How to Spend $20
By Eric Hughes
September 2, 2008
BoxOfficeProphets.com
For people who hate people named Toby: The Office: Season Four
Yes, it's finally here - Season Four of NBC's Emmy Award-winning comedy series about the mundane job life inside a paper supply company based in Scranton, Pa. Diehards for the most part criticized the season for its sense of unevenness, lack of continuity and fantastic (verging on very absurd) storylines. But I found a lot to like here, including some of my favorite episodes - Dinner Party, Chair Model - in the show's 66-episode history. In fact, the season finale, packed with a marriage proposal, kinky nerd sex and mistaken mental handicaps, is arguably the series' best to date.
The season seemed to mark the showrunners' knowledge that the show is a definitive hit on NBC's weak schedule, and thus, they noticeably let their guards down in what they felt comfortable in doing with their fine stable of awkward, yet charming characters. With Arrested Development now two years off the air, The Office is without a doubt the funniest thing on current primetime television. Season five kicks off September 25th.
Disc includes: Deleted scenes, gag reel, outtakes, audio commentaries, The Office Convention featurette
For people who get serious when it comes to food: The Promotion
Need a little more Pam Beesly this week? The Office's real-life counterpart, Jenna Fischer, has a supporting role in Dimension Films' The Promotion, starring two welterweight comedians, John C. Reilly and Seann William Scott. Produced by the Weinsteins, The Promotion features two grocery store managers (Scott and Reilly) who vie for a promotion once a new supermarket opens up a few blocks away. And that's when the competition really heats up, ultimately putting stresses on the boys' financial situations, as well as their respective marriages.
Disc includes: Deleted scenes, audio commentary, Making The Promotion featurette, webisodes, outtakes
For people who are constantly reminded that they are a valued customer, yet must still remain on the line for the next available agent: Outsourced
It sure didn't make a heck of a lot of money (just a hair over $160,000 in domestic dollars), yet never showing in more than eight theaters in a single weekend probably helped matters. It's Outsourced, winner of a number of awards when it made its rounds on the film festival circuit. And critics as a whole loved it too, registering a 77% fresh rating over at Rotten Tomatoes.
Starring Josh Hamilton, the cross-culture comedy centers on a customer call center manager named Todd who finds out that he and his entire department, Western Novelty, have been outsourced to India. Even worse, the man must ship off to India as well to help train his replacement. There, Todd meets up with his eventual replacement, Puro (Asif Basra) and the opinionated Asha (Ayesha Dharker), and discovers along the way that he still has a lot to learn, in reference to India and America and also himself.
Hey, Office fans! Ken Kwapis, who directed several episodes of the series, including the pilot, was tapped by NBC to create a television spinoff of this movie. Well, consider me excited (that's what she said).
Disc includes: Bare bones
For people who like crime dramas not airing on CBS: Life: Season One
Airing on NBC, the same network as that wonderful bit of comedy, The Office (sorry, but I couldn't resist), Life is a drama series starring Damian Lewis as Charlie Crews, a detective who gets released from prison after spending a dozen years in jail for a crime he did not commit.
And like anything else on television last season, the series' season was just a brief 11 episodes due to that pesky writers strike. So, because viewers haven't seen anything related to Life since the December finale, producers aim to re-launch the series with the second season premiere, effectively dubbing it the show's new pilot episode. It all starts up September 29th.
Disc includes: Audio commentaries, deleted scenes, blooper reel, Life Begins featurette, Fruits of Life featurette, Still Life featurette, Life's Questions Answered featurette
For people who have a thing for modern-day Biblical figures: Eli Stone: The Complete First Season
Rounding out this week's guide on how to spend your DVD money is another newbie television show, ABC's Eli Stone, which saw a spike in total viewers during its debut evening when it snagged the cozy timeslot following ratings juggernaut, Lost. The drama, set in a law firm, follows a 30-something lawyer whose inoperable brain aneurysm has enabled him to see out-of-this-world visions and uber-realistic hallucinations, bringing into question whether Eli is in fact a modern-day prophet.
But its semi-successful spring run didn't play out without its share of controversy. The pilot focuses on the hypothesis that autism is caused by a mercury-based preservative previously infused in youth vaccines. Yet the hypothesis isn't backed by a lick of science. You know how stories like this one made headlines earlier this year? This is probably where it all began. Season two starts October 14th.
Disc includes: Extended pilot episode, Acting on Faith: Eli & George Michael featurette, Turning a Prophet: The Creation of Eli Stone featurette, Creating Visions: The Effects of Eli Stone featurette, Inside the Firm: The Natasha Henstridge Tour featurette, deleted scenes, bloopers
September 2, 2008
80 Minutes (Not Rated)
AC/DC: In Performance (Not Rated)
America's Wildlife Survivors Deluxe Box Set (Not Rated)
America: Live (Not Rated)
Around the World in 80 Treasures (Not Rated)
Bait Shop (PG)
Baki The Grappler Seasons 1 & 2 (Not Rated)
Ballet Shoes (PG)
Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker / Mystery Of Ba (PG)
The Beatles: Videobiography (Not Rated)
Before I Forget (Not Rated)
Behind The Mask: Story of the People Who Risk (Not Rated)
Beyond Belief (Not Rated)
The Big Bang Theory: The Complete First Season (Not Rated)
The Blue Elephant (PG)
Bowling For Soup: Live & Very Attractive (Not Rated)
The Boys In Company C (R)
Cannibal (R)
Cat Stevens: Tea For The Tillerman Live (Not Rated)
Cheers: The Tenth Season (Not Rated)
The Chosen One (Not Rated)
Deceptors (Not Rated)
Desperately Seeking Paul McCartney (Not Rated)
Desperate Housewives: The Complete Fourth Season
Devil's Dominoes (Not Rated)
Do or Die (R)
Doctor Who: The Invasion Of Time (Not Rated)
Double Vision In Vision (Not Rated)
Dr. Who: Invisible Enemy: #93 / K9 Company: Girl's (Not Rated)
Empire Records / Singles (Not Rated)
Engine Down: From Beginning to End (Not Rated)
The Forsaken Land (Not Rated)
The Genius Club (PG)
Ghost Hunters: Live From The Waverley Sanitorium (Not Rated)
Ghost Whisperer: Seasons 1-3 (Not Rated)
Ghost Whisperer: The Third Season (Not Rated)
Gleam (Not Rated)
Glitter & Queer 2 (Not Rated)
Hidden Secrets (Not Rated)
Honey West: The Complete Series (Not Rated)
How to Rob a Bank
Kings (Not Rated)
Kraftwerk And The Electronic Revolution (Not Rated)
Lagerfeld Confidential (Not Rated)
Layover
Led Zeppelin: Total Rock Review (Not Rated)
Little People, Big World: Season 2, Volume 1 (Not Rated)
Living with Ed: Season 2 (Not Rated)
Lucky Star Volume 3 (Not Rated)
Metallica: Blitzkrieg Overdrive (Not Rated)
Monster Camp (Not Rated)
The Morgue (R)
The Nature of Reality (Not Rated)
Next Avengers: Heroes Of Tomorrow (PG)
Nirvana: Up Close & Personal (Not Rated)
The Office: Seasons 1-4 Ultimate Package (Not Rated)
Pink Floyd: Early Pink Floyd Review & Critique (Not Rated)
Ricky Nelson: Greatest Hits (Not Rated)
Saturn In Opposition (Not Rated)
The Sensation of Sight (R)
Shoot 'Em Up (Not Rated)
Skeleton Key 2 (Not Rated)
Startup Junkies (Not Rated)
Storm Over Everest (Not Rated)
Supernatural: Seasons 1-3 (Not Rated)
Supernatural: The Complete Third Season (Not Rated)
Tarzeena (Not Rated)
Touched (Not Rated)
Treasure Island (Not Rated)
Up & Above (Not Rated)
Waitin' To Live (Not Rated)
Watch Me (Not Rated)
Water Lilies (Not Rated)
Workingman's Death (Not Rated)
Yes: Director's Cut (Not Rated)