`Hairspray' is a non-stop, exhilarating song and dance extravaganza. This exuberant remake of the John Waters' musical is funny, fast, and fabulous. Adam Shankman's direction is appropriately lilting in the right measure, but balanced with social commentary highlights. Unlike 'Dreamgirls,' there are no Oscar worthy performances, but the production is so fun there doesn't have to be. The entertainment is winning on every level, and, as for the songs, it never goes limp.

Once again we are transported to the early sixties in Baltimore, where flannel is uniform, Blacks and Whites are segregated, and beehives are in fashion. The plot is fairly simple: Overweight teen Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) wants to break the mold on her favorite TV program "The Corny Collins Show" (an "American Bandstand"-like feature) while discovering a more urgent need to end segregation on a show that only sometimes features "Negro Night". She gets her big break when teen singing sensation, Link Larkin (Zac Efron) makes advances that bring her to the stage floor. In the meantime, her success is challenged by the show's program manager, (played with overbearing skill by Michelle Pfeiffer) and her daughter, Amber, the show's reigning "Miss Teenage Hairspray," a nasty nemesis . Joining forces with her Afro-American friends, especially Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah) and dancer Seaweed (Elijah Kelly), she works for equal time on the dance floor.

`Hairspray' is set as perfect entertainment. John Travolta provides likable loopiness as Nikki's mother while he dances and cross-dresses his way into our hearts. The villains are nasty enough, and the sweetness pervades even amongst important demonstrations on key social issues. When it all comes down to balance, 'Hairspray' fills the bill.

OK, OK, I'm twenty three years old. I was introduced to this show, via my friend's four year old daughter, but now I watch it for my own enjoyment purposes. The show is hillarious, the best thing to come out of Nickelodeon since You Can't Do THat On Television, which is greatly missed I might add... when are they going to release that on DVD?
First of all Amanda Bynes is a cute teen chick, without all the BS surrounding her, like dear, does she have a studio album yet? I don't think so! She has a very lively persona, that is perfect to center this sketch comedy show for kids around. Good crazy fun. Instead of selling sex, she sells fart jokes and country hick-billy jokes, very well. Her numerous recurring characters are all a bunch of fun, and the supporting cast is also very talented, the Drake and Josh kids are pretty hip as well in their own show. Great for kids of all ages.

P.S> to the kids who don't remember You Can't DO That On Television, I'm very sorry. Nickelodeon stopped airing it about twelve years ago, but it was the most rock and roll show ever! Anyway, The Amanda Show doesn't air new shows either, I'm well aware... but at least there are still repeats and a DVD. I am happy to know that there are still hip shows for kids, because I really get scared sometimes for the future crop of kids, and a pussified, saturated world.

Among the current crop of female child actresses already or about to turn into hot properties for their impressive talent and major sex symbols for their knock-out looks is Amanda Bynes. Its an impressive class that includes the names Keira Knightley, Lindsay Lohan, Hilary Duff and Kristen Bell. But Bynes is one actress who has already reached television stardom through her shows "The Amanda Show" and "What I Like About You" and at the age of 16 she traveled to Europe to appear in a movie appropriately titled "American Girl."

Before it was released (in early 2003) its title had been changed to "What a Girl Wants" and I sat there in a movie theater knowing little about it. I knew it had been filmed in my home country and starred Colin Firth who had been so good in "Bridget Jones' Diary," I came away impressed by the comic timing and the looks of an actress that would obviously in years-to-come set movie screens on fire.

"What a Girl Wants" is at its heart a story about a girl searching to find herself. Bynes plays Daphne Reynolds and her mother Libby is played by Mrs. John Travolta (Kelly Preston). The two live in New York City and Daphne spends her time helping out at weddings where her mother is a singer and longing to know a father she has never met. It is observing the father-daughter dance at one of these weddings (where the filmakers used real fathers and daughters) that our hearts go out to Daphne and she determines a drastic plan of action - traveling to London and confronting her absent father.

The movie has it all - heart, laughter, suspense, romance. Its culture clash theme has been done before and better (Crocodile Dundee for example) but we have so much emotion invested in Daphne's plight that we cannot help but become engrossed in this movie.

Jonathon Pryce proves that his villainous turn in "Tomorrow Never Dies" was no fluke by pulling out a great performance here as the political advisor of Daphne's father (Firth). Thing is, Firth's character -Henry - is running for political office and Pryce sees Daphne as a liability to his boss' career and her presence an obstacle to his becoming father-in-law to the wealthy and politically powerful Henry.

This DVD has an impressive number of special features, the crown jewels of which are the two scene specific audio commentaries, one by Bynes and the second by the director and two writers.

I Liked how the subtitles automatically come up when commentaries are playing. If you have only seen it once it helps keep track of where you are in movie.

Light, fluffy, exuberant Amanda Bynes chats about working with the other actors, and how intimidated she was by some of the people she worked with. In her commentary she mentions how the weather was when a scene was shot - it was hot, hunid, raining etc

Obviously Bynes has a great deal of respect for Firth and Preston and almost inevitably Bynes spends a lot of time talking about clothes - big boots when hopping over the wall, commenting on how ugly the dress to a ball is etc. Bynes literally coos over emotional moments.

Hers is a fun commentary, but there are some gaps. I liked the recounting of anecdotal moments such as her account of being mobbed by fans on bridge that crew could not get permission to close for shooting.

On the second commentary director Dennie Gordon joined by the two writers Jenny Bicks and Elizabeth Chandler (the Amazon listing is incorrect in identifying them as actors). As one might expect this is more technical in details and as such serves as a nice contrast to Bynes solo track. The writers discuss such matters as how long they worked on it, the original inspiration and discuss different titles (the original title "American Girl" is mentioned on both tracks). The director talks about how wonderful the actors are and seems particularly pleased with Bynes performance.

Overall this is a very enjoyable family film and a great DVD package.

OK, I only watched this film because it was shown on a recent transcontinental flight, and because I forgot my CD player, this seemed like the best option. I dreaded something out of the pits of Nickelodeon marketing bin, but ended up laughing out loud many times and disturbing my sleeping planemates.

Impressive teen actor Frankie Muniz and veteran Paul Giamatti (who are both perfectly cast in their respective roles) lock horns in classic slapstick style. Unlike the "Home Alone" movies, however, the continuous battle of pranks doesn't get old as the movie rolls along. Giamatti shines as the classic evil Hollywood type, bringing back memories of his magnificent part as Pig Vomit in "Howard Stern: Private Parts." I hate to typecast him, but he plays the role to a perfection.

Amanda Byrnes fills in nicely as the token female 'friend' of Muniz, giving the viewers a taste of gentle teen angst.

Parents, if you have kids between the ages of 10-17, then you'll have a blast watching this movie with them, airplane or no airplane.

Jenny Taylor (Amanda Bynes) is a high school senior obsessed with Jason Masters (Chris Carmack). She is convinced that if they could just spend some time together, Jason would realize they are soul mates and the two of them would fall in love. The catch? Jason is an internationally famous pop star, so there's no way that a nobody like Jenny would ever get to met him.

Looking to earn money for college, Jenny gets a summer job at a Caribbean resort with her best friend Ryan (Jonathan Bennett). Unfortunately, her nemesis Alexis (Jamie-Lynn DiScala) also shows up.

The trio hasn't been there long before Jason shows up for a couple days off in the middle of his current tour. Naturally, Jenny is ecstatic and does anything she can to catch his eye, including slip aboard the night cruise that Jason is taking. When Jason accidentally falls overboard, Jenny dives in and saves him. The two wind up stranded on an island. Jenny immediately realizes this is her chance, and she intends to make the most of it, going to any lengths necessary to win her man.

Okay, I'll fess up. I enjoy Amanda Bynes. So I decided to give this made for TV movie a try. Amanda is great in it. The part of Jenny was written for her. The rest of the cast is fine, but Amanda is the standout.

Unfortunately, the plot needed some work. There were some twists in the final third that really came out of nowhere and made little to no sense.

On the whole, this is a light and fluffy way to waste a couple hours. I recommend viewing it before you buy since it's probably not something you'll want to watch more then once.

OK, I only watched this film because it was shown on a recent transcontinental flight, and because I forgot my CD player, this seemed like the best option. I dreaded something out of the pits of Nickelodeon marketing bin, but ended up laughing out loud many times and disturbing my sleeping planemates.

Impressive teen actor Frankie Muniz and veteran Paul Giamatti (who are both perfectly cast in their respective roles) lock horns in classic slapstick style. Unlike the "Home Alone" movies, however, the continuous battle of pranks doesn't get old as the movie rolls along. Giamatti shines as the classic evil Hollywood type, bringing back memories of his magnificent part as Pig Vomit in "Howard Stern: Private Parts." I hate to typecast him, but he plays the role to a perfection.

Amanda Byrnes fills in nicely as the token female 'friend' of Muniz, giving the viewers a taste of gentle teen angst.

Parents, if you have kids between the ages of 10-17, then you'll have a blast watching this movie with them, airplane or no airplane.