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Fantastic Mr. Fox: Lives Up to Its Title

BuzzSugar — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:30:00 -0800

For the past five years, Wes Anderson's wide fan base has been waiting for his first fully animated film. Would his adaption of Roald Dahl's children's book, Fantastic Mr. Fox appease the same crowd that holds Bottle Rocket and The Royal Tenenbaums near and dear to their hearts? The answer is an emphatic yes, and the best news is that you don't even have to enjoy Anderson's other work to fall in love with this film.

The story follows the wily Mr. Fox, a professional robber turned family man (er, fox) who just isn't satisfied with his quiet life working as a newspaper columnist. Even a move to prime real estate isn't enough to satiate his appetite for a little trouble making, and Mr. Fox (or "Foxy" as his friends call him) decides to take on the biggest adventure of his life. That's just the tip of the iceberg though, so read more.

Mr. Fox isn't your average wild animal; in fact he's just the opposite. He lives a civilized life with his wife Felicity (Meryl Streep) and 12-year-old son, Ash, making an honest living as a newspaper columnist. Like a kid who can't sit still, Mr. Fox has trouble curbing his desires to rebel and go back to his life stealing squab and running into trouble. Against his wife's wishes, Mr. Fox convinces his dim-witted but trusty sidekick Kylie (Wally Wolodarski) to take on one last hurrah. The crime? Ripping off the three biggest (and meanest) farmers around - Boggis, Bunce and Bean. When Mr. Fox starts an all-out war, he is forced to join forces with his family, friends, and neighbors - and that's where the fun begins.

The film's brilliance lies in the fact that Fantastic Mr. Fox is a movie for grown-ups disguised as a kiddie flick. Even with Anderson's name stamped all over it, there's no denying the furry animals dressed as humans. The animation makes the plot play out like a story book come to life; we're taken deep into the fox hole and beyond in a world that looks like a dollhouse made for fuzzy creatures. Kids will love the adventure and the colors, but the witty dialogue and quirky characters are made for the grown-ups.

The movie features a crew of lovable characters who deliver hilarious one-liners when they aren't breaking into impromptu dances. There's nothing new about a movie featuring animals acting like humans, but the actors make the movie the gem that it is. Jason Schwartzman playing a crabby 12-year-old but using his regular deep voice is genius. Clooney and Bill Murray (as badger, Mr. Fox's lawyer) bantering back and forth but replacing swears with the word "cuss" never gets old (as in "This place is a cluster cuss" and "What the cuss is wrong with you?").

Rare is the animated film with this much wit, cleverness, and chemistry between characters, but Fantastic Mr. Fox hits it right on the head. Score one more for Mr. Anderson.

(Don't forget that if you see a movie that you'd like to review, you can post your write-up in the Movie Review Group in Community - I may even post it here on the site!)

Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin Will Cohost The Oscars!

PopSugarUK — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:02:45 -0800

The Oscars hosts have finally been announced, and they certainly don't disappoint - Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin will be cohosting the ceremony! The two have worked together several times, including in a 2006 Saturday Night Live sketch, an episode of 30 Rock which aired in the UK on Comedy Central last week, and are soon to be seen costarring with Meryl Streep in It's Complicated - check out the trailer under the jump. What do you think of the Academy's choice? Let me know!

To see the It's Complicated trailer, just read more.

16 Sexy Silver Foxes

BellaSugar — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 09:00:15 -0700

Recently, I caught a rerun of Paula's Party on the Food Network, where silver-haired TV personality Jay Manuel, of ANTM fame, dished out hair color tips to fellow silver-haired host Paula Deen. If I'm not mistaken, I believe he said he uses a toner by the name of "Silver Lady" to get that distinctive lustrous shade. This got me to thinking about other silvered stars. So, whether you call it white, ultra-platinum, silver, or gray, check out some other celebrities with stunning sterling locks.

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Caption It: Which Caption Should Win?

BuzzSugar — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 08:30:32 -0700

When Ms. Julia Child gets cooking, y'all start talking.

For this week's Caption It challenge, I chose a picture from Julie and Julia. There are a lot of hilarious captions, but here's what the finalists have to say:

"Just 3 easy payments of $19.99 for your very own 'Lean Turkey' exercise DVD guarantees you won't gain a pound this Thanksgiving!"
"Julia Child gives new meaning to the 'chicken dance.'"
"It is a little known fact that Julia Child briefly considered writing a Kama Sutra for poultry book."
"I love cooking THIS much!"
"Y-M-C-A!"

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures

Movie Preview: Streep, Martin, and Baldwin in It's Complicated

BuzzSugar — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:30:40 -0700

Though I truly love Father of the Bride and Baby Boom, I'm starting to think that the projects coming from writer/director Nancy Meyers in these later years of her career (like Something's Gotta Give) are only as strong as her casts. And even then, the actors can only do so much. This latest movie from Meyers, It's Complicated, looks cute enough, if a little bland, and it seems to benefit tremendously from the lovable Meryl Streep in the lead role.

Streep plays a divorced woman who starts to have feelings for her remarried exhusband (Alec Baldwin) just as a sweet single man (Steve Martin) takes a shine to her. It's perhaps an ordinary love triangle rom-com, but I like that it features older characters who have already gone through heartache and divorce. Still, I hope the movie in its entirety is more interesting than the trailer makes it seem. My favorite part includes Streep and Martin's characters, um, getting a little silly.

The movie hits theaters Dec. 25. To check out the trailer, read more.

Heidi's Playboy Cover, The SYTYCD Winner Talks College, and Regis Returns to Millionaire!

PopSugarTV — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 13:12:38 -0700

Heidi Montag promotes her Playboy cover on the G.I. Joe red carpet, the So You Think You Can Dance winner chooses college over career for now, and a Sex and the City star tells us filming starts soon!

Yummy Links: From Brian Boitano to Meryl Streep

partysugar — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 07:00:42 -0700

Check out the trailer of Brian Boitano's new Food Network show. - New York Magazine
Possible disguises for Sam Sifton, the New York Times new restaurant critic. - Eat Me Daily
Give classic caprese salad a stone-fruit twist by making it with peaches. - Serious Eats
Bon Appétit has named the nation's best new restaurants. - Bon Appétit
10 of Julia Child's most prolific quotes. - Chow
Learn how to turn a strawberry box and strawberries into a beautiful centerpiece. - Design*Sponge
5 reasons that explain why Meryl Streep played Julia Child perfectly. - The Hungry Beast

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Julie and Julia: One Amazing Story . . . and Another One

BuzzSugar — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 05:45:29 -0700

Julie and Julia markets itself as being based on "two true stories": one of Julie Powell, a secretary-turned-blogger who endeavors to cook every recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year; the other of Child herself, also a secretary-turned-writer and chef who brought French recipes to American cooks. But what happens if one of the two true stories just doesn't deserve equal time?

The trouble with Julie and Julia is, quite simply, that it would be a better as just Julia. Not that I blame anyone for trying to merge these two lives: Powell's original blog and book, which combines her story and Julia's, seem like good fodder for a big-screen adaptation. If anything, the trouble is more a tribute to Meryl Streep, whose big, boisterous Julia Child sweeps onto the screen and demolishes any other story that might try to rise around her. Once you meet her delightful Julia, it's hardly surprising that Julie's story pales in comparison.

Julie and Julia flashes back and forth through time, splitting its time between Julie's 2002 life in a tiny New York apartment and Julia's Parisian life in the late 1940s and early '50s, where a passion for French food led her to learn to cook. To be fair to writer/director Nora Ephron, who put the stories together for film, Julie and Julia's lives do have plenty of parallels: Both are (or have been) secretaries looking for something more to do. Both love food and find solace in cooking. And both are shown in the film pre-fame - before Julia became a household name, before a New York Times story helped turn Julie's blog from a side project into a published book. But that's about where the similarities end. To talk more about it, read more.

It shouldn't be surprising that Streep shines, but I was floored by how much I loved her Julia. Streep herself isn't particularly tall, but as Julia, she takes up the whole screen, towering over her doting husband, Paul (Stanley Tucci). She's dominating and inappropriately loud, but ultimately, she's irresistible. Whether she's whacking away at a lump of dough, gleefully starting a cooking school, or drawing stares from the French when her equally tall and magnetic sister (Jane Lynch, in a brilliant piece of casting) comes to town, she's a joy to watch. She seems to know that any defeat she might suffer - like failing her cooking school final or having her cookbook rejected- is just a speedbump on the way to something bigger. By the end of the film, I wanted to be Julia Child, or at least be her best friend - not necessarily for the cooking (though that would be nice) but for the resilient and loving spirit she brought to life.

The movie's Julie Powell, on the other hand, is harder to love. She's more passive, more concerned with what others think, and more self-deprecating. And more selfish, too - her cooking project nearly ruins her marriage on more than one occasion. Some of the Julie stories work well: her attempts to kill her first lobster or create and eat a disgusting plate of something en gelee get plenty of chuckles. Amy Adams is a good fit for the role, which calls for a tricky blend of vulnerability and anger, and on some level, it's wonderful to see Hollywood embrace a female protagonist who's deeply flawed and deeply stubborn. But she suffers in comparison to Julia, who handles greater obstacles with more grace. In the end, the Julie sequences feel like something to get through so we can hang out with Julia again.

The biggest letdown of Julie and Julia is that we may never get another shot at a glossy, gorgeous, commercial big-screen biopic of Julia Child. From Streep's performance here, I would have gladly bought a ticket to that movie. I'll settle for this one, which certainly has its moments, but that won't stop me from wondering what could have been.

Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures

Amy and Meryl Take Julie and Julia to NYC

PopSugar — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:30:11 -0700

The cast of Julie and Julia moved cross-country for the NYC premiere after hitting the red carpet in LA earlier this week. Meryl Streep went a bit more casual this time while Amy Adams took it up a notch in her floor-length gown. There were a few famous chefs out for the night, as well as Julie Powell who inspired the title character of the film. Both Yum and Buzz had the chance to interview Julie this week - read about her thoughts on the movie here and her relationship with Julia Child here.

To see a lot more photos including Martha Stewart, Rachael Ray and Sam Rockwell, just read more.

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Images include: Amy Adams, Anthony Bourdain, Chris Messina, Gayle King, Jaslene Gonzalez, Julie Powell, Katie Lee Joel, Martha Stewart, Meryl Streep, Patricia Clarkson, Rachael Ray, Sam Rockwell, Ted Allen, Stanley Tucci

The Fantastic Mr Fox - See It or Skip It?

PopSugarUK — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 04:00:00 -0700

Wes Anderson's adaptation of The Fantastic Mr Fox is something that has intrigued me since it was announced, and the trailer has just been released! Known for movies like Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums, Wes's take on the story is filmed in stop motion animation, starring George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray. It comes out on October 23 in the UK and I really like the feel of the trailer. I'd love to know what you think, so let me know - will you see it or skip it?