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What Do You Think About the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series?

BuzzSugar — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 19:58:52 -0700

Bryan Cranston is taking home the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Breaking Bad for the second consecutive year. He beat out Simon Baker, Michael C. Hall, Hugh Laurie, Gabriel Byrne, and Jon Hamm.

As much as I wanted to see Jon Hamm grace the podium, Cranston is definitely deserving of the statue. What do you think of this win? Vote on all my Emmy Awards polls here!

TV Tonight: Breaking Bad

BuzzSugar — Sun, 31 May 2009 13:30:54 -0700

It took a while for me to get into AMC's drama series Breaking Bad, but once the show got its claws into me, I could hardly do anything but watch. I once spent the better part of a weekend powering through the episodes I hadn't seen yet, and I get antsy waiting for 10 p.m. to roll around on Sundays so I can see what Walt White (Bryan Cranston) has gotten up to now.

Actually, it's a lot like how I felt when I watched the very first season of Weeds - which is funny, because the shows have some things in common. Both have a central character who turns to drugs as a way to make money in a time of great distress (in the case of Breaking Bad, Walt's diagnosed with cancer that's presumed to be terminal). Both also have a character in law enforcement who's just a wee bit too close to all the drug action (here it's Walt's brother-in-law, who works for the DEA). And in both shows, I find myself rooting for a main character (Walt, Nancy Botwin) whom I'm not even sure I like anymore.

Walt's done some bad things over the first two seasons of Breaking Bad, but last week's episode may have shown the darkest side of him yet - right when his son is promoting him as a hero. From AMC's preview, it looks like a lot of Walt's secrets will be coming out tonight, and I can't wait to see how this episode sets us up for season three. Will anybody else be watching? To check out the preview, just read more.

Photo courtesy of AMC

What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 07:30:04 -0800

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue.

Breaking Bad: Season One
You know, I was just talking about the upcoming Breaking Bad marathon airing Friday, March 6, but if you don't feel like clogging up the old TiVo with more stuff, now you can just bring home the first season on DVD.

I think of this show as the other critically acclaimed AMC series that isn't Mad Men - it even snagged an Emmy back in September. I know a lot of people who haven't gotten into this show yet and I'm determined to change that. Maybe they haven't heard what it's about yet: A high school chemistry teacher who teams up with his former student to produce and distribute meth. It's good TV! Season two starts March 8 at 10 p.m. so now is the time to catch up.

Special features include audio commentary on the pilot episode by the creator and cast, screen tests, and deleted scenes.

Two more good ones up next, so read more.

What Just Happened
This dark comedy was a fairly big deal at last year's Sundance due largely to Robert DeNiro, and then the film slipped off my radar completely. But that's what's fun about New DVD Tuesday: It makes you go "Ohhh, yeeeah". . . especially when you've already seen everything else.

Here's the Netflix plot description: "Harried film producer Ben (Robert DeNiro) juggles a lunatic director, a temperamental actor (Bruce Willis) and an out-of-control production while courting a studio head (Catherine Keener) and dealing with his ex-wife (Robin Wright Penn) in Barry Levinson's funny and poignant exploration of the movie business." Sounds like a nice chaser to awards season, wouldn't you say?

Special features include commentary with Barry Levinson and writer/producer Art Linson, deleted scenes, and casting sessions (I love these!)

Sumer Heights High
There's good TV, and then there's the kind of TV I want on hand at home so I can watch it over and over again and Summer Heights High is totally the latter. I practically die of laughter at this show because of how absurd and slyly witty it is.

The Australian series is a "mockumentary" about public high school that aired on HBO this year. Chris Lilley, an Australian comic who's been described as "his country's Peter Sellers," plays all three of Summer Heights High's main characters. I can't even explain how funny he is.

Special features include over three and a half hours of deleted scenes and outtakes.

Break Into Breaking Bad Before Season Two Begins

BuzzSugar — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:30:25 -0800

AMC's Breaking Bad - you know, its critically acclaimed series that isn't Mad Men - came and went all too quickly during its first season. But seven episodes were enough for Emmy voters, who honored star Bryan Cranston as the year's best dramatic lead actor.

The show returns for a full second season on March 8 at 10 p.m., and if you still have some catching up to do, clear about seven hours from your schedule and dive right in: AMC is showing a marathon of first-season episodes starting at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 6. Not sure you can stay up till 3 a.m. to watch the adventures of Walt White? The season one DVD is out on Tuesday, and all the episodes are also available on iTunes.

If you're just looking for a taste, you can watch the pilot episode for free online. And if you really want to cut down on your catch-up time, you'll only need 90 seconds for AMC's season one recap video. To check it out, just read more.

Photo courtesy of AMC

Buzz News Roundup, 1/9

BuzzSugar — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:30:01 -0800

Breaking Bad will return in March and Mad Men should start up again in the Summer - even though Matthew Weiner still doesn't have a contract. - Zap2it
Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell are in talks to star as the villains in Iron Man 2. - The Hollywood Reporter
Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried are set to star in the thriller Chloe. - ComingSoon
ER is getting three more episodes and the next John Wells show, Police, is getting six. - The Hollywood Reporter
Steven Spielberg's Catch Me if You Can will be turned into a Broadway musical by the writers who adapted Hairspray for the stage. - Variety
Leonardo DiCaprio is in talks to take the lead in Beating the Reaper, a thriller based on Josh Bazell's as-yet unpublished novel. - Zap2It
Dennis Rodman and Joan and Melissa Rivers are among the contestants for the next Celebrity Apprentice. - SavvySugar
Michael Fassbender, Rebecca Hall, Michael Cera, Noel Clarke and Toby Kebbell are the five actors in the running for the BAFTA Orange Rising Star award. - Variety
Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Jim Sturgess and Saoirse Ronan will star in The Way Back, a movie based on the memoir by Slavomir Rawicz. - ComingSoon

Photos courtesy of AMC

Want to Catch Up on Mad Men or Breaking Bad? Here's How

BuzzSugar — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:30:52 -0700

If you were thinking of picking up either Mad Men or Breaking Bad after their big Emmy wins on Sunday, AMC is making it easy. Over the next week, they're rerunning a big chunk of Mad Men and all of Breaking Bad in two marathon sessions.

The first comes tonight starting at 4 p.m. EDT (check your local listings if you're elsewhere), when the network will air the first eight episodes of the second season of Mad Men all in a row. (Once you're done, come back for my recaps!)

Then next Wednesday, Oct. 1, the entire first season of Breaking Bad will air starting at 8 p.m. EDT. It's only seven episodes total, so it's not a huge time commitment. I didn't manage to catch every episode of that one myself, so I'll definitely be setting my DVR to capture the ones I missed this time around.

Meanwhile, if you just want a taste of Breaking Bad, you can also watch the pilot online right now.

Photos courtesy of AMC

Buzz News Roundup, 5/7

BuzzSugar — Wed, 07 May 2008 13:34:59 -0700

Oxygen's Talk Sex with Sue is ending this week, but its sassy 77-year-old host promises she'll keep giving lectures, the Associated Press reports.
AMC has renewed Breaking Bad for a 13-episode second season, writes the Hollywood Reporter.
According to Variety, Eva Mendes, Josh Hartnett and Ben Kingsley will topline Queen of the South (La reina del sur), an adaptation of the bestselling novel by Spanish author Arturo Perez Reverte.
The Screen Actors Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have broken off talks without a contract, raising new fears about an actors' strike, TV Guide reports.
Madonna scored her seventh career No. 1 album this week, Billboard reports, with Mariah Carey coming in at No. 2 and Leona Lewis at No. 3.
Ugly Betty plans to move production from LA to New York City next season, writes Zap2it.
Samantha Morton and Woody Harrelson have joined Ben Foster and Jena Malone for the movie The Messenger, Variety writes.

Photo courtesy of Oxygen

TV Tonight: Breaking Bad and Mad Men

BuzzSugar — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 12:30:49 -0800

Forget your image of AMC as the stodgy channel of old black-and-white movies. Now, the cable network is bad and mad.

I'm talking, of course, about Breaking Bad and Mad Men, which take over the channel's Sunday night lineup starting tonight. Breaking Bad is the quirky new series starring Malcolm in the Middle's Bryan Cranston as a high school chemistry teacher who completely flips his life's boring script when he's diagnosed with a terminal illness. It follows the success of AMC's first original series, Mad Men, which I named one of my best shows of 2007.

The intriguing clips for Breaking Bad have already prompted me to set my TiVo for tonight; the first episode airs at 10 p.m. EST and PST and will repeat again immediately after. Then, at midnight, AMC begins showing the first season of Mad Men from the beginning - great timing considering the show's Golden Globe wins.

Do you think you'll be checking out either show? To watch the Breaking Bad and Mad Men trailers, just read more.

Photos courtesy of AMC

First Look: Breaking Bad

BuzzSugar — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 09:30:00 -0800

AMC struck it big with its first stab at original scripted programming: the Golden Globe-winning drama Mad Men. The cable channel's newest series starts Sunday, and with scripted shows fading fast due to the strike, it couldn't come at a better time.

Breaking Bad stars Bryan Cranston - best known as the dad from Malcolm in the Middle - as Walt White, a high school chemistry teacher with a struggling family. He's the kind of guy who just lets life happen to him until he's diagnosed with a terminal illness. That's when he decides to make a change, creating a meth lab in an old RV and generally raising hell. It sounds a little like Weeds meets The Bucket List, and that's an intriguingly bizarre combo.

With new TV dwindling by the day, are you up for giving Breaking Bad a shot? To watch a couple of previews, just read more.

Photo and videos courtesy of AMC

The Vampire Diaries "The Turning Point": The Good, The Bad and The Bloody

BuzzSugar — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:15:00 -0800

I was already bummed knowing this was the last week of new episodes of The Vampire Diaries until January; and now, having seen it, I'm freaking out a little bit. I knew there was going to be an epic cliffhanger, I just didn't know how epic!

With new vampires, violence and passion come "The Turning Point" - a title that would apply to many things that happened this week. So as usual, let's break down the good, the bad, and the bloody of this week (plenty of spoilers ahead!) when you read more.

The Good

Stefan and Elena finally gave up on their "are we or aren't we" dance and got together. I mean, together together. Vampire boots were knocked, but there wasn't a happy ending. More on that later.
Logan's vampiric turn made for gruesome excitement, especially now that Damon is trying to be on his best behavior. It also brought forth new mysteries; why did Sheriff Forbes bury Logan and write emails on his behalf instead of saying it was an animal attack? And who did turn him? My money was on Alaric, but now I'm not so sure. I also enjoyed his interactions with Damon, despite their constant shooting of wood bullets at each other.
OK, fine: I do like Caroline and Matt together now. Their coupling is just kind of sweet, and the fact that they bonded over So You Think You Can Dance?! I felt like it was my birthday.
I'm a fan of cool guy teacher Alaric, even if he is probably a vampire. I like to think he's more exciting than that - could he be a good vampire like Stefan? Interestingly, I don't think that Stefan or Damon has actually interfaced with Alaric yet, which is telling to me. If I had to guess, I'd say they knew each other. And what of him also being a "daywalker," when Stefan and Damon are so secretive about their rings?
I need to know more about the Gilbert family legacy, especially since Jeremy discovered an ancestor who wrote fiction about monsters. I like that the show made me care about more side characters I hadn't previously, like Jenna, Jeremy, and even Tyler. About Tyler. . . I don't want to speak too soon, but I think there's something very interesting happening with him.

The Bad

Isn't it a little too early to be saying "I love you," Elena? She even wants to see and make out with his scary vampire face when he gets turned on. Weeeird.

The Bloody

Newborn Logan is literally out for blood, but that pile of hoarded bodies that Logan was keeping made me sick to my stomach.
Anyone else feeling sorry for Caroline? Girlfriend's always getting bloodied up. Someone give her a self-defense lesson.
So basically unless you're Stefan or Damon, if you're a vampire you will only last one episode before being staked. Logan gets staked by Alaric by the end of the hour, which is unfortunate for Damon, because Logan had just promised him there was another way to break the spell holding Katherine and the other vampires under Fell's Church. Guess we'll just have to wait to meet little Miss Vixen.
It might have been time for Stefan to hide the Katherine photo, or at least have come clean about their resemblance. Lord knows finding a photo of my doppelganger at my undead boyfriend's house would freak me out too. That's what happens for Elena, who leaves Stefan's in a devastated rush. When someone stands in front of her car, she has a gnarly crash, which is terrifying in itself. It gets much more horrifying when the "person" she hit uncracks their limbs to stand up and come toward her. Yeesh! (BTW, did that scene remind anyone of Tara in the first season finale of True Blood?)

I don't know how I'm going to deal with the show's hiatus for two long months, let alone waiting that long to find out what was coming for Elena. Or, who Alaric is; did he kill Logan to protect Jenna, eliminate a problem-causing newborn, or something more insidious? To talk more about the show (especially in the next few weeks without new episodes) join the Hooked on Vampire Diaries group in the Buzz Community!

Photos courtesy of The CW