BuzzSugar

Buzz In: What Books Do You Think Would Make Good Movies?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 08:30:08 -0700

There are constantly news of books being adapted for film, and some are great ideas while others make me wary. There are loads of bad adaptations (remember Suburban Girl based on Melissa Bank's The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing? Yeah, most people don't.) and a few examples of the opposite (The Jane Austen Book Club made for a better movie than book, in my opinion).

So while the risks are high, the results hit-or-miss, Hollywood consistently turns to the bookshelf for new ideas. What stories have you been able to easily envision on the big screen? I have always thought the epic page-turner I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb would make a great movie (and apparently there's one in development, but details are vague). Also, earth to Hollywood: Jennifer Weiner's Good in Bed would make a great movie with a relatable protagonist - and it already has a fan base to boot. So what is the hold up? I know Jodi Picoult's novel My Sister's Keeper is being adapted, though I also think Vanishing Acts would translate well to screen. Finally, the whole time I was reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, I could see it played out as a movie - though it would need a director with a brilliant, artful eye.

What books do you think would do well on the silver screen?

Source

10 Books That Are Better as Movies

BuzzSugar — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:30:04 -0700

It's a strange experience when you realize you're enjoying a movie more than you enjoyed the book on which it's based because so often the opposite is true. After all, presumably an author has the advantage because he/she can provide deep insight into characters that actors have to convey with but a glance. Every so often, though, a story makes a lot more sense onscreen. Here I've compiled a list of some stories I'd rather watch than read. What are yours? Just hit "Start" to begin the slideshow.

View Slideshow ›

Who Should Play the New Inhabitants of 90210?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:30:50 -0700

Since we now have an outline of the main characters for the rumored 90210 spinoff, my brain can't stop thinking about who might be cast in these roles. While these new characters have updated traits and hobbies (emo! YouTube!) they are, as some have pointed out, more or less the new versions of the original cast. While we all have our old favorites, I think it's really fun imagining the young stars who could play these updated versions of the original Kelly, Brenda, Donna, etc. Also, some of the original 90210 actors were, like, 30 years old when they played teenagers so I'm going to expand my own fictional casting reach as such.

For example, I could totally see Kristen Stewart (In the Land of Women, Into the Wild) as Annie, the emo girl looking to get popular, and Victor Razuk (Lords of Dogtown, upcoming Stop-Loss) as her adopted bad-boy brother, Dixon. I loved Kevin Zegers in The Jane Austen Book Club and could see him as the jock. Also, this Nickelodeon actress screams Daphne Silver to me. What do you think? Any hot young stars come to mind to fill these slots?

For a reminder of all the new characters and their descriptions, and to tell me who you're thinking could play them, read more.

Annie - 16, is an emo kid and drama nerd who's trying to make it with the cool crowd.
Dixon - Also 16, Annie's adopted brother, smart but bad.
Tabitha Mills - A washed-up, 60-ish actress and alcoholic. Annie and Dixon’s grandma.
Harry Mills - Tabitha's do-gooder son, who graduated from Beverly Hills High in the 1980s and has decided to move home to be near his mom.
Celia Mills - Wife of Harry, an ex-Olympic athlete who becomes a personal trainer.
Daphne Silver - High schooler who hosts her own YouTube series and wants to be a socialite. Related to David Silver?
Max Silver - 24 year-old brother of Daphne. Manages the Century City Mall's movie theater. He is probably hiding some dark secrets.
Navid Shirazi - Teen of Middle Eastern descent who runs the school's TV newscast and is a high school politician.
Ethan Ward - The token jock who gets dropped by the popular kids and ends up hanging out with the rest of the cast.
Naomi Bennett - Hot, rich, and dating Ethan. Starts out as brat but gets more dimensions as the show goes on.

Source

BuzzSugar's Must-Haves for February

BuzzSugar — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 09:30:00 -0800

February is a big month here in entertainment-land, with both the Grammy Awards and the Oscars on the docket and this weekend's Super Bowl unleashing a new crop of commercials (not to mention a new Paula Abdul song) on the world. But I have my eye on plenty of other things, too. Want to see what I've got to have (and do, and see, and rent) this month? Just hit "Start."

View Slideshow ›

The Jane Austen Book Club: Sweet, Comforting, Womanly

BuzzSugar — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 09:29:42 -0700

I was totally right about The Jane Austen Book Club: It makes a far better movie than it did a book - though yes, I'm aware that Austen herself would blanch at my saying that about any written work. In this situation, however, we don't particularly need to know the inner workings of these characters' emotional lives. We don't need to read their thoughts. The intersecting stories of five women - and one man - who make up the Jane Austen Book Club are interesting enough on the surface to sustain a movie. All told, The Jane Austen Book Club is now one of my favorite movies of 2007.

The film's premise keeps it going at a nice steady clip: six people form a book club devoted to reading Austen's six novels over the course of six months. Bernadette (Kathy Baker) is a boisterous, life-loving older woman who has been married several times and has a warm way of making friends with everyone. Her friend Jocelyn (Maria Bello) is an unmarried successful dog breeder, and Sylvia (Amy Brenneman) is struggling to understand the unraveling of her marriage. Sylvia's daughter is the adventurous Allegra (Maggie Grace), a lesbian jewelery-maker. Rounding out the club is the controlling high school French teacher Prudie (Emily Blunt) and the lone male of the group: the sweet and energetic Grigg (Hugh Dancy).

How (and why) do I love thee, Jane Austen Book Club? I will count the ways (wrong writer, I know, just go with it) if you read more

This is very much a woman's world. The Jane Austen Book Club is for women to talk about, well, women. The addition of the one male, Grigg, provides endless comedic relief, and somehow highlights the empowerment that comes from these womens' shared love of Austen. In many ways, men (often including Grigg) are utterly on the outside of this circle, and the circle consists of some awesome ladies. Certainly I found myself wishing I could be friends with these characters.
The film is a wonderfully affirming ode to the joys and comforts of female friendship. There isn't the cattiness of soapy "Melrose Place"-type dramas though there is also a blessed lack of the silliness of, say, The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. It's just a simple, lovely, funny portrayal of the kinds of relationships real women often have with one another.
Writer/Director Robin Swicord has achieved what I think is a most admirable thing: the perfect balance between drama and humor that keeps everything real enough while always quickly providing an opportunity to laugh after a somber moment. This way, things don't get too precious or bogged down in the mire and muck of life.
The differences between "women's literature" (i.e. Austen) and "men's literature" (i.e. science fiction novels) are explored, and it's a curious topic. Grigg is a huge fan of science-fiction, and for him, being a man is intrinsically tied to science-fiction. He even tries to understand Austen's works in the best way he knows how: by comparing them to Star Wars. On the other hand, Jocelyn scorns the entire sci-fi genre - until Grigg points out that many of his favorite sci-fi works are written by women under ambiguous pseudonyms.
In a move that would be completely Austen-approved, there is a beautifully happy ending. Admittedly, if this ending weren't as abrupt as it is, it would be gratingly cheesy. But to my relief, our protagonists having "all that they desire" in the end (as Austen aimed to do for her characters) is perfectly satisfying.

Source

Fall Movie Preview: Girl Talk

BuzzSugar — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 07:15:00 -0700

Well it's September, folks, and the summertime movie season is officially over. Now we have a whole new crop of films to check out in the coming chillier months, so in preparation for that, I'm giving you little glimpses of this fall and winter's must-see movies with my Fall Movie Preview series. Today's roundup: films for and about the ladies.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age
This absolutely luscious-looking film brings together two gorgeous actors, Cate Blanchett and Clive Owen, for the follow-up to the 1998 period piece Elizabeth. This story follows the Queen Elizabeth's (Blanchett) relationship with Sir Walter Raleigh (Owen). Check out the beautiful trailer before The Golden Age hits theaters October 12.

First Look: The Jane Austen Book Club

BuzzSugar — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 08:30:00 -0700

First off, I got through this entire trailer for The Jane Austen Book Club, which opens in limited release September 21, without realizing Emily Blunt is playing the lead with the bobbed haircut. With her American accent and lack of pretense she is simply transformed. Secondly, she has this exchange which made me laugh out loud:

Man: High school is over.
Emily Blunt, tearfully: High school is never over!

Finally, this is one case in which the movie looks more intriguing than the book was. I'm not sure what it was about the book, exactly, I just found it to be a little on the bland side - though I enjoyed the way author Karen Joy Fowler structured the novel around Jane Austen's works. That aspect worked quite nicely.

This looks like it just might successfully accomplish what Evening failed to do: Make a rich, compelling and entertaining woman-led movie based on a novel. My high hopes from Evening have officially been transferred to The Jane Austen Book Club, so to see what I'm talking about, read more

Source

What To Sky+: Monday

PopSugarUK — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 14:00:00 -0700

BBC1 has a new series of The Street
BBC2 has University Challenge, What to Eat Now, The Supersizers Eat... The Twenties and news series How Not to Live Your Life
BBC3 has T in the Park
BBC4 has new series Only Connect
ITV1 has new series Monday Monday
ITV2 has The Chopping Block
Ch4 has Inside Nature's Giants and Big Brother
Five has Rough Guide to ... City Breaks
Sky1 has The Real Full Monty
Sky Family has Spice World: the Movie
Sky Drama has The Jane Austen Book Club

What To Sky+: Sunday

PopSugarUK — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 14:00:00 -0700

BBC1 has Antiques Roadshow, Hope Springs and Casualty 1909
BBC2 has Glastonbury and On Thin Ice
BBC3 has Family Guy, American Dad and Glastonbury
ITV1 has The Secret Caribbean with Trevor McDonald
ITV2 has Sister Act
Ch4 has Revelations: How to Find God, Big Brother and Alan Carr: Chatty Man
Sky1 has House
MTV1 has The Hills
Sky Premiere has Dr Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!
Sky Family has Stardust
Sky Drama has The Jane Austen Book Club

What To Sky+: Tuesday

PopSugarUK — Mon, 18 May 2009 14:00:00 -0700

BBC2 has Great British Menu, RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Later Live... with Jools Holland and The Wire
BBC4 has The Great British Wedding and Flight of the Conchords
ITV1 has The Classical Brit Awards
Ch4 has Gok's Fashion Fix and 1066: the Battle for Middle Earth
Sky1 has Ballroom High and Prison Break
Sky Drama has The Jane Austen Book Club
Sky Comedy has Dirty Rotten Scoundrels