Lalaine Movies

Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is re-imagined as a contemporary high school comedy in this tale of a scheming student who plots to give her popularity a boost by painting herself the easiest lay in school. Like most high school kids, Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone) just wants to be popular. So much so than when her best friend, Rhiannon (Aly Michalka), asks Olive how her weekend went, the bored teen decides to whip up a spicy white lie just to make things interesting. But that minor exaggeration begins to take on a life of its own when it reaches the ears of motor-mouth gossip Jesus freak Marianne (Amanda Bynes), and in no time the entire student body is abuzz over unassuming Olive's unrepentant weekend of debauchery. Of course not a word of it is true, but that doesn't stop everyone in school from talking, and an amused Olive from deciding to go with the flow. Playing the role of the hussy to the hilt, the girl who used to be invisible begins dressing provocatively and turning heads in the hallways. The students aren't the only ones taking notice, either; Olive's English teacher, Mr. Griffith (Thomas Haden Church), is concerned that the kind of attention she's receiving isn't healthy for a developing girl, and his wife (Lisa Kudrow), the school guidance counselor, is in full agreement. The only people who seem remotely interested in the truth are Olive's trusting and open-minded parents (Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson). As Olive takes note of the parallels between her own situation and the plight of the Scarlet Letter heroine Hester Prynne, she realizes that she may be able to manipulate her newfound notoriety to give fellow classmate Brandon's (Dan Byrd) popularity a much-needed shot in the arm. Olive never thought her little game could possibly have any negative effect on anyone but herself, but when loose lips start sinking ships all around her, she realizes that it's high time for the truth to come out. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A 15-year-old soccer sensation who's well on her way to joining the U.S. National Team discovers that there is more to life than scoring the next big goal in this sports-themed comedy for the whole family. Ever since Sara Davis (Leah Pipes) was a young girl, her soccer fanatic father has pushed her to do her very best on the field. When word gets out that the National Development Team has found out about Sara and is sending a scout to witness her incredible talent firsthand, it appears that if all of her rigorous training has finally paid off. But Sara's best friend, Tutti, thinks her athletic pal needs to get off of the field and into the real world for a change. It's a whole new ballgame when you're not leading your team to victory in the big game, though, and now, as Sara begins to branch out and experience everything from the wonders of chemistry to the stress of prom night, each new day brings a whole new surprise for the girl whose previous short-sightedness had prevented her from seeing beyond the bleachers. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Now that he's "outed" himself as the son of a slayer, Principal Wood (D.B. Woodside) visits the potential-slayer compound at the Summers home. Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) proudly demonstrates the girls' rigorous training program, but her lessons seem too rough for at least one of the potentials. Spurred on by the sinister whisperings of The First, a terrified and depressed Chloe (Lalaine) hangs herself. Her death shatters the other slayerettes' naive illusion that this is all some sort of superhero summer camp. Buffy defiantly warns them that Chloe was stupid and they will be, too, if they give in as easily as the dead girl did. More desperate than ever for answers about her powers, Buffy turns to a gift from Wood: a bag of slayer artifacts passed on from his mother to her Watcher to Wood. Discovering a mysterious box among the items, Buffy opens it and soon finds herself transported to a spirit realm much like the one she visited during her encounters with the specter of the First Slayer (see "Restless" and "Intervention"). This time, however, she communes with the spirits of the three mystics who created the First Slayer back in prehistory. Buffy learns that this was accomplished by chaining a young girl down and filling her with demonic power. The trio offer Buffy the chance for more of this dark magic, but she refuses, unwilling to accept its demonic nature -- and her own. Meanwhile, back on earth, the Scoobies are stuck fighting a demon who switched places with Buffy when she did her disappearing act. Spike (James Marsters) vanquishes the beast, drawing Buffy back to earth, but not before she witnesses a terrifying vision of an entire army of über-vamps like the one she recently almost died defeating (see "Showtime"). Originally broadcast Feb. 18, 2003, on UPN, "Get It Done" marked episode 137 of the cult-favorite series. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Hilary Duff became an overnight star and teen idol in one fell swoop when the freewheeling sitcom Lizzie McGuire made its Disney Channel debut in January of 2001. Not dissimilar to the old Nickelodeon series Clarissa Explains It All, Lizzie McGuire dealt in a slyly satirical (and slightly surrealistic) fashion with the trials and tribulations of 13- and 14-year-old junior-high kids. Lizzie attended Hillridge Middle School with her best friends, the sardonic Miranda Sanchez (Lalaine) and the doggedly nonconformist David "Gordo" Gordon (Adam Lamberg). At home, Lizzie had a fairly good relationship with her loving and tolerant parents, Sam and Jo (Robert Carradine, Hallie Todd), even though they persisted in regarding her as their little "sweet potato" instead of a girl on the verge of womanhood. Less copacetic was the relationship between Lizzie and her bratty kid brother, Matt (Jake Thomas), who never tired of hatching schemes to annoy his sister, confound his parents, fatten his allowance, or increase his creature comforts. Other regular and semi-regular characters included Lizzie's snooty classroom rival, Kate Sanders (Ashlie Brillault), who had once been our heroine's closest pal until such matters as boyfriends, peer pressure, and the school cheerleading squad separated them; Lizzie's heartthrob Ethan Craft (Clayton Snyder), whose dazzling handsomeness was offset by his less-than-dazzling intellect; requisite school nerd Larry Tudgeman (Kyle J. Downes), who for a variety of reasons (mostly academic) drove Gordo crazy; and Matt's buddy and partner-in-crime, Lanny (Christian Copelin). Among the most memorable aspects of Lizzie McGuire were the series' fleeting but hilarious pop-cultural references (usually appearing in Lizzie's vivid imagination), its adroit usage of contemporary music to complement the action or mood of the moment, and especially the cartoon sequences, wherein Lizzie would confide in or solicit advice from her animated alter ego, "Toon Lizzie" (this was, after all, a Disney production). Clearly anticipating a major hit, Disney Channel commissioned 31 episodes for Lizzie McGuire's first season instead of the usual 22 or 24. This surplus of material came in handy when Disney's sister over-the-air network ABC began rerunning Lizzie McGuire as part of its Saturday-morning lineup. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi