the buzz log

You'd be forgiven if you thought Tyler Perry was a winter holiday. Every year, with clockwork regularity, a Perry movie draws in millions of box office dollars. The Guardian, just a pond-leap from Hollywood, dubbed him "Lionsgate's Most Valuable Player." Mr. Perry should prove he's the studio moneymaker again with "Madea Goes to Jail," another stage-to-film project.

For those who haven't caught up with the Kingdom of Perry (and missed Buzz reports on him in 2007 and in March and September of 2008), peruse these five (plus) factoids...

• Perry of course plays larger-than-life matriarch Mabel "Madea" Simmons (and she's large partly because Perry's 6-foot-5). The character blends his mom Maxine's wisdom and aunty Mayola's persona and gun. (The Atlanta Journal Constitution points out that Madea's a typical Southern endearment for grandmoms, short for "Mother Dear.")
• He has three successful projects out in three different mediums: television ("House of Payne"), film ("Madea Goes to Jail," tracking in the top 5,000 searches on Yahoo! this week), and stage ("The Marriage Counselor"). Hollywood Reporter calls him "one of the biggest theater draws in the country." Oh, his book—still on sale.
• Once a wristcutter to get away from his abusive father, Perry ultimately turned to religion as a salve.
• The former bill collector and homeless man could probably pay off a bunch of bills, after grossing $130 million in 2007, although he's having billing tiffs with contractors over his new house and Tyler Perry Studios, which opened in October.
• Besides email communications, Perry pays attention to his message board to see how much his audiences will let him get away with.

How does Perry measure up as a woman, by the way? Entertainment Weekly's slideshow "Cross-dressed to Kill" shows how tough it can be to be a man in a woman's world.

Filed under: Movies, Celebrities, Directors, Tyler Perry

Buzz on "Grindhouse" has reached a frenzied pitch. Searches on the double-feature flick have jumped 70% over the past week and fans are ready to buy tickets for this violent ode to '70s schlock.

We've covered the Buzz on the women of "Grindhouse," but what about the men responsible for bringing the vision to life? Directors Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino are revered for their work, and we're sure fanboys of the two moviemakers won't be disappointed. However, we wanted to see what would happen if we pitted the two BFFs against one another in Buzz. Here's how our director faceoff played out...

Filed under: Movies, Directors, Grindhouse

Umm. Does anyone else remember Curse of the Jade Scorpion?

But interviews with Woody Allen are rare enough that the magazine's tell-some article bumped the bespectacled director, his wife Soon-Yi Previn, and his ex-partner Mia Farrow (who is also Soon-Yi's adoptive mother -- remember this story?) into the bright glare of Buzz's top movers. Even searches on Soon-Yi's adoptive father, Andre Previn, sat up, blinking, in the light.

Yes, Woody Allen's movies and quotes are popular at the Search box. But ever since the sordid tale of man, woman, and woman's adopted daughter divided Manhattan into Mia fans or Woody defenders -- and, just maybe, since the day the films' ticket sales slumped -- searches on Woody Allen's biography far outweigh interest in his work. From his relationship with Soon-Yi to his children, his marriage, his image, his jazz-playing, and his "scandal," the off-screen details draw more fans to the Web than the yearly films.

Yet for Annie Hall addicts, hope springs eternal. Reviewers like Match Point, Allen's upcoming film, and Buzz is humming. Searches on "woody allen new movie" and "match point woody allen" recently stirred. And even "woody allen scarlett" bounded upward -- boosting Match Point star Scarlett Johansson into the no-last-name-necessary breed of starlet. Perhaps the new film will be just like Manhattan and signal a return to the glory days. Or not. In the meantime, is Mia giving interviews?

Filed under: Movies, Directors