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What Is the Best Little-Movie-That-Could of 2009?

BuzzSugar — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 06:00:00 -0800

Everyone loves an underdog, and 2009 seemed to be the year for them. Several movies with lesser-known stars and/or low budgets held their own against their Goliath-sized counterparts, winning the hearts of fans and critics alike. Time will only tell if they can pull off a dark horse upset in awards season, but I'm willing to wager that a couple of these will at least earn mentions. Tell me, which is your favorite?

Don't forget to vote on all of my Best of 2009 polls!

What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 09:30:59 -0700

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. Besides the movies below, you can also find the Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal soccer charmer Rudo y Cursi, as well as TV shows Californication: Season 2 and House: Season 5.

Adventureland
This nostalgic coming-of-age comedy stars Jesse Eisenberg and angsty starlet-du-jour Kristen Stewart as co-workers and romantic prospects in an '80s-era theme park.
I loved director Greg Mottola's tender depiction of a frustrating but hopeful time in one guy's life. It's got more heart than the director's previous effort, Superbad, but just as many laughs.
The DVD extras include deleted scenes, a making-of featurette, cast commentary, and a feature music selection that lets you select scenes by picking the soundtrack song.

88%

Check out two other comedies out on DVD today when you read more.

Sunshine Cleaning
Fans of Amy Adams and Emily Blunt will be into Sunshine Cleaning, a dark comedy about two down-on-their-luck sisters who find success in cleaning up gruesome crime scenes. I drew some parallels to earlier indie comedy Little Miss Sunshine when I reviewed it (blame the van and Alan Arkin), and like its predecessor, there's a certain lightness in the bleak world of the featured profession.
Extras on the DVD include not just the usual commentary, but also a mini-documentary on real-life crime scene tidiers.

73%

Duplicity
Gorgeous actors Clive Owen and Julia Roberts reteam in this slick comedic caper, light years away from their prickly married couple in Closer.
I appreciated the scenery, but not necessarily the plot - it was a bit too twisty, to the point of unevenness. Still, you'll enjoy the two leads here if you're not too exasperated by the hairpin storyline.

">65%

Sunshine Cleaning: A Cloudy Comedy

BuzzSugar — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 07:30:45 -0700

Critics may draw comparisons between this year's Sunshine Cleaning and 2007 Best Picture nominee Little Miss Sunshine. Both were Sundance darlings, both star the wonderful Alan Arkin, and both have optimistic-sounding titles. And despite each film's light-bright disposition, both skew closer to comedy of the darker sort. This intriguing juxtaposition worked quite well for Little Miss Sunshine, and, to a slightly lesser extent, it works for Sunshine Cleaning, too.

The off-kilter premise is what first drew me to the movie when I previewed it for last year's Sundance Film Festival. I loved that the film focuses on the dirty and demeaning task of cleaning up crime scenes, yet didn't seem as gloomy as the description suggested. By the time I saw the trailer, it was clear: No CSI confusion here. Luckily the film delighted me as much as I had hoped, mostly because the two lead actresses, Amy Adams and Emily Blunt, are so compelling to watch.

To hear a little bit more about the plot and what else I liked, read more

In the lead, Amy Adams is Rose Lorkowski, a former hot-shot high school cheerleader who has settled into a low-paying career of cleaning houses. Emily Blunt plays her sister Norah, who, as a failed waitress, is even more down on her luck than Rose. It seems that the strapped-for-cash sisters may have inherited a touch of fiscal bad luck from their father Joe (Alan Arkin) who is constantly searching for ways to get rich quick. And while Rose disapproves of her father's shenanigans, she, too, finds herself scheming to pay for her son's pricey private school.

Enter Sunshine Cleaning, a biohazard removal service that Rose starts with her sister when she discovers that the field is rather lucrative. What follows are oddly hilarious scenes of Rose and Norah learning the ropes of the business and navigating the truly messy world of crime scene clean-up. Picking up chunks of brain matter and bleaching out blood stains sounds like your typical horror fare, but in the hands of these two ladies, there is a sense of down-iness that comes from their "we're in this together" camaraderie.

Despite the more comical moments, there are touches of genuine grief, especially when we hear about the suicide of Rose and Norah's mother, and view some of the sisters' failed relationships (Steve Zahn and Mary Lynn Rajskub are lovely in their respective supporting roles). These parts add a melody to a movie that could otherwise be somewhat one-note.

Bottom Line: The film doesn't reach the fever-pitch fun that Little Miss has at the end, but it's still a worthwhile journey, especially if you're a fan of Blunt or Adams.

Photo courtesy of Big Beach Films

Movie Preview: Amy Adams, Emily Blunt in Sunshine Cleaning

BuzzSugar — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:44:03 -0700

"Turns out it's against the law to throw biohazards in the dumpster. Who knew?"

Emily Blunt's character, Norah, dryly says this in the preview for Sunshine Cleaning, a little indie movie from this year's Sundance that finds two sisters starting up a "biohazard removal/crime scene clean-up service." One of the sisters (Amy Adams) is a single mom who needs to earn money to send her son to a new school. From the trailer, the movie seems strange, dark and funny, a little like Six Feet Under but with the innocent sweetness of Amy Adams.

There's still no actual release date for the film, though apparently it'll open sometime this year. To check out the trailer, read more.

Source

Sundance Spotlight: Sunshine Cleaning

BuzzSugar — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 08:30:00 -0800

I am so thrilled to go to Sundance this year, and I can't wait to see as many movies as possible while I'm out there! For the next few days I'll be highlighting some of the films I'm most curious to see. Today's spotlight: Sunshine Cleaning.

Wait a minute - is this the award-nominated Amy Adams and Emily Blunt? Why, yes, yes it is! Sunshine Cleaning stars these two talented ladies, along with Steve Zhan, Alan Arkin and Mary Lynn Rajskub (Chloe from 24). To see what the story's about, read more.

The plot description reads, "In order to raise the tuition to send her young son to private school, a mom starts an unusual business - a biohazard removal/crime scene clean-up service - with her unreliable sister." Not sure which actress plays which sister, but Zahn plays a married police officer having an affair with Rose (Adams), and Rajskub plays a technician for a blood bank who is the object of Blunt's sexual obsession.

Wow, crime scenes, extramarital affairs, sexy blood bank technicians - and it's a comedy! Totally can't wait for this one.

Source

Buzz News Roundup, 6/15

BuzzSugar — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:45:01 -0700

Fox has announced Fall premiere dates: Bones and Fringe return Thursday, Sept. 17, House premieres Monday, Sept. 21, to name a few. - The Hollywood Reporter
Roy Rogers may be riding back onto the big screen in a King of the Cowboys film trilogy. - ComingSoon
CBS is ordering three more editions of its hidden-camera special I Get That a Lot, in which celebrities work low-wage jobs while incognito and fool unsuspecting customers. - Reuters
Clear Channel Radio and Front Line Management are creating a stand-alone company that will allow musicians to produce their own online radio shows, which will launch in July with the Eagles, Christina Aguilera and Weezer. - Billboard
Disney has set Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins to star in the fantasy epic John Carter of Mars, which will be Wall-E director Andrew Stanton's first live-action project. - Variety
Canadian network Citytv is putting ex-convicts with no culinary skills to work in a classy Toronto restaurant for Conviction Kitchen, a new Fall reality series. - The Hollywood Reporter
Despite the foreign launch of three big titles, including The Hangover, Terminator Salvation is still No. 1 at foreign box offices. - Reuters
Sunshine Cleaning director Christine Jeffs will direct Wonderful Tonight, a love story about a confirmed bachelor and a young woman after their one-nighter leads to an unplanned pregnancy. - ComingSoon

Photos courtesy of Fox

2008 Sundance: The Finale

BuzzSugar — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 05:30:53 -0800

I can't believe just hours ago I was in snowy Utah, typing away about my thoughts on the films in this year's Sundance Film Festival. Now I'm back in not-so-cold San Francisco, savoring my memories from the trip. Some final notes:

After a flurry of acquisitions on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, things have been quiet on the buyers' front. My guess is that the movies next to sell fairly well will be The Last Word, The Deal, Sunshine Cleaning, What Just Happened?, Phoebe in Wonderland, and August. Though Hamlet 2 sold big to Focus Features, there seems to be no real Little Miss Sunshine this year, no darling of Sundance.
I do have a few regrets from my time in Park City. I wish I'd seen some of the films I didn't get to, like The Wackness, Choke, Sunshine Cleaning, and Smart People. I regret that I didn't join Molly in EW's photo booth and watch all the celebs get those beautiful shots taken. Last, and certainly not least, it's too bad I didn't get to those mountains and learn how to snowboard. Sigh. Next year!
Care to see some photos from my trip? Click here for a slideshow of some of my Park City findings.

Now I'll get to work on those reviews! Stay tuned for my take on what worked and what didn't at this year's Sundance Festival. Until next year - farewell, Park City!

Buzz In: Help Me Make a "Songs for Spring" Playlist!

BuzzSugar — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 13:30:00 -0700

Ahhh. . . Springtime. This is one of my favorite times of year for music, when you can start taking more leisurely walks to work, ambling to the songs on your iPod. Or play some easygoing tunes in the car with the windows turned down - just a crack for now, but it's enough to feel the promise in the air. So, tell me: what songs best exemplify this season? What should I put on my "Songs for Spring" playlist?

I have some ideas to get things started. Belle and Sebastian's "Another Sunny Day" has that pleasant, mellowing effect, while "99 Red Balloons" makes me want to bop down a sun-splashed street. The songs can be thematic in terms of title or lyrics (like Outkast's "So Fresh, So Clean") or evocative in tone (like the lovely instrumentals of Blur's "The Universal").

No need to embed the music or include links, just put the song titles and artists in the comments below and we'll build a sunshine-and-soft-breezes playlist. To see some of my ideas and to add your own, read more.

Songs for Spring:
"New Soul" by Yael Naim
"So Fresh, So Clean" by Outkast
"The Universal" by Blur
"99 Red Balloons" by Nena
"Love Goes Home to Paris in the Spring" by Magnetic Fields

Source

"House" Recap: Episode 11, "Words and Deeds"

BuzzSugar — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 12:17:36 -0800

Is a "House" without Vicodin really a "House" at all? That's the big question in Tuesday's episode, when House stuns everyone by checking himself into rehab - and stuns 'em again later by revealing that a guard has been sneaking him pills. Meanwhile, the rest of the doctors try a memory-erasing treatment on a patient who has heart attacks every time he sees the woman he says he loves, only to learn later that his memories of her were false.

That patient is Derek, a firefighter who can't stop shivering. Meanwhile, House is in court, pleading not guilty to forgery and taking illegal drugs. When he returns to the hospital, the team briefs House on Derek's case, but House has bigger things to worry about, like jail. Cuddy tells House it's time to suck it up and apologize to Tritter.

In shocking twist No. 1, he actually does! But Tritter isn't buying it, even when House tries the magic words "I'm sorry." Back at the hospital, House is zoning out on a meeting about Derek when he suddenly announces he's checking himself into rehab. To see how that works out, read more

Cuddy and Wilson show up at the rehab facility and ask House what's going on. House: "I hope it's me detoxing. Otherwise I soiled a perfectly good pair of underwear last night for nothing." He gets called into group therapy, where he spends the whole time playing with an elementary-school-style cootie catcher. Way to take rehab seriously.

Meanwhile, Derek has a heart attack, and the team realizes that the one constant in all of Derek's problems been his firefighting partner, Amy. Cameron asks Derek if he's in love with Amy, and Derek says yeah - the problem is, Amy's engaged to his brother.

Back at rehab, House tells the team that the only way to cure Derek is to erase his memories, Eternal Sunshine-style. The doctors present the shock-therapy idea to Cuddy, who agrees to it and notes that House made an argument without using the word "moron" once: "The rehab's working."

Meanwhile, Tritter interrupts House while he's making a clay intestine at art therapy, just to make sure House knows he'll never trust an addict. Things go better, though, when Wilson stops by. House tells Wilson he had no business blaming him for any of his troubles. "Is this an apology?" Wilson asks. "Part of the program," House says.

Derek can't remember anything after his treatment, and Cameron tells Amy she knows this must be tough, what with the wedding coming up. Amy does a wha-huh? and asks whose wedding. Uh, yours? Amy says she and Derek's brother aren't even dating. Oops.

House is in court when his cell phone rings, and the team tells him they just fried Derek's brain for no reason. House heads back to the hospital, where he saves the day by discovering a tumor pushing on the nerves of Derek's spine - causing, among other things, false memories.

Back in the courtroom, Cuddy's on the stand, lying like a rug. She says House never got the pills he stole - she'd swapped the bottles in the pharmacy. The judge dismisses the charges, but House still has to spend the night in jail for walking out of the courtroom earlier. Tritter gets all soft-hearted and wishes House good luck.

Wilson visits House in jail and gives him some medicine. House finds out it came from the rehab guard and triumphantly says, "that's Vicodin." "He's been slipping you Vicodin?" Wilson sputters. "Nothing's changed," House says. He's still an addict and a liar. Take that, Tritter! Seriously, though, what would this show be if House got clean?

Photos courtesy of Fox