The Graduates

I got an email about a week ago, asking if I'd like to take a look at a movie opening this weekend in Baltimore, and of course I said Yes, because who can say No to a free DVD? And it looked like a fun movie.

So without further, here's a trailer of The Graduates, which opens in Baltimore on Friday, May 15th.


The Graduates Trailer from Ryan Gielen on Vimeo.


And here's some cut-and-paste from the email:

The Graduates is a coming-of-age comedy, made in Maryland, by Maryland-born brothers Ryan Gielen and Matthew Gielen.  The award-winning comedy featuring ZAK WILLIAMS son of ROBIN WILLIAMS makes it's official MARYLAND PREMIERE this month. In a timely summer twist, the comedy follows four friends to Senior Week in Ocean City, Maryland as they try to have that one last hurrah.

The Graduates opens in Maryland on Friday, May 15th and runs through Thursday May 20th, at the R/C Hollywood Cinema in Arbutus, Maryland.

OFFICIAL PREMIERE SCREENING:

WHEN: Friday, May 15th at 9:00pm
WHERE: R/C Hollywood Cinemas 5509 Oregon Ave, Arbutus, Maryland 21227 (right next to UMBC)
TICKETS: Movie Line: (410) 242-1188/ $8 Adults/Available at the box office starting Monday, May 11th
Screening times:
Friday, May 15: 7pm, 9pm
Saturday, May 16: 1pm, 7pm, 9pm
Sunday, May 17: 6pm, 8pm
Mon, May 18: 8pm
Tues, May 19: 8pm
Wed, May 20: 8pm
 
The Graduates was made for $95,000, and has won several awards including Best Comedy, Seattle True Indie Film Fest and Director Discovery Award, Rhode Island International Film Fest, and will screen at several venues in Ocean City, MD from May 18th through July 4th.

Washington Post Feature:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/22/AR2008052202615.html

Film School Rejects Review:
http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/reviews/indie-spotlight-the-graduates.php

Writer/Director/Producer Ryan Gielen will be on hand at ALL WEEKEND SCREENINGS to introduce the film and do an interactive Q&A with each audience***

To compare it to Superbad might be too easy. It's that, but it's also a little bit Dazed and Confused. And let me go even further back, it's a little bit Fandango (am I the only one who knows about this lost movie?)

It's fun, even if it's hard to believe at times. A good-looking 18-year-old guy is still a virgin? In my neighborhood guys already have 5 kids from 7 different mothers by that time. But still, even with a little suspended disbelief, the movie stays real and true. You get the feeling that these characters are real. And their idea of Ocean City as some kind of symbolic Mecca is something everyone in Baltimore is familiar with. We don't have much here, but no matter what, we can always get our folding chairs and coolers and head off to the ocean.




You can find out more on the movie website.