“School of Rock”
Paramount, $29.99
WHO’S IN IT: Jack Black, Mike White, Sarah Silverman
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RECAP: Posing as a substitute teacher, slacker Jack Black chucks the syllabus and teaches his young students the power of rock ‘n’ roll.
BEST EXTRA: Jack Black delivers an impassioned plea to Led Zeppelin, which director Richard Linklater sent to the group to convince them to let him use one of their songs on the soundtrack.
SECRETS REVEALED: The child actors–talented musicians, all–had to learn to play like stiff novices.
FEATURE TO SKIP: The giggly commentary track by the cast of kids isn’t as compelling as the track shared by Linklater and Black.
TRIVIA: The rock family tree seen briefly on a classroom chalkboard took weeks to complete, with the cast and crew adding and erasing entries as the shoot progressed.
IF YOU LIKED THIS, TRY: “Dazed and Confused,” Linklater’s heartfelt and funny ode to the ’70s.
RATING: 5 REMOTES
“Duplex”
Miramax, $29.99
WHO’S IN IT: Ben Stiller, Drew Barrymore, Eileen Essell
RECAP: A pair of yuppies luck into a Brooklyn duplex, perfect except for an aggravating older tenant, who’s so taxing and distracting, they decide to knock her off.
BEST EXTRA: The three deleted scenes feature some funny throw-away gags, like Essell counting out her $88 rent one bill at a time.
SECRETS REVEALED: The “behind-the-scenes special” promised on the back cover runs a scant four minutes.
FEATURE TO SKIP: The “sneak peak” link on the main menu just reveals a boring and out-of- date highlight reel of past (and better) Miramax movies.
TRIVIA: Danny DeVito does a pretty good on-set imitation of a fire truck.
IF YOU LIKED THIS, TRY: “The War of the Roses,” a much better black comedy from director DeVito.
RATING: 1 REMOTE
COMING SOON
In stores next week:
– “Schindler’s List” (Collector’s widescreen gift set)
– “Mona Lisa Smile”
– “Dawn of the Dead”
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Edited by Cara DiPasquale ([email protected]) and Kris Karnopp ([email protected])