LilSugar

Wall-E Searches For His Dad For Father's Day Photo Fun

GeekSugar — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 12:15:25 PDT

Being the big robot fan that I am, you know that Wall-E was one of my favorite Pixar movies to date. So when a friend sent me a link to these pics, depicting Wall-E's quest to find his true father, I knew it was the perfect thing to share leading up to the Father's Day holiday.

The photos tell a touching story of Wall-E mistaking inanimate objects - like an old telescoping viewfinder - for his dad. He searches high and low without any apparent success. Honestly, I can't help but ache for Wall-E to find him, even though I know he's a toy robot!

View 5 Photos ›

I asked the photographer, Flickr's own bats..., to tell me how he came up with this idea. Find out what he said after the break.

Buzz's 20 Favorite Movies of the Decade

BuzzSugar — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:44:26 PST

As we come to the close of another year, I've been counting down the best in entertainment from over the past 12 months. But let's not forget that we're also celebrating the end of the decade, so you know what that means - a recap of the top music, movies, and TV from 2000-2009! There have been so many creative, smart, and fun choices to keep me busy that it's hard to decide which ones deserve top honors. So beginning with films, here are my favorites, in no particular order. (If you don't agree - or if you'd like to submit your own top five, 10, or 20 - you can do so in the Buzz Best of the Decade Group)!

Etsy Find: Cool Vinyl Laptop Decals

GeekSugar — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:05:19 PDT

If the Twilight laptop skin isn't your thing, then maybe this selection of cool and geeky ones will be. I first found this awesome Snow White laptop decal (which reminded me of yet another Twilight-themed decal), which incorporates your Apple logo into the piece. But then I kept browsing the shop and got hooked on all of the totally geeky decals, which can be used on your laptop, your Kindle, your walls, or wherever you want to stick 'em.

Good news is that these decals were made to be attached and then pulled off later, so you won't have any sticky residue after you've outgrown your artsy vinyl. Plus, with prices starting at $13 each, you can't really go wrong. Check out a few more of my faves below!

To see more pics of my favorites, just read more.

View 10 Photos ›

Buzz at WonderCon: Talking With the Creators of Pixar's Up

BuzzSugar — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 12:30:07 PST

I enjoy learning pretty much anything related to the wizardry that goes on at Pixar which is why I jumped at the chance to chat with director Pete Docter and producer Jonas Rivera at WonderCon all about Pixar's forthcoming film, Up.

We spoke directly after the two men previewed clips from the movie to a large and enthusiastic crowd and later that evening I watched a special screening of the first 45 minutes of the film. I don't want to give anything away because I know how much I enjoyed my first peek, but I'll say there is much more to this movie than the trailer implies.

The footage I viewed contains everything we've come to expect from Pixar: outstanding animation, charming characters, and big laughs. And like Wall-E, the movie touches on some adult concepts. In fact, the entire audience (including myself!) was crying within the first 15 minutes.

We talked about this sophisticated nature of Pixar's storytelling compared to other animated films and lots more during our roundtable with the guys. To check out the interview,

read more. Warning: The following interview may be a bit spoilery so if you don't want to know a thing about this movie before watching it then look away friend, look away! On animating humans vs. robots (or cars, or fish, etc.): Docter: It's a good question because especially on this film we made a concerted effort from the onset to make it more caricatured and stylized and so you'll see [the movie's main character] Carl moving in a much more stylized way than say Mom in Toy Story. We just felt like this is a world where you have a house floating into the sky - it's gotta have a sense of caricature and simplicity to it that supports that reality. On making nearly all Pixar characters so freaking adorable: Rivera: It's just really about draw and draw and draw and draw and get those designs where we think they're just really super appealing. In our medium . . . humans are really, really hard to make look real and if they look too real they start looking dead and creepy and weird and so we found that mooshing the shapes and caricaturing them - Carl's only three heads high and so forth - and really playing with proportions to make them appealing almost made them look more real. On whether or not they feel an inordinate amount of pressure after the success of Wall-E: Rivera: I do! Docter: Where I feel the most pressure is the other guys that I work with. Before we show it to you guys or the rest of the world I have to make [Wall-E director] Andrew Stanton and [writer/director Ratatouille] Brad Bird laugh or cry or whatever. You know, that's a tough order. But that's I think a part of the success of the films. Rivera: I mean, this is the tenth film we've done and, you know, everyone's really liked the films so far that we've done so you do definitely hope they like it as much because you're so close to it. I mean honestly we've been in there for four years and have been looking at this every day and somehow you go home and you're like, "Man, dogs talk and . . . I don't know. Is this good? I don't know?" Docter: Yeah, is this just weird or is it funny. . . .? On telling surprisingly sophisticated stories through animation: Docter: I think that for me when I sit down in a movie theater and the lights go down, I want to see something that speaks to me that I can recognize about myself and about the world. So we don't really think of these as, "Oh, we're making little kid movies" or " oh, we're making animated movies." We're just making movies and they happen to use this amazing technology that Pixar's developed and we get to work with these incredible artists, but first and foremost we're just telling stories that speak to us. On what goes into research at Pixar: Docter: Actually this film has a lot born out of Peter Pan in terms of the styling. One of the great things about working at Pixar - a bunch of us go down to South America and do some research and as we were walking around we were like, "Hey that looks like Peter Pan!" We actually got to hike up one of these tabletop mountains. Rivera: That's how big of dorks we are. We're in the jungle saying "That looks like Peter Pan!" Images courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures

Which Oscar-Winning Movie Do You Want to See Next?

BuzzSugar — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 08:30:18 PST

Not even Oscar host Hugh Jackman got to see all the nominated films before Sunday's big night. He even found a pretty hilarious way to work the fact that he hadn't seen The Reader into his opening bit.

Mr. Jackman is not alone, as I'm sure most of us still need to see some of the movies that took home awards on Sunday. I managed to get to most of them, but there are a couple I still need to see - and others I can't wait to see again! So tell me: what Academy-approved flick do you want to see next?

Source

Celebrate the Oscars With an Animated Movie Night

LilSugar — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:16:48 PST

The Academy Awards air this Sunday past your lil one's bedtime, but that doesn't mean your family has to miss out on the fun! The Best Animated Feature Film nominees, Wall-E, Kung-Fu Panda and Bolt have all been released on DVD, so why not curl up on the couch with your family for a screening or two (or three!)? You may not have the time to replicate all of PartySugar's amazing Oscar Party suggestions and recipes, but consider infusing your celebratory cinema time with extra special effort.

Turn Decorating Into an Art Project: Print out small pictures from the three movies (just do a Google image search and pick your favorites), and set up an art station with your printouts, construction paper, ribbons, glitter, and crayons. After your children decorate the pictures, turn them into a festive banner.
Make Traditional Movie Snacks: PartySugar is serving up popcorn with truffle oil, Parmesan cheese, and black pepper. If your tots have finicky taste buds, make a few bowls of popcorn and sprinkle in a handful of chocolate covered raisins. More truffle oil for the adults!
Theme Your Main Course: If you are watching Kung-Fu Panda order Chinese takeout or make stir-fry, if you are watching Bolt, which takes place in the US, cook up some burgers or comfort food, and if Wall-E is your game, make futuristic food using food coloring and creative shapes (time to whip out those cookie cutters!).
Make a Kiddie Ballot: You can cast your vote for the winners on BuzzSugar for a chance to win a year of movies, but online voting may be a bit advanced for your tots. Print out a simple homemade ballot for your children and let them pick their favorite of the three films before the award show.

Source

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

BuzzSugar — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:30:48 PST

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: Wall-E's Junkyard Vintage Geek Finds

GeekSugar — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 07:30:38 PST

It's only fitting that I'm reviewing Wall-E's Oscar worthy gadgets during the week before Valentine's Day, since enduring love is one of the film's main themes. And naturally, Wall-E was one of my top rated movies of last year, since a few of his costars are some of my favorite things: gadgets and robots. Nominated for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Screenplay at this year's Oscars, Wall-E takes animation to new heights, and keeps the geeks happy at the same time.

From Bic lighters to light bulbs and VHS tapes, Wall-E finds tons of items on the toxic wasteland called Earth that are unknown to him, but are totally low-tech to us now. The song and dance routine he learns from his VHS and tube TV give him endless hours of fun, while his collection of calculators and kitchen whisks keep him entertained after his long, trash collecting days alone. Although Wall-E eventually ends up on a futuristic space ship (hello sci-fi!), and finds himself among gobs of new robots and humans that are living lives driven by computers, all he wants to do is find Eve and make a home with her back on Earth. Aww, my heart.

Source

Link Time! 2/3

BuzzSugar — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 13:30:26 PST

Wall-E's director says there's no sequel in the little robot's future. - MTV Movies Blog
Here's video proof that Tori Spelling is filming 90210! - Watch with Kristin
Check out this Watchmen update: Sequels, images, and new poster. - Cinematical
Here's a lengthy, Chuck-centric Josh Schwartz interview. - HitFix
I wish I'd had this House drinking game for last night's episode. - TV Filter
The new video for Oasis's "Falling Down" is pretty interesting. I'm digging the song, too. - Stereogum
Fair or ridiculous? The Arizona residents who saw porn during the Super Bowl are getting $10 from Comcast. - TV Squad
I would totally dance to this remixed musical version of Christian Bale's verbal freakout. - GiggleSugar
Now that Michael Cera is playing Scott Pilgrim, want to know what all the fuss is about? Here's an excerpt from book five of the comic, out tomorrow. - Vulture

Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures

Buzz Gift Guide: The White Elephants of the Entertainment World

BuzzSugar — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 07:30:48 PST

Welcome back to my Buzz Gift Guide series for all the entertainment lovers in your life. Yesterday was all about the box sets, and today I'm covering the wonderfully schmaltzy world of white elephant gifts. Just so we're all on the same page, the estimable UrbanDictionary defines this category of gifts as "presents never actually useful in real life."

Take this Edward Cullen doll inspired by Twilight. It's totally awesome (or, you know, "awesome") and I want it for my desk, which is probably the best you can hope for in a white elephant gift. And while we're on weird dolls, this Rodney Dangerfield doll will surely produce that satisfying look of bewilderment on the recipient's face at your next white elephant exchange. It cracks me up that the product description proudly boasts that it does 11 whole minutes of stand-up.

Also in the world of weird entertainment-related gifts is the Ugly Betty poncho.

Gifts that fall into more a quirky and cute category here include this adorable little Wall-E plush doll that makes sounds, and this design-your-own-speakers kit.

Edward Cullen Doll (Pricing info TBD)	DIY Eco Speakers ($18.00)
Ugly Betty Poncho ($39.95)	8'' Mini WALL-E Plush with Sound ($12.95)	Rodney Dangerfield animated doll ($59.99)

Check out HolidaySugar for all of our holiday coverage and gift guides.