DVD Review: Palo Alto, CA (2007)

The Indie Comedy
Comes of (Digital) Age
Hitting DVD 2/17/09

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It's a risky proposition that rarely pays off (except in films like American Graffiti and Dazed and Confused) when filmmakers endear us to a small group of young characters and then separate them over the course of one wild evening.

The "one crazy night" structure is an overused cinematic trick but the courageous audacity of Palo Alto, CA's filmmakers to fully embrace the idea and expand it by creating four distinctly different adventures and a subset of additional characters takes guts at any age-- let alone when you realize that the film's co-writer and director Brad Leong was a mere twenty years old at the time of production (making him at twenty-one, the youngest filmmaker in the history of the Tribeca Film Festival where his opus premiered in 2007).

Employing a great cast of mostly fresh faced television actors-- the safer bet for newcomer Leong would've been obviously to keep his quartet of young men letting off steam on the last night of Thanksgiving break in their hometown before they head back to life as a college freshmen together for the majority of the picture. And in doing so-- by taking a cue from their television backgrounds that often favor this approach, he would've been guaranteed the type of familiar buddy comedy structure we see again and again.

Yet, Leong's gamble-- much like the same one it took to work alongside a team with two other good friends who comprise the three impossibly young brainchildren of Palo Alto, CA make the film all that much more rewarding to viewers and dare I say, one of the most impressive post-American Graffiti films I've witnessed over the past few years in the independent movement that seems to dish up a new post-high school angst film every single week.

Sharply written and instantly entertaining, the film fittingly begins by introducing us to our four main characters during a rebellious but victimless prank (typical of the age group) as they sneak back into their old high school and discuss what to do next. One of the initial standout characters is Ben Savage's Patrick-- basically a mini-Yuppie in training and the type of individual you just know has a twenty-year plan he keeps working towards in his head trying to make all the right contacts and remain devoted to his Palo Alto sweetheart, Amy (Rosalie Ward). And while Patrick happily ignores the jokes of his friend to "turkey drop" Amy (slang for the freshman return home to sever all ties so they can live it up with the college hotties in freedom) he's shocked to discover shortly thereafter that Amy is the one turkey dropping him when the far more laid back girl decides she'd rather journey to Europe to find herself before settling down.

As the polar opposite of the Type A Patrick, the childish Ryan (Justin Mentell) returns for one more tryst with Audrey (Shoshana Bush). Audrey, who is still in high school-- is treated as merely a regular sack partner for Ryan and when he shows his insensitive colors by rejecting the idea that they have a real relationship following another tumble in the sheets, Audrey grabs his keys and takes off, leaving him stranded with her grandmother. When her grandmother offers Ryan the chance to go looking for Audrey in her car, Ryan enthusiastically accepts. However, he's less than thrilled when she makes the decision to tag along. And, much like American Graffiti's odd ride-along match-up of Milner and Carol-- Ryan and the grandmother provide one of the most fascinating threads of the film as they chat and reveal sides to their characters one wouldn't expect, especially considering the fact that initially Ryan is the least likable of the bunch... or to put it in Graffiti terms, he's like Harrison Ford's character in the beginning until he becomes Paul LeMat's Milner by the end (without of course, the race showdown to "Green Onions" at Paradise Road).

The sweetest plot of the film concerns the shy, late-bloomer Nolan (Johnny Lewis) who finds an unlikely mentor in his old bus driver Morgan (Tom Arnold). After having another fight with his ball and chain, Morgan takes "Old Yeller" out on the town, cruising the streets of Palo Alto in his school bus. Quickly, he picks up Nolan and-- despite conveniently offering him romantic advice throughout the film that could ordinarily be a screenwriting cliche, Arnold just keeps getting better onscreen making it believable throughout as eventually he intervenes to help Nolan make a possible love connection with another cutie home from break, Jamie (Autumn Reeser).

Reeser-- a likable actress who's impressed me in other indie work like Our Very Own is given the best female role in the entire film-- (aside from Audrey's grandmother)-- as essentially the young males behind the movie seem most at ease in writing from their own points-of-view and less comfortable when trying to give accurate dialogue to the opposite sex. Although she seems to be a slight deviation from Natalie Portman's adorable eccentric with an edge from Zach Braff's Garden State and Nolan's is reminiscent of Richard Dreyfuss in Graffiti, Reeser and Lewis's chemistry keeps us fascinated.

Due to the gentle adventure the two share, we stay tuned even when the film veers slightly off course as Patrick gets wasted and has a similar "I am a Golden God!" like Almost Famous moment at a high school party and the fourth plot involving the frat pledging Alec (Aaron Ashmore) who meets up with an older member of his house that leads to awkward male bonding rituals including a spur of the moment plan to fight is less effective than the others, (aside from Ashmore and Savage's assured portrayals).

Despite a few predictable and overused teen comedy bumps along the road such as the ultimate decision to have Savage and his brother both get lucky in positively American Pie like style-- the film's heart is in the right place. And ultimately, Palo Alto, CA more than succeeds in providing a much richer experience for the target demographic than most films being made for characters moving from high school to college. Moreover, its success proves the old piece of sage advice that in order to do something right, you have to do it yourself and it took filmmakers who are roughly the same age as their characters to craft a work that's both worthwhile and genuinely entertaining without any "test screenings," "number crunching," or Hollywood pitch meetings to provide the requisite toilet joke here or naked chick there.

No instead, Leong and company made something earnest, relatable, authentic and true for their generation by taking risks that paid off because they never lost sight of the kind of film they set out to make. Featuring a filmmaker commentary, deleted and alternate scenes, along with cast and crew interviews that embrace the do-it-yourself spirit of the film-- Palo Alto, CA has just debuted on DVD this week courtesy of Anchange Productions and Image Entertainment.

Contest/Giveaway: Win National Lampoon's Stoned Age on DVD

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Contest Announcement #2:

Win National Lampoon's Stoned Age on DVD.

Entries Must Be Received by Midnight EST on 1/31/09.

Winners Will Be Notified Via E-mail on 2/1/09.

Click Here to Enter

YouTube Trailer Link (Under Origial Title: Homo Erectus)

Writer and director Adam Rifkin (Detroit Rock City) also stars in National Lampoon’s Stoned Age along with Ali Larter (Heroes, Varsity Blues) as a sexy lady troglodyte, Gary Busey (Entourage, The Firm, Under Siege), Ron Jeremy (Boondock Saints, The Rules of Attraction), David Carradine (Kung Fu, Kill Bill) and Tom Arnold (Roseanne, The Best Damn Sports Show, True Lies).

A 2007 Slamdance Film Festival favorite, National Lampoon’s Stoned Age tells the tale of Ishbo (Adam Rifkin), a visionary whose innovations are completely unappreciated by a world full of Neanderthals.

His tribe laughs at his absurd inventions, which include the toothbrush, the ladder and pants, and his forward thinking ideas also utterly fail to impress the girl of his dreams, prehistoric hottie Fardart (Ali Larter).

While he pauses to ponder the ethical implications of simply dragging her away by her hair, his studly but dimwitted brother, Thudnik (Hayes MacArthur) does just that. And if that’s not bad enough, the enemy tribe on the other side of the hill is about to attack. How does a guy who thinks outside the box survive in an era when boxes don’t even exist yet?

Find out in National Lampoon's Stoned Age.

DVD Review: Goldilocks and the 3 Bears (2008)

Part of Jim Henson's
Unstable Fables Collection
(Collect All 3)

Alternate Titles:
The Jim Henson Company Presents:
Goldilocks and the 3 Bears;
Unstable Fables: Goldilocks and the 3 Bears Show;
Goldilocks and the 3 Bears Show

"Aren't the lower class just adorable?" Goldilocks (Jamie Lynn Spears) asks in the third straight-to-DVD family friendly animated Unstable Fables adventure from The Jim Henson Company. Giving a classic fable a contemporary makeover-- the film uses the personally invasive world of reality television where "disaster" and "humiliation" reign supreme as one character jokes for the backdrop for this retelling of one of the world's most famous home invaders in all of children's literature.



The major change concerns our leading lady as Goldilocks is morphed into a "Paris Hilton-like television personality," as she's labeled in the DVD's making-of-featurette. In doing so, directors Howard E. Baker and Arish Fyzee pick up the thread of pro-family values woven into the rampant pop culture and offbeat situations in their two earlier Unstable Fables and draw creative inspiration from the early success of MTV's reality based series The Real World up through Big Brother, The Osbournes, The Simple Life, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and American Idol for Goldilocks and the 3 Bears.

While hopped up on pixie sticks, Goldilocks disastrously takes it upon herself to remake the home of the Bear Family when they're away by turning it into a two-story candy coated version of a gingerbread house filled with suckers, peppermints, and so much potential for tooth decay that four out of five dentists may have to fast-forward through that scene just to take the sugar shock.

Now with their home in shambles and attracting every bee and insect in sight and her hit show "Totally Fab Rehab" canceled, the bubble-headed blonde's network decides to spice up the format by moving Goldilocks into the home of the three bears (voiced by Tom Arnold, Brooke Shields and Colton Parsons). Filmed much like a reality series complete with camera confessionals-- the arrival of the spoiled diva into the house of the blue collar (or more appropriately brown furry) family turns the rest of the feature into a sitcom styled satire of fame, celebrity culture, and above all the importance of the family bond.

In attempting to offer viewers a new look at an old story, elements of the original and other fables creep in as the old woman who lives in the show appears in one humorous scene and Junior Bear attends Grimm Middle School. And although it tries to incorporate some of the original dialogue and events, ultimately it was the goal of the Unstable Fables to revamp the works exclusively for young audiences.



However, in-jokes abound and adults know exactly what's being referenced as Tom Arnold is witnessed delivering the famous raunchy punchline for the legendary "Aristocrats" joke, one quip about a homemade video where his son is in the garage playing with his light saber serves as both a double entendre and also a hilarious recurring gag on TV's Arrested Development, Arnold takes part in an Evel Knievel-like stunt to literally "jump the shark" while trying to make his fish stand compete with the neighboring Starbucks styled sushi chain, as well as a talent show finale complete with a "We Are Family" performance which riffs both Little Miss Sunshine and The Birdcage.



Although these Bears bear little in common with the original fable and it does seem a bit sitcom-like complete with opening the film right away with bodily humor, ultimately it's a clever roast of the reality TV phenomenon and manages to tap right into the same audience who enjoyed the television work of Spears, Shields, and Arnold (who we learn envisioned his character to be sort of like Jackie Gleason's on The Honeymooners) as well as filmmaker Howard E. Baker's directorial efforts on Nickelodeon's Rugrats.

Inventive, bright and colorfully animated-- while it's not on par with classic Henson-- as my first foray into the Unstable Fables, I'm particularly interested in checking out the others brought to DVD by The Weinstein Company and Genius Products which were released over the past few months.

Featuring an interesting making-of-featurette that is sure to appeal more to animation fans and adults than the children for whom the movie is targeted, there's a great nine minute extra included right with the kids in mind as Baker teaches children how to draw a character and introduces them to the world of storyboard animation.



With a distinct visual style and characters drawn as Baker reveals to look as though they are human beings in an animal costume, the dynamite CGI is a standout and looks especially impressive on high definition televisions where the 3-D quality really manages to pop off the screen (similar to the recent straight-to-DVD Genius/Weinstein award-winning animated version of The Nutty Professor). Thus in the end-- this fable isn't really unstable at all and manages to put major studio based works Space Chimps and Fly Me to the Moon to shame.

The Final Season

Director: David M. Evans

Typically film critics rail against the perils of predictability and contrivances in contemporary cinema, yet a different attitude seems to be adopted by most when it comes to the All-American genre of underdog sports film that never seems to go out of style. As San Francisco Chronicle writer Mick La Salle wrote, citing the similarity of the genre’s offerings, “Funny thing about theses sports movies. They’re all the same. They’re never bad… they’re rarely exceptional. In fact, their appeal may be their sameness.”

The Final Season is such a case—a warmhearted, inspiring film that despite its modest production values, works the same way that chicken soup does when one has a cold, or mashed potatoes and/or macaroni and cheese do after an awful day—it’s a film that comforts, nourishes, goes down easily and doesn’t ask too much in return. Similar to the quintessential underdog he played in Rudy (one of the best sports films of the 90’s), Sean Astin pulls double duty as both producer and star in this true story, playing unlikely high school baseball coach Kent Stock, who, at the tender age of twenty-four after just two months of assisting the legendary Coach Van Scoyoc (Powers Boothe), finds himself taking over the Norway High School team.

After winning nineteen straight state championships under Van Scoyoc, the small Iowan community with a population of 586, that-- as the townspeople state-- grows baseball players similar to the crops on their farms, must come to terms with bureaucratic changes all made under the guise of “progress” that mandates that the Norway High School Tigers will be playing their final season before merging with the larger Madison High School.

As illustrated in the film, the vindictively villainous School Board President Harvey Makepeace (Marshall Bell) fires Coach Van Scoyoc out of petty spite and, in the hopes of sabotaging the team’s last competitive year, replaces the coach with the impossibly young, earnest Stock whose only experience heading up a team on his own was as a girl’s volleyball coach.

While the primary focus of The Final Season is on the development of the team and interplay between the Norway community, other subplots are introduced and, despite engaging us from the outset, are given little time to satisfactorily develop such as a terrific storyline about a rebellious Chicago teen played by Forbidden Kingdom star Michael Angarano whose widowed father (Tom Arnold) drops him off with his Norway grandparents in the hopes that the change of scenery will turn the young man around.

Angarano, who has some great scenes that beg for more exploration including a few confrontations with the film’s most valuable player, Powers Boothe, is shortchanged by the film. Yet these few time-wasting subplots aside including a likable turn by Rachael Leigh Cook as Stock’s love interest, The Final Season is further proof of director David M. Evans’s love of America’s favorite pastime following his terrific family classic The Sandlot, which he’d also penned.

Another solid and slightly above average entry into the overcrowded underdog sports genre, the film manages to further compel audiences with its timely storyline of small communities like Norway becoming ghost-towns when economic and political issues force them to close their schools, leading to devastating effects as businesses follow suit, which is something that seems to be hitting us yet again in the wake of our struggling economy.