BuzzSugar

Rewind: This Week's Buzz

BuzzSugar — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 07:30:48 -0700

CBS learned a big lesson this week: Britney equals ratings gold. I learned you should never mess with the fanboys of Fanboys.
The Oliver Stone Bush biopic cast is quickly filling out. I wonder who's going to play Dick Cheney? Which reminds me, all that horse-loving talk aside, I'm starting to think Kristy Lee Cook is an evil genius.
This is one of those weeks where TV news makes a lot of sense and then none at all. I can understand why there is interest in shows about escorts after the Spitzer scandal. But a show that's just people falling? Really?
More good stuff came out of the Paley Festival in Los Angeles this week, including the goods on Gossip Girl, Damages and Dirty Sexy Money.
Well it's the end of the road for the March book club, thanks to everyone for reading along! I'm really excited about April's book, The Life Before Her Eyes. I hope you can hunt down a copy for yourself this weekend and join in. And don't worry, I can confidently state the new editions of these books will never be selected.
Axl Rose, if you're listening, please finish up that that album so America can toast you with Dr. Pepper!
Can you guess which rock songs these lyrics belong to? Also, can you guess what TV show I'm recasting based on these lyrics? "What would we do, baby, without us? Sha-la-la-laaaa. . ."

Photo courtesy of CBS

Bad Idea of the Week: ABC's Wipe Out

BuzzSugar — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 11:30:48 -0700

It's a fact that falling can be funny. Look no further than Charlie Chaplin - or, for a more modern example, all those falling videos on YouTube.

But would you watch a show that was nothing but people falling, over and over again, on purpose?

ABC is about to find out: The network is picking up a reality show called Wipe Out, from the folks behind Fear Factor, that will feature "the most crashes, face plants, impacts and wipeouts ever seen on television." Um, woohoo? Also, instead of that sort of amusing, voyeuristic thing those YouTube videos have going for them, the show's falls will all be carefully designed.

The series will feature 24 contestants working their way through a series of obstacle courses that are "designed to make people crash and burn," with the promise that the wipeouts will begin almost immediately. Four finalists will move on to the even tougher Wipe Out Zone, with each episode's winner taking home $50,000.

Do you think it's true that, as one of the producers said, "there's just something inherently funny about watching someone wipe out"? Does that still hold true if you know the wipeout is coming? Does this show strike anyone else as Jackass without the edge? And really, how long will it be before even the biggest falling fans get really, really bored?

Source

2012: Apocalyptic Good Times

BuzzSugar — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:30:00 -0800

In terms of end-of-the-world movies, 2012 packs it all - a love story, teary family moments, action-packed adventure, over-the-top-CGI, and a ton of recycled film cliches - in a two and a half hour package. That's lengthy by today's standards, but I wasn't bored for a minute. This is pure escapist entertainment.

The film opens in 2009 as a scientist in India and his American associate Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) discover that the Earth's core is overheating. His forecast: Tectonic plates will shift, thereby causing a worldwide catastrophe that will wipe out the human race.

Dun, dun, dun! (Doesn't take long to pull you in, does it?) To hear my full assessment, read more.

The real action goes down three years later in 2012 when, according to the Mayan calendar, the Earth will reach its end. The entire So-Cal coast starts crumbling, so our hero Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) and his family begin a journey to China where the governments around the world have supposedly assembled spaceships to carry select humans to safety.

What? You expected this to be plausible?

Of course not, but the film does include tons of cool CGI - volcanos, snow storms, giant tsunamis. It's like every disaster movie you've ever watched combined. (That should come as no surprise seeing as how the director is Roland Emmerich who created The Day After Tomorrow, Independence Day, and Godzilla.)

As for the characters, we've seen them all stereotyped in other films before, but they're still enjoyable here. (Even though I admittedly winced over a Russian family complete with a fur coat, tiny dog, and an employee named Sasha.) This is thanks to the actors who play their parts with believability, even when the scenes feel ridiculous. Ejiofor portrays a great bleeding heart swept up in a governmental plan that's looking out for No. 1, and Cusack pulls off his father role without being over-the-top or sappy. Also, watch for Woody Harrelson as a nutty conspiracy theorist living in Yellowstone National Park.

2012 is purely meant to be fun, and it succeeds. There's a constant barrage of cliff-hanger moments that never let up, and though you pretty much know where things are headed, it's easy to get sucked in.

(Don't forget that if you see a movie that you'd like to review, you can post your write-up in the Movie Review Group in Community - I may even post it here on the site!)

Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures

The Office, "Niagara": Best Lines of the Night, Plus Video!

BuzzSugar — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:17:58 -0700

OK, I've discreetly wiped the tears from my eyes post-wedding and have to report that I was pleasantly surprised - after all the hype, The Office managed to pull off unconventional and totally touching nuptials for Jim and Pam.

The video sneak peek didn't give away the wedding surprises - or the moments of hilariousness that arose. I've put together my favorite lines of the episode here, so check them out - and for another Office water cooler, join The Office group in the community!

To see the best lines of this week, just read more.

"A three ounce fetus is calling the shots! That's so badass." - Dwight
Dwight is entranced by Pam's pregnancy, but he and the rest of the office are not exactly sympathetic. That is, until Dwight's peeled egg makes Pam barf, then Andy barf, then a full-on chain reaction barf ensues, reminiscent of the notorious scene in Stand By Me.
"Some of us have to be our own grandmother." - Angela
Angela's uptightness kills me in this episode - from her being offended by Pam's pregnancy to honking incessantly at Kevin in the office parking lot. Hilarious.
"A lot of people told me I was crazy to wait this long for a date with a girl I worked with, but I think even then I knew, I was waiting for my wife." - Jim
Obviously this line isn't funny, but it was possibly my favorite one in the whole episode. It's such a sweet, genuinely Jim thing for him to say at the rehearsal dinner and is one of those moments at any crazy wedding where you remember why you're there. Oh and it's the line that's uttered right before Jim accidentally slips that Pam is pregnant and everything comes crashing down.
"I was dancing and I did a split and I landed on my car keys in my pocket." - Andy
Andy's accident actually sets off many hilarious lines, such as "He is in my room icing his balls," Jim's "No! Let's talk for a long time," and "Andy, did I dream that you were crying through the night?"
"What else you got?!" - Erin
Meek receptionist Erin rarely gets a funny line, but her screaming at Andy to show off another dance move after he was so obviously injured is so funny and timed perfectly.
"I bought those boat tickets the day I saw that YouTube video." - Jim
Pretty sure my jaw dropped when "Forever" from the JK Wedding Entrance dance came on. It's just the kind of cheesy disaster that would befall Jim and Pam, but they've already secretly gotten married, so instead of horror, it's joy on their faces watching their co-workers and family groove down the aisle. The fact that they cut in footage from the ceremony at sea? Perfect.

Need to see that wedding dance again? Say no more!

Want even more? Check out Pam's video diary from the big day (starring Jim in his underwear!):

So, everyone's favorite colleague couple is now married, and I was not disappointed by the wedding episode at all. What did you think? Was it a fitting event for Jim and Pam?

Photo and videos courtesy of NBC