SPOILERS!!! Discuss GRADUATION here!!!

TheCentralScrutinizer · 12 May 08 :: 19:01

Again, DO NOT post spoilers about either the story or the extras in the general Graduation thread. You can say anything you want in this thread.

Let me start by saying I CAN'T WAIT till tomorrow night when I get home with my DVD!

BiggestChrisMarquetteFan · 13 May 08 :: 04:40

It's coming out this Tuesday?? I haven't even pre-ordered my copy yet from Amazon. I can't wait to buy it!! = D

TheCentralScrutinizer · 13 May 08 :: 05:13

I'm ridiculously geeked up, Mel. I'll be getting mine tomorrow during my lunch hour with the $25 Best Buy gift card my boss gave me for admin week. I'm considering taking my laptop to work with me so I can at least watch a little of it, or maybe just the special features if I have any time left over when I get back from the store.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 13 May 08 :: 17:01

This SUCKS!!! The Best Buy near my office doesn't have the damn movie. OK, my day is wrecked. :crying:

TheCentralScrutinizer · 13 May 08 :: 18:15

Got the movie, but I had to drive a long way to another Best Buy store and it ate up my whole lunch hour. Guess it's a good thing I had time to stop for breakfast before I came in this morning. Now, if I can just get through the next 6 plus hours until I get home... :waiting:

Illinoisguy1 · 13 May 08 :: 18:36

Saw the dvd at Walmart today. Can't recall the price.

DVDempire doesn't have the back cover art up yet and nobody has posted an update for the dvd yet on the dvdprofiler site, so I can't show the back artwork yet.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 13 May 08 :: 19:05

Interestingly, the back cover has a pic from a scene that was cut. It's Carl and Jackson in the Value Basement, where Carl has on the giant boxing gloves, though it's not the same pic as the one we have. There's also a pic of Jackson & Polly looking amorous that you can see here: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3962017280/tt0475286.

Then there's one of Chauncey in his car, and one of Polly's dad with the cops.

Nice to see all those familiar names in the credits too. One in particular... Mr. Brian Ralston.

And I just noticed the Alfalfa effect in Carl's hair in this pic:
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3995571712/tt0475286

domesticelefant · 13 May 08 :: 20:46

Have fun with your DVD, Deb. I wish I could buy it too ...

Illinoisguy1 · 14 May 08 :: 00:31

Someone finally submitted the back cover for dvdprofiler.

So here it is.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 14 May 08 :: 01:31

OK, couldn't stand it, had to start with the blooper reel because we NEVER get to see Chris bloopers. Here, you'll get to see him break up and you'll hear that wonderful laugh we so rarely get treated to and even a nice girly scream. Everyone else is cute and funny too, particularly Lowell, of course. Sigh. OK, on to the real movie now...

TheCentralScrutinizer · 14 May 08 :: 03:03

I LOVE THIS MOVIE!!!

No exaggeration, guys. It's clever and fun and I think you're all gonna really enjoy it. Buy it, rent it, and soon! You will not regret it for one second.

Nobody in this world is cuter than Carl! Get ready to melt into a puddle of Chris bliss. :drool:

This is a wonderful group of core characters. Shannon's absolutely adorable and Lowell's gonna be a huge star.

Perfectly satisfying ending too.

Brian, I love your score. I really hope they release a soundtrack!

On to the special features...!

TheCentralScrutinizer · 14 May 08 :: 03:43

The alternate opening isn't different from anything in the film. It just doesn't have the flash-forward with Jackson in the bank.

All the deleted stuff is terrific and could've stayed in the film if Mike had been allowed to make it 2 hours long instead of 90-minutes. It's all very cool character stuff. I watched it all without and then with commentary by Mike and Cory and I feel for you guys, it should've stayed in. Damned suits.

As I said before the bloopers are sooooo cute.

Watch the storyboard comparisons with commentary for a quick lesson in film making 101. I've seen this kind of stuff before and it's endlessly fascinating to me.

Hey, Bruton! The slideshow is all about a statue he made to turn a major intersection into a small town roundabout outside the bank.

Nothing left but watching the movie with director's commentary, which I can't wait for! But I can't do it tonight. As soon as I can though, I will. And I'll let you guys know how it is.

I'm a happy camper right now. And here's something for my sista Dorquettes to tide them over till they can see the movie too...

TheCentralScrutinizer · 14 May 08 :: 03:48

And another 'lil sump'm sump'm...

http://www.chris-marquette.com/media/vi … Coffee.wmv

domesticelefant · 14 May 08 :: 21:46

:rolleyes:Haha, I need that "Carl needs Coffee" thing on my alarm clock! :rofl:
I wish I could buy the DVD ... :crying:

TheCentralScrutinizer · 14 May 08 :: 21:47

Well, I did have a way to get the movie into your hands as soon as last night, but it got shot down. Sorry about that.

Donna · 14 May 08 :: 21:59

Damn thats a nice butt! Thank you!

TeeJay · 17 May 08 :: 17:11

I got my Graduation DVD today. And it's absolutely perfect timing, because I only slept 5 hours last night and spending the day binging on moving pictures of Chris sounds like a great pastime right about now.

As of now, not only have I seen the movie, I've also already gone through all the DVD extras and the whole movie commentary. Awesome stuff, I can't remember the last DVD where I was so eager to look at/listen to all this great stuff. I will write up a proper review for the website later, but there a lot of different things I'd love to share with you right now.

First of all, the movie commentary was done by Mike Mayer (director) and Cory Turner (writer). While they talk a lot about how certain shots were done and why certain elements were shot the way they were, they also talk about Chris and Chris a lot. Riley and Shannon too, but (and I may be biased here) I felt they were talking about Chris M. more than the others. Sounded like he really made an impression. Let me share a few things they said (not only) about Chris and Carl, his character.

Mike Mayer: "Chris Marquette, we haven't said anything good about Chris Marquette yet. And I don't hink I can say enough good things about Chris Marquette."
Cory Turner: "He's amazing."

One of Mike's favorite scenes is the one where Carl takes the glasses off his sleeping mom and puts them on himself. He said that it was hard to pull off so it wouldn't look cheesy or cliché, and Chris apparently did it.

Mike: "Carl was always where my heart was. Carl was the soft one."

Mike also told this really cute story that I think I've read about in an interview somewhere too, where he did a lot of improvs with them in the hotel and then went out with them to Burger King, telling them to act in character. And Chris started bugging people and being really open and peppy, but Mike also said that it was great to watch because "Chris Marquette's a quite shy person in real life." Really? He wasn't very shy with us... But maybe that day we met him on the set, he was all geeked up and in his element.

We learn that Chris got the real eyebrow piercing just for the movie. And that it got infected (and kinda gross) about three weeks into the shoot. Mike or Cory (I don't remember) said that Chris showed true dedication. Chris was really proud of the fake Iggy tattoo he had for one scene, he ran up to Mike especially to show him the day they did it.

They had to re-dye Chris's hair every two days. The make-up people asked Mike to change it to blue because there is permanent blue dye but not green. But Mike said for some reason it just needed to be green.

One of the guys mentioned that Chris and Aimee (Garcia) completely stole the show. They also said Chris was amazing at his spontaneity. He was always surprising in a beautiful way.

Cory said one of his favorite scenes was Carl's little dance outside the bank. It wasn't scripted what he was supposed to do, they just told Chris that Carl was really excited and triumphant about having scored with Suzy, and they told Chris to do what he thought would work. And it worked. It was really cute.

Interesting little tidbit: The movie was shot in just 26 days.

Another interesting tidbit: The cow you see walking through the school was called Grace and did a dump in the kitchen. (Ew?)

Mike and Cory joked that Mike has a little man-crush on Jackson/Lowell. (And he's happily married.)

Interesting tidbit about Lowell: He can't speak with food in his mouth, every scene where they tried it turned out a disaster.

Mike and Cory talked about a scene where they were both extras, something in the hospital where Carl's on the phone. The scene is not in the deleted scenes. I can only guess it's when his mom is taken to the hospital, Carl probably calls Jackson and the others because Jackson is the first to come to the hospital and later they're all there. I wanna see the scene!!

As to the movie itself, while it's not a cinematical and storytelling masterpiece (sorry, Mike and Cory!), I still loved it. Definitely a movie I can watch multiple times, not only because it has a great cast who all did a great job. It is never boring. The story is clever in its own way, it's not your absolutely predictable and shallow crime caper. It has a big emotional aspect to it, it's as much plot-driven as it is character-driven.

I think what I love most about it is the nuances. There are little things interspersed that you notice if you pay attention and grow to love, nuances that add such a lot to the heart and soul of the movie and the characters. And I'm talking about really little things that maybe you don't even notice. Like the way Carl mimics kissing Jackson in the school hallway. Like the way Carl is sitting on the stretcher and Jackson has to pull him off of it when the nurse comes and takes it away. Like the way it really hurts you to watch Carl come home to find his mom's daybed empty. Like the way Suzy is holding on to Carl's bloody t-shirt like it's a precious treasure. And I bet some of it wasn't even scripted.

However, if you look a little more closely, there are plot holes that you can't help but notice. Why is there such a huge blood stain on the outer door of the bank? No doubt put there to add more drama, but, really... From the through-and-through in Carl's shoulder, you don't get such a messy stain (not that I can speak from experience). And I may add that there was a curtain in front of the glass. So you better not ask how the blood got there in the first place.

Maybe I've watched too much CSI, but why is it that the kids are let off the hook so easily? It was a good plan to make it look like the robber escaped through the tunnel in the floor, but Jackson pulled off his gloves and used the phone with his bare hands when he talked to cops. Wouldn't CSI or the like be all over the bank later on, taking fingerprints and collecting evidence? Would they not maybe find fibers and/or hairs of them in the vault? Might there not maybe be epithelials left on the welding glasses Carl threw carelessly away? Okay, okay, I know, I'm asking too many questions that shouldn't be asked. I'm just sayin'...

Also, in real life I don't think they would have ever let Polly walk up to the door with the pizzas. I mean, I get it that dramatically it had to be done that way for the movie to work, but it was a real stretch.

When I say the movie wasn't too predictable, I don't mean in an overall storyline kind of way. But there were just little things about the bank robbery that I found refreshing. Like when Jackson destroys the tiles to reveal the hole in the floor, you really expect the kids to escape through it, right? (At least I did.) It was kinda cool that it went in another direction. Mike and Cory also talk about that in the commentary.

There was also one thing (again, nuances!) that I only realized upon my second viewing of the movie. (But maybe that's because I can be a bit daft sometimes.) I got it the first time round that Polly leaves the watch with the photo in her father's office to make sure he knew who was behind the heist. But what I didn't get on the first viewing is that through it Polly's father knew full well what was in Carl's safe deposit box and that he consciously chose to let Carl walk out of the bank with it.

A shout-out to Matt Uhry and Bruton Jones, whom Mike and Cory mentioned multiple times in their commentary. I've met Bruton in person and Matt via e-mail. It's so cool to see all these people's names pop up.

My message to Brian Ralston: Great job with the music!! I especially loved the Bloc Party song.

All I can say is that I really really like the movie for what it is. And Chris is absolutely adorable in it. A must-see for any Chris fan (and I'm talking about either Chris for a change).

-TeeJay

TheCentralScrutinizer · 18 May 08 :: 00:03

This actually the perfect booty shot...

TheCentralScrutinizer · 18 May 08 :: 00:04

Such a cute sleeper...

TheCentralScrutinizer · 18 May 08 :: 00:05

Carl needs coffee...

TheCentralScrutinizer · 18 May 08 :: 00:07

See...? Cute.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 18 May 08 :: 00:10

What was that little air-kiss about...?

TheCentralScrutinizer · 18 May 08 :: 00:15

Chris can even make granny glasses adorable...

TheCentralScrutinizer · 18 May 08 :: 00:18

Never seen him do this very slashy thing with his shirt before. Mmmmmm...

magicalturkey · 18 May 08 :: 00:21

"Look, doc, I got boobies on my tummy! Now how can you help? They need to be higher, right?"

Last edited by magicalturkey (18 May 08 :: 00:21)

Chris Marquette Message Board

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SPOILERS!!! Discuss GRADUATION here!!!

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