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What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 06:30:23 -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.

The Wrestler
I said it in my list of must haves for April and I'll say it again: In addition to being a touching film with an astounding performance by Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler is one of those rare movies that a diverse group of adults can agree to see together. There's something for everyone, really: Action, romance, some tearjerking, etc.

The movie follows an aging professional wrestler with a ton of regrets. He tries to take control of his life, however, when he befriends an exotic dancer (Marisa Tomei) and attempts to make peace with his estranged daughter (Evan Rachel Wood).

In addition to earning all kinds of nominations during awards season, the movie contains one of my favorite scenes of the year. Special features include a featurette titled "Within the Ring: A No-Holds-Barred One-on-One With Wrestlers and Filmmakers" and music videos (presumably featuring Bruce Springsteen).

Two more up next, so read more.

Frost/Nixon
Director Ron Howard successfully adapts for the screen a Peter Morgan play (Morgan wrote the screenplay for this movie as well) that portrays President Nixon's infamous interview with journalist/TV personality David Frost.

The movie follows Frost (played by Michael Sheen, reprising his stage role) on his journey to get the disgraced former President (Frank Langella, who also originated the role on stage) on television to face questioning about his involvement in Watergate. It's a duel between two giant egos where only one can really win, and the filmmakers take creative liberties filling in the backstory to the famous historical event.

Special features include deleted scenes, "The Making of Frost/Nixon," footage from the real interview, and commentary with Director Ron Howard.

Notorious
Notorious is a biopic based on the life of rap legend Christopher Wallace, a.k.a Notorious B.I.G., who was killed in his early 20s in a drive-by shooting.

Newly discovered actor and hip hop artist Jamal Woolard delivers a standout debut performance as the rapper, and is surrounded by other strong performances of well-known personalities (dead and alive). Naturi Naughton plays the pint-sized, naughty girl Lil Kim and Derek Luke does a great job channeling Sean "Puffy" Combs, as does Anthony Mackie as the late Tupac Shakur.

Special features include commentary with director George Tillman Jr., co-screenwriter Reggie Rock Bythewood and co-screenwriter Cheo Hodari, as well as commentary with Biggie's mom Voletta Wallace, Biggie's co-manager Wayne Barrow, and Biggie's co-manager Mark Pitts.

BuzzSugar's Must Haves For April

BuzzSugar — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 16:30:08 -0700

Yippee! April is here, and that makes me happy because the weather in my part of the country is lovely right now. But this month also contains some great entertainment stuff: one of my favorite annual celebrations, a really cool live radio event, and some buzzworthy new CD and DVD releases. Ready to dive into April (without any foolin')? Just hit "start."

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What Are Your Favorite Scenes From This Year's Oscar-Nominated Movies?

BuzzSugar — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:30:48 -0800

I keep thinking about this great scene in The Wrestler between Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei's characters in a bar. I won't give it away for those who haven't seen the movie yet but it involves some funny dialogue between the two about the decade they agree was the best. It's a small, intimate moment rendered so perfectly that you completely forget you're watching two actors - it feels more like overhearing a conversation at your local dive bar.

Sometimes a movie contains a scene so well-done it has the power to stick around in our minds for years and years. Like one of the most romantic scenes in Wall-E: Eve and Wall-E's dance among the stars. So. Freaking. Cute. Not to mention beautiful. And Happy Go-Lucky contains an intense scene between the main character and her driving instructor that's so unsettling it will take me a long time to shake it off.

Sometimes I think there should be an Academy Award category for Best Scene! What do you think? Which scenes from this year's Oscar-nominated films stick out to you the most?

The Wrestler photo courtesy of Fox Searchlight, Wall-E image courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures, and Happy Go-Lucky photo courtesy of Miramax

Oscar Worthy Gadgets: The Wrestler

GeekSugar — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 07:25:01 -0800

Nominated for an Oscar for his brilliant performance as Randy "The Ram" Robinson in The Wrestler, Mickey Rourke is certainly deserving of his new "comeback king" title. His costar in the film, Marisa Tomei, is also nominated for an Oscar for her role as Cassidy, an exotic dancer who Randy ends up developing feelings for. This poignant film is definitely a "must see" as we watch Randy endure all of the trials and tribulations associated with being a professional wrestler.

Some memorable tech moments include the afternoon bar scene when Cassidy "Pam" tells Randy about her son and then shows a picture of him on her cell phone. The second time was when Randy dusted off his old Nintendo console and asked the neighborhood boy Adam to come in and play a Wrestling video game that actually featured him. Adam was excited to tell Randy about his new favorite game, Call of Duty 4, and explained to Randy how you can switch off between a marine and an S and S British special operative - making it that much better than any other Call of Duty games.

Photo courtesy of Fox Searchlight

What to Download: New Music Today

BuzzSugar — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 15:30:10 -0800

Tuesdays are big in entertainmentville: Not only do all the new DVD releases hit Netflix, but new music also pours into stores. So I take a spin through each week's music releases and pick out some albums and tracks worthy of a download. Here are today's selections:

Let's dance: I like dancing to Franz Ferdinand. When "Take Me Out" plays at a party or in a bar, it usually has the power to make me do something goofy like flip my hair all over the place. Anyway, I'm glad the band is back with all new sexy tunes for toe-tapping goodness, like the seriously fun song "No You Girls." I also like the first single on the album, "Ulysses."

Chillax music: I'm glad the psychedelic pop duo The Bird and The Bee (aka. Inara George and Greg Kurstin) have staying power because their music is so pretty. It's the perfect cocktail hour music that's part whimsy, part haunting, and totally easy on the ears. Their new album is full of gems like "Baby," "My Love," and "Ray Gun."

One more selection up next, so read more.

The man: Bruce Springsteen's new album is earning rave reviews with some actually describing his new songs as optimistic. That's nice considering how bleak this moment in history can feel these days. If the guy who sings about angst so often can find a silver lining, then maybe we all can. I'm excited to download tracks like "My Lucky Day," "Working on a Dream," "What Love Can Do," and his beautiful song from The Wrestler.

Kate Winslet and Slumdog Win Multiple Golden Globes!

PopSugarUK — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The Golden Globe Awards took place last night, and brought some fantastic success for our British nominees! Kate Winslet won two awards, for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress for movies Revolutionary Road and The Reader. Meanwhile the fabulous Slumdog Millionaire continued its success from the Critics' Choice Awards by winning four Golden Globes including Best Picture (Drama), Sally Hawkins won Best Actress for Happy-Go-Lucky, and Tom Wilkinson picked up a Supporting Actor award for his role in TV series John Adams.

Other winners last night included 30 Rock, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Mad Men and The Wrestler, Heath Ledger won a posthumous Supporting Actor award for The Dark Knight, Colin Farrell won for In Bruges, and Steven Spielberg picked up the Lifetime Achievement award.

To see a full list of winners, Kate's emotional acceptance speech, plus more photos of Brits and other winners and presenters at last night's Golden Globe Awards, just read more.

MOVIES

BEST MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA
Slumdog Millionaire

BEST MOTION PICTURE, MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Vicky Cristina Barcelona

BEST DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire

BEST DRAMATIC ACTOR
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

BEST DRAMATIC ACTRESS
Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road

BEST ACTOR, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Colin Farrell, In Bruges

BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Kate Winslet, The Reader

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Wall-E

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE PICTURE
Waltz With Bashir

BEST SCREENPLAY
Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire

BEST SONG
"The Wrestler" (performed by Bruce Springsteen, written by Bruce Springsteen), The Wrestler

TELEVISION

BEST TV SERIES, DRAMA
Mad Men

TV SERIES, MUSICAL OR COMEDY
30 Rock

BEST ACTRESS, TV DRAMA
Anna Paquin, True Blood

BEST ACTOR, TV DRAMA
Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment

BEST ACTOR, TV MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock

BEST ACTRESS, TV MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Tina Fey, 30 Rock

BEST MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
John Adams

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Laura Linney, John Adams

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Paul Giamatti, John Adams

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Laura Dern, Recount

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Tom Wilkinson, John Adams

CECIL B. DEMILLE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Steven Spielberg

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Images include: Kate Winslet, Laura Dern, Bruce Springsteen, Ricky Gervais, Tom Wilkinson, Anna Paquin, Laura Linney, Paul Giamatti, Sally Hawkins, Zachary Quinto, Chris Pine, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Colin Farrell, cast of 30 Rock, Sam Mendes, Mickey Rourke, Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Kate Beckinsale, P Diddy, Hugh Laurie, cast of Mad Men.

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Movie Preview: The Wrestler

BuzzSugar — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:30:01 -0800

I've been swatting away the buzzings of "Oscar watch" and "best film of the year" in regard to indie drama The Wrestler for a while now, just waiting until I could see a trailer and hopefully understand what all the fuss is about. The film stars Mickey Rourke (whose "astonishing performance" here has some calling him a "comeback kid") as an aging professional wrestler with a ton of regrets. He starts to try and take control of his life, however, when he befriends an exotic dancer (Marisa Tomei) and attempts to make peace with his estranged daughter (Evan Rachel Wood).

I'm honestly amazed by the praise this film is getting, and while I think the trailer makes it look poignant, I'll have to see the movie in its entirety to fully see what has gotten people gushing so much (100 percent at RottenTomatoes at time of posting this). The Wrestler opens Dec. 17. To check out the trailer for yourself, read more.

Photo courtesy of Fox Searchlight

Link Time! 9/23

BuzzSugar — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:30:43 -0700

J.K. Rowling Reveals all in a new book, Harry, A History. - MTV Movies Blog
How ER plans to woo George Clooney back, no matter how many times he says it's not happening. - TV Squad
Ten things you need to know about The Wrestler before its December premiere. - Vulture
John Sayles is apparently working on an HBO miniseries about Louis Armstrong with Quincy Jones. - Cinematical
Office fans, get ready to meet the Halperts. - Give Me My Remote
Do you want a Meg Ryan comeback? - PopSugar
A chat with the man behind Girl Talk. - Pop Candy
The Whitney Port spinoff of The Hills is officially a go. - FabSugar
Pop culture obsessions come to life! A chance subway ride with some of the Gossip Girl kids leaves one writer breathless. - Popwatch

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Buzz News Roundup, 9/8

BuzzSugar — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:30:07 -0700

J.K. Rowling has won her copyright infringement lawsuit against a fan who wanted to publish a Harry Potter encyclopedia. - AP
Spike Lee is working on a sequel to Inside Man. - Hollywood Reporter
24 is shutting down production for two weeks to rewrite scripts and figure out the end to the next season. - Zap2it
The Stand Up to Cancer telethon and associated fundraising efforts made $100 million for cancer research. - TV Guide
The Darren Aronofsky film The Wrestler sparked an all-night bidding war at the Toronto International Film Festival. - Variety
Musicians including Heart and Jackson Browne don't want Republican candidates using their songs to campaign. - CitizenSugar
NBC is putting together a new Muppets special, Letters to Santa: A Muppet Christmas. - Reuters
Jayma Mays has been cast as the lead in the Fox pilot Glee, which might be an American Idol companion this Spring. - Hollywood Reporter
Jessica Alba has been cast in a "modern-day fable" called An Invisible Sign of My Own, which was initially supposed to star America Ferrera. - Variety

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Anne Wears All Her Apparel In Venice

PopSugarUK — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 02:00:00 -0700

Anne Hathaway arrived at the Venice Film Festival on Tuesday to promote her movie Rachel Getting Married, a film I'm looking forward to for the chance to see Anne playing against her usual type. In Jonathan Demme's movie she plays Kym, a woman who has been in and out of rehab for ten years and returns home for her sister's wedding – and at Venice she showed off the shorter choppy hairstyle that she had cut for filming. Check out the trailer after the jump. Anne had also packed a fair few outfits in her suitcase, showing off four outfits in her first two days in Venice.

My favourite has to be the dramatic pale green dress she wore at the premiere of her film on Wednesday – it looks different from every angle, although FabUK and I are not sure if she's wearing the dress, or the dress is wearing her. Since I last updated you on the comings and goings in Venice, we also had another peek at Natalie Portman looking casual at the festival on Tuesday, as well as odd couple Evan Rachel Wood and Mickey Rourke, who are there to promote their movie The Wrestler.

To see more photos from the last couple of days in Venice, as well as the trailer for Anne's movie Rachel Getting Married (let me know what you think!), just read more.

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