Mean Girls DVD by Mark Waters

Bibliographic Information: Michaels, Lorne. Mean Girls. Hollywood, Calif. : Paramount, c2004. 1 videodisc (96 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in.
. ISBN 1415700141, UPC 097363416043
Genre: DVD
MPAA rating: PG13; coarse language, sexual content.
Curriculum ties: DVD, High school, Teen Drama, Cliques, Social pressures
Producer: Lorne Michaels
Director: Mark Waters
Screenplay by: Tina Fey
Note: Based on the book Queen bees and wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman.
Cast: Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Tim Meadows, Amy Poehler, Ana Gasteyer, Lacey Chabert, Lizzy Caplan, Daniel Franzese, Neil Flynn, Jonathan Bennett, Amanda Seyfried, Tina Fey.
Reader’s annotation: Cady Heron, portrayed by Lindsay Lohan, encounters a new jungle and becomes involved a new test of survival of the fittest.  The tumultuous life of teenage girls will bring the animal out of everyone.

Plot Summary: Cady Heron and her zoologist parents leave behind their simple life in the African bush country and move to the United States. Cady was home-schooled by her mother in Africa. For the first time in her life, Cady is attending public high school. Cady receives the harsh lessons of American teen-age culture, queen bees, wanna-be’s, and the importance of fitting in the right group and fashion. Cady befriends two social outcasts.  Together, they scheme to overthrow the queen bee Regina, portrayed by Rachel McAdams, and her group.  Cady infiltrates the group and acquires status in the high school jungle. To her dismay, Cady is enamored by the power of being in Regina’s group and downplays her intelligence.  Eventually, Cady loses her true friends, Aaron, her love interest, and the plan implodes in her face, resulting in public humiliation and being grounded by her parents.  Cady develops a strategic rescue plan to tame the wild jungle known as adolescence.

Critical Evaluation: Mean Girls is sassy story about the typical life of teenage girl. High school is portrayed as a war zone, depicting the conflict between the various social groups, such as the plastics, the geeks, and the jocks. Cady faces the conflict of right or wrong.  Although she does not agree with Regina’s ways, she follows.  She realizes that she has lost her true self when her true friends and Aaron.  Conformity and establishing one’s identity are powerful themes in Mean Girls.  Adolescence is a critical period for one to establish their identity.  Friendships and peers are the primary forces in the teenager’s life.  They shape views, values, fashion sense, and formation of relationships.I like how the director made Cady’s character come from Africa and have a completely fresh view on high school life in America. It also highlighted that anyone is able to fall into the social pressures of high school.

Booktalking Ideas:
Discuss How far would you go to fit in?
At this time, which group do you identify with?
Do you think that being part of a certain group makes you more popular or unpopular? If so, which ones?

Challenge Issues/ Defense:
Challenge Issues: Pre-marital sex, sexuality, Social status, Use of alcohol and drugs
Challenge defense ideas:
• Individuals whose strongly held, unpopular opinions are given an outlet may be less apt to resort to violence than if their ideas are suppressed.
Because many decisions in our society are made by the majority, protection of minority rights ensures that the ideas of smaller, less popular groups are not suppressed by the majority. In time, the majority may come to agree with these minority groups.
Why was this book included?: Mean Girls was included to inform youths about cliques and how to avoid them.  This author hopes to provide students with a positive influence on establishing their identity, increase self-worth, acceptance, and tools to manage self during these trying years.

Producer Information:
Producer, writer. Born Lorne Michael Lipowitz on November 17, 1944, in Toronto, Canada. Soon after graduating from the University of Toronto, Michaels set his sights on a career in entertaininment, becoming half of a comedy duo with fellow Canadian Hart Pomerantz. He moved to Los Angeles in 1968 to write for Laugh-In and The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show, as well as for a number of Canadian TV shows.
In 1975, NBC hired Michaels to create a show to fill a late Saturday night spot that was currently running reruns of The Tonight Show. After pulling together a group of actors and writers, Lorne debuted Saturday Night Live, a sketch comedy show that was filmed in front of a live audience. In time, the show earned the reputation of having launched some of the biggest names in comedy, incuding Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Mike Myers and Will Ferrell. With Michaels as producer from 1975 to 1980 and executive producer from 1985 through today, the show has been nominated for more than 80 Emmy Awards and has won 18.
Michaels founded his production company, Broadway Video, in 1979. The company produced such shows as Kids in the Hall, as well as films based on SNL sketch acts like Wayne’s World and Tommy Boy. Michaels is also the executive producer of NBC’s Late Night with Conan O’Brien.
Michaels was married to Rosie Schuster from 1973 to 1980 and to Susan Forristal from 1984 to 1987. In 1999, he married Alice Barry with whom he has three children.
(Producer biography obtained from Biography.com. Retrieved from: http://www.biography.com/articles/Lorne-Michaels-16242370).

Fast and the Furious DVD by Robert Cohen

Bibliographic Information: Cohen, Rob. Fast and the Furious. Universal City, CA : Universal Studios Home Entertainment, c2009. 1 videodisc (107 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. DVD, region 1, anamorphic widescreen (2.40:1); Dolby Digital 5.1 surround. UPC 025195038416.
Genre: DVD, Street racing, Police, Crime, Action
MPAA rating: PG13
Curriculum ties: None
Director: Justin Lin

Cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, John Ortiz, Laz Alonso.
Note: Based on the characters created by Gary Scott Thompson. Bonus features: Gag reel; feature commentary with director Justin Lin.

Reader’s Annotation: An undercover cop befriends the most well known street racer to gather evidence and catch a thief.

Plot Summary: Brian Spelner, Los Angeles police man is placed on an undercover assignment because of his bad driving habits and young, rugged look. The assignment is to gather information and bust a ring of thieves that have been steeling high end electronics. His new “job” is working at an auto parts store where he runs into a local street racer named Dom. Dom is not just ay street racer, he is the top dog on the streets, everyone is scared to go up against him except for Brian. Dom is suspicious that Brian is a great racer that he never heard of and even did a background check to make sure he was clean. Brian earns Dom’s trust when, after a police bust at the street races, Brian is the only one to come to his rescue. From there, their friendship blossoms and Brian is caught between a rock and a hard place.

Critical Evaluation: I really appreciated the sense of Family that Don has created among the cast of characters in the film. All of the street racers seem to come from broken homes and poor situations but they all have two things in common, the love of cars and street racing. Dom is so protective because his father was badly injured in a race car track accident that was caused by Dom so he feels the responsibility to take over that role and look over his sister. One tradition that Dom still keeps alive is Sunday lunch. Here, everyone is welcome without judgement. No matter who you are or where you come from, you are welcome to be a part of the family. Another one of Dom’s philosophies is that he lives life one quarter mile at a time. This outlook on life is why he has the need to drive fast for big stakes, and also why he never loses.

Booktalking Ideas: N/A

Why was this book included?: Cars, adrenaline, action packed. Liked by all teens.
Producer Information: Born in Washington DC in 1938, Robert Cohen took his undergraduate studies at Dartmouth College and UC Berkeley, and received his Doctor of Fine Arts at the Yale School of Drama in 1965, whereupon he joined the charter faculty of the newly-founded Irvine campus of the University of California. He has served there ever since, first as the founding departmental chair of Drama (for 25 years) and now as a Bren Fellow and Claire Trevor Professor of drama.
At Irvine, Cohen has directed more than seventy stage productions, including new plays, classics (often in his own translations), musicals, experimental works and operas. Off campus, he directs professionally, with works including a dozen productions at the Utah and Colorado Shakespeare Festivals plus many other works at Stages Theatre Center in Hollywood, the Summer Repertory Theatre in Santa Rosa, the Image Theatre in Boston, Theatre 40 in Beverly Hills, and the Focused Program in Medieval Drama at Irvine.

Cohen is also the author of many important theatre books, including leading texts in acting, a study of French playwright Jean Giraudoux, an introduction to theatre, a collection of theatre essays, and both original plays and translations. He has also published more than two dozen journal articles and two hundred-plus play reviews, the latter appearing mainly in the London-published Plays International, for which he is the regular southern California drama critic.
As a teacher, Cohen specializes in acting – particularly his own, closely-wrought integration of realism’s authentic underpinnings in human behavior with the classical, musical, and experimental dramatic styles commonly performed today. Cohen’s investigation of acting extends to scientific theory and world theatre practice. In the late 1980s, Cohen paired with Polish director Jerzy Grotowski in the creation of the Objective Drama Program on the UCI campus, a three-year, full-time round examination of the origins of ritual performance and their theoreticaland practical applications to modern acting and dramatic art. In addition to his regular teaching at UCI, Cohen speaks and conducts workshops around the country and abroad, including residencies in Canada, Korea, China, Hungary, Finland, Estonia, Sweden, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, Romania, Poland, Australia.
UCI awarded Cohen its highest honor, the UCI Medal, in 1993, and conferred on him a Claire Trevor Professorship in 2001. In 1999 he received the Career Achievement Award in Academic Theatre from the Association for Theatre in Higher Education, and in 2009 he received the honorary degree of Honoris Causa at Babes-Bolyai University in Romania, and the Polish Medal of Honor.
Cohen lives in Laguna Beach, California with his wife, Lorna Cohen. He has two children, Michael and Whitney.
(Author information obtained from author’s website. Retrieved from: http://www.robertcohendrama.com/bio/)

Death Note DVD by Sony Pictures

Bibliographic Information: Kaneko, Shusuke. Death Note. Sony Pictures, 2006. ISRC-CN-F219800510.
Genre: Foreign films
MPAA rating: NR, Not rated
Director: Shusuke Kaneko
Producer: Sony Pictures
Format: AC-3, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC, 1 disc.
Cast: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Ken’ichi Matsuyama
Special Features: N/A
Run Time: 126 minutes.
Language: Japanese, Cantonese. Subtitles in English, Traditional Chinese, Simple Chinese.
Note: Nisio Isin, called Death Note Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases. The novel was released by Shueisha on August 1, 2006;
Death Note was licensed for publication in North America by Viz Media,[13] and the first English-language volume was released on October 10, 2005.

Reader’s Annotation: When a Death note (notebook) falls into the hands of Light, the police chief’s son, death has a whole new meaning.

Plot Summary: Death notes are sacred notebooks that are used by shinigami (death gods), extra  dimensional creatures that use the Death Note to kill off humans in order to extend their own life. The Death Note that belongs to Ryuk, accidentally falls out of his hands and into the mortal realm where Light, finds it laying in the street. The instructions on the Death Note claims hat if a human’s name is written within it, that person shall die. Since Light picks it up, he is now has this power. A skeptical Light tests the notebook out on few criminals and, to his surprise it works. Following in his police chief father’s footsteps, Light, also known as “Kira”, (that name uses with association to the notebook), decides to use it for good and eradicate crime from the city. With so many unexplained killings, the International Police  recruit detective “L” to hunt down “Kia” and stop the killings before it is too late.

Critical Evaluation: I was very interested in Ryuk, the main shinigami, who is the one responsible for dropping the Death Note into the Earth realm. As Light begins to figure out how the Death Note works, Ryuk begins justifying to Light, the killings of others besides criminals. The power of the Death Note builds, Ryuk’s stands in the sidelines enjoying Light’s struggles with death and dying. It is at this time that finding this notebook was a purposely crafted plan for the amusement of Ryuk. The only problem is that Ryuk, not being able to navigate this realm but must stay with his Death Note.  The author uses this character to get into the mind of Light as he begins to take on many of the unnecessary killings. Ryuk will ask Light ask what his next move will be or have Light explain to him the point of a certain action. Surprisingly, Ryuk, this very supernatural looking dark god figure ends up to be Light’s moral compass when things begin to get out of hand.

Booktalking Ideas:
Why do you think that about “L”’s strange eating habits? What was the significance?
What was Ryuk’s motivation for dropping a Death Note into the Earth realm?
How does the inclusion of rules effect the powers of the Death Note?

Challenge Issues/ Defense:
Challenge Issues: Paranormal characters
Challenge defense ideas: Other worldly creature, excessive death.
•In Japanese Mythology, the equivalent of our Grim Reaper. Many Japanese shows (i.e. Bleach, Death Note, Naruto, Descendants of Darkness, Zombie Powder etc.) use Shinigami in their plots, carting off the dead souls to the Meifu (Spirit Relem). Only a Shinigami can put this lost soul to peace. (Retrieved from: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=shinigami)

Why was this item included?: A great foreign film based on a teen manga.
Author Information:  The Death Note process began when Ohba brought thumbnails for two concept ideas to Shueisha; Ohba said that the Death Note pilot, one of the concepts, was “received well” by editors and attained positive reactions by readers.[5] Ohba described keeping the story of the pilot to one chapter as “very difficult” and he said that he remembered it took over a month to begin writing the chapter. He added that the story had to revive the killed characters with the Death Eraser and that he “didn’t really care” for that plot device.[11]
Obata said that he wanted to draw the story after he heard of a “horror story featuring Shinigami.”[4] According to Obata, when he first received the rough draft created by Ohba, he “didn’t really get it” at first and he wanted to work on the project due to the presence of Shinigami and because the work “was dark.”[11] He also said he wondered about the progression of the plot as he read the thumbnails, and if Jump readers would enjoy reading the comic. Obata said that while there is little action and the main character “doesn’t really drive the plot” he enjoyed the atmosphere of the story. He stated that he drew the pilot chapter so that it would appeal to himself.[11]
Ohba brought the rough draft of the pilot chapter to the editorial department. Obata came into the picture at a later point to create the artwork. They did not meet in person while creating the pilot chapter. Ohba said that the editor told him he did not need to meet with Obata to discuss the pilot; Ohba said “I think it worked out all right.”

Beastly DVD by Daniel Barnz

Bibliographic Information: Barnz, Daniel. Beastly. Sony Pictures, 2011. ASIN: B002ZG975Q
Genre: Fairy Tale,
MPAA rating: PG 13
Director: Daniel Barnz
Producer: Sony Pictures
Format: AC-3, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC, 1 disc.
Cast: Vanessa Hudgens, Alex Pettyfer
Special Features: “Be Mine” Music Video by Kristina and the Dolls, Alternate Ending, Deleted Scenes,A Classic Tale Retold: The Story of Beastly, Creating the Perfect Beast.
Run Time: 86 minutes.
Language: English, English subtitles

Reader’s Annotation: Consequences always come after actions and the consequence of ugliness is given to a handsome, conceited, filthy rich teenage boy who does not understand life and love. If he does not receive a true “I love you”, the rest of his life is meant to be as ugly as he is.

Plot Summary: Loosely based on the movie Beauty and the Beast, Beastly follows a young boy, Kyle, in high school who is the most popular, handsome, and rich. Kyle lives with his business oriented father who is rarely around and his mother is deceased, which leaves his maid/nanny in charge of him. When Kyle decides to embarrass an unpopular girl at a school dance, unfortunately not knowing she is a witch, she places a spell on him causing him to look horribly awful on the outside as he is on the inside. His father can’t even stand the sight of him and secludes him in a separate apartment where no one has to see him except for his nanny and new blind tutor. To get rid of this spell though, Kyle has to get a girl to say “I love you” to him and truly mean it within a year or else he is stuck hideous forever. When Kyle witnesses an incident, he saves the girl by allowing her to live in his large apartment with him and begins to fall for her as she starts to fall for him. He slowly realizes that life is not all about money but the passion and love.

Critical Evaluation:  The plot of this movie is about how beauty is not only apparent by how good looking one person may be, but how their personality and characteristics are. When Kyle realizes that his gifts are not working to impress the girl he has a crush on, the gift of understanding what she likes and she accepting his gift helps him realize materialization is overrated. Kyle also realizes his looks are not all that he can be because of the encounter of him being seen by this girl. Once she sees that his face is covered because of its ugliness, she doesn’t even care and responds with “I’ve seen worse”. That definitely boosts his confidence and gives him the ability to talk to her more and like her even more. The imagery is shown by the tattoos placed over his face and arm. His eyebrows are gone and are replaced with words spoken by the witch to remind him of his ugliness and how permanent it could be. On his arm, a tree is formed and changes along with the seasons to show Kyle how much longer he has until his time is up. When the last leaf falls, he is supposed to receive “I love you” from a girl who truly loves him.

Booktalking Ideas:
How true to the fairytale Beauty and the Beast was this movie? What would you change?
How does the movie differ from the book Beastly by Alex Flinn (2007)?
Discuss some reasons why fairy tales are considered to be controversial and are often challenged.
Why does the witch put a curse on Kyle when other people at school are superficial and mean, too. How can behavior like that be addressed in real life?

Challenge Issues/ Defense:
Challenge Issues: Violence, Language
Challenge defense ideas:
• A man shoots another man off screen and kills him; the body is later seen. Another man threatens another’s child.
Words include “s–t,” “ass,” “crap,” “slut,” “skank,” “bulls–t,” “WTF,” and “bitch.” Words that teens would easily hear in school or on the street.
Why was this book included?: For it’s interesting dark interpretation of a classic fairytale. It also appeals to the Twilight crowd.
Director Information: A veteran of Ivy League Yale University and the University of Southern California Film School, writer-cum-director Daniel Barnz spent almost a decade circulating his original scripts among the studios, and culled interest from a substantial roster of A-list talent including Jodie Foster and Mel Gibson, but could never actually cross the line and get one of the scripts produced. Barnz’s fortunes shifted in late 2006, when his Phoebe in Wonderland — an offbeat #92;drama about a troubled young girl drifting ever more deeply into a fantasy world of her own design — received a greenlight from executive producers Chris Finazzo and Doug Dey, with Barnz himself attached to direct. Released in 2008, it featured Elle Fanning, Felicity Huffman, and Patricia Clarkson in the cast. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
(Author biography obtained from Yahoo movies. Retrieved from: http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1808811625/bio).

The secret life of the American teenager. Season one [videorecording].

Bibliographic Information: Ringwald, Molly. The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Season one[videorecording]. ABC Family ; Burbank CA : Distributed by Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 2008. 3 videodiscs (ca. 475 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in.. ISBN 9780788894435
Genre: Television series, Teen melodrama
Age Level: 14+
Creator and Executive Producer: Brenda Hampton
Producer: Lindsley Parsons III, Hrag Gaboudian
Consulting Producer: Paul Perlove, Elaine Arata, Jeffrey Rodgers, Jeff Olsen, Chris Olsen
Associate Producer: Daniel Cahn, Hrag Gaboudian
Awards: Teen Choice Awards: Choice Summer TV, 2008.
Note: Created for television by Brenda Hampton. Television series broadcast on the ABC family network.

Reader’s Annotation: A modern day look at life as a high school from the point of view of teens that have

Contents: Disc 1. Episode 1: Falling in love ; Episode 2: You are my everything ; Episode 3: I feel sick ; Episode 4: Caught — Disc 2. Episode 5: What have you done to me? ; Episode 6: Love for sale ; Episode 7: Absent ; Episode 8: Your cheatin’ heart — Disc 3. Episode 9: Slice of life ; Episode 10: Back to school special ; Episode 11: Just say no.

Plot Summary: Fifteen year old Amy Jergens is a good student and and comes from a stable loving family but the Summer that she went off to band camp changed her life forever.  Her sound judgement went out the window and she slept with Ricky Underwood, a good looking drummer and all around playboy. Now, as the new school year begins, she must deal with the added pressure of being pregnant. Ben Boykewich, the shy quiet boy who has always had a crush on Amy steps up and offers to marry her before the baby comes so that the baby can grow up in a loving family. Amy hesitantly accepts his proposal because she doesn’t feel that she will have support from anyone else in her family. Grace, a devout Christian is having thoughts of a physical relationship with her boyfriend Jack and the pressures that go along with it. Everyone’s secrets and stories begin to surface and their parents begin to find out.

Critical Evaluation: Between their love triangles, secrets, drama, accusations, gossip, confusion, and scandalous rumors, there’s never a dull moment. Towards the end of this season, we begin to get a deeper look into the lives of the parents of these troubled teens. This perspective is one that is rarely seen on television and many parents can learn different techniques about how to approach their teen. This show could be a very valuable tool if as a means to open up the lines of communication regarding once taboo subjects. Some of the dialogue about sex and sexual urges seems to be overacted but it may very well be an accurate representation that is not usually seen. I was surprised to see that Amy did not receive too much criticism from fellow students when she showed up to school pregnant and how easily she accepted motherhood. Her friends even threw her a baby shower including many parents.

DVD Talking Ideas:
Discuss the pressures today’s teens face involving being sexually active.
Have you known a pregnant teen? What are some of the challenges they faced, adjustments they had to make.
Discuss safe sexual practices  and resources available.

Challenge Issues/ Defense:
Challenge Issues: Sexual activity, Teen pregnancy
Challenge defense ideas:
“With our show it kind of really glorifies the consequences of what happens in high school, whether it’s teen pregnancy or gossip, how rumors can start like this one sleeping with this one or that one.  So it’s really true to reality, which is why I think a lot of kids can relate to it and enjoy watching the show.” -Daren Kagasoff, actor. Retrieved from: http://www.buddytv.com/articles/the-secret-life-of-the-american-teenager/the-secret-life-of-the-america-22418.aspx.
Why was this item included?: It gives a realistic view of the challenges and trials of today’s teens and it is a popular television show.
Editor Information: Hampton grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. Her father was an electrical engineer for AT&T and a television repairman.She studied journalism at the University of Georgia, graduating in 1973. After finishing her university studies, she worked as a technical writer for the U.S. Navy, wrote speeches, technical manuals and corporate newsletters. In the 1980s, she moved to Los Angeles and began writing for Sister Kate, an American situation comedy which aired on the NBC television network in 1989 and lasted one season. After Sister Kate finished, she worked as a story editor on the CBS television comedy, Baghdad Café, featuring Whoopi Goldberg. Hampton has worked on a number of television programs, including, the CBS sitcom, Lenny, the NBC comedy-drama, Blossom, and the NBC comedy, Mad About You. In 1994 she worked with David Landsberg to develop and executive produce the CBS series Daddy’s Girls, featuring Dudley Moore and Keri Russell in her first main television role.
Hampton has three adopted children.
Hampton created, wrote and executive produced the drama series 7th Heaven, which lasted 11 seasons and was nominated for and won a range of awards, including, numerous Young Artist, and Teen Choice Awards and an Emmy nomination.
In 2008, Hampton’s new television show, The Secret Life of the American Teenager was released. The show, created, executive produced and written by Hampton, is filmed in Los Angeles by Hampton’s production company, Brendavision. It is a youth-oriented drama series, aired on the ABC Family network. When The Secret Life of the American Teenager premiered, it became ABC Family’s most-watched series premiere.
On February 10, 2010, Hampton accepted the Francis M. Wheat Community Service Award for her work as a child advocate, and for her work on The Secret Life of the American Teenager.
(Author biography obtained from Wikipedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brenda_Hampton)