Jennifer Taylor Movies
A woman discovers that a part of her family history may be more complicated -- and more famous -- than she ever imagined in this comedy. Thirtysomething Sarah Huttinger (Jennifer Aniston), who has spent most of her adult life in New York City, is flying home to California with her long time boyfriend, Jeff Daly (Mark Ruffalo), for the wedding of her annoyingly perky younger sister, Annie (Mena Suvari). While Sarah and Jeff have recently announced they're engaged to be married, Sarah has been having second thoughts, and she isn't excited about the prospect of spending time with the family where she's always felt like the odd duck. As Sarah tries to decide what she should do with her personal and professional lives, she turns to her sharp-tongued and still youthful grandmother, Katharine (Shirley MacLaine), for advice, and Katharine shares a little-known bit of family history -- that Sarah's now-deceased mother left her father, Earl (Richard Jenkins), a few days before their wedding and ran off with another man for several days before coming back and marrying Earl. However, after hearing this Sarah is also treated to some long-simmering local gossip about a young man who ran off with a bride-to-be after he was seduced by her mother...and that the story became the basis for the hit movie The Graduate. Sarah begins to wonder, was Katharine the real-life Mrs. Robinson of this story? And if it's true, who was the man who had affairs with Sarah's mother and grandmother? Was it dashing and wealthy family friend Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner), who has also turned Sarah's head? Rumor Has It... was produced from an original screenplay by Ted Griffin; Griffin was originally set to direct the film, but shortly after production began he was replaced, with Rob Reiner taking over the project. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner, (more)
- 1995
- R
This taut psychological thriller is set in a small Kansas town and centers on Karen, a young wife who has been recently tormented by a series of terrible nightmares involving a strange young man wearing a crucifix as he emerges from the roaring rapids of a river. Perhaps the dreams are related to her troubled waking life. Her husband, Jim, is blatantly having an affair, but refuses to divorce her. She is on the edge of an emotional collapse and so spends much of her time driving about. One day she stops at a gas station, and there, offering to gas up her car, is the young man of her nightmares. She is soon fixated on him and one night chases him to a river where he nearly drowns her. He seems very troubled by this, and Karen cannot help but become frighteningly intrigued with this enigmatic young man. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1994
- PG13
- Add National Lampoon's Last Resort to QueueAdd National Lampoon's Last Resort to top of Queue
Inasmuch as National Lampoon magazine was on its last legs in 1994, the title National Lampoon's Last Resort was all too prophetic. The film takes place at, yes, a summer resort, which is threatened with extinction by (in unison, please) Evil Land Developers. Can the Corey boys -- Haim and Feldman -- save the camp? You might get some incidental fun by predicting precisely when the first bathroom joke is about to occur (it doesn't take long). Unlike previous National Lampoon features, Last Resort went direct to video. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, (more)
- 1986
The core and darker nuances of the original "Nutcracker" fairytale by E.T.A. Hoffman (with music by Tchaikovsky) are kept alive in this adept cinematic interpretation with its combination of ballet, special effects, and Maurice Sendak's costume and production designs. The Pacific Northwest Ballet Co. perform the tale about a young girl's dream. The Stahlbaum house is celebrating the night before Christmas, and the children, Fritz and Clara (Vanessa Sharp) welcome their godfather Herr Drosselmeier (Hugh Bigney) who brings them gifts. Clara's gift is a beautiful nutcracker, so beautiful that her brother becomes jealous and breaks it. Later, when everyone is in bed, Clara sneaks back to the Christmas tree to look at her repaired nutcracker and has a marvelous and often menacing dream. The Christmas tree grows to fill the room, and a mighty army of mice led by the Mouse King threatens her. The Nutcracker and the toy soldiers try to defeat the army but the Nutcracker is captured, at which point Clara (Patricia Barker as the dream Clara) bravely clobbers the Mouse King, and the army is defeated. From that point onward, she and the Nutcracker -- who has turned into a Prince -- have many adventures in the Land of Snow where a series of more than seven different dances introduce enchanting and grim characters. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hugh Bigney, Vanessa Sharp, (more)
