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Link Time!

BuzzSugar — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:30:02 -0700

Will Ferrell will star in indie comedy Everything Must Go - Zap2it
Ugly Betty is back tonight! - TV.com
Ian Somerhalder will star in romantic gothic fairy tale Cradlewood - The Wrap
The Big Chill: where are they now? - Moviefone
Last night's 30 Rock is even more meta thanks to low ratings - Vulture
Hilarious: old folks review MGMT's video for "Kids" - Stereogum
Penelope Cruz is going to make a cameo in the Sex and the City sequel - Cinematical
The Top 20 Celebrity Twilight fans - PopSugar
Telling the difference between Where the Wild Things Are and Wild Things - MTV Movies Blog

Land of the Lost Fail: Will Ferrell Fatigue? Or Something Else?

BuzzSugar — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 13:30:10 -0700

After the newest Will Ferrell movie, Land of the Lost, had a disappointing opening weekend at the box office last week, many in the world of movie punditry have been debating what went wrong. On paper, the movie seems to have a lot going for it: a major Hollywood star in the main role and a reportedly $200 million budget.

So why did it bomb so spectacularly? Some are arguing that Will Ferrell fatigue has set in and Americans are just not that into the comedian's shtick anymore.

But there could be other factors. Vulture points out the poorly executed marketing campaign, including an early preview of the movie that had some seriously junky-looking CGI. I myself wonder who was meant to see this movie. Kids? But with a PG-13 rating it's apparently too mature for the littler ones and it appears a bit too "young" for tweens.

So, can the Land of the Lost failure be pinned on Will Ferrell fatigue? Or something else?

Photo courtesy of Universal Studios

Link Time! 5/21

BuzzSugar — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:00:07 -0700

Five geeky ways the Upper East Siders could unmask Gossip Girl. - geeksugar
The song Will Ferrell almost sang on American Idol. - Funny or Die
Seven mall movies that are way better than Paul Blart. - Cinematical
A cool map of more than 200 sitcom settings. - Pop Candy
Which starlet will get "Footloose" with Chace Crawford? - MTV Movies Blog
An analysis of literature's great rascals. - We Love You So
Old folks review new music - hilariously! - Stereogum
A Carrie Bradshaw-inspired bedroom - made by a Sugar reader. - CasaSugar

Photos courtesy of The CW

Buzz In: What SNL Sketches Do You Miss Most?

BuzzSugar — Tue, 19 May 2009 08:30:25 -0700

Last weekend's Saturday Night Live finale featured the return of Will Ferrell as Alex Trebek in the popular Celebrity Jeopardy sketch. Almost everyone I know can quote the old sketches that featured Darrell Hammond's Sean Connery endlessly mocking Trebek ("That's not what your mother said last night!") and Norm Macdonald's hilarious impersonation of Burt Reynolds. Oh man, it was so good to see those guys return and do that sketch again - I missed it!

I also miss the Mary Katherine Gallagher sketch performed by Molly Shannon back in the day. It might be weird, but the armpit-smelling still makes me laugh just thinking about it. Chris Farley's "interviews" with folks like Paul McCartney are classics in my mind, as are the sketches with Will Ferrell and Sheri Oteri as cheerleaders. Which SNL sketches do you miss the most?

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Buzz News Roundup, 5/18

BuzzSugar — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:30:03 -0700

Will Ferrell and Pearl Jam will be Conan O'Brien's first guests on The Tonight Show. - AP
Jennifer Love Hewitt and Jamie Kennedy are starring in Cafe, an indie drama about Philadelphia residents who frequent the local West Philly Grounds coffee shop where Love Hewitt's character works. - The Hollywood Reporter
Katherine Heigl is submitting her name for Emmy consideration this year after her controversial withdrawal last year. - Entertainment Weekly
Eminem is planning a free show in Detroit on the same day his album Relapse is released. Meanwhile, Kenny Chesney played a free show Sunday night in Dallas that drew about 25,000 people. - Billboard
Fox and Columbia Records have a deal to make songs from Glee available as iTunes downloads. - The Futon Critic
Milla Jovovich has joined Robert De Niro and Ed Norton in the thriller Stone. - ComingSoon
The tribe has spoken and named a new Survivor winner. - USA Today
Green Day and Black Eyed Peas are dominating the UK charts. - Billboard

Photo courtesy of NBC

Will Ferrell + Mark Wahlberg: Hilarious Comedy Duo?

BuzzSugar — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 10:44:54 -0800

How is it possible that of all the over-the-top characters Will Ferrell has played on the big screen, he's never been a policeman? That's about to change, though, as Sony has just picked up the rights to The B Team, a buddy comedy about a pair of cops.

The other cop? Mark Wahlberg. It's an interesting choice because a lot of his recent comedy experience has been as the butt of jokes on Saturday Night Live (though he was pretty amusing poking fun at himself for it later). But I could see him playing the uptight, serious cop to Ferrell's swaggerin' man who doesn't care about the rules.

Not much is known about the story yet, but Adam McKay is back as Ferrell's director. A while back, a lot of you said you had Will Ferrell fatigue, but does the idea of pairing him with Wahlberg seem like a refreshing change?

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First Look: Eastbound and Down with Danny McBride

BuzzSugar — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 14:37:19 -0800

Kenny Powers was supposed to be baseball's next big thing, but when he got to the big leagues, his obnoxious personality (and his not-so-fast fastball) became his ticket right back out. He thought he'd mount a comeback, of course - but for now, he's plotting his next move from his brother's couch while working as a substitute gym teacher. As HBO puts it, "Every kid has a great ball player they look up to. Kenny Powers is not that guy."

Powers - played by Danny McBride, sporting an amped-up version of his Pineapple Express mullet - is the central figure in Eastbound and Down, a new comedy series premiering Sunday on HBO following Flight of the Conchords. The show has a lot of funny folks behind it: It's produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's production company, the same folks who run Funny or Die. (Ferrell himself makes occasional appearances as a car salesman with a hairdo that puts McBride's to shame.)

Considering it's an HBO series, Eastbound and Down has been relatively under the radar, so I'll be curious to see what it's like on Sunday. For now, to check out a promo for the show and a related ad starring Ferrell, just read more.

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Buzz News Roundup, 10/17

BuzzSugar — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:30:37 -0700

Once is going to get a remake as a Broadway musical. - LA Times
Speaking of theater, Will Ferrell will make his Broadway debut in January in the new solo comedy You’re Welcome America. A Final Night With George W Bush. - Variety
Mad Men will be renewed for a third season - but creator Matthew Weiner isn't officially on board yet. - The Hollywood Reporter
Michael Lewis’s nonfiction bestseller Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game will be adapted to film, with filmmakers eying Brad Pitt for the lead role. - ComingSoon
The real Sarah Palin will appear on Saturday Night Live this weekend. - AP
The film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's The Road may not be ready for release until 2009. - The Hollywood Reporter
Four Tops lead singer Levi Stubbs has passed away at the age of 72. - AP
Kim Cattrall is set to star in a movie titled Miss January. - Variety
Barry Manilow will release an album of '80s covers on Nov. 25. - Billboard

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Do You Have Will Ferrell Fatigue?

BuzzSugar — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:30:23 -0700

Ah, Will Ferrell. He - and/or his characters - are incredibly divisive in the sense that you either go to a Will Ferrell movie for him or you avoid a Will Ferrell movie because of him. And while I used to be part of the former camp (I mean, Elf and Stranger Than Fiction are really good), I'm starting to fall into the latter (see: my feelings on Step Brothers). There are only so many times I can watch him portray the same immature, idiotic, yet somehow supposedly endearing role before I throw in the towel. So, as you can tell, I'm starting to feel some Ferrell fatigue. Are you?

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Step Brothers: Middle-Aged Men Behaving Badly

BuzzSugar — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:30:03 -0700

Step Brothers is yet another entry into the canon of movies that have resulted from the collaboration between director Adam McKay, star Will Ferrell, and (. . . wait for it) producer Judd Apatow. After mining all kinds of scenarios for comedy (anchormen, race car drivers, the '70s in general, etc.), even these funny guys have to hit the bottom of the barrel sometime. I imagine the concept that would result from that rock-bottom brainstorming session would go something like this: "How about instead of making a movie about a guy who has a grownup job but sometimes acts like a childish loser, we literally just make a movie about a childish loser?" In other words, it would look a lot like Step Brothers.

And so it goes, with Ferrell of course taking the overgrown-child role. Add to the mix a crew of esteemed supporting actors including Mary Steenburgen and Richard Jenkins, and you end up with a familiar comedy that explores some unfamiliar territory (Ferrell's private parts - I'm not even joking). The movie had me buckled over in my seat laughing about half the time, but I spent the rest of it horrified and a little bored with how standard it all felt. To see what I loved and what I'm tired of, read more.

Stripped of all the bravado that his moronic characters usually boast, Ferrell's Brennan Huff is actually humble, painfully aware that he is the world's biggest loser (he still lives at home with his mom even though he's 40-something years old). His mom (Steenburgen) speculates that things went wrong for her son after some public humiliation by other kids, led by Brennan's older brother Derek (the pitch-perfect Adam Scott). Then a middle-aged fellow in a similar boat, Dale Doback (John C. Reilly), is forced to move in with Brennan when their parents get married. The two immediately resent each other - and by "resent," I mean Dale tells Brennan how much he hates him, and then they quite literally go at each other's throats.

For the most part, the shtick works, and the two stars have great chemistry together. And when Ferrell whips himself into an angry, manic, f-bomb-laden frenzy full of sex jokes and scatological humor, it's occasionally worth a chuckle. Mostly, though, the act feels tired: The novelty of Ferrell flying off the hook like that has worn off for me by now. It's a little different when Reilly does it; we're not as used to seeing him channel immaturity and comic rage. But even then, the infantile tantrums that resort to third-grade jokes get old fast.

But, when the movie is actually working and thinking at how to make us laugh (rather than resorting to the tried-and-true stuff), it's really, really good. The fellas stay true to their characters, and in a lot of moments the natural humor inherent in their situation comes through. For example, Brennan is believed to be a great singer but is hesitant to perform for anyone. When he finally does sing for his new brother, Dale is so moved that he describes the gorgeousness of Brennan's voice as "a combination between Fergie and Jesus." Later, when we're introduced to the d-bag that is Brennan's tormenting brother Derek, he's driving his family along in a car, demanding they sing a song together and that everyone's harmonies are in key and timed perfectly. It's one of my favorite scenes in the movie.

Ferrell is a talented guy. He's especially great when he puts a little effort into making us laugh and saves the angry meltdowns and the exposing of body parts for when it really counts. Thankfully Step Brothers has more going on than just its star's juvenile proclivities.

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures