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By Rich Heldenfels
Beacon Journal popular culture writer
Published on Sunday, Aug 24, 2008
Son of Rambow is a modest little film, but one well worth your time when it arrives on DVD on Tuesday.
Retailing for $19.99 from Paramount Home Entertainment, Son of Rambow is about two boys brought together — and made better — through a love of making movies. It is being offered for sale exclusively through Best Buy and for rent ''at all major rental locations.''
Lee Carter (played by Will Poulter) is a school troublemaker and bully whose dream is to win a filmmaking contest. He is assembling his own movie from pieces shot on his own and bits of a bootlegged copy of First Blood, the original Rambo movie. Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner) has never seen a movie as Son of Rambow begins, because he is part of a Plymouth Brethren religious sect that turns away from mass media. When a TV show is screened in his schoolroom, Will has to sit outside.
But Will is an artist and writer, and becomes Lee's collaborator on the film, playing the ''son of Rambow.'' But making the film gets complicated, especially when a French exchange student (Jules Sitruk) gets involved. And the movie flounders a bit as it deals with conflicts among the characters, before finding its way to a sweet, funny ending.
Milner and Poulter are especially entertaining, with an unmannered approach to acting. According to the DVD's making-of segment, neither had serious acting experience before making Son of Rambow. The DVD also includes an audio commentary and Aron, a short film by Garth Jennings, which inspired him to write and direct Son of Rambow. And look for Ed Westwick — Chuck on Gossip Girl — as Lee's older brother.
Also on DVD from the independent-film ranks is Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden? (Genius Products, $24.95), a seriocomic look at the Middle East by filmmaker Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me, TV's 30 Days). It's a first-person journey by Spurlock through different countries; although the movie has amusing bits along the way, it doesn't prove to be as deep as it appeared to Spurlock.
DVD extras include an alternate ending, an animated history of Afghanistan and extra interviews.
Looking toward the new TV season, DVD is again offering some refresher courses on Tuesday. Among the items:
• One Tree Hill, starting its sixth season on Sept. 1, presents its complete fifth season (Warner, 18 episodes, five discs, $59.98). Extras include deleted scenes, commentaries on two episodes and digital copies of all the episodes.
• The Shield, which begins its seventh and final season on FX on Sept. 2, is releasing the complete sixth season (Sony, 10 episodes, four discs, $59.95). Extras include deleted scenes, featurettes and some commentaries.
• Entourage, with a fifth season starting Sept. 7 on HBO, presents the complete fourth season (HBO Video, 12 episodes, three discs, $39.98), with extras including the trailer for fictional film Medellin and three audio commentaries.
• Heroes, back for a third season on Sept. 22, has Season Two (Universal, 11 episodes, $39.98 on standard DVD, $69.98 on high-definition Blu-ray). There are extensive extras on the standard DVD, including an alternate ending to the last episode of the season and a ''sneak peek'' at the making of the third season; still more extras on the Blu-ray version.
• On Tuesday, you can also find new sets of NCIS: The Fifth Season (CBS Paramount, 19 episodes, five discs, $64.99) and Everybody Hates Chris (CBS Paramount, 22 episodes, four discs, $39.99). NCIS starts its new season on Sept. 23; Chris, on Oct. 3.
Of local interest: A&E Home Video will release documentaries about two Ohio football legends, Woody Hayes' Ohio State Buckeyes, which requires no further explanation, and Bo Schembechler's Michigan Wolverines, focusing on the Barberton native who was Hayes' great rival on the field and friend off of it. Each retails for $24.95.
Also with local ties are recent releases Never Back Down and War Games: The Dead Code. Never Back Down, a Karate Kid variation with mixed martial arts, stars former Parma resident Sean Faris. War Games: The Dead Code, a sequel to the Matthew Broderick film War Games, stars Matt Lanter, formerly of Massillon and North Canton.
Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and in the HeldenFiles Online blog at http://www.ohio.com. He can be reached at 330-996-3582 and rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.
Son of Rambow is a modest little film, but one well worth your time when it arrives on DVD on Tuesday.
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