Sara Paxton Movies
Character actress Sara Paxton debuted on-camera in her mid-teens, in the early 2000s. With bleached-blonde hair and steel-blue eyes that radiated a healthy middle-American appeal, Paxton seemed tailor-made for stardom and drew audience attention within an unsurprisingly brief period of time. However, she also maintained a somewhat low profile for the first several years, in terms of choice of material and narrow genre focus. Paxton premiered cinematically in 2001, with a small role in the Neal Israel-directed, made-for-television family comedy Hounded, and followed it up with similar programmers, such as the antiseptic farces Sleepover (2004), Return to Halloweentown (2006), and Aquamarine (2006). Paxton ascended to much higher billing (and expanded into slightly edgier material) with a plum role in the Amanda Bynes teen comedy Sydney White (2007), about a young sorority pledge who makes an aggressive attempt to rebuild the collegiate social hierarchy. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
A pair of teenage girls are brutally raped and terrorized by a vicious gang of psychopaths, who subsequently find their cruelty returned tenfold when they seek sanctuary in the home of one of the victim's parents in this contemporary reworking of Wes Craven's controversial 1972 shocker. Shortly after arriving at her family's secluded lake house, Mari Collingwood (Sara Paxton) and her best friend are abducted by a sadistic prison escapee and his violent crew. Left for dead and nearly in shock after suffering unspeakable abuse at the hands of her captors, Mari realizes that her only hope for survival is to find her way back home. Unfortunately for Mari, her attackers have unwittingly arrived at her parents' home seeking shelter from the authorities. There, Mari's concerned parents, John (Tony Goldwyn) and Emma (Monica Potter), realize to their horror just what grim fate has befallen their beloved daughter. Suppressing their rage in order to lure the killers into a deadly trap, John and Emma quietly hatch a plan to make the three strangers suffer for their grisly transgressions. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Goldwyn, Monica Potter, (more)
After spoofing disaster films in Airplane!, police shows in The Naked Gun, and Hollywood horrors in Scary Movie 3 and 4, producer David Zucker sets his satirical sights on the superhero genre with this anarchic comedy lampooning everything from Spider-Man to X-Men and Superman Returns. Shortly after being bitten by a genetically altered dragonfly, high-school outcast Rick Riker (Drake Bell) begins to experience a startling transformation. Now Rick's skin is as strong as steel, and he possesses the strength of ten men. Determined to use his newfound powers to fight crime, Rick creates a special costume and assumes the identity of The Dragonfly -- a fearless crime fighter dedicated to keeping the streets safe for law-abiding citizens. But every superhero needs a nemesis, and after Lou Landers (Christopher McDonald) is caught in the middle of an experiment gone horribly awry, he develops the power to leech the life force out of anyone he meets and becomes the villainous Hourglass. Intent on achieving immortality, the Hourglass attempts to gather as much life force as possible as the noble Dragonfly sets out to take down his archenemy and realize his destiny as a true hero. Craig Mazin writes and directs this high-flying spoof featuring Tracy Morgan, Pamela Anderson, Leslie Nielsen, Marion Ross, Jeffrey Tambor, and Regina Hall. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Drake Bell, Sara Paxton, (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)
Two teenagers think they have problems until they come to the rescue of a girl with a fishy story to tell in this teen-oriented comedy. Thirteen-year-old Claire (Emma Roberts) and same-aged Hailey (Joanne "JoJo" Levesque) are two close friends living in Tampa, FL, who are facing a separation in a few weeks -- Claire's mother is a marine biologist who has been given a prestigious new job in Australia, meaning the girls are not likely to see much of each other again. While the girls wonder if there's anything they can do to avoid the inevitable, a storm breaks out and the waves toss an unusual example of sea life into Hailey's swimming pool -- Aquamarine (Sara Paxton), a teenaged mermaid who has some problems of her own. Aquamarine's father is a leader of the undersea world who has arranged for his daughter to marry a boy whom she doesn't care for. It seems Dad doesn't put much stock in the land-locked notion of love, and unless Aquamarine can prove to him that it's real, she will have to go through with the wedding. Claire and Hailey find Aquamarine, and discover that she fortunately sprouts legs when on dry land during the daylight hours; after learning of her romantic dilemma, they decide to help her by teaching her how to turn the head of Raymond (Jake McDorman), a cute lifeguard at the nearby beach. However, pretty Aquamarine learns her lessons well enough to make Cecilia (Arielle Kebbel), a mean girl with a crush on Raymond, jealous, leading her into a battle over the young man's affections, which Aquamarine has to win if she wants to avoid a loveless marriage. Aquamarine was the first feature film from director Elizabeth Allen. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emma Roberts, Joanna 'Jojo' Levesque, (more)
On the eve of Halloweetown's 1000th anniversary celebration, Witch University student Marnie Piper (Sara Paxton) must enlist the aid of two close friends in order to finally reveal a long-buried secret hidden in an ancient prophecy. Marnie has just won a full scholarship to the prestigious Witch University in Halloweentown, and she's eager to begin studying up on alchemy, amulets, and magic potions. While Marnie is all set to become Witch University's most popular coed, the new ban on magic at the school poses something of a problem for the young witch eager to realize her true powers. Later, Marnie discovers an ancient prophecy that holds the key to unlocking a legendary secret. Now, in order to ensure that Halloweentown's Millennial Celebration goes off without a hitch, Marnie will call on her old friends Ethan (Lucas Grabeel) and Benny the Skeleton in addition to seeking out the wisdom of new pals Professor Periwinkle and Aneesa the Genie. Will Marnie and her friends be able to fend off the evil that threatens to consume Halloweentown, or could it be that this strange and supernatural town has been marked for destruction since the day it was founded? ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sara Paxton, Judith Hoag, (more)
Directed by Joe Nussbaum, Sleepover revolves around one of the hallmarks of female friendship: the all-important slumber party. In hopes of shedding their not-so-cool reputations during the summer before their freshman year, best friends Julie (Alexa Vega), Hannah (Mika Boorem), Yancy (Kalli Flynn Childress), and Farrah (Scout Taylor-Compton) decide to host the sleepover of their lives. Far from a mere pillow-fight-laden girl talk-fest, this sleepover includes an intense scavenger hunt against the most simultaneously loathed and envied young women they know: the infamous "popular" clique. Along the way, the girls manage to hijack a car, sneak into clubs, engage in a first kiss, and learn more than a little bit about themselves and their capabilities -- all while evading the watchful eyes of Julie's mother. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alexa Vega, Mika Boorem, (more)
- 2002
A Las Vegas photographer is murdered and his befouled corpse is dumped at a rural "body farm," the location where the CSI team normally studies cadavers of crime victims. Grissom (William L. Petersen) investigates, and as is customary, he finds more than first meets the eye. This time, however, Grissom is working at a disadvantage: several members of his own staff have lodged complaints about his job performance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2002
Series creator Peter Murrieta based the weekly, half-hour sitcom Greetings From Tucson on his own experience growing up in a multicultural household. When he received a promotion on his job, Mexican-American patriarch Joaquin (Julio Oscar Mechoso) moved his family into a slightly more upscale Tucson neighborhood. Despite his new surroundings, the rule-bound Joaquin remained loyal to the "old values" passed down from his homeland, and tended to keep his children -- son David (Pablo Santos) and daughter Maria (Aimee Garcia) -- on very short leashes. Slightly more liberal in her parental behavior was Joaquin's feisty Irish-American wife Elizabeth (Rebecca Creskoff), while Joaquin's peppery mother Magdalena (Lupe Ontiveros) and indolent brother Ernesto (Jacob Vargas) could easily be described as overraged hippies. Much of the humor was of the culture-clash variety, with Joaquin's Mexican traditionalism, Elizabeth's Irish pragmatism, and daughter Maria's self-imposed Spanish nationalism all brought into play. After a bit of pre-release script tinkering (including changing the family's name from Campos to Tiant and changing the series' title from Just for You), Greetings From Tucson finally premiered on September 20, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julio Oscar Mechoso, Rebecca Creskoff, (more)
- 2001
Directed by Neal Israel, Hounded is a made-for-television family film about a 13-year-old boy named Jay Martin who has both a school paper and his chances for a scholarship stolen by his rival, Ronny Van Dusen, who just so happens to be the headmaster's son. Jay concocts a plan to right the situation, but when he breaks into the headmaster's house, he can't stop the Van Dusen's dog from following him home. As if that weren't enough, without the proper medication, the dog gets completely out of control. The film originally aired in 2001 and stars Tahj Mowry as Jay, Shia LaBeouf as Ronny, and Ed Begley Jr. as Mr. Van Dusen. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tahj Mowry, Craig Kirkwood, (more)
