone talked about how much they'll miss hanging out together. Jones joked that you have to make a commitment to seeing each other, which includes "being in LA."

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