Celebrity of the Week Marathon

Drew Barrymore
Actress Drew Barrymore, born February 22, 1975, in Los Angeles, captured audiences' hearts at age seven for her role in E. T.: The Extraterrestrial. Her troubled childhood soon led to substance abuse and a wild reputation, however, which negatively impacted her career for many years. In 1995, she founded Flower Films and has since regained success as a talented actress, model, and producer.

She made her big screen debut at the age of four in Ken Russell's Altered States (1980). At the age of seven, Barrymore landed her most famous role as Gertie, the adorable little sister in E.T.: The Extraterrestrial (1982). The role pushed Barrymore into the spotlight. After the movie she appeared on NBC's The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and became the youngest-ever host of Saturday Night Live.

Jaid began taking her daughter to night clubs, and it was at Studio 54 and the China Club that Barrymore developed a pre-teenage fondness for drugs and alcohol. At age 13, an enraged Barrymore became violent when she was unable to throw her mother out of the house. She was placed in a rehabilitation center, and later wrote of the experience in her autobiography, Little Girl Lost. Because of her reputation as a wild child in trouble, film projects were slow to materialize.

Her luck began to change in 1995, when Barrymore founded her own production company, Flower Films. The same year, she gave a solid performance in the film Boys on the Side co-starring Whoopi Goldberg and Mary-Louise Parker. The next year she made a memorable terror-filled appearance in the blockbuster Scream (1996) and co-starred in Woody Allen's musical Everybody Says I Love You (1996). In 1998, she proved her strength as a romantic leading lady when she co-starred in the popular comedy, The Wedding Singer with Adam Sandler and in Ever After, a version of the Cinderella story co-starring Anjelica Huston.


This marathon will be running from Saturday the 24th through Friday the 30th.

The idea behind this marathon—or what will actually be a series of marathons—is that I will watch 1 movie per day for an entire week with the chosen celebrity. I am not saying I will do one of these marathons every week... but it is something I will do hopefully fairly often.


My Drew Barrymore Movie Collection:
Titles in bold are movies from my unwatched pile. So no idea how big her role is in them.
- 50 First Dates
- Altered States
- Bad Girls
- Batman Forever
- Best Men
- Cat's Eye
- Charlie's Angels
- Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
- Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
- Donnie Darko
- Duplex
- Fever Pitch
- Firestarter
- Lucky You
- Never Been Kissed
- Riding in Cars with Boys
- Scream
- Titan A.E.
- The Wedding Singer

Nope... been meaning to add E.T. but never got around to it. Seen it many times though... so no real hurry either.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Title: 50 First Dates: Widescreen Special Edition
UPC: 043396014268
Year: 2004
Director: Peter Segal
Writer: George Wing (Writer)
Rating: Rated PG-13 : Crude Sexual Humor and Drug References
Length: 99 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.40:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, French

Stars:
Adam Sandler as Henry Roth
Drew Barrymore as Lucy Whitmore
Rob Schneider (1963) as Ula
Sean Astin as Doug Whitmore
Lusia Strus as Alexa
Dan Aykroyd as Dr. Keats

Plot:
Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore star together for the first time since The Wedding Singer in one of the funniest romantic comedies in years.

Henry Roth (Sandler) lives an enviable life in a Hawaiian paradise, spending every night with a beautiful tourist in search of an island fling. It's a sweet life with no strings attached...until he meets Lucy (Barrymore). He and Lucy hit it off from the get-go, but the next day she acts like she doesn't know him. Has his karma come around to kick him in the butt or what? Actually, Lucy has short-term memory loss, so every night all memory of her day is erased. But a man in love will go to any lengths to win over the girl of his dreams, and if that means having to find imaginative ways of doing it over again every day, then Henry's up for the challenge.

Rob Schneider (Big Daddy) and Sean Astin (The Lord of the Rings trilogy) co-star in 50 FIRST DATES, which will win you over every time you watch it!

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers
Bonus Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Gallery
Production Notes
Music Videos
Outtakes/Bloopers
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
This is a movie I watched a few times now. As well as being a really fun Drew Barrymore movie... it is one of my favorite movies with Adam Sandler. While it is still his silly style of comedy... It isn't as bad as most when it comes to the immature comedy he is so well known for. Drew Barrymore was great as the cute and sweet girl next door with no short term memory. I also loved how they ended this movie. They opted to make it more realistic instead of trying to pull off some sort of miracle cure for Lucy. Was there anything I didn't like about this movie? Sure... there is the walrus vomit joke which would have fit in many Sandler movies... but just didn't belong in this one... then there was Lucy singing the Beach Boy Song with a terrible (hopefully fake) singing voice. And lastly I didn't care much for Lucy's brother. But all that is really minor... and didn't ruin my enjoyment of the movie much... if at all. I would say even if you do not usually enjoy Adam Sandler movies... give this one a chance... you may be surprised.

My Rating: 4.5/5

Title: Firestarter: Widescreen Edition
UPC: 014381427424
Year: 1984
Director: Mark L. Lester
Writer: Stephen King (1947) (Original Material By), Stanley Mann (Screenwriter)
Rating: R
Length: 114 Min.
Video: Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Mono
Subtitles: None

Stars:
David Keith as Andrew McGee
Drew Barrymore as Charlie McGee
Freddie Jones as Dr. Joseph Wanless
Heather Locklear as Vicky McGee
Martin Sheen (1940) as Captain Hollister
George C. Scott as John Rainbird

Plot:
Firestarter, the bestseller by top writer Stephen King, now comes blazing to the screen in a $15 million saga, produced by Dino De Laurentiis. Eight-year-old Drew Barrymore, who won America's heart in E.T.-The Extra-Terrestrial, stars as the child who has the amazing ability to start fires with just a glance. But can this power and the love of her father save her from the sinister government agency, "the Shop," which wants her destroyed? The top-notch story, an all-star cast that includes George C. Scott, Martin Sheen, Louise Fletcher, Art Carney, David Keith and Heather Locklear, plus amazing special effects and stunts from the masters who worked on Star Wars, E.T.-The Extra-Terrestrial, and Raiders of the Lost Ark make Firestarter this year's hottest movie.

Extras:
Scene Access
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
This is another movie I haven't watched in many years. It is one of the movies I do like... but is not what I would call a favorite. What I mean by that is...  it is a movie I definitely enjoy but I can only watch but so often... once every few years at the most for me. For being so young at the time... I think Drew Barrymore did a great job in it. Unfortunately this release has no extras what so every.  I personally would have liked to at least seen the Theatrical Trailer.

My Rating: 3/5

Thanks Lori! 

Title: Duplex
UPC: 786936204148
Year: 2003
Director: Danny DeVito
Writer: Larry Doyle (Writer)
Rating: Rated PG-13 : Sexual Content, Language and Some Violence
Length: 89 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1, Pan & Scan 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1
Subtitles: English, Spanish

Stars:
Ben Stiller as Alex Rose
Drew Barrymore as Nancy Kendricks
Eileen Essell as Mrs. Connelly
Harvey Fierstein as Kenneth
Justin Theroux as Coop
James Remar as Chick

Plot:
Hollywood favorites Ben Stiller (Meet the Parents, The Royal Tenenbaums) and Drew Barrymore (Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Never Been Kissed) lead a star-studded cast in this darkly hilarious comedy where one wrong move turns out to be a monumental mistake! Young and vibrant New Yorkers Alex (Stiller) and Nancy (Barrymore) have just found the perfect place to settle down and share a bright future. But their new home comes with a permanent fixture they didn't expect; an obnoxious elderly tenant who won't move out and refuses to die! Pushed to the edge of insanity as their dream home turns into a nightmare, it's only a matter of time before Alex and Nancy begin to entertain some truly sinister solutions to their problem! Also featuring the ever-popular Harvey Fierstein (Death To Smoochy, Independence Day) written by Larry Doyle and directed by Danny DeVito (The War Of The Roses, Throw Momma From The Train), Duplex is another laugh-packed crowd-pleaser you don't want to miss!

Extras:
Scene Access
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
I watched this movie last night.... but by the time I watched it I was too tired to post a review of it so here it is first thing this morning. I found this one to be just plain fun. I was expecting a little more laugh out loud moments in it... but it was enjoyable all the same. I liked Ben Stiller in this one as well. Which is a good thing as he has been a little hit and miss for me on the ones I have seen. Not to mention the fact that for some reason I really can't picture him and Drew Barrymore together.... but they make it work.

My Rating: 4/5