David Wagner Movies
One of the "popular girls" decides to put her mean streak to work in this black comedy. Kimberly Joyce (Evan Rachel Wood) is an outwardly friendly but inwardly cold and manipulative teenager who attends an exclusive private school in Beverly Hills when she's not making fun of her twentysomething stepmother (Jaime King) or listening to her business mogul father (James Woods) rant about the many people he hates. Kimberly's best friend is Brittany (Elisabeth Harnois), who doesn't seem to notice that Kimberly holds a bit of a grudge over the fact Brittany is now dating Troy (Stark Sands), Kimberly's former boyfriend. When Randa (Adi Schnall), an exchange student from the Middle East, arrives at school, Kimberly is asked to show her around, and soon she's giving her the inside scoop on the school's social hierarchy. Kimberly, Brittany, and Randa, like most of the girls at school, don't much care for Mr. Anderson (Ron Livingston), a teacher who doesn't make much of a secret of his lust for the female student body, though he doesn't do much besides look. Kimberly decides to do something about Mr. Anderson by fabricating a story that he has had inappropriate contact with her, Brittany, and Randa, and it doesn't take long for the matter to become a local scandal, though it does end up backfiring on Kimberly in time. Pretty Persuasion also features supporting performances from Selma Blair, Jane Krakowski, and Michael Hitchcock. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Evan Rachel Wood, Ron Livingston, (more)
Boy meets girl who's already met all sorts of boys and girls in this teen-slanted comedy. Matthew Kidman (Emile Hirsch) is a straight-laced and highly ambitious high school student who plans to study at Georgetown University and dreams of a career in politics. While most of his classmates are in the throes of an epidemic of senioritis, Matthew is obsessed with schoolwork and has a hard time relaxing and having fun. But he finds himself a bit less focused on his future career when Danielle (Elisha Cuthbert), a beautiful 19-year-old blonde, moves in next door. Danielle is playful, spontaneous, and doesn't always remember to draw her shades, and before long Matthew is head over heels in love. Danielle soon finds herself taken with Matthew as well, but their relationship takes an unusual turn when he discovers that, before she moved to town, Danielle had a successful career as a porn actress. Matthew is able to convince Danielle that she's cut out for better things in life than appearing in porn videos, but his advice doesn't especially please Kelly (Timothy Olyphant) or Hugo (James Remar), two porn moguls who figure Matthew owes them big-time after convincing their leading lady to drop out of the adult industry. The Girl Next Door -- which, appropriately enough, shares its title with a 1999 documentary about adult film superstar Stacy Valentine -- also features Timothy Bottoms, Paul Dano, and Chris Marquette. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elisha Cuthbert, Emile Hirsch, (more)
Nick Cannon stars in this comedy thriller as a 24-year-old police detective who takes no small amount of ribbing from his fellow officers for his boyish looks. His appearance, however, lands him a plumb assignment at a posh private high school, where he discovers the students are operating an underground business stealing and selling luxury cars. The Underclassman also stars Cheech Marin, Roselyn Sanchez, and Kelly Hu. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nick Cannon
Three lazy pals find they're facing fatherhood simultaneously in this light-hearted comedy co-written by star Eddie Griffin. Lonnie (Griffin), G. (Anthony Anderson), and Dominick (Michael Imperioli) live stress-free lives with Lonnie's trash-talking Uncle Virgil (John Amos). But when all three young men's girlfriends get knocked up at the same time, they're forced to take a long, hard look at their lifestyles. For G., who works at the family grocery store of his girlfriend Xi Xi (Bai Ling), that means saying no to criminal temptation and staying on the straight and narrow; for Dominick, it means taking time out from his busy career as a record producer and coming to terms with surprise revelations from his baby's momma; and for Lonnie, it means recognizing ghetto-fabulous girlfriend Rolonda (Paula Jai Parker) as the gold-digger she is and finding a new lady love without sacrificing his individuality. Directed by Cheryl Dunye, whose previous features were low-budget indies, My Baby's Daddy also stars rapper Method Man as imposing ex-con No Good. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Griffin, Anthony Anderson, (more)
The "National Lampoon" franchise is resurrected for another politically incorrect collegiate romp with this R-rated gross-out sex comedy. National Lampoon's Van Wilder revolves around the exploits of its title character (Ryan Reynolds), a seventh-year senior who's made it his goal in life to help each and every Coolidge College undergrad succeed in life -- or at least in bed. Van's charmed life seems to have an expiration date, however; his father (Tim Matheson) has cut off his presumably vast allowance. Financial insecurity doesn't phase the big man on campus, and he soon starts up a lucrative cottage industry as a planner of high-priced campus blowouts. When an enterprising reporter from the college paper gets wind of Van's liberal interpretation of the school's code of conduct, it seems his gig is up -- unless, of course, he can charm the hard-edged Gwen (Tara Reid) into accepting his uniquely skewed world view. In addition to Matheson, Van Wilder features cameos from a number of '80s teen movie stalwarts, including Edie McClurg, Paul Gleason, and Erik Estrada. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ryan Reynolds, Tara Reid, (more)
- 1998
This short, made-for-cable parody is a Scary Movie style spoof of Steven Spielberg's WWII epic Saving Private Ryan. Over-the-top phallus jokes make up the majority of the eight minute film, as the plot follows a group of soldiers searching for not just their missing comrade, but his lost genitalia as well. While labeled by some as being in poor taste, Saving Ryan's Privates generated a cult following for providing laughter amidst the hype for such a serious movie. The short film is frequently erroneously referred to as a porn title. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
A cop arresting a drug dealer is stabbed with a syringe. He soon begins to see everybody around him turning into zombies, led by a mutant creature with the face of a pig. He believes himself to be hallucinating because of the drug he's been injected with, until he himself begins turning into one of the zombie creatures. He tries to find out what's behind all of this before he turns into a complete zombie. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
Valley boys take on the punk rockers in this teen-age adventure. This time they use skateboards instead of zip guns, knives and fists. The rich Valley kids, "The Ramp Locals," are led by Corey Webster, while the leather-clad, street-wise punks follow Tommy Hook. The trouble begins when Corey falls in love with Tommy's little sister who has come from Indiana for a visit. The rivalry between the gangs culminates during the grueling "LA Massacre," a 20-mile downhill skateboarding race. The winning team will earn a corporate sponsor. For the final race, the filmmakers strapped a camera in front of a skateboard to give viewers a sense of the thrills experienced by the daring "thrashers." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josh Brolin, Robert Rusler, (more)
- 1986
The Children of Times Square are alienated and disenfranchised kids from all over the country. With nowhere to go and no real purpose in life, they converge on the streets of New York, totally vulnerable despite their outward toughness. Howard Rollins plays a ruthless cocaine dealer who, in the tradition of Fagin, wins the confidence of many of these kids and organizes them into a criminal gang. The film traces the "recruitment" by Rollins of two teenagers, runaway Brandon Douglas and New Yorker Danny Nucci. Joanna Cassidy plays Douglas' mother, who desperately tries to free her son from Rollins' influence. Made for TV, Children of Times Square debuted on March 3, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Slow-paced and with mediocre acting, this family-oriented mystery story focuses on the search for a missing treasure and for answers to the disappearance of a young girl nearly a century earlier. Susan (Randi Brown) and her brother Johnny (David Wagner) are on vacation at their aunt's and uncle's house (Jane Ferguson and Greg Wynne) when they come across an old map that may be a clue in finding a cache of gold. Susan has been having bad dreams about Rachel, a young girl who disappeared in 1889 in a nearby mansion (now run-down and crumbling) when her parents were killed by bank robbers. After Susan and Johnny make friends with Billy (Lindsay Bishop) their neighbor, all three children join together to look for the treasure, and to find out what happened to Rachel. In one interlude, two escaped convicts menace the youngsters for awhile, but some clever action by their friend and neighbor Sam (Dallas McKennon) saves the day. Now all they have to do is find the answers to their two big questions -- where is the gold, and what happened to Rachel? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dal McKennon, Greg Wynne, (more)
