BuzzSugar

Narnia's Prince Gallops Away With the Box Office

BuzzSugar — Mon, 19 May 2008 08:15:21 -0700

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian handily won the top stop at the box office over the weekend, though it failed to bring in as much as the first Narnia film did in 2005.

In the "yikes" department, Speed Racer (already struggling at the box office) dropped from third place to fourth, only earning an estimated $7.6 million this weekend. Iron Man continued to set records, holding strong at second place while What Happens in Vegas took third. In fact, Iron Man was the first film to earn over $200 million at the domestic box office this year, according to Variety. Baby Mama closed out the top five.

Photos courtesy of Walt Disney

Box Office: Iron Man Continues to Soar

BuzzSugar — Mon, 12 May 2008 08:30:32 -0700

Update: As of this afternoon, What Happens in Vegas beat out Speed Racer for the No. 2 spot at the box office, Variety reports.

It will come as no surprise to the majority of movie critics who screened Speed Racer that the highly anticipated Wachowski brothers' flick had a disappointing opening weekend.

Not only did Speed Racer fail to knock Iron Man out of the top spot (the Marvel action hero brought in another $50 million over the weekend), but it's still unclear if the film can truly claim second place as What Happens in Vegas is hot on its trail in what Variety is calling a "photo finish." Vegas only earned an estimated $200,000 less than Speed Racer and both films are currently hovering around the $20 million mark.

In addition to poor reviews, another problem Speed Racer had is that it seemed to only appeal to kids, and filmmakers were shooting for a broader audience. An executive for the film told Hollywood Reporter, "What's hurting us is that the picture is playing very young." The Hollywood Reporter article also points out that if this is the case, then they'll have a hard time when even more competition heads to the theaters next weekend in the form of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

Made of Honor fell to fourth place followed by Baby Mama to round out the top five.

Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Speed Racer: One Long Hangover

BuzzSugar — Fri, 09 May 2008 15:31:25 -0700

My eyeballs hurt. My head hurts. I feel tired. Watching Speed Racer has me feeling all the nastiness of a hangover but without any of the hard-partying fun. I tried coming up with other analogies for the experience of seeing this nauseating, candy-colored whirlpool of a movie, with most of my attempts having to do with sugar, dizziness and a resultant sad, empty feeling, but it appears that most other reviews have already done the legwork in this regard.

Some of the descriptions with which I most heartily agree include the following:

From MSNBC's Alonso Duralde:
"Imagine someone pouring hot, melted Starburst candies into your corneas, and you just begin to approximate the experience of Speed Racer, an ice-cream headache of a movie."
From The New Yorker's Anthony Lane:
"The entire movie, indeed, is what Tom Wolfe would call a Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby, complete with achingly blue skies, customized deserts, fantastical mountains, and everything from Goodman’s shirt to Ricci’s fingernails daubed in lollipop hues; it makes the world of Pee-wee Herman look like Anselm Kiefer. So how did this rainbow of velocity end up bleached of fun?"
From Film Journal International's Frank Lovece:
"It's all a bombastic mishmash that makes you feel like you've been stuffed inside a kaleidoscope and shaken for two hours."
From The New York Observer's Rex Reed:
"I can sit through just about anything, but I draw the line at two hours and 15 minutes of fuchsia vomit. To suffer through this kind of hell, movie critics deserve combat pay."
And my very favorite, from New York Magazine's David Edelstein:
"The film is like a nightmare in which you’re trapped in an arcade with screens on all sides and no eyelids."

So, you're probably getting the picture, but still, read more.

Speed Racer tells a fairly convoluted story of greed, the evils of capitalism, family and car racing. Speed is a boy (played by Emile Hirsch) whose sole interest is driving a race car. He idolized his brother Rex until Rex apparently brought shame to the sport and died in a fiery crash. Now Speed loyally races for his father's motor company and he ignites the rage of crazy corporate tycoon Royalton (Roger Allam) when he refuses to race for the Royalton company. Royalton is a shady organization that forces its racers to cheat and demolishes anyone who threatens to beat one of their own, since a Royalton loss would bring down Royalton stock value. See? There is a whole subplot about stocks! I'm not even a kid and I was so bored by so much of this film.

The performances are more or less fine (I think?) given the situation, though the actors often appear to be cracking under the immense strain to breathe real life into a world that literally doesn't exist around them. Clocking in at two hours and 15 minutes, this assault on the senses is way too long to hold the brief attention span of a child, and it's frankly just not enjoyable for adults. So, aside from the visuals (which are cool for about twenty minutes, but what to do with the last 115?), I frankly can't recommend seeing this movie. There's just no point.

To see the trailer and more videos from Speed Racer, check out movies.ivillage.com.

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.

What to Download: New Music on iTunes

BuzzSugar — Tue, 06 May 2008 16:31:36 -0700

Tuesdays are big in entertainment-ville: Not only do all the new DVD releases hit Netflix, but new music also pours into stores, including iTunes. So starting today, I'll be taking a spin through each week's iTunes music releases and picking out some albums and tracks worthy of a download. Some inaugural selections:

Calling all cool cats: The Last Shadow Puppets is a side project band of Alex Turner from Arctic Monkeys and Miles Kane from The Rascals. Their album is smooth and reminded one iTunes commenter of James Bond, which I think is right on. Their album topped British charts and I personally will be downloading the entire thing.

Elvis! No, the other Elvis.: Elvis Costello and the Imposters have a new album out called Momofuku, and it's already a hit with his fans and critics alike. Check out the single No Hiding Place if you want a taste of why people love the guy.

The guy who sang that One Tree Hill song: Gavin DeGraw is back with a self-titled album full of songs in the same style that made him somewhat of a hit-maker a couple of years ago. His sound falls somewhere between easy listening and contemporary rock, and if you're looking for something mellow, this new album's for you.

For a couple more suggestions, read more

For the kids: We knew the Barenaked Ladies were really good at making cute and fun pop songs for adults. Now they're doing it for the kids on their new album, Snacktime. The song about ninjas is hands down my favorite, and even though I'm childless, I might not be above listening to these tunes myself!

Do you feel the need for speed?: I bet you thought the musical score for the Speed Racer movie was going to be an over-produced, techno-sounding mash with lots of "toot toot"s in there, didn't you? I sure did. To my surprise, the theme song for the movie is a swinging tune with a brass section to boot. I think it would be right at home on a cocktail party mix CD. Check it out here.

Link Time! 4/29

BuzzSugar — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:30:35 -0700

TV Squad wants to know why some people seem to hate Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.
Cinematical wonders how you feel about it when famous people play themselves.
You Ain't No Picasso has the video of Prince covering Radiohead's "Creep" at Coachella.
The TV Addict has a chat with Gossip Girl's Jessica Szohr.
PopSugar wonders whether you love or hate Scarlett Johansson's new video for "Falling Down."
Stereogum chats about Tegan and Sara's witty onstage banter, complete with video evidence.
Seat42f has an interview with Moonlight star Jason Dohring.
Speaking of Moonlight, Popwatch saw that show's shirtless opening scene last week and now wants to know about some of the other most gratuitous moments in TV history.
The MTV Movies Blog talks to Emile Hirsch about whether a Speed Racer sequel is inevitable.

Source

Upcoming Under-the-Influence Movies: Pineapple Express and Speed Racer

BuzzSugar — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 07:30:00 -0700

We just got a couple new full-length trailers for movies that, if watching them in a sober state, are pretty much . . . OK. It makes me wonder if maybe - just maybe - they're supposed to be watched under the influence? I'm just speculating here.

After the jump you can find both trailers. Opening August 8, Pineapple Express actually features a pair of potheads - played by Seth Rogen and James Franco - who find themselves being chased by criminals. My favorite parts include Craig Robinson (Darryl on The Office), who's funny even without playing someone with the munchies.

We'd already gotten a tripped-out teaser trailer for Speed Racer, and the full-length trailer is a lot of the same: psychedelic visuals, bright candy colors, cartoon-y characters (since it's, you know, based on a cartoon). I'm more interested in this one because it's just mesmerizing, though I do have to wonder what it might be like to view this film in, shall we say, an enhanced state.

To see what I'm talking about, read more.

Pineapple Express

Speed Racer

Source

Trippy New Trailer For Speed Racer

BuzzSugar — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 11:30:00 -0800

I have to say, Emile Hirsch was totally right when he told me during our interview that the Wachowski siblings' high-octane family action movie Speed Racer would be "pretty kooky. Pretty groovy. Very psychedelic." Indeed, the new trailer for the film, in theaters May 9, looks like a candy-colored trip. I got a little dizzy watching it, but it's also pretty darn cool looking.

To make things more interesting, the cast is awesome, from Susan Sarandon to Matthew Fox to John Goodman. I'm not too precious about the old Speed Racer cartoon series, so I'll be curious to find out how the Wachowski siblings have updated it for modern moviegoers. To check out the crazy trailer for Speed Racer, read more

Source

Link Time! 12/6

BuzzSugar — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 12:31:25 -0800

USA Today is featuring some of the new, vibrant, candy-colored photo stills from the Speed Racer movie.
TV Bloggin has a steamier version of the Bones-Booth kiss.
Jason Bateman continues to talk to MTV Movies Blog about the possibility of an Arrested Development movie, and this time he sounds quite hopeful.
Stereogum has the Michel Gondry-directed video for Bjork's "Declare Independence."
Need a laugh? Check out some bloopers from the British version of The Office, courtesy of Give Me My Remote.
FilmExperience brings up a good point: If Juno is nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, it will be "the most youth-skewing entry" in a long time.
TV Squad explains why things don't look good for Bionic Woman.
Idolator has a new candy-colored video from The Pipettes.

Buzz News Roundup, 8/8

BuzzSugar — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 14:42:05 -0700

Austin bar owner Brad Womack, 34, is the new "Bachelor," and the Futon Critic has the details.
Nicole Kidman has signed on to star in a remake of the Colombian horror movie Al final del espectro, Variety reports.
Our man Common scores his first No. 1 album on the Billboard charts.
JJ Abrams' Star Trek has its navigator: Russian actor Anton Yelchin will play Chekov in the film, writes the Hollywood Reporter.
NME has the new details on Kanye West's upcoming Graduation album.
ComingSoon reports that the sales of the high-definition 300 DVD have broken records.
According to Hollywood Reporter, Carla Gugino has joined the hunky cast of Watchmen as Sally Jupiter.
Newsday reports that "Jericho" fans are throwing a convention next month in Oakley, Kansas.
TNT has ordered 15 more episodes of Holly Hunter's "Saving Grace," reports the Futon Critic.
Warner Bros. announced today that they will release a Speed Racer video game based on the upcoming film (which was based on a cartoon series), ComingSoon states.
FabSugar informs me that Jack White has had another baby.

Speed Racer: Shaft is Cast, Possible Chimp Abuse

BuzzSugar — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 09:32:16 -0700

Can you dig it?
Richard Roundtree, better known as the original Shaft, has been cast in Speed Racer, joining the likes of Susan Sarandon, John Goodman, Emile Hersch, Matthew Fox and Christina Ricci. Recently seen playing Simone's father in NBC's "Heroes," Roundtree has otherwise spent his time lately in TV movies and miniseries. In Speed Racer, "Roundtree will play Ben Burns, a racer-turned-commentator who is an icon to the fans and a hero to Speed."

And then there's this...
PETA has said it most certainly cannot dig it when it comes to the chimpanzee being used for the Speed Racer movie. The chimp has reportedly been beaten on the set, and has also bitten one of the young actors. A testy correspondence between PETA officials and producer Joel Silver reveals that PETA has asked the filmmakers to use animatronics instead of live animals. Silver responded with assurances that the animal was being treated properly and they would continue to use live animals. PETA then pointed out that there is still no supervision of the animal during his off hours, when abuse is likely to occur, and thus calls Silver's assurances "meaningless."

Um, go Speed Racer, go?