Darren Star Movies
The stars of the hit HBO series reunite with original writer/producer/director Michael Patrick King to deliver this sequel that finds the ladies venturing outside New York City for the adventure of a lifetime. Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Charlotte (Kristin Davis), and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) are all married now, but they're still up for a little fun in the sun. When Samantha (Kim Cattrall) gets the chance to visit one of the most extravagant vacation destinations on the planet and offers to bring them all along, they surmise that a women-only retreat may be the perfect excuse to eschew their responsibilities and remember what life was like before they decided to settle down. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, (more)
The hit cable series Sex and the City catwalks its way onto the big screen in this feature-film continuation that fans all over have been clamoring for. Sarah Jessica Parker returns once again as Carrie Bradshaw, the style-maven journalist whose romantic exploits were the key focus of the show. Also reprising their roles are Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, and Cynthia Nixon, with the series' executive producer Michael Patrick King taking on writing and directing duties. Several years have passed since viewers last saw Carrie and company, though she's still involved with Mr. Big (Chris Noth) and completely consumed by her obsession for name-brand accessories. Meanwhile, Miranda is adjusting to married life and motherhood, Charlotte is still clinging to her dreams, and Samantha and handsome, steely eyed TV star Smith Jerrod (Jason Lewis) are now living together out in L.A. Of course, when the girls all come together, it's just like old times. Dreamgirls' Jennifer Hudson co-stars as Carrie's assistant. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, (more)
- 2008
Director Darren Star takes the helm for this romantic comedy concerning an indolent assistant editor (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) whose responsibility-shirking behavior may have inadvertently destroyed his chances of connecting with his dream woman. Writer Bret Easton Ellis adapts the original 2002 novel by Adam Davies. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Originally slated to premiere on November 27, 2007, then held back until December 4, the hour-long dramedy Cashmere Mafia finally made its ABC debut on January 6, 2008. The series focused on a quartet of highly successful female executives, friends since their days in business college, who continued to meet, compare notes, and advise and console one another in various expensive Manhattan restaurants and watering holes. Miranda Otto played the "anchor" of the group, Juliet Draper, the powerful COO of the Stanton Hall hotel chain, who wryly observed the passing scene, dispensed sage wisdom, and merrily dissed most of the males who crossed her path--with the occasional exception of her husband Davis (Peter Hermann). Lucy Liu costarred as Mia Mason, high-powered functionary at Barnstead Media, a publishing firm run by a Murdoch clone; Mia was so ambitious that she was even willing to sacrifice her love life for her career, maneuvering her own fiancee out of the job she finally grabbed for herself. Frances O'Connor played Zoe Burden, senior marketing VP for Lily Parish cosmetics, who after several dead-end heterosexual romances suddenly found herself attracted to another woman, Alicia Lawson (Lourdes Benedicto). And Bonnie Somerville appeared as Zoe Burden, managing director of mergers and acquisitions at the investment firm of Gorham Sutter, who encountered considerable difficulty juggling her career and her private life with her stay-at-home husband Eric (Julian Ovenden) and twin children Luke (Nicholas Reese Art) and Sasha (Peyton List). Also in the cast was Addison Timlin as Juliet and Davis' mildly rebellious 14-year-old daughter Emily. If Cashmere Mafia seemed to be an upscale variation of HBO's Sex and the City, it may have been because it was executive-produced by former Sex and the City producer Darren Star. The ABC series also bore a marked resemblance to Lipstick Jungle, a novel written by Starr's onetime Sex and the City partner Candace Bushnell; ironically, the TV-series version of Lipstick Jungle made its NBC bow some four weeks after Cashmere Mafia's inaugural episode. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lucy Liu, Frances O'Connor, (more)
- 2006
One of the first prime-time offerings of the fledgling CW network, Runaway starred Donnie Wahlberg as DC-based district attorney Paul Rader, who in the series opener was framed for the murder of his sexy associate Erin. This and the fact that the actual (and unknown) killer had threatened Paul's teenaged children Henry (Dustin Milligan), Hannah (Sarah Ramos) and Tommy (Nathan Gamble) prompted his wife Lily (Dustin Milligan) to suggest that the Raders go on the lam immediately. After skeedaddling Washington, the family resettled in the small town of Bridgewater, Iowa, where they assumed new identities: Paul became "Jim", Lily "Brenda", Henry "Jason", Hannah "Kate" and Tommy "Mikey." Despite the pressures on the kids, who resented being uprooted from their home and had a lot of trouble establishing new relationships in and out of high school, and even allowing for Lily's inability to keep the family's "backstory" straight for their new neighbors (at first she claimed to be from Philadelphia, only to add the "fact" that she was a Hurricane Katrina refugee!), the Raders adapted to their new surroundings and personalities with relative ease. Alas, Paul began receiving threatening text messages indicating that the villains knew his whereabouts--and just as bad, Bridgewater became the headquarters of inquisitive FBI agent Angela Huntley (Karen LeBlanc). Sort of a "Seventh Heaven Meets The Fugitive", the series was executive-produced by Darren Star (Melrose Place, Sex and the City. Runaway arrived in a state of breathlessness on September 25, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Donnie Wahlberg, Leslie Hope, (more)
- 2005
- Add Kitchen Confidential [TV Series] to Queue Add Kitchen Confidential [TV Series] to top of Queue
The half-hour FOX sitcom Kitchen Confidential was inspired by the warts-and-all memoirs of celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain. Bradley Cooper headed the cast as Jack, a infamous "bad boy" chef who had destroyed his career through a combination of bad drugs, bad booze, and bad women. After hitting rock bottom (he couldn't even hold down a fry-cook job in a theme restaurant), Jack was given a second chance by the owner of a upscale New York restaurant -- provided he could assemble a kitchen staff and serve hundreds of A-list guests within 48 hours. In desperation, Jack pulled together a number of eccentrics, goof-offs, and looney tunes from his culinary past, including troublesome chefs Steve Daedelus (Owain Yeoman) and Seth Richman (Nicholas Brendon), novice pastry chef Jim (John F. Daley), and sassy hostess Tanya (Jaime King). Hoping against hope that Jack would fall flat on his keester was the restaurant owner's vituperative daughter Mimi (Bonnie Somerville). Created by Sex and the City's Darren Star, Kitchen Confidential premiered September 19, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bradley Cooper, Nicholas Berendon, (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, Rovi
- Starring:
- Alicia Silverstone, Ryan O'Neal, (more)
Darren Star, the creator and principle writer behind such series as Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place, and Sex and the City, offers a satiric look at his own medium in this situation comedy that offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the production of a youth-oriented prime-time soap opera. Hunter Fallow (Irene Molloy), the show's leading lady, is queen of the set and will go to any lengths to keep it that way, while Quentin King (Kohl Sudduth), her male counterpart, is a bit paranoid about his advancing age and the state of his hairline. William Ragsdale and Joely Fisher play Rob Fields and Hope Lustig, the show's producers, who have to keep their ego-driven cast happy while cranking out a show once a week. Grosse Pointe debuted on the WB network on September 22, 2000. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kyle Howard, Irene Molloy, (more)
- 1998
This comedy drama series, adapted from the book by New York columnist Candace Bushnell, centers around four single women who carve to the core of the Big Apple. Bushnell called the casting of this series "brilliant." Newspaper columnist Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) labels herself a "sexual anthropologist." She researches sexual politics for her racy column via info and input from her thirtysomething friends: PR executive Samantha (Kim Cattrall of Creature), art dealer Charlotte (Kristin Davis of Melrose Place), and lawyer Miranda (Cynthia Nixon of Marvin's Room). Carrie both observes and participates in the routines and rituals rampant during Manhattan dating and mating. Women who approach sexual activity in a noncommittal manner are the theme of the pilot episode, directed by Susan Seidelman. Alison Maclean (HBO's Subway Stories) directed the second episode, "Models and Mortals," in which Carrie studies the power possessed by beautiful models and the experiences of both men and women who date only members of the fashion world. Documenting the sex lives of "modelizers," "toxic bachelors," and the like, Bradshaw has various encounters with the wealthy and powerful Mr. Big (Chris Noth of Law & Order), representing the type of man who flirts yet never dates. Other male types delineated here are Artist Guy, Groovy Guy, and Mr. Marvelous. Executive producer and creator Darren Star filmed with locations stretching the Big Apple strata from the chic to the seedy, from halfway habitable hovels to upscale restaurants and glamorous nightclubs. The series premiered June 6, 1998, on HBO and concluded its run after six seasons on February 22, 2004. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, (more)
- 1998
Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) discovers that while she and Mr. Big (Chris Noth) have been dating for a while, she considers it an exclusive relationship and he does not, which angers and confuses her. Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) breaks up with Skipper (Ben Weber), but when she sees him on a date with another woman, she starts to have second thoughts. Charlotte (Kristin Davis) finds her boyfriend's sexual appetite is more than she wants to deal with. And Samantha (Kim Cattrall) deals with a different sort of monogamy issue: while apartment hunting, should she remain loyal to one realtor or play the field? ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- 1998
In the first episode of the HBO comedy series Sex and the City, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) suggests to her friends Samantha (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte (Kristin Davis), and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), on the occasion of Miranda's 30th birthday, that they should try having sex like men -- just for pleasure and without any illusion of a long-term commitment. Carrie takes the plunge by calling one of her former boyfriends for a one-night stand, but finds it harder to stick to her new policy when she meets Mr. Big (Chris Noth). Carrie tries to fix Miranda up with Skipper (Ben Weber), but while he's taken with her, the feeling is hardly mutual. And Samantha decides to sleep with her latest flame on the first date (Jeffrey R. Nordling) -- much to the amazement of Charlotte, who went out with him as well and didn't think he was worth spending the night with. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- 1991
- PG13
Television flavor-of-the-month Richard Grieco made his feature-film debut in this juvenile spoof of James Bond films. He plays a high-school senior named Michael Corben who has flunked out of his French class, but has the chance to make up his grade on the French Club's summer trip to Europe. On the airplane booked to transport the French Club to France is another man by the name of Michael Corben, and this man happens to be a super-spy. When he is killed, the hapless high-school senior is mistaken for the real spy by British intelligence. He becomes involved in a mad plot by Augustus Steranko (Roger Rees) in which Steranko and his evil assistant Ilsa Grunt (Linda Hunt) plan to dominate the European continent by converting the gold standard to coins that will bear Steranko's likeness. Corben goes along with it when he is provided with a red sports car, a tuxedo, and some high-tech weapons. Along with all the spy accouterments, he latches onto a sexy helper -- Mariska (Gabrielle Anwar). ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Grieco, Linda Hunt, (more)
From director Tim Hunter and writer Darren Star, this is the feature-length pilot episode of the popular Fox teen drama Beverly Hills 90210. For the first time, viewers are introduced to Brandon Walsh (Jason Priestley) and Brenda Walsh (Shannen Doherty), 16-year-old brother and sister twins who've just moved to Southern California from suburban Minnesota. Initially culture-shocked, the pair soon find comfort in new friends Steve Sanders (Ian Ziering), Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth), Andrea Zuckerman (Gabrielle Carteris), and Donna Martin (Tori Spelling). But after the gang attends a party together, trouble abounds. Brandon is suspected of sleeping with nice-girl Marianne (Leslie Bega), Brenda falls for a 25-year-old who is unaware of her age, and Steve's car is wrecked by naïve freshman David Silver (Brian Austin Green). ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
Although many genre filmmakers have managed to blend horror and humor with great success, movies employing this formula often run the risk of both elements canceling each other out, resulting in a horror comedy that is neither scary nor funny. Alas, Dead Heat is a textbook example of this kind of failure. It details the weird misadventures of a pair of mismatched L.A. cops -- the straitlaced and by-the-book Roger Mortis (Treat Williams) and wisecracking loose cannon Doug Bigelow (muscle-headed Saturday Night Live alum Joe Piscopo). Their quest is to reach the heart of a sinister crime ring that employs indestructible undead henchmen. In a strange twist, their inept handling of the case results in both cops -- first Williams, then Piscopo -- being killed in action and subsequently reanimated in a secret laboratory managed by the barely seen Vincent Price (whose walk-on role is more entertaining than the combined performances of the two leads). The potential for "splatstick" comedy in the mode of Evil Dead 2 or Peter Jackson's Bad Taste is defeated by two major obstacles: first, the painfully unfunny mugging of Piscopo, who was unwisely allowed to ad-lib much of his performance; and second, the MPAA's trimming of several minutes from Steve Johnson's sensational makeup effects in order to avoid the dreaded X rating -- including a clever scene involving a zombie go-go girl played by Linnea Quigley. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi
- Starring:
- Treat Williams, Joe Piscopo, (more)
- 1988
- PG
Ryan Richmond (Nicholas Strouse) is a lonely teen from Sunnydale, Arizona who believes he is a space alien in this offbeat comedy. Charles (Adam West) and his wife Edna (Candice Azzara) are the new neighbors who reinforce Ryan's vivid imagination. Hugh O'Brien plays a former U.S. vice-president who is embarrassed by Ryan at his daughter's wedding. Hugh Gillin plays Ryan's father who manages a local Holiday Inn that Ryan believes is a spacecraft. Maureen Stapleton and Roddy McDowell make cameo appearances in this uneven teen comedy. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nicholas Strouse, Hugh Gillin, (more)
Rating Systems
Blockbuster
BLOCKBUSTER name, design and related marks are trademarks of Blockbuster L.L.C.
© 2013 Blockbuster L.L.C. All rights reserved.
Portions of Content Provided by Rovi Corporation. © 2013 Rovi Corporation.