Zooey Deschanel Archives

Big Trouble (2002)

Rating: ★★

Dec 28, 2004Nuclear Weapon Comedy

A flop comedy based on a Dave Barry novel about various characters trying to obtain a nuclear weapon. Despite a reasonable name cast, this becomes slapstick inanity in director Barry Sonnenfeld's hands

Director: Barry Sonnenfeld

Actors: Tim Allen, Rene Russo, Stanley Tucci, Janeane Garofalo, …

Category: Science Fiction

28 December 200427 November 2025 by Roog

Abandon (2002)

Rating: ★★★½

May 11, 2016Psycho-Thriller

Psycho-thriller that should have gotten better notice than it did. Katie Holmes plays an A-student at an Ivy League college who is stalked by a missing ex. Slick and coolly written, before arriving at an effective twist ending

Director: Stephen Gaghan

Actors: Katie Holmes, Benjamin Bratt, Charlie Hunnam, Gabriel Mann, …

Category: Horror

11 May 20166 November 2025 by Roog

Elf (2003)

Rating: ★★

Nov 25, 2003Ungainly Christmas Elf Comes to New York

Jon Favreau directed Christmas film premised entirely around the premise of 6'3" Will Ferrell as an ungainly Christmas elf. The film works entirely to the extent one has a tolerance for Ferrell's screen presence.

Director: Jon Favreau

Actors: Will Ferrell, James Caan, Zooey Deschanel, Mary Steenburgen, …

Category: Fantasy

25 November 200330 July 2026 by Roog

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005)

Rating: ★

May 2, 2005Gonzo SF

The big-budget film version of The Hitch Hiker’s Guide phenomenon is a disaster that fumbles Douglas Adams’s absurdist wit and blows everything up with big-budget effects and a pitch to American audiences

Director: Garth Jennings

Actors: Martin Freeman, Sam Rockwell, Zooey Deschanel, Mos Def, …

Category: Science Fiction

2 May 200529 December 2023 by Roog

Once Upon a Mattress (2005)

Rating: ★

Jan 19, 2008Musical Fairytale

Disastrous tv movie version of the classic musical based on The Princess and the Pea

Director: Kathleen Marshall

Actors: Tracey Ullman, Carol Burnett, Dennis O'Hare, Zooey Deschanel, …

Category: Fantasy

19 January 200827 January 2025 by Roog

Bridge to Terabithia (2007)

Rating: ★★★

Jun 24, 2007Magic World of Childhood Imagination

Made by Walden Media following the success of their The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, a well-made adaptation of a Christian children's book even if it sits uncertainly between gentle realism and the push to make it a fantasy film

Director: Gabor Csupo

Actors: Josh Hutcherson, AnnaSophia Robb, Zooey Deschanel, Robert Patrick, …

Category: Fantasy

24 June 200711 December 2025 by Roog

Surf’s Up (2007)

Rating: ★★★

Jul 29, 2007Animation/Surfing Penguins

This came out several months after Happy Feet and has a similar plot involving surfing penguins. Though the lesser film and far more predictable, it is likeable

Director: Ash Brannon, Chris Buck

Actors: Shia LaBeouf, Jeff Bridges, Zooey Deschanel, Jon Heder, …

Category: Fantasy

29 July 20073 April 2025 by Roog

Tin Man (2007)

Rating: ★★★½

Jan 19, 2008Modernised Wizard of Oz

Nick Willing conducts the first of his SF revampings of popular tales. Here The Wizard of Oz is reworked into a Steampunk fantasy with some startling reinterpetations of the familiar characters

Director: Nick Willing

Actors: Zooey Deschanel, Alan Cumming, Neal McDonough, Kathleen Robertson, …

Category: Fantasy, Science Fiction

19 January 20088 July 2026 by Roog

The Happening (2008)

Rating: ★★

Jun 15, 2008Mysterious Catastrophe

M. Night Shyamalan came majorly unstuck with this catastrophe film where humanity is driven to mass suicide by plant pollens. The idea is interesting but Shyamalan gets lost in vagueness and loopy mysticism

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Actors: Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, John Leguizamo, Betty Buckley, …

Category: Science Fiction

15 June 20082 April 2026 by Roog

Your Highness (2011)

Rating: ★

Apr 15, 2011Epic Fantasy Comedy

The epic fantasy quest film is well due a parody, unfortunately this majorly unfunny effort written by its leading man Danny McBride only makes a beeline for the witless and vulgar

Director: David Gordon Green

Actors: Danny McBride, James Franco, Natalie Portman, Zooey Deschanel, …

Category: Fantasy

15 April 201122 November 2025 by Roog

Trolls (2016)

Rating: ★

Feb 6, 2017Animation/Small Cute Creatures

A perfect example of all the things I hate about modern animation. Based around the popular Troll dolls, this is vapidly designed, content-free product based solely around simplistic storylines, manic slapstick sequences, song and dance numbers, and inane contemporary pop culture in-jokes

Director: Mike Mitchell, Walt Dohm

Actors: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Zooey Deschanel, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, …

Category: Fantasy

6 February 201727 November 2024 by Roog