Michael Showalter Movies
Silly, adorable comedian Michael Showalter was born in New Jersey and attended Brown University in Rhode Island. During the late '80s, he joined a New York-based comedy troupe which formed the basis for a hilarious sketch-comedy show called The State. Although many episodes were created, only 26 aired on MTV. After the show ended, he joined up with co-stars David Wain and Michael Ian Black to form a new comedy troupe named Stella. Originally only a stage show in New York City, Stella has broadened to include short films, tours, and other such creative projects. Also on-stage, he wrote the play Sex, a.k.a. Wieners and Boobs, which has been produced in both New York and L.A. Showalter made his film debut in 1998 with small roles in the comedies Safe Men and Chocolate for Breakfast, but he may be best known as one of the brains behind the summer camp spoof Wet Hot American Summer. Showalter co-wrote the script and played both the lovable main character Coop and the old-timer emcee Alan Shemper. Starring many folks from The State, the film developed a healthy life on home video despite a meager theatrical release. After a few short-lived TV projects, he played small film roles in Kissing Jessica Stein, M. Night Shyamalan's Signs, and Operation Midnight Climax. He was also be seen in an episodes of HBO's Sex and the City and VH1's I Love the 80s. Projects for 2004 include voice work on Bill Plympton's animated feature Hair High. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi- 2013
Romantic comedies get spoofed in this comedy from Wet Hot American Summer's David Wain and Michael Showalter. Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler star as the lucky couple who pair up despite how opposite they are in this Lionsgate release. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter, and David Wain, the well-dressed trio who together form Stella, bring their demented brand of sketch comedy to the stage with this release of a live performance from Boston. Captured at the Wilbur Theatre on December 11, 2008, the uncensored show features the familiar blend of highbrow humor and lowbrow absurdism that has won the troupe a loyal following, and showcases their brand new short "Birthday." ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- 2009
Warner Independent presents this remake of 2005's German horror comedy Night of the Living Dorks, with Wet Hot American Summer's screenwriter Michael Showalter handling the directing duties. The plot revolves around three high-school social misfits that find popularity when they show up to school as members of the undead. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
Much of the group responsible for MTV's The State -- including director/actor David Wain and performers Ken Marino, Kerri Kenney-Silver, and Joe Lo Truglio -- reunite for this outrageous, irreverent, and raunchy sketch comedy, which skewers the Ten Commandments. In the framing sequences, comedian Paul Rudd (who collaborated with much of the cast on Wet Hot American Summer and The Baxter) stands on a black stage with giant Biblical tablets projected behind him and promises to deliver ten mini-stories, each loosely based on one of the commandments, from "Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods Before Me" through "Thou Shalt Not Covet." For all of the storyteller's efforts, however, he is constantly, comically distracted by interferences, particularly those emanating from intrusions by his multiple girlfriends. The stories are nonetheless told one by one in short-film form, beginning with a sketch in which Stephen (Adam Brody) goes skydiving with his intended, Kelly (Winona Ryder), but forgets to wear his parachute and gets stuck in the mud, waist-deep, which draws gawkers, media, and in time, worshipers. Several of the subsequent stories consist of raunchy, jet-black riffs on sexual perversion, including one about a virginal librarian (Gretchen Mol) entangled in a sultry and messy affair with a Mexican, and another memorable bit about a nutty surgeon who plays a prank by burying a pair of scissors in a patient's stomach and is then sent to prison -- where he experiences brutal sexual abuse at the hands of other men. As an added bonus, the picture packs in a fully animated sequence, narrated by several crack-smokers, entitled "The Lying Rhino." ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Paul Rudd, Famke Janssen, (more)
The bumbling cops of Comedy Central's hit television series take a trip to Miami Beach for a national police convention. After the trip there turns out to be much more difficult than anticipated, the bumbling crew must leap into action when the convention center becomes the target of a biological terrorist attack. Lieutenant Jim Dangle (Thomas Lennon) must keep together his motley and inept crew in order to save everyone from the disaster, and keep peace on the streets of the popular Florida city. The film features the same cast from the popular Comedy Central series of the same name. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lennie Loftin, Danny DeVito, (more)
Ed Stone's bittersweet drama Griffin & Phoenix concerns Griffin (Dermot Mulroney), a divorcee suffering from cancerous lesions in his chest that give him a life expectancy of less than two years. He falls in love with academic advisor Phoenix (Amanda Peet), and the pair decide to 'live life to the fullest' by fulfilling all of Griffin's childhood fantasies, from painting water towers to sneaking into movies to hopping freight trains. But a secret of Phoenix's threatens to damper the joy of their time together. Sarah Paulson, Blair Brown, Alison Elliott and Lois Smith co-star; John Hill authored the script. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dermot Mulroney, Amanda Peet, (more)
A man with a "doormat" personality tries standing up for himself for a change in this comedy. Mild mannered tax accountant Elliot Sherman (Michael Showalter) is what he calls a "Baxter": the kind of calm, unexciting fellow who "wears sock garters" and "enjoys raking leaves." Loved by bosses and parents, Elliot is a perfectly nice guy. And that's his problem -- he's safe and pleasant, but not very interesting, so as a consequence he hasn't had much luck with long-term relationships, and more than one woman has abandoned him for someone more exciting. Elliot believes his luck has finally changed for the better when he becomes engaged to Caroline Swann (Elizabeth Banks), a smart and attractive editor at a successful magazine. However, a few weeks before the wedding, who should come back into Caroline's life but Bradley Lake (Justin Theroux), her high school sweetheart and, according to many, the great love of her life. Bradley quickly makes it clear that he wants to win Caroline back, and generally in such circumstances Elliot would politely step aside, but just this once Elliot decides to fight for the woman he loves. Elliot gains an unexpected champion in Cecil Mills (Michelle Williams), a frumpy but adorable temp employee at his office who encourages Elliot to develop a take-charge attitude, though the results aren't quite what he expects. The Baxter was written and directed by Michael Showalter, who also plays Elliot; Showalter was a member of the sketch comedy troupe the State, and also works with the comedy performance trio Stella, whose other members, Michael Ian Black and David Wain, also appear in the movie. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Showalter, Elizabeth Banks, (more)
- 2004
As the prom draws near and the popular head cheerleader of Echo Lake High dumps her star quarterback boyfriend in favor of attending the dance with the biggest loser in school, the raging footballer plots murderous revenge in cult animation icon Bill Plympton's darkly satirical take on the teen tragedy radio hits and high-school melodramas of the 1950s and '60s. High-school sweethearts Cherri (Sarah Silverman) and Rod (Dermot Mulroney) are a match made in popularity heaven. When nerdy new student Spud (Eric Gilliland) makes the fateful mistake of offending both Cherri and Rod on his first day at Echo Lake High, his punishment is to serve as Cherri's "slave" until both she and her brutish boyfriend decree that he has made up for his unintentional transgression. Though the mere sight of Spud at first makes Cherri's skin crawl, the unlikely pair soon grow exceptionally close until, one day, love blossoms between them. Upon learning that his onetime sweetheart will now be attending the prom on the arm of the socially awkward Spud, Rod angrily forces their car off of the road on and into the icy waters of Echo Lake as the couple makes their way to the big dance. Though cunningly successful in thwarting attempts made by local authorities to locate the missing teens, Rod soon discovers that sometimes the dead have a curious way of exposing the crimes of their killers. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dermot Mulroney, Zak Orth, (more)
- 2002
- PG13
- Add Signs to Queue Add Signs to top of Queue
Following the smash hit The Sixth Sense (1999) and the under-performing follow-up Unbreakable (2000), directing phenom M. Night Shyamalan returns to the summer box office landscape that served as the backdrop for his cinematic breakthrough. In Signs, another paranormal outing for the writer-director, Shyamalan explores the eerie implications of a 500-foot crop circle that mysteriously appears on the Bucks County, PA farm of reverend Graham Hess (Mel Gibson). As Hess and his family (Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin) try to take stock of what the sign means, and how its message incorporates into their faith, they start to get the feeling they are not alone in the fields behind their house. Shyamalan re-teams with producers Frank Marshall, Sam Mercer and Kathleen Kennedy, and produces the project in association with his Blinding Edge Pictures banner and Touchstone Pictures. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, (more)
A woman searching for the perfect man instead discovers the perfect woman in this romantic comedy. Jessica Stein (Jennifer Westfeldt) is a woman with a solid career as a copy editor, but her love life isn't much to write home about; she's been through a long series of disastrous first dates that refuse to evolve into second dates, and the well-intended advice of her best friend Joan (Jackie Hoffman) and former boyfriend Josh (Scott Cohen) isn't helping a bit. One day, Jessica is scanning personal ads in the newspaper with her friends, and she sees one with a quote from her favorite poet. Jessica reads on to discover that she has a lot in common with the person who placed the ad -- too much so, since it turns out the notice is from a woman, Helen Cooper (Heather Juergensen), who manages an art gallery. Jessica figures it would at least be nice to hang out with someone who shares her interests, and she gives Helen a call. Jessica and Helen quickly strike up a close friendship that evolves into something more intimate, though neither of them has ever been involved with another woman ... and Helen is a bit more avid about her new romantic horizons than Jessica. As their relationship progresses, Jessica finds herself struggling with her feelings about her new sexual outlook, and she isn't sure how to break the news about her relationship to her mother (Tovah Feldshuh) as she tries to decide if she should bring Helen along to her brother's wedding. Kissing Jessica Stein was based on the off-Broadway play Lipschtick, which was written by Jennifer Westfeldt and Heather Juergensen, who starred in the original stage production as well as this film adaptation; the film won both the Critics' Special Jury Award and the Audience Award at the 2001 Los Angeles Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jennifer Westfeldt, Heather Juergensen, (more)
1980s teen comedies finally get the parody they so richly deserve with Wet Hot American Summer, the first feature film from writer/director David Wain and co-screenwriter Michael Showalter, formerly of the sketch comedy troupe the State. It's the last day of the summer season at Camp Firewood, and as camp director Beth (Janeane Garofalo) prepares to wrap things up, the staff of teenage counselors realize this is their last chance to do something about the summer romances that have been brewing for the past three months. Sweet but shy Coop (Michael Showalter) is crazy about pretty Katie (Marguerite Moreau), but there's the problem of her severely moody boyfriend Andy (Paul Rudd). Meanwhile, Victor (Ken Marino) is trying to score with sexy Abby (Marisa Ryan), who is known to make friends easily, and McKinley (Michael Ian Black) and Ben (Bradley Cooper) attempt to keep their hot and heavy relationship a secret. Meanwhile, arts and crafts teacher Gail (Molly Shannon) turns to her students for comfort as her marriage falls apart, drama coach Susie (Amy Poehler) tries to whip the talent show into shape with Ben's help, and camp chef Gene (Christopher Meloni) deals with his unique sexual quirks with the help of a talking can of vegetables (voiced by H. Jon Benjamin). Beth even finds time for romance with socially inept astrophysicist Henry (David Hyde Pierce), but first Henry has to save Camp Firewood from a large piece of space junk about to re-enter Earth's atmosphere. Like Wain and Showalter, Ken Marino, Michael Ian Black, and Joe Lo Truglio (who appears in a small role) were also members of the State; fellow State alumnus Kerri Kenney was cast in a supporting role in the film, but her character didn't appear in the final cut. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, (more)
- 2000
Law & Order's 11th season begins with Nora Lewin (Dianne Wiest) taking over as interim D.A. until an official replacement for Adam Schiff can be elected. Lewin's first case concerns a disabled youngster who died of smoke asphyxiation in an apartment fire. Suspects include the kid's parents and one of their neighbors, a person with a history of being in close proximity of suspicious blazes. Astonishingly, A.D.A. Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston), who normally goes for the jugular, believes that "the penalties are too severe" this time around. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1999
- NR
Three women try to set aside their personal and romantic difficulties in order to help out a fourth -- though it isn't easy -- in the dramatic comedy Chocolate for Breakfast. Amy (Marin Hinkle) is a stockbroker whose career is on the upswing when one night, very much out of character, she goes a bit wild and has a one-night-stand. To her initial dismay, Amy soon discovers she's pregnant, but she decides to keep the baby, quit her job when it arrives, and raise it on her own. Amy shares an apartment with three friends who pitch in to help her when they're not dealing with their own problems. Jessica (Brooke Hailey) is a paralegal trying to get into law school, Nina (Callie Thorne) is juggling medical school and her first relationship that's actually working out, and K.C. (Isabel Gilles) is an artist whose most notable work currently adorns the wall of a bar's restroom. Chocolate for Breakfast was the debut feature for director Emily Baer; Baer also co-wrote the screenplay with Brooke Hailey, who plays Jessica. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Isabel Gillies, Brooke Hailey, (more)
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