Samm Levine Movies
Although he may have a lot in common with his television counterpart from the short-lived Freaks and Geeks, in reality Samm Levine is much more outgoing than his prime time parallel, performing standup comedy at some of New York's finest comedy clubs by the age of 15 and soon after becoming the youngest member of the New York Friar's Club. Born March 12, 1982, in Chicago, IL, and raised in Fort Lee, New Jersey, young Levine got his first taste of the spotlight when, at age 12, he emceed his sixth grade talent show. Performing standup at his bar mitzvah the following year, the aspiring jokester was soon being dropped off by his mother for performances at such Big Apple comedy staples as Carolines, Stand-Up N.Y., and the Gotham Comedy Club. Soon landing commercial roles, Levine kicked off his television career with appearances in One Life to Live and Discovery Kids. A severe asthmatic who made frequent trips to the emergency room during his youth, his respiratory disease often made the demands of school and comedy appearances even more difficult to endure. Praised for his performance as the young member of the "geek" half of television's Freaks and Geeks, Levine originally auditioned for the role of Sam Weir (eventually essayed by John Francis Daley), though he was almost perfectly suited to the role of the smart, bully dodging, aspiring comic character of Neil Schweiber. Though the show was canceled after a short run, episodes gained a devoted following thanks to repeat airings on the FOX Family Channel, and Levine later re-joined Freaks and Geeks creator Judd Apatow (as well as a few of his former freaky cast members) for Apatow's next small-screen endeavor, the widely praised Undeclared (2001). That same year, Levine would make his feature debut in the teen spoof Not Another Teen Movie. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
When a geeky high-school valedictorian throws caution to the wind by expressing his love for a popular cheerleader during his graduation speech, life finally starts to get interesting in this coming-of-age comedy adapted from the book by journalist/author/screenwriter Larry Doyle. Denis Cooverman (Paul Rust) may have brains to spare; it's guts that he lacks -- or at least, he did until today. Stepping up to the podium to deliver an inspirational speech to his graduating class, Denis decides that the time has finally come to call out his classmates on their peccadilloes and declare his love for the prettiest girl in school -- Beth Cooper (Hayden Panettiere). Much to Denis' surprise, Beth responds by accepting an invitation to a party at his house later that day. But Beth's meathead boyfriend, Kevin (Shawn Roberts), is none-too-pleased that his high school prize is mingling with the biggest dweeb in school, and when Kevin shows up at his house and tears the place apart in a fit of rage, Denis, his best friend Rich (Jack Carpenter), Beth, and her friends Cammy (Lauren London) and Treece (Lauren Storm) all pile into Beth's car and flee for their lives. For four long years Denis sat silently behind Beth in class, pining for a way to make his love known. Now, over the course of one long night, Denis will finally get to know the girl of his dreams better than he ever thought possible. If he manages to survive until morning, it's sure to be the story of a lifetime. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hayden Panettiere, Paul Rust, (more)
- 2009
- NR
Frustrated at being stuck in a sexless marriage, a man gets seduced by his boss and attempts to even the playing field by getting his wife to cheat on him. Dan (Christopher Masterson) has a problem; he's just married the beautiful Marcie (Bijou Phillips) for three months, but they still haven't consummated their union. When Dan's sex-crazed boss Catherine (Lauren German) comes on to him during a marathon work session, he crumbles under temptation. Immediately regretting his actions but unable to simply admit his indiscretion, Dan schemes with his best pal Mike (Samm Levine) to get Marcie to wander astray, too. If Dan isn't the only one who cheated, he and Mike surmise, then Marcie can't be mad at him for doing so. But hatching the plan is one thing, and finding a guy who's willing to go along with his plan is an altogether different challenge. Later, as the plan finally starts to come together, Dan discovers the truth about why Marcie has yet to sleep with him, and comes to realize that they may actually be the perfect couple after all. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Kennedy Masterson, Bijou Phillips, (more)
A group of hardened Nazi killers stalk their prey in Nazi-occupied France as a Jewish cinema owner plots to take down top-ranking SS officers during the official premiere of a high-profile German propaganda film. As far as Lt. Aldo Raine (aka Aldo the Apache," Brad Pitt) -- is concerned, the only good Nazi is a dead Nazi. Raine's mission is to strike fear into the heart of Adolf Hitler by brutally murdering as many goose-steppers as possible, or die trying. In order to accomplish that goal, Lt. Raine recruits a ruthless team of cold-blooded killers known as "The Basterds" which includes baseball-bat-wielding Bostonian Sgt. Donnie Donowitz (aka "The Bear Jew," Eli Roth) and steely psychopath Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz (Til Schweiger), among others. When the Basterds' secret rendezvous with turncoat German actress Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) goes awry, they learn that the Nazis will be staging the French premiere of "The Nation's Pride," a rousing propaganda film based on the exploits of German hero Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Brühl), at a modest theater owned by Jewish cinephile Shoshanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent), posing as a Gentile after the brutal murder of her family by the ruthless Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). As the Basterds hatch an explosive plan to take out as many Nazis as possible at the premiere, they remain completely oblivious to the fact that Shoshanna, too, longs to bring the Third Reich to its knees, and that she's willing to sacrifice her beloved theater in the process. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brad Pitt, Mélanie Laurent, (more)
After pledging her late mother's once-dignified sorority, a college freshman aligns herself with seven social outcasts in an attempt to influence change over the school's flawed social hierarchy in this comedy starring Amanda Bynes. College freshman Sydney White (Bynes) has just arrived at Southern Atlantic University ready and eager to pledge her late mother's sorority. Once upon a time, this sorority was dignified and respected, but that pristine reputation has been tarnished now that blonde tyrant Rachel (Sara Paxton) has taken over as student council president. After surviving the sorority's vigorous pledging process, Syd is quickly banished for daring to question Rachel's regime. Now left with nowhere to go but a condemned house on the edge of Greek Row, the dejected and rejected pledge quickly makes friends with seven of the biggest social outcasts on campus. But while these socially challenged frat boys may not be much to look at, it gradually becomes apparent to Syd that they all have their fare share of admirable qualities -- especially love-struck super-geek Tyler (Matt Long). Perhaps if these nerdy frat boys and their new queen could successfully shake up the system by staging a successful takeover of the student government, they could restore the once-proud reputation of this prestigious university and offer a glimmer of hope to campus geeks everywhere! ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amanda Bynes, Matt Long, (more)
When wireless technology puts humans into contact with an unstoppable force that's determined to claim the lives of the living for the souls of the damned, it's up to a group of determined teens to close the gate before it's too late in director Jim Sonzero's remake of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's apocalyptic horror classic. A doorway between the human realm and the spiritual realm has been opened, and now the technology that once made humankind the ruler of the planet has become its digital Achilles heel. With every call made and every e-mail checked, life is slowly being stolen from the living and claimed for the dead. With no way of turning off the connection and no means of reasoning with a force they cannot understand, a desperate group of college students must discover a means of stopping the takeover before the entire planet is transformed into a cosmic haunting ground for wayward souls in search of a home. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kristen Bell, Ian Somerhalder, (more)
Following up their breakthrough film, 2001's Super Troopers, the Broken Lizard comedy troupe, comprised of Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, and Erik Stolhanske, took aim at the horror genre and delivered Club Dread. Starring the five members of the troupe along with Bill Paxton, the film is set at an anything-goes tropical resort for swingers. When a psychotic killer starts offing the guests with a razor sharp machete, it's up to the staff to hide the carnage, lest they lose the business of the unsuspecting surviving guests. As with Super Troopers and the first Broken Lizard film Puddle Cruiser, Chandrasekhar directs. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Paxton, Jay Chandrasekhar, (more)
Why rent a dirty movie when you can make your own? That's the can-do philosophy embraced by a handful of girl-crazy teens in this comedy. Fred (Tony Denman), Deacon (Erik von Detten), and Matt (Daniel Farber) are three high school kids who, like most teenaged boys, are obsessed with sex. Deacon has a part time job at a video rental shop with a large selection of adult films, and he's been able to sneak porn titles out of the store on a regular basis, to the great enthusiasm of Matt and Fred, who not only enjoy the videos themselves but dub bootleg copies they sell to their classmates to make pocket money. However, when Deacon loses his job, the guys are left high and dry, until one of them gets an idea -- they've seen enough porn movies to know what the average viewer expects from one, so why don't they make one themselves? However, recruiting the performers necessary for such a project turns out to be harder than they expected, with exotic dancer Ashley (Sarah Jane Potts) and neighborhood bully Jake (Riley Smith) rising to the top of a very shallow talent pool. The first production from the guys is an unexpected success, but they soon discover that not everyone is happy with their good fortune, especially sleazy porn kingpin Vic Ramalot (Horatio Sanz), who isn't interested in having more competition. Filmed under the title After School Special, Barely Legal also stars Tom Arnold, Amy Smart, and Dey Young. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Erik Von Detten, Tony Denman, (more)
- 2002
Still worried that his bosses will discover that he's computer-illiterate, Drew (Drew Carey) hires a teenage girl named Grace (Lacey Chabert) to boost his technical savvy. Inasmuch as Drew can't even master C++ programming, Grace ends up doing all of Drew's office work, which arouses the ire of the girl's ex-boyfrined Jake (Samm Levine). Elswhere, Drew's brother Steve (John Carroll Lynch), emotionally overwrought since his breakup with Mimi (Kathy Kinney), moves in with Lewis (Ryan Stiles) and Oswald (Diedrich Bader)--who get so sick of Steve's whining that they endeavor to bring the couple back together, an undertaking that nearly costs them their precious karaoke machine. This episode was originally scheduled for November 22, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Former MTV executive Joel Gallen makes his feature directorial debut with this broad spoof of the popular teen comedy genre, lampooning dozens of movies including American Pie (1999), American Beauty (1999), Bring It On (2000), Clueless (1995), She's All That (1999), Road Trip (2000), Can't Hardly Wait (1998), 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), Never Been Kissed (1999), and even the teen films of an earlier era such as The Breakfast Club (1985). At the aptly titled "John Hughes High School," aspiring artist Janey Briggs (Chyler Leigh) is an outcast because of her plain, bespectacled looks and paint-splattered overalls. Football hero Jake Wyler (Chris Evans) makes a bet that he can transform Janey into a gorgeous prom queen, a wager he may come to regret as he discovers Janey's true inner beauty. As their relationship blossoms, several other characters are limned, including a Nasty Cheerleader (Jaime Pressly), a Token Black Guy (Deon Richmond), a Stupid Fat Guy (Ron Lester), an Obsessed Best Friend (Eric Jungmann), an Undercover Reporter (Beverly Polcyn), the Cruelest Girl in School (Mia Kirshner), a Cocky Blonde Guy (Eric Christian Olsen), and several others. A nod to the multiple films that inspired it, Not Another Teen Movie (2001) was originally to have been entitled "Ten Things I Hate About Clueless Road Trips When I Can't Hardly Wait to Be Kissed." ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chyler Leigh, Chris Evans, (more)
Though it didn't even make it through its inaugural season on NBC, this 1999-2000 cult hit helped launch the career of many a fine young actor and attracted a huge new audience upon its elaborate DVD release in 2004. An ensemble comedy drama about a group of misfits growing up in the Detroit suburbs in the early '80s, Freaks and Geeks was the brainchild of executive producer Judd Apatow. With a writing staff that included indie-film mainstay Mike White, Apatow set out to chronicle those twin crossroads of adolescence: the move from junior high to high school, and the choice between stoner antics and goody two-shoes academics. To unite his two titular cliques into a single fictional framework, Apatow created the Weir family: Lindsay (Linda Cardellini), a brainy "mathlete" newly turned on to the thrill of rebellion; Sam (John Francis Daley), her swooningly romantic pipsqueak brother; and their rock-solid if painfully earnest parents, Harold (Joe Flaherty) and Jean (Becky Ann Baker). James Franco, soon to find movie stardom in the Spider-Man flicks, portrayed freak king Daniel Desario, a charismatic layabout and the object of Lindsay's secret affections. Busy Philipps, a future Dawson's Creek star, played his volcanic girlfriend, Kim Kelly, while Seth Rogen and Jason Segel played beta-male losers Ken Miller and Nick Andopolis. As for the geeks, young Sam found himself joined at the hip by asthmatic Bill Haverchuck (Martin Starr) and dapper, if tiny, Neal Schweiber (Samm Levine). With storylines that bounced back and forth between both groups and broke down the mythic high-school hierarchy developed in the '80s oeuvre of John Hughes, Freaks and Geeks earned plenty of critical praise upon its inaugural run. Despite its rich, character-driven humor and nostalgic, retro setting, the series dealt with all sorts of weighty issues: domestic violence, drugs and alcohol, single motherhood, and simple adolescence. NBC declined to air one episode, "Kim Kelly Is My Friend," deeming its family psychodrama too disturbing. The series was soon canceled, leaving several unaired episodes. But thank to Internet fandom and growing word of mouth, Freaks and Geeks cemented its status as the coulda-been hit that was snuffed out too early, and the clamor for a DVD release reached a deafening roar. By the time the complete series, including unaired episodes, was released in 2004, the show's reputation had grown to the point where a deluxe edition -- including a fake high-school yearbook -- could be released and even the regular edition boasted more commentary tracks than there were episodes. Since the show's cancellation, star Cardellini has gone on to greater fame in the Scooby-Doo movies and on ER, while her cast mates have turned up in all sorts of unexpected places. But for a large contingent of obsessive Freaks and Geeks fans, the actress will always be identified with her character's signature green jacket. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Linda Cardellini, John Francis Daley, (more)
