ROTTEN TOMATOES: RT on DVD: New South Park, The Wire, and an Exclusive Look at Smart People,

RT on DVD: New South Park, The Wire, and an Exclusive Look at Smart People,

Plus a tantalizingly icky David Duchovny-Olivia Thirlby romance.

by Jen Yamato | August 11, 2008

Discuss Article

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This week we bring you an exclusive look from the DVD release of Smart People, starring Dennis Quaid and Ellen Page as a father and daughter whose intellect outweighs their social graces; imagine a higher-strung Juno obsessed with high test scores instead of hamburger phones. Also check out what's new on DVD: Stephen Chow's CJ7, new seasons of South Park, The Wire, and Prison Break, and the ickiest father-daughter romance of the week, starring David Duchovny and Juno sidekick Olivia Thirlby.

Smart People

Tomatometer: 49%

A high IQ does not a happy person make, as the smarty pants in Noam Murro's directorial debut prove. Father and daughter Lawrence (Dennis Quaid) and Vanessa (Ellen Page) are an intellectually superior but socially self destructive pair in this textbook Sundance flick. Critics were split, which means checking it out on DVD could be a smart move (pun intended).

Bonus Features:

Smart People assembles a fine cast, who all appear in bloopers, outtakes, interviews and features on the DVD. Exclusive footage from the film's Sundance Film Festival premiere adds a nice touch. Director Murro and writer Mark Jude Poirier also contribute a commentary.

Watch an exclusive clip from the Smart People DVD below, in which Quaid and the filmmakers reveal why and how they developed his grumpy character, Lawrence. Smart People is out this week on DVD.

South Park, The Wire, Prison Break, and more! Click for this week's new releases!

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(1-18 of 18 posts) | Reply

CoUcH ToMaToE DoUgIe

CoUcH ToMaToE DoUgIe writes:
on Aug 11 2008 06:13 PM

"If the kids of South Park aged in real time, Cartman would be

elephant-walking his way through freshman orientation and hazing Kyle, Stan,

and Kenny in college".. LOL, Jenny ;) Can't wait to pick up season eleven.

Hope Matt & Trey keep on truckin making one the funniest shows ever! Also,

I'm escatic for the Wire's 5th season release; not better than the Sopranos

but its awfully close though ;)Great review of the fresh produce Jen Yamato:)

(Reply to this)

jokerboy1991

jokerboy1991 writes:
on Aug 11 2008 06:16 PM

Ill get SOUTH PARK SEASON 11. Im gonna wait til a box set of The Wire is released, and yes it is better then The Sopranos. I already have Smart People coming in the mail from Netflix tomorrow. Maybe I will rent CJ7 sometime, I loved Kung Fu Hustle. Man does The Secret sound bad lol, JEN is it a comedy or a serious movie, i gotta know...Why isnt there any DVD news this week?

(Reply to this)

Jen Yamato

Jen Yamato writes:
on Aug 11 2008 07:12 PM

Thanks, Dougie! Glad elephant walk made it through the editing process. :)

Jokerboy - just tweaking the formula, and some weeks there's not really any news. I take it you like the DVD news, though?

The Secret: The must-see DVD of the week.

(Reply to this)

jokerboy1991

jokerboy1991 writes:
on Aug 11 2008 07:55 PM

In reply to this comment (#1972639)
Ya gotta love dvd news! LOL I think it might pass on renting The Secret but thanks though.

(Reply to this)

wordweaver12

wordweaver12 writes:
on Aug 11 2008 09:46 PM

"Critics were split, which means checking it out on DVD could be a smart move (pun intended)."

Do critics really have any credibility these days? Please!

(Reply to this)

Jen Yamato

Jen Yamato writes:
on Aug 11 2008 09:49 PM

In reply to this comment (#1972852)
Actually, wordweaver, I do think that when a Tomatometer is around 50% it's much more a love it or hate it movie than a really bad or a really good movie. It makes sense, right? 50% means the critics just can't agree, whereas a really high or really low Tmeter means more that a majority of critics thought one way or the other. So yeah, Smart People is a good rental.

(Reply to this)

jokerboy1991

jokerboy1991 writes:
on Aug 11 2008 10:50 PM

In reply to this comment (#1972861)
Yep thars the exact term of mixed.

(Reply to this)

wordweaver12

wordweaver12 writes:
on Aug 12 2008 02:16 AM

Ithought Smart people was a great movie so I really don't care if the critics were divided on it. These are the same critics who rated movies like Journey to the center of the earth ( with Brendan Fraser) and Dreamgirls as "fresh". I think I'll pass.

(Reply to this)

Kudos Mooney

Kudos Mooney writes:
on Aug 12 2008 06:34 AM

PHEW! I was worried that the film "The Secret" was that BS movie about the "Law of Attraction". I hate scientifically-unsound films like that and "What the Bleep Do We Know?"

I was hoping David Duchovny wasn't a moron, and lucky for us, he isn't! Although the trailer for this film is...odd...I suppose I should say. But eh, it's Duchovny. It'll be good.

As far as "Smart People", I've said it once, and I'll say it again: Ellen Page is extremely overrated, and watching her attempt to act is stomach-churning. So, no "Smart People" for me, thanks.

(Reply to this)

Jen Yamato

Jen Yamato writes:
on Aug 12 2008 09:38 AM

Well, Journey 3D is only barely Fresh at 61 percent...my point is, nuances in the Tomatometer can be read depending on the rating. A 50% movie isn't 50% good, it can be either really good or really bad.

(Reply to this)

vitajex

vitajex writes:
on Aug 12 2008 12:05 PM

In reply to this comment (#1973873)
Of course, a 50% movie might not be really good or really bad, hence the middling rating.

I'd rather see a movie that 20% of all viewers LOVED while the rest hated, than one that 80% of all viewers thought was "meh" and the other 20% thought was "less than 'meh'".

It's Hollywood trying to reach the lowest common denominator. Each summer, they crank out movies that NO ONE will love, but lots of people will tolerate while munching Whoppers and enjoying the air-conditioning.

(Reply to this)

jokerboy1991

jokerboy1991 writes:
on Aug 12 2008 02:10 PM

I just watched Smart People I thought it was pretty good.

(Reply to this)

bijibadness

bijibadness writes:
on Aug 12 2008 05:12 PM

the bit about juno and that lame hamburger phone tragically made me remember that it was one of my least favourite movies ever made.. i think that stripper who wrote it is total poison

(Reply to this)

Jen Yamato

Jen Yamato writes:
on Aug 12 2008 06:19 PM

I agree, vitajex. I find some 50 percent movies to be way more interesting than 80 percenters. I liked Speed Racer way more than Indy 4 (which sucked big time).

(Reply to this)

Bigbrother

Bigbrother writes:
on Aug 13 2008 12:47 AM

In reply to this comment (#1975143)
I think this was probably the wrong summer to make that last comment and wouldn't be surprised if all the people who loved TDK, Ironman and Pineapple express didn't eat you alive for it. I think this summer Hollywood has put out more than it's share of movies that are love-worthy. Last summer...not so much.

(Reply to this)

Pleasuretown

Pleasuretown writes:
on Aug 13 2008 07:16 AM

This summer deffinatly had more quality than last year. The Dark Knight, Hellboy 2, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Wall-E, Cloverfield, Wanted. I know most of those are comic-book adaptations, but they're some of the best comic adaptations. Except maybe The Incredible Hulk, but i liked 2008's way more than '03.

Last year we had?
Spiderman 3
Pirates 3
Shrek 3
Transformers (Enjoyable, but not amazing.)
Rush Hour 3 (Equivellent of Mummy 3, except the Mummy's worse.)

That said, I'm considering renting Smart People.

(Reply to this)

Pleasuretown

Pleasuretown writes:
on Aug 13 2008 07:17 AM

I know cloverfield isn't a summer flick, but i thought it was good. SO i added it.

(Reply to this)

Jen Yamato

Jen Yamato writes:
on Aug 14 2008 12:26 AM

To be honest, I was more excited about this week's new TV on DVD releases than the films new to DVD. South Park Season 11 is about to be played in heavy rotation in my player.

(Reply to this)

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