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GRADUATION
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2007
WHAT TO WATCH
TOP10 Graduation DVDs
BY JONATHAN ORLANSKY KANSAN GUEST COLUMNIST
Nothing hurts like memories, and nothing feels better. At times of transition, one cannot help but look into the past, and it's always less frightening than looking forward. Great films can make us look further into our own past, and allow us to look into our futures more levelheadedly. Here are 10 films about that most pronounced of transitions: graduation.
10. "Billy Madison"
"Billy Madison"
is for graduation movies what
"Love Actually"
is for romantic comedies.
9. "SLC Punk!"
This tragically under- watched film about the small but fierce counterculture in Salt Lake City provides a unique perspective on how its members create an entire persona during their student years, but no matter how determinedly anti-establishment they are, everyone has to grow up.
It's a graduganza. With enormous parties coming for each grade 1-8, and then the love-fest following the heart-stopping Academic Decathlon, "Billy Madison" shows how it should always be fun moving on, even if you're a drunken, underachieving baffoon.
8. "Can't Hardly Wait"
and no filmbetter demonstrates the process than this ultimate com- ing-of-age film. College graduates
C ome on; you like it. The prototype for the teen comedy onslaught of the late nineties is more sharply funny and
tend to reflect less on childhood, but "Stand By Me" makes the rather compelling argument that it's much earlier when we become the person we'll be the rest of our lives.
oddly touching than any of its fol lowers.
Graduation can mean a lot of things, including the psychological passage from childhood to ado-
7. "Stand By Me"
6. "Say Anything..."
One of the most beautiful love stories of film presents the uplifting feeling that while the future may be unclear,
in a movie wereeasyly squeezed into 24 minutes whenever "Saved by the Bell" was on the air. There's no bet-
ambition can simply mean spending all the time possible with a beautiful girl.
5."Saved by the Bell," Season 4, Episode 26, "Graduation"
ter example than the final episode, when Zach ekes out enough credits and Jessie overcomes her anxiety to give a stirring speech about exciting days to come.
All the drama, excitement, laughs and tears that usually take two hours
5. "Hoop Dreams"
Bill James' stirring documentary,
which follows two highly touted young basketball prospects from eighth grade through 12th, is perhaps the only film capable of providing the real tension involved in the anticipation of graduation and the intense journey that is required to get there.
3. "American Graffiti"
George Lucas' anomalous first feature hearkens back to the summer of 1962, a time when, in fact, only the music was simpler. Richard Linklater's single-decade update of the story, "Dazed and Confused" is fantastic, but it lacks
the sincere romance provided by Cindy Williams and a young Ronny Howard.
2. "Rudv"
The word inspira-
tional didn't
exist before
"Rudy"
came out.
That's true.
Don't bother
looking it up.
Graduation is about
accomplishment, and who doesn't wish that after all the hard work and focus required to get a degree, you could get a whole stadium shouting out your name?
The movie from which all of the above crib to some degree, no film comes close to capturing the fea and discomfort of the expansive wasteland that is the future with the style and poignancy of "Th Graduate." Benjamin Braddock' desire for his future to be "differ
1. "The Graduate"
ent” is universally admirable in it vagueness. Don't panic, graduates Just be seduced by one of your parents' friends until you get a plan for your life that's "completely baked."
— Edited by Lisa Tilso
NAMES (CONTINUED FROM 5)
Marissa Ann Mar
Sylvia Lorraine Mendez Martinez
Kristin L. McAninch
Donald Ray McCann
Ashley Brooke McKinney
Elizabeth King McKnight
Alexis Brooke Melville
Helen Janet Miller
Sherrri Lorene Miller
Patrick G. Moodie
Carlene Morris
Riffat Mumtaz
Patrick Maurin Murphy
Beryl Ann New
Steven Lloyd Nilhas
Ricardo Noelizaire
Sarah Elizabeth Norris
Randy Eugene Oliver
Brooke Warde Payne
Morgan Leigh Payton
Stacia Ilene Pfau
Guy Eugene Phillips
Nancy Nygard Pilon
Betsy Gayle Pipkin
Joanne M. Postlewait
Matthew William Prellwitz
Erin M. Pringle
Melanie Renee Privat
Kati Lynn Purmort
Sara Ann Quick
Bonnie Jeanne Randle
Jason D. Rehfeldt
Michael Jon Reik
Laura Marie Remington-Schroeder
Janet Marie Rice
Scott R. Richmond
Jeremy M. Ring
Brian Wallace Rodkey
Brandi Jo Rogers
Steadman Leon Rogers
Susan Carol Rufledt
Mary Melinda Russell
Erin M. Ryan
Denise Helen-Anand Sangoi
Vicki Lynn Schmitt
Amber Shar-ron Sellers
Merrie Leah Crawford Skaggs
Christy Lynn Skelton
Michael Ray Slagle
Michael Dwayne Smith, Jr.
Stephanie Lynn Standley
Regina Lynn Starnes
Joyce Yvonne Stevens
Gina Rose Stokesberry
Kari Sue Stubbs
Rachel Elisabeth Thomas
Rebeecca Ann Thompson
Benjamin Robert Timson
Amanda Lee Torbett
Shih-Ting Tu
Ann Marie Turner
Jerrri Louise Turner
Susan Unruh
Abbe Roychelle Vieux-Revell
Tammy Lynn Waddell
Casey Loretta Wallace
Blair Nichole Waltz
Michael J. Weishaar
Julie Lind Wells
Ashley Wendler
Darren L. Wibberding, Jr.
Jeana Renee' Wilcox
Matthew Garrett Wolff
Erin Brianne Wolfram
Casey Matthew Worrall
Chi-Yang Wu
Janice Gay Younkin
Nina Isabel Zuna
Amanda Anne Zweifel-Hughes
Lisa Carole Comer
Caroline A. Mark
Andrew S. Ring
Kathryn McLean Sirridge
Seth Aaron Spurlock
Christopher Dean Wyant
Yuka Naito-Billen
Laetitia Marthe Petiot
Undergraduate Level:
Ashley Marie Andreas
Molly Elizabeth Bachand
Justin Robert Ballinger
Kurtis Allen Bell
Damon Esteban Benitez
Miquela Denique Bethel
Stacy Lynn Block
Abigail L. Boone
Alexis Boston
Alisha Leigh Brand
Brian Edward Bratichak
Andrea L. Bridges
Albert C. Briggs
Erin Frances Broadbent
Sarah Danette Brooks
Brittany Elizabeth Brown
Calogero Dominic Casa
Jerry Joe Cavitte
Amy Jo Conway
John Thomas Cuffe, Jr.
Benjamin Robert Davidson
Michele Kathryn Dierks
Ryan Thomas Dittmer
Thomas Alan Eberline
Diaa Elashkar
Jessica Chari Elkouri
Whitney Jane Ernst
Tiffany Lee Fillipi
Nichole Dawn Fox
Anthony Richard Galindo
Jared Louis Gillespie
Brett Daniel Gilliland
Kathryn Melissa Gunia
Cassandra M. Guttman
Emily Renee Haas
Layla Habibi
Laura Michelle Hale
Amanda J. Hanf
Kristen Marie Hansen
Frank Hartanto
Heather Leigh Jesse Hayes
Jamie Lynn Hearn
Andrew R. Hedge
Stephani C. Heider
Nicole Lynn Henry
Amber Diane Hoffman
Jenna Lee Horton
Lana Moira Hult
Erica Elizabeth Hummel
Kristen Renee Hupe
Wesley Mark Ingermanson
Randy Lee Johnson
Lindsay Erin Kass
Brittany Yarden Katz
Margaret Elizabeth Kelley
Chanthone Khounvongsa
Sara Nicole Kimberly
Karry Joann Klatt
Emily J. Knopp
Christina Laura Kowalski
Megan Kathleen Kubassek
Jennifer Ann Labovitz
Heather Ann Layher
Heather A. Lee
Jacob Kyle Linn
Cameron Polst Marsh
Barrett A. Martens
Sydney Maureen Martens
Amy Jean May
Everlee Hope McCabe
Bryan C. McCall
Jennifer Lynn McConnaught
Patrick John McGinn
Katherine Grace Messamore
Aaron Michael Meyer
Kimberly Marie Mingori
Christopher S. Moodie
Sarah Ann Naughton
Kathryn Connelly Noyce
Derek William Nye
Lindsay Kay O'Bryon
Kristan Sue Olson
Stacey Michelle Payne
Erica Jean Pfeiffer
Shelby L. Plummer
Jacob Anthony Premis
Meghan Elizabeth Pudliner
Ashley M. Quick
Leigh Ann Radcliffe
Joshua David Regan
Rebecca B. Reid
Joshua Wayne Roehr
Suzette Kelee Runyon
Lindsey Nicole Sand
Clint Robert Schambach
Lawrence Ronald Eugene Settles
Timothy A. Simons
Sarah Kealey Simpson
Dustin Phillip Smith
Jessica Piper Smith
Brooke Nicole St.Thomas
Charles Dennis Stoltenberg
Joshua Ustucky
Eric Knight Swanson
Leslee Erin Talbott
Katharina Kristine Tallman
Brett Edward Terp
Aaron J. Thompson
Kristin Carmela Tirabassi
Saki Toguchi
Erin A Van de Voort
Kimberly Ann Varner
Kevin Clark Veltri
Larry T Vu
Robert S. Wallace
Eric Thomas Waller
Jennifer Luvene Waller
Christopher M. Walters
Thomasinna Anna Maria Warfield
Jonathan R. Weimer
Nicole Marie Weitkamp
Natalie Nichole Wilkins
Erin Whitney Willard
Ashley Rose Williams
Kara Nicole Williams
Andrew Joseph Winkelbauer
Ashley Nicole Withers
Trey Edward Witt
Anna E. Wood
Derek Wright
Meggie Marie Yount
Stephanie E. Jones
Jamie Lynn McCauley
Lea Christine Salvo
Jill Dene Windscheffel
Rebecca Jane Anthony
Eric Lloyd Babb
Stephanie Kay Baumhover
Melissa Ashley Bernstein
Katherine Elaine Blaise
Lindsey Marie Brake
Elizabeth Diane Brandsted
Lindsey Blair Brooks
Christine Marie Callan
Kimberly Marie Conway
Christina Leigh Courtney
Kathryn Ann Crandall
Chelsea Lea Curley
Kaylene DeAnne Devena
Jill M. Diederich
Nathan Royce Dixey
Kimberly Ann Duensing
Kelly Jo Dvorak
Lisa Kelly Eilers
Amanda Gail Ellwood
Caitlin S. Feighny
Abigail K. Finger
Erin L. Fisher
SEE NAMES ON PAGE 7
ALPHA GAMMA DELTA INSPIRE THE WOMAN. IMPACT THE WORLD.
SHANNON BEURSKENS
MEGAN BROOKS
CATIE CARTER
AUBREE CASTON
KERRI CHRISTMAN
MEGAN COOLEY
CRISSY DEL PERCIO
HEATHER DENNISON
ALI ERLER
SARA GLADBACH
COURTNEY HAGEN
MELISSA HOREN
KRISTEN JARBOE
JAMIE MARKS
AMANDA MCQUIN
STACY MYHRE
KIM NICHOLSON
AMANDA OSTGULEN
KELLY REYNOLDS
JACI ROONEY
MEG SMITH
LISA TUNER
MAKENNA VAUGHAN
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