Neena Beber Movies
- 2004
Before synopsizing the made-for-TV romantic comedy Raising Waylon, it is essential to point out that hero Reg (Thomas Gibson) is a blue-collar bar owner who prefers to date models; that heroine Julia (Poppy Montgomery) is a globetrotting photographer who likes to go out with rock stars; and that, except for only one blind date, Red and Julia are not now and never have been "a couple." All this changes when the parents of 9-year-old Waylon (Jeremy Bergman) are killed in a car accident. It seems that Waylon's parents had arranged that blind date for Reg and Julia, had assumed that the two were "made for each other",and had arranged for them to be Waylon's godparents. According to the terms of the deceased couple's will, Waylon is to be raised by Reg and Julia, with the boy's elderly but peppery Great Aunt Marie (Doris Roberts) allowed to drop in from time to time to dispense advice. Since Reg and Julia don't get along too well, they do their best to alternate looking after Waylon, even though it forces them to reluctantly rearrange their busy schedules. Soooooo. . ..how long will it be before hero and heroine finally realize what Waylon's parents knew all along: That they were, indeed, Made For Each Other? Raising Waylon premiered February 22, 2004 on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Teen pop star Mandy Moore stars in the romantic comedy How to Deal. Directed by British filmmaker Clare Kilner, the script is based on two of author Sarah Dessen's popular teen novels: Someone Like You and That Summer. Halley (Moore) is a teenager trying to make sense of the faltering romantic relationships within her immediate social sphere. Her mother, Lydia (Allison Janney), can't seem get a date, while her father (Peter Gallagher) is getting remarried to a woman that nobody seems to like. Halley's wedding-obsessed sister, Ashley (Mary Catherine Garrison), is engaged to Lewis (MacKenzie Astin), a guy that is completely wrong for her. Meanwhile, bad boy Macon Forrester (Trent Ford) won't leave Halley alone. Just when she decides to become cynical about love because of all the romantic disappointments around her, a troubled situation involving her best friend Scarlett (Alexandra Holden) changes her outlook. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mandy Moore, Allison Janney, (more)
- 2001
Daria (voice of Tracy Grandstaff) goes head-to-head with the sweet but saccharine Jodie (voice of Jessica Cydnee Jackson) and the fawning Upchuck (voice of Marc Thompson) for a college scholarship in this episode of the animated MTV series Daria. Daria doesn't even want to compete for the scholarship -- a 10,000-dollar prize from a foundation associated with a leading software company -- but steady pressure from her parents leads her to write an impassioned application essay attacking corporate greed and political corruption. Much to her surprise, this screed earns Daria a finalist's spot and an interview with a foundation representative. She's incensed to learn, however, that Upchuck and Jodie are also finalists, especially since Jodie didn't decide to apply for the grant until Daria confided her misgivings about the contest to her. Not that it matters: Upchuck's obnoxious suck-up tactics, Jodie's attempts to tell the interviewer what he wants to hear, and Daria's stony hostility all prove to be ineffective interview techniques. All three Lawndale students strike out, and Daria learns that the scholarship committee actually thought her fiery editorial was a humorous spoof of lefty excess. Eventually Daria forgives Jodie for her alleged betrayal and admits to being more competitive than she likes to acknowledge. She also makes up with best friend Jane (voice of Wendy Hoopes), who's been feeling threatened by the stark contrast between her own artsy, non-academic leanings and Daria's go-go college trajectory. This conflict will resurface, however, in the movie-style series finale, Is It College Yet? ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tracy Grandstaff, Wendy Hoopes, (more)
- 2000
Helen (voice of Wendy Hoopes) must drag her family to a retreat at a psychiatric "spa" in this episode of the animated MTV series Daria. The entire ordeal begins when Eric, Helen's rarely seen but constantly heard (on the phone) boss tells her that in order to make partner, she'll have to submit her entire family to psychological screening at a countryside institution. At the clinic, the Morgendorffer clan behaves pretty much as expected: Helen tries desperately to strike all the right poses, Jake (voice of Julian Rebolledo) gets angered or bewildered by everything, Quinn (voice of Wendy Hoopes) runs around wondering why this spa doesn't offer facials and Daria (voice of Tracy Grandstaff) grouses about the stupidity of the entire exercise while pointing out everyone's dysfunctions, including her own. Her only source of amusement proves to be sneaking onto the internet to watch the "Jane Cam," a video camera that Jane (voice of Wendy Hoopes) has installed in her bedroom, much to the annoyance of the unsuspecting Tom (voice of Russell Hankin). Meanwhile, back in therapy, the entire family airs its dissatisfactions, leading to hurt feelings and perhaps a little bit of wisdom. In the end, Helen gets her promotion for precisely the same reasons that her family resents her: because she's proven herself permanently willing to put her career ahead of her husband and kids. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tracy Grandstaff, Wendy Hoopes, (more)
- 1999
Daria (voice of Tracy Grandstaff) must endure the company of a vacuous New York magazine editor in this episode of the animated MTV series Daria. When Mr. O'Neill (voice of Marc Thompson) submit's Daria's essay "My So-Called Angst" to a competition without her knowledge, the witty teen wins the contest but must suffer through the prize: a day spent with Val, the editor of Val magazine, a style bible for the teen set whose faux "edginess" is the antithesis of Daria's world view. Val ostensibly wants to spend a day in the life of an average teen, but when it turns out that Daria is neither popular nor sympathetic to Val's shallow lifestyle, she balks. Quinn (voice of Wendy Hoopes), the Fashion Club, and even the school principal all try to suck up to Val, who goes around dropping outdated youth slang and Hollywood names with equal abandon. Even Jane (voice of Wendy Hoopes) counsels Daria to suck it up so that perhaps Val will take her on a trip to New York. But finally, fed up, Daria tells Val exactly what she thinks of her -- and ends up the subject of a scathing exposé about "today's underground bummer culture" in the pages of Val magazine. Many Daria fans saw the fictional Val as a caricature of the real-life Jane Pratt, who parlayed her editorship of the once-hip Sassy magazine into a stint as a talk-show host and the launch of her own eponymous periodical, Jane. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- 1998
In this TV series, Boston police detective Sean McGrail (Jason Beghe) and public defender Annie Cornell (Moira Kelly) are an odd couple caught in a passionate love affair, and they're just as passionate when they clash. In their close-knit Irish neighborhood, they get plenty of advice, including caustic comments from Sean's mom Fiona (Fionnula Flanagan), his firefighter brother (Stephen Lee), and his other brothers (Jason Wiles, Stephen Largay), also cops. The opening episode sets up an improbable situation that has Annie in the courtroom grilling her hubby-to-be about thong underwear and strippers. Filmed in L.A., this romantic comedy-drama premiered September 30, 1998 on CBS. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Moira Kelly, Jason Beghe, (more)
- 1998
Daria (voice of Tracy Grandstaff) and Jane (voice of Wendy Hoopes) experience the subjective nature of cinema firsthand when they shoot a documentary about Quinn (voice of Wendy Hoopes) in this episode of the animated MTV series Daria. Jake (voice of Julian Rebolledo) kick-starts the girls' interest in film when he begins excavating and archiving various home moves from when Daria and Quinn were younger. As usual, these childhood memories spark painful reminiscences about his own upbringing at the hands of a tyrannical father. Shortly thereafter, tyrannical teacher Mr. DeMartino (voice of Marc Thompson) seizes on an idea of Daria's and assigns his class to partner up behind the camera. While Brittany (voice of Janie Mertz), Kevin (voice of Marc Thompson), Jodie (voice of Jessica Cydnee Jackson) and Mack (voice of Paul Williams) learn some painful lessons about the separation between observer and participant in their quest to document a local supermarket strike, Daria and Jane strike out in their search for esoteric inspiration. Quinn is hardly their first choice of subjects, but the fashion plate is more than happy to fill in when various artsier ideas fail to take off. Following Quinn around for the day, the budding auteurs capture plenty of material that exposes Quinn's vanity and vapidity. But Helen (voice of Wendy Hoopes) intercedes when she gets wind of what Daria is up to. Her mom-inspired conscience acting overtime in the editing room, the sardonic filmmaker reluctantly shapes her raw material into a relatively positive profile. In the process, she inadvertently enhances her sister's already enormous popularity. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tracy Grandstaff, Wendy Hoopes, (more)
- 1998
Quinn (voice of Wendy Hoopes) and Daria (voice of Tracy Grandstaff) suffer twin fashion faux pas in this episode of the animated MTV series Daria. The birthday of best friend Jane (voice of Wendy Hoopes) provides the occasion for Daria's blunder as she accompanies Jane's brother Trent (voice of Alvaro J. Gonzalez) on a shopping expedition. At first Daria mistakes the interaction for a date, but she sucks it up when she realizes Trent just wants help picking out Jane's present. The duo's quest somehow takes them to a tattoo and piercing parlor, where Daria finds herself submitting mutely to the insertion of a belly-button ring at the urging of Trent, her utter and complete love god. Jane, of course, soon ribs her mercilessly about enduring body modification for the sake of a boy. Meanwhile, Quinn and Helen (voice of Wendy Hoopes) become the helpless targets of Sandi (voice of Janie Mertz) and her ultra-competitive mom when both mother/daughter teams participate in a fashion show. Despite an arduous preparation process, Quinn proves a little klutzy on the runway. Devastated by an epic and very public fall, she lashes out at Daria by revealing the presence of her belly ring to their irate parents. Little does the failed catwalker know, however, that her sister's itchy incision has completely closed up thanks to Daria's inadvertent removal of the offending jewelry before the hole had time to heal. Saved from parental retaliation, Daria nonetheless seems a little sheepish about both her love-addled decision-making and her quick abandonment of the alterna-accessory. Trent and Jane, however, both convince her not to feel too bad. Jane herself feels pretty nifty after receiving art supplies from Daria and an original birthday ditty from her musician brother. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tracy Grandstaff, Wendy Hoopes, (more)
- 1997
Daria (voice of Tracy Grandstaff) descends into a personal hell of carsickness and commerce in this episode of the animated MTV series Daria. Karma bites the snide teen in the behind after she taunts sister Quinn (voice of Wendy Hoopes) about their parents' refusal to condone a trip to the mammoth Mall of the Millennium, 100 miles away. Mrs. Bennett (voice of Amy Bennett), Daria's economics teacher, soon announces a class trip to the very same center of consumerism. A long bus ride, lewd comments from Upchuck (voice of Marc Thompson), and the nauseating perfume fumes emanating from Brittany (voice of Lisa Collins) literally make Daria ill before she even gets to the mall. She's again sick to her stomach, this time figuratively, when she realizes that an informational session with the mall's upper management is actual a covert focus group, with her class the unwitting participants. Daria uses this observation to elicit gift certificates for everyone. Soon, she and Jane (voice of Wendy Hoopes) are dispatched to observe food court traffic patterns, while other students investigate other aspects of mall economics. Just as Daria is beginning to fear that she'll spend the entire millennium surrounded by merchandise, she spots Quinn, who has disobeyed their parents and cut class to go shopping with the Fashion Club. Daria blackmails her sister into providing immediate transportation home. Both girls are less than ecstatic later on when their parents experience a change of heart and offer to take them to the mall. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tracy Grandstaff, Wendy Hoopes, (more)
