Julia Louis-Dreyfus Movies
Like other Saturday Night Live alumni, Julia Louis-Dreyfus made the move to feature films, but she achieved true stardom on TV as Seinfeld's inimitable Elaine Benes. Born to an affluent family and raised in Washington, D.C., Louis-Dreyfus studied theater at Northwestern University. Along with working as a member of The Practical Theater Company, Louis-Dreyfus cut her sharp comic teeth as part of Chicago's Second City troupe. She soon followed in the footsteps of prior Second City-ers John Belushi and Bill Murray, joining the cast of NBC's Saturday Night Live from 1982 to 1985 (along with Northwestern classmate and eventual husband Brad Hall). Louis-Dreyfus bounced to films with appearances in Soul Man (1986), Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989), before returning to TV on the second episode of a low-rated NBC primetime sitcom starring comedian Jerry Seinfeld in 1990.As Jerry's ex-girlfriend-turned-pal Elaine, Louis-Dreyfus proved that she could hold her own as the sole female member of Seinfeld's do-nothing quartet of neurotic New Yorkers. With her "big wall of hair," signature shoes and penchant for over-enthusiastic exclamations, Louis-Dreyfus' Elaine was no mere foil, but rather a full participant in the show's increasingly popular, irony-laden comic shenanigans. Along with winning an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1996, Louis-Dreyfus won the Golden Globe in 1994 and the Screen Actor's Guild award in 1997 and 1998. During Seinfeld's phenomenally successful nine-year run, Louis-Dreyfus also played supporting roles in North (1994), Father's Day (1997), and as a libidinous sister in Woody Allen's Deconstructing Harry (1997). After Seinfeld went off the air in 1998, Dreyfus took some time off from appearing in front of the camera to spend time with her husband and two sons, but she did the voice of Princess Atta in the Pixar animated blockbuster A Bug's Life (1998).
Louis-Dreyfus subsequently returned to TV as the Blue Fairy in the TV movie musical Gepetto (2000) before attempting another sitcom. After two of her Seinfeld co-stars failed to make their own series fly in 2000 and 2001, Louis-Dreyfus opted for a non-traditional approach, playing a struggling lounge singer in the real time, laugh track free Watching Ellie in 2002. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- 1985
- PG13
When a family moves into a San Francisco apartment, an opportunistic troll decides to make his move and take possession of little Wendy (Jenny Beck), thereby paving the way for new troll recruits, the first in his army that will take eventual control of the planet. As luck would have it, the building conveniently rests on a crease in the time-space continuum, so it isn't hard to open the door to trollworld, or whatever the troll would call it. But even the path to world domination begins with a single step, so the troll begins by disposing of each tenant with his pointy magical ring; each victim then turns into a fern (this may be the only existing film in which the late U.S. Representative Sonny Bono becomes a houseplant). Fortunately for the human race, the next door neighbor is a kindly old witch who has just the game plan to win back Wendy (now under the troll's influence as evidenced by her poor social skills and equally bad eating habits), vanquish the paranormal pest, and save the human race from imminent troll tyranny. The stage is then set for inevitable battle between the good witch and the evil troll for control of the world, but first she and the brave family must combat a twenty-foot tall ubertroll who looks akin to a Furby doll left in the sandbox over a long, hard Minnesota winter. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Noah Hathaway, Michael Moriarty, (more)
A Woody Allen Manhattan mosaic, Hannah and Her Sisters concerns the lives, loves, and infidelities among a tightly-knit artistic clan. Hannah (Mia Farrow) regularly meets with her sisters Holly (Dianne Wiest) and Lee (Barbara Hershey) to discuss the week's events. It's what they don't always tell each other that forms the film's various subplots. Hannah is married to accountant and financial planner Elliot (Michael Caine), who carries a torch for Lee, who in turn lives with pompous Soho artist Frederick (Max Von Sydow). Meanwhile, Holly, a neurotic actress and eternal loser in love, dates TV producer Mickey (Allen), who used to be married to Hannah and spends most of the film convinced that he's about to die. Appearing in supporting parts are Lloyd Nolan and Maureen O'Sullivan (Farrow's real mom), as the eternally bickering husband-and-wife acting team who are the parents of Hannah and her sisters. The film begins and ends during the family's traditional Thanksgiving dinner, filmed in Farrow's actual New York apartment. Unbilled cameos are contributed by Sam Waterston as one of Wiest's brief amours and Tony Roberts as one of Allen's friends. Hannah and Her Sisters collected Oscars for Michael Caine, Dianne Wiest, and Woody Allen's screenplay. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, (more)
An ambitious-but -spoiled rich white kid wins a scholarship to Harvard Law School by pretending to be African-American in this broadly-played comedy. After his father cuts him off financially, Mark Watson (C. Thomas Howell) wins a full tuition scholarship to Harvard by claiming to be African-American on the application form. With the help of his best friend Gordon (Arye Gross), Mark acquires some bronzing pills, a new hairdo, and a lowered voice. Disguised as a black student, Mark thinks that he's going to breeze through the program. The reality of being a minority at a mostly white institution quickly catches up to him, however, when he encounters some tacit racism and falls for Sarah Walker (Rae Dawn Chong), a fellow student whose affection makes him feel guilty about his ruse. Then there's the imperious Professor Banks (James Earl Jones), an African-American instructor who expects him to perform at a higher level than the other students. Soul Man was written by Carol Black and directed by Steve Miner, who would collaborate again for the popular television series The Wonder Years (1988-93). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- C. Thomas Howell, Arye Gross, (more)
- 1989
- PG13
- Add National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation to QueueAdd National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation to top of Queue
Chevy Chase, star of National Lampoon's Vacation and its sequel, is back as the paterfamilias of the Griswold family (including Beverly D'Angelo as his missus) to skewer the Yuletide season. Chevy mugs, trips, falls, mashes his fingers and stubs his toes as he prepares to invite numerous dysfunctional relatives to his household to celebrate Christmas. Amidst the more outrageous sight gags (including the electrocution of a cat as the Christmas tree is lit) the film betrays a sentimental streak, with old wounds healing and long-estranged relatives reuniting in the Griswold living room. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation was still capable of attracting an audience five years after its release: It was one of the top-rated seasonal TV specials of 1994, outrating even the first network telecast of It's a Wonderful Life. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, (more)
- 1990
Before taking off and becoming one of the most popular and critically acclaimed sitcoms in the history of television, Seinfeld was just a little show about nothing, still struggling to find an audience. In its first season, viewers were introduced to the principal quartet of Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld), George (Jason Alexander), Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and Kramer (Michael Richards), though the pilot episode had no Elaine character and Kramer was known as Kessler. Only five episodes long, the season was still able to establish such recurring gags as George's pseudonym, Art Vandelay, and Kramer's idea for a make-your-own pizza restaurant. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, (more)
- 1991
Quite a lot happens in the "show about nothing" during season two of Seinfeld -- even though only 12 episodes were produced. For starters, there's the opening episode, "The Ex-Girlfriend," the one in which Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) doesn't want to get mixed up with the former girlfriend of George (Jason Alexander) -- except that she seems to have this "psychosexual" hold on him. Next up is the Emmy-nominated "The Pony Remark," said remark getting Jerry in a lot of trouble when the woman is most offended by it drops dead soon afterward. Veteran movie tough guy Lawrence Tierney makes his first (and only) appearance as the father of Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) in "The Jacket," with the title "character" causing Jerry a lot of grief when he turns it inside out on a snowy night. In other episodes, George tests the "man with the wedding band" theory while looking for girls in "The Apartment," which also offers the spectacle of Kramer (Michael Richards) with mousse in his hair; "The Revenge" consists of a potent drink slipped to George's ex-boss, not to mention Kramer's sabotage of a washing machine with a bag of cement; Elaine falls for a doctor who only has eyes for her tongue in "The Heart Attack" (a classic episode, complete with "Flaming Globes!"); George has "unequivocally the worst date" of his life in "The Baby Shower"; and in the season's finale episode, "The Busboy," the hero of the piece loses his cat and nearly his life thanks to "helpful" George. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, (more)
After two "mini-seasons" of six and 12 episodes each, Seinfeld finally gets off the ground in season three, toting up a whole 23 episodes -- and are they beauties! Things get off to a rousing start with "The Note," in which Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) prevails upon his dentist to commit insurance fraud on behalf of George (Jason Alexander) and Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). Next up is "The Truth," which poses the question: how much trouble can an ex-girlfriend who works for the IRS really be? A choice Seinfeld running gag is inaugurated in "The Pen" (the one that writes upside down, remember?). Other classic episodes include "The Parking Garage" (or "Four People in Search of Whatever"); "The Tape," which demonstrates how to talk dirty and influence people; "The Nose Job," which largely consists of a chess match with sexual undertones between Jerry's brain and his -- er -- other brain; "The Alternate Side," the one in which Kramer (Michael Richards) utters the immortal line, "These pretzels are making me thirsty"; "The Subway," the one with the fat naked man, the 600-dollar traffic fine, and the best man en route to the lesbian wedding; "The Pez Dispenser," which is all that and more; and the hour-long "The Boyfriend," which details Jerry's fateful encounter with ballplayer Keith Hernandez. And as a bonus, Murphy Brown (Candice Bergen) makes one of her rare non-Murphy Brown appearances (it makes sense in context). ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, (more)
Marshall Herskovitz directed this tearjerking schizophrenic combination of The Wonder Years and To Kill a Mockingbird. It is 1972, and John Leary (Danny De Vito) and his two sons Jack (Robert J. Steinmiller Jr.) and Dylan (Miko Hughes) have just moved to Oakland, California. John is a television celebrity who has been fired from one station after another, appearing now on a cheap local station as the Saturday night host of a horror-film showcase. But John spends most of the time drinking and grieving over the loss of his wife, who was recently killed in an accident. The children try to adapt to their new school, and the family tries to adapt to the collection of kooks that populate their neighborhood. Foremost among them is Norman Strick (Gary Sinise), a sinister neo-Nazi who lives across the street. When Strick circulates a petition for the local white-supremacist candidate, John gets drunk and attacks him on his television show. As a result, Strick takes his revenge by abducting one of John's children. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danny DeVito, Robert J. Steinmiller, (more)
Even though it's supposed to be the "show about nothing," Seinfeld actually provides something of a continuity from one episode to the next throughout its fourth season. Things get started with the two-part "The Trip," in which Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) and George (Jason Alexander) head to California for the dual purpose of locating Kramer (Michael Richards) -- who has delusions of stardom since his Murphy Brown gig -- and appearing on The Tonight Show. This little escapade segues into a plot strand wherein NBC executive Russell Dalrymple (Bob Balaban in his first series appearance) asks Jerry to develop a sitcom about his life (now who'd watch something like that?). By the time Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) returns to New York after a trip to California, however, the sitcom deal is gone -- but not forgotten, as it continues coming back to life for the duration of the season, culminating in the hour-long season finale, "The Pilot." In other classic moments, Jerry and George run afoul of "The Bubble Boy"; Elaine disposes of a certain "Crazy Joe" with a well-aimed spurt of cherry Binaca; the gang makes its first foray to a theater showing the deathless cinematic masterpiece "Rochelle, Rochelle"; and yada yada yada? If for nothing else, season four will always be remembered for two landmark episodes. In "The Outing," a college journalist makes the false assumption that George is gay (all together now -- "not that there's anything wrong with that"). And in "The Contest," the gang places bets as to see who among them is truly "master of their own domain." ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, (more)
- 1994
- PG
A boy divorces his parents in this comic fantasy for the family. North (Elijah Wood) is the sort of kid most parents dream of -- he's bright, well-behaved, a good student, and a great baseball player. But North's Mom and Dad (Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Jason Alexander) are so busy with their lives and careers that they barely have time for him. A man dressed as the Easter Bunny (Bruce Willis) who serves as North's conscience and advisor suggests to him that if he's not happy with his parents, maybe he could do better elsewhere. North hires a lawyer, Arthur Belt (Jon Lovitz), who presents his case to Judge Buckle (Alan Arkin); the judge declares North a free agent, and he gives North two months to find new parents, otherwise he'll be sent to the orphans' home. North finds himself travelling the globe auditioning prospective parents, while a boy named Winchell (Matthew McCurley) thinks that North's legal victory could be the first step in kids taking over the world. North's would-be parents include Kathy Bates, Dan Aykroyd, Reba McIntire, and Kelly McGillis. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elijah Wood, Bruce Willis, (more)
Though it may have seemed impossible for Seinfeld to top the brilliance of its fourth season ("They're real -- and they're spectacular"; "Not that there's anything wrong with that"; "Her name rhymes with a female body part"; and the immortal "Are you master of your own domain?"), season five of the "show about nothing" has more than its share of golden moments. In fact, the season is barely two episodes old before Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) is climbing into that famous "puffy shirt" for his appearance on The Today Show. A few weeks later, Jerry is suspecting his "sniffing accountant" of drug use, while Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is saddled with a boyfriend who is enamored of the exclamation point. And how about the one where Jerry has to handle his godson's circumcision? Or in another episode, where Elaine's next boyfriend has the same name as a notorious serial killer? And we can't forget the episode in which George (Jason Alexander) tries to score points with a girl by converting to Latvian Orthodox. Nor the introduction of Micky Woodburn (Danny Woodburn), the "little person" friend of good old Kramer (Michael Richards). And we can't let pass an acknowledgement of the deathless one-hour extravaganza "The Raincoats." There's no doubt about it, season five of Seinfeld is every bit as terrific as season four -- right up to the final episode, in which George vows to do everything the opposite of his normal instincts, while Elaine brings down a publishing empire by eating Jujyfruits. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, (more)
With five brilliant seasons in the can (including the now-legendary seasons four and five), Seinfeld keeps up the pace, and then some, as the series enters its sixth year on the air. Things get off to a lively start with "The Chaperone," in which Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) persuades Kramer (Michael Richards) to act as the title character during his date with Miss Rhode Island, Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) meets the "white socks guy" at Doubleday, and George (Jason Alexander) suggest that New York Yankees start wearing cotton uniforms. Can it get any better? How about, "The Pledge Drive," the one in which Elaine's boss eats his Snickers with a knife and Jerry nearly brings down PBS thanks to a misdirected finger. But wait, there's more! Consider Kramer's method of changing his sperm count in "The Chinese Woman." Or Seinfeld's contribution to NBC's famous "Blackout Thursday" (November 3, 1994), an in-depth look at George's bathroom habits titled "The Gymnast." Or Elaine's appearance on a Chinese restaurant "blacklist" and Jerry's "Superman moment" in "The Race." And how about "The Jimmy," with the guy who can't stop talking about himself in the third person (no, it's not Mel Tormé, though he's in the same episode). Season six calls it quits with another first-rate episode, "The Understudy," which explains why George and Jerry should never play softball with Bette Midler. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, (more)
- 1996
Crafted in the mold of his classic play-cum-films Plaza Suite and California Suite, the legendary Neil Simon authors London Suite, a made-for-television movie that took its first bows in September 1996. As in the prior films, Simon presents a series of couplets that unfold in and around a single hotel, this one in the city of Big Ben and Westminster. Of the four sketches, the first stars Julie Hagerty (Lost in America) and Michael Richards (Seinfeld) as husband-and-wife Mark and Anne Ferris, who journey to Wimbledon for the matches, only to suffer gravely when they lose their tickets and Mark injures his back; matters go from difficult to unbearable when Mark takes a trip through comic hell at the hands of a sadistic chiropractor. Episode two features Seinfeld's Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Weekend at Bernie's star Jonathan Silverman as Debra and Paul Dolby, honeymooners who lose track of their suitcases and then each other. In episode three, Frasier's Kelsey Grammer and Far From Heaven's Patricia Clarkson portray divorcees Sidney and Diana Nichols, who meet up in London town, where Diana hopes to promote her new television program and Sidney schemes to wheedle money out of his ex, to pass it along to his gay lover, Max. In the final segment, the late Madeline Kahn (Blazing Saddles) plays Sharon Semple, an American on a London shopping spree with her daughter, who meets and falls in love with Dennis Cummings, "The Snorting Scotsman," (Empty Nest's Richard Mulligan), only to contend with his penchant for Ferraris and his obnoxious laugh. London Suite is helmed by Jay Sandrich, veteran director of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, and Laverne and Shirley. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kelsey Grammer, Richard Michaels, (more)
A few sensitive viewers bailed out on Seinfeld at the end of season seven, in response to George's (Jason Alexander) apathetic reaction to the "death by envelope" of his fiancée, Susan. Others realized that a "show about nothing" can do just about anything, and thus stuck with Seinfeld as it entered its eighth season. As a reward for their loyalty, those viewers were treated to such first-rate episodes as the season opener, "The Foundation," in which Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) crosses paths with the girl whose name "rhymes with a female body part," Kramer (Michael Richards) takes up karate, and Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) "becomes" her boss, J. Peterman (John O'Hurley). A few weeks later, Seinfeld's lifelong obsession with Superman manifests itself in "The Bizarro Jerry," in which we meet a group of people who are the exact opposites of the Seinfeld gang. Other highlights: a visit to a woman's prison yields strange results in "The Little Jerry"; Kramer begins to wonder what life would be like in a coma in "The Comeback"; a toothbrush in the toilet is the catalyst for disaster in "The Pothole"; Lloyd Bridges guest stars as 80-year-old physical fitness freak Izzy Mandelbaum in "The English Patient," which is also the episode in which Kramer gets involved with smuggling Cubans (cigars, that is); and in the season finale, "The Summer of George," things come full circle from the season opener, with another character "clinging to life" (sort of) in a hospital bed. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, (more)
Season seven of Seinfeld maintains the series' brilliance almost from the outset, with an episode in which George (Jason Alexander) renews his relationship with Susan Biddle Ross (Heidi Swedberg) -- a relationship from which, ultimately, only one will emerge alive. Elsewhere, Kramer (Michael Richards) wins a lawsuit that allows him free coffee at any location in the world, and Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) dates a man with a highly appropriate nickname in "The Maestro." Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld -- it's his show, remember?) can't get rid of a guy at the movies, while Kramer becomes "Mr. Movie Phone" in "The Pool Guy." Also, George finds himself up for a promotion just because he's been leaving his car overnight in the Yankees' parking lot. Jerry gets more than he bargained for when he steals a loaf of marble rye. And in a deathless moment, Elaine wonders if her current beau is truly "sponge-worthy" (funny about that word "deathless"...especially considering what happens to Susan at season's end). But when all is said and done, if anyone asks why the seventh season of Seinfeld is worthy of immortality, just say three little words: "The Soup Nazi." ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, (more)
Two of the screen's most popular comic actors meet in this movie about two men brought together by unexpected circumstances. On the surface, Jack Lawrence (Billy Crystal) and Dale Putley (Robin Williams) wouldn't appear to have much in common. Jack is an efficient, serious-minded lawyer with a successful practice and a beautiful wife, Carrie (Julia-Louis Dreyfus). Dale is a very single performance artist given to dramatic mood swings and extreme overreaction to the sad state of his career. However, 17 years ago both men were involved with the same woman, Collette Andrews (Nastassja Kinski); she later had a son, Scott (Charlie Hofheimer), without being sure if Jack or Dale was actually the father. Collette chose to raise the boy on her own, but when Scott runs away from home and she can't track him down, she calls both Jack and Dale looking for help. It doesn't take long for the two men to discover that they're both looking for the same boy in the same places, and they decide to join forces, though their personalities don't get much more compatible the longer they hunt for Scott. Keep an eye peeled for a brief cameo by Mel Gibson and an appearance by the rock band Sugar Ray, shortly before their commercial breakthrough. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, (more)
Woody Allen wrote, directed, and stars in this very dark comedy about a novelist, Harry Block, who says with admirable honesty, "I'm a guy who can't function well in life, but I can in art." So far, Harry has made his way through six psychiatrists and three marriages (one, conveniently enough, with one of his psychiatrists), and he has precious few friends whom he hasn't alienated or betrayed. Harry uses the chaos of his life as fodder for his writing, angering his friends, lovers, and family, who find thinly veiled (and rarely flattering) portraits of themselves in his work. Drowning his growing misery in pills and sex, Harry finds himself invited to receive an award at a college in upstate New York which he attended, but never graduated from. However, he has a hard time finding anyone who will attend the weekend-long symposium with him: his girlfriend Fay (Elisabeth Shue) has just left him to marry his friend Larry (Billy Crystal); his best friend Richard (Bob Balaban) is afraid he's about to have a heart attack; his former wife/analyst Joan (Kirstie Alley) refuses to let him take their son, and his one-time sister-in-law Lucy (Judy Davis) is literally ready to kill him. Undaunted, Harry hires a hooker, Cookie (Hazelle Goodman), kidnaps his son, forces Richard to come along, and heads upstate, where disaster awaits. A stellar cast appears in small roles and episodes from Harry's stories, including Robin Williams, Demi Moore, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Eric Bogosian, Amy Irving, Richard Benjamin, Mariel Hemingway, and Julie Kavner. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Woody Allen, Kirstie Alley, (more)
Rumors that the ninth season of Seinfeld would be the last were confirmed halfway through that season by Jerry Seinfeld himself. Though the series was still TV's top-rated show, Seinfeld was determined to quit while ahead, stop while on top, yada yada yada....And while some fans were complaining that the series had slipped quite a bit in the past few years, others felt that its valedictory season was the best yet. Things get under way with "The Butter Shave," in which George (Jason Alexander) has recovered from his comfort-threatening illness and Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) is afforded another opportunity to pitch a "show about nothing" to NBC. In later episodes, Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) unexpectedly "gets tongue" from a boy at his bar mitzvah, Kramer (Michael Richards) recreates The Merv Griffin Show in Jerry's apartment, and Jerry's problems with a naked girlfriend coincide with George's efforts to cash in on an ex-alcoholic's "Step 9." And mention must be made of the celebrated "backwards episode," "The Betrayal," which begins with a bedraggled George and Elaine returning from India, then with each scene heads progressively back in time -- all the way to 1986! Is there anyone in the Free World who does not know what happens in the series' very last episode, cleverly titled "The Finale." Well, so as not to spoil it for the two of you who don't know, a word of warning: never commit an act of "criminal indifference" in Latham, MA. (And what's this about the second button on George's shirt? Haven't we had this conversation before?) ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, (more)
John Lasseter, director of Pixar's movie phenomenon Toy Story, has set new standards in computer animation with this effort, another Disney-released children's epic entitled A Bug's Life. Blending classic Disney storytelling characters and the mysterious underground world of bugs, Lasseter has created a film that can be enjoyed by all audiences, and another franchise in the process. A Bug's Life is a computerized retelling of the Aesop fable The Ant and the Grasshopper, made as a cartoon-short by the one-and-only, Walt Disney, in the mid-'30s. However, A Bug's Life has modernized the story with many new twists and celebrity voices. The story focuses on a colony of ants who seasonally gather food for themselves and a wild gang of rowdy grasshoppers. When bumbling worker ant Flik (David Foley) destroys the food supply, the angry grasshoppers, lead by the maniacally warped Hopper (Kevin Spacey), threaten to kill the ants if they don't produce a new supply of food by the time they return -- an impossible feat. Flik leaves the anthill in search of help in the form of bigger bugs, and to wage war against the grasshoppers. What he doesn't know is he has actually discovered a group of down-on-their-luck traveling circus insects in need of a job. When the ants realize that their heroes are really circus performers (and the circus bugs realize these grasshoppers are really big and mean), the situation goes from bad to worse. Ultimately, the ants use their large numbers to overcome the grasshoppers. ~ Chris Gore, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey, (more)
George Orwell's political fable about corruption and betrayal in post-revolutionary Russia gets a new look in this version that employs a cast of real animals alongside digitally manipulated critters and lifelike beasts crafted by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. At the Manor Farm, the alcoholic master Mr. Jones (Pete Postlethwaite) is cruel to his animals and has horribly mismanaged the property. One night, the wise but elderly pig Old Major (voice of Peter Ustinov) gathers the animals and speaks of a remarkable dream, in which the animals throw off their tyrannical human masters and learn to reap the fruits of their own labors. After Old Major's death, two other pigs, Snowball (voice of Kelsey Grammer) and Napoleon (voice of Patrick Stewart) lead a revolution that drives Jones from his land and leaves the animals in charge of their own destiny. After their revolt, Snowball and Napoleon rule side by side, but Napoleon soon becomes drunk with power and squeezes Snowball out of authority, eventually turning the other animals against him. With Boxer (voice of Paul Scofield), a simple-minded but loyal and physically powerful horse, as a role model, Napoleon leads the animals on a campaign of self-denial and hard work that will bring them security and freedom; however, it soon becomes obvious that Napoleon is growing fat while the other animals are starving, and he is quickly becoming the sort of creature he once waged war against. Animal Farm received its American premiere on the TNT cable TV network in October 1999; it opened as a theatrical release in several other countries shortly afterward. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pete Postlethwaite, Kelsey Grammer, (more)
- 2000
Wise-cracking, beer-drinking comedy star Drew Carey makes a change of pace as he tops the bill of this made-for-TV adaptation of Carlo Collodi's classic children's fantasy. Geppetto (Drew Carey) is a bachelor woodcarver who loves children, but has none of his own. As he works on a wooden puppet he calls Pinocchio, Geppetto sadly wishes he could have a son; the Blue Fairy (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) decides to grant his wish, and Pinocchio comes to life. Geppetto is thrilled, but he soon discovers that taking care of the little wooden boy is more trouble than he ever imagined. As Geppetto struggles with the responsibilities of parenthood, Pinocchio is kidnapped by Stromboli (Brent Spiner), a traveling puppet master who wants to use the enchanted marionette in his traveling show. Though Geppetto has become disillusioned with his abilities as a father, he can't let Pinocchio be stolen away by an ill-meaning stranger, and sets out to find the wooden boy. En route, Geppetto meets a number of strange and remarkable characters, including the inept magician Lazardo (Wayne Brady), the mysterious Professor Buonragazzo (Rene Auberjonois), and the Ring Leader (Usher Raymond), who spirits wayward boys away to Pleasure Island. Geppetto features several original songs by Steven Schwartz; the film was produced for the ABC television network, where it first aired on May 7, 2000. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Drew Carey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, (more)
- 2001
Los Angeles' Miss USA 2000 Pageant is a beauty contest with a difference -- while in many ways it seems like a typical pageant, complete with contestants competing in evening gown, swimsuit, and talent categories, and celebrity judges weighing in on their presentations, the participants in Miss USA 2000 are all drag queens, with the men posing as women and also posing as representatives from different nations from around the world. Queen of the Whole Wide World is a documentary that offers a behind-the-scenes look at the annual event (which in 2000 raised close to a quarter-million dollars for AIDS-related charities), with the participants speaking both "in character," as they prepare for the gala event, and out of costume about their personal lives. Linda Blair and Julia Louis-Dreyfus both appear briefly as judges at the pageant. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Scott Lane
