New on DVD: Summer School (1987)

Just in time for your Memorial Day weekend viewing pleasure, this week SUMMER SCHOOL was reissued on DVD in a new "Life's a Beach Edition."

Many of us have fond memories of this film, which was an unexpected pleasant surprise back when it was first released in 1987; it was a "summer" movie which was well-crafted, funny, and had heart, with a charming lead performance by Mark Harmon.

My oldest daughter remembers it for a different reason: when she was very little she wandered into the room when my husband was watching the movie -- right at the "chainsaw" scene, which she saw before my husband could flip the channel or shoo her back out of the room. She ran from the room screaming in terror, and it took us quite a while to calm her down. For many years she had no idea what movie she'd seen in those brief seconds. Then a couple years ago we were watching the previous DVD release and she suddenly realized that this was the movie which had terrified her when she was little! It was a real "deja vu" kind of moment when she recognized it. I'd completely forgotten the incident. (P.S. She liked the movie.)

Digitally Obsessed gives the DVD a thumbs up. Extras include a commentary by Mark Harmon and director Carl Reiner.