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What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 05:45:38 -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.

Burn After Reading
The Coen brothers do criminals well and in this film they got an impressive group of actors to play "accidental" criminals in a very funny way. Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand play Chad and Linda, two gym employees who find a CD in the locker room that contains data belonging to a former CIA analyst. Assuming that someone will pay big bucks for the return of the sensitive info, they attempt to blackmail the analyst Osborne Cox (John Malkovich). But old Ozzy is far more concerned about his recent unemployment and impending divorce from his wife (Tilda Swinton), who's having an affair with a pinhead womanizer played by George Clooney.

The whole thing ends up feeling like kids playing a spy game but the laughs are smart and result is solid entertainment.

DVD featurettes include: "DC Insiders Run Amock - An all-star cast creates the world of Washington, DC," and "Welcome Back, George" described as a comedy piece featuring Mr. Clooney as he returns for his third collaboration with Ethan and Joel.

Two more up next so read more.

Hamlet 2
Note: For some reason, this title was released on Dec. 21. Go figure. Anyway, it's still pretty newly on DVD!

This little comedy was all the rage at last year's Sundance Film Festival and then kind of fizzled its way through the theaters without too much notice from audiences. But I think it's the kind of flick destined to have a cult following, so now that it's on DVD it can spread through college dorm rooms and 20-somethings' apartments.

The movie stars Steve Coogan, Catherine Keener and Amy Poehler, and follows a teacher who is trying to save the drama department by writing a sequel to Hamlet. One of the co-writers is Pam Brady, who has written lots of funny stuff like the South Park movie, Team America, and Hot Rod.

Special features include deleted scenes and a sing-along.

The Women
This remake of George Cukor's 1939 classic stars Meg Ryan as Mary Haines, whose fabulous life comes to a screeching halt when she finds out (thanks to her gossipy manicurist, played by Debi Mazar) that her husband is having an affair with the Saks perfume "spritzer girl" (Eva Mendes). Things only get more complicated when her tight group of girlfriends (played by Annette Bening, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Debra Messing) try to help her put the pieces back together.

Special features include additional scenes, a visit with the cast and crew, and a look at the evolution of the story from 1936 stage success to classic 1939 movie to this contemporary update.

Box Office: Lakeview Terrace Wins So-So Weekend

BuzzSugar — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:00:01 -0700

Lakeview Terrace, a thriller starring Samuel L. Jackson, came in at No. 1 at the box office over the weekend and performed relatively well with an estimated $15.6 million. Second place went to the Coen brothers' comedy Burn After Reading which continues to also do well at the box office, earning an estimated $36.4 million over its first ten days.

Around the No. 3 spot on this weekend's box office report things start to look a little gloomy, starting with the Dane Cook-Kate Hudson comedy My Best Friend's Girl. The movie only earned about $8.3 million, perhaps a result of some harsh reviews (or maybe it was just the poster, as Cook whined, that drove audiences away).

The animated family film, Igor, came in fourth place followed by Righteous Kill in fifth. Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys and The Women rounded out the sixth and seventh place respectively, and a movie I enjoyed, Ghost Town, opened at No. 8.

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures

Box Office: Burn After Reading Sets Box Office on Fire

BuzzSugar — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 08:15:20 -0700

The Coen Bros. helped give the box office a needed Autumn boost with their comedy Burn After Reading, which debuted at No. 1 with an estimated $19.4 million. It was a lucrative weekend overall, actually, with many of the week's new releases doing better than expected despite a "crowded marketplace for adult-skewing films."

In second place came Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys earning $18 million, followed by the Al Pacino-Robert De Niro reunion, Righteous Kill. And despite unflattering reviews, even The Women did alright over the weekend, coming in at No. 4 with an estimated $10 million followed by The House Bunny in fifth place.

Alan Ball's Towelhead also opened and "nabbed the best per- location average of the weekend." Finally, for those of you keeping track, The Dark Knight is up another $4 million, putting its total domestic gross so far at an estimated $517 million.

Photo courtesy of Focus Features

The Women: Not Fizzy, Just Empty

BuzzSugar — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:34:00 -0700

Philosophically, the very existence of The Women is something that makes me cheer. As its title suggests, it's a movie full of only women - and many of them "women of a certain age," at that. Director and screenwriter Diane English spent years trying to steer her remake of George Cukor's 1939 classic to the screen, and I respect and admire her determination. A powerful remake of The Women could have sent yet another signal that moviegoers want to see women on screen in all their beautiful, imperfect, daffy, lovable, clueless, fantastic glory.

On screen, though, The Women disappoints to an almost depressing degree. It's not an outright disaster; there are good moments from nearly everyone in the gigantic cast. But it's not screwball enough to honor its '30s movie heritage, not clever enough to make for a fun night out at the theater. And its own message on women is utterly conflicted, threatening to undermine the potential positive impact of bringing an all-female movie to the big screen.

Meg Ryan stars as Mary Haines, whose life comes complete with adorable daughter, fabulous luncheons, and blooming garden she planted herself. If there are cracks in that shiny veneer, she'd hardly notice; as a friend, Alex (Jada Pinkett Smith), points out, she's too busy filling them in. So it knocks her flat when she finds out - thanks to her gossipy manicurist (Debi Mazar) - that her husband is having an affair with the Saks perfume "spritzer girl" (Eva Mendes). That betrayal would be bad enough, but before long, there's another one, courtesy of her best friend Sylvie (Annette Bening), who sells out Mary to save her own floundering career. The Women does fine with that broad sketch of a plot. It's in the details that the movie loses its footing, so read more.

Some of the movie's issues lie in the direction, which isn't confident enough to pull off some of the more screwball elements. English also doesn't seem to know how to use Bette Midler, who has a brief cameo that is delightful to watch but doesn't contribute much to the story, and Debra Messing and Smith are hardly in the movie. The whole look of the film is flat - understandable given its relatively small budget, but far from engaging for a viewer.

What The Women gets right is Mary's devastation at Sylvie's betrayal; losing her husband wouldn't have been so bad if the whole mess hadn't taken her friend along with it. The few scenes with the friends together are a treat, especially when they're plotting their confrontation of (and revenge against) the spritzer girl. Mendes basically just has to act hot and stupid, and she does that well. And Candice Bergen is amusing as Mary's mother, who dispenses advice that seems to be from another era.

Or is it? The Women seems confused about its own thoughts on women's roles. And while I can live with the ultimate outcome of Mary's journey to find herself (though I thought it was far too easy and predictable), what I can't condone is the movie's treatment of Mary's daughter Molly, who is basically a living representation of Why Women Hate Themselves. In her first scene, she tells Mary she's on a diet because she's fat; Mary laughs it off . Over the course of the movie, she starts smoking to keep from eating, burns tampons because she hates being a girl, and laments that she doesn't understand why magazine editors like Sylvie send such mixed signals to women. Sylvie's ultimate response when confronted with all of Molly's baggage? "I'm a hypocrite. Life is complicated."

That's all?

Sadly, that empty, cop-out response is far too apt a metaphor for The Women as a whole.

Photos courtesy of Picturehouse

Movie Preview: The Women Starring. . . Lots of Women

BuzzSugar — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:30:48 -0700

I was interested in this remake of the 1939 film The Women when there was initial casting news about it (Debra Messing, Annette Bening, Meg Ryan, Jada Pinkett Smith, Eva Mendes, Candace Bergen, etc. etc.), but after the incredible success of the Sex and the City movie, I'm even more excited about the opportunities for movies directed at a female audience. If nothing else the SATC movie might have indicated to filmmakers and studios that (hello!) it's possible to actually have a female-centric film do well at the box office. In other words: women can be valuable audience members, too, you know.

Anyway, from the new trailer it looks like there's The Woman (Meg Ryan) and all her girlfriends discover that there's The Other Woman (Eva Mendes) but the women don't know how to tell her about this other woman. True to the original, there don't appear to be any men in the movie. This new trailer isn't phenomenal, but it still looks like a reasonably funny movie about female friendship (and rivalry).

The Women opens September 12. To check out the trailer and tell me what you think, read more.

Link Time! 2/12

BuzzSugar — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 12:31:06 -0800

Popwatch's Michael Slezak hilariously acts out his own episode of America's Next Top Model with the new ANTM dolls.
Stereogum found a super funny/awkwardmockumentary video of Aimee Mann trying to get celebrity acts for her Christmas show. My favorite part includes John Krasinski being funny and adorable, as usual.

Cinematical lists off the seven worst first dates on film, including ones from Pulp Fiction, License to Drive and, well, Hard Candy.
In other list-y news, TV Squad has a great rundown of things that only ever happen on TV, like how nobody seems to get change after paying.
Want to see Jon Stewart with a trash can over his head? Late Night Underground has some hilarious outtakes from the Jon Stewart/Conan O'Brien/Stephen Colbert brawl.
geeksugar lets TiVo guide her V-Day viewing.
FilmExperience carefully dissects the upcoming remake of The Women, comparing the new actresses with those of the original 1939 film.
Vulture would really like to know: Are you one of the 3,219 people who paid to see The Hottie and the Nottie?

More Women Join The Women

BuzzSugar — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 14:44:49 -0700

That's a lot of ladies.
A while back I reported on the many women who signed up for Diane English's remake of the 1939 film The Women, including Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Jada Pinkett Smith, Debra Messing and Candice Bergen. Now, get ready for six more names to join the cast.

Like who?
Today the following ladies are joining the project, which will apparently include an all-female cast: Bette Midler, Ana Gasteyer, Cloris Leachman, Carrie Fisher, Lynn Whitfield, Joanna Gleason, and Debi Mazar.

Looking good, ladies, looking good.
I'm excited for this project, though I think the cast could still use some more diversity. Still, done the right way, I think an all-female cast doing a remake of this classic could be really entertaining and empowering.

Source

Look at All The Women!

BuzzSugar — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 05:29:00 -0700

In the second piece of recent movie news that features the year 1939, screenwriter Diane English is finally close to securing a large cast of ladies for a remake of the 1939 classic The Women after working for many years to get the project going. Variety has the scoop:

Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Jada Pinkett Smith, Debra Messing and Candice Bergen have either signed or are near committing to star in a contemporized version of the George Cukor-directed film, which Picturehouse will distribute domestically next year.

The bitchy tone of the Clare Boothe Luce play lent itself perfectly to a 1939 original film that starred Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell and others.

[Diane English's] script maintains the arch spirit of the original, and the all-female cast, but the gals aren't as relentlessly catty this time around. Story follows a group of female friends when the one they envied most discovers her husband's cheating on her.

I am so looking forward to seeing all these fabulous women in one film, though the article also mentions that the movie's budget is $20 million, so I'm curious how that will be spread out among such a great-looking cast. Another peculiar tidbit: Mick Jagger is producing. Some bizarre details going on here, but I have faith this quirky project will turn out to be awesome.

Source and source

Buzz Gift Guide: Your Cool Adult Sister

BuzzSugar — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:20:45 -0800

Black Friday is just around the corner, so I hope you're keeping up with my gift guides for a holiday shopping head start.

Today we're tackling your adult sis - sometimes the sister you're closest to in age and interests can somehow be the hardest to shop for. She's hip and a total pop culture junkie like you, so you don't want to let her down. Gift her this Journey Tee to appeal to her appreciation of irony - plus, you can always borrow it from her later.

Movie Preview: Women in Trouble

BuzzSugar — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:30:29 -0700

Every few years, a woman-heavy ensemble hits the theaters, and I always hope it's going to be as good as the standard, Steel Magnolias. This year's flick, Women in Trouble, stars Carla Gugino, Connie Britton, Marley Shelton, Emanuelle Chriqui, and Sarah Clarke as the various women from different walks of life. One's a porn star, one's a masseuse, one's a flight attendant, and many of them are in their bras in this trailer. As you can tell from the title, they're each in some kind of personal trouble and the film looks like a Crash-like melange of the ladies' intersecting lives.

There's also a wee bit of testosterone with a few actors who are easy on the eyes: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Josh Brolin, and Simon Baker. The cast seems pretty promising, but I worry it'll veer into the same stale territory as last year's The Women.

To see the trailer, just read more.