TresSugar

Are You Going to See W This Weekend?

LibertySugar — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:00:16 -0700

A whole 94 days before President Bush leaves office, Oliver Stone's biopic hits theaters tonight! I previewed W with BuzzSugar, who wrote an unfavorable review lamenting the movie as too little, too soon. Many viewers will likely leave the theater mildly entertained by Bush's past antics, but exasperated with the last eight years, especially the Iraq war. Still, I'm not sure if frustration with real-life Bush will be based on accurate events.

W seems to argue that the greatest tragedy of the last eight years is that the spoiled son of a president became an egregiously unqualified president. Yet, history has not determined whether Bush led the US into Iraq because his White House was too incompetent to know there were no WMDs, or because it purposefully misrepresented or suppressed problematic intelligence. Stone chooses incompetence, rooted in Daddy issues, as Bush's defect, perhaps cluttering the world's historical consciousness before the truth is known.

Sassy Reporter Helen Thomas Takes Over HBO Tonight!

CitizenSugar — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:45:33 -0700

Helen Thomas is the kind of gal who probably inspired all of those phrases like "tough as nails," and a "real kick in the patoot," to name a couple. Thomas has covered every president since JFK and is known as the "First Lady of the Press." On HBO tonight, the journalist sits down to recount her life in the documentary, Thank You, Mr. President: Helen Thomas at the White House.

As only one of a handful of women in the press corps when she started, she's long commanded a front row seat to the proceedings for more than six decades, not cutting anyone any slack. She says, "I think that presidents deserve to be questioned, perhaps irreverently, to bring them down a size." Buzz previewed the flick for us and answered a few questions about the Grand Dame of the press conference.

To see what she had to say, read more.

Citizen: How cozy is the press covering the administration with the subject of their scrutiny? Are they pals as well as adversaries?

Buzz: The documentary, via Helen’s life and career, hits on the unique relationship between the press who were on “the body watch” as she called it (covering the president’s every move) and the administration. I guess you sort of hear about this all the time but a lot of the documentary has footage of the Washington press corp yucking it up with the president, including Helen. It just struck me as incongruous with being a hard-hitting news reporter asking tough questions to the most powerful leader on the planet, but I guess that’s how it works in the Beltway? That footage alone and that look into the press that way I found extremely fascinating and wish they would have spent some more time on that. Or maybe that’s a whole other documentary.

Citizen: Jezebel said the doc was suited for a funeral. Say it ain't so!:

Buzz: Yeah I’d agree. Related to what I said above, the piece hits on so many fascinating aspects of her life including being the only woman in such a male-dominated field at the time, what has shaped her passionate views toward the current administration, and the idea of her responsibility as a journalist on “the body watch” vs. investigative journalism - I wish there was more time on a serious exploration of all this with her. As it is, it’s kind of a soft, cheery tribute to the woman. Which, you know, is nice but now I feel like I need to go find a book about her.

Buzz bottom line: Definitely worth the time to check out for sheer entertainment - how could it not be? The woman is hilariously candid and self-deprecating. Plus, even though it’s not the deepest delve into her life and times, it will get your brain juices flowing.

Buzz has the trailer for a bigger taste. Are you planning to watch tonight?

Source

It's Not Just Reality - Swing Vote the Movie Comes to Theatres

CitizenSugar — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 07:00:59 -0700

Now that the Fourth of July has come and gone, I need a new summer event to look forward to. This might be it? The movie Swing Vote stars Kevin Costner (I wonder if it's been a long time since anyone's written that phrase. . .?) and hits theaters August 1. Here's the premise: when historically inexplicable yet "mischievous antics" of a 12-year-old girl leave the outcome of the presidential election relying on a single vote one man (dubbed a "likable loser) all eyes rest on him to decide.

I'm dying to see how they make this work, you know, with the electoral college and laws, history and the like, but that might be part of the fun? The flick promises a "stunning series of events that place the fate of the free world in the hands of a man more comfortable slinging cases of beer." OK, there you go - stunning. Here's to hoping!

The presidential candidates are played by Dennis Hopper and Kelsey Grammer, with Nathan Lane and Stanley Tucci playing their campaign managers. Not a shabby cast! Here's one of the phoney campaign ads from the movie, it's pretty funny - and that Dennis Hopper is kind of striking. What do you think, will you be lining up to catch this one - or voting "No, thanks?"

"Two Tickets For Wall-E Leftist Propaganda, Please." Possible?

CitizenSugar — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:56:13 -0700

Heading out to the movies this holiday weekend? If your "two tickets, please," is for last weekend's #1 flick, Pixar's Wall-E, you might be getting a jumbo bucket of leftist propaganda with your price of admission. But it's a cartoony-thing, right?! But it's a cartoon-y thing with an apparently serious leftist message.

The National Review's global-warming blog says “it was like a 90-minute lecture on the dangers of over consumption, big corporations, and the destruction of the environment.” Oh! That sounds like a cute and funny movie! What??

But wait, there's more! Glenn Beck says, "I just see Wally and he's on the Earth and he's cleaning stuff up and I looked at my wife and I said, it's a frickin' global warming movie, it is how we destroyed the Earth." Over at Dirty Harry's Place (a conservative look at film, punk) Harry says of the Pixar tale, "they stop things cold, yanking you out of the story with the liberal nonsense. Quite a disappointment. Anyway…"

Lars Larson was on with Dan Abrams backing all of this up, saying it gives "little kids the idea that human beings are bad for planet Earth." At Townhall, they agree with the propaganda claim, but say it's "actually a brilliant exposure of liberalism’s flaws."

Is all of this possible out of a cartoon? Is Wall-E propaganda in the world's cutest package?

Check out Buzz's brilliant review for more info on the plot and characters - and hey, 4.5 out of 5 stars ain't bad!

Bill Maher Puts New Movie "Religulous" in the Offering Plate

CitizenSugar — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 09:00:14 -0700

Bill Maher isn't what you'd call a God-fearing man - far from it. He makes no secret that he's a rationalist and an atheist, and thinks all organized religions are a bunch of bunk. The comedian is trying his hand at preaching without the choir in his new documentary, Religulous, directed by Borat director Larry Charles.

He says the movie aims to answer these questions:

What do you believe, why do you believe it, and why do you need to believe it? Can we be good without God? Is religion a calling or a mental illness? Were Jesus, Moses and Mohammed prophets and visionaries, or crackpot nut cases who today would be put away? Is religion an obsessive-compulsive disorder?

The doc features visits to Jerusalem and the Vatican with interviews including Jews for Jesus, Muslims, polygamists, Satanists, Hasidic Scholars and even Rael of the Raelian Movement (the UFO folks). Check out the trailer. The movie comes out October 3 - do you think this movie is sent from heaven, or hasn't got a prayer?

To see Bill talk to Larry King about the movie and his views on religion - including his assertion that we don't need a person of faith in the White House, but rather a "person of doubt," read more.

Citizen, Liberty, and Buzz Watch HBO's Recount!

CitizenSugar — Sun, 25 May 2008 07:30:32 -0700

HBO's movie Recount is on tonight at 9 p.m.! Is it watchable? Heck yes! Liberty, Buzz, and I watched it (at my house - I concocted a drink called a "Hanging Chad" - let's just say it wasn't any more palatable than the original.) Want to know what we thought before you commit to two hours? Here you go!

Will Liberty and Citizen have it out over Warren Christopher? Will Buzz strangle them for not stopping talking the entire movie? To find out, read more.

To watch or not to watch? I'd vote for it - even if that vote was actually counted for Pat Buchanan. Are you going to watch tonight?

Who Wants to Watch HBO's Recount With Me?

CitizenSugar — Tue, 06 May 2008 06:00:34 -0700

Everyone I've heard talk about the upcoming HBO movie Recount about the aftermath of the 2000 election has loved it, including and not limited to Slate's John Dickerson who's the non-grumpy man on my beloved Slate Political Gabfest.

So I'm hotly, hotly anticipating this flick. It stars Laura Dern as Katherine Harris, and Tom Wilkinson as James Baker - Kevin Spacey, Ed Begley Jr. and Denis Leary star as well.

"This is a street fight for the presidency of the United States." Hot. I know it was real, with all kinds of historical ramifications. . .but it seems like a great movie too? Can it be both?

It airs Sunday, May 25 at 9 p.m. I'm sending out a little butterfly ballot of my own - I'm thinking of throwing a little virtual viewing party. . . complete with "Hanging Chad" cocktails - who's in?

Where in the World is Osama bin Laden? In Theaters!

CitizenSugar — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 11:00:25 -0700

I must have been in a cave this weekend - or so busy talking about Ben Stein's Expelled that I completely forgot to mention that Morgan Spurlock's new flick, Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden opened this weekend. I've been following this film since way back, and now that it's out it sounds like part of a perfect afternoon - a nice double feature of intelligent design and terrorist hunting. Buzz would approve.

The trailer makes it seem like a wacky romp, which is odd given the sort of global gravity of finding bin Laden, but I'll bet Spurlock has some pretty scathing commentary on the man's elusiveness. Are you going to check it out? The reviews are in if you want to research before investing in a ticket. I wonder what topic Spurlock will take on next? Do you like his affable take on serious issues? Does he give Michael Moore a run for his money?

Expelled: The Movie - Ben Stein's New Creation(ism)

CitizenSugar — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:00:09 -0700

I shun all things made up, my personal f-word is fiction, so imagine my delight when I found out Ben Stein, the clever-skirting-genius host of Win Ben Stein's Money that guy in that Ferris Bueller movie, and a former speech writer for Nixon and Ford has cooked up a new documentary.

It's called Expelled and looks at the teaching of science in schools. Either I'm wildly dimwitted, naive, brainwashed, or a scootch of all three, but I assumed the movie would be about how the education system is squashing scientific thought and empirical enterprise in America. And then I watched the trailer. Mouth, agape.

Whoa! Ben Stein, savant who sat in the final round of his game show crushing anyone who dared challenge his mental prowess, has made a movie about the strangle hold Darwinism has on other schools of thought. In the trailer he says this of the treatment of academics who don't strictly subscribe to the theory of evolution, "This tells me Darwinists are afraid. They're hiding something."

I'm going to be first in line when it comes out April 18. Ben Smartypants Stein, presenting a civil case advocating for free thought that might lead to intelligent design? This I gotta see. Check out the trailer and see what I mean.

Could he be right? Are evolutionists taking over and crowding out other ideas?

Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?

CitizenSugar — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 09:01:46 -0800

Morgan Spurlock, director of the fantastic documentary, Super Size Me, is expected to hit the Sundance Film Festival, with a brand new creation titled, Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden. Solidifying Morgan's reputation as a bankable name, the Weinsteins' impulse bought his new pic at the Berlin Film Festival after only seeing 15 minutes of it.

Buzz is that Morgan, during his 800 hours of footage and extensive travel over the entire Middle East, actually found the elusive bin Laden. Do you think he brought him a Big Mac? The movie is wrapped in 17 layers of top secret duct tape until it makes its premiere at Sundance, January 17-27. I cannot wait to see it. Do you think it's possible? Do you think Morgan managed to find bin Laden, or is it just movie hype?