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Box Office: Indiana Whips the Competition

BuzzSugar — Tue, 27 May 2008 07:00:00 -0700

Traditionally, Memorial Day weekend is very kind to Summer blockbusters, and this year was no exception for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. According to Variety, the return of the Steven Spielberg franchise was his biggest movie opening ever, hauling in an estimated $126 million over the four-day holiday.

While these results are a career high for Spielberg, the film itself did not break any box office records related to this holiday weekend or any other long weekend openings.

Disney's The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian dropped to second place followed by Iron Man. The fourth spot went to What Happens in Vegas, which continues to perform well, followed by Made of Honor at No. 5 and Baby Mama at No. 6.

John Cusack's War Inc. - also starring Hillary Duff - opened in limited release and did not make the top 10.

Photos courtesy of Paramount

Caption It: Which Caption Should Win?

BuzzSugar — Tue, 06 May 2008 08:30:07 -0700

OK everyone, last week's Caption It picture from Made of Honor had a lot of inherent humor to it, but you all took it to new levels with your witty captions!

Thanks to everyone for chipping in your ideas, but there can only be one winner! So here are your finalists:

Before his comeback role on Grey's Anatomy, Patrick starred in a little known indie film Can't Buy Me Pants.
In a bold career move, Patrick Dempsey will be leaving Grey's Anatomy to take on the role of Blair Waldorf's newest rival on Gossip Girl.
"Is it just me, or is it a little McDrafty out here?"
"Mental note: never tumble dry wool again."
"I should have known better than to take career advice from Mel Gibson . . ."

It's your turn to vote: Which caption should win?

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures

Box Office: Audiences Make Iron Man the Year's First Blockbuster

BuzzSugar — Mon, 05 May 2008 08:30:41 -0700

It wasn't just comic book fans that lined up this weekend for Iron Man, it was everybody! And I mean, everybody. The film raked in an extremely impressive $104.2 million its opening weekend, which is a staggering amount for any studio, much less for the first title fully produced and paid for by Marvel Studios.

I recently watched some footage of director Jon Favreau at a 2007 Comic-Con panel where he said, "If you make a good movie, the box office will be there." And boy, was he right. He also said that he cast the movie the way he might approach casting the (mostly independent) films he normally works on. Again, his instincts are proven right as the stellar reviews (including my own) praising the performances no doubt aided such a successful opening.

Variety reports Iron Man is the 10th best opening ever and "the second-best debut for a non-sequel after Spider-Man," which opened to $114.8 million on the same weekend in 2002.

Meanwhile, it was the romantic and the comedic films that rounded out the rest of the top five. Patrick Dempsey's so-so romcom Made of Honor was No. 2 and pulled in a respectable $15.5 million. It was followed by Baby Mama in the third spot, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall came in at No. 4. Finally, Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay earned $6 million in the No. 5 spot.

Who saw Iron Man? Did you catch the teaser trailer after the credits?

Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Rewind: This Week's Buzz

BuzzSugar — Sat, 03 May 2008 08:00:36 -0700

I can't tell you how much fun I had at the Tribeca Film Festival this year. In addition to making new friends, I saw some terrific (if quirky) movies, like The Wackness, Trucker, and Bart Got a Room. I also gave a word of warning for the bleak and disturbing Savage Grace which still makes me feel kinda icky.
I saw The Life Before Our Eyes, a movie adapted from my April book club selection and I found the movie to be visually gorgeous but also puzzling. Ah well, the book was still a lovely read. Which reminds me - check out my May selection for the book club.
The title Made of Honor confused me and much of the blogosphere this week. Baffling non-puns aside, the movie was, well, boring. All is not lost, though, because it gave me an excellent picture for the Caption It contest.
Woo-hoo! May is going to be a fun month! I've rounded up some of my must-haves for the month, including the Sex and the City movie. Speaking of which, I put together a slideshow all about the essential episodes to catch before the big movie release on May 30.
American Idol was shaping up to be a bit of a snoozer with the Neil "Sparkly Tops" Diamond songbook. But then, just when I was about to doze off, PaulaGate came crashing through. What did you think about her little on-air hiccup?
So now that shows like Gossip Girl and Grey's Anatomy are back in full swing are you still watching as much TV? Or are there some shows you've quit?
There were some cool and even moving music videos out this week, like this one from R.E.M. and an important message from Radiohead. Coldplay even gave us a glimpse of a song from their upcoming album.
Finally, if you're looking for entertainment this weekend I highly recommend seeing Iron Man in the theaters and settling in Sunday night for the season premiere of This American Life on Showtime.

Made of Honor: Bland and Tiresome

BuzzSugar — Fri, 02 May 2008 14:29:40 -0700

Here's the thing about Made of Honor: If one intends to make a weak, watery romcom that is essentially the remake of a preexisting movie (My Best Friend's Wedding) with the genders reversed, at the very least one should seek out a supremely charismatic lead actor. Patrick Dempsey's sniveling, whiny, soulless depiction of Tom, our womanizing protagonist, is just not entertaining. Sometimes he's downright annoying. And when the audience doesn't really feel like rooting for the main character of a romcom, what's the point?

As the previews for the movies have explained ad nauseum, Tom (Dempsey) is a "dashing" New Yorker who sleeps with every woman in sight - except for his best-best-friend Hannah (Monaghan), with whom he pals around the city, eating desserts and taking her to his father's many weddings. Hannah also patiently listens to all of Tom's latest sexual escapades, which he prevents from becoming Something More by adhering to a strict set of rules (i.e. no sleeping with the same woman two nights in a row). He's a commitmentphobe nearly to the point of absurd paranoia. The assumption is that he'll never settle down. Or will he? Of course, you know the answer to that but still, read more.

When Hannah goes off to Scotland for a six-week business trip, Tom realizes that he misses her and finally decides that he's going to tell Hannah he has feelings for her, though mostly he just seems like he's pouting because he's lost his confidant for a few weeks. Anyway, she returns and, to Tom's dismay, has brought along her new fiance, a high-profile Scot named Colin McMurray (Kevin McKidd). She asks him to be her maid of honor and he accepts. But by now, his group of guy buddies have been hearing Tom whine about how much he wants to be with Hannah, so with their help he plots to steal Hannah away from Colin. Predictable shenanigans ensue.

Save a few jokes (mostly one gag having to do with the Scottish accent) Made of Honor isn't funny and it's even less charming. The script is trite and we've seen it a million times before. However, it does have three things going for it. One: Michelle Monaghan is lovely, darling, and funny. In fact, the few moments of humor that aren't just pratfalls and flailing waiters are entirely because of her. Two: The scenes in Scotland are lush and gorgeous. Three: There are some adorable dogs in this movie. Aside from those things, it's just so boring.

For the trailer and more videos from Made of Honor, check out movies.ivillage.com.

Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures

What Should Have Been the Title for Made of Honor?

BuzzSugar — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:28:41 -0700

Just today, Cinematical pondered a question I've been asking myself a lot lately: What could the title Made of Honor possibly mean?

As a pun on the term "maid of honor" (which is what Michelle Monaghan's character asks Patrick Dempsey's character to be in the movie), it doesn't actually work. As Cinematical points out, "a pun usually involves conflating two words or expressions that make sense in the same context and happen to sound alike. In this case, I only count one." Having seen the movie, the writer is more confounded because the use of "made" is never explained (i.e., it's not the character's last name or anything), and Dempsey's character is never really made out to be "honorable" at all.

So, I asked around. Anyone know why it's titled Made of Honor? Anyone? Beuller? No. A friend of mine joked that they named it Made of Honor because My Best Friend's Wedding was already taken. Ha! (It's funny because the premise of both movies appears to be exactly the same with just a gender reversal.) So tell me: what else could they have titled Made of Honor? I thought of a few to get the brainstorming started, so to see what I thought of and to add your own ideas, read more.

Do, Dump, or Marry: My Best Friend, The Bride
Now That My Best Friend Is Getting Married, I Want Her
Don't Eat the Potpourri!
Dude, It's Not Like You'll Have to Wear A Dress

Your turn. Tell me in the comments section below.

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Caption It!

BuzzSugar — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:30:56 -0700

Welcome to the Caption It game on BuzzSugar! Every other Wednesday, I'll post a funny TV or movie photo 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!

Last week's Caption It from Samantha Who? was very intimate, but I'm excited about the winning caption because it's such a fun Christina Applegate career reference:

Samantha: "OMG, you said he's Married... with children!"

Congrats to jspark!.

Now for this week's challenge, from the upcoming romantic comedy Made of Honor starring Patrick Dempsey:

Leave your captions in the comment space below before 5 p.m. PST on Monday, May 5 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 Sony Pictures

Which Upcoming Comedy Are You Most Interested in Seeing?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 07:30:55 -0700

As we ease out of the stark wintertime, which is often a sluggish time for great movie releases, we've got some fun-looking lighthearted fare coming out in the near future. Which comedy do you most want to see?

Note: I'm leaving off the Sex and the City movie because: a) it would win the poll, and b) I don't consider it a straightforward comedy like these, especially what with all the death talk.

Meet the Made of Honor Premiere Wedding Contestants

BuzzSugar — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 09:30:56 -0700

A few weeks ago, I told you about the contest in which engaged couples could enter to win a full-on wedding at the premiere of the upcoming movie Made of Honor and a European honeymoon. Most of you said you wouldn't even want to get married at a movie premiere, but over 1,800 couples felt differently. Now, the competition has been narrowed down to 18 couples and you can read each couple's love story on the movie's website.

All the stories are pretty cute, though I like some more than others. I'm particularly partial to Beth and Jeremy from Missouri who chose to write about the time they were shopping and kept accidentally breaking things. I also like Nicole and Trever from Washington because Trever built a "time machine" and when they "traveled" to their future, they saw themselves married. OK, so it's all a little goofy, but it's pretty darn cute, too.

In a few days, the contestants will be whittled down to four finalists - though how this is decided is unclear. Then we'll get to see videos of the couples and can vote on the one we want to win the grand prize movie premiere wedding. Which couple do you think should win?

Would You Get Married at the Made of Honor Premiere?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 10:32:38 -0800

On paper (er, screen), the prize for this Made of Honor contest sounds really great. Engaged couples can enter to win "an extravagant wedding" held at the premiere for Made of Honor, the romantic comedy starring Patrick Dempsey and Michelle Monaghan, along with an equally "extravagant" honeymoon.

Couples have to submit their story of when they realized they were "made for each other" in order to be entered into the contest. Then the winning lovebirds will receive "a trip for four to the premiere city, including hotel, airfare, transportation, and per diem." In addition, "To tie the knot at the world premiere in late April, the winning couple will also receive the bride's wedding dress, provided by Selia Yang; the groom's tuxedo; a bridal bouquet, provided by Fleurop; his-and-hers wedding bands, provided by Damiani; and a $3,000 Bed Bath & Beyond shopping spree in the form of a gift card." There's also a six-night honeymoon in Paris and Venice.

It sounds nice, but at the same time, you'd only be able to invite a small group friends and family members, and you'd be wearing some movie character's wedding dress. Plus, your nuptials would forever be tied in with a probably forgettable romantic comedy. What do you think? Is it worth it for the free wedding and honeymoon?

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