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What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:30:19 PDT

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 you can also now find the third season of TNT's The Closer on DVD, along with the brutal but stunning Brazilian film City of Men.

Mad Men: Season 1
I'm excited for the release of Mad Men's first season because I've been running around town, preaching to anyone who will listen that they should hurry up and watch it before the second season starts Sunday July 27! The series initially flew under the radar, as it was AMC's first venture into original programming, but it much-deserved attention and credibility by winning multiple Golden Globes.

The series is set in 1960s Manhattan, in the heart and soul of the advertising industry. It follows the trials and tribulations of one Madison Avenue firm's employees who (true fact) named themselves "Mad Men." The attention to detail in this show is impeccable, right down to the coned-bras and smoking in the work place. The series is as wonderful to look at as it is dark, and it doesn't flinch from the politically incorrect behavior of the era, including uncomfortable scenes rife with sexual harassment, racism, and anti-semitism. It may leave your soul a bit shattered and battered at its portrayal of America during this time, but it's so well-executed you'll probably recover fast. Plus, Don Draper is among the dreamiest characters to come along in a while (despite the fact that his behavior is often repugnant).

Special features include cast and crew interviews, a photo gallery, Mad Men music, and commentaries on every episode.

Two more great choices up next so

read more. My Blueberry Nights My Blueberry Nights has a great-looking cast that includes Natalie Portman, Norah Jones, Rachel Weisz and Jude Law. It's the first English-speaking film by Chinese director Wong Kar Wai and while it got an average response from the critics, I'm curious to check it out for myself. Here's how Netflix describes the plot: "Elizabeth (Norah Jones), a restless young woman, travels cross-country working a variety of waitressing jobs and connecting with an odd assortment of characters along the way, including policeman Arnie (David Strathairn), his unfaithful wife, Sue Lynne (Rachel Weisz), and a flighty young gambler (Natalie Portman). But she realizes that her touchstone is Jeremy (Jude Law), the owner of a café she haunted back home in New York." Special features include a making of My Blueberry Nights featurette, and a Q&A with director Wong Kar Wai. Vantage Point I saw Vantage Point and thinking back on it, it strikes me more and more as a fabulous home movie-watching choice. It's a good thriller-mystery with a decent amount of action, and while it feels gimmicky and familiar at points, those weaknesses probably won't matter with an at-home crowd just looking for a fun escape. The cast is top-notch and includes Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Sigourney Weaver and Forest Whitaker playing characters whose destinies collide when the US president is shot in Spain. Special features include titles like "Surveillance Tapes: Outtake," and "An Inside Perspective: Interviews With the Cast & Crew."

Horton Hears A Who Marks Biggest 2008 Box Office Opening So Far

BuzzSugar — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 08:30:00 PDT

Opening to the tune of over $45 million in box office sales this weekend, Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears A Who has nabbed the best opening weekend so far in 2008. The title previously belonged to the January release of Cloverfield which raked in $41 million. Twentieth Century Fox's senior VP of distribution Chris Aronson quipped about Horton's success, "It's a who-mongous opening."

In second place, pulling in way less than Horton's giant pile o' cash was last weekend's holdover, 10,000 B.C. with $16.4 million, followed by Never Back Down, a martial arts drama that took in $8.6 million. College Road Trip was No. 4, with oldie-but-goody Vantage Point rounding out the top five. New release Doomsday did poorer than was expected, coming in at No. 7 with $4.7 million.

This weekend it'll be interesting to see if any of the newbies will be able to knock off Horton's crown: Drillbit Taylor starring Owen Wilson, Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns and the Joshua Jackson thriller Shutter will be the only real competitors.

Image courtesy of 20th Century Fox

Sugar Bits - Sienna Miller and Rhys Ifans May Be Engaged

PopSugar — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 09:32:08 PDT

Sienna Miller is apparently engaged to Rhys Ifans after accepting his third proposal. - The Mirror
10,000 BC took the top spot at the weekend box office, followed by College Road Trip and Vantage Point. - BuzzSugar
After expressing her desire for another child, Kimora Lee Simmons is apparently expecting a baby with her boyfriend, Djimon Hounsou! - Page Six
Helena Christensen and Josh Hartnett have ended their relationship after dating for the past year. - Gatecrasher
Pussycat Doll Carmit Bachar announced that she is leaving the group through a message on the band's website. - The Pussycat Dolls
Lisa Marie Presley is suing a British newspaper that claimed she'd "gained weight like her father Elvis," when, in fact, she's pregnant with her third child. - Reuters
ICYMI, Matt and Luciana Damon are expecting their second child!

Box Office: 10,000 B.C. Has a Mammoth of a Weekend

BuzzSugar — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:30:00 PDT

The lion's share of box office dollars went to director Roland Emmerich's 10,000 B.C. which earned an estimated $35 million. This same weekend last year saw the outrageous success of 300, but while 10,000 B.C.'s opening comes nowhere near the debut weekend of that blockbuster, it still fulfilled studio expectations, Variety reports.

Disney's College Road Trip starring Raven-Simone and Martin Lawrence secured second place, despite poor reviews. Vantage Point and Semi-Pro took the third and fourth spots, respectively. Coming in at No. 5 was the R-rated bank heist thriller The Bank Job, which stars Jason Statham. The Other Boleyn Girl fell three spots this weekend to seventh place behind The Spiderwick Chronicles which was No. 6.

The charming Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day failed to crack the top ten (rounded out by Jumper, Step Up 2 the Street, and Fool's Gold) as it was only playing in limited release. Not an Oscar nominee in sight for the top 10 this week, so it looks like awards season might officially be over.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Sugar Bits - Win a Date With Scarlett Johansson

PopSugar — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 09:32:29 PST

Scarlett Johansson is auctioning two tickets to the red carpet premiere of He's Just Not That Into You on eBay to benefit Oxfam. - eBay
Despite taking in only $15.3 million, Semi-Pro scored the top spot at the weekend box office, followed by Vantage Point and The Spiderwick Chronicles. - BuzzSugar
Rapper The Game has begun serving his 60-day jail sentence for weapons possession, although he'll be kept separate from the general population during his stay. - TMZ
Jamie Lynn Spears was spotted shopping with Britney at an LA baby store, and her purchase of light blue items has prompted speculation that there's another baby boy Spears on the way. - The Scoop
Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony have released the names of their newborn twins: Max and Emme. - UK Popsugar

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Box Office: Semi-Pro Semi-Beats Out Competition

BuzzSugar — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 08:30:00 PST

Despite earning the top spot at the box office, the predictable laughs in Will Ferrell's Semi-Pro only earned $15.3 million over the weekend. This is considered a disappointing sum, especially compared to opening weekends of other Ferrell films like Talladega Nights and Blades of Glory. Variety reports that this underwhelming performance by the basketball comedy may have been due to mediocre reviews and an R-rating.

Vantage Point was only bumped down one spot to No. 2 over the weekend followed by The Spiderwick Chronicles at No. 3. The adaptation of Buzz Book Club's February selection The Other Boleyn Girl took the fourth spot earning an estimated $8.3 million. Penelope starring Reese Witherspoon and Christina Ricci also opened this weekend coming in at No. 8 behind Jumper, Step Up 2 The Streets, and Fool's Gold.

Filling out the top ten were Oscar-nominated films No Country for Old Men and Juno.

Photo courtesy of New Line Cinema

Sugar Bits - Lindsay Lohan Cleans Up at the Razzie Awards

PopSugar — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 09:30:17 PST

Lindsay Lohan and her movie I Know Who Killed Me set a new record at the Razzies, walking away with eight awards. Lindsay even won two Worst Actress trophies because she played a character suffering from a split personality disorder. At least she didn't go empty-handed over the weekend! - BuzzSugar
Brad and Angelina made headlines at the Independent Spirit Awards but skipped the pre-Oscar party they were set to host alongside Jennifer Aniston. It's fun to speculate but it's also old news . . . until the next fake showdown headline, we're moving on. - Page Six
Vantage Point took the top spot at the weekend box office, followed by Jumper and The Spiderwick Chronicles. Wonder if next week audiences will be rushing to see No Country for Old Men? - BuzzSugar
Alicia Keys has postponed two UK tour dates because she has laryngitis. Hopefully she gets well soon! - AP
Amy Winehouse apparently trashed her hotel room before the Brit Awards last week, leaving spilled alcohol and cigarette ash all over the floor. Sounds like more of the same from the troubled singer. - Page Six

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Box Office: Vantage Point Thrills Audiences

BuzzSugar — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 07:30:00 PST

The star-studded cast of Vantage Point enjoyed the No. 1 spot at the box office this weekend earning an estimated $24 million. The biggest weekend of the year for Hollywood also helped Academy Award-nominated films, giving movies like No Country For Old Men a significant boost at the box office, Variety reports.

Jumper came in at No. 2, followed by The Spiderwick Chronicles in the third spot. The silly-funny Be Kind Rewind came in at No. 7 followed by Juno, which took in another $4.1 million this weekend. Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins slid in at No. 9 and There Will Be Blood rounded out the top 10.

Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures

Vantage Point: A Pretty Solid Action-Mystery

BuzzSugar — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:29:56 PST

Here's what I liked about Vantage Point: It's a gradually unfolding thriller-mystery with elements of an action movie thrown in. Here's what I don't like about Vantage Point: While it benefits from being both thriller-mystery and action flick, it also falls into the same traps as many other movies in these genres. In trying to keep our attention, the film employs this tactic of repeatedly winding back the clock to show what's happening in every character's story in a certain time span. But while this is neat the first few times, it becomes laughable after a while - literally, laughable. The audience I was with started to anticipate the rewind and would roar with laughter every time it happened. As an action film, there's a lot of gunfire and bombing and people betraying other people by killing them, all of which is fine. But then there's an impossibly long and exhausting car chase that makes this hour-and-a-half movie feel twice as long.

Regardless of those minor criticisms, however, Vantage Point is still one of the finer movies like this to come out in a long time. The action centers around a speech the President is supposed to make in Salamanca, Spain, yet everything goes awry when two shots ring out across the square and the President is struck down. Soon after, two bombs explode in the city. Rewinding the clock several times allows us to follow many different points of view and piece together the full picture of what went down. That's just the basic outline of this tense, twisty tale, though, so

read more. There's a wide range of characters to follow, centering mostly on a shaky Secret Service man, Thomas Barnes (Dennis Quaid) who took a bullet for the President a year ago and is on this job to try and prove that he's back to normal. There's the American news crew (led by a sharp Sigourney Weaver) that captures important footage while covering the speech. There's a Spanish couple: a policeman and his shady girlfriend. There's the sweet, friendly American tourist (Forest Whitaker, who I adore more every time I see him in a role) using his handheld camera to film everything around him - including key moments in the day's events. Every story, rewound to the same point in time, provides more clues to who's out to get the President - and who's getting in the way. And in the middle of it all is a car chase scene that seems to last forever. It has the same tone and similar plot points as the show 24, which is compelling for fans of 24, though also leaves no real reason to see this movie on the big screen. Still, I found myself lost in this mystery, anxious to figure out how each of these storylines intersects with the others. I rooted for some characters and wanted to boo others. The dialogue is sometimes ridiculous, and despite the gasp-inducing twists and turns, the ending is so predictable it elicited hearty laughter from the audience. The Bourne Ultimatum it isn't, but it's much more successful than many movies that try to do similar things. Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures

Vantage Points to NYC

PopSugar — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:30:41 PST

After hitting up a few cities abroad, the boys of Vantage Point were back stateside at the New York premiere last night. The boys look cute all suited up, although they seem a little bit tired of being interviewed on the red carpet - check out the video after the jump. The movie hits theaters tomorrow, but we'll wait for Buzz's full review before running out to buy tickets. Hopefully now it's time for Matthew to head back to Hawaii and get to work on the rest of the season of Lost. Luckily, we've still got a new episode to look forward to tonight - fingers crossed it will be a good follow up to last week's dramatic ending.

For more pics and a video of the cast talking about the film, just read more

View 21 Photos ›

Images include: Forest Whitaker, Sigourney Weaver, Dennis Quaid, Keisha Whitaker, Pete Travis, Matthew Fox, Kimberley Buffington, Zoe Saldana, Margherita Ronchi, Eduardo Noriega Source