Home Media Magazine - May 11-17, 2008 - (Page 22)

REVIEWS I GRADUATION Street 5/13 Magnolia, Drama, $26.98 DVD, NR. Stars Shannon Lucio, Chris Lowell, Chris Marquette, Riley Smith, Aimee Garcia, Adam Arkin. Edited by John Latchem www.homemediamagazine.com I INDIANA JONES: THE ADVENTURE COLLECTION Street 5/13 Paramount, Adventure, $49.99 three-DVD set, individual movies $26.99 each. Stars Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, John Rhys-Davies, Denholm Elliott, Kate Capshaw, Sean Connery. I magine if the Brat Pack planned a bank robbery, and you'll get the essence of Graduation. While most high-school heists involve showing up mean teachers and stealing tests, director Mike Mayer and co-writer D. Cory Turner have crafted a passable coming-of-age tale. Carl (Marquette) needs $100,000 to pay for a bone marrow transplant for his mother, who is dying of cancer. His friends all love her and want to help, but all seems hopeless until Polly (Lucio of ª The O.C.º ) convinces them to rob her father' s bank vault and steal old money scheduled to be swapped for new bills. She gains added motivation from the discovery her father (Arkin) is having an affair. The story is obviously engineered around the heist, with characters, setups and contrivances designed with the requisite payoffs in mind. The friends each have their distinguishing quirks and must overcome the usual complications. When the heist predictably goes wrong and the situation drifts into Dog Day Afternoon territory, the script shifts its attention to Jackson (Lowell), a genius who lacks direction. He pours himself into preparing the heist, and when it goes sour, he takes charge to improvise a solution. The denouement is a little too tidy, and the script isn' t perfect, but it connects the dots enough to entertain. A highlight is a great cameo from musician Huey Lewis as Jackson' s stepfather. DVD extras are substantial for an indie film, and include deleted scenes and a commentary track with Mayer and Turner, who share a few insights but nothing groundbreaking. All told, however, Graduation stands as a solid demonstration of their talent. ± John Latchem I MY MOM'S NEW BOYFRIEND Prebook 5/15; Street 6/17 Sony Pictures, Comedy, $24.96 DVD, ` PG-13' for sexual content, language, some violence and drug material. Stars Colin Hanks, Meg Ryan, Selma Blair, Antonio Banderas, Enrico Colantoni. ewly engaged and slightly wound-up FBI agent Henry (Hanks) comes home after a stretch to find his mom, Marty (Ryan), has turned hottie Ð and slightly slutty. After a twist of fate, Marty meets Tommy (Banderas). Finally it seems that she's found one of the good guys. Unfortunately, that guy is actually on the FBI's watch list. From there, you can almost hear Henry wind just a bit tighter, as he's forced to follow and eavesdrop on his mom's dates and her new lover's lifestyle. For Ryan fans, the film is less When Harry Met Sally and more Kate N and Leopold, throwing together two fairly likeable leads and stretching a bit on the plotline. However, fans might appreciate the chance to see Ryan back in the romantic-comedy genre. This one allows her to be a bit more of a free spirit, but it doesn't work as well as past characters. It's good to see her tweak a little, though, because she's done the single, cute female thing many times over Ð and a lot better. It's easy to see some of the comedic timing and tone that writer-director George Gallo has woven into some of his other projects, such as The Whole Ten Yards. Considering that this film never made it to the big screen, it's no surprise that they'v e skimped on the DVD extras. Expect the obligatory deleted scenes and a featurette on the making of the film. ± Rachel Cericola efore the adventure continues, it may be time for a refresher course. A boxed set of the first three ªI ndiana Jonesº movies has been available for years, but Paramount is re-releasing the trilogy as a new boxed set, and individually for the first time, with new special features, in anticipation of the May 22 theatrical release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Although The Adventure Collection lacks the retrospective documentaries from the original release, the new set still represents a rip-roaring ride through the trilogy, with plenty of gems worthy of an expedition helmed by Dr. Jones himself. All three of the discs kick off with a new introduction, which includes Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, as well as other familiar faces and behind-the-scenes characters from the classic trilogy: 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1984's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and 1989's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Each intro manages to convey the excitement that was to come, as well as unveil a few tasty nuggets, such as how the trilogy was part of a handshake deal between the two Hollywood heavyweights. Temple of Doom was supposed to be the darkest and edgiest of the three B films. Instead, we see Spielberg reminiscing about the bad reviews, and even Lucas acknowledges that it's not the greatest. Notable extras include ªC reepy Crawlies,º a fun Temple of Doom featurette that includes all of the snakes, spiders and other vermin. Fans won't want to miss this one, but might want to enable the ªp op-up triviaº feature to take their eyes off some of the funkier of the trilogy's stars. Last Crusade has a featurette about Indy's ªF riends and Enemies,º and has an excerpt from AFI's panel discussion with all three actresses who played love interests. Fans still will have to wait for commentary tracks. There's also no deleted scenes or bloopers, which must exist Ð and would shine a hilarious light on this fun film series. One other disappointing aspect is that each disc devotes space to a preview of the new film and a trailer for the Lego Indiana Jones video game. All three films are classics, so if you haven't started collecting, this is your prime opportunity. However, those who coughed up the $50 for the last box might not want to crack the whip to get this collection. Only diehard fans will appreciate the new extras featured. ± Rachel Cericola 22 Home Media Magazine May 11± 17, 2008

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Home Media Magazine - May 11-17, 2008

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