Depression in School DVD

Studio: Educational Video Network, Inc
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Opposites attract in this love story for the younger set. Carlos is a straight-laced poor boy working his way toward a better life. Nicole is a rich girl with a wild streak who can't seem to stay out of trouble. Can it be that they're meant for each other? Yes, of course it can. Crazy/Beautiful follows a familiar pattern--the two young lovers come from different worlds, and no one else understands them--but has a few intelligent wrinkles to the standard star-crossed plot. Nicole's dad, for example, actually likes Carlos and worries that Nicole will corrupt him. Kirsten Dunst and Jay Hernandez give assured performances as the young lovers, and the movie's message of tolerance comes across without being preachy. As teen love stories go, you could do far worse. Adults may be left cold by Crazy/Beautiful, but teens--especially those with a dramatic streak--will enjoy this well-intentioned romance. --Ali Davis

Description

Fate steps in and brings together two high school seniors from opposite sides of the track in this sexy, fun, and energetic story of first love. Nicole (Kirsten Dunst, BRING IT ON) is the 17-year-old troubled daughter of a wealthy congressman who never met a rule she didn't break. Carlos (hot newcomer Jay Hernandez) is an A-student with big dreams who endures a two-hour bus ride every morning to attend high school in an upscale L.A. neighborhood. Their innocent flirtations quickly develop into passionate love, but Nicole's self-destructive behavior threatens their relationship and puts Carlos' promising future in jeopardy. Will their intense passion keep them together despite the objections of their families, or will Carlos be forced to plan his future ... without Nicole? Surprises lie at every turn in this wildly seductive and critically acclaimed drama.

Customer Reviews:

NICOLE / CARLOS : A LOVE STORY.......2007-03-24

John Stockwell's CRAZY/BEAUTIFUL describes a conformist love story in an environment that doesn't react the way it should react. In a mainstream movie, the Mexican parents of Carlos Nuñez would have cherished Nicole Oatley with the usual Latin warmth and Nicole's family would have rejected Carlos because of his social and race background. Congressman Tom Oakley, even if he's a member of the Democrat party, wouldn't have accepted that his daughter sees the son of a chicano. Thanks to the unusual handling of this love story, in addition to the exceptional performance of Kirsten Dunst, CRAZY/BEAUTIFUL deserves to appear in your rental list.

A DVD zone Mamas and Papas.

Wierd movie :).......2007-01-31

Its hard not to appreciate a teen film which actually manages to take itself seriously - and get away with it. The plot of the film may sound cliched: boy meets girl, girl a troubled story etc; but we gain enough insight into the character's lives to give them our sympathy.

The DVD version looks perfect and has an interesting commentary with the director and Kirsten Dunst, as well as the usual trailer and behind the scenes featurette.

yin-yang.......2006-10-24

You know how some movies are such an intense experience that you feel changed in some way? And how you can't stop thinking about how powerful certain scenes were? Yeah. This is one of those.

The way Nicole and Carlos complete each other is incredible. At first, Nicole is lost and destructive. The solid schedule of homework, football practice, and family obligations deteriorates for Carlos as he becomes engulfed in Nicole's world of chaos and drama. But their love is something real, strong enough to make everything change. Carlos realizes that he has to make sacrifices in order to save Nicole from herself, and Nicole realizes that she's ready to become the person she's always wanted to be. Carlos helps her find the way home.

This is an awesome movie that shows us how beautiful true love is, and how crazy it would be to settle for anything less.

"Our skin looks so beautiful together.".......2006-05-19

If 'Crazy/Beautiful' served no purpose other than a template for young talent consider it done, for all three young stars (Kirsten Dunst, Jay Hernandes & Tarryn Manning) all put there best feet forward in this critically acclaimed teen drama. The story, while it's been done before, has never quite been done this well. Nicole (Dunst in one of her BEST performances to date) is a rich girl with a wild side who continues to stress her father and push her stepmother further away. Carlos (Hernandes in his breakout role) on the other hand is a poor boy trying hard to make the best of himself, traveling further than need be, waking up earlier than need be, all to get a better education and get a chance to be something bigger than he is. When they meet it's lust at first sight, but as they grow together they realize how much they need each other. This is a touching family film that shows well how a childs feeling of neglect and unwantedness can damage there relationships and even result in their inability for better relationships in the future. Kirsten Dunst is truly a star and she shines so much in this film delivering what has to be her most stunning and commanding performance to date. This is far from just your typical teen film but it explores real issues with taste and tact and proves itself to be a very very good movie.

Delivers.......2006-05-10

i loved it. Crazy/ Beautiful has everything to be an amazing movie. Good directing, great acting, and a awesome soundtrack. The movie appeals too all ages and has a hip sense to it. The movie is not as adviritsed. It has some sort of speical quality that we raely see with teen movies. The movie was beautiful.

Average customer rating:

Depression in School DVD

Manufacturer: Educational Video Network, Inc
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Educational | Genres | DVD | Video

( D ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Kids & Family | Independently Distributed | Stores | DVD | Video

Independently Distributed | Indie & Art House | Stores | DVD | Video
ASIN: B0007UZMHO
Release Date: 2004-03-29

Description

There are many problems that are faced by today's teens that did not even exist in the past. Teens role-play their personal histories with therapist, Steven Campbell.

Average customer rating:

Excellent italian comedy, with serious undertones
COMING OF AGE-ITALIAN STYLE
Better than average movie
A Film Filled to Overflowing with Stories and Information
Slight

Caterina in the Big City
Starring: Claudio Amendola , Flavio Bucci , Margherita Buy , Sergio Castellitto , and Galatea Ranzi
Director: Paolo Virzì
Manufacturer: Empire Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B000AYELX8
Release Date: 2005-11-29

Description

A coming of age story about a 15-year-old provincial girl who moves to Rome and finds her new tony private school is a microcosm of the cultural and political divisions of Italian society When her parents, Giancarlo (Sergio Castellitto) and Agata (Margherita Buy), move from a seaside town in Tuscany to an ailing aunt's apartment in the big city, Caterina (Alice Teghil) is ready for something new. Dad, a teacher in a tech school, has undisguised social ambitions and is delighted to see a list of famous last names attending Caterina's new school. Her class is split between revolutionary no-globals and rich kids who parrot their parents' conservative ideas. Both sides try to bring the new girl into their sphere of influence. She's first drawn to Margherita (Carolina Iaquaniello), a mercurial hippie princess whose mom (Galatea Ranzi) is a politically active intellectual. This first phase of Caterina's social education ends when Margherita gets her drunk and tattoos her arm. Giancarlo arrives, intending to get Margherita's mother to find a publisher for his novel, which he has given her daughter to read. Abruptly switching from fawning to outraged, he insults everyone before dragging the vomiting Caterina home. Caterina soon falls in with the flighty Daniela (Federica Sbrenna) and her circle of rich, cell phone totting mall-rats. After making her over into an urban sophisticate, they introduce her to a quiet young aristocrat with a disapproving mother and to Daniela's father, a right-wing undersecretary (Claudio Amendola) in Berlosconni's government. As her parent's marriage disintegrates in the face of her father's social frustrations, Catherina finds comfort in her extended family and hope for the future in a budding romance (and perhaps the prospect of emigration someday) with a boy from Australia. The film lays bare Italy's great political divide and absence of middle ground, a situation some US viewers may recognize uncomfortably close to home.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent italian comedy, with serious undertones.......2007-01-31

This excellent Italian comedy is very similar in plot to Mean Girls (who came out on theaters in about the same time). The difference is that this is a much more politicized film. Caterina is a shy teenager from a small town in Italy, who moves to Rome with her long-suffering mother and her teacher father, when he is assigned to a new job there. In her new school, she has to choose to what clique to belong: the children of the progressive intellectuals or the children of the rich industrialists. The left or the right. What this film says is that these people are not terribly different between themselves. They both hold a degree of fame and power in Italian society, and look down upon those who don't. The outstanding performance in the movie is that of Caterina's father, the teacher Giancarlo (Sergio Castellito), a hothead angry that others have gotten all the breaks in life, who rants against the rich and privileged but who would sell his soul in a second in order to join the establishment. He is a familiar type of malcontent in real life but one who is seldom shown in the movies. There is a silly subplot of Caterina falling in love with an Australian boy, but all in all, this is one of the best Italian movies of the last years.

COMING OF AGE-ITALIAN STYLE.......2006-09-09

I had read a favorable review of this movie earlier this year in the N.Y. Times and was pleasantly surprised to find it on the shelf at our public library. What a pleasant surprise.

This is a coming-of-age film about a 13 year-old girl who moves from a small and remote Italian town to the ultra-sophisticated world of Rome. Think "Mean Girls", with a touch of Amy Heckerly's "Clueless". But "Catarina" rises above the usual teen farce by integrating Catarina and her classmates into the {corrupt}adult world around them. The fine editorial review above is an excellent summary of the story and I will not try to duplicte it.

As the Times' reviewer pointed out, "Catarina" shows how we now have a global youth culture. The girls of Roma are easily recognized as variants on American teens, with their own clothes, issues, etc.

Alice Tergil is superb as the sweet, but naive, newcomer. An excellent cast all-around.

Blaine in Seattle

Better than average movie.......2006-08-14

I really enjoyed this film. Caterina is a country girl who moves to Rome with her parents. Her father is a teacher who has a grandiose vision of himself as a great writer (his work reads like a cheap paperback). Her mother is kind and pretty but a bit of an airhead. Caterina is trying to fit in at school. Does she belong with the Bohemians or with the rich socialites (think teenage Paris Hilton)?

It's a charming coming of age movie. I couldn't help but think that Italy has the same social and political divide as we do in America. I found it amusing some classmates called her a "Hillbilly". Back in Detroit in the '70s I knew a Sicilian who called himself an "Italian Hillbilly". I thought it was kind of funny but I bet he was called that as a kid. I think anyone who remembers being a teen will like this flick.

A Film Filled to Overflowing with Stories and Information .......2006-07-02

'Caterina va in citta' ('Caterina in the Big City') is an Italian film that takes as its storyline the coming of age of a young teenager transported by her family from the quiet Tuscany seaside village of Montaldo Di Castro to the challenging realities of Big City Rome, but that is only the means to an end of exploring Italian politico-social life and its effects on the youth of today. It comes very close to drowning in its own excesses, but at the root of the film is a sensitive tale of a young girl's struggles with growing into an adulthood that puzzles, frightens and challenges her.

Caterina (Alice Teghil) finds her greatest moments of happiness in her home town singing mezzo soprano in the choir: simple pleasures in a simple setting surrounded by country folk content to live life day to day. Her father Giancarlo (Sergio Castellitto) is a teacher who can't hold a job, partially because he is so outspoken and partially because he is a raving truly obnoxious person. Her mother Agata (Margherita Buy) is subservient, a woman with few coping mechanisms who allows her odious husband to run an abusive household. Giancarlo's aunt is ill in Rome and with the idea of finding a job where his talents are respected, Giancarlo uproots his little family and moves to the big city. There the social castes are evident and Caterina is judged a country hick until she is befriended by first a rebel who bonds with Caterina, introduces her to tattoos and liquor, and causes a schism between her important mother (Giancarlo hoped to have is novel published by the woman), the daughter and his family. Caterina then is absorbed into the rich and spoiled rank and file of the wealthy, not fitting in until the girls do a make over. That situation is again disrupted by Giancarlo's blindly inappropriate behavior. The true Caterina is somehow lost, still dreaming of becoming a fine mezzo soprano, but tagging along with the crowd du jour. Ultimately Giancarlo's multiple and consistent failures drive him away from the family, he rides off to oblivion on his restored motorbike, and Agata and Caterina both bloom.

The noise level of this film is such that it is difficult to watch: the young girls means of communication is a mixture of screaming, loud talking, and fighting and otherwise making us uncomfortable. Yet underneath all of the political and social expose and brandishing is a truly wonderful young Caterina whose life as a soap opera is watched tenderly by an Australian boy who plays the guitar and observes her family from a window across the way from Caterina's Rome home. The moments toward the end of the film when the playback comes justifies the fuss of getting there.

This is not a film this viewer would sit through again, but reflecting on the story after all the commotion is over, hearing Mozart's 'Ave Verum Corpus' and Verdi's 'Nabucco" etc as the inspiration behind Caterina's honest dreams, makes is a more memorable experience. In Italian with English subtitles. Grady Harp, July 06

Slight.......2006-04-23

Caterina in a nutshell: a social climber husband who thinks he has the soul of a poet but really has the soul of a brutish cretin; a verbally abused wife with a friend on the side, their daughter, the new girl in the big city, courted and dropped by the cool clique; and the Australian boy in the apartment across the alley who watches that family soap opera drama while living his own. This familiar theme movie is somewhat redeemed by the acting of the spirited Caterina and her mother. Otherwise, it just barely slips into three star territory.

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