Martin Starr Movies

This sitcom focuses on a group of struggling performers living in L.A., who pay the bills working for a catering company called Party Down as they wait for their respective big breaks. Working everything from swank Hollywood mixers to children's birthday parties, the group endure a wide array of humiliations, bringing a whole new meaning to the phrase "paying your dues." ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide

Inspired by writer/director Greg Mottola's own true-life job-from-hell experience, Adventureland stars The Education of Charlie Banks' Jesse Eisenberg as an uptight recent college graduate who discovers that he'll have to get a degrading minimum-wage job at a local amusement park instead of spending his summer drinking German beer, visiting world-class museums, and flirting with cute French girls. It's the summer of 1987, and James Brennan (Eisenberg) has just graduated college. James is all set to embark on his dream tour of Europe when his parents (Wendie Malick and Jack Gilpin) suddenly announce that they won't be able to subsidize the trip. Now the only things James has to look forward to this summer are sugar-fueled children, belligerent dads, and an endless parade of giant stuffed animals. When James strikes up a relationship with captivating co-worker Em (Kristen Stewart), however, he finally starts to loosen up. Suddenly, the worst summer ever doesn't seem quite so bad. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Operating under the assumption that by procuring alcohol for an upcoming party they will finally be able to break their longstanding losing streak with the fairer sex, socially inept high school seniors Evan (Michael Cera) and Seth (Jonah Hill) set out to secure the adult beverages that could get them off of the geek list before they even attend college orientation. Evan is a bright young student whose outward sweetness belies his suffocating fear of heading off to college without his lifelong best friend Seth -- a hormone-driven mischief-maker who wasn't accepted to the same school as Evan. But Evan and Seth both know that college is a place of personal reinvention, and that if they are able to make that first leap together they will have forged a bond powerful enough to last a lifetime. Meanwhile, Evan and Seth's friend Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) acquires a hastily rendered fake I.D. that instantly endears him to a pair of truly irresponsible cops (Bill Hader and Seth Rogen). Penned by co-star Rogen in collaboration with former Da Ali G Show co-writer Evan Goldberg, the semi-autobiographical SuperBad was produced by Judd Apatow and directed by Greg Mottola -- who previously helmed episodes of Undeclared and Arrested Development. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Faith and skepticism walk side by side as two people look toward what might be the end of the world in this made-for-TV supernatural thriller. Richard Massey (Bill Pullman) is a college professor whose teenaged daughter recently died at the hands of a Satanist, who killed the girl as part of a ritual. While Massey is a confirmed atheist, he's trying to make some sort of sense of his daughter's death when he meets Sister Josepha Montifiore (Natascha McElhone), a nun who does research in unusual phenomena. Sister Josepha has become convinced that a number of signs point to the appearance of the Antichrist and the Apocalypse as predicted in the Book of Revelations; Massey becomes her skeptical accomplice as he searches for closure. Written for the screen by David Seltzer, the miniseries Revelations debuted on NBC on April 13, 2005. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Though it didn't even make it through its inaugural season on NBC, this 1999-2000 cult hit helped launch the career of many a fine young actor and attracted a huge new audience upon its elaborate DVD release in 2004. An ensemble comedy drama about a group of misfits growing up in the Detroit suburbs in the early '80s, Freaks and Geeks was the brainchild of executive producer Judd Apatow. With a writing staff that included indie-film mainstay Mike White, Apatow set out to chronicle those twin crossroads of adolescence: the move from junior high to high school, and the choice between stoner antics and goody two-shoes academics. To unite his two titular cliques into a single fictional framework, Apatow created the Weir family: Lindsay (Linda Cardellini), a brainy "mathlete" newly turned on to the thrill of rebellion; Sam (John Francis Daley), her swooningly romantic pipsqueak brother; and their rock-solid if painfully earnest parents, Harold (Joe Flaherty) and Jean (Becky Ann Baker). James Franco, soon to find movie stardom in the Spider-Man flicks, portrayed freak king Daniel Desario, a charismatic layabout and the object of Lindsay's secret affections. Busy Philipps, a future Dawson's Creek star, played his volcanic girlfriend, Kim Kelly, while Seth Rogen and Jason Segel played beta-male losers Ken Miller and Nick Andopolis. As for the geeks, young Sam found himself joined at the hip by asthmatic Bill Haverchuck (Martin Starr) and dapper, if tiny, Neal Schweiber (Samm Levine). With storylines that bounced back and forth between both groups and broke down the mythic high-school hierarchy developed in the '80s oeuvre of John Hughes, Freaks and Geeks earned plenty of critical praise upon its inaugural run. Despite its rich, character-driven humor and nostalgic, retro setting, the series dealt with all sorts of weighty issues: domestic violence, drugs and alcohol, single motherhood, and simple adolescence. NBC declined to air one episode, "Kim Kelly Is My Friend," deeming its family psychodrama too disturbing. The series was soon canceled, leaving several unaired episodes. But thank to Internet fandom and growing word of mouth, Freaks and Geeks cemented its status as the coulda-been hit that was snuffed out too early, and the clamor for a DVD release reached a deafening roar. By the time the complete series, including unaired episodes, was released in 2004, the show's reputation had grown to the point where a deluxe edition -- including a fake high-school yearbook -- could be released and even the regular edition boasted more commentary tracks than there were episodes. Since the show's cancellation, star Cardellini has gone on to greater fame in the Scooby-Doo movies and on ER, while her cast mates have turned up in all sorts of unexpected places. But for a large contingent of obsessive Freaks and Geeks fans, the actress will always be identified with her character's signature green jacket. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide