Russell Brand
- 2010
All Across the Universe's Julie Taymor shakes up Shakespeare with her adaptation of Tempest, retrofitting the fantastical tale with a female lead, casting Academy-Award winning actress Helen Mirren in what is usually the male role of Prospero. The storyline follows the newly-coined Prospera (Mirren), an exiled magician who uses her powers to call upon a tempest to bring her enemies to the island she'd been forced to call home, not knowing that it would bring a suitor to her daughter, Miranda (Felicity Jones). The Miramax production also stars Jeremy Irons, Djimon Hounsou, Russell Brand, Alfred Molina, Ben Wishaw and Felicity Jones. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helen Mirren, Jeremy Irons, (more)
- 2009
Forgetting Sarah Marshall's Nick Stoller writes and directs this buddy comedy starring Jonah Hill as an insurance agent who's forced to follow a rowdy rock star (Russell Brand) on a trip from London to L.A. in this Universal Pictures production. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jonah Hill, Russell Brand, (more)
- 2008
- PG
- AddBedtime Storiesto Queue
The Pacifier director Adam Shankman helms this children's fantasy concerning a hotel handyman who gradually begins to realize that the imaginative bedtime stories he tells his niece and nephew are somehow beginning to manifest themselves in the real world. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adam Sandler, Guy Pearce, (more)
In desperate need of a vacation after being unceremoniously dumped by his TV-star girlfriend, a man travels to a lavish Hawaiian resort to nurse his wounds and forget his heartache, only to discover that his ex and her handsome new boyfriend are currently staying at the exact same island hot spot. Peter Bretter (Jason Segel) may be just another struggling musician, but for the past six years he's been dating Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), one of the hottest stars on television. Sarah is everything in the world to Peter, so when she kindly but firmly tells him that they should each go their separate ways, he is absolutely devastated. Later, after attempting to salvage his ego by awkwardly attempting to become a womanizer and nearly losing his job because of a nervous breakdown, an emotionally fragile Peter attempts to put the past behind him by escaping to the sun-soaked beaches of Oahu. While at first it seems as if Peter has discovered the perfect prescription for a bad case of lost love, his plan soon turns to dust when Sarah and her new rock-star boyfriend, Aldous (Russell Brand), turn up at the exact same resort. Though accepting Sarah's lavish new lifestyle won't be easy for the crestfallen Peter, the laid-back companionship of flirtatious resort employee Rachel (Mila Kunis) -- not to mention a continuous regimen of fruity cocktails -- goes a long way in mending the wounds of a broken heart. Forgetting Sarah Marshall was penned by Segel and produced by Judd Apatow. Fun with Dick and Jane screenwriter Nicholas Stoller makes his directorial debut. The cast also includes Paul Rudd, Bill Hader, Jack McBrayer, and Jonah Hill. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, (more)
- 2007
The uniformed but rebellious students of a distinguished all-girls school get an unexpected chance to raise a little hell as directors Oliver Parker and Barnaby Thompson set out to revive the characters created by comic artist Ronald Searle and made popular in the British film series that began with 1954's The Belles of St. Trinian's. When their beloved school is threatened with closure should the powers that be fail to raise the proper funds, the girls scheme to steal a priceless painting and use the profits to pull St. Trinian's out of the black. Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, and Mischa Barton star in a mischievous comedy penned by Piers Ashworth and Nick Moorcroft. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, (more)
- 2002
Originally telecast in the United Kingdom, the two-part miniseries White Teeth was based on Zadie Smith's 2000 bestseller about the perils of cultural assimilation in modern day North London. Taking place in the years 1974 to 1992 and set in the melting-pot community of Willesden Green, the story focuses on three different families. The Jamaican-English Archie Jones (Phil Davis) is a professional envelope-folder, while his wife, Clara (Naomie Harris), is a lapsed Jehovah's Witness. Archie's old army buddy Samad Iqbal (Om Puri) is a Bengalese waiter who hails from Bangladesh, also the home country of his sharp-tongued spouse, Alsana (Archie Panjabi). And the Malfen family, headed by Joyce and Marcus (Geraldine James, Robert Bathurst), are fiercely dedicated charter members of the Keepers of the Eternal and Victorious Islamic Nation (or KEVIN for short). Deftly combining comedy, drama, melodrama, and pathos, the Dickensian interactions and interrelationships among the three families manage to accommodate a variety of dizzying plot convolutions involving disenchanted youngsters, racial prejudice, social pretensions, cult worship, misguided animal activists, a genetically modified mouse, a Nazi war criminal, and a bizarre but brilliant kidnapping scheme. In the United States, White Teeth first aired May 11, 2003, as part of the PBS Masterpiece Theatre anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Om Puri, Philip Davis, (more)
