How to Spend $20
By Eric Hughes
September 30, 2008
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Pick of the Week
For people who were unaware that Dracula-inspired rock operas could be so damn funny: Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Unrated Collector's Edition)
Taking Judd Apatow's lead from The 40 Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up, Jason Segal crafted a hit romantic comedy for guys in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, one of those breakout movies that should be in every comedy fan's collection. You've got outrageous characters in Paul Rudd's oblivious Chuck and Russell Brand's narcissistic Aldous Snow, hilarious crime drama spoofage courtesy of the film's fictional television show Crime Scene: Scene of the Crime and, of course, a satisfying Dracula rock opera with puppets, which features original music and lyrics by Segal himself.
In the movie Segal plays music composer Peter Bretter, a man who gets his heart stomped on by girlfriend Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell) after she decides they should start dating other people. To relieve himself of his misery - which admittedly is a bit overdone in the film - Peter journeys to Hawaii, only to realize when he gets there that Sarah is staying in the same hotel (and with a new man in tow). At the same time, Peter starts to get close with the hotel's receptionist, Rachel (Mila Kunis), which ultimately forces him to decide whether to take a chance with the new girl or try to win Sarah's heart back.
Disc includes: Auditions featurette, Drunk-O-Rama: The Ultimate Party of One featurette, Crime Scene alternate scenes, Video Diaries: An Exclusive Behind-the-Scenes Tour featurette, Cinemax Final Cut featurette, Line-O-Rama: Lines You'' Be Reciting for Ages featurette, audio commentary, gag reel, deleted scenes, extended scenes.
For people who never knew Robert Downey Jr. could be so snarky: For people who never knew Robert Downey Jr. could be so snarky: Iron Man (Ultimate Edition)
Had it not been for The Dark Knight, Iron Man arguably would have been THE story of the 2008 summer box office season. Who would have thought that an adaptation based on a comic book character that no one's ever heard of could surpass $300 million Stateside, close to $575 million worldwide and an undeniably fresh 93% positive rating over at Rotten Tomatoes? Clearly all you need is an intriguing plot, a well-written script and people with solid acting credentials (Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Terrence Howard). Audiences will surely follow.
In case you missed it, Downey Jr. Stars here as Tony Stark, a cocky, engineering genius who creates an armored suit to help him escape from the clutches of his Afghani captors. Back in the States, Tony announces his company will no longer produce weapons and instead will spend its energy on something more more philanthropic (along the lines of his new suit invention). That's when Tony finds out his second-in-command (Bridges) has been secretly selling weapons to the insurgents, which causes Tony to destroy the weapons and stop Obadiah Stane from stealing his suit research.
Lucky for us, Iron Man 2 is already on the 2010 schedule.
Disc includes: I Am Iron Man: 7-Part "Making of" Documentary, The Invincible Iron Man: 6-Part "History of the Hero" featurette, Wired: The Visual Effects of Iron Man featurette, Robert Downey, Jr. Screen Test featurette, The Actor's Process featurette, photo galleries, deleted scenes, extended scenes.
For people who adore ESPN's SportsCenter: For people who adore ESPN's SportsCenter: Sports Night: The Complete Series (10th Anniversary Edition)
Before The West Wing, there was Sports Night, Aaron Sorkin's short-lived, debut television effort about the behind-the-scenes happenings on a sports show (a la SportsCenter). Lasting just two seasons on ABC due to lackluster ratings, the series stars Robert Guillaume as managing editor Isaac Jaffe, Felicity Huffman as executive producer Dana Whitaker, Peter Krause and Josh Charles as anchors Casey McCall and Dan Rydell, respectively, and Joshua Malina as associate producer Jeremy Goodwin.
Sports Night, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, is oftentimes regarded as a breakthrough sitcom, chiefly because of its dramatic storyline elements and gradual abandonment of the traditional network laugh track. Its characters spoke to one another at a rapid-fire pace and Sorkin frequently made use of the "walk and talk" technique, which audiences grew more familiar with in Sorkin's The West Wing and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
Disc includes: The Show: An In-depth Look Back at Sports Night featurette; Face Off: SportsCenter vs. CSC's Sports Night featurette; A Conversation with Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme, Inside the Locker Room: A Look at the Innovations of Sports Night featurette, season gag reels, eight audio commentaries, original promos, 36-page Sports Night Booklet.
For people who are glad our nation's basketball team still "has it": 2008 Olympics: General Highlights/2008 Olympics: Opening Ceremony
As per usual, Team USA dominated at this summer's Olympic games. Led by Michael Phelps' record eight gold medals in the pool, the team earned a total of 36 golds and 110 medals overall. Host nation China ended with an even 100 (51 of them gold), while Russia finished third with 72. Available today is three hours worth of clips from Beijing 2008, which highlights the games' best moments over the competition's two-week event schedule.
What I like most about the Olympics is its convenient ability to peak your interest in sports that you never knew you cared about. Women's (and men's) beach volleyball? Better make sure to have that sucker scheduled on the home DVR. And that goes for water polo and horse trotting, too. (OK, maybe not horse trotting). Also in stores today is NBC's four-hour coverage of the raved about opening ceremony.
Disc includes: None/unknown
For people who find it hard to have any real idols anymore: Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
From professional wrestling to cycling to practically any team sport, the use of anabolic steroids as performance-enhancing drugs is incredibly rampant. In Christopher Bell's documentary on the subject, the writer-director examines steroid use by speaking with professional athletes, medical experts, fitness center members and even U.S. Congressmen.
And beyond the typical steroid issues that routinely make their way into the news, the docu also discusses the lack of consistency among American sports. Why, for instance, is it legal for Tiger Woods to get laser eye surgery, which allows the man to see five feet further than a person with perfect eyesight? In a game that heartily depends on visual perception, those five feet can surely go a long way. The film premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, and ended with a high 97 percent positive rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Disc includes: Deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes featurette.
September 30, 2008
Adam-12: Season Two
Ally McBeal (Gift Set)
Angel In The Family
B.L. Stryker: The Complete Series (Boxed Set)
Banacek: The Complete Series (Boxed Set)
Band Waggon
Barack Obama: The Power of Change
Beaufort (Widescreen)
Beauty & The Beast: The Complete Series
Bellini: Norma
The Best of Mr. Bean: Volume 2
The Blood-Spattered Bride
Bloody Moon
Brittown
Broken Trail (Single Disc)
Buried Alive (Widescreen)
Butterfly
Can't Hardly Wait (10th Anniversary Edition)
Case Closed: Season 2
A Christmas Visitor
COPS: TV Set
CSNY Deja Vu (Widescreen)
Daredevil (Director's Cut)
Dawn of the Dead (Director's Cut)
Deadly Duo
DragonBlade: The Beginning (Widescreen)
Edward the King (Set)
Gasbags
Geordie
Ghost Boat
Ghouls
The Good Boy (Widescreen)
The Hairdresser's Husband
Happy Funeral (Full Screen)
I Dreamt Under the Water (Widescreen)
Jellyfish (Widescreen)
Jewel In The Crown (25th Anniversary Edition)
Jive Turkey
Juiced (Collector's Edition)
Jump Offs
Justice of Life
Kiss Attack
Land of the Dead (Director's Cut)
Laredo: Season 2, Part 1
Larry Flynt: The Right to be Left Alone
The Last Laugh (Restored)
Legend Of The Wolf (Widescreen)
Lewis Black's Root of All Evil
Lost In Space: Season Two Volume One
The Man Who Saved Christmas
Michael Phelps: Greatest Olympic Champion
Mighty Machines: 1st Season (Boxed Set)
Mostly Ghostly
My Name Is Earl: Season 3 (Widescreen)
My Three Sons: The First Season, Volume One
Numb3rs: The Fourth Season
Numbers: Seasons 1-4 (Set)
Orphans
Over There: Season 1
Pink Eye
Possession
Pulse 2: Afterlife (Widescreen)
Puzzle
Queens of Heart
Rapture
Re-Cycle
The Rebel (Ultimate Edition)
Redneck Zombies (20th Anniversary Edition)
Salem Witch Trials
See You In You Tube (Widescreen)
Slogan (Special Edition)
Soccer Mom
Son Of The Beach: Volume 1
Summer Scars (Widescreen)
Taxi to the Dark Side
Thunderball (Widescreen)
Time Tunnel: Season 1, Volume 1
Time Tunnel: Season 1, Volume 2
U2: The Rebirth Of Cool U2 In The Third Millennium
U2: Under a Blood Red Sky