BuzzSugar

Buzz News Roundup, 11/24

BuzzSugar — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:30:10 -0800

The stage musical version of Irving Berlin's White Christmas will come to Broadway this Winter, offering seasonal competition to The Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular. - Variety
Shopgirl director Anand Tucker will direct Amy Adams in the Dublin-set romantic comedy Leap Year. - ComingSoon
The Screen Actors Guild will ask its members to authorize a possible strike. - Zap2it
Another one joins George Clooney in the cast of Jason Reitman's (director of Juno) next project, Up in the Air: Vera Farmiga will play the romantic interest for Clooney's character. - Variety
Horatio Sanz and Jessica St. Clair have joined the cast of ABC's In the Motherhood. - TV Guide
Jay-Z and Coldplay will play a few tour dates together next year. - Pitchfork
Jennifer Westfeldt (Kissing Jessica Stein, Notes From the Underbelly) has joined Grey's Anatomy as a patient for a multiepisode arc. - Entertainment Weekly
Screenwriter John Michael Hayes, nominated for Academy Awards for the classic Alfred Hitchcock film Rear Window and for Peyton Place, has died at age 89. - AP

Joshua: Eerie Little Family Drama

BuzzSugar — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 13:46:35 -0700

Watching Joshua, I was struck with the sense of no longer being in this time period - even though the movie is set in present day Manhattan. There's something old-fashioned, slow-building and just-under-the-surface eerie about the film, and in that way it differs from your average mainstream thriller. Not much happens, and the gradual building of suspense requires quite a bit of patience. But if you're a fan of old Hitchcock films, Joshua is a satisfying modern option.

Well-off Manhattan parents Brad (Sam Rockwell) and Abby (Vera Farmiga) have a beautiful life: They live in a gorgeous apartment on the Upper East Side, have a son Joshua (Jacob Kogan) who appears to be a kind of child prodigy, and just brought home a baby girl, Lily. As soon as Lily arrives in the house, however, their perfect lives start to slowly unravel and ultimately spiral wildly out of control. To find out what starts to happen, read more

Lily takes to crying for hours on end, wearing at Abby's sanity. It doesn't help that Joshua, a creepy, precocious child, has started acting out in bizarre ways, purportedly on account of his new baby sister joining the family. But Joshua's behavior takes a sinister turn, and as he plays mind games with his father, we feel at times sorry for the boy or baffled by his cold actions. Both his parents are ultimately - and frighteningly - rendered helpless to his manipulations.

What I found most intriguing about the movie was its disturbingly naturalistic vibe. This isn't a movie about supernatural or paranormal activity. They never explore the idea that the child is possessed by the devil, though his problems also don't stem from some kind of drug or brainwashing. And yet his behavior is far beyond that of a normal older sibling trying to come to terms with a new kid in the family. As producer Jonathan Dorfman is quoted as saying in the press materials, "The idea that a kid might be bad for no apparent reason is one of our scariest thoughts." The filmmakers clearly play on this fear in the movie, and they bring the uneasiness of this idea to a harrowing - if quiet - pitch.

Photos courtesy of Fox Searchlight

Link Time! Rumer Willis to Romance a Major 90210 Character

BuzzSugar — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:30:34 -0700

Guess who Rumer Willis's character on 90210 is going to have a girl-on-girl relationship with? - Ausiello Files
Hulu will not start charging for content after all - PopWatch
Zooey Deschanel will make a guest appearance on Bones - The Futon Critic
Natalie Portman was the guest judge on Top Chef last night - test your knowledge! - YumSugar
Dave Eggers's novel Zeitoun is going to be made into an animated film - Vulture
The new Avatar trailer is a bit more exciting than the first - Cinematical
Keanu Reeves will star in romantic comedy Henry's Crime with Vera Farmiga - Coming Soon
Abigal Breslin will star as Helen Keller on Broadway, along with Alison Pill - Hollywood Crush
Will Twilight's Anna Kendrick get a supporting actress nomination for Up in the Air? - HitFix

Photos courtesy of The CW

What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:30:00 -0700

It's Tuesday, which means new DVDs hit shelves to fatten up your entertainment library! Trying to decide which to add to your Netflix queue? Check out these three releases.

Orphan

All right, so it's not the best horror film ever - for that, take a peek at my scary movie bracket - but who doesn't love a good spook just in time for Halloween? In Orphan, Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard star as parents who adopt a destructive little girl with a huge secret. The movie borders on ridiculous, but if you like to laugh during your fright flicks, it's got a bit of dark humor and over-the-top slasher scenes. Bonus features include deleted scenes and an alternate ending - which should be good for keeping things fresh, seeing as how the big twist has already been spoiled by pretty much anyone who's seen it.

55%

See two more new releases when you read more.

Nothing Like the Holidays

If you're feeling anti-Orphan, then perhaps a Christmas-themed ensemble film is more your speed. Nothing Like the Holidays follows a large, boisterous Puerto Rican-American family as they gather at their parents' home, and the obligatory love-hate relationships ensue. The storyline is a little stale, so I wasn't a fan when the movie first came out - but it may be a solid rental to get into the pre-holiday spirit and for the actors. (Alfred Molina and Freddy Rodriguez are particularly good as father and son.) There's also a bonus blooper real.

49%

Whatever Works

Curb Your Enthusiasm's Larry David stars in Woody Allen's story of a crabby New Yorker who takes in a young Southern runaway named Melodie (Evan Rachel Wood). Putting aside the somewhat unsettling older man and much younger woman relationship, the real joy to be had is from the bit character parts. Patricia Clarkson and Ed Begley Jr. turn in hilarious performances as Melodie's parents, and dreamy Henry Cavill of The Tudors plays a love interest. If you can get beyond David doing his tiring, whiny Allen schtick, they make the film worth checking out.

48%