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Movie Preview: Tina Fey and Steve Carell in Date Night

BuzzSugar — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:30:01 -0800

I freaked out a little (OK a lot) when it was announced that Tina Fey and Steve Carell would play a married couple in the comedy Date Night. Well, the trailer is here, and I'm still enthusiastic about it - though I wasn't expecting it to be so action-adventure-y.

The movie revolves around a single night out for typically bored (but atypically hilarious) married couple Claire and Phil Foster. When they take another couple's dinner reservation, their romantic evening turns into an issue of mistaken identity, and they spend the night running from trouble. While I'm not thrilled by the setup, there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments in this first preview, including some amazing appearances from Mark Wahlberg and James Franco.

To check out the trailer, just read more.

Date Night comes out April 9, 2010.

Link Time!

BuzzSugar — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:30:44 -0700

Mark Wahlberg is set to star in the thriller Reykjavik-Rotterdam - Variety
Kristen Bell shares her five favorite movies - Rotten Tomatoes
Is Lauren Graham joining Parenthood? - Ausiello Files
Daft Punk has a cameo in the upcoming Disney film Tron Legacy - MTV Movies Blog
Get Gossip Girl decorating ideas from last night's episode - CasaSugar
MTV announces its 2009 mtvU Woodie Awards Nominees - MTV
Rivers Cuomo talks Raditude and his love for Lil Wayne - Pitchfork
Kenny Rogers is going to sing on How I Met Your Mother - Show Tracker
Photos from this weekend's Austin City Limits Music Festival - Stereogum
Fantasy Island is getting the reality TV treatment - Hollywood Reporter
A fun roller derby Halloween costume inspired by Whip It - Moviefone

Movie Preview: Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones

BuzzSugar — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 09:40:49 -0700

If you've read the book The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, you'll know that it's a heartwrenching, mysterious tale about family, death - and whatever comes after death. Peter Jackson's film adaptation has been a point of discussion ever since it was announced over two years ago, from the casting choices to the question of how to adapt a story like this, which regularly blurs the line between reality and the supernatural. Jackson's 1994 movie Heavenly Creatures does this very thing as well, which made him a good choice for this particular challenge.

The new trailer for the film, which opens Dec. 11, starts out tender and soft before building to a tense and chilling crescendo. Atonement's Saoirse Ronan plays Susie Salmon, a young teen who narrates the story after she's been murdered. She observes her family as they try to piece together what happened to her, and it's all a big tangle of scariness, sadness, and aching sweetness. To watch the trailer, click here.

Amy Adams Joins Wahlberg and Bale in The Fighter

BuzzSugar — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:30:58 -0700

Now that the filmmakers have finally settled on the two male leads for The Fighter, a lady love has been cast. The endearing Amy Adams will join Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale in the story about a famed Massachusetts boxer. Based on a true story, Wahlberg will play "Irish" Mickey Ward and Bale will play Ward's "trainer-brother" Dick Eklund, and the movie will follow "their early days on the rough streets of Lowell, Mass., through Eklund's battle with drugs and Ward's eventual world championship in London."

Amy Adams will take on the role of Charlene, "a tough, gritty bartender and former college high-jumper from Massachusetts who ends up dating Mickey." After playing so many cheerful, bright-eyed characters (ditzy Leslie Miller in Drop Dead Gorgeous, sweet Ashley in Junebug, optimistic Giselle in Enchanted, carefree Delysia in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day - and even the innocent Sister James in Doubt), I'm curious to see what Adams' "tough, gritty" character is like. Before this, however, we'll get yet another Adams fix when she appears this August with Meryl Streep in Julie and Julia.

Which Pairing For The Fighter Is the Best?

BuzzSugar — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:30:53 -0700

Over two years ago, there was news that Mark Wahlberg and Matt Damon would star together in The Fighter, a drama about "Boston fighter 'Irish' Mickey Ward [Wahlberg] and how he was helped to the world lightweight championship by half-brother Dicky Eklund" (Damon).

Then, about seven months later, Matt Damon dropped out of the project and Brad Pitt was in talks to take his place in the role of Dicky.

Now Pitt's out of the picture and Christian Bale is joining the cast as Dicky (and the movie will be directed by David O. Russell).

Bale and Wahlberg make a nice-looking duo - but then again, so did Pitt and Wahlberg, and Damon and Wahlberg. Which pairing do you think is the best of these three?

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Will Ferrell + Mark Wahlberg: Hilarious Comedy Duo?

BuzzSugar — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 10:44:54 -0800

How is it possible that of all the over-the-top characters Will Ferrell has played on the big screen, he's never been a policeman? That's about to change, though, as Sony has just picked up the rights to The B Team, a buddy comedy about a pair of cops.

The other cop? Mark Wahlberg. It's an interesting choice because a lot of his recent comedy experience has been as the butt of jokes on Saturday Night Live (though he was pretty amusing poking fun at himself for it later). But I could see him playing the uptight, serious cop to Ferrell's swaggerin' man who doesn't care about the rules.

Not much is known about the story yet, but Adam McKay is back as Ferrell's director. A while back, a lot of you said you had Will Ferrell fatigue, but does the idea of pairing him with Wahlberg seem like a refreshing change?

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What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 08:30:47 -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.

Henry Poole Is Here
What a difference a year makes! Last Winter I was reporting live from Sundance that I really enjoyed this little movie starring Luke Wilson. I know many people didn't get the chance to check it out in theaters, which makes it a great rental.

Wilson plays Henry Poole, a grouchy man who buys an ordinary house in Southern California. Soon after, his very friendly neighbor Esperanza (Adriana Barazza) notices a stain on the outside of Henry's house that she thinks is the face of Jesus. She calls in a priest (George Lopez) and starts telling everyone in town about "the miracle" at Henry's house, much to Henry's annoyance. This movie features great performances and a quirky look at the old discussion of faith vs. reason.

Special features include audio commentary with director Mark Pellington and writer Albert Torres, a featurette titled "The Making of Henry Poole Is Here," and the Henry Poole Is Here music video directed by Mark Pellington and featuring the MySpace.com theme song contest winner Ron Irizarry.

Two more up next, so read more.

Max Payne
Mark Wahlberg had an October hit on his hands when this dark, slick-looking action flick hit the screens. If you missed this one in theaters now's your chance for a mindless adrenaline rush from the comfort of your couch.

Max Payne (Mark Wahlberg) has been searching for his wife's murderers for three years when he meets the sexy Natasha (Olga Kurylenko) who leads him into a sinister world of drugs, which provides more clues toward solving the mystery. Before long, Natasha winds up dead with certain details linking her death to Max's wife's. Natasha's sister Mona (Mila Kunis) joins Max in his hunt for answers and revenge.

Special features include audio commentary by director John Moore, production designer Daniel Dorrance and visual effects supervisor Everett Burrell, and a featurette on adapting the graphic novel for film.

Chris Rock: Kill the Messenger
A Chris Rock comedy special is kind of like an eclipse to me: They don't happen all that often but when they do, I'm ready to watch and savor. I'm excited to add this one to my own queue and kick back and laugh my butt off.

Not having seen it yet, it's hard to describe what we can expect from this DVD, so I'll leave it to the product description: "Three-time Emmy Award-winning comic Chris Rock returns to HBO with his first stand-up comedy special in nearly five years, offering his unique, uncensored take on a variety of topics ranging from politics to celebrities, and never holding back while exposing the many absurdities of modern living. Compiled from footage captured during performances at South Africa's Carnival City Casino, New York's Apollo Theater, and Carling Apollo Hammersmith in London, this ninety-minute special marks Rock's eagerly-anticipated return to the stage after taking a break."

Wahlberg Feels No Payne at the Box Office

BuzzSugar — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 07:30:34 -0700

Mark Wahlberg had a good weekend. His movie Max Payne was No. 1 at the box office, with an estimated $18 million. Plus, it looks like he made nice with Andy Samberg, after things got tense last week.

Second place turned out to be what Variety calls a "photo finish" between those dancing dogs and The Secret Life of Bees. Disney's Beverly Hills Chihuahua just barely eked out a second place finish its third weekend in theaters with an estimated $11.2 million with Bees close behind with about $11.1 million.

Oliver Stone's biopic W also did well, coming in at No. 4 with an estimated $10.6 million its first weekend out followed by Eagle Eye at No. 5.

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox

Max Payne: Awesome Style, Not Much Else

BuzzSugar — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 15:30:09 -0700

In its own haunting way, Max Payne is beautiful to watch. I knew that director John Moore had utilized some new digital technology while filming, but I didn't quite expect the movie as a whole to be so visually mesmerizing. This world never strays from its grainy state, everything awash in a blue-gray sheen - except for striking spots of bright red, and sometimes twinkly orange sparks - and there is near-constant precipitation usually large snowflakes swirling through icy air.

In other aspects (you know, the actual story and stuff), there's not too much to chat about. The story is fairly simplistic and the visual symbolism of this sad, dark world is obvious (in his memories of his past life, the world is bright and lovely, his miserable present-day life is only cold darkness). This isn't a subtle film by any means. But while there's plenty of violence and gunfire, somehow it doesn't seem to be fetishizing it. There's a greater goal to be met, and violence is par for the course in reaching this goal. To see why else I kinda liked this movie, read more.

Max Payne (Mark Wahlberg) has been searching for his wife's murderers for three years, and one night he meets the sexy Natasha (Olga Kurylenko) who leads him into a sinister world of drugs which provides more clues toward solving the mystery. Max even starts sniffing around the company where his wife worked alongside a kindly older friend of Max's family, BB Hensley (Beau Bridges). Before long, Natasha winds up dead with certain details linking her death to Max's wife's, and Natasha's sister Mona (Mila Kunis) joins Max in his hunt for answers and revenge.

Mark Wahlberg is tasked with playing what he does quite well: a hot-headed, broody guy with not too many lines. Mila Kunis plays the badass chick convincingly, and Ludacris is more or less OK in his role as a tough guy detective with some sassy one-liners (though I'm wary of seeing him take on meatier roles). No real acting chops are required for this movie (the acting's not really central to the film's success), though Beau Bridges puts his all into it anyway, and comes out the best of the bunch. He's got that fatherly businessman-with-shady-secrets thing down pat. We see Marky Mark the most in the movie, but it was Bridges's performance that I kept thinking about.

I might've liked the ending more if they hadn't taken such pains to ensure there will be a sequel. I understand the urge to do that (studios love nothing more than an endless number of unnecessary sequels), but it seems like a lame move here. It also felt like the movie ended a few times before it finally ended. Still, the journey getting there is captivating from start to finish, and extremely cool to watch.

Photos courtesy of 20th Century Fox

Watch, Pass, TiVo or Rent: Max Payne

BuzzSugar — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:34:45 -0700

Time to weigh in on one of this weekend's new releases, the darkly stylized Max Payne. Based on a video game, the story follows our hero Max Payne as he tries to hunt down the people who killed his wife and child, but every step he takes towards solving their murders only brings up more questions and lead him into a sinister world.

Are you familiar with the video game? Will Marky Mark make you want to go (or make you want to avoid going)? Is this an in-theater flick, a rental, a pass or something you'll lazily watch when it eventually airs on TV?

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