Superstar

Molly Shannon, the latest Saturday Night Live comic to have a movie built around her, isn't exactly funny--in fact, she's a little unsettling. Her creation, the neurotic Catholic schoolgirl Mary Katherine Gallagher, invites laughter because she's a little too close to the bone for anyone who grew up feeling ugly and unloved, which is a lot of people. Mary lives with her grandmother (Glynis Johns), who insists that Mary study business. Mary herself yearns to be famous and admired, though for what isn't exactly clear; she envisions some vague combination of singing, dancing, and acting that will make her a superstar. A talent show promises to be her ticket to stardom (the winning prize is a role in "a movie with positive moral values"), and she won't let her loser status or any hostile cheerleaders stand in her way. Meanwhile, Mary acts out dating fantasies with trees and signposts, envisions the school lunch room bursting into a Fame-like dance number, and longs for the biggest jock in school. What makes Superstar more than just a collection of bad high school memories is that, though the formulaic plot redeems Mary, the movie as a whole isn't so sure. Mary completely loses herself in her obsessive fantasies--many inspired by cheesy made-for-TV movies--but there's always someone watching, aghast, as Mary acts out her inner thoughts. Is she misunderstood or freakish? Superstar never commits to one side or the other, which makes it both comic and uncomfortable. --Bret Fetzer

Widescreen version enhanced for 16x9 TVs
Dolby Digital: English 5.1 Surround, English Dolby Surround
English subtitles (for the deaf and hard of hearing)
Interactive menus
Scene selection
Theatrical trailer

Molly Shannon brings her Saturday Night Live character Mary Katherine Gallagher to the silver screen. A mildly hyperactive Catholic school student convinced that she smells bad, Mary Catherine has a dream: she wants a boy to kiss her. Not just any old sloppy teenage make-out party kind of smooch, but the sort of kiss that will make her tingle with joy from head to toe. The trouble is, boys aren't all that interested in Mary Catherine, especially not Sky (Will Ferrell), the boy she'd most like to be kissed by. So Mary Catherine has a goal: if she wants to be kissed the way boys kiss girls in the movies, then she must become a movie star. Not a bad idea, but how does one bring this about? Superstar co-stars Elaine Hendrix and former Kids in the Hall cast member Mark McKinney, while another Kids in the Hall alumnus, Bruce McCulloch, directed. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

• Side #1 --
  • Play
  • Set Up
    • Audio Options: English Dolby Surround
    • Audio Options: English 5.1 Surround
    • Subtitle Options: English for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
    • Subtitle Options: None
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Scene Selection

Side #1 --
1. Mary Katherine Gallagher
2. Special Ed
3. Talent Contest
4. Nice Moves
5. "Spirit in the Sky"
6. Sign Up Problem
7. Step Dance Deaths
8. Break Up
9. Audition
10. Razzle Dazzle
11. The Show
12. End Credits