Graham Norton Movies
Irish actor, comedian, and TV pundit Graham Norton emerged as a U.K. celebrity in the early '90s, with schtick that consistently revolved around a trademark persona -- that of a campy, flamboyant homosexual, rife with a flair for raunchy double (and triple) entendres. Norton's brand of humor became particularly evident amid his celebrity interviews, which found him convulsing audiences and guests by pulling out bizarre sex gadgets, exchanging barbs with perverted phone-in callers, or indulging in all sorts of other outrageous mischief; in that mode, he interviewed everyone from Dolly Parton to Elton John to Roseanne Barr to Diana Ross.Norton rose to fame by virtue of his two British talk shows, So Graham Norton (1998-2002) and V Graham Norton (2002-2004), then landed a deal with Comedy Central in 2004 for an American equivalent, The Graham Norton Effect, reportedly after a deal with one of the big three networks fell through thanks to corporate interference with Norton's comic material. After that short-lived series folded, Norton segued into feature roles with a supporting turn (as Mr. Puckov) in the farce Another Gay Movie (2006), then signed to work for director Amy Heckerling with another supporting role, this one in the romantic comedy I Could Never Be Your Woman (2007). ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Clueless director Amy Heckerling returns to her position behind the camera for the first time in six years with this romantic comedy contrasting the age disparity romance of an older divorcée with the spring butterflies that her daughter experiences upon falling in love for the very first time. An aging professional (Michelle Pfeiffer) with little luck in love has finally found a fitting companion in the form of a much younger man (Paul Rudd). As her relationship threatens to move beyond something simply physical, her adolescent daughter (Saoirse Ronan) begins to wonder if the strange tingling sensation that she feels when she's in the company of a handsome local boy could possibly be the thing grown-ups refer to as "love." Of course anything is possible when Mother Nature (Tracey Ullman) is up to her old mischief, and with higher powers at play there's no telling what will come of the relationships experienced by these two love-starved souls. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michelle Pfeiffer, Paul Rudd, (more)
The standard "four horny guys" conceit of the typical teen comedy gets a change-up in this independent sex farce. Jarod (Jonathan Chase), Griff (Mitch Morris), Nico (Jonah Blechman), and Andy (Michael Carbonaro) are four close friends who are soon to graduate from high school, and at the end of the summer they'll go their separate ways as they go away to college. All four of them have something else in common -- they're virgins, and have made a pledge to one another to finally go all the way by Labor Day. Oh, did we mention these guys all happen to be gay? Griff devotes nearly every waking hour to improving his butt, Nico is the stereotypical flaming movie buff, Jarod is a jock worried about the size of his sporting equipment, and Andy has a bad habit of swiping vegetables from his mom's garden for purposes other than making a salad. With the help of their lesbian pal Muffler (Ashlie Atkinson), the guys go on the prowl looking for Mr. Right (or Mr. Right Now), with plenty of sexy, strange, and just plain gross hi-jinks along the way. Another Gay Movie includes cameo appearances from Scott Thompson, Graham Norton, Richard Hatch, and John Epperson (aka Lypsinka). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Carbonaro, Jonathan Chase, (more)
- 2004
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Graham Norton has developed a reputation as a cheeky talk-show host in Britain, willing to say things to and about his guests that push the envelope of acceptable conversation. This collection of favorite moments from his show includes footage with Ozzy Osbourne, Dolly Parton, Cher, Elton John, and Chris Rock. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- 2002
This two-hour spin-off of the raunchy British sitcom Absolutely Fabulous was originally telecast in the U.K. under the title Absolutely Fabulous: Gay. Now a buyer for Jeremy's, a trendy clothing store, hard-living and hard-drinking Patsy Stone (Joanna Lumley) comes to New York during Fashion Week in the company of her equally dissolute (and currently unemployed) chum, Edina Moonson (Jennifer Saunders). While Patsy has arrived in the Big Apple for professional reasons, Edina has a personal mission: She intends to locate her long-estranged son, Serge (Josh Hamilton). It's not that Edina is upset with Serge because he's gay -- it's simply that he's not gay enough to suit her offbeat view of the worlds. In between stopovers at fashion shows and upscale bars, Patsy and Edina contact Goldie (Whoopi Goldberg), a gay-couple counselor, hoping that she will help them track down Serge. Unfortunately, Goldie misunderstands and assumes that our two heroines want to get married. And what of the ladies' leftover friends and relatives back in England? As Absolutely Fabulous in New York, this wildly irreverent comedy special made its American cable-TV bow over Comedy Central on February 8, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1999
Hosted by the redoubtable Graham Norton, the cheeky British tell-all series Unzipped offered highly unobjective documentaries about celebrity depravities and excesses. Usually demonstrating the worst possible taste, Norton allowed the rich and famous to hang themselves with their own words and deeds, backed up by embarrassing sound bites and newsclips. Titles of the individual 65-minute episodes included "Football," "Royalty," "Television," "Fashion," "Hollywood," and "Politics." Unzipped unraveled on Britain's Channel 4 from May 22 to June 26, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1998
Openly gay and delightfully campy British TV personality Graham Norton was the host of this late-night talk show, which aired over Channel 4 beginning July 3, 1998. In the first half-hour of each episode, Norton went out of his way to embarrass his audience with silly "poll" questions. He then spent the remainder of the show making fools of his guests in such segments as "Celebrity Swearing." Additionally, Norton periodically visited bizarre Internet sites, with time left over for his weekly phone-in harassment of former movie Tarzan Miles O'Keeffe. The winner of two BAFTA awards, So Graham Norton... was brought to U.S. cable television in 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1991
Warren Mitchell starred in this British sitcom as Ivan Fox, the agnostic, abrasive Jewish manager of a London pipe tobacco factory. Transferred to a branch office in Northern Ireland, Fox promised himself that he'd steer clear of any political entanglements. However, the trials and tribulations of the local Jewish community forced Fox to be more of an activist than he'd otherwise have chosen to be. Written by ethnic-humor specialists Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran and filmed on location in Belfast, the six half-hour episodes of So You Think You've Got Troubles? were telecast by BBC1 from October 17 to November 28, 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
