Shayn Solberg Movies
- 2001
MTV's first made-for-TV movie, 2Gether: The Original Movie, is a hilarious and sometimes touching send-up of the "boy band" phenomenon of the '90s. When rock manager Bob Buss (Alan Blumenfeld) is fired by the studio-created boy group Whoa!, he decides to get even by creating another band from the ground up. After discovering young Jerry O'Keefe (Evan Farmer) singing in the streets, Buss builds his new group around O'Keefe's natural talents. Adhering to the standard music-industry clichés, Buss' pre-fab creation, 2gether, consists of "The Lead Singer" (O'Keefe), "The Bad Boy" Mickey Parke, "The Cute One" Q.T. McKnight, "The Shy One" Chad Linus, and "The Older Brother," who happens to be Chad's older brother Doug Linus. Whipping them into shape in but a few days, Buss prepares 2gether for their big-time debut in Jacksonville -- as the opening act for Whoa! Several MTV personalities, notably the ubiquitous Carson Daly, appear as themselves. In true "life imitates art" fashion, 2gether briefly became an honest-to-goodness pop sensation, turning out several popular tunes, a well-circulated music video, and a weekly TV series. Filmed in Vancouver, 2gether: The Original Movie first aired on February 1, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this family canine comedy, a sequel to Air Bud (1997), Josh Framm (Kevin Zegers) finds it a problem when his widowed mother, Jackie (Cynthia Stevenson), starts seeing the community's new veterinarian, Patrick Sullivan (Gregory Harrison). Sullivan gives a football to Josh's golden retriever Buddy, and the athletic animal is soon girding for the gridiron. Coach Fanelli (Robert Costanzo) adds Josh as back-up quarterback to the jr. high team, and an accident takes Josh off the bench and onto the field. Meanwhile, two devious dognappers (Nora Dunn, Perry Anzilotti) see news footage of Buddy playing basketball and make plans to spirit him away to a Russian circus. Four dogs performed the tricks seen here. The character of Air Bud was created by Kevin DiCicco, but Buddy died not long after the first movie. The original basketball-shooting Buddy, a popular half-time attraction prior to the first film, achieved a lifetime total of some 22,000 baskets. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Zegers, Cynthia Stevenson, (more)
Newly arrived in the town of Cedar Island, perennial misfit Picasso Dewlap (Robert Burke) has trouble making friends, even when he joins his junior-high basketball team. But Picasso's stock with his peers rises considerably when he recruits a rather hirsute young "man" with remarkable hoop skills to play on the team. It so happens that Picasso's pal, Ed Tibbetts (Trevor Jones), is actually a Sasquatch, or "Bigfoot"--but that hardly matters so long as the team keeps racking up wins. Eventually growing homesick for his family back in the woods, Ed escapes on the eve of the championship game--forcing Picasso to make a fateful decision. Adapted by Brian Daly from his own novel, the made-for-cable Big & Hairy originally aired November 30, 1998, on the Showtime network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Burke, Trevor Jones, (more)
The heartwarming story of a boy, his dog and a basketball forms the basis of this family comedy from Disney. Snively (Michael Jeter) is an unfunny clown whose appearances at children's parties are usually upstaged by his dog Buddy, who has learned how to shoot a basketball. Snively is tired of being upstaged by the pooch, and he eventually abandons him. Buddy is taken in by Josh (Kevin Zegers), a shy boy whose father recently died. Josh's mother Jackie (Wendy Makkena) moves them to a small town in Washington, where the naturally withdrawn Josh doesn't quite fit in. Too shy to try out for the basketball team, he instead becomes team manager, and he practices on his own after the team goes home. One night, Josh discovers Buddy that can not only shoot hoops, but he's a better shot than anyone on the team. Coach Barker (Stephen E. Miller), hungry for victory, adds Buddy to the team and soon the dog with game is famous -- just famous enough, in fact, for Snively to return, demanding the return of his pet. Buddy the Dog was spotted by the film's producers shooting baskets on the "Stupid Pet Tricks" segment of The Late Show with David Letterman. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Jeter, Kevin Zegers, (more)
