College Essentials: Anatomy 101 DVD Review

The College Essentials Collection are a number of DVD sets, each with three films fit into the specific category given to the set, each grouped by college course names. These categories include Anatomy 101, Music Appreciation 101, Anti-Social Studies 101, Astronomy 101, Partying 101, Phys. Ed. 101, History 101, Computer Science 101, and Romance 101. Whether these are to be followed by 200 level college essentials next year or it is just a clever marketing ploy in order to sell more DVDs as gifts for new college students is rather irrelevant. What is relevant are the films in these sets, which are surprisingly well paired.

Often when films are paired up in packages despite having no connection to each other, except for the company that owns them all, there is at least one film in the set that is sandwiched between much better films. It is a way of making people feel like they are getting more even if part of what they are getting they don’t really want. These sets pair some strange films together, but for the most part they are all films worth owning, even if just for guilty pleasure. Although the films are often impressive, one disappointment about the set is the versions of the films included. In order to keep the cost down the versions of the DVDs included are always the cheapest possible version. The only special edition DVDs included are the ones which were never released otherwise. For some people the films are all that really matter, and for those consumers these packages will be a great deal, but collectors and film buffs might find it worthwhile to buy the films individually.

The Anatomy 101 collection is no different than the other sets, containing a variety of films very different from each other. Unfortunately one of the films is not only bad and so poorly made (surprisingly not Showgirls), but it also has very little anatomy in it as well. Still, there is a recent, fairly likable and innocent film and the controversial NC-17 Paul Verhoeven film as well.

Showgirls (1995) So few NC-17 films are actually released in theaters, and I distinctly remember the mystery of Showgirls when it first came out, merely for the fact that one of the young actresses from the teen show Saved by the Bell was starring in this controversial film. There was a lot of talk and hype and in the end it is so bad that it actually becomes entertaining. Entirely campy and delightfully tasteless, it is somewhat like watching many of the bad evening soaps on television, with a great deal of nudity. This is the most appropriate film included in the set, at least in terms of keeping true to the theme of the set. There was just released a special edition of this film, but this is the basic package just containing a behind-the-scenes featurette.

Sex and the Teenage Mind (2003) Nearly everything about this film is barely watchable, and under the pretense that it was a film included for anatomy it might be a great disappointment to some as well. There is absolutely no nudity and no new situations for your generic teen sex comedy that seemed to have a comeback with the success of American Pie. Not to mention that Sex and the Teenage Mind has several television stars who haven’t worked on much else since their shows were canceled. It is just a bad, not to mention extremely unfunny, American Pie rip-off and sadly the worst film in any of the sets.

The Girl Next Door (2004) The Girl Next Door is yet another American Pie descendant, but at least one that tries to bring something new to the already tired genre; it takes a great deal from Risky Business as well. It is actually a rather tame film despite the R rating, and is more fun than it is scandalous. There is far more emphasis on Elisha Cuthbert’s sex appeal as she moves in next to unpopular high school overachiever Mathew (Emile Hirsch). She catches him spying one her and they begin a relationship, which ends bad when he discovers that she has some unsavory characters after her, played by Timothy Olyphant who makes much of the film easier to watch. The DVD includes an audio commentary by director Luke Greenfield and a trivia track. This isn’t the unrated version which was also released.