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Separated at Birth: Three Lincoln-Related Projects

BuzzSugar — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:37:52 -0700

Apparently, this is the year for Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth. Much of Hollywood seems to be fascinated with the legendary president and his assassin right now, with a biopic and a HBO miniseries already in the works. Now, there's a Showtime series in development that would focus on Booth and his brothers — a dysfunctional family drama of sorts that I'm guessing ends with a president shot dead.

I'm having trouble keeping these various projects straight in my mind. Should I care most about Lincoln himself, how his assassin got caught, or how his killer came to be a presidential shooter in the first place? Here's a handy chart to help you decide:


Name	The Booths	Team of Rivals	Manhunt
Medium	TV (Showtime)	Film	TV (HBO)
Stars	To be determined	Liam Neeson (Lincoln), Sally Field (Mary Todd Lincoln)	To be determined
Focus	John Wilkes Booth and his two dysfunctional brothers	Lincoln himself	"Lesser-known players" in the hunt for Lincoln's killer
Hollywood "Big Name"	Executive Producer Kevin Bacon	Director Steven Spielberg	Writers David Simon and Tom Fontana
Book Inspiration	None	Team of Rivals	Manhunt
Presumed Outcome	Lincoln dies	Lincoln dies	Lincoln dies

Source and Source

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,

Chihuahua's Bark Is Loud at the Box Office

BuzzSugar — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 06:30:31 -0700

You know, the reviews for Disney's Beverly Hills Chihuahua were not as bad as I thought they might be, so that coupled with the fact that it's a family film meant that the movie about little talking dogs took the No. 1 spot at the box office over the weekend. The top dogs brought in a seriously impressive $29 million. That's about the same amount that Eagle Eye earned last weekend. This weekend, the Shia LaBeouf action-thriller came in second place.

Meanwhile, some smaller movies (a.k.a. "specialty films") also did well. Both Bill Maher's documentary Religulous and Anne Hathaway's Rachel Getting Married had terrific opening weekends. This was especially striking as "three of the new wide releases didn’t even crack the top 10 chart," including Flash of Genius, Blindness, and How to Lose Friends and Alienate People.

Finally, both Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and Appaloosa enjoyed solid debuts, coming in third and fifth respectively. Lots of options this weekend! Which one did you see? (And come on, you can admit it if it was the chihuahua movie — this is a safe place.)

Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures

Buzz In: What Stars' Movie Recommendations Interest You?

BuzzSugar — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 08:00:22 -0700

Every month, Turner Classic Movies invites a star to be the channel's guest programmer. The October selection of Rainn Wilson grabbed my attention because I'm definitely curious to find out what movies have inspired him or what he kicks back and enjoys in his spare time. His choices range from fairly obscure (The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T) to totally adorable (Singin' in the Rain).

This of course got me thinking about what other famous minds I'd like to pick for a movie recommendation. Maybe George Clooney? He's so pretty, but beyond that, he's clearly well-informed and passionate about film. I also know, based on writer Diablo Cody's dozen film picks for the New Beverly Cinema, that she'd be a great guest programmer (her selections reveal a serious weakness for all things '80s — you can check them out here). What stars' film inspirations would you be curious to see?

Source

Blindness: To See, a Brutal Gift

BuzzSugar — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:30:08 -0700

I saw Blindness by myself, with nothing to occupy me on the way home but a copy of Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Bad idea. This movie requires a funny friend or mindless magazine afterward to decompress. I don't shy away from depressing films, but Blindness is one of the bleakest things I've ever seen on screen. At times bleaker even than Babel or Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. But cheery isn't really an option when portraying a dystopia plagued by a mysterious epidemic "immune to bureaucracy."

Based on the novel by Nobel laureate Jose Saramago and directed by Fernando Meirelles (City of God, The Constant Gardner), this apocalyptic allegory is imperfect but powerful. Reminiscent of Children of Men and old zombie flicks, Blindness begins with a man going blind while driving. His eye doctor (Mark Ruffalo) is puzzled by the affliction, in which eyesight is obscured by white rather than cloaked in dark. But soon the doctor is also rendered blind by the contagion, so

Appaloosa: Solid Entertainment But Could Have Been More

BuzzSugar — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 10:33:32 -0700

Appaloosa is a totally passable and — to my surprise — fun (and funny) Western movie. I'm amazed Ed Harris, the star/director/co-writer of the film, hasn't played more gunslingers, because his face was built for it. Under the shadow of a wide-brimmed hat, his skin looks believably weathered and creased, his bone structure sturdy and chiseled. By contrast, Harris's costar, Viggo Mortensen, is not what I think of when I think "cowboy." He's long and lean and hardly recognizable under a strange (but probably historically accurate) haircut and facial hair. His character drags around one of those giant long-barreled shotguns as opposed to expertly twirling a smaller one out of his holster.

The pair make a fine acting duo; they have an easy chemistry I could watch all night long. Beyond that, Appaloosa tells a well-thought-out story. But unlike Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven or last year's remake of 3:10 to Yuma, there is no new cinematic ground being broken here. For the most part, it's simply a traditional Western, which — depending on your outlook — can either be a great way to spend a night at the movies or a teensy bit disappointing. To see what I mean, just

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist: It's Just So Cute

BuzzSugar — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 05:30:19 -0700

I'm trying to separate the experience of watching the movie Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist from the experience of reading the book. In truth, the two bear only a few similarities and I enjoyed the book more than the movie. Still, as a standalone piece of entertainment, the movie version is fun and silly and adorable, mostly due to the great cast. At the heart of what's so likable about it are Nick and Norah themselves, two precocious, creative, music-loving teens who spend a wacky night in New York City together, both learning to grow beyond their past relationships and into something that feels exciting and right. Ah, young love. Is there anything sweeter?

If there is, it's Michael Cera's cute little face. He plays Nick, a funny, self-deprecating young man who is the sole straight guy in his band. He's struggling to get over his ex, Tris (Alexis Dziena), when he meets Norah (Kat Dennings), a droll, witty girl who shares Nick's love for a band called Where's Fluffy? Nick and Norah have an immediate connection and Nick's bandmates, sensing the possibility for Nick to forget Tris, offer to take Norah's drunk friend Caroline (Ari Graynor) home, and send Norah off with Nick in his yellow, beat-up Yugo. Things go awry, of course: Caroline runs away from Nick's friends, Nick and Norah have a fight, Tris becomes jealous and follows Nick around the city, and Norah's sort-of-ex-boyfriend Tal (Jay Baruchel) keeps making Norah feel conflicted. Through it all, these cool, indie teens are trying to figure out where Where's Fluffy? is playing their secret show in New York. For my thoughts on all this,

Next Resurrection of an Old Cartoon: Yogi Bear

BuzzSugar — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:44:59 -0700

Ah, the latest old cartoon character to be swiped from the past: Yogi Bear. Warner Bros. is planning a feature film for Yogi Bear and Boo Boo with a mixture of live-action and CGI characters (like last year's Alvin and the Chipmunks movie). The Hollywood Reporter has more info, though no specific plot details:

Much of the movie will be live-action, but Yogi Bear and sidekick Boo Boo will be done in CG. . . Yogi's exploits take place in Jellystone Park, where he and Boo Boo get into good-natured mischief and must elude their nemesis, Ranger Smith.

With remakes and things like this, my question is always the same: Why? It's nice that Yogi and Boo Boo were relevant and interesting to young audiences for so many years (Yogi got his own show in 1961), but this recycling of old characters is so tiresome by now. I do find myself wondering, however, who they'll get to voice Yogi. Along with borrowing characters from the past, using celebrity voices is now the standard. Who do you think will bring Yogi to life?

Source

Name That Movie!

BuzzSugar — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 08:30:28 -0700

If you can correctly name the title of the movie this Name That Movie image is from, you win points!

The Duchess: Oh, the (Beautifully Costumed) Drama!

BuzzSugar — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 06:30:41 -0700

Of course The Duchess is dramatic. Georgiana Cavendish, the Duchess of Devonshire, led a dramatic life and she herself was a dramatic — and smart, and charismatic — woman. I really liked this movie, but I might have liked it more if it were a slightly broader examination of the Duchess. I don't mean that they should have included more years in her life (I think that would have been a mistake) but the vast majority of the film is about her romantic and reproductive woes. She was a daring, intelligent, and remarkably influential woman during a time when women were expected to be anything but those things. While I liked this sweeping period drama, I might have enjoyed less soap opera and a tad more substance.

The costumes, however, cannot be disputed, for they are devastatingly gorgeous. I would watch this movie over and over with the sound off just to feast my eyes on the clothes. Dressed to perfection in every scene, Keira Knightley plays Georgiana, who marries William Cavendish, the Duke of Devonshire when she is just a teenager. The marriage is soon strained as it appears that Georgiana will only bear daughters. While the relationship grows bitter in private, Georgiana starts to become quite popular in public and immerses herself in the world of politics and high society. She's a natural charmer and trend-setter, though her husband puts more and more distance between them, choosing other women over his wife. Before long, Georgiana finds herself falling in love with a young politician, Charles Grey (Dominic Cooper), but the threat of scandal proves too great for the Duke and Duchess and a relationship with Charles is forbidden. There's much more to the story, but I won't spoil things for you. I can still share some thoughts, though, so

Do You Wait For Special Edition DVDs?

BuzzSugar — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 05:30:32 -0700

This week's release of the 10th anniversary Sports Night DVD collection got me thinking about DVD sets and how I choose to add to my own collection. I was excited to get my hands on the new Sports Night set — but first, I had to get rid of my old one, which had all the episodes but no bonus features. At least as far as TV on DVD is concerned, it's practically a given these days that a bigger and better DVD set will come along eventually to replace the one you already own. For example, I had to offload a bunch of my old Six Feet Under sets when I finally decided to upgrade to the complete series. The same can happen for movies: I was thrilled to see that a Criterion Collection edition of Bottle Rocket was in the works, except I already own the movie minus the best of the special features. Do you hold out for complete series or special edition DVDs? And if you already own the basic version, do you upgrade when something new and shiny comes along?Source

Do You Wait For Special Edition DVDs?

Yes. I always prefer to get the biggest and best collection.

No. I don't like waiting, and I don't need all those bonus features.

It depends — I'll buy the basic edition first, but I might upgrade later on.

Other (tell me below)

Which of These Is the Year's Best Movie?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:30:28 -0700

There's a Hollywood Movies Awards Gala coming up later this month, and apparently it's the movie fans who have some say in which actors and movies take home the awards. On Yahoo! Movies you can cast your vote for which of these 10 nominees (which were selected by the Hollywood Film Festival Award Committee) is the best movie of the year, and weigh in on which actor and actress are the Hollywood Stars of the Year.

Are there any movies you would add to these options? Which of these titles would you vote for? And do you think there are any upcoming films that will trump the one you vote for today?

Have You Ever Been Offended by a Movie?

BuzzSugar — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:30:08 -0700

In conjunction with the most recent trailer for the George W. Bush movie W, Yahoo! Movies has put together a list of the five most controversial movies of the past decade. They include:

The Passion of the Christ (2004)

Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

The Brown Bunny (2004)

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

The DaVinci Code (2006)

I know that these movies offended plenty of people, for a variety of reasons. Have you ever been offended by these movies or any others?Source

Have You Ever Been Offended by a Movie?

Yes, I will tell you all about it below.

Nope, never. They're just movies!

No, but I avoid movies that seem controversial.

Other (tell us below)

Movie Preview: Madonna's Filth and Wisdom

BuzzSugar — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:34:43 -0700

So, Madonna directed an indie movie, Filth and Wisdom ("they are two sides of the same coin"). The trailer is narrated by the main character, a Ukrainian man named A.K. (Eugene Hutz, frontman of gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello), who "finances his dreams of rock glory by moonlighting as a cross-dressing dominatrix." The movie follows A.K. and his two female flatmates: "Holly (Holly Weston), a ballet dancer who works as a stripper and pole dancer at a local club and Juliette (Vicky McClure), a pharmacy assistant who dreams of going to Africa to help starving children."

All I know is that the music is by Gogol Bordello, so that aspect is probably great.

Maybe the characters seem more likable in the actual movie. But then again, I'm not totally sure I'm interested enough to go see the full movie when it comes out Oct. 17. What do you think? You can check out the trailer if you

What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:30:14 -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 the titles below, the Oscar-winning documentary Taxi to the Dark Side is also now available on DVD.

Iron Man
Hurray! It feels like just yesterday the Summer box office was electrified by this superhero hit. I really loved it (and saw it twice in the theaters), mostly due to a super cool performance by Robert Downey Jr. and the skillful storytelling abilities of director Jon Favreau. Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, and Terrence Howard also do well in this fun action movie. It's a good way to go back in time and shake off those dark, depressing blues you may have caught from your 10th viewing of The Dark Knight.

Special features include deleted and extended scenes, featurettes titled "I Am Iron Man: 7-Part Making-of Documentary," "The Invincible Iron Man: 6-Part History of the Hero," and "Wired: The Visual effects of Iron Man." Something I'm really curious to see in the extras is a Robert Downey Jr. screen test and a featurette on his acting process. More time with RDJ is always good.

Two more spiffy choices, so

Sweet New Trailer For The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

BuzzSugar — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:30:32 -0700

The new trailer for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is even more informative and interesting than the others that have come before it, and I am so intrigued by the eerie whimsy of it all. Brad Pitt plays Benjamin Button, a man who is born old and ages backwards, growing younger as the years go by. As an elderly child
(yeah. . . that's right, I think), he befriends a little girl, Daisy, who grows older in the regular way, so at some point the two are the same age, "meeting in the middle." The story, along with the girl's reddish-brown hair remind me a little bit of The Time Traveler's Wife, the film version of which may be hitting theaters at the same time as Benjamin Button: Dec. 25.

This new trailer gives me goosebumps, a mixture of the good kind of chills and the willies. To see for yourself,

Movie Preview: Will Smith in Seven Pounds

BuzzSugar — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:30:16 -0700

It's cool that there's a new trailer out for Will Smith's upcoming heartwarming drama Seven Pounds, even if it doesn't offer much insight into what the movie is about. I turned to IMDB for a little help, so here's the plot description as found on the Seven Pounds page: "Ben (Will Smith) is an IRS agent who is depressed and guilt-ridden about mistakes from his past. He sets out to make amends by helping seven strangers. When he meets Emily (Rosario Dawson), a beautiful woman with a heart condition, he falls in love with her, thereby complicating his plans." Ahhh, got it now.

The film is brought to us by the director of The Pursuit of Happyness and it opens Dec. 19. To check out the trailer and tell me what you think,

Nights in Rodanthe: Something to Watch With Grandma

BuzzSugar — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 06:30:40 -0700

As you might've predicted, Nights in Rodanthe is a sentimental, non-threatening weepie that could have just as easily been made for TV and run on the Hallmark channel. The story is bland and yet sugar-saturated at the same time. It's tame, not too racy and it features unlayered characters. There’s redemption in the male character’s storyline and an awakening in the woman’s. It’s boring as all get-out sometimes, and tries its damndest to make you cry. So, in other words, it's your average Nicholas Sparks stuff.

Adrienne Willis (Diane Lane) separated from her husband after he cheated on her with her best friend. Paul Flanner (Richard Gere) is a doctor whose workaholic tendencies drove away his wife and son (played by James Franco). After a patient dies on his operating table, Paul travels to Rodanthe to meet with the patient's husband. He stays at the inn that Adrienne is running while her friend is away. There's a big storm that brings the two of them together, bada bing bada boom, they both learn how to love again. What follows is a string of scenes meant to be either heartwarming or heartbreaking, depending on Diane Lane's incredibly expressive face. For more of my thoughts on all this,

Buzz Brainteaser

BuzzSugar — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 04:30:24 -0700

Welcome to Buzz Brainteaser, the trivia feature on BuzzSugar! Every weekday I'll test your knowledge about TV shows, music, and movies. If you enter in the correct answer, you win points! Name the movie from which I've taken this quote:
"You're right! You're not your dad! He could sell a ketchup Popsicle to a woman in white gloves!"

The Lucky Ones: Surprisingly Funny and Cute

BuzzSugar — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 14:00:38 -0700

It's hard to say bad things about a movie this well-intentioned and sweet. It's a story about Iraq War soldiers that is heartwarming and funny, which is something we haven't seen much in films about the current war. I have no idea why the trailer for The Lucky Ones includes Sarah McLachlan's "I Will Remember You," a song practically engineered to force people to cry, because this movie isn't really sad. I brought tissues and I didn't even use them.

Rachel McAdams is the biggest reason to see this, as her character is so incredibly endearing and McAdams portrays her perfectly. She plays Colee, a young soldier on a 30-day leave from Iraq after a gunshot wound to the leg. Colee is an (extremely) open book, blunt to a fault and full of wide-eyed, childlike naiveté. Tim Robbins is career soldier Cheever who is leaving the Army for good after suffering a back injury. Michael Pena plays TK, a bit of an insufferable know-it-all whose "private parts" are not quite back to normal after being wounded. The three are stranded in New York when they land and discover that all flights have been canceled. There is one rental car available to them at the airport, and thus the three embark on a road trip together. Nothing — seriously, nothing — goes as planned, however, and challenges pop up for these characters faster than a whack-a-mole game. This bombardment of predicaments is both funny and problematic, though, so to find out more,

Miracle at St. Anna: Epically Disappointing

BuzzSugar — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:30:10 -0700

The conflicted and heroic history of World War II's Buffalo Soldiers deserves to be told in a dramatic and thoughtful movie. Unfortunately, Miracle at St. Anna is neither of those things. After seeing the subtle trailer, I was curious how Spike Lee's style would translate into a war epic, but I never imagined this. The overdone melodrama is so weighed down with trivial details that it loses the potentially powerful impact of its subject matter.

With Miracle at St. Anna, Lee sets out to correct that fact that black soldiers have been largely absent from WWII cinema and memory. To that end, the story follows four members of the 92nd Infantry Division, comprised of 15,000 African-American troops. After a devastating battle on the Italian frontlines, the surviving foursome — Stamps (Derek Luke), Bishop (Michael Ealy), Hector (Laz Alonso), and Train (Omar Benson Miller) — are left to fend for themselves with a broken radio and an injured Italian kid they've picked up along the way. For what goes wrong,

Movie Preview: Bryan Singer's Valkyrie

BuzzSugar — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:30:17 -0700

Oh, Bryan Singer's beleaguered Valkyrie. From multiple release date changes, to trouble with Germany, to rumors of doctoring historical photos, this movie has been plagued with setbacks and bad press for a long time. With equal parts curiosity and trepidation, I awaited a real trailer for the film, which is now opening Dec. 26. Now that the trailer is here, it looks better than I expected.

Visually, I love the look of this movie so far. Singer directed The Usual Suspects (and X-Men, Superman Returns and X2), and with Valkyrie it appears that he has again captured an eerie, ominous tone. What isn't working for me is Tom Cruise whom I simply don't find believable in this role (the list of supporting actors, however, is promising: Bill Nighy, Eddie Izzard, Kenneth Branagh, and more). Cruise plays a high-ranking German officer (with an American accent . . ?) who plots to assassinate Hitler during the height of WWII. The code name for the assassination plan is "Valkyrie." To check out the new trailer,

Do Red-Band Trailers Make a Movie More Appealing?

BuzzSugar — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 07:30:04 -0700

I'll admit that I can be susceptible to the appeal of a red-band trailer (a trailer made for mature audiences, often including profanity or racy content) when it comes to certain movies. For instance, when I saw that Kevin Smith's upcoming comedy Zack and Miri Make a Porno had a red-band trailer, I was super excited. It's not so much about shock value as it is the chance to see what this movie, in all its raunchy Smith glory, is truly going to be like. But not all of these trailers have that effect on me. I haven't been rushing to watch the red-band trailer for the little indie flick Good Dick, for example.I think the first red-band trailer I was interested in was for Superbad last year. Nowadays it's becoming an increasingly popular tactic, as marketers look to generate buzz with a little online provocation. Do you find that the appeal of a movie goes up with these trailers?

Do Red-Band Trailers Make a Movie More Appealing?

Yes — The "normal" trailers can make movies seem more tame than they actually are.

Not really — They are unnecessary.

It depends — It's fun for certain movies, pointless for others.

Other (I'll tell you below)

Eagle Eye: Absurd . . . ly Fun

BuzzSugar — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 05:30:28 -0700

The story of Big Brother watching and controlling all of the helpless citizens in Eagle Eye might be more effective if it weren't quite so preposterous. That said, this movie intends to thrill and entertain, and it succeeds on all counts. It holds your attention with all the plot twists and the bombardment of explosions, the kind of explosions that make a certain audience cheer. Eagle Eye will probably not be an award-winner, but it's great for when you want to totally escape with a loud, ridiculous, big ol' Hollywood popcorn flick.

For starters, the two leads are seriously likable. I so enjoy watching Michelle Monaghan in pretty much anything (even crap like Made of Honor) because she seems so comfortable on screen. She's like someone we all might know. Not average, really, but familiar in a comforting way — smart, nurturing, sweet, tough. And Shia LaBeouf is utterly adorable in this film. It doesn't ask much of him, but he delivers nicely nonetheless. He plays Jerry Shaw, a slacker living in Chicago and having trouble making ends meet. The sudden death of his estranged twin brother Ethan sets off a series of baffling occurrences for Jerry, starting with a strange woman contacting him on the phone just as he's being set up to look like a terrorist. Oh, this is only the beginning, though, so

Do You Think Shia Should Take More Non-Action Roles?

BuzzSugar — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 08:30:48 -0700

As Eagle Eye approaches, I got to thinking that the only thing young Shia LaBeouf has been up to since hitting the big time has been action movies. The former Even Stevens cutie got a huge break in the Summer blockbuster Transformers, acted alongside film legends in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, moved on to Eagle Eye, and has been working on the second Transformers movie all Summer. If there are things going "boom!" Shia's there. But maybe he should try another drama (like A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints) or something in which he's not sweating and running from enemies. What do you think? Do you like him in action flicks and should he stick with them? Source

Do You Think Shia Should Take More Non-Action Roles?

Nah — people want to see him in action!

Yes — I think his career could be more diverse.

Not sure . . .

Other (I'll tell you below)

Name That Movie!

BuzzSugar — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 07:30:31 -0700

If you can correctly name the title of the movie this Name That Movie image is from, you win points!

Buzz Brainteaser

BuzzSugar — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 04:30:14 -0700

Welcome to Buzz Brainteaser, the trivia feature on BuzzSugar! Every weekday I'll test your knowledge about TV shows, music, and movies. If you enter in the correct answer, you win points! In The Joy Luck Club, there are four mothers and four daughters. The daughters are June, Waverly, Lena, and one other. What is the name of the fourth daughter?
(A first name is sufficient!)

Johnny Depp to Play Mad Hatter in Burton's Wonderland

BuzzSugar — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:34:17 -0700

Disney has formally announced today that the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland movie will be played by Johnny Depp (of course!). The Hollywood Reporter has the scoop:

Depp and Burton. . . have formed one of the longest-running director-actor partnerships in modern Hollywood. And so when Burton committed to filming a new live-action/CG version of Alice, Depp was touted as the most likely candidate to play the Mad Hatter — after all, having worked with Burton on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, he's practiced in wearing a top hat.

We also have a Tweedledee and Tweedledum — er, we have a Tweedle. Matt Lucas will play both Tweedledee and Tweedledum.

The Johnny Depp news is no surprise, really, but it's exciting to know that it's a done deal! I wonder if the next announcement will be that Helena Bonham Carter is the Queen of Hearts?

Source and Source

Recast Forrest Gump and Win a Prize!

BuzzSugar — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:36:58 -0700

Every other Wednesday on BuzzSugar, I post a Recast challenge, where I ask you to choose new actors for a classic TV show or movie. The reader who submits the best cast wins a BuzzSugar t-shirt!

That adorable moment between Tom Hanks and Sally Fields at the Emmys made me a little nostalgic for Robert Zemeckis's movie Forest Gump, so I thought I'd put it to a recast. (Sidenote: Remember how popular the soundtrack was, too? I totally had that thing on constant rotation at the time.)

So, who would you cast as the big-hearted lead character Forrest? I'm going to go ahead and say it's not fair to suggest Colin Hanks because he looks and sounds just like his father (seriously it's getting creepy!) — it's too easy! And what pretty lady would you cast as his life-long love, Jenny Curran (originally portrayed by Robin Wright Penn)?

What about Forrest's best buddies Lt. Dan Taylor ("Lieutenant Dan! Ice cream!") and Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue? Finally, what gentle but firm soul could play Forrest's mom Mrs. Gump as lovingly as Sally Field's could?

Leave your entry in the comment section below, and I'll pick one winner to feature Tuesday, Sept. 30, complete with a "new" cast photo. To see a list of characters to recast and a photo of the BuzzSugar t-shirt,

First Look: Notorious

BuzzSugar — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 11:30:03 -0700

There's a teaser trailer for the Notorious B.I.G. biopic making the rounds lately, and I kinda like it. The music is great, there's a grandly dramatic, dangerous tone to the whole thing, appropriately. It starts out soft and low and builds to a flashy finish.

After an exhaustive search, the filmmakers and Biggie's mother Voletta Wallace cast Brooklyn rapper Jamal "Gravy" Woolard for the title role last March. Other cast members include Angela Bassett as Biggie's mother, Derek Luke as Sean Combs, and Anthony Mackie as Tupac Shakur. Notorious opens Jan. 16, 2009. To check out the teaser,

Director of Wanted Takes on Moby Dick

BuzzSugar — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 07:30:21 -0700

Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov will help screenwriters Adam Cooper and Bill Collage reimagine the classic Herman Melville tale, Moby Dick, for the big screen. The writers hope to bring a "graphic novel sensibility" to the "action-adventure revenge story." Variety continues:

The writers revere Melville's original text, but their graphic novel-style version will change the structure. Gone is the first-person narration by the young seaman Ishmael, who observes how Ahab’s obsession with killing the great white whale overwhelms his good judgment as captain.

This change will allow them to depict the whale's decimation of other ships prior to its encounter with Ahab’s Pequod, and Ahab will be depicted more as a charismatic leader than a brooding obsessive.

As Cooper quipped, "Our vision isn't your grandfather’s Moby Dick." Indeed.

Does this sound awesome to you? Or ridiculous?

Source

Keira May Play Zelda...Who Will Be Her Fitzgerald?

BuzzSugar — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:30:20 -0700

Director Nick Cassavetes (The Notebook, Alpha Dog) is hoping Keira Knightley will play Zelda Sayre in a "period love story" titled The Beautiful and the Damned. The Hollywood Reporter has more info:

Damned revolves around Zelda Sayre (Knightley) and F. Scott Fitzgerald, who became Jazz Age icons known for living large, soaring high, and crashing hard. Although toasts of town in the 1920s, their courtship and marriage was festooned with jealousy and acrimony. Fitzgerald used their relationship as material for his novels, and Sayre — who tried hard to find an artistic identity of her own and ended up being admitted to a sanitarium — did the same.

Now for the question: Who should play F. Scott Fitzgerald to Keira's Zelda?

Source

Movie Preview: Revolutionary Road

BuzzSugar — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 10:29:08 -0700

I have been waiting anxiously to see what a movie version of Richard Yates's classic novel, Revolutionary Road, might look like. Back when the casting news (a Titanic reunion for Winslet and DiCaprio) first appeared, we hadn't heard of a TV show called Mad Men and we didn't have a drama set in this time period unfolding — complete with spectacular costume and set design — in our homes Sunday after Sunday. So now that we have this film, all about the repression and the ennui of living in suburbia during this era, will audiences be as interested if it's not about the Drapers?

Perhaps the cast and the director (Winslet's husband, Sam Mendes, who directed another movie about suburban frustration, American Beauty) will help to lure people in. I personally think everyone should read the novel first, as it quickly became one of my favorite books of all time. The trailer shows pretty much all you need to know about the story, so to check it out,

First Look: Jennifer Aniston, Steve Zahn in Management

BuzzSugar — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 13:00:17 -0700

I remember when I first heard the casting news for the romantic comedy Management, and it seemed like an awesome idea to pair up the underrated (in my opinion) Steve Zahn with Jennifer Aniston. And ever since the movie earned some positive buzz after debuting at the Toronto International Film Festival, I've been anxious to see some footage.

Now we've got a clip from the movie, which is funny and gives me a better sense of the tone. Looks like another quirky, subtle performance from Aniston (like what I enjoyed about her in The Good Girl) and Zahn is subdued but no less hilarious. The movie follows a traveling art saleswoman and the hotel manager who ~~stalks her~~ has a crush on her. In this clip we see Aniston's character encouraging Zahn's character to touch her butt. Yes, that is what I said. To see for yourself,

Towelhead: Sad, Disturbing, Just Like the Book

BuzzSugar — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:30:33 -0700

There's been some controversy and outrage surrounding Alan Ball's adaptation of Alicia Erian's novel Towelhead, which I might understand more if I hadn’t read the original work. People are calling the film "abhorrent," "ethically reprehensible and irresponsible," and "gratuitously offensive." And yet, this isn't really Ball’s fault. His adaptation is completely faithful to the novel — I don’t think there’s even one line of dialogue or one bit of action that isn’t in the book — so why wasn't there this reaction to the novel?

The story is shocking and disturbing. It’s a coming-of-age tale focusing on a young woman (Jasira, played poignantly by Summer Bishil in the film) who is half-Lebanese and half-white, living in a largely white Texas community with a strict father and a leery older male neighbor. Everything Jasira does (from using tampons to dating a black boy) seems to anger her father and disappoint her mother (played by Maria Bello). So, Jasira confuses the attention she gets from her leery neighbor (Aaron Eckhart) with a kind of true affection, which he easily exploits. Jasira's young sense of self and her burgeoning understanding of sexuality get all mixed up with abuse and humiliation and — occasionally — pleasure. This is just the tip-top of the iceberg, so

Families Are Kooky! Previews for Smother and Easy Virtue

BuzzSugar — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 10:34:25 -0700

These two movies might take place in completely different countries and time periods, but the Monster-in-Law/Meet the Parents/isn't-family-wacky overtones are the same. If there's anything to take away from the trailers for Smother and Easy Virtue it's "beware the in-laws!"

We've been keeping an eye on Easy Virtue for a while now, seeing as it's Jessica Biel's (as a bright blonde?) first big leading lady role in a comedy — a British comedy that takes place in the 1920s, no less. The movie, based on Noel Coward's play, follows an American divorcee, Larita (Biel), who travels to England to meet her new in-laws, having spontaneously married a young Englishman (Ben Barnes). Unfortunately, Larita's new mother-in-law is not too fond of Americans, and regards Larita specifically as a woman of "easy virtue." No U.S. release date yet, but Easy Virtue opens in the UK Nov. 7.

Coming back to present day, the trailer for Smother makes me laugh. To find out why,

Ghost Town: Easygoing and Sweet

BuzzSugar — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 06:30:22 -0700

One of the things I like best about Ghost Town is that it doesn't ask anything of you. There's no brain power required, though it's not insultingly stupid or empty. It's not hysterically funny, but it's also not crude or painfully immature. For my money, it's certainly the most easygoing — easy to enjoy, easy to forget afterward — of all the movies out in theaters right now.

It's hard to categorize this movie, since it's not a romantic comedy, necessarily. There's not a lot of romance, and while there is comedy, it's often bittersweet, due to all the dead people. Ricky Gervais plays dentist Bertram Pincus, an ornery, solitary man who comes out of a medical procedure to discover that he died briefly during it. His momentary death gives him the ability to see people who have died but who are still hanging out on Earth because they have unfinished business. And now they implore Bertram to finish it for them. One such restless soul is Frank (Greg Kinnear) who needs Bertram to prevent Frank's widow, Gwen (Tea Leoni), from remarrying. The ghosts torment Bertram until he agrees to Frank's request, but as he goes about breaking up Gwen and her fiance, Bertram starts to fall for Gwen. To find out my take on it all,

Love It or Leave It: Alicia Keys & Jack White's Bond Song

BuzzSugar — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:30:04 -0700

The idea of a Jack White (of White Stripes) and Alicia Keys collaboration for the next James Bond theme song sounded like it could be awesome, or maybe disastrous. Now we can take a listen to "Another Way to Die" and find out what we're in for when Quantum of Solace comes at us Nov. 14.I've listened to the song a few times now, and I think I like it. But as a Bond theme song? I'm not sure. . . Take "Another Way to Die" for a spin and tell me what you think. Another Way To Die (Feat. Jack White) - Alicia KeysSource and source

Love It or Leave It: Alicia Keys & Jack White's Bond Song

Love it — It's dangerous and dramatic, perfect for Bond.

Leave it — I just don't like it, especially for a Bond movie.

Other (tell us below)

Movie Preview: Synecdoche, New York

BuzzSugar — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 11:30:08 -0700

Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut, Synecdoche, New York, has been generating positive buzz ever since it premiered at Cannes this year. Time Magazine calls it "A miracle movie," while Variety claims it is "a wildly ambitious and gravely serious contemplation of life. The picture exerts power and artistic mystery." If this new trailer is any indication, I am starting to see what all the fuss is about.

Philip Seymour Hoffman leads a hugely talented cast (including Michelle Williams, Samantha Morton, Catherine Keener, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Hope Davis and many more) in this story in which "[a] theater director (Hoffman) struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he attempts to create a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse as part of his new play."

Synecdoche, New York will start with a limited release on Oct. 24. To check out the trailer,

Watch, Pass, or Rent: Ghost Town

BuzzSugar — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 08:30:37 -0700

I recently came to the realization that my version of the Do, Dump, or Marry? game would be to ask if you would watch a movie in the theater, pass it over altogether, or rent it in the future. And TV-wise, would you watch a show in real time, pass altogether, or TiVo it? So, let's give this a shot with the upcoming comedy starring Ricky Gervais: Ghost Town.On the one hand, any fan of Ricky Gervais will probably see this in the theater. Then again, it's sort of a mild-looking comedy that could maybe just go on the Netflix queue in a few months. Or, perhaps you have zero interest at all.
Let's put it to a vote: Watch, pass, or rent?Poster art courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Watch, Pass, or Rent: Ghost Town

Watch

Pass

Rent

Name That Movie!

BuzzSugar — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 06:30:16 -0700

If you can correctly name the title of the movie this Name That Movie image is from, you win points!

Buzz Brainteaser

BuzzSugar — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 04:30:33 -0700

Welcome to Buzz Brainteaser, the trivia feature on BuzzSugar! Every weekday I'll test your knowledge about TV shows, music, and movies. If you enter in the correct answer, you win points! Name the movie from which this quote is taken:
"Rock stars have kidnapped my son!"