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Buzz In: What's Your Biggest Movie-going Disaster?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:30:31 -0700

In Utah recently, a movie theater full of parents and kids expecting to watch Disney's family-appropriate High School Musical 3 were instead treated to the beginning of the R-rated flick Sex Drive. Apparently, the opening few minutes of the movie include nudity so parents didn't even have a chance to shield their youngsters. Understandably, folks were horrified:

"I could not carry my little children out before they were exposed to extremely vulgar and sexually explicit material," one parent complained in an e-mail to the Desert News.

That's a pretty big (though kinda amusing) movie-going disaster, I'd say. My disaster stories aren't quite so traumatic, though still entertaining. On the opening weekend of the new Star Wars movie a few years ago (you know, with mega-fans dressed up as characters) the film totally burnt out at a climactic moment toward the end. The audience completely freaked out — l turned around in time to spot a Sith angrily trying to climb into the projection booth. I also once went to a showing of Sin City only to have Million Dollar Baby come onscreen.

What are your movie-going disasters?

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Buzz In: What's Your Favorite Film Score?

BuzzSugar — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:29:53 -0700

Recently the filmmakers behind the upcoming Incredible Hulk movie held a panel discussion at the New York Comic-Con to promote the film to its key audience: fanboys. When director Louis Letterier declared the musical score for Hulk was, "Star Wars good" he reportedly got booed by the audience.

It cracks me up that, to a certain group of fans it is sacrilegious to ever suggest anything is as good as (or — gasp! — better than) that famous, ominous tune. Then again, to some degree, I can understand that kind of passion.

A great musical score not only helps to set the tone of a movie, but when done right audiences will forever associate the sounds with the emotion of a film. For example, the sound of a clacking typewriter will probably always make me think of the subsequent piano music and then the overall sense of agony and guilt associated with Atonement, a score that ended up nabbing the Oscar.

Of course, it's hard to look at Harrison Ford without the boisterous Indiana Jones score cuing up in my brain immediately. And while I hardly remember a single line from Driving Miss Daisy, that whimsical old-timey score is clear as day in my head.

What are some of your favorite movie scores? Are there any that will always evoke certain memories? Is there one that tops all the rest?

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TV Tonight: "Family Guy" Takes on Star Wars

BuzzSugar — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 08:01:58 -0700

Three of Fox's animated series — "Family Guy," "The Simpsons" and "King of the Hill" — return tonight with their season premieres. I'm pretty excited for "The Simpsons" 19th (yes, that's nineteenth) season opener, especially considering it has a Spider Pig cameo. But the one that really has my interest is "Family Guy" because of its long-awaited Star Wars parody, "Blue Harvest."

Now, I'm not the biggest Star Wars fan ever, but for some reason, parodies of the movie empire just get me (remember "Robot Chicken"?). And while I thought the one clip I saw of the hour-long "Family Guy" episode lingered a little too long on a gag with a couch, there are a few inspired moments, including everything about the way Stewie is drawn as Darth Vader. To check out a clip,

Harry Potter Works Record-Breaking Magic Worldwide

BuzzSugar — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 16:27:59 -0700

Just for funsies, someone over at Warner Bros. has done some number-crunching and come up with further proof that the Harry Potter franchise is on its way to world domination. Beating out the Star Wars and James Bond franchises, Harry Potter's is the top-grossing film franchise worldwide. Ever.

The first five Harry Potter movies have raked in a total of $4.47 billion worldwide, magically flying past the records set for the 22 James Bond flicks (which grossed $4.44 billion worldwide) and the six Star Wars movies ($4.23 billion).

Now, this is pretty crazy. But do these numbers account for inflation or higher ticket costs? No. Furthermore, this is worldwide they're talking about. Domestically, the Star Wars franchise still wins. As Variety points out, "All told, the Star Wars pics have grossed $2.18 billion, while the Harry Potter franchise has grossed $1.41 billion. But then there are still two more Potters to go."

Indeed, there are two more Harry Potters to go, and they will undoubtedly be extremely successful. Yet there's a definite end in sight for the Harry Potter story. James Bond, however, well, his stories could go on for many, many years. Someday his franchise may even outpace the boy wizard's.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

"Robot Chicken" Takes on "Star Wars"

BuzzSugar — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 14:15:18 -0700

George Lucas usually isn't one for letting people make fun of his beloved Star Wars franchise, but this Sunday marks an exception. The guys of "Robot Chicken," the Adult Swim show that uses stop-motion animation and action figures to poke fun at pop culture, convinced Lucas to lend his material (and his voice) to a special "Robot Chicken" take on Star Wars.

Mark "Luke Skywalker" Hamill is among the other celebrities lending their voices to the special, which will air at the top of every hour from 10 p.m. Sunday to 5 a.m. Monday. USA Today has the details on how Lucas came to give the special his blessing, while MTV talked with creator Seth Green about making sure he and "Family Guy" (which will do its own take on Star Wars in the fall) weren't making fun of the same things.

I'm not sure if I'm a big enough Star Wars geek to get all the jokes, but I'll definitely give it a shot. Of the details that have come out about the episode so far, I'm most excited for the Ice Capades send-up called Emperor on Ice. To watch a trailer for the special,

Link Time! 1/9

BuzzSugar — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 12:44:11 -0800

As a church examines the morality of "Grey's Anatomy," PopWatch drafts The Ten Commandments according to Grey's.
M. Night Shyamalan will also direct an Avatar movie, Defamer says, but not the James Cameron kind.
The Modern Age finds out how Alicia Keys feels about being name-checked by Dylan.
TVGasm gives us an early "American Idol" fix with footage from the Pasadena auditions.
TV with MeeVee interviews Ed Begley Jr. about what it's really like to live with him.
Stereogum somehow makes me care about folk-rockers America covering My Morning Jacket very earnestly.
Best Week Ever lets us vent our pop-culture frustration with the Rosie vs. Donald Street Fighter game.
BuddyTV talks with Martin Han Clarke, the first fired "Apprentice."
TV Squad has the scoop on new DVDs: the last season of "NewsRadio" and 1970s classic "Maude."
Idolator challenges the Village Voice Pazz & Jop list with its Jackin' Pop poll.
Filmrot.com finds a hilarious silent film version of Star Wars, complete with piano accompaniment.

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Holiday Fun: "How the Sith Stole Christmas"

BuzzSugar — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 11:51:47 -0800

In this 16-minute fan film, animators spoof the beloved "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" story by combining it with aspects of the Star Wars series. Plenty of laughs to be had for both Dr. Seuss and George Lucas fans. May the Force be Grinched.