Daniel Farber Movies
Why rent a dirty movie when you can make your own? That's the can-do philosophy embraced by a handful of girl-crazy teens in this comedy. Fred (Tony Denman), Deacon (Erik von Detten), and Matt (Daniel Farber) are three high school kids who, like most teenaged boys, are obsessed with sex. Deacon has a part time job at a video rental shop with a large selection of adult films, and he's been able to sneak porn titles out of the store on a regular basis, to the great enthusiasm of Matt and Fred, who not only enjoy the videos themselves but dub bootleg copies they sell to their classmates to make pocket money. However, when Deacon loses his job, the guys are left high and dry, until one of them gets an idea -- they've seen enough porn movies to know what the average viewer expects from one, so why don't they make one themselves? However, recruiting the performers necessary for such a project turns out to be harder than they expected, with exotic dancer Ashley (Sarah Jane Potts) and neighborhood bully Jake (Riley Smith) rising to the top of a very shallow talent pool. The first production from the guys is an unexpected success, but they soon discover that not everyone is happy with their good fortune, especially sleazy porn kingpin Vic Ramalot (Horatio Sanz), who isn't interested in having more competition. Filmed under the title After School Special, Barely Legal also stars Tom Arnold, Amy Smart, and Dey Young. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Erik Von Detten, Tony Denman, (more)
A family of paranormalists investigates the strange goings-on at a high school still reeling over a student's very public suicide in this teen thriller. Hangman's Curse concerns the further exploits of the Veritas Group, a loose collective of people committed to researching supernatural mysteries. The group's members include the Springfield family -- parents Nate (David Keith) and Sarah (Mel Harris) and Elisha (Leighton Meester) and Elijah (Douglas Smith) -- whose current assignment takes them to the aforementioned high school. There, they find that Abel, the teen who took his life, had been long ostracized by various cliques in the school -- jocks, popular kids, and the like -- all of whom are falling prey to mysterious ailments. As Nate and Sarah watch from the sidelines, it's up to Elisha and Elijah to pose as students to get inside the mystery. Hangman's Curse was based on the novel by Christian author Frank Peretti. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Keith, Mel Harris, (more)
Some cast and crew from NBC's highly acclaimed, little-seen series Freaks and Geeks reunite for this teen comedy that also marks the first starring role for Tom Hanks' son, Colin. The younger Hanks plays Shaun Brumder, a high schooler eager to propel himself out of the land of surf bums and ranch homes to which the film's title refers. He's had his sights set on Stanford ever since he read the works of professor Marcus Skinner (Kevin Kline), and his transcript is stellar enough to gain him admission. Shaun is understandably furious, then, when he receives a rejection letter in the mail; after some detective work on his part, he realizes that his flaky counselor (Lily Tomlin) mistakenly sent the university the wrong papers. It's up to him to get to Stanford within 24 hours to set the record straight -- literally -- and he enlists the help of his slacker brother Lance (Jack Black) to do so. Orange County co-stars Catharine O'Hara and John Lithgow as Shaun and Lance's slightly unhinged parents; the film was directed by Jake Kasdan and written by Mike White, both of whom contributed to several episodes of Freaks and Geeks. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colin Hanks, Jack Black, (more)
