The beginning of another school year means students marching to bells and following an established curriculum that will lead to graduation and the opening of new doors into the future.
Most kids have learned, however, that what really makes education fun is the extracurricular activities offered before and after school, where students can explore a wide range of sports, clubs and activities that reflect their own unique abilities and talents.
For years, movie makers have embraced the subject of school, and today, home viewers can experience a healthy dose of “extracurricular” offerings thanks to DVDs and the bonus material often included. With that said, attention class: today’s lesson is on school-related DVDs with extracurricular material to get your school year off and running.
“Mr. Holland’s Opus” (Hollywood Pictures Home Video, $30) features Richard Dreyfuss as Glenn Holland, a musician/composer who agrees to teach music at Kennedy High School until something better comes along. Like his students, he hates the early hours and finds kids reflecting his own apathy about classes. But Holland rediscovers that music is meant to be fun, and soon has the students eating out of his hand. The film follows three decades in America, with film footage of the ’60s and the hippies, ’70s disco, the death of John Lennon in 1980, and on into the ’90s.
The DVD is presented in a letterbox (wide-screen) format with a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track that presents an outstanding musical soundtrack with artists like Stevie Wonder, Jackson Browne and others. Viewers will enjoy the production featurette, which includes interviews with the cast.
In contrast, “Music of the Heart” (Miramax Collector’s Series, $40) offers a different view as music teacher Meryl Streep faces challenges more with her environment (teaching violin lessons to poor kids in Harlem) than in struggling to find herself.
Abandoned by her husband, she finds work as a substitute teacher by having her sons audition before the principal to demonstrate her teaching prowess. Ten years and more than 1,000 students later, her program is cut by the school board, only to be rescued by a concert students play at Carnegie Hall. Extra features of this special DVD include a bonus disc, “Small Wonder,” a documentary on which the movie is based, plus theatrical trailers, featurettes with behind-the-scenes looks at scoring the film and the Carnegie Hall scene, plus deleted scenes with director Wes Craven’s commentary.
“Never Been Kissed” (20th Century Fox, $35) offers little in the way of extra features, but is strong on course content. Drew Barrymore’s portrayal of Josie Geller, a copy editor for a Chicago newspaper who goes undercover as a student in a local high school, brings to light many of the painful moments and stereotypes found in the student body of virtually any high school. Even at 25 years of age, Geller exorcises her old demons only by returning to the place where many of them originated. Despite the disc’s short list of extras theatrical trailers, two Dolby soundtracks and optional Spanish subtitles the film offers hope to those who weren’t cool in high school, as Geller discovers there’s life after 18.
Long-time cult favorite “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” (Universal Studios Collector’s Edition, $30) was released late last year on DVD, and offers a mother lode of extra features. The special collector’s edition allows viewers to explore commentary by the film’s director (Amy Heckerling) and screenwriter (Cameron Crowe), theatrical trailers, production notes, the documentary “Reliving our Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” music highlights, a video map of hangouts, and a Web link.
The R-rated film is an oddity in that it features all the classic high school archetypes, from football and jobs at the mall, to muscle cars and sex, yet it’s inappropriate for the audience at which it is aimed. Maybe that’s why a parental lock is included as an extra feature.
For those attending private schools this fall, Robin Williams’ lead role in “Dead Poet’s Society” (Touchstone Video, $30) reveals why teaching, for some, is both an art and a gift. In the same way Streep brings coolness to playing the violin, Williams’ character of English teacher Mr. Keating brings poetry to a kinesthetic, visual and musical art form, rather than merely words on a page.
The high school theme of authority versus autonomy is also explored, which ultimately brings disaster for Keating and one of his students who commits suicide. Too bad the studio chose to leave out what might have been some interesting commentary or outtakes, as there are no extras here except English and French digital Dolby soundtracks and a letterbox format.
The DVD market continues to mine old gold, and earlier this year Columbia/Tristar Home Video released the 1967 classic “To Sir With Love” ($25), staring Sidney Poitier as the new rookie teacher who throws away the “proven” lesson plans and eventually gains control of unruly youngsters in a London school by teaching them more about life and respect than the three R’s. The outfits and dance moves are a little dated, but it’s a cool flashback to anyone alive during Beatlemania. A great DVD offering with options for five foreign subtitles, including Portuguese and Thai, plus production notes, theater and bonus trailers, and full and wide-screen viewing options.
For the parochial set, check out Whoopi Goldberg’s “Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit” (Touchstone Video, $30). Goldberg reprises her role as Sister Mary Clarence, the ex-lounge singer who, this time, must rescue the music program at St. Francis School and turn hard-nosed street kids into a choir. One motif that seems repeated in most school films involves convincing the tough guys and punks that what isn’t regarded as cool by one’s peer group can be more than it seems, and most of the films here, including “Sister Act,” reflect this idea.
Touchstone adds English Dolby Digital 5.1 and French Dolby Digital 2.0 surround audio tracks, theater trailers and a wide-screen viewing format to the original package.
Things get tough for Michelle Pfeiffer in “Dangerous Minds” (Hollywood Pictures, $30). Pfeiffer plays Louanne Johnson, an ex-Marine turned English teacher in California who battles the usual urban school thugs and an administration that also thwarts her. Another R-rated film, this time because of language and violence. Additional features include the music video “Gangsta’s Paradise” (a remake of a Stevie Wonder track) by Coolio, letterbox format and English and French audio tracks.
If you’d like to find other school-themed movies, do a search at www.amazon.com or www.imdb.com (the Internet Movie Database). Type in “high school” in the search box, and restrict your search to movies only, rather than TV series and movies.
Also, check out the All Media Guide at www.allmovie.com. Type “school” in the search box and, just below that line, select the “plot line” button. You’ll get an alphabetized list of the guide’s best movies.
