Matt Champagne Movies
- 2001
One family's dysfunctional nature begins to rise to the surface in this independent drama. The Sabistan family would appear to have it made; Earl (Robert Pine) and Jane (Janet Carroll) have had a long and seemingly happy marriage, and their three grown daughters -- Beth (Kellie Martin), Missy (Amy Raymond), and Faran (Kayren Ann Butler) -- have found success in their respective careers. But when they all gather together to celebrate Thanksgiving, Earl drops a bombshell on his family; he announces he's no longer happy with Jane and has decided to file for divorce. The surprise announcement forces Jane to reveal a secret of her own -- that she's developed a serious drinking problem. As Beth tries to make sense of all this, she discovers that her sisters have been keeping quiet about problems of their own; Missy's marriage to Todd (Jeff Robert Werner) is falling apart now that he's no longer attracted to her, and Faran has reason to believe that her spouse Roger (Chris Shea) is having an affair. All You Need was the first feature for director Randy Ser. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kellie Martin, Janet Carroll, (more)
- 2001
As Cordy (Charisma Carpenter) and the gang continue to press on without him, Angel (David Boreanaz) joins the Host (Andy Hallett) in a mission to stop a misguided physicist named Gene Rainy (Matt Champagne) from destroying the world by stopping time in its tracks. The Host first becomes aware of the impending disaster when Gene sings a song at Caritas and the Host sees no future for him -- or anyone else. It turns out the guy has a girlfriend named Denise (Darby Stanchfield) whom he knows is about to dump him. Aided by a formula slipped to him on the sly by some Lubber demons, he intends to freeze Denise and himself in an eternal embrace when she shows up at his apartment for one final roll in the hay. Unfortunately, the Lubber demons do everything they can to expand the field of temporal paralysis to include the entire world. Despite some intensive detective work and quite a bit of hand-to-hand combat, Angel and the Host fail to prevent this dastardly event from occurring. Eventually, though, they cause time to resume its normal flow and Gene learns an important lesson about the human heart. Originally broadcast February 6, 2001, on the WB network, "Happy Anniversary" marked season two, episode 13 of the supernatural comedy drama. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
Diane Keaton stars as a unconditionally loving, but meddling, mother whose vain attempt to prevent her insecure youngest daughter from repeating the same mistakes that she made leads to a series of comic misunderstandings in director Michael Lehmann's affectionate family comedy. When it comes to the topic of motherhood, Daphne Wilder (Keaton) has seen it all. Her eldest daughter, Maggie (Lauren Graham), is a highly respected psychologist and her middle daughter, Mae (Piper Perabo), is both sexy and smart, but youngest Milly (Mandy Moore) just can't seem to get things right no matter how hard she tries. Recognizing that the romantic exploits of her charming-but-struggling youngest always seem to end in tears, concerned mother Daphne vows to find Millie the perfect man. Though she always means well, Daphne's misguided attempt to set her daughter up by placing a carefully worded personal ad proves once and for all that even the most well-intending of mothers can sometimes overstep their boundaries. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diane Keaton, Mandy Moore, (more)
- 2005
Monk (Tony Shalhoub), Natalie (Traylor Howard) and Julie (Emmy Clarke) are stuck in a massive traffic jam, caused by a multicar pile-up. Leaving his car to find out how long he's going to be detained, Monk stumbles upon clues indicating that the traffic accident was the end result of a murder. As he tries to solve the crime, Monk is faced with another crisis when Julie is suddenly seized by an urgent Call of Nature--and this little inconvenience brings our hero face to face with the rock group Korn (playing themselves), who unexpectedly provide Monk with the obligatory vital clue! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1998
This TV comedy series on the challenges of single motherhood recounts semi-autobiographical events in the life of the series' executive producer-creator Susan Beavers, who scripted the premiere episode. Software company exec (Cynthia Stevenson) can't get a commitment from her longtime boyfriend Grant (Daniel Hugh Kelly). Minus a mate, she chose to be artificially inseminated. The sitcom set-up here features Tracy employing a remote and a video monitor while she narrates past events leading up to her decision, telling the viewer, "I convinced the network to give me 22 minutes to prove to them that you could care about me and my story." Thus, videotapes recap the advance suggestion of menopause by her gynecologist, the turquoise three-year anniversary ring from Grant, and scenes of her best friend, twice-divorced company shrink Charlotte (Joanna Gleason), also a single mother. Tracy can't fit it all into the necessary 22 minutes, so she tells viewers, "We only have about nine minutes left, so I'm going to just fast-forward right to my nervous breakdown." Filmed in LA, the series premiered August 18, 1998 on Lifetime. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cynthia Stevenson, Joanna Gleason, (more)
