Amy Bruckner Movies
A resourceful teenage super-sleuth finds her investigative skills put to the ultimate test as director Andrew Fleming and screenwriter Tiffany Paulsen revive the character originally made famous by author Carolyn Keene. Upon leaving her quaint hometown of River Heights and arriving in Los Angeles with her father, Carson (Tate Donovan), precocious small-town teen Nancy Drew (Emma Roberts) enrolls in Hollywood High and discovers just how different life on the West Coast really is. A true original in the land where Rodeo Drive dictates what's "in" at any given moment, Nancy stands apart from the pack as much for her penny loafers as for her sincere, non-acerbic attitude and keen study skills -- all of which make the non-ironic goody two-shoes an object of scorn for fashion-conscious mean girls Inga (Daniella Monet) and Trish (Kelly Vitz). Concerns about how to fit in soon take a back seat to more pressing issues, however, when Nancy, having previously promised her worried father that she would give up sleuthing, stumbles across a series of clues that may lead her to find out what caused the death of beautiful Hollywood movie star Dehlia Draycott -- who perished years ago under particularly mysterious circumstances. Upon discovering that she and her father are currently residing in the very same mansion that Draycott once called home, the prospect of solving one of Hollywood's biggest mysteries simply proves too tantalizing for the brilliant young detective to resist. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emma Roberts, Josh Flitter, (more)
A man hoping to make his way back to the big time starts by heading back to middle school in this comedy. Roy McCormick (Martin Lawrence) is one of the most successful coaches in college basketball, but he's just as famous for his hair-trigger temper as he is for molding winning teams. When an outburst of anger during a game escalates into an embarrassing public indecent, McCormick loses his job and is banned from college sports. Looking for a way to rehabilitate his image, McCormick takes a job coaching the basketball team at the middle school he used to attend, only to discover his players are a handful of misfits and losers with no skill on the court. Can McCormick mold the kids into a winning team -- and make himself into a better man along the way? Rebound also stars Wendy R. Robinson, Breckin Meyer, Horatio Sanz, Megan Mullally, and Patrick Warburton. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Lawrence, Wendy Raquel Robinson, (more)
- 2004
Created by Tim Maile and Douglas Tuber, the half-hour animated series Phil of the Future was originally titled The Out of Timers. This weekly effort chronicled the misadventures of the Diffys, a family from the year 2121 who had been inadvertently thrust back to 2004 thanks to a malfunctioning rented time machine. The titular Phil Diffy was a 15-year-old high school freshman (he'd been originally conceived as 12-year-old, but there were too many 12-year-olds on cartoon series as it was). Regarded as normal by 22nd century standards, Phil found himself a misfit as he attended school in his adopted 21st-century home town of Pickford, the eternal target of bullies and wise guys who found his futuristic patois to be "weird." Fortunately, Phil could always count upon the support of his best friend Keely Teslow, the only person who knew that the Diffys were from another time. Other characters included Phil's dad Lloyd, whose 22nd century inventions and gadgets always managed to get the family into trouble; Phil's mom Barbara, part-human, part-robot; his kid sister Pim, given to emitting bizarre noises; and Debbie Berwick, "Teacher's Pet" and Pim's best pal. One of the most popular offerings of cable's Disney Channel, Phil of the Future debuted June 18, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ricky Ullman, Alyson Michalka, (more)
- 2002
Elizabeth (Alex Kingston) lashes out at Rachel (Hallee Hirsh) for nearly causing baby Ella's death. Greene (Anthony Edwards) worries that his brain tumor has returned. Carter's (Noah Wyle) mother (Mary McDonnell) continues "coping" with the long-ago death of her other son, Bobby, by living her life vicariously through a young leukemia patient. Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) is forced to hold down the ER fort virtually by herself when a bag of bad bagels causes the other staffers to suffer from food poisoning. And Abby (Maura Tierney) is attacked and beaten by her neighbor Brian (Matthew Settle) for offering support to Brian's abused wife. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
