Alicia Silverstone Movies
Hailed as the teen queen of the mid-'90s, Alicia Silverstone rapidly ascended the summit of idolism with the help of an infamous Aerosmith video and starring roles in the cult trash favorite The Crush, and Amy Heckerling's sleeper hit Clueless. Despite such a promising beginning to her career, however, the vivacious, green-eyed blonde subsequently weathered a series of professional set-backs, due to poor film choices, weight issues, and an industry increasingly congested with such similarly ebullient young starlets as Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jennifer Love Hewitt. By the end of the decade, Silverstone's future looked uncertain, although many observers noted that her youth and talent made her chances for a comeback entirely plausible.Born to English parents in San Francisco on October 4, 1976, Silverstone is the daughter of a real-estate agent and an airline stewardess. She began working as a child model at the age of six after her father sent several pictures of her in a bathing suit to a few agencies. Modeling work led to TV commercials, which in turn led to work on a number of TV series including an episode of The Wonder Years which cast her as Fred Savage's literal dream girl. At the age of 15, Silverstone landed her first starring role in The Crush (1993), a Fatal Attraction for the Noxema set in which she portrayed a young woman obsessed with an older man (Cary Elwes). Although the film was trashed by critics, it was a hit among its teenage target audience, and Silverstone -- who had become legally emancipated from her parents while making the film in order to work longer hours -- was feted at the 1994 MTV Movie Awards with trophies for Best Villain and Breakthrough Performance. Around the same time, she starred in the popular music video for Aerosmith's "Crazy." Her onscreen antics with Liv Tyler, daughter of Aerosmith frontman Steven, coupled with her vampish turn in The Crush virtually ensured Silverstone's status as Hollywood's latest embodiment of nubile, underage female sexuality.
Silverstone's real break came with her starring role as the spoiled, meddlesome, but ultimately endearing Cher Horowitz in Amy Heckerling's Clueless (1995). A very loose and modern adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma, the film was a huge sleeper hit, and Silverstone was roundly praised for her effervescent performance. In the wake of the film's success, the actress signed a ten-million-dollar deal with Columbia that included a three-year first-look deal for her own company, First Kiss Productions. She also won the coveted role of Batgirl in Batman & Robin, something that allowed her to contemplate breaking out of the teen sexpot mode.
Unfortunately, the actress was subsequently besieged with a number of problems, ranging from unending industry criticism of her weight to her first excursion as a producer, Excess Baggage (1997). The film, which also served as a starring vehicle for Silverstone, was a thoroughly misguided kidnapping comedy that failed to win favor with either audiences or critics. To add insult to injury, Silverstone's other major 1997 project, the long-awaited Batman & Robin, was one of the year's most expensive critical and commercial flops.
After a nearly two-year absence from the screen, Silverstone resurfaced in 1999 with Blast from the Past. A likable romantic comedy that cast her as a cynical Valley girl opposite Brendan Fraser, the film enjoyed modest success. Silverstone followed it with a starring role as the French princess in Kenneth Branagh's much-anticipated musical adaptation of Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost (2000), which saw the actress interpreting the Bard and Irving Berlin alongside the likes of Branagh, Nathan Lane, Matthew Lillard, and Alessandro Nivola.
In 2001, Silverstone played an American rocker in England for the straight-to-video Rock My World (aka Global Heresay), which, despite providing little more than a blip on her resumé, gave her the opportunity to work with the iconic Peter O'Toole. After serving as executive producer for the animated television series Braceface, Silverstone went on to star in NBC's 2003 sketch comedy Miss Match, which featured the young actress as a divorced lawyer cum matchmaker whose good intentions were not necessarily met with equally positive results. In the same year, she starred opposite Rachael Leigh Cook in Scorched; this time playing a disgruntled bank teller. Silverstone played a role in Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed alongside fellow twentysomethings Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. in the summer of 2004. A subsequent trip to the salon in Beautyshop found Silverstone continuing to keep audiences in stitches, and in 2006 she would join Ewan McGregor, Bill Nighy, Missi Pyle, and Alex Pettyfer in bringing author Anthony Horowitz's adolescent daredevil to the screen in the family-oriented action adventure Stormbreaker. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- 2006
Based on the 1999 bestseller by K.C. McKinnon, this touching Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation stars Alicia Silverstone as Dee Dee, a single mom and professional candlemaker who returns to her Maine hometown after a lengthy absence. Having left town with a somewhat sullied reputation, she returns with apparently the best of intentions--bringing her 12-year-old son Trooper (Matthew Knight) along for the sentimental journey. Dee Dee's reappearance is initially met with hostility by veterinarian Lydia, whose husband (and coworker) Sam had once been Dee Dee's sweetheart. Ultimately, however, Lydia warms up to both her "rival" and her son--just before Dee Dee poignantly reveals the real reason for her unexpected homecoming. Filmed for television on location in Nova Scotia, Candles on Bay Street was first broadcast by CBS on November 26, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alicia Silverstone, Eion Bailey, (more)
- 2003
An all-grown-up Alicia Silverstone starred on this lightweight NBC comedy drama series as attorney Kate Fox. A divorce lawyer by day, Kate moonlighted as a matchmaker, finding suitable mates for her recently broken-up clients. Sometimes, Kate's good intentions were nullified by the disastrous results of her Cupidity, but generally things turned out okay. Also in the cast was Ryan O'Neal as Kate's boss -- and father -- ruthless attorney Jerry Fox, and David Conrad as Michael Mendelsohn, who could have been Kate's own Mister Right had she been savvy enough to realize it. Miss Match first aired on September 26, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alicia Silverstone, Ryan O'Neal, (more)
- 2002
Season Two of the animated "teen-com" Braceface begins as the title character, aka Sharon Spitz, turns fourteen years old and enters high school. Here she becomes good friends with her mentor, the "original and unique" Dion, whom she assumes is gay--mainly because he's got a remarkable talent for dressmaking (later on, Sharon will make one too many assumptions about Dion, and very nearly wreck their friendship). Our heroine also learns a whole new slew of responsibilities--and makes a whole bunch more blunders--when she gets her first regular job at "Life Cycles". In other episodes, Sharon and her best bud Maria succumb to peer pressure and pose as "bad girls"; Sharon and Alden break up their relationship, sort of; the kids become self-conscious about their weight; snooty Nina is nearly left friendless when her flunkey Alyson gets tired of being taken advantage of her, and later nearly patches up her once-strong friendship with Sharon when they search for a lost dog; Sharon and her brothers have a tough time getting adjusted to their divorced mom's new boyfriend; the dangers of irresponsible gossiping and the rigors of a high school "parenting" class are played for all they're worth; and a journey to Italy turns out to be a life-altering experience for Sharon and her buds. Because of the series' strong pro-ecological and pro-animal stance, the second season of Braceface was honored with both an Environmental Media Association Award and a Genesis Award. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alicia Silverstone, Daniel Petronijevic, (more)
- 2001
Debuting June 2, 2001 on cable's Fox Family Channel, the weekly, half-hour animated series Braceface detailed the misadventures of teenager Sharon Spitz, who in the earliest episodes was an eighth grader at Mary Pickford Junior High. Feeling as awkward and useless as most girls of her age, Sharon suffered the added burden of being fitted out with icky-looking teeth braces--and to make matters worse, those braces had been struck by lightning, meaning that Sharon--or as she was known to her peers, "Braceface"--had to put up with the inconvenience of attracting every magnetized object that wasn't nailed down, and had an embarrassing habit of disconnecting nearby cell phones (or accidentally listening in to private conversations). Above and beyond this Lizzie McGuire-style complication, Sharon did her best to slog through junior high (and later high school) despite being surrounded by such vituperous rivals as her ex-best friend Nina and Nina's giggling flunky Alyson, and by such clueless types as her divorced parents and her cloddish brothers Adam and Josh. Fortunately, Sharon could boast of a loyal circle of friends, among them sports-jock Maria Wong, allergic-to-everything Conner Mackenzie, and, during her high school years, her mentor Dion, described as "unique and original" (the usual kiddie-cartoon euphemisms for "gay"). Also, she enjoyed an off-and-on romantic relationship with hunky Alden Jones, even though his carnivorous eating habits were anathema to the strictly-vegetarian Sharon. Created by Marcia Clark, whose previous "teen-angst" TV credits included Silver Spoons and Sweet Valley High, Braceface also benefited from the input of film favorite Alicia Silverstone of Clueless fame, who served as the series' executive producer and also provided the voice of Sharon Spitz during the series' first two years on the air (she was later replaced by Stacey DePass). Surviving Fox Family's takeover by Disney and subsequent "rebirth" as the ABC Family Channel, Braceface remained on the cable service until May 31, 2003, and was thereafter seen on the Disney Channel, with new episodes added to the rerun manifest. Incidentally, the U.S. run of Braceface consisted of three 26-episode seasons; the Canadian run, seen on Teletoon, was broken up into six seasons of 13 episodes each. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alicia Silverstone
- 2001
The first 26-episode season of the animated Braceface follows gawky teenager Sharon Spitz as she makes the transition from junior high to high school, supported by her loyal pals, opposed by her school rivals, virtually ignored by her family (her parents are divorced), and forever finding herself in embarrassing situations thanks to her magnetized teeth braces, which not only attract "foreign" objects at the most inopportune times, but also can pick up private cell-phone conversations! Many of the episodes deal with such vital teen issues as friendship, loyalty, trust, sharing and responsibility. Less generally, the episodes are strongly character-driven, not only by Sharon -- aka "Braceface" -- but also by her friends Maria and Connor, her "enemies" Nina and Alyson, her erstwhile sweetheart Alden, her self-involved divorced parents, and her often-cloddish brothers Adam (the older one) and Josh (the younger one). Sample plotlines: The vegetarian Sharon almost dumps Alden when he gets a job in a meatpacking plant; a mixed-up Adam asks sister Sharon some advice on romance; our heroine gets her first period just as she is going on her first real date (Alden thinks she's got appendicitis!); the Spitz kids agonize when their mom and dad re-enter the dating scene; Sharon starts drinking heavily to be "one of the guys" and suffers the consequences; after a near-death experience, Sharon and Nina try to figure out why their once-strong friendship has gone to the dogs; Maria goes into full envy mode when Sharon is made a summer-camp counselor; and in an episode that must have really hit home with Alicia Silverstone, the voice of Sharon, our heroine meets a singing superstar and learns the hard way that being a celebrity is no bed of roses! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alicia Silverstone, Daniel Petronijevic, (more)
Veteran hack director Sidney J. Furie directs the silly straight-to-video comedy Rock My World. The aging stuffy English aristocrats Lord and Lady Foxley (Peter O'Toole and Joan Plowright) have fallen on hard times, so they loan out the use of their mansion to the American rock band Global Heresy. When the band's bass player mysteriously disappears, Nat (Alicia Silverstone) shows up to replace him. Then the servants don't show up, and the Foxleys are forced to pose and a maid and a butler in their own mansion. The culture class between the conservative English and the reckless Americans is played for comedy, leading to an ending where the power of rock & roll transforms both cultural groups. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter O'Toole, Joan Plowright, (more)
A young boy who worships all things American comes of age in this amiable French melodrama set in Orleans where over 14,000 American GIs were stationed. The film opens with the solemn vow between young Patrick and Marie-Jose that they will both head to the US when they grow up. The children are totally obsessed with American culture and even surreptitiously go through the gringo garbage to find things such as old magazines, clothing, and empty packages. Years pass and the two friends are seen as lusty 16-year olds. Patrick finds himself feeling smothered by Marie-Jose and ends up falling for the vivacious blonde Yankee coquette, Trudy. He lives to go to the military base where he can hear the live jazz he is so crazy about. Soon his studies begin to suffer. On base, Patrick is befriended by a clumsy but kindly sergeant who buys him a drum kit so he can play with the jazz quintet when it entertains the troops. But when Patrick gets a chance to play drums at an out-of-town concert, his father forbids it, causing his son to rebel. Tragedy ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sarah Grappin, James Gandolfini, (more)
A young, married mother gets in over her head when she has an affair in this made-for-TV movie. Alicia Silverstone stars as Roslyn, a young mother who married her high school sweetheart (Jared Leto). She gets more than just excitement though when she accepts the nudging from a friend and has a fling with tough guy Matthew Flint. The film is a remake of the 1958 film of the same name. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- 1993
This powerful fact-based made-for-TV drama follows a poor, illiterate woman as she bravely takes on the government child protective services in hopes that they will return her three children. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A nubile young babysitter (Alicia Silverstone) has no idea that she is the center of a maelstrom of male sexual fantasies. Based on a disturbing short story by Robert Coover, the drama presents a non-linear account of a perfectly mundane event. Having a social engagement, a couple calls for their babysitter. She arrives, they go out, her boyfriend comes over, and the weirdness begins -- for director Guy Ferland makes little distinction between the character fantasies and what is really occurring. Something will happen, and then it will happen again; only the outcome is different. What makes this dark film so disturbingly creepy is that none of the males involved, neither the frustrated boyfriend, the horny husband who hired her, or even her little charge has nice fantasies about her. The film contains several sexual scenes and some scenes of violence. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alicia Silverstone, Jeremy London, (more)
- 1995
- R
In this thriller a woman attempts to solve a murder and ends up face to face with a serial killer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alicia Silverstone, Kevin Dillon, (more)
A man has a near-death experience and awakens to find himself spiritually attached to another who went through a similar experience in this horror movie. The story is based on a Dean Koontz novel. Hatch Harrison, an antique dealer, finds himself in an extraordinary position following the car wreck in which he was broad-sided by a semi-truck. Although his wife and teenage daughter survive, Hatch was actually dead for two hours before innovative resuscitator Dr. Jonas Nybern was able to bring him back. Hatch tries to resume his normal life, but encounters difficulty when he begins having horrific hallucinations. It turns out that the "visions" are really the experiences of Vassago, a Satanist who ritually kills people. Somehow he and the killer are connected. Vassago, too can experience events in Hatch's life; he begins to threaten Hatch by telling him he will use his daughter for a virgin sacrifice. The two men must battle it out spiritually. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Goldblum, Christine Lahti, (more)
The Crush is a psychological thriller wherein a young man is the object of the obsession of a mentally unbalanced young girl. Journalist Nick Elliot (Cary Elwes) rents the guest house of a wealthy couple. The family's 14-year-old daughter Darien (Alicia Silverstone) flirts with him, and when her advances are not reciprocated she becomes increasingly obsessed with him resorting at last to violence and murder. Alicia Silverstone is beautiful and surprisingly good as the obsessed girl. Cary Elwes is also good in conveying his attraction and restraint in his dealings with so young and troubled a girl. However, the premise of the man being trapped by the aggressive, vengeful female is somewhat outdated and cliched. The Crush which should concentrate on the motivations of the girl, instead focuses on her increasingly violent acts, which include the vandalism of Nick's car and the attempted murder of his girlfriend. None of the characters are very real, and the plot is contrived, depending on illogical coincidence and implausible behavior by the principal characters. The Crush, an exploitive, cliched melodrama masquerading as a thriller, fails to either surprise or thrill. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cary Elwes, Alicia Silverstone, (more)
While the men of Barbershop and Barbershop 2 have plenty to mouth off about, they may have met their match in the female staff and clientele of a nearby beauty shop. Directed by Bille Woodruff, Beauty Shop revolves around these women led by Gina (Queen Latifah), who opened Beauty Shop to give all the females in the community, from a conservative Southern socialite (Andie MacDowell) to a poetry-reciting stylist, a place to talk about life, love, and the issues of the day, all while getting their hair done. Bryce Wilson puts in a supporting performance, as does Kevin Bacon, who plays the snooty owner of a rival salon. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Queen Latifah
A handful of disgruntled bank employees decide to stage a robbery, but with no plans of doing it together, in this comedy. Sheila (Alicia Silverstone) is a teller at a small town bank who reaches her breaking point when her boyfriend, Rick Becker (Joshua Leonard), who also happens to be her boss, breaks up with her after three years of stringing her along, both emotionally and professionally. In order to get revenge against Rick, Sheila decides to rob the bank, but come the night of the heist, she discovers she wasn't the only person with similar plans that evening. Stuart (Paulo Costanzo) wants some adventure in his life, and plans to loot the bank vault to finance a gambling vacation in Las Vegas with his brother Max (David Krumholtz). And put-upon teller Jason (Woody Harrelson) wants to clear out the safety deposit box of foul-tempered local tycoon Charles Merchant (John Cleese), not knowing that Shmally (Rachael Leigh Cook), a clerk at a clothing store with a score to settle against Merchant, already has her own plans for dealing with him. Scorched was shot in 2001, but didn't play in American theaters until 2003, though it did enjoy a run in Europe during the interim. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rachael Leigh Cook
In 1962, Calvin Webber (Christopher Walken) was a brilliant but somewhat paranoid scientist living with his Donna Reed-esque wife, Helen (Sissy Spacek), in Los Angeles. In the midst of the Cuban Missile Crisis, a plane crashed into the Webber's yard. Mistaking the blast for "the big one," the Webbers moved into their elaborate bomb shelter to wait out the half-life of radioactive fallout. In the shelter, now a sort of time capsule, Calvin and Helen conceived and raised their son Adam (played as an adult by Brendan Fraser). For 35 years, Adam was raised on Jackie Gleason, Perry Como, and stories about life on the surface. Calvin taught his son about science, baseball, and communists while Mom taught Adam about dancing, good manners, and charming young ladies. Just in time, too, as Adam is sent to the surface to gather supplies and find a wife, preferably a nice, non-mutant girl from Pasadena with which to repopulate the world. Once this "fish out of water" story is set up, the fish, Adam, is set adrift in a sea of supermarkets and adult bookstores, but is soon caught by Eve Rustikov (Alicia Silverstone). Completely lost above ground, Adam enlists Eve's help to navigate his new world and find the supplies on his list. The literally sheltered Adam falls for this bitter, cynical, street-smart woman who grew up in a bleak Los Angeles with little use for love. Living with her gay roommate, Troy (Dave Foley), Eve has had her hopes chipped away by a long line of dead-end jobs and loser boyfriends. When the throwback Adam enters her life with his sunny disposition, seersucker jacket, and joy at seeing the sky, she can't help but fall in love. ~ Ron Wells, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brendan Fraser, Alicia Silverstone, (more)
In this combination caper comedy and offbeat romance, Emily (Alicia Silverstone) is a wealthy but petulant young woman desperate to get the attention of her millionaire father, Alexander Hope (Jack Thompson). In fact, she's so desperate that she decides to stage her own kidnapping; she sends a ransom note, ties herself up, and locks herself in the trunk of her BMW, waiting for daddy to come to the rescue; however, Emily's timing is a bit off, because ten minutes later, hunky car thief Vincent (Benicio Del Toro) steals the BMW with Emily still in it. Vincent and his partner in crime, Greg (Harry Connick Jr.), eventually discover the car's trunk has an unexpected surprise. When Emily is unable to convince them to help her with her scheme, she becomes a problem the carjackers can't get rid of, especially after Alexander refuses to pay her ransom, and his creepy right-hand man, Raymond (Christopher Walken), heads out to find her. Of course, losing 200,000 dollars in mob money is not making Vincent's life any easier, nor is having the emotionally problematic Emily fall in love with him. Excess Baggage was the first feature from Alicia Silverstone's production company First Kiss. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alicia Silverstone, Benicio Del Toro, (more)
This was the third follow-up to Tim Burton's Batman (1989), the original revisionist look at the Gotham City legend, as well as the second in the Batman series directed by Joel Schumacher and the first featuring George Clooney as the Caped Crusader; it features not one but two super-villains, and a new heroine to fight crime alongside Bruce Wayne (aka Batman) and Dick Grayson (aka Robin) (Chris O'Donnell). The experiments of Dr. Victor Fries (Arnold Schwarzenegger) to preserve his late wife cryogenically have gone horribly wrong, turning him into the evil genius Mr. Freeze, who must keep his body at sub-zero temperature in order to say alive -- and he wants to put Gotham City on ice. Shy horticulturist Pamela Isley (Uma Thurman) goes a bit wild with a Venus Fly Trap-like creation she's been working on and mutates into Poison Ivy, who wants to kill all the people on Earth so plants can take over. Can Batman and Robin stop these fiends before their plans go too far? Meanwhile, Bruce and Dick's faithful butler Alfred (Michael Gough) isn't feeling well, so his niece Barbara (Alicia Silverstone) comes to pay a visit. When Barbara finds out what her uncle's employers do in their spare time, she decides she wants in on the action, and she joins the crime fighting twosome as Batgirl. Batman & Robin also features Jesse Ventura in a small role as a prison guard; it would be his last film role before becoming Governor of Minnesota in 1998. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, (more)
Jane Austen might never have imagined that her 1816 novel Emma could be turned into a fresh and satirical look at ultra-rich teenagers in a Beverly Hills high school. Cher (Alicia Silverstone) and Dionne (Stacey Dash), both named after "great singers of the past that now do infomercials," are pampered upper-class girls who care less about getting good grades than wearing the right clothes and being as popular as possible. But Cher, who lives with her tough yet warm-hearted lawyer dad (Dan Hedaya) and hunky, sensitive stepbrother (Paul Rudd), also has an innate urge to help those less fortunate -- like the two introverted teachers she brings together ("negotiating" herself improved grades in the process) and new friend Tai (Brittany Murphy), who starts out a geek and ends up a Cher prodigy. Cher also possesses her own sensitive side, and she is looking for the perfect boyfriend, whom she ends up finding where she least expected. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alicia Silverstone, Stacey Dash, (more)
- 2006
- PG
- Add Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker to QueueAdd Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker to top of Queue
An outwardly ordinary teenager finds himself suddenly thrust into extraordinary circumstances upon discovering that his entire youth was part of an elaborate plan to create the perfect super spy in director Geoffrey Sax's action-packed adaptation of author Anthony Horowitz's best-selling series of novels featuring an adolescent secret agent. Alex Rider (Alex Pettyfer) always though that his kindly uncle Ian (Ewan McGregor) was your average, everyday nondescript bank manager, but when Ian was murdered by notorious assassin Yassen Gregorovich (Damian Lewis), everything young Alex thought he knew would be forever changed by one simple bullet. A deadly martial artist, skilled linguist, steady-handed mountaineer, and deadeye marksman, Alex realizes that his uncle has been secretly training him in the art of espionage when he is recruited by MI6 Special Operations agents Mr. Blunt (Bill Nighy) and Mrs. Jones (Sophie Okonedo). It seems that billionaire Darius Sayle (Mickey Rourke) has generously offered to donate a complimentary Stormbreaker supercomputer to every school in Britain, but while his philanthropic offer is welcomed with open arms by the struggling school system, MI6 fears that something nefarious is afoot. Assigned the task of infiltrating Sayle's impenetrable lair by posing as the winner of a computer magazine contest, Alex makes the acquaintance of shady Sayle sidekicks Mr. Grin (Andy Serkis) and Nadia Vole (Missi Pyle) before getting a special sneak preview of the remarkable Stormbreaker's true powers. His cover subsequently blown, Alex is given a key piece of information regarding the remarkable computer before being thrown to a giant jellyfish by Sayle and his henchmen and left to die just as the prime minister is about to push the button that will activate Stormbreaker computers all across Britain. With no time to spare and the fate of a nation hanging in the balance, Alex must now enlist the help of his trusted housekeeper Jack Starbright (Alicia Silverstone) and faithful classmate Sabina Pleasure (Sarah Bolger) in ensuring that the Stormbreaker system is not activated and revealing Sayle for the true villain that he is before the young super spy's breathless first mission becomes his fatal last. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sarah Bolger, Alex Pettyfer, (more)
- 2004
- PG
- Add Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed to QueueAdd Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed to top of Queue
America's favorite teenage canine-led crime fighters earn a second shot at the big screen in this sequel to the hit comedy Scooby-Doo. The reunited Mystery Inc. team -- Fred (Freddie Prinze Jr.), Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Velma (Linda Cardellini), Shaggy (Matthew Lillard), and Scooby-Doo (voice of Neil Fanning) -- return to their hometown of Coolsville as heroes when a local criminology museum offers an exhibition of the many ghostly disguises used by villains they've subdued over the years. However, their warm welcome is not long-lived; mean-spirited television reporter Heather Jasper-Howe (Alicia Silverstone) has aired a series of stories calling the team's intelligence and bravery into question, and even worse, a number of the weird creature costumes on display in the museum are coming to life and wrecking havoc on the people of Coolsville. Some of the clues seem to point to Old Man Wickles (Peter Boyle), whose attempts to pose as the Black Knight Ghost were foiled by the Mystery Machinists in the past, but is he looking for revenge or just a red herring? And what is Velma supposed to do about Patrick Wisely (Seth Green), a curator at the museum who's warm for her helmet-haired form? Scooby-Doo 2 also co-stars Tim Blake Nelson and features a cameo appearance from American Idol star Ruben Studdard. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Freddie Prinze, Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, (more)
Actor/director Kenneth Branagh sets his screen version of Shakespeare's play in the 1930s, adding such classic songs as "They Can't Take That Away From Me," "The Way You Look Tonight," and "Let's Face the Music and Dance," and staging it in the manner of a Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers musical. The King of Navarre (Allesandro Nivola) and three of his noblemen (Branagh, Matthew Lillard, and Adrien Lester) have decided that they're wasting their time chasing women. They swear a solemn oath to spend the next three years avoiding the pitfalls of romance and improving their minds. No sooner have they made this agreement than they meet a French princess (Alicia Silverstone) and her three handmaidens (Natascha McElhone, Carmen Ejogo, and Emily Mortimer). The pledge is forgotten and the chase is on. Love's Labour's Lost also features Nathan Lane, Timothy Spall, and Paul Whitehouse. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alessandro Nivola, Alicia Silverstone, (more)
