Amanda Foreman Movies

Mission: Impossible III director and Alias creator J.J. Abrams resurrects the classic science fiction franchise created by Gene Roddenberry with this feature film that embraces the rich history of the influential television and film series while also exploring some uncharted territory. Heroes star Zachary Quinto assumes the role of the Federation Starfleet lieutenant and Vulcan made famous in the original series by Leonard Nimoy (who also appears in an older incarnation of his original role), Spock, with Anton Yelchin stepping into the role of USS Enterprise navigator Pavel Chekov, Zoe Saldana assuming the role of communications officer Uhura, Simon Pegg keeping the ship in top shape as chief engineer Montgomery Scott (aka "Scotty"), and Eric Bana tormenting the benevolent space explorers as the villainous Nero. Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle co-star John Cho also boards the Enterprise as Hikaru Sulu, with Chris Pine and Karl Urban assuming the legendary roles of Captain Kirk and Leonard "Bones" McCoy, respectively. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Three loosely interrelated stories of dysfunctional relationships are played for edgy laughs in this dark comedy drama from writer and director Don Roos. An unexpected assignation between stepsiblings Mamie and Charley results in Mamie becoming pregnant, with the child being put up for adoption shortly after birth. Twenty years later, Mamie (Lisa Kudrow) is approached by Nicky (Jesse Bradford), an aspiring filmmaker with an abrasive personality who claims to know where her long-lost son is living. However, there's a catch -- Nicky wants to shoot the reunion for the student film he's working on, and won't tell her about her child unless she agrees, though her lover, Javier (Bobby Cannavale), attempts to work out a compromise. Meanwhile, Charley (Steve Coogan), now out of the closet, has a longstanding relationship with Gil (David Sutcliffe), and the couple are involved in a legal battle over whether or not Gil's donated sperm produced a baby who has been adopted by a lesbian couple they know (Laura Dern and Sarah Clarke). And finally, Jude (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is a bohemian malcontent who becomes involved with Otis (Jason Ritter), a sexually ambiguous rock musician. Otis has a difficult relationship with his father, Frank (Tom Arnold), but when Jude meets Frank, she likes him fine -- in fact, she soon falls in love with him and leaves Otis for his dad. Happy Endings had its world premiere at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Marshall (Kevin Weisman) explains the full significance of the Rambaldi manuscripts, thereby revealing a 500-year-old prophecy of the Apocalypse. To prevent this, Sydney (Jennifer Garner) and Dixon (Carl Lumbly) must track down a Panamanian named Di Regno (James Carraway) -- but Dixon, determined to avenge the murder of his wife, Diane, at the hands of Sloane (Ron Rifkin), may not be up to this crucial assignment. The outcome of the story -- and the fate of the world -- may hinge upon a startling confession made to Sloane by a repentant monk named Conrad (David Carradine). And in a less somber development, new NSA special ops agent Carrie Bowman (Amanda Foreman) develops a crush on Marshall. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of a two-part story, Sydney (Jennifer Garner) manages to clear Will (Bradley Cooper) of espionage charges, but she must still deal with the fact that her mother, Irina (Lena Olin), has betrayed her. The situation changes radically when Irina shows up, claiming that she was only pretending to conspire with Sloane (Ron Rifkin) to make sure that all portions of the deadly Rambaldi device would be turned over to the CIA. But can this "explanation" merely be Irina's way of luring Sydney into another trap? Whatever the case, this final episode of Alias' second season provides a whopper of a cliffhanger finale, with Sydney, emerging from unconsciousness after a fight with Francie's evil double (Merrin Dungey), discovering to her astonishment that she has been "out" for two whole years -- and that's only for starters! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The fourth and final season of Felicity also represents the heroine's fourth and final year at the University of New York in Greenwich Village. Having had a falling out with her dad over "wasting" her education, Felicity vows to finance her senior year all by herself. She also hopes to get into an honors program -- and, failing to do so, she finds comfort in the arms (and bed) of her off-and-on beau Noel Crane (Scott Foley). Elsewhere, Felicity's other boyfriend Ben (Scott Speedman) has returned from EMT training in Kansas City determined to become a doctor; to no one's surprise, the marriage of Elena Tyler (Tangi Miller) and her fiancé Tracy (Donald Faison) doesn't come off, whereupon Elena launches a relationship with Ben's fellow pre-med student Trevor (Christopher Gorham); and to everyone's surprise, Ben's idealistic ex-roommate Sean (Greg Grunberg) weds Felicity's extremely eccentric ex-roomie Meghan (Amanda Foreman) -- with Felicity, an ordained minister in the Universal Life Church, performing the ceremony! In other developments, Noel uses a huge inheritance from his ex-wife to arrange for Felicity to get an assistant teaching position and to start his own web-design business with Sean. That business is swallowed up by Webb Graphics, and shortly afterward, Noel begins a relationship with Zoe (Sarah Jane Morris), his new boss's daughter. Also, Ben has a fling with Lauren (Lisa Edelstein), his dad's former mistress -- and subsequently agonizes over the fact that Lauren is pregnant. And finally, despite resorting to cheating to get a term paper done, Felicity finally graduates, as Ben moves to Arizona to be with his new "family." Interrupted by a four-month hiatus, season four resumes as Sean and Noel go back into private business again, spooky Meghan gets a job as a psychiatrist, and Ben -- minus Lauren and the baby -- comes back into the life of Felicity, now in pre-med at Stanford University. When Elena is killed in a car accident, Felicity spirals into a deep depression, breaking up with Ben in the process. Resurfacing at the wedding of Noel and Zoe, Felicity is given an opportunity, via a spell cast by the "bewitching" Meghan, to see what her life would have been like had she never broken up with Noel -- thereby setting the stage for the outrageous "double surprise" that brings Felicity to its riotous conclusion. ~ All Movie Guide

Appropriately enough, season three of Felicity gets under way as heroine Felicity Porter (Keri Russell) begins her junior year at the University of New York in Greenwich Village. Forever leaving dorm life behind her, Felicity moves into an apartment with her boyfriend Ben Covington (Scott Speedman), while her former beau (and ex-dorm advisor) Noel Crane (Scott Foley) returns to school with his new wife Natalie (Ali Landry) in tow. Having decided to drop out of school so he can devote all his time to his high-living spouse, Noel is talked out of this rash decision by his friends and also realizes (as the viewer has known for weeks) that marrying Natalie was a big mistake. Just as Noel is annulling his marriage, Felicity's best friend and Ben's ex-flame Julie (Amy Jo Johnson) leaves the U.of N.Y. -- and, simultaneously, bids farewell to the series except for the occasional guest appearance in later seasons. In other developments, Felicity's classmate Elena (Tangi Miller), impatient over the fact that her boyfriend Tracy (Donald Faison) refuses to have sex until marriage, cheats on the poor boy. Eventually he forgives her -- and "gives in" to her in the bargain. Also, two new recurring characters have been added: Molly (Sarah Jane Potts), an English exchange student, and Ben's alcoholic father Andrew (played by an uncredited John Ritter). Season three is divided into two distinct sections, separated by a four-month hiatus. When the season's second half begins, we find out that Elena has been seriously wounded by Molly's unstable drug-dealing boyfriend -- and in consequence, Elena frightens one all by obsessing on self-defense (as for Molly, she returns to England to get her head together). Additionally, Noel, newly hired as a web-site designer, offers to get Felicity a job with his company -- and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that their romance will soon be rekindled, much to Ben's dismay. The season concludes as Ben's one-time roommate Sean (Greg Grunberg), having launched an affair with Felicity's mysterious ex-roomie Meghan (Amanda Foreman), is heading overseas; Ben himself traveling to Kansas City for his EMT training; and Tracy giving Elena the shock of her life by popping the question. ~ All Movie Guide

Many young girls go off to college, but not all for the same reason. In the case of Felicity Porter (Keri Russell), her decision to enroll as a pre-med student at University of New York in Greenwich Village was motivated by a high-school crush. Enamored of fellow student Ben Covington (Scott Speedman), Felicity trails him all the way to the U. of N.Y., only to find that he isn't interested in her. Even so, our heroine decides to stay, and thus Season One of Felicity gets under way. And what a freshman year it is! No sooner does Felicity become best friends with another freshman, Julie Emrick (Amy Jo Johnson), than Julie herself gets involved with Ben. As for Felicity's mysterious, somewhat sinister roommate Meghan Rotundi (Amanda Foreman) -- just try to find her! But Felicity won't be lonely, certainly not so long as her dorm advisor Noel Crane (Scott Foley) carries a torch for her. Alas, Noel goes back to his former girlfriend, Hannah (Jennifer Garner), but Felicity isn't flying solo for long; in fact, by mid-term she has lost her virginity to an art student named Eli. Amazingly, with all this going on, Felicity still manages to do her homework and hold down a job at a café called Dean & DeLuca, where her gay boss Javier (Ian Gomez) is more than willing to offer a shoulder to cry on -- at least until Javier moves back to Spain near the end of the season (the better for actor Gomez to accept a role on a different series, Norm). Season one wraps up as Ben and Julie break up, whereupon Ben invites Felicity to take a summer-long cross-country trip with him. Felicity is certainly receptive to taking up with Ben again, but she isn't keen on hurting the feelings of Noel, who called it quits with Hannah and has been dating Felicity steadily -- nor those of her pal Julie. School lets out for summer break, and the decision is left to Felicity whether to go on the road trip with Ben or accept a free ticket to Europe for a chance to spend time with Noel on an important summer graphic-design internship. ~ All Movie Guide

Phillip Noyce directed Joe Eszterhas's adaptation of Ira Levin's novel about voyeurism, starring Sharon Stone as Carly Norris, a book editor on the rebound from an emotionless seven-year marriage. Carly decides that a change of location will help her in the healing process, so she moves into a sleek Manhattan high-rise. In her new apartment, she meets a collection of curious neighbors --Vida (Polly Walker), who snorts cocaine along with ingesting all the dark secrets of the building and its tenants; Jack Landsford (Tom Berenger), a successful writer who also wants to also be successful with Carly; and Zeke Hawkins (William Baldwin), Carly's new landlord. Carly is attracted to Zeke, but she sees that he is hiding something from her. Unbeknownst to Carly, Zeke, an obsessive voyeur, watches his tenants from a bank of television screens at his headquarters. But when Carly discovers Zeke's voyeurism, she herself becomes obsessed with the daily lives of her neighbors. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

A man undergoes a scientific experiment that causes him to wake up after 50 years without aging a day in this romantic science-fiction tale. In 1939, Daniel (Mel Gibson) is a test pilot who is brave in the air but lacks the nerve to ask his girlfriend Helen (Isabel Glasser) to marry him, even though he loves her deeply. When Helen is hit by a truck and is taken to the hospital in a coma, Daniel is despondent, and he approaches his best friend Harry (George Wendt). Harry is a scientific researcher working with the military who has been experimenting with cryogenic suspension; Daniel asks Harry to have him frozen for a year rather than go through the hell of waiting to see if Helen lives or dies. Harry reluctantly agrees, but after the pilot is put on ice, Harry's experiments are shut down, and Daniel is forgotten. In 1992, two young boys, Nat (Elijah Wood) and Felix (Robert Hy Gorman) are playing in an abandoned military warehouse and find a freezing unit. They open it and find Daniel, who before long is all thawed out and physically not much worse for wear. However, the world is a very different place than it was in 1939; the boys bring their discovery home, where their single mother Claire (Jamie Lee Curtis) looks after Daniel and helps him adjust to his new world. A friendship between them begins to grow into something deeper, until Daniel discovers that his beloved Helen is still alive. Forever Young also features Joe Morton, Rob Morrow, and Vanessa Williams. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Based on a true story, The Preppie Murder begins on August 26, 1986. This was the day that 18-year-old Jennifer Levin (Lara-Flynn Boyle) was strangled to death in Central Park. The prime suspect, Jennifer's 19-year-old boyfriend Robert Chambers (William Baldwin), confesses to the crime. The well-to-do young man insists that the killing was accidental; he claims that it occurred during a "rough sex" session that Jennifer had inaugurated. The ensuing media frenzy forces the old "she asked for it" defense to rear its ugly head. The Preppie Murder's attempts at fairness caused a great deal of critical turmoil when the film first aired on September 24, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide