Shonda Rhimes Movies
The driving creative force behind one of the most successful television medical dramas since ER, tireless multi-hyphenate Shonda Rhimes worked for years as a feature-film screenwriter before bringing Grey's Anatomy to the small screen in 2005. Of course, writing comes easy for the lifelong storyteller who was tape-recording stories for her parents to transcribe before she even learned to spell, yet entering into the world of show business proved a formidable task for the artist who wasn't used to the idea of dealing with network executives.It was Rhimes' screenplay for Introducing Dorothy Dandridge that earned actress Halle Berry her first Emmy, and after the success of the Britney Spears road movie Crossroads and the well-received Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, it seemed that the emerging talent had a successful career writing features in her future. Yet all of that would change when Rhimes adopted a newborn child back in 2002. In the months after adopting the child, Rhimes found herself largely housebound and rediscovering her love of television. Realizing that she was just as capable of creating a successful weekly series as she was a stand-alone feature, the ambitious writer created a show concerning a group of sexy young war correspondents. As fate would have it, however, the war in Iraq would prompt Touchstone to cancel the series before it even went before the cameras, yet rumors persisted that the studio was searching for a quality medical drama. It didn't take long for the University Park, IL, native to grasp the inherent drama of being a medical intern, and in 2005, Grey's Anatomy debuted to critical and popular acclaim. It seemed that the writer who had once been accepted to USC on the prestigious Gary Rosenberg Writing Fellowship had finally arrived, and that, despite some hard times getting there, Rhimes had finally hit her stride as a writer, while showing impressive growth as a producer as well.
With Grey's Anatomy still maintaining an impressive fan base three years after its debut, Rhimes continued telling the story of popular character Dr. Addison Forbes Montgomery (Kate Walsh) in the spin-off series Private Practice in fall 2007. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2007
In the first episode of a two-part story, Addison (Kate Walsh) heads to LA for a reunion old medical-school friends, blissfully unprepared for what it is in store for her. Meredith's stepmom Susan (Mare Winningham) is brought in with a truly bad case of hiccups, just as Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) thinks she has come to terms with their relationship. "Jane Doe" (Elizabeth Reaser) has been identified as "Ava", and Alex (Justin Chambers) is happy with her by any name. And Cristina (Sandra Oh) prepares for her wedding with the dubious input of her own mother (Tsai Chin) and Burke's mom (Diahann Carroll). This episode serves to introduce the future costars of the Grey's Anatomy spinoff Private Practice: Tim Daly (Pete), Amy Brennerman (Violet), Taye Diggs (Sam), Chris Lowell (Dell) and Paul Adelstein (Cooper) (the character of Naomi, here played by Merrin Dungey, would be taken over by Audra McDonald in Private Practice). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2007
This spinoff from the popular ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy was a vehicle for Kate Walsh, repeating her role from the earlier series as brilliant neonatal surgeon Addison Forbes Montgomery Shepherd, the ex-wife of Seattle Grace Hospital's Dr. Derek Shepherd. Having relocated to Los Angeles, Addison immediately found employment at the high-end Oceanside Wellness Center, a freewheeling "alternative" hospital established by several of her former medical-school classmates. The large ensemble cast included Tim Daly as Dr. Pete Wilder, alternative-medicine specialist and equivalent to Grey's Anatomy's "McDreamy" (aka Derek Shepherd); Taye Diggs as Dr. Sam Bennett, internist and best-selling "self help" author; Audra McDonald as Dr. Naomi Bennett, fertility-and-hormone specialist and Sam's former wife; Paul Adelstein as Dr. Cooper Freedman, pediatrician and resident ladies' man; Amy Brennerman as Freedman's best friend, psychiatrist Dr. Violet Turner; and Chris Lowell as Dr. William "Del" Cooper, the hospital's laid-back receptionist and aspiring midwife. Also on hand were KaDee Strickland as Dr. Charlotte King, chief of staff at nearby St. Ambrose Hospital and staunch opponent of the unorthodox methods practiced at Oceanside; and Shavon Kirksey as Naomi's daughter Maya. Its format and "dramatis personae" previously established in a two-part episode of Grey's Anatomy in the spring of 2007, Private Practice premiered over ABC on September 26 of that same year. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2007
In the conclusion of a two-part story, Addison (Kate Walsh) undergoes a profound personal crisis as she mulls over the possibility of moving to LA's Oceanside Wellness Center (thereby setting the stage for the Grey's Anatomy spinoff Private Practice). Back in Seattle, Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) learns that her stepmother Susan (Mare Winningham) is suffering from something far more serious than a bad case of hiccups. Alex (Justin Chambers) shows up for emotional support as Derek (Patrick Dempsey) performs emergency surgery on Ava (Elizabeth Reaser). And Burke (Isaiah Washington) and George (T.R. Knight) get quite an earful when they turn to Bailey (Chandra Wilson) for marital advice. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2007
In the conclusion of a three-part story arc, the Seattle Grace staffers race against time to save Meredith (Ellen Pompeo), who after nearly drowning at the site of the ferryboat tragedy has been rushed to the hospital showing no signs of life. As she hovers between this world and the next, Meredith undergoes a spectacular near-death experience, "starring" several of her late friends and acquaintances--ranging from bomb-squad detective Dylan Young (Kyle Chandler) to her dear departed dog Doc! Meanwhile, the bond between Alex (Justin Chambers) and the seriously injured "Jane Doe" (Elizabeth Reaser) grows stronger; Izzie (Katherine Heigl) has serious issues with both Callie (Sara Ramirez) and George (T.R. Knight); Cristina (Sandra Oh) has yet another meltdown; and a major recurring character bids a sort-of-fond farewell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2007
In the second episode of a three-part story arc, Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) has fallen in the water at the scene of a horrendous ferryboat disaster, and is still among the missing. Izzie (Katherine Heigl) takes medical instructions by phone as she performs emergency cranial surgery on a victim trapped between two cars. George (T.R Knight) tells a mother that her son has been found safe so she would agree to undergo surgery--and now must conduct a frantic search for the boy. And while trying to mollify the victims' families, Alex forms an unusual bond with an unidentified pregnant woman (Elizabeth Reaser) who has sustained mulitple injuries. With all this going on, Cristina and Burke still find time to announce their upcoming wedding--only to start quarrelling the moment the words are out of their mouths. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2007
In the first episode of a three-part story arc, the staff at Seattle Grace swings into action when disaster strikes on Coleman Dock. A cargo ship has plowed into a ferryboat, killing several people and seriously injuring many more. Some of the survivors are in such bad shape that Dr. Webber (James Pickens Jr.) must literary play God, deciding on the spot who can be saved and who can't. Cristina (Sandra Oh) takes special interest in a grotesquely disfigured and very pregnant "Jane Doe" (Elizabeth Reaser), while Alex (Justin Chambers) must keep his arrogance in check as he deals with the victims' anguished relatives. The situations worsens when, while providing aid and comfort to an eerily calm child victim (Madison Leisle), Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) loses her footing and falls in the water--and she can't swim! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2006
As Season Three of Grey's Anatomy gets under way, Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) has only a few fleeting moments to ponder her romantic rendezvous with Derek (Patrick Dempsey) at the end of Season Two before Derek and George (T.R. Knight) are quarantined in the same room by a flu epidemic. In another unresolved issue from the previous season, Izzie (Katherine Heigl) is so devastated by the death of heart patient Denny Duquette that she decides to give up her medical career completely. Elsewhere, the wife (Loretta Devine) of surgery chief Webber (James Pickens Jr.) forces him to choose between the hospital and her; and two of the surgeons look after an infant found in a most unexpected place. This episode is highlighted by an extensive flashback to that wonderful night in 2005 just before the series' regulars began their "tour of duty" at Seattle Grace Hospital. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2006
The day's rounds require that George (T.R. Knight) team up with Derek (Patrick Dempsey)--and, less harmoniously, that Callie (Sara Ramirez, now a series regular) team up with Meredith (Ellen Pompeo). In other developments, Finn (Chris O'Donnell) gets an update on the wellbeing of Meredith's dog Doc; Denny (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is all primed for the transplant, but the donated heart suddenly becomes unavailable, forcing Izzie (Katherine Heigl) to take drastic measures; and Callie has something very important to say to George. The episode comes to a shocking climax as Burke (Isaiah Washington is literally laid low by an unexpected catastrophe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2006
In the concluding half of Grey's Anatomy's Season Two finale, Denny (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) appears to have survived his heart transplant, and in the ensuing euphoria he proposes to Izzie (Katherine Heigl)--but we're still some distance removed from a happy ending. Elsewhere, the relationship between Derek (Patrick Dempsey) and Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) is soured a bit by the presence of Finn (Chris O'Donnell), while Callie (Sara Ramirez) and George (T.R. Knight) wonder if they can be in lust rather than love; Cristina (Sandra Oh), placed in charge of the ER, nearly suffers a meltdown over the plight of the seriously wounded Burke (Isaiah Washington); and Webber (James Pickens Jr.) arranges a "prom night" for his terminally ill niece. To keep audience interest piqued until the opening episode of Season Three, two life-changing events take place just before fadeout time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2006
In the conclusion of a two-part story, the Code Black emergency remains in effect as Blake (Isaiah Washington) tries to remove a live bomb imbedded in the chest of a WW2 re-enactor--with a very nervous Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) holding the explosive steady lest it blow the hospital to smithereens. The strain proves too much for Dr. Webber, who suffers what seems to be a heart attack. Meanwhile, Bailey (Chandra Wilson) has gone into labor, but refuses to deliver her baby without her husband present--placing Derek (Patrick Dempsey), presently operating on the husband for injuries sustained in a car accident, in quite a quandary. And with the whole world crumbling around them, Izzie (Katherine Heigl) and Alex (Justin Chambers) pick this time to express their love...in a linen closet. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2006
In the first episode of a two-part story, Burke (Isaiah Washington) orders a "Code Black" when a WW2 re-enactor is brought in with a homemade bomb embedded in his chest. There's tension aplenty as the man is brought into surgery while young paramedic Hanna Davies (guest star Cristina Ricci) nervously holds the explosive in place and bomb-squad detective Dylan Young (Kyle Chandler) tries to maintain order and calm. Elsewhere, Alex (Justin Chambers) and Izzie (Katherine Heigl) undergo life-altering experiences that neither could ever have dreamed of; and Bailey (Chandra Wilson) finally goes into labor--while her husband is nowhere to be found. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2005
After considering several candidates, Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) decides who will be her roommates during her first-year internship. Back on the job, she butts heads with a pediatric intern to save the life of a newborn child, and also claims temporary possession of a gruesome "souvenir" left behind by the man who raped her patient Allison (Alex Thayer). Meanwhile, Cristina (Sandra Oh) and Alex (Justin Chambers) get their act together, so to speak; George (T.R. Knight) spends a few disheartening hours with the Seattle Grace code team; and Izzie (Katherine Heigl) copes with a patient who speaks no English. In other developments, Burke (Isaiah Washington) finds out why Derek (Patrick Dempsey) may be chosen as chief of surgery over hm; and Webber (James Pickens Jr.) remains close-mouthed over how well he knew Meredith's mom. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2005
It's the annual Dead Baby Bike Day, in which the bicycle messengers of Seattle participate in a city-wide race. Unfortunately, there's been a spectacular accident, and the ER is filled to overflowing with injured cyclists and pedestrians. Among the casualties is a biker named Viper (Callum Blue), who has spokes protruding from his abdomen--not that this prevents him from hitting on Meredith (Ellen Pompeo), who has enough trouble on her hands fending off Derek (Patrick Dempsey). On a more somber note, anothere of the victims is an unidentified, brain-dead woman, whose organs may end up being harvested for a gay cancer patient (Keith David. It is up to Izzie (Katherine Heigl) to decide whether or not to remove the comatose woman's liver...and, more problematically, to determine how long to wait before doing so. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2005
As Izzie (Katherine Heigl) busies herself preparing for a lavish Thanksgiving dinner, both Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Cristina (Sandra Oh) sneak back to the hospital. Upon arrival, Meredith helps Derek (Patrick Dempsey) look after a man who has awakened from a coma after sixteen years--only to determine that he would have been better off remaining asleep. Meanwhile, George (T.R. Knight) is strongarmed into joining his father and brothers on a turkey shoot, with disastrous results. And Bailey (Chandra Wilson) finally realizes that the "Nazi" everyone is always talking about is none other than herself. George Dzundza appears unbilled as George's dad. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2005
A power outage at Seattle Grace traps George (T.R. Knight) in an elevator with a seriously wounded police officer (Daniel Bess), forcing him to perform emergency surgery. The outage also causes another patient to lose his "pain medication"--to be exact, his collection of video porn--forcing Cristina (Sandra Oh) to do some clever improvising. Elsewhere, after trying to convince a religious zealot to authorize surgery for his daughter, Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) has a showdown with Derek (Patrick Dempsey). And Meredith's delusional mother Ellis (Kate Burton) waxes nostalgic over her long-ago love affair--with Seattle Grace's chief surgeon Webber (James Pickens Jr.) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2005
The professional roles and real lives of a diverse group of surgeons collide unexpectedly in this Golden Globe-winning ABC television drama. As an intern at prestigious Seattle Grace Hospital, Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) tries hard to live up to the reputation of her legendary surgeon mother while hiding the fact that her mom now suffers from Alzheimer's disease. As if life weren't complicated enough, Meredith also falls for her boss, Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), a surgical resident recently relocated to Seattle from New York. Meredith's friend and rival Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) finds herself in a similarly taboo romance with Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington), Derek's chief competition for the title of chief resident. As for Meredith and Cristina's fellow interns -- Isobel "Izzie" Stevens (Katherine Heigl), George O'Malley (T.R. Knight), and Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) -- they've got problems of their own. Izzie doesn't want to be judged for her underwear-model past; Alex is better at bedding the ladies than bedside manner; and George can't get any of the women around him to see him as anything but a cuddly friend. All five interns answer to the roar of senior resident Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson), affectionately known as "the Nazi." But even Dr. Bailey jumps to it when Chief of Surgery Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.) is on the scene. Although it was a hit from the time of its mid-season launch -- in a plum post-Desperate Housewives time slot -- on March 27, 2005, Grey's Anatomy had sat on the shelf for a year before it saw the light of day. Creator and executive producer Shonda Rhimes received plenty of accolades for her color-blind casting, but it was Oh who earned an Emmy nod and a Golden Globe statuette for her work on the show's first season. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- 2005
It's a grueling and eventful first 48 hours for the new crop of surgical interns at Seattle Grace Hospital in the debut episode of Grey's Anatomy. Among the newcomers are Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), still struggling to emerge from the shadow of her celebrated surgeon mother Ellis Grey (Kate Burton); fiercely competitive Stanford grad Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), who will in time become Meredith's best friend; former fashion model Isobel "Izzie" Stevens (Katherine Heigl), a bit put off that she's no longer the sole center of attention; amiable, naïve George O'Malley (T.R. Knight); and Alex Karev (Justin Chambers), who wastes no time proving himself to be a pompous jerk. After a pep talk from chief surgeon Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.), the interns are placed in the not-so-tender care of supervising doctor Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson), also known as "The Nazi" for reasons that become instantly obvious. During their two-day shakedown cruise, the rookies come face to face with the harsh realities of hospital life, with Meredith tending to a girl suffering from seizures, George enduring his first appendectomy, and Cristina finds that it's no picnic workiing under veteran surgeon Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington). But the biggest shock of all is reserved for Ellis, when she discovers that her handsome "one-night stand" from the previous evening happens to be her new boss, Dr. Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey)! Peter Horton received an Emmy nomination for his direction of this inaugural episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2004
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- Add The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement to QueueAdd The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement to top of Queue
Directed by Garry Marshall, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement picks up where its predecessor left off -- that is, with American teenager Mia Thermopolis (Anne Hathaway) reeling over the news that she is a princess within the royal family of Genovia, a little-known European nation with a population of barely 50,000. As promised, Mia, along with her best friend, Lilly (Heather Matarazzo), travels to Genovia after their high-school graduation. The unlikely princess has hardly settled into the castle, let alone begun representing the country, when she learns that a larger title is approaching more rapidly than expected; it seems as though Mia will have to take over as queen. Suddenly, in addition to further schooling on the etiquette of royalty, Mia finds herself with a daunting prospect -- according to Genovian law, all princesses must be married before they can be crowned. In addition to Julie Andrews' reprisal of her role as Queen Clarisse Renaldi, The Princess Diaries 2 also features Hector Elizondo and John Rhys-Davies in supporting roles. Though Princess Diaries author Meg Cabot did pen a sequel (The Princess Diaries: Princess in the Spotlight), this film is not an adaptation. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Hathaway, Julie Andrews, (more)
Multimillion-selling recording artist Britney Spears makes the transition to the big screen with this teen road trip romantic comedy, co-produced by the film branch of the entity that first brought her pop stardom, MTV. Crossroads casts Spears as Lucy, the shy valedictorian of her high school graduating class. On the night of their prom, Lucy and her once-close childhood friends -- the prim and proper Kit (Zoe Saldana) and the tomboyish, five-months-pregnant Mimi (Taryn Manning) -- reunite to dig up a time capsule they buried together as little girls. Mimi's about to make good on her childhood dreams; she's leaving their small Southern town for hopes of fame and fortune in Los Angeles. Though Lucy and Kit are reluctant to join her, they decide to tag along at the last minute, agreeing to be chauffeured by Mimi's just-out-of-jail friend, Ben (Anson Mount). As they trek across the country, plagued by car problems, unsanitary motels, and petty bickering, the three friends reveal meaningful secrets to each other, and Lucy begins to realize that the handsome, reticent Ben might just be the guy for her. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Britney Spears, Zoe Saldana, (more)
