BuzzSugar

Box Office: The Day the Earth Earned a Lot of Money

BuzzSugar — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 08:30:45 -0800

The Day the Earth Stood Still may not have been a critical hit but it is now officially a box office success, earning $31 million over the weekend and topping Four Christmases, which slid into second place. Twilight, Bolt, and Australia followed in third, fourth, and fifth places respectively.

Meanwhile, Variety is reporting that smaller, independent films "delivered one of the best weekends ever for the specialty box office." Movies like Doubt, The Reader and Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino all enjoyed strong debuts, while movies like Milk and Frost/Nixon continue to draw good sized audiences in theaters.

Photos courtesy of 20th Century Fox

Box Office: Audiences Love Christmases

BuzzSugar — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 08:30:01 -0800

Reese and Vince proved a potent pair at the box office once again as Four Christmases came in at No. 1 for the second weekend in a row. The holiday comedy earned an estimated $18.2 million over the weekend, bringing its overall total since debuting to $70.8 million. Meanwhile, Twilight continues to plow full steam ahead, coming in at No. 2 and bringing its overall total to an impressive $138.6 million. The top five was rounded out by Bolt in third, Australia in fourth, and Quantum of Solace at No. 5.

There are a lot of "specialty" offerings at the moment, many of which are doing very well given how many theaters they're playing in. Cadillac Records had a decent debut at No. 9, and both Slumdog Millionaire and Milk continue to thrive thanks to great buzz.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Caption It: Which Caption Should Win?

BuzzSugar — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 06:30:30 -0800

Thanks to all who found time during the busy holiday week to chip in captions for this week's challenge from Four Christmases:

Here are your finalists:

"Sometimes when I get nervous, I put my fingers in my armpits and sniff them like that. I was prepared to play Moses, not Joseph!"
Vince: "I will now play 'Silent Night' using only armpit farts!"
"Listen up Mary, we got 1 down to go with 4 seconds left so I need you to launch that baby as far as you can. You got that?!"
"Yes. . ."
"Everybody, can I get a 'Hail Mary'?!"
Vince (whiny voice): "I wanted to be baby Jesus!"

Time to vote!

Photo courtesy of Warner Brothers

Box Office: Four Christmases Wins the Holiday Weekend

BuzzSugar — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 05:30:35 -0800

I was surprised at how much I ended up enjoying Four Christmases starring Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn, and maybe some of the early buzz from others who also liked it helped the holiday comedy win the Thanksgiving weekend box office this year with an estimated $46.7 million since opening Wednesday.

Meanwhile the highly anticipated Baz Luhrmann epic Australia opened at No. 5 after Quantum of Solace in fourth place, Twilight (which passed the $100 million mark this weekend) in third, and Bolt in second place. Gus Van Sant's biopic Milk also did very well for a limited release, coming in at No. 10 over the weekend.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Four Christmases: A (Very) Light Dash of Holiday Fun

BuzzSugar — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 16:00:24 -0800

It's most likely that Four Christmases wouldn't be nearly so funny or endearing (though that may be slightly too strong a word for it) if it didn't take place around the holidays. Just watching these family members be mean to each other would probably be merely sad if it weren't juxtaposed with this holiday that is supposed to be at least partially about family togetherness. The premise of the film is gimmicky for sure (four Christmases in one day?), but what happens during those four Christmases is actually a lot of fun to watch.

I didn't expect much from this film and I was delightfully surprised. It's funnier than I thought it would be, and while Vaughn and Witherspoon are pretty much devoid of chemistry, there is an undeniable quirky charm to their pairing, though their best and funniest moments are when they're not in scenes together. The two play San Francisco couple Brad and Kate who go on exotic trips for Christmas each year in order to avoid their families. This year, however, they find out at the airport that all flights are canceled for the day. When a television news crew approaches them for a comment about the cancellations, the cat is let out of the bag: Brad and Kate are, in fact, in town for Christmas. Zaniness, of course, ensues, so read more.

Having seen the news reports, all four sets of Brad and Kate's divorced parents get in touch, hoping for some time with the elusive couple. Thus begins a hectic, harrowing day of physical abuse from Brad's brothers and emotional abuse from Kate's sister. Additionally, Brad has to play Taboo with his childhood buddy who is now dating his mother (Sissy Spacek, who, after Hot Rod, is getting quite good at the comedic older mom roles), and Kate revisits one of her most traumatic childhood moments. In the end, they learn a lot about each other and themselves and their families. You know the drill.

It's actually a good date movie in that I think both men and women will get a kick out of the silly hijinks and surprisingly funny wordplay, and the humor is relatively inoffensive. There are some slower moments but for the most part there aren't many points of forced emotion. In fact, one of the best things about the movie is that it's not "message-y." There's no tearful group hug and professions of the holidays being "all about our wacky, loving family!" There's very little schmaltz, and while the schmaltz is wonderful in many holiday movies, I found the lack of it here to be refreshing.

All in all, it's a forgettable film - I don't foresee any memorable Anchorman-like quotes making their way into our pop culture lexicon, for example - but while it lasts it's a pretty good jolt of holiday fun.

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.

Caption It!

BuzzSugar — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 07:00:08 -0800

Welcome to the Caption It game on BuzzSugar! Every other Wednesday, I'll post a photo still from a TV show or movie here and challenge you to think of the most hilarious caption possible. I'll announce the finalists the following Tuesday, and you'll get to vote for the best caption; the winner will get a fabulous BuzzSugar t-shirt!

First, congrats to tlsgirl, whose entry won last week's poll:

In a not-so-surprising twist, another group of New York waiters hopes to make it big in the fashion industry.

Now onto this week's challenge from Four Christmases starring Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn:

Leave your captions in the comment space below before 5 p.m. PST on Monday, Dec. 1, to be considered for a spot in the voting round. Have fun! To see a photo of the BuzzSugar t-shirt, just read more.

The BuzzSugar t-shirt

Photo courtesy of Warner Brothers

Movie Preview: Four Christmases

BuzzSugar — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 06:30:38 -0700

The little taste of Four Christmases in recent TV previews has only made me more curious to see a longer trailer, and now we've got it. As we know, Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn play Kate and Brad, who try to avoid their families around the holidays - but this year is different. Both of them have divorced parents, and they're forced to visit all four of their families for Christmas.

Sometimes I think Vince Vaughn is too snarky to be likable - especially in a movie like this - though Witherspoon is as cute and funny as ever. And the full-length trailer shows a few of the supporting actors, like Kristin Chenoweth, Jon Favreau, Robert Duvall, and Sissy Spacek, all of whom seem well-cast.

I'll admit, I'm excited for the holiday films to hit theaters, so I'll surely see Four Christmases when it comes around Nov. 26, if for no other reason than because it's fun to get into the spirit of the season.

To see the full trailer and tell me what you think, read more.

Four Christmases Trailer | Movies & TV | SPIKE.com

Source

A First Look at Four Christmases

BuzzSugar — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 15:30:46 -0700

This first snippet from Four Christmases, the forthcoming holiday comedy starring Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn, has been popping up during various TV shows lately. I missed it during America's Next Top Model last week but finally caught it during the VMAs on Sunday, and now I'm curious to know what you think.

The movie centers on Kate and Brad, who usually find a way to avoid spending Christmas with their families - until this year, when they must visit all four of their divorced parents in a single day. Reese is typically cute in these sorts of movies, and nothing in this little clip makes me think Four Christmases will be any different. I think this movie's success will depend on the interplay between the Kate and Brad characters and their various family members, though, and there's not much of that here - so I'll be on the lookout for a longer trailer before this movie hits theaters Nov. 26.

For now, though, to watch the clip, just read more.

Source

Reese and Vince to Have Four Christmases

BuzzSugar — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 16:27:57 -0700

Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn are in final talks to costar in a holiday comedy titled Four Christmases, says Hollywood Reporter. Truly a holiday flick for the divorce generation, Four Christmases follows "a couple who struggle to visit all four of their divorced parents' homes over the Christmas holiday."

I'm not a huge Vince Vaughn fan, though I think there's some automatic humor in the physical disparities between Witherspoon and Vaughn (he's so tall and she's so tiny!), and Vaughn's getting some practice with holiday comedies with this November's Fred Claus. I also think Reese showed some comedic chops as the perky, bubbly Elle in Legally Blonde and the neurotic high-schooler Tracey Flick in Election, so it will be interesting to see her paired with that oversized, sarcastic frat boy Vaughn.

Source

Reese Witherspoon Plays by the Rules

BuzzSugar — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:30:39 -0700

It seems like Reese Witherspoon has been laying lower than usual this year. (She voiced Monsters vs. Aliens, but we haven't seen her face on screen since Four Christmases!) Now her career is speeding up again. The A-lister just signed on to produce and star in Rule #1, which will follow Witherspoon as a New Yorker who gets chummy with a young Puerto Rican girl with ADD.

Those are the only storyline details as of now, but it sort of reminds me of those promos for Sandra Bullock's The Blind Side - a woman taking a challenged kid under her wing, etc. Hopefully it will steer clear of the sappiness we typically get from those types of films and show off Witherspoon's serious acting side instead.

What do you think? Does this new project sound like Oscar bait - or just another formulaic weep-fest?