Brooke D'Orsay Movies
Two kids with nothing in common are brought together in a very unexpected way in this comedy. Nell (Samaire Armstrong) is a pretty but hopelessly geeky teenage girl who loves Shakespeare and wants little more than to study literature at Yale when she graduates from high school in a few months Woody (Kevin Zegers), who lives next door, is the quarterback on the school's football team, and seems like a sure bet to land a lucrative football scholarship despite the fact he isn't especially bright. Nell and Woody are not at all friendly and normally have nothing to say to one another, but one day during a class field trip to a historical museum, the two fall under the spell of an Incan icon and when they awake the next morning, Woody's mind is in Nell's body, and vice versa. Neither is comfortable with their sudden gender switch or having to assume the other's personalities, but they quickly realize that until they can find a way to reverse the spell, they have to work together if Nell is to go to Yale and Woody is to get his scholarship and move away from this loutish parents (Sharon Osborne and Maury Chaykin. Elton John was an executive producer on It's A Boy Girl Thing, and songs from his back catalog appear on the soundtrack. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Zegers, Samaire Armstrong, (more)
- 2006
More "twentysomething sexual angst" in the tradition of Friends, the Fox sitcom Happy Hour also borrowed elements from The Odd Couple. The focus was on a pair of mismatched male roommates, described by the network publicity flacks thusly: "one disappointed by love, one blinded by love." The "disappointed" one was Henry Beckman (John Sloan), who after breaking up with girlfriend Heather (Brooke D'Orsay) moved in with his party-animal buddy Larry Cone (Lex Medlin). Having just lost a roommate named Brad (Nat Faxon), who defected in favor of marriage, Larry welcomed Henry as "The New Brad," assuming that both shared the same viewpoint about the opposite sex; they didn't, of course, and therein lay the series' comic contrast. Other cast members included Beth Lacke as Larry's main squeeze Amanda, and Jamie Denbo as the roommates' somewhat deranged next-door neighbor Tina. Happy Hour debuted on September 7, 2006, in tandem with another new Fox comedy series, 'Til Death. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lex Medlin, John Sloan, (more)
A multi-millionaire plans a scam that goes wrong in a great many ways in this comedy. Malcolm King (Anthony Anderson) is a wildly successful businessman who has gotten used to having things his own way. When King decides to divorce his wife, she's none too thrilled at the prospect and makes it clear she will make him pay a huge settlement in exchange for his freedom. King isn't keen on this idea, so he and his mistress hatch a scheme by which one of her friends (Jay Mohr) will "kidnap" King and demand a large portion of his fortune for his return, which will be kicked back to the businessman later. But King seriously underestimates the ineptitude of his would-be kidnapper -- no to mention how many other people want a piece of his fortune. King's Ransom also stars Regina Hall, Leila Arcieri, Charlie Murphy, and Donald Faison. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Anderson, Jay Mohr, (more)
- 2004
Most of the action in this half-hour animated cable TV series occurred in an enormous shopping mall, the home away from home for six 16-year-old school buddies. Jonesy was the "jerk" of the group, who could never understand why he kept losing jobs and girlfriends; Jen was the "jock", the equal to any athlete, female or male; Nikki was the house "rebel"; Wyatt was the goofiest and most agreeable of the bunch; Jude was the slacker-skateboarder; and Caitlin was the standard-issue dumb blonde. Each episode represented a "first" in the lives of the protagonist: First job, first romance, first bank account, first day behind the wheel, etc.). Created by Tom McGillis and Jennifer Pertsch), 6teen made its Nickelodeon debut on November 1, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Terry McGurrin, Megan Fallenbach, (more)
- 2004
- R
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Directed by Danny Leiner, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle follows the life-changing (and mind-altering) journey of Korean-American investment banker Harold (John Cho) and Indian-American medical-school candidate Kumar (Kal Penn). Both underdogs, Harold and Kumar decide to spend what would have been an otherwise uneventful Friday night satisfying an oddly intense urge for White Castle hamburgers. However, finding a White Castle proves a highly difficult task, and the two friends wind up on an epic road trip of deep thoughts, deeper inhaling, and enough half-baked, politically incorrect philosophizing to outweigh a White Castle value meal. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- 2003
Full-figured Broadway actress Marissa Jaret Winokur, who won an Emmy award for her performance in the musical version of Hairspray, is felicitously (if somewhat incongruously) teamed with slender soap opera heartthrob Mark Consuelos in this uplifting made-for-cable comedy. Although she's not what one could call beautiful or svelte, Becca Wasserman (Winokur) possesses a beauty that emanates from within: she also happens to be great singer, with a great career as a teacher and a super-great fiancé named Adam (Consuelos). All Becca lacks is the money to afford her dream honeymoon to Hawaii. Partly to get even for being snubbed by the gorgeous Libby (Reagan Pasternak), and partly just to prove that she can do it, Becca enters the The Miss Squirrel Hill beauty pageant, the first prize of which is two free tickets to the Aloha State. But though everyone is pulling for Becca, the plain cold fact of the matter is that no "super-sized" woman has ever won the pageant--and even Becca's mom Amanda (Fran Drescher), hitherto her daughter's biggest booster, is certain that Becca is going to make a fool of herself. Beautiful Girl originally aired October 19, 2003 on the ABC Family channel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The second straight-to-video sequel to the 2000 thriller The Skulls marks the feature directorial debut of television producer/director J. Miles Dale. Again focusing on the secret fraternal society of The Skulls (based on the real-life Skull and Bones), The Skulls 3 stars Bring It On's Clare Kramer as Taylor Brooks, a new student who aims to become the first female member of the powerful organization. Met with resistance from many of The Skulls, Taylor shows that she's willing to resort to any means necessary to gain acceptance. Bryce Johnson and Barry Bostwick also star. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clare Kramer, Bryce Johnson, (more)
High school girl Angela (Lizzy Caplan) returns from summer vacation with a dilemma: Should she or should she not surrender her virginity to her boyfriend, Travis (Bret Harrison)? Upon her return, Angela discovers that her high school has just instituted a trendy new sexual-education program -- consisting solely of "Just Say No." Despite increasing pressure from friends and faculty alike, Angela refuses to sign a circulating abstinence pledge, citing the undeniable fact that most of supporters of "Just Say No" have no idea what they're talking about. Her stance is contrasted with that of her hypocritical, apple-polishing classmate, Caroline (Brooke D'Orsay), who zealously goes along with the new program (and strong-arms others into doing so) only to curry favor with her teachers. As the story rolls on, it is clear that the "Just Say No" credo is a farce -- to everyone except, perhaps, the one person who openly treated it as a farce in the first place. Made for the VH1 cable service, Everybody's Doing It premiered December 22, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2002
A mockumentary based on the concept that love has an expiration date, 19 Months follows a fictional documentary crew as they trace the relationship of Rob (Benjamin Ratner) and Melanie (Angela Vint), a couple who have agreed to break off their relationship after the eponymous period has passed. Drawn together by the theory that if the relationship is ended before jealousy and boredom set in then the relationship has been a success, Rob and Melanie plan to express all of their passion and emotion for one another in a brief but precious period of time. As the final week of their relationship draws to its mutually agreed upon conclusion and the couple's planned separation draws nearer, this situation gradually becomes more complex than either may have initially anticipated. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Ratner, Angela Vint, (more)
