Mark S. Waters Movies
A director with a talent for satire and a knack for remaining true to the written word of a well-penned screenplay, Mark S. Waters first came to the attention of film lovers with his biting 1997 black comedy The House of Yes. A graduate of the AFI directing program, Waters made his feature-directing debut a mere three years after his graduation from the distinguished program. A dark and incestuous tale of a college student who brings his girlfriend home to visit his dysfunctional family with predictably disastrous results, the film earned its young director nominations at both the Chicago International Film Festival and the Sundance Film Festival in addition to earning star Parker Posey a "Special Recognition" award at the latter. It was four years until Waters returned with his sophomore effort, Head Over Heels, in 2001, and though the mainstream teen comedy didn't have quite the bite of his former feature, it did show a remarkable talent to watch for. Of course, it was only a matter of time before Waters broke big, and after tackling the 1985 Senatorial hearings on indecency in music in the made-for-VH1 movie Warning: Parental Advisory (2002), Waters achieved the rare feat of delivering a remake that actually lived up to expectations with the 2003 Lindsay Lohan/Jamie Lee Curtis comedy Freaky Friday. By the time Freaky Friday hit screens, there was little doubt that Waters could deliver in terms of mainstream laughs -- but the question remained whether or not he could combine his talent for satire with his keen mainstream sensibilities. In the end, audiences on both sides of the fence had little to worry about, with his 2004 comedy Mean Girls offering a sharp adaptation (penned by Saturday Night Live alumni Tina Fey) of Rosalind Wiseman's bestselling book Queen Bees and Wannabes. Affectionately regarded by many as a less dark version of Michael Lehmann's Heathers (which was written by Waters' brother Daniel), the film again starred Lohan as a popularity-conscious high-school girl who unintentionally makes the mistake of crossing the path of her school's most vicious clique. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide- 2009
In this comedy from writers Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, a man wakes up to find his worst nightmare has come true -- his life has become a musical. Marc Shaiman provides the songs for the Mark S. Waters-directed production. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
An embittered television executive working for a hip-hop-oriented music channel finds her fate intricately tied with a New York City taxi driver after hailing his cab for questionable purposes in director Jeff Stanzler's intimate look at the tenuous relationship between Caucasians and Muslims in post-9/11 America. Phoebe (Robin Wright Penn) hates her job at Q Dog TV, and focuses the brunt of her disgruntled rage squarely on co-worker Phyllis MacIntyre (Sandra Oh). During the course of their extended journey to Phoebe's suburban destination, troubled Muslim cab driver Ashade (Abdel Kechiche) confides to his passenger that the arrest of his brother on charges of suspected terrorism has thrown his family into chaos. Though the increasingly unstable Phoebe listens diligently to Ashade's tragic confession -- even offering to help the distraught Syrian chemist-turned-cab driver's struggling family -- it's only after arriving at his fare's destination that Ashade truly begins to grasp Phoebe's true nature and realize that he has made a grave mistake in placing his trust in her. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robin Wright Penn, Abdel Kechiche, (more)
- 2002
According to this irreverent made-for-cable movie, the mid-'80s movement to slap "parental advisory" labels on music videos and albums was fueled by clueless congressional wives and opportunistic hacks. Mariel Hemingway is cast as a sincere but misguided Tipper Gore, who in 1985 declares all-out war upon "dirty" rock lyrics. Her main opponent in this epochal battle is Charlie (Jason Priestley), a cynical lobbyist for the music industry, whose own motives are far less altruistic than Tipper's. Charlie's rock-music allies are a truly eclectic and eccentric bunch, including country & western balladeer John Denver (Tim Guinee), the legendary Frank Zappa (Griffin Dunne), and Twisted Sister's Dee Snider (hilariously playing himself). No one is spared the satiric thrust of Jay Martel's teleplay, least of all Tipper's politically ambitious husband Al Gore (played by Jim Beatty in a manner calculated to make everyone truly happy that the Florida recount went in the opposite direction). A deliciously ironic ending caps Warning: Parental Advisory, which premiered April 21, 2002 on the VH1 cable network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A wealthy young man wants to wed a painfully ordinary girl, and a few hours with his family will convince anyone why he's doing so in this black comedy. Marty Pascal (Josh Hamilton) is engaged to marry Lesly (Tori Spelling), a dizzy blonde he met when she was working at a doughnut shop, and he bravely decides that it's time she met his family, so he brings her along for Thanksgiving dinner at his mother's house in West Virginia. Bravery is necessary because the Pascals are not an especially healthy or wholesome family. Mother (Genevieve Bujold) explains her philosophy about parenting like so: "You raise cattle; children just happen." In this environment, where refusing your child anything is all but unknown, her youngest son Anthony (Freddie Prinze, Jr.) has grown up to be an overanxious virgin eager to seduce Lesly while Marty's not paying attention. And Marty's twin sister Jackie (Parker Posey), malignily obsessed with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, often re-enacts the murder of JFK using spaghetti sauce for blood (when she can't get ahold of real bullets) and enjoys incestuously seducing Marty (which hardly bothers Mother, who notes that "Jackie's hand was holding Marty's penis when they came out the womb"). The House of Yes was based on the play by Wendy MacLeod; first time director Mark S. Waters (brother of screenwriter Daniel Waters) also adapted the screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Parker Posey, Josh Hamilton, (more)
- 2009
- PG13
- Add (500) Days of Summer to Queue
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel star in director Marc Webb's wry, nonlinear romantic comedy about a man who falls head over heels for a woman who doesn't believe in love. Mark (Gordon-Levitt) is an aspiring architect who currently earns his living as a greeting card writer. Upon encountering his boss' beautiful new secretary, Summer (Deschanel), Mark discovers that the pair have plenty in common despite the fact that she's seemingly out of his league; for starters, they both love the Smiths, and they're both fans of surrealist artist Magritte. Before long Mark is smitten. All he can think about is Summer. Mark believes deeply in the concept of soul mates, and he's finally found his. Unfortunately for Mark, Summer sees true love as the stuff of fairy tales, and isn't looking for romance. Undaunted and undeterred by his breezy lover's casual stance on relationships, Mark summons all of his might and courage to pursue Summer and convince her that their love is real. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zooey Deschanel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, (more)
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past -- the Mark S. Waters directed fusion of A Christmas Carol with a traditional romantic comedy -- stars Matthew McConaughey as Connor Mead, a famous photographer and confirmed womanizer. He takes a break from his playboy lifestyle to attend his brother's wedding, where he becomes reacquainted with Jenny Perotti (Jennifer Garner), the only girl who ever captured his heart. After Connor delivers a drunken speech at the rehearsal dinner where he says that love isn't real, he's met in the bathroom by the ghost of his Uncle Wayne (Michael Dogulas), a Hefner-esque horndog who taught Conner everything he knows about picking up chicks. Uncle Wayne informs Connor that, over the course of the evening, he'll be visited by three ghosts who will lead him through his romantic past, present, and future. Will Connor learn to get over himself and love the right woman, or will he remain an emotional Scrooge? ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, (more)
A couple who live on different sides of the divide of life and death discover just how many boundaries love can cross in this romantic comic fantasy. Elizabeth (Reese Witherspoon) is a hardworking and dedicated medical resident who, after 20 hours on duty, is heading home when she falls asleep at the wheel of her car and is involved in a fatal auto accident. Several weeks later, a man named David (Mark Ruffalo) takes over the lease on Elizabeth's apartment, but he discovers that she hasn't quite vacated the building. Elizabeth's body may be dead, but her spirit is still quite lively, and her ghost is insisting that the apartment is still hers...and that she wants him to move out. David brings in Darryl (Jon Heder), an eccentric man who claims to have psychic powers, to help sweep Elizabeth's spirit out of the apartment, but she refuses to budge, certain that she can't be completely dead, despite all evidence to the contrary. As Elizabeth and David try to share the flat, they discover that their differences aren't as great as they once imagined, and they become attracted to one another. But will Elizabeth's spirit stay in the land of the living long enough for their romance to go somewhere? Just Like Heaven marked Jon Heder's first feature film role after his breakthrough appearance in the independent hit Napoleon Dynamite. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reese Witherspoon, Mark Ruffalo, (more)
Tina Fey from Saturday Night Live wrote and appears in this comedy about the alternately funny and terrifying pecking order among teenage girls. Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) is a 15-year-old girl who has spent most of her life in Africa, where she was home-schooled by her zoologist parents. When her family relocates to the United States, Cady finds herself attending a high school in suburban Illinois, where she gets a crash course in the various sub-strata of the student body: the jocks, the cheerleaders, the stoners, the "cool" kids, and so on. Much to her surprise, Cady finds herself embraced by a clique of rich and popular girls known to outsiders as "the Plastics," led by Regina George (Rachel McAdams), Gretchen Weiners (Lacey Chabert), and Karen Smith (Amanda Seyfried). While Cady is grateful for her new friends, it doesn't take long for her to realize how manipulative they can be, and she soon discovers she's violated an unwritten law when she goes out on a date with Aaron (Jonathan Bennett), who is charming, good looking...and Regina's former boyfriend. It isn't long before Regina and her pals are on the warpath, and Cady must face a level of vengeful behavior for which years in the jungle never prepared her. Joining Tina Fey in the supporting cast are fellow SNL players Amy Poehler, Ana Gasteyer, and Tim Meadows. The screenplay for Mean Girls was based in part on Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends and Other Realities of Adolescence, a book by professional youth counselor Rosalind Wiseman. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, (more)
If you think you've seen a man killing someone, does that mean you shouldn't be dating him? This and other questions about modern relationships are explored in this offbeat romantic comedy. Amanda Pierce (Monica Potter) has found a great job (restoring paintings for the Metropolitan Museum of Art) and a great place to live: a spacious East Side apartment that she shares with four successful models, played by Ivana Milicevic, Shalom Harlow, Sarah O'Hare, and Tomiko Fraser. Amanda is still in the market for a great boyfriend, since most of her previous relationships have ended in broken promises or infidelity. She thinks she may have found the right guy in Jim Winston (Freddie Prinze Jr.), but she has reason to believe that he might be guilty of murder. Since she's not sure he has actually done anything, she decides to find out the truth, and her investigation has unexpectedly comic consequences. Head Over Heels was directed by Mark S. Waters, whose first feature, The House of Yes, also starred Freddie Prinze Jr.. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Monica Potter, Freddie Prinze, Jr., (more)
Mark S. Waters's adaptation of the popular fantasy novels The Spiderwick Chronicles tells the tale of the Graces, a family who must adapt to their new strange surroundings. As the story begins, twin brothers Jared and Simon, along with their sister Mallory and their mother, move away from the big city to a mansion owned by their uncle. When a series of strange happenings suggest that Jared may be causing a number of disturbances, the siblings band together to figure out what is going on. Soon they discover the magical history of the property. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Freddie Highmore, Mary-Louise Parker, (more)
A high-strung mom and her punky daughter learn what it's like to walk in each other's shoes -- literally -- in Disney's second update of their 1977 teen fantasy comedy. The new-millennium Freaky Friday has disgruntled teen Anna Coleman (Lindsay Lohan) living, sans father, with her uptight therapist-author mom Tess (Jamie Lee Curtis) and bratty brother Harry (Ryan Malgarini). The angst between the two reaches a fever pitch on the eve of Tess' wedding rehearsal: Anna wants to ditch the proceedings for an all-important band audition, but Tess sees the conflict as a show of resentment toward imminent step-dad Ryan (Mark Harmon). When the whole clan goes out to dinner at their favorite Chinese restaurant, their sage waitress (Lucille Soong) picks up on the tension between the mother and daughter and casts a spell on them via two magic fortune cookies. The next day, Tess and Anna must put up with life in each other's bodies -- until, as the fortune says, they can come to a greater understanding of one another. Freaky Friday was previously remade for TV in 1995 with Shelley Long and Gaby Hoffman in the leads. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan, (more)
