Dan Joffre
Having decided to ditch the city in favor of the suburbs, a newly formed family purchases a quaint "fixer-upper" that proves to be more trouble than they could have ever anticipated in a rollicking family comedy that's half sequel to Are We There Yet?, and half remake of Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. Nick (Ice Cube) and Suzanne (Nia Long) have tied the knot, and now the couple is looking for a suitable home in which to raise their family. What better place to bring up adolescents Lindsey (Aleisha Allen) and Kevin (Philip Daniel Bolden) than a quiet house in the suburbs? Despite their outward excitement at the prospect of moving into their very own home, the family soon discovers that dreams don't come easy as eccentric contractor Chuck Mitchell (John C. McGinley) clashes with the head of the family while forming a frustratingly close bond with his wife and two step-children. As the promising fixer-upper begins to pose a serious threat to the burgeoning family's bank account, Nick gradually begins to realize that the suburban dream doesn't come cheap. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
When the spirit of Christmas compels a small-town New Englander to decorate his home with enough lights to make it visible from space, much more is set to be decked than just the halls in this holiday comedy featuring Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick as two warring neighbors determined to outdo each other in creating the best lighting display on the planet. Christmas is without question the most wonderful time of the year for Cloverdale, MA optometrist Steve Finch (Broderick). Unfortunately, the same can't be said for Steve's wife, Kelly (Kristin Davis), and the pair's two children, Madison (Alia Shawkat) and Carter (Dylan Blue). Despite Steve's annual holiday zeal, the rest of the Carters have grown to resent the seemingly endless family rituals leading up the Winterfest carnival over which their terminally cheerful patriarch presides. Though it seems that nothing in the world could dampen the spirits of the local "King of Christmas," Steve soon finds his royal status challenged when used-car salesman Buddy Hall (Danny DeVito) moves in next door and covers his house with enough festive lights to make it visible from the deepest crater of the moon. His Yuletide thunder effectively stolen, Steve resorts to desperate measures in regaining his crown when Buddy's lavish decorations make him a local celebrity, his wife strikes up a warm friendship with the neighbor's outspoken better half, Tia (Kristin Chenoweth), and even the kids seem to warm to the car salesman's air-headed twin daughters, Ashley and Emily (Sabrina and Kelly Aldridge). ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danny DeVito, Matthew Broderick, (more)
- 2005
Based on the autobiographical book by political journalist Mort Kondracke (here played by Bruce Greenwood, the made-for-TV Saving Milly lovingly chronicles the marriage of Kondracke and his wife Milly (Madeline Stowe)--a union that ended on a note of tragedy. The story begins in Chicago in 1966, when Mort, a cub newspaper reporter, falls for Milly Martinez, a Vassar-bred political activist. The two lose track of one another when Kondracke is transferred to Washington, but a chance meeting years later results in marriage. During the period in which Mort establishes himself as a political pundit and Milly pursues her own successful career as a therapist, Mrs. Kondracke diligently helps Mr. Kondracke overcome his alcoholism. And when in 1987 Milly is diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, it is Mort's turn to repay her love and devotion, nursing her through her long illness, helping her come to grips with reluctantly rely on the help of others for the first time in her life, and laboring tirelessly to stir up public awareness of his wife's affliction. Adding an extra layer of depth to the drama is the subplot involving the learning disabilities of the Kondrackes' daughters. Actor Michael J. Fox, himself a Parkinson's victim, makes a significant cameo appearance film, which though it ends with Milly's death is nonetheless optimistic and inspirational in tone. And before you ask, Robert Wisden is seen as Fred Barnes, Kondracke's genial cohost on the Fox News Channel's The Beltway Boys. Saving Milly mades its CBS network debut on March 13, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2004
- PG
- AddScooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashedto QueueAddScooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashedto top of Queue
America's favorite teenage canine-led crime fighters earn a second shot at the big screen in this sequel to the hit comedy Scooby-Doo. The reunited Mystery Inc. team -- Fred (Freddie Prinze Jr.), Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Velma (Linda Cardellini), Shaggy (Matthew Lillard), and Scooby-Doo (voice of Neil Fanning) -- return to their hometown of Coolsville as heroes when a local criminology museum offers an exhibition of the many ghostly disguises used by villains they've subdued over the years. However, their warm welcome is not long-lived; mean-spirited television reporter Heather Jasper-Howe (Alicia Silverstone) has aired a series of stories calling the team's intelligence and bravery into question, and even worse, a number of the weird creature costumes on display in the museum are coming to life and wrecking havoc on the people of Coolsville. Some of the clues seem to point to Old Man Wickles (Peter Boyle), whose attempts to pose as the Black Knight Ghost were foiled by the Mystery Machinists in the past, but is he looking for revenge or just a red herring? And what is Velma supposed to do about Patrick Wisely (Seth Green), a curator at the museum who's warm for her helmet-haired form? Scooby-Doo 2 also co-stars Tim Blake Nelson and features a cameo appearance from American Idol star Ruben Studdard. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Freddie Prinze, Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, (more)
- 2004
Just before Christmas, idealistic greeting-card writer Allen Karroll (Tom Everett Scott) cooks up a "special moment" wherein he will propose to his sweetheart Carrie (Deanna Milligan) in a public place before thousands of oohing and aahing spectators. Alas, Carrie turns him down flat, so thoroughly humiliating Allen that he ends up hating the Yuletide season. Not long afterward, Allen is visited by four disreputable-looking ghosts, including a very hip Jacob Marley (or is it Bob Marley?) Can it be that our hero has morphed into a latter-day incarnation of Ebenezer Scrooge? Not quite: All of the ghosts have come to the wrong address. Turns out that the real Scrooge of the piece is Alex's nasty next-door neighbor Zeb Rosecog (Wallace Shawn), who'd once been CEO for the company which employs Alex. His curiosity aroused, Allen overcomes his intense dislike for Zeb to investigate the source of the man's misanthropy--and in so doing learns a lot about himself. A clever spin on an all-too-familiar fable, Karroll's Christmas was produced for cable, and was originally telecast December 14, 2004 by the A&E network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2004
Originally titled American Meltdown, this speculative made-for-cable melodrama begins as a group of six terrorists, bearing names like Khalid, Shafig, and Ziad, take over a nuclear power plant in San Juan. It turns out that the terrorists' actions are merely symbolic, and that no real harm is intended -- but things get tragically out of control, and soon the military and the government are in full spin mode to gloss over and wash their hands of a deadly nuclear meltdown that threatens to destroy everything within driving distance of the plant. In a virtual reprise of his characterization in the TV series 24, Arnold Vosloo portrays the head of the terrorists, who are more "home grown" than anyone is willing to admit. The film is shot in a punchy, fast-cut, hand-held "breaking news" style, alternating dizzily between color and black-and-white to give it a documentary feel. Meltdown was presented by the FX cable channel on June 6, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Greenwood, Leslie Hope, (more)
Anarchic comedy veteran David Zucker directs hot young thing of 2003 Ashton Kutcher in the fast-paced romantic comedy My Boss's Daughter. Kutcher plays rookie executive Tom Stansfield, who wants to impress his demanding boss, Jack Taylor (Terence Stamp), and win the heart of said boss' conventionally attractive daughter Lisa (Tara Reid). In order to achieve these ends, he agrees to housesit at their palatial mansion for one night. Chaos ensues throughout the evening as rowdy houseguests show up with various means of disruption. Molly Shannon plays Jack's former employee Audrey and Andy Richter appears as Lisa's brother Red, who's on the run from nasty drug dealers. Cameos come from Carmen Electra, Ever Carradine, and the like. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ashton Kutcher, Tara Reid, (more)
A man trying to save his relationship with the woman he loves finds himself sinking into a quicksand of small lies and half-truths in this comedy. Paul (Jason Lee) is a regular guy who is engaged to marry Karen (Selma Blair); while Paul loves Karen, he's more than a bit nervous around her family, even though her father (James Brolin) has already given him a job in the family business. Shortly before the wedding, Paul's friends throw him a bachelor party, complete with a boatload of liquor and a squadron of grass-skirt-clad tiki dancers. Paul strikes up a conversation with one of the dancers, the cheerful if inept Becky (Julia Stiles), and the next morning, he wakes up bleary-eyed with a massive hangover -- and Becky in bed next to him. Paul soon receives a phone call from Karen saying she's stopping by for a visit, and Paul scrambles to get Becky out of his apartment. Paul attempts to explain some incriminating evidence with a few white lies, but a messy situation gets messier when Paul runs into Becky at a pre-wedding family get-together...and discovers she's Karen's cousin. A Guy Thing also features Shawn Hatosy, Lochlyn Munro, and Julie Hagerty. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Lee, Julia Stiles, (more)
- 2000
This two-part, four-hour miniseries adaptation of Dean Koontz' best-seller Sole Survivor begins with a plane crash that takes the lives of the wife and daughter of reporter Joe Carpenter. No sooner has Carpenter absorbed this tragedy than he begins receiving evidence that the air tragedy may not have been the accident it first seemed to be. At least, that is the story of Rose (Gloria Reuben), the only survivor of the crash. Following up on Rose's firsthand account of the events, Joe is led to the mysterious Quartermass Organization, where secret experiments are being conducted to imbue innocent youngsters with the power to heal, perform mind-transference feats over thousand of miles, move objects through sheer will power -- and, from time to time, to commit murder. Although John C. McGinley is cast as the nominal villain, hero Joe Carpenter would be well advised to watch his back whenever "heroine" Rose is around. Dean Koontz' Sole Survivor was originally telecast on September 13 and 14, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Zane, John C. McGinley, (more)
After parodying the blaxploitation films of the 1970s in I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, Keenen Ivory Wayans takes aim at slasher films of the 1980s and 1990s in this raunchy satire, which was produced under the clumsy but inarguably appropriate title Scream If You Know What I Did Last Halloween. As you might expect, a group of teenagers -- not-terribly-bright Buffy (Shannon Elizabeth), her best friend Brenda (Regina Hall), stoner Shorty (Marlon Wayans), fey football player Ray (Shawn Wayans), loudmouthed Greg (Lochlyn Munro), sexually overexcited Bobby (Jon Abrahams), and his prim girlfriend Cindy (Anna Faris) -- are on the run from a maniacal killer who is looking for revenge after the kids accidentally kill a man following an auto accident. They also find themselves having to contend with intrusive reporter Gail Hailstorm (Cheri Oteri) and eccentric high school principal Squiggly (David L. Lander). Incidentally, the title Scary Movie is something of an inside joke: it was the working title for Scream, the movie that kick-started the mid-'90s slasher film revival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, (more)
