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Link Time! 7/8

BuzzSugar — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:19:36 -0700

E!'s Watch With Kristin makes me all kinds of happy by reporting that Michael J. Fox is in talks to return to TV, guest-starring on Rescue Me and reprising his role on Scrubs.
Joss Whedon told the MTV Movies Blog about one of his next projects: writing and producing the movie Cabin in the Woods.
TV Filter has an awesome montage of reality show contestants saying they're "not here to make friends."
If you loved the short film Presto before Wall-E, The Underwire lets you watch it again and again.
Stereogum has the new video for Death Cab for Cutie's "Cath."
It's Cheers week on TV Squad, and to celebrate, one of the show's writers, Ken Levine, has shared the episode of Cheers he's still writing in his head.
Popwatch's Michael Slezak makes a darn good argument that Jessica Simpson's version of "These Boots Were Made for Walking" is the worst cover of all time. Do you think there's a cover song that tops that one?
TiFaux watched Alan Ball's True Blood, and . . . um, it wasn't exactly a rave review.
I'm liking Cinematical's list of their seven favorite summertime movies, including Stand By Me, Dazed and Confused and Wet Hot American Summer.
Vulture has a chat with Hellboy II director Guillermo del Toro.

The Results Are In: Recast "Cheers"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 10:23:22 -0800

For last week's Recast challenge, I asked you guys to tackle the long-running and brilliantly enduring sitcom "Cheers." The actors who played these colorful, oddly familiar characters really helped make the show what it was, but BuzzSugar readers came up with some fitting replacements who could honor the show's legacy.

The versatile Hugh Laurie surfaced twice: once as Frasier on Staceygirl's list and again when BeanBagChair picked him to play Cliff. I also really loved Staceygirl's choices of Janeane Garafalo for Carla and Paul Giamatti as Norm. But the No. 1 Recast spot this week goes to ChiTownEm. I particularly love her choice for Sam Malone, but does Chris Klein give anyone else the heebie-jeebies? To see her picks and the "new" cast photo, read more

ChiTownEm's "Cheers" Cast
Sam - Vince Vaughn
Diane - Reese Witherspoon
Carla - Drea de Matteo
Norm - Kevin Smith
Cliff - Will Ferrell
Frasier - Sacha Baron Cohen
Woody - Chris Klein

Reminder: Recast "Cheers"!

BuzzSugar — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 09:49:26 -0800

For Wednesday's Recast challenge, I asked you guys to tackle the long-running and brilliantly enduring sitcom "Cheers." The actors who played these colorful, oddly familiar characters really helped make the show what it was, but if you had to recast "Cheers" today, would you pick? Leave your entry us in the comment section below, and I'll pick one winner to feature next Tuesday, Feb. 6, complete with a "new" cast photo.

Characters to Recast
Sam (Ted Danson)
Carla (Rhea Perlman)
Norm (George Wendt)
Cliff (John Ratzenberger)
Frasier (Kelsey Grammer)
Woody (Woody Harrelson)
Diane (Shelley Long) or Rebecca (Kirstie Alley) - take your pick.

Recast "Cheers"!

BuzzSugar — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 10:07:17 -0800

Every Wednesday on BuzzSugar, I'll post a Recast challenge, where I'll ask you to choose new actors for a classic TV show or movie. This week's assignment: the long-running and brilliantly enduring sitcom "Cheers." The actors who played these colorful, oddly familiar characters really helped make the show what it was, but if you had to recast "Cheers" today, would you pick? Leave your entry us in the comment section below, and I'll pick one winner to feature next Tuesday, Feb. 6, complete with a "new" cast photo.

Grey's Anatomy Rundown, "New History"

BuzzSugar — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:03:32 -0800

They're baaaaack! This week on Grey's Anatomy, Meredith, and Izzie make their returns to Seattle Grace/Mercy West, though only Mere is back in scrubs. Izzie heads back to the hospital with her favorite high-school teacher in tow, a sweet guy who's suffering from what appears to be dementia and is constantly referring to Izzie as a pregnant teen. Meanwhile, Hunt brings in a new "cardio god" (Kim Raver), though Cristina isn't exactly thrilled that her "gift" is a hot leggy blonde that already has a rapport with her boyfriend.

Plus, Mere and Derek have a few adorable moments while Sloan becomes the show's new gossip girl. There's a lot more to talk about, so to get into it just read more.

Izzie strolls into the hospital like she never left, but of course her friends have lots of questions. Meredith and Cristina are both curious and a little hurt while Alex ignores her completely. Izzie doesn't exactly explain what she's been doing, but immediately starts making demands for her friends to take care of her teacher. She even blackmails Dr. Percy when he sasses her about being fired (though I kind of cheered when she threatens to tell Reid his secret). Izzie even squares off with the chief, but in the end she gets her way.
Poor Alex doesn't know how to handle Izzie's return, but Mere finally encourages him to talk to his wife. Izzie accuses Alex of getting her fired, but Karev bites back and points out that Izzie didn't even ask him about it. After seeing them square off like they have so many times before, it's almost hard to believe they were ever married in the first place. When Alex tells Izzie that he can't forgive her, he heads to the bar to drink the pain away with Mere. Love the friendship between Mere and Karev by the way - if she and Derek weren't so cute together these days, I'd almost root for a new coupling.
Kim Raver makes her first appearance on the show this week, as new doc Teddy Altman. At first Cristina is psyched to welcome a new cardio surgeon but her enthusiasm wanes when she realizes that Hunt and Teddy have a past together. Teddy takes a liking to Cristina, even when Yang gives her lip - that is, until Teddy realizes that Cristina is Hunt's girlfriend. When Teddy learns that Hunt brought her in as a "present" to his lady love, Teddy kicks into serious mode which earns Yang's respect. The ladies turn out to be a pretty good team by the end of the episode.
I have to say that I really liked Raver as the new doctor. Yes, her moment in the rain was a bit too cheesy for me, but overall I think she'll be a good addition. While she's clearly carrying a torch for Hunt, she doesn't seem like the type to go for the jugular and try to steal him away from Cristina. The real question is whether or not Hunt runs into Teddy's arms when he inevitably learns that Yang swapped a little spit with Dr. Avery.
When Adele comes into the hospital wondering where her husband has been sneaking off to for the past few nights, she quickly accuses Bailey of being his mistress. The idea is completely hilarious, though Bailey doesn't exactly do the best job of calming Adele's fears, and Callie only makes it worse by calling them "work husband and wife." Bailey immediately starts a witch hunt to figure out which doctor actually is having an affair with the chief, but things take a serious turn when Lexie and Reid discover that the chief has made a serious mistake with one his patients. Bailey covers for him, but when she tells the chief what happens, he decides to take a break and gives his surgeries to Bailey. Then he heads to the bar to drink, where Mere catches him in the act. The final scene where the chief is playing out all the recent bad interactions with his co-workers mixed in with his memories of his alcoholism is depressing to say the least. I have to say though - I thought it was sort of silly that the chief chooses the closest bar to fall off the wagon. He's clearly embarrassed when Meredith sees him, but was he really expecting the bar to be deserted? It's like he wanted to get caught.

What'd you think of this week's episode? Are you excited about Teddy? Looking forward to next week's episode where Dr. Sloan's daughter comes in? Sound off in the comments below, and don't forget to check out the Grey's Anatomy McAddicts Group in the Buzz Community!

Rewind: This Week's Buzz

BuzzSugar — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:00:54 -0800

We have four movies hitting theaters this weekend, including The Box, Precious (check out my interview with star Gabby Sidibe), The Men Who Stare at Goats, and A Christmas Carol if you want some early holiday cheer.
Speaking of the holidays, if you're already thinking up presents, I've got suggestions for your mom, dad, and grandma.
In Twilight-related news: I asked you to speculate which New Moon actor would have the biggest post-Twilight career. Plus, Books of Twilight member audreystar had a few words of advice for the Breaking Dawn screenwriter.
I took a peek at two highly anticipated film trailers: Angelina in Salt and a very beefy Jake Gyllenhaal in Prince of Persia.
Angelina also popped up on my list of 10 favorite actors with famous parents!
Weezer's new album came out. I gave it my review and watched their performance with Leighton Meester.
Alec Baldwin had a good week: First, he got tapped to host the Oscars alongside Steve Martin, and he's reportedly getting a new love interest on 30 Rock - Julianne Moore!
V premiered, so I asked for your opinion on it - and on these 10 TV shows that transitioned to college.
Don't forget that Sunday is the season finale of Mad Men! But don't be sad, there's always their Office doppelgangers.

Photos courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures, Lionsgate, Warner Bros. Movies, and Source

Movie Preview: Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman in Invictus

BuzzSugar — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:30:12 -0700

Hope you haven't OD'd on Matt Damon yet! Just yesterday I showed you a preview of his upcoming Jason Bourne-esque action flick, Green Zone and today we get a peek at Invictus. In the upcoming film from Clint Eastwood, Damon stars as a Francois Pienaar, real-life member of South Africa's rugby team who's summoned by Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) to rally support in the country and unite the racial divide.

I love Matt Damon, but I'm actually more interested in Freeman's performance in Invictus. It looks like one well-done biopic, and it's obviously Freeman's Oscar film - although I'm sure Damon doing an accent could translate into a nomination for him around awards time, too. (Not to mention that many things Eastwood touches turn to Oscar nods).

Warning: If cheering crowd scenes and African singing often play with your emotions, you may get goose bumps while watching this preview. Check it out, and tell me what you think when you read more.

Whip It: A Rollicking Good Time

BuzzSugar — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:30:56 -0700

Drew Barrymore's directorial debut, roller derby comedy Whip It, is not unlike the actress's persona: cute, fun, and with a whole lot going on.

Ellen Page stars as quiet 17-year-old Bliss Cavendar, whose mother (Marcia Gay Harden) wants to make her the queen of small-town Texas beauty pageants. Bliss meekly goes along with the idea, her voice too small to tell her mom she hates the contests. But one chance visit to nearby big city Austin and everything changes. Bliss admires some intimidating derby girls, and after sneaking off to a match, decides to try out. What follows is a fast-paced, highly entertaining girl-power anthem.

To read more about what I did and didn't like about the movie, just read more.

The movie is perfectly cast; Page plays a shy teen easily, never giving up her sweetness even after she adopts the moniker "Babe Ruthless" and gets repeatedly knocked into the rink sidelines. The team who welcomes her, the Hurl Scouts, is a motley crew: Eve and Zoe Bell don't become much more than background players, Barrymore is an ebullient if minor supporter ("Smashley Simpson"), but team captain Kristen Wiig is one of the hearts of the movie. With a part bigger than the trailer implies, Wiig (I never get tired of the derby names: "Maggie Mayhem") emerges as a mother figure when Bliss's relationship with her own mom is strained. It's nice to see her playing straight for once, and besides Page, Wiig is really the only multi-faceted derby girl.

That's not to say that the derby girls aren't anything special. Beautiful, tough, and impossibly cool, maybe you wouldn't want to meet them in a dark alley, but you'd definitely want to be invited to their party. Juliette Lewis looks every part the queen bee - aggressive and sexy, she'll push you in a locker before you know what hit you. And naturally, there's a love interest, musician Landon Pigg - but he's kind of an afterthought, which I liked. By not giving in to the cliche that a girl gets everything she wants when she finds her passion, it strengthens the movie's pervasive girl power idea.

The movie isn't just about derby; it's a coming-of-age tale too, and Bliss didn't come from a shaky foundation. Alia Shawkat (yay, Maeby!) plays the hilarious and supportive BFF who doesn't exist just to cheer Bliss on from the sidelines. She's got her own thing, and is too confident to be left behind when Bliss gets wrapped up in her new life - a refreshing departure from the typical best friend character. And Harden isn't merely a strict parent caricature; she may want something completely different for her daughter, but her caring nature shines through.

It's not all success on skates, though. Sometimes the portrayal of the derby world gets to be an overzealous glorification. Sure, it's an amazing outlet for a lot of people and one of the few contact sports that really belongs to women, but the movie pushes the sexualization of the players a little too far. It's already sexy that the women play such a powerful sport, so it's not really necessary to do close-ups of the actresses' bare flesh to show the bruises.

There are a few things you could criticize about Barrymore's direction; for instance, Shauna Cross's screenplay is really quite funny, but some of the actors' lines fall flat. Also, the roller derby scenes have such potential to be exciting, and they could have been even more epic. Then again, this is Barrymore's first outing as a director, and it's still what you would expect from her: a fun-loving, freewheeling confection of a movie with a killer soundtrack.

Photos courtesy of Fox Searchlight

Top WTF Moments From Gossip Girl Episode "The Lost Boy"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 07:30:43 -0700

Are we back on the horse now? After a couple of OK episodes of Gossip Girl, this week's "The Lost Boy" really felt like the show I know and love. Everyone's playing everyone else, everyone's lying to everyone else, mysteries solve and then re-form . . . yes, it was quite the return to form.

I have my favorite parts (and don't forget to take Geek's tech quiz), so to see them (spoilers ahead!), just read more.

Don't come a knockin' if the sock's a rockin': Blair walks in on Dan and Georgina! So it was spoiled in last week's promo, but all the same, I was still shocked, shocked, when Blair walks in - after gingerly removing the sock on the door with a glove. To make matters worse for Dan, he's also caught by Serena and then Vanessa. I love how Vanessa hopes he hooked up with Georgina and not Blair, and Serena hopes he hooked up with Blair and not Georgina. Really, S? You're so full of surprises.
There is no Scott Adler: Turns out, Rufus and Scott have been hanging out (and in matching striped shirts, no less), which made me want to warn Rufus to ensure his fingernail clippings were still in the trash. Right when things are getting totally creepy, the scorned female admin at NYU informs Vanessa there IS NO Scott Adler. Dun dun dun! But then Scott ends up being sort of normal by confessing his whole story to V.
The big reveal that isn't: I don't know if it's understandable or still kind of weird that Scott lies and says he's the brother of Rufus and Lily's son that died. In the understandable column: his mom would be heartbroken. In the weird column: what kind of mom wants her son to tell a ginormous lie?! Plus he's going to look like a crazy person again when the truth inevitably comes out. So understandable = 1, weird = 2.
Still crazy after all these years: Well, even though Scott's not a stalker, turns out Georgina is still a whack job. She plays Blair and Chuck against each other with a little ploy, which is not really a crazy person thing to do, just devious, but then we see something no girl should be caught with: a picture of her and Dan on her computer desktop! After like, two days. Oh, Georgina, no.
Serena, back in action: The old girl pulled out of her dense party-girl fog to discover Georgina's Patrick McMullan scheme, then tells Dan about her evil ways, which felt more mean girl than good Samaritan. I may have cackled a little when Serena says that Georgina had already left the Sotheby's auction, and she comes out in time to see the Humphrey limo (yes, the Humphrey limo) jet off and ditch her. When she has something to do besides whine, Serena gets back into my good graces. I'm even kind of cheering on her relationship with Carter. But tell me: must he always dress like American Psycho's Patrick Bateman?
Bree, no longer boring?: The final twist is that Carter has done something to wrong Bree's family. You know Bree: Joanna Garcia, who's been largely wasted in her guest role as Nate's girltoy. Maybe this family drama will give her a juicy storyline on the show, finally. OK, it didn't sound that juicy, but the rest of the episode was so exciting, it spilled over to this final moment!

So what did you think of The Lost Boy? How do you think the Scott secret will come out? Frankly, I hope it's soon, because what fallout can it even have now? Dan and Serena are broken up and Rufus and Lily are together. Let's wrap it up!

To talk more, join one of the Gossip Girl groups in the Community, like XOXO Gossip Girl!

Photos courtesy of The CW

The Vampire Diaries: The Good, the Bad, and the Bloody

BuzzSugar — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:30:25 -0700

The Vampire Diaries must be doing something right, because the CW just ordered nine more episodes of the freshman series. I'm pretty psyched - with its third episode, "Friday Night Bites," Diaries has become one of my favorites of the Fall season.

Even though I've been gushing over Ian Somerhalder's Damon, this week the episode belonged to sensitive Stefan, who put down the blood bag, picked up the football, and brought out the high-school girl in me, who roots for the hot quarterback. Of course, the show hasn't lost all its cheesiness, which I'm ready to talk about (spoilers ahead) when you read more.

The Good

Nina Dobrev really won me over in this episode - her portrayal of Elena got a little more complex this week, which, I guess, is due to Elena getting more complex. I cheered for her when she slaps Damon after leaning in for a kiss, declaring unwaveringly, "I am NOT Katherine."
Speaking of that interaction, the sexual tension between Elena and Damon is out of control, rejections notwithstanding. Her chemistry with Stefan is also great, but the Damon-Elena dynamic is worthy of Eric and Sookie on that other vampire show.
The atmosphere has gone from cheesy (the fog) to palpably creepy. It's not just about the vampiric stuff, either; when Bonnie sees the numbers that have been playing in her head (so Lost-y!) around Coach Tanner's murder scene, I got chills. By the by - can Bonnie predict deaths? That's so much better than a vague psychic or seeing the future ability, but I have a feeling it won't be that specific.
The dialogue seems to get better and better with each episode. It helps when you have Kevin Williamson writing and people like Ian Somerhalder delivering it with such ease: "BTW. That means by the way." You can educate me about acronyms all day, Damon.

The Bad

This is a complaint about many vampire shows or movies, but why do people always think a vampire attack is an animal attack? I get it, a wild animal would bite and go for the neck, but is it really the only possibility to people? Elena: "What kind of animal could be doing all this? Why would it come out of the woods and attack someone in the middle of town?" Exactly. What kind of crack police force does Mystic Falls have?
Thanks for listening to me about the diary writing, Vampire Diaries, but I still saw one crow! It's not really creepy, it's just weird.

The Bloody

So apparently every episode is going to open with a scary scene. I can handle that, now that I know to be prepared. This week's opener is pretty small potatoes in the gore department, but I was still terrified as I watched Damon breathe and sleep (such a faker!) while Caroline tiptoed around the room.
Damon didn't do much to disprove Stefan's humanity theory when he kills Coach Tanner in front of him. The guy was a total douche, taunting his students, and Elena's aunt called him an "asshat" last week. Asshats don't last long in the horror genre. Good riddance.

So were you rah-rahing this week's episode with me? I'm really intrigued for the next few episodes - I want to know more about this Katherine-Damon-Stefan love triangle and, surprisingly, Bonnie. What did you like and dislike about "Friday Night Bites"?

Photo courtesy of The CW