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Buzz Gift Guide: Best of 2008 For Gals

BuzzSugar — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 08:30:45 -0800

Welcome back to my Buzz Gift Guide series for all the entertainment lovers in your life. Yesterday I sifted through the stacks (er, Web pages) of music, DVDs, and books to find some of the best 2008 has to offer dudes. Today I will share with you some 2008 entertainment gift ideas for the ladies.

It's no secret how much I love Jenny Lewis and I will be spreading the gospel this year by handing out her newest album Acid Tongue to my girlfriends (or at least including her songs on the mix CDs I'll make this holiday season). I'll also be giving out Aimee Mann's newest album, as I think it's pretty awesome.

It was a good year for books: I read both The Opposite of Love by Julie Buxbaum and Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner and would definitely recommend them. In the movies department, might I suggest the hilarious Baby Mama or Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day on DVD?

Since I watch more TV than most people I know, I use the holidays to not-so-subtly suggest to friends what I know they would love, like 30 Rock or Greek. And many of my friends have grown to love Lipstick Jungle, so it would be a treat for them to receive the show's first season on DVD.

A couple more ideas below, so have fun scrolling on through.

Check out HolidaySugar for all of our holiday coverage and gift guides.

What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:30:32 -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. In addition to my selections below, you can also check out Jackie Chan and Jet Li in The Forbidden Kingdom and Lee Pace in The Fall.

Baby Mama
Hurray for Baby Mama out on DVD! I really enjoyed this good-natured, fun ride when I saw it in theaters and I'm so eager to go back for more now that I can add it to my Netflix queue. The movie stars Tina Fey and Amy Poehler as total opposites who band together in order to make a baby. Basically, Fey's character is a successful woman who wants to have a baby, and Poehler is her wrong-side-of-the-tracks surrogate. Together they make a hilarious comedic team, and while the movie has its faults, it's mostly an all-around good time.

I would love to spend some behind-the-scenes time with Poehler and Fey, and thankfully the special features give me that chance! They include deleted scenes, an alternate ending, and featurettes including "From Conception to Delivery: The Making of Baby Mama" and "Saturday Night Live: Legacy of Laughter" in which Tina Fey and Amy Poehler talk about working with other SNL alums.

Two more titles to chat about this week, so read more.

Grey's Anatomy: Season Four
Even though Grey's struggled through its fourth season a bit, I still love it. And that's how you know it's good television: even in its off years, you still want more. That's why I'm recommending that those of you who skipped season four catch up before the two-hour premiere of season five on Sept. 25. Things are going to get juicy, and you'll want to be in the know to appreciate the juice. You're going to need to know who Rose is, for example.

Special features include extended episodes, audio commentaries, some behind-the-scenes moments with Patrick "McDreamy" Dempsey and Eric "McSteamy" Dane, unaired scenes, and outtakes.

Ugly Betty: Season Two
This ABC hit, which also will premiere its (exciting-sounding) new season on Sept. 25, is one of my favorites on TV right now. Now season two of Ugly Betty is out on DVD, so you can reacquaint yourself with where we left off or check it out for the first time. (As a companion to the DVD, you can always scroll through what we all thought of each of the episodes over here.)

DVD extras include featurettes titled "On Set With The Besties," "The Suarez Tour," and "Wilhelmina Slater: Love to Hate Her" - and don't I ever! - as well as bloopers and deleted scenes.

Pop Preview: Baby Mama

PopSugarUK — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:00:00 -0700

First things first, Baby Mama ain't rocket science. And why should it be? It's a likeable, smile-inducing comedy with a couple of super-talented ladies at the helm: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

Tina plays Kate Holbrook, a woman at the top of her game professionally, but slightly less so personally. Babies haunt her: everywhere she turns, there's a baby... it's kinda scary. But "I just don't like your uterus" says her doctor, and she's told she's unable to have a child herself. Enter hard up Angie (Poehler), who rents out her womb to Kate in return for a dollop of cash for her and on-again off-again man Carl (Dax Shepard). After their relationship flips to off again, Angie moves in with Kate and the fun begins!

Angie has many many less social graces than control-freak Kate, causing all kinds of awkwardness and a couple of gross-out moments, but despite all that they gradually become genuinely believable friends. The friendship between the two of them is one of the main draws of the movie for me.

To find out what I thought of the supporting cast including Steve Martin, and what I thought could have been better, just read more

The supporting characters are all great too. First off, Steve Martin is absolutely wonderful as Kate's insane boss. His long grey ponytail and rewards for his staff (for example, five minutes worth of uninterrupted eye contact) are worth the ticket price alone. Another awesome supporting player is Romany Malco – who plays Kate's doorman and kills with every line he has, as well as providing a refreshing outside voice of reason at a couple of points. Greg Kinnear is likeable and mostly charming as Kate's love interest, and Angie's birthing coach (Siobhan Fahen) brings in some consistent laughs.

Now for the slight negatives: I found Angie to be a bit of an inconsistent character, flitting between being pretty trashy, then all of a sudden becoming normal and nice, before flicking straight back to trashy next time she appeared onscreen. A fair few of the jokes fell pretty flat in the screening I attended too, but there are certainly enough aces to make it worth your while. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are without a doubt two talented comediennes, I loved Fey's Mean Girls and am looking forward to Poehler's new TV series too.

All in all, this is a refreshing movie. It's not all about a girl/guy relationship, or boys being boys – which seems to be the basis of so many funny movies these days. Sex And The City proved that female focused movies can bring in the audiences, and seeing two talented, hot and smart women provide a female alternative to the predominantly male "buddy comedy" is great because it works. It's funny... however I can't help but think that if Fey had scripted it (as she did Mean Girls) it would have been even funnier!

Baby Mama is out on Friday in the UK.

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

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

Sugar Bits - Iron Man Is No. 1 at the Weekend Box Office

PopSugar — Mon, 05 May 2008 09:59:31 -0700

Iron Man took the top spot at the weekend box office with an impressive $104.2 million in ticket sales. In case you were one of the few who didn't see it, stay after the credits to see a teaser for Iron Man 2! Made of Honor came in at number two, followed by Baby Mama at third. - BuzzSugar
Prince Harry was awarded a military service medal today for his 10 weeks of service on the front lines in Afghanistan earlier this year. - CitizenSugar
Miley Cyrus unexpectedly performed at the Disney Channel Games over the weekend, where she avoided questions about her controversial Vanity Fair photos but thanked fans for their support. - The Orlando Sentinel
Bruce Springsteen, Meryl Streep, and 13 other famous New Jerseyans were inducted into the state's Hall of Fame last night, despite the fact that the building hasn't been constructed yet. - AP
Amy Winehouse is said to be making a special appearance at an upcoming London performance by Pete Doherty, who is set to be released from prison tomorrow. - The Mirror

Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Baby Mama Amy Poehler Is Pregnant!

LilSugar — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:48:11 -0700

The world has gone gaga for comedian Amy Poehler. The 36-year-old and her husband Will Arnett are starting a family, with their first baby due this Fall.

According to People, the mama-to-be has been busy. It said:

This has been a big week for Poehler. Baby Mama, costarring Tina Fey, landed in the No. 1 box-office spot this weekend, and her Nickelodeon show, The Mighty B, also debuted.

Congratulations!

Source

Sugar Bits - Miley Cyrus Apologizes For Topless VF Shoot

PopSugar — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:31:27 -0700

Miley Cyrus has issued an apology after outtakes from a revealing Annie Leibovitz Vanity Fair photo shoot hit the Internet over the weekend. The magazine stands by the photos, saying her parents were both present during the shoot and approved of the photos. - lilsugar
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler took the top spot at the weekend box office with Baby Mama, followed by Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay and Forbidden Kingdom. - BuzzSugar
Amy Winehouse was cautioned by London police, but not formally charged, following an accusation of assault last week. Her father, Mitch, also spoke out confirming Amy's affair and saying that she should seek treatment in a mental hospital. - PopSugar UK
Ashley Judd's racecar driving husband Dario Franchitti broke his ankle after he crashed during a race in Talladega, AL, on Saturday. - USA Today
Model Angie Everhart was arrested in LA last Thursday for DUI and released after posting $15,000 bond. - TMZ
Country singer Kenny Chesney seriously injured his foot during a concert on Saturday night in Columbia, SC, but he still managed to complete his show. - CMT News

Box Office: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler Win the Weekend

BuzzSugar — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 05:30:38 -0700

It's always exciting when a comedy that's genuinely funny does well with audiences, and that was the case this weekend with the female buddy comedy Baby Mama starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

The ladies won the top spot with an estimated $18.3 million, handily beating out the other comedy opening over the weekend, Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay. EW reports that while this wasn't the best movie opening for either Fey or Poehler, their film did much better than many box office watchers predicted. In fact, Baby Mama gave Universal Studios its first box office winner of the year.

The Forbidden Kingdom was No. 3 and Forgetting Sarah Marshall was right behind in the fourth spot, with both films earning approximately $11 million their second weekend out - a respectable achievement.

While Fey and company had good reason to pop the champagne, another film didn't post opening-weekend results worthy of celebration. Deception, starring Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor, and Michelle Williams, "fared dismally," as Variety put it. The thriller barely beat Street Kings for the No. 10 spot, earning only $2.2 million over the weekend. I thought that the very talented cast did the best they could with poor material, but apparently that wasn't enough of a draw.

So, which movies did you check out this weekend? Did any of you see both Baby Mama and Harold and Kumar?

Source

The Opposite of Love: Julie Buxbaum ($16.50)	Break Up the Concrete: The Pretenders ($11.99)
Acid Tongue: Jenny Lewis ($12.49)	Certain Girls: A Novel: Jennifer Weiner ($17.79)
@#%&*! Smilers: Aimee Mann ($13.99)	Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day ($12.99)
Baby Mama ($17.99)	Greek - Chapter One ($19.99)
30 Rock: Season 2 ($25.99)	Lipstick Jungle - Season One ($24.99)