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Bad Lieutenant: Good Cop Gone Nuts

BuzzSugar — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:30:49 -0800

Nicolas Cage has said, "There's a very fine line between Method actor and schizophrenic." In Werner Herzog's Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, he teeters that line maniacally, with an ever-increasing slur and crooked swagger. Cage plays Terence McDonagh, a detective in post-Katrina New Orleans investigating a drug-related murder and his personal threshold for cocaine and heroin.

The first news of Bad Lieutenant was puzzling: famously extreme director Werner Herzog re-imagining a 1992 cult movie, also called Bad Lieutenant, but shifting the action to New Orleans and casting Nic Cage in the Harvey Keitel role opposite his Ghost Rider costar Eva Mendes. Weird.

But in fact, Bad Lieutenant is Herzog's second surprisingly accessible movie in as many years, following 2007's Rescue Dawn. And Cage is brilliant in a role seemingly made for him, so read more.

The noirish, pulpy, desperate, and often hilarious film opens with a good deed: McDonagh dives into a Katrina-flooded jail cell to save a prisoner's life, in the process injuring his back and subsequently getting hooked on Vicodin and then far harder drugs.

As a degenerate cop in a washed-out city, Cage makes Denzel Washington's Training Day villain look like a Boy Scout. He slithers through the streets, confiscating drugs to snort with his prostitute girlfriend (Mendes), hooking up with a drug kingpin played by Alvin "Xzibit" Joiner, and fending off a rising tide of self-created trouble. "Being courteous is really getting in the way of my progress," he croaks before one of his more disturbing moral lapses.

In post-Katrina New Orleans, Herzog has found the perfect setting. He never lets the city look pretty or even charmingly decayed, and he populates it with iguanas and alligators and snakes and fish. At every turn, McDonagh is confronted by cold-blooded animals, as he careens between the call of duty and the cold-blooded instinct of his addiction. It's impossible to ignore the reptilian symbolism, and the effect is perfectly bizarre. Despite its darkest moments, Bad Lieutenant is a remarkably good trip.

Photos Courtesy First Look Studios

New Moon: Better Than Twilight

BuzzSugar — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:45:00 -0800

Let's be honest: for most of you, it doesn't matter what I - or any critics for that matter - have to say about New Moon, the incredibly anticipated sequel to last year's Twilight. The film started breaking box office records before it was even released, and audiences will flock to the theaters for weeks to come. On the plus side, a ticket to New Moon is a win even if you're not a Twihard - provided that you know what you're getting into.

New Moon is not incredibly acted, and it doesn't boast impressive dialogue or larger-than-life special effects. But it's not trying to be the Best Picture of the Year, so I can only critique it for what it is: a fantasy movie about a love triangle between a werewolf, a vampire, and a teenage girl. To see what I mean, just read more.

The movie picks up a few months after where Twilight left off. Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) is blissfully in love but she can't fight her insecurities about growing older than her perpetually seventeen vampire boyfriend Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). All Bella wants for her eighteenth birthday is for Edward to change her into a bloodsucker, but a close call with his brother drives Edward to break up with Bella and leave town instead.

The drama following Bella's abandonment is everything we remember from high school heartbreak, from Bella's night terrors to the glazed over look in her eye. The anguish and pain are easily seen on Stewart's face, and her innermost thoughts are revealed to the audience through letters to Edward's sister Alice that will never be sent. After months of moping, Bella finally starts to open up to Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), a family friend. As Bella struggles to find hope in a life without Edward, her friendship is complicated by Jacob's romantic feelings for Bella and made worse when Jacob discovers that he's a werewolf (and an enemy to all vampires).

The surprise of the movie is Lautner's performance. We've seen and heard about those muscles countless times before, but he also packs enough charm and charisma into his Jacob that you truly see him as more than just Bella's unrelenting admirer / best friend. He presents himself as a viable suitor for Bella's heart, and it's hard not to root for him against Robert Pattinson's wooden (albeit handsome) Edward. Stewart and Pattinson have chemistry to spare in Twilight, but in New Moon, Bella's relationship with Jacob seems hopeful and comfortable while her scenes with Edward are mostly awkward and frankly not as much fun to watch.

The movie belongs to Stewart and Lautner, but their melodrama is balanced out by the characters who pad out the cast. Yes, we meet the wolf pack and the Volturi, but for the most part the Forks residents and beyond make for some much-needed comic relief. The downside is that while it's funnier than what you'd expect, not all of the laughs are intentional (a scene where Jacob's temper rivals that of The Incredible Hulk comes to mind).

It doesn't take more than a grain of salt to appreciate New Moon for what it is - a film that stays true to its origin and delivers the necessary elements to ensure that you'll be back when the next installment of the franchise comes our way.

Photos courtesy of Summit Entertainment

Rachel Bilson Spills on HIMYM, Weekend Movie Reviews, and Charlize and Piven Talk About Matt

Molly — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:45:00 -0700

It's time for the Weekend Edition of PopSugar Rush! We've got exclusive video of Charlize Theron and Jeremy Piven talking Damon, and David Arquette talking Coco last night. Also, Rachel Bilson chats about HIMYM and Kristen Bell dishes about charity looking super cute. Add in some weekend movie reviews of Amelia, Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant and more! Watch the PopSugar Rush Weekend Edition now!

Rachel Bilson Spills on HIMYM, Weekend Movie Reviews and Charlize and Piven Talk About Matt

Molly — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:29:14 -0700

It's time for the Weekend Edition of PopSugar Rush! We've got exclusive video of Charlize Theron, Jeremy Piven talking Damon and David Arquette talking Coco last night. Also, Rachel Bilson chats about HIMYM and Kristen Bell dishes about charity looking super cute. Add in some weekend movie reviews of Amelia, Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant and more! Watch the PopSugar Rush Weekend Edition now!

Couples Retreat: Not Exactly a Relaxing Getaway

BuzzSugar — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:30:11 -0700

Everyone loves a vacation, right? Beautiful scenery, tropical drinks, fun in the sun. Add a few of your closest friends and you could have the trip of a lifetime - or a romantic getaway gone horribly awry.

To be fair, the four pairs in Couples Retreat don't realize what they're agreeing to when they head to Eden East, a swanky resort on a remote island. But once the relationship boot camp begins, the friendships quickly break down, and it's often more depressing than hilarious. To see what I mean, just read more.

The movie's couplings range in age, family size, and personality, with Vince Vaughn and Malin Akerman at the epicenter. As Dave and Ronnie, they are perhaps the most "normal" of the bunch. Between Dave's demanding job making video games (hello, Guitar Hero product placement) and raising two young sons, Dave and Ronnie don't even realize their problems until they are forced into couples skill-building. Vaughn is his typical wise-cracking character, but a touch of sweetness makes his on-screen relationship with Akerman the most enjoyable to watch. You can actually believe that they love each other and aren't using the trip as a band-aid for a bullet hole.

Jason and Cynthia (played by Jason Bateman and Kristen Bell), on the other hand, are a lot harder to relate to as two type-A personalities with an undying love for organization and PowerPoint presentations. Jason and Cynthia present the idea of the group vacation to their friends as a last-ditch effort to save their marriage (promising that the therapy sessions are optional, of course). Bell is her typical adorable self, but Bateman is insufferable. His character is painfully meticulous and overbearing, making the audience feel just as suffocated as Cynthia does.

Joey (Jon Favreau) and Lucy (Kristin Davis) represent the worst of the worst: the couple that's been together so long that they don't even notice each other anymore. The high school sweethearts take the trip not as an opportunity to re-kindle the flame, but to chase skirts (or in this case, bikini bottoms) and muscular yoga instructors. Favreau gets a few laughs with his quest to get to Eden West, the "singles" side of the island, but age-wise, Davis doesn't quite fit in with Bell and Ackerman. It's also hard to laugh at characters that embody one of the biggest fears for young couples, and their ice-cold relationship is almost too realistic to scoff at.

Then there's Shane (Faizon Love), who's newly separated from the wife he still loves, but brings along his 20-year-old girlfriend for the ride instead. As Trudy, Kali Hawk steals a lot of the laughs as she yearns to drink and party all night long while her boyfriend would rather take a nap. One joke that never gets old: Trudy's insistence on calling Shane "Daddy" throughout the entire film.

With such a strong headline cast, it's disappointing that the supporting actors steal the show. I laughed the hardest at Dave and Ronnie's adorable boys (who get very little screen time) and at the motley crew of therapists and other wacky workers at the resort dedicated to making this the trip from hell.

At the end of it all, you'll get a few laughs along with some very beautiful imagery, but you might just want to put your money toward your own vacation instead.

Photos courtesy of Universal Pictures

Body of Lies: Tense in Some Parts, Tedious in Others

BuzzSugar — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:30:41 -0700

Body of Lies has slipped on and off my radar over the past couple of months. It's hard to ignore because it's Ridley Scott working with Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe, and yet the previews haven't looked all that original. But I went anyway, hoping to be entertained and thinking that if it turned out to be thought-provoking as well, all the better.

The thing is, this movie doesn't do more than it has to in terms of both entertainment and thought-provocation. There's a tedious quality to it that, despite some good action scenes and funny lines, is hard to shake. That said, I appreciate that Scott aims to give us a slightly different, more psychological view of life on the ground for American operatives in the Middle East. But to see why I'm a bit torn about this movie, read more.

DiCaprio (sporting some icky facial hair and a strange accent) plays Roger Ferris, a CIA agent operating in the Middle East on the hunt for an elusive Bin Laden-type mastermind named Al-Saleem. He's only ever a cell phone call away from his boss, Ed Hoffman (Crowe), who runs the show from the comfort of his suburban home in the Washington DC area and some kind of mission control room where he can view Ferris's whereabouts via satellite. The whole thing has a Big Brother feel to it while demonstrating how easy it is for people (like the calculating Hoffman) to detach from the messy moral issues that take place on the ground.

Both characters come to embody the different aspects of a war of this nature: Crowe's paunchy Hoffman pragmatically give orders through a lazy Southern accent while stuffing his face with food. Meanwhile, DiCaprio's Ferris blends into the Arab world and earns their trust, only to pick shrapnel out of his skin when things go awry due to the impatience of his boss. It's kind of a funny thing watching Crowe peer over his glasses in comfy armchairs while DiCaprio rolls around from one explosion to the next the whole movie. In this world, catching terrorists is a mad scramble, with agents literally rummaging through the post-bombing rubble looking for evidence and information. There's nothing particularly organized or methodical about it until they partner with the most interesting character in the movie, Hani, the head of Jordanian intelligence.

The introduction of Hani, played beautifully by the handsome Mark Strong, is where things get good as he warns the Americans not to lie to him and to let him do his job. Of course, Hoffman decides they need results more quickly and he pressures young Ferris to embark on a risky scheme behind Hani's back. Unfortunately, this all happens during the last third of the movie, and up until this plot-thickening it's all rather pointless and predictable, not to mention boring.

Though torture is used and both lead characters give monologues about winning the war on terror, the movie's focus has less to do with any kind of political statement and more to do with use and abuse of relationships as mere means to an end (in this case capturing jihadists). It fails to bring to the table in a new and entertaining way what we already know about spies: no one is to be trusted, human life is disposable, and technology only complicates matters. As a result, Body of Lies has some bright spots of action and intrigue sprinkled throughout an otherwise forgettable entry into the political thriller genre.

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

The Rocker: Major Points For Trying

BuzzSugar — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 05:45:22 -0700

There is this undeniable, crazy-intense talent that I think Rainn Wilson has yet to unleash on us, that goes beyond his hilarious and iconic portrayal of Dwight Schrute on The Office. Thanks to smaller roles that he's had, including his creepy character on Six Feet Under, I've had faith that Wilson is not a one-note actor, and that he possesses the tools to take part in a variety of genres. So, I was looking forward to his first time out as a comedic lead in The Rocker. And while the movie is far from perfect and not the laugh-riot that will launch him into major stardom, it's an excellent start.

What strikes me most about this movie is how good-natured it is underneath its gimmicky concept. If I had some teenagers to entertain this weekend, this is the kind of movie I'd love to watch with them. It's hard not to compare the overall spirit of this funny high school tale with that of other recent Summer comedies, and the biggest difference to me is that it has a warm and fuzzy center (despite the groin pain it causes the main character).

To see what I mean by "groin pain" and why I think The Rocker is a pleasant addition to this Summer's comedies, read more.

The Rocker is a feel-good movie, and I think some people might take that as code for lame. But I was actually relieved to leave a comedy in an emotional space that was, well, good. The movie opens in the '80s at a concert where the heavy metal band Vesuvius is bringing down the house. Robert "Fish" Fishman (Wilson) is the drummer whose performance high is quickly killed when the band's label insists that they replace him. His buddies in the band, including lead singer Lex (played by the always hilarious Will Arnett in giant hair and eyeliner) and bassist Trash (Bradley Cooper doing an amazing Slash impression) don't bat an eye before kicking Fish out and then, to Fish's dismay, rocket to mega-stardom.

Years later, the out-of-work Fish is persuaded to join his nephew Matt's high school band, and it's not exactly smooth sailing. Fish is middle-aged, unhinged, and more interested in being "rock stars" than his teen bandmates. As the movie progresses, Fish actually helps the band make a name for itself, and though he is an unlikely source of wisdom, Fish ends up coming to terms with his own failures and immaturities by helping his bandmates through their teenage issues.

Here's the bad news: there is often way too much time that goes by without a good laugh. But when they do score one, it's genuinely funny. Christina Applegate is especially believable as a single mom, and despite the fact that Fish is such a spaz, I was cheering for these two to get together. Fish's little heart-to-hearts with the kids are mostly contrived, but all the actors are so freaking likable it's hard not to forgive the script a little. Wilson also takes one for the team and endures a steady stream of physical assaults - including many hits to the groin - and it's funny about two-thirds of the time, I'd estimate.

Most of all, however, I realized about three-fourths of the way through The Rocker that there had been zero blow job jokes. No - seriously. And then I noted that no one had said "mangina," not once. And while those kinds of jokes have their place and have made us all chuckle at some point, I have to say it was refreshing to see a whole other group of comedians with a whole new set of jokes attempting to make us laugh.

I can't give this movie a whole lot of stars, but I genuinely appreciate the effort and left the theater with a smile.

Photos courtesy of 20th Century Fox

Bottle Shock: Intriguing Story Muddled by a Fruity Aftertaste

BuzzSugar — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 15:00:11 -0700

I live near Napa Valley and I enjoy wine a great deal, so when I first heard about a new little movie called Bottle Shock all about the historical legitimization of California wine, I was intrigued. I may have taken for granted the fact that Napa hasn't always been a world-renowned winemaking region, and that at one point it was viewed as nothing more than a bunch of back-water country hicks noodling around with grapes. Which is why I was disappointed to not love this sincere attempt to bring this story to life on the screen. I had such high hopes, but in the end the movie spends too much time on other stuff and not enough on the part that's the most interesting.

Invariably, this tale of Napa's beginnings will be compared to another indie film about California wine, Sideways, and though the subject matter may be similar, it's not an accurate pairing. Where Sideways uses wine country as a setting in which to explore the lives of four intriguing characters, Bottle Shock is a saccharine mix of slapstick comedy, melodrama, and sweeping shots of California's golden hills. This director practically fetishizes the beauty of the state's coast, and at times the movie feels more like a tourist ad than anything else. I wish the filmmakers had relied on the interesting true story for a dramatic arc rather than tossing in several tedious subplots, including an emotionally weightless father-son drama and a mind-numbing love triangle. To see why, read more.

In 1976 a British wine shop owner named Steven Spurrier (Alan Rickman) and his American neighbor Maurine (played wonderfully by Dennis Farina) come up with the idea of a blind tasting that would pit France's best winemakers against the renegades in America, intending to prove that great wine could only be made in France. Surrier travels to California and makes his way from one roadside tasting to another, carefully noting which regions are best. At the same time, Jim Barrett (Bill Pullman) and his free-spirited, slacker son Bo (Chris Pine) are attempting to create a perfect chardonnay at their winery, Chateau Montelena. Bo sees Surrier's arrival as a chance to prove to his dad that he can make something happen for the winery. Meanwhile one of the Barrett's employees, Gustavo Brambila (Freddy Rodríguez), is making his own wine on the side and frequently butts heads with Jim.

Oh, and then a blond bombshell "intern" shows up at the Chateau and proceeds to befriend and bed both young men amidst winery duties, which include wearing sexy outfits and hosing off a barrel while the water runs down her body, not unlike a Playboy fantasy, while the dirty old men of the winery gawk.

There's a lot of time spent on these characters but it all falls flat because tonally their stories don't jive with what's going on over in Alan Rickman's movie. While they run around an Anthropology catalogue, delivering dramatic monologues about feeling wine in your blood, Alan's tasting Kentucky Friend Chicken for the first time and it's hysterical. Eventually we get to the climax of the film - the industry-changing wine tasting in France - but by that time I was pretty much over it and couldn't care less about the fate of these people.

The sad thing about this movie is that it's well-intentioned and wants to do justice to the stories of these real-life people. The saving grace, predictably, is Alan Rickman and there isn't a single scene he's in that doesn't sparkle with wry humor and simple elegance. But alas, his scenes are too few, and when they end we're swept away via endless aerial shots of vineyards to the dopey plotlines of the other characters.

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Pineapple Express: More Than Just a Stoner Movie

BuzzSugar — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:30:48 -0700

How much you enjoy Pineapple Express may depend more on how charmed you are by the chemistry between James Franco and Seth Rogen and less on how funny you find pot jokes. Don't get me wrong, marijuana jokes abound in this comedy written by Rogen and his frequent collaborator Evan Goldberg, and they are funny. But I was surprised by how much more Pineapple Express falls into the category of buddy movies like Lethal Weapon, rather than the stoner category like Half Baked. I guess I'll put it this way: You don't have to be high to be entertained by this.

I've been feeling fatigued by some of cinema's leading funny men these days who keep pumping out the same old comedies left and right, and Rogen's shtick is definitely pushing it for me. But I was pleasantly surprised to see how well he plays the straight man (no pun intended) to Franco's snuggly drug dealer. They strike a hilariously delightful chemistry together, which I kind of didn't want to end. But there's more going on here besides the two lead actors. To see why I think the director of this movie was a cool choice and which scene-stealer I think earns himself a place in the Apatow kingdom, read more.

The term "Pineapple Express" is what the drug dealers in the movie have named the most powerful pot in all the world (Franco's character thinks this pot is so precious that every time he smokes it he feels like he's killing a unicorn). That's just a funny little side note, though, because how strong the pot is has nothing to do with how much trouble the two main characters get themselves into. Rogen plays Dale Denton, a childish loser in his twenties whose job consists of creatively hunting people down to serve them legal documents, like subpoenas. He's also dating a high-school girl and is threatened by the cooler, younger boys at her school.

Dale's dealer is Saul Silver (Franco), a dim but good-natured guy who spends most days in his pajamas, and cares deeply for his "bubby" (Yiddish for grandmother). He charms Dale into hanging around with him during their transactions, which annoys Dale because he just wants to pick up his marijuana and skidaddle. It's kind of like the pothead's version of making small talk on the sidewalk: a little awkward, forced, not something you look forward to.

After a bonding session, Dale goes to serve some papers, but then happens to witness a murder committed by the drug lord who supplies Saul. This is when the entire movie becomes as funny as it is gruesomely violent, not to mention action packed (I never thought I'd say that about a Judd Apatow production, much less a Seth Rogen movie). People are dismembered, characters you care about are brutally shot, etc. Right when you're dying of laughter because of Franco's facial expression, someone actually gets a bullet in the stomach, or head, or ear and you know, it's a bit of buzz kill. Also, I just have to mention Saul's middleman supplier Red, played by Danny R. McBride because this actor steals every scene he's in, including a fight scene with Rogen and Franco that is one for the books.

Director David Gordon Green is known mostly to film geeks and art house fans for his smaller, poetic films (All the Real Girls, Snow Angels) so it's kind of amazing to see weird little scenes of his scattered throughout the film. These scenes are practically meditative, even though they basically feature just a couple stoners twirling around by a stream. Those strange and funny touches on this movie have endeared it to me. All in all it's a funny - if brutally violent - Summer comedy experience.

A Chat With My Boyfriend About The Mummy

BuzzSugar — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 06:30:38 -0700

Full disclosure: I've never paid too-too much attention to these Mummy movies starring Brendan Fraser, but I know they're meant to be fun action-adventures that we shouldn't take too seriously. For this third installment, I thought it would be a good idea to take my manfriend along with me to see The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Sometimes instead of spending brain power on a review of a movie like this, it's more helpful to just talk it out with someone who's more likely than I am to passingly enjoy this kind of Summer action flick.

But as generous as my boyfriend can be about action movies and CGI, even he wasn't swayed by the "charms" of Brendan Fraser, and came away feeling like the movie's kind of a mess. I don't want to give away too much of our conversation before the break, other than the big takeaway: he really likes the Yetis, and I don't think he'd object if the fourth movie were to star them instead of the humans.

To check out our review discussion, read more.

We laughed (at all the wrong places), we cried (because of the acting), we conquered (it's over now). Here are some thoughts, with the bolded parts being me and the un-bolded being him:

On a scale of 1-10, 1 being "I wouldn't even pause the remote for this on Spike TV," and 10 being "I want to see it eight times in the theater!" - Where does this movie fall for you?
I would say a three. I would watch it on Spike long enough to be temporarily dazzled by some special effects, but then I as soon as I saw some of the acting I would change the channel. Especially that kid who plays Brenden Fraser's son. That guy should find a new line of work.

Yikes. You've seen the first two movies of this franchise before - have they always been such blatant Indiana Jones rip-offs?
Well, there are often comparisons to Indiana Jones for adventure movies, but this was pretty bad. It was like a pair of fake Adidas that has four stripes instead of three. You know the kind they sell at Wal-Mart or something? The only original things were the Yetis. It's all about the Yetis.

How do you feel about Brendan Fraser the actor, and did this movie change your feelings toward him?
I really liked Brenden Fraser in School Ties, but I think he's found his niche now as family action-adventure guy. He's a physical actor at the end of the day and should have limited lines. That will bring out the best in him. I think the writing for his parts is pretty lame, too, so it's not all his fault.

I kinda wished Brendan Fraser and friends weren't in it and it was just Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh. What about you? Or should I just rent Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon if I'm looking for that kind of cast?
Well, Michelle Yeoh is a very good actor, especially in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and Jet Li has played great bad guy roles (Lethal Weapon 4). But this is a big American mummy movie, so you can't compare the two.

About those mummies . . .
Yeah, the plot is ridiculous. There are too many books that open eggs, that tell a legend, that open a door, that does something magical, that they have to blow up and cast a spell on. Also, last time I checked, metal wasn't one of the elements (you know, earth, fire, wind, water). Isn't metal found in the ground, so wouldn't that make it earth? Sorry, tangent. Anyway, I also think Jet Li is great in one-on-one situations where he can act a lot with body language and facial expressions. But hearing him yell in a modulated voice over thousands of CGI baddies didn't do anything for me.

OK, if a person really likes Jet Li/kung fu movies, will he/she be annoyed with this?
This is not a martial arts movie. We only see 30 seconds of Jet Li doing anything cool - 30 seconds! Come on, this guy is one of the baddest dudes when it comes to kicking the snot out of somebody. Having Jet Li in this movie is pure pay-day for him and pure name dropping from the studios to get people to see it. At the end of the day, like I said before, there's really only one redeeming quality: the Yetis.

Photos courtesy of Universal Pictures