How to Spend $20
By Eric Hughes
October 21, 2008
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Pick of the Week
For people who can't wait for Quantum of Solace: James Bond Blu-ray Collection Six-Pack (Dr. No / Die Another Day / Live and Let Die / For Your Eyes Only / From Russia with Love / Thunderball) (Amazon.com Exclusive) [Blu-ray]
The $230 million-budgeted Quantum of Solace is just 3.5 weeks away, so what better way to prep for the most expensive Bond film of all time than to watch part of the franchise on good ol' Blu-ray? Released today is a collection of six James Bond features in wonderful high definition. The series includes Dr. No, Die Another Day, Live and Let Die, For Your Eyes Only, From Russia With Love and Thunderball.
And in addition to the movies themselves are a bounty of featurettes, which are so numerous that I took the liberty in telling you only the number of featurettes per film, instead of going into more detail (forgive me, but this column would be all Bond had I done it a different way — which may or may not be a bad thing anyway).
Also released today, though not part of the package, is 2006's Casino Royale on Blu-ray.
Disc includes: Dr. No (plus seven featurettes), Die Another Day (plus nine featurettes, Madonna's Die Another Day music video and photo gallery), Live and Let Die (plus nine featurettes), For Your Eyes Only (plus eight featurettes and For Your Eyes Only music video), From Russia With Love (plus seven featurettes), Thunderball (plus 10 featurettes).
For people who don't think the Family Guy writers are secretly just manatees: Family Guy, Vol. 6
There are two kinds of people in this world: those that like Family Guy, and those that don't. I myself fall into the former category. I'm certainly no diehard by any means, but if I happen to catch a clip or two on the Internet, there's a good chance I'll find something funny about it. On the opposite side are the creators of South Park, who lambasted the cartoon two years ago with its two-part Cartoon Wars episode, in which Matt Stone and Trey Parker reveal that Family Guy writers are actually manatees that come up with their disjointed storylines by pushing rubber "idea balls" into a bin. So yeah. Two, distinct kinds of people in this world.
No matter how you slice it, more Family Guy is due out today. This time it's Volume 6, which includes the remaining five episodes of season five and the first seven episodes of season six. For reasons I can't understand, the show continues to use the funkiest of methods when releasing its content on DVD. Unfortunately, the volume does not include season six's "Blue Harvest," a spoof of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, because the special episode is already available in a standalone DVD.
Disc includes: Audio commentary, deleted scenes, Family Guy 100th Episode Special featurette, Family Guy Live!: Just for Laughs featurette, The Making of the 100th Episode featurette.
For people who can't get away from how incredibly intelligent Ben Stein is: Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
Here's something you don't hear every day: an argument in favor of intelligent design. (You know, that unable to be disproven idea that certain things in nature arguably could not have occurred through natural selection, and are best explained by an intelligent cause). Another thing you don't hear about every day? Ben Stein, whose mug has for the most part remained off camera ever since his game show, Win Ben Stein's Money, went black in 2003. Here, the 63-year-old entertainment personality takes over hosting duties.
Garnering a respectable $7.5 million in domestic box office receipts — a considerably high number as far as documentaries go — the controversial Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed argues that mainstream science suppresses criticism of evolution, a scientific theory that the movie says contributed to the Holocaust, atheism and Planned Parenthood. Finally, Expelled contends that educators and scientists who think there may be room for intelligent design in science are being persecuted for their beliefs.
Disc includes: None
For people who skipped all comic book films this summer after seeing Iron Man: The Incredible Hulk (Three-Disc Special Edition)
Following the cosmic disaster that was 2003's Hulk, there was basically nowhere for the Universal property to go but up. And up it went, if only modestly. The comic book adaptation out-grossed the original by the slimmest of margins, and critics seemed to like the new movie, if only a little bit more than its predecessor. The studio also traded Eric Bana for Edward Norton, which in my book was a good deal.
In The Incredible Hulk, which stands not as a sequel to 2003's Hulk, but rather as a reboot of the young movie franchise, a new back-story is conceived in which Dr. Bruce Banner (Norton) becomes the Hulk through a military scheme to create supersoldiers. While on the run, he is captured by a general (William Hurt), and Banner's worst fears are realized when another soldier (Tim Roth) becomes the Abomination.
No word yet on whether or not a follow-up film is planned, though The Hulk is expected to play a potentially pivotal role in 2011's The Avengers.
Disc includes: Audio commentary, deleted scenes, alternate opening, The Making of Incredible featurette, Becoming the Abomination featurette, From Comic Book to Screen featurette, Becoming The Hulk featurette, Anatomy of a Hulk-Out featurette, digital copy of the film.
For people who are sick of the Saw franchise: The Strangers
Inspired by true events, though what parts are based on fact isn't exactly clear, The Strangers stars Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman as two unlucky occupants of an isolated vacation home that is terrorized by three unknown assailants. Three masked assailants, of course, because when will you ever see the actual faces of brutal Hollywood murderers?
Against a meager budget of $9 million, the film exceeded industry estimates by grossing $52.6 million in the United States alone. Variety already confirmed a sequel is in the works.
Disc includes: Deleted scenes, The Elements of Terror featurette.
October 21, 2009
AC/DC: Let There Be Rock (Includes Book)
According to Jim: The Complete First Season (Widescreen)
All I Want For Christmas (Full Screen)
America the Beautiful
Anaconda 3: Offspring (Widescreen)
Boss
Comedy Central Salutes George W. Bush
Die Another Day (Ultimate Edition)
Dr. No (Ultra Edition)
Dynasty: The Third Season Volume 2
Family Guy: Freakin' Sweet Party Pack (Gift Set)
The Flight of the Red Balloon (Widescreen)
For Your Eyes Only (Ultimate Edition)
Forfeit
From Russia With Love (Ultimate Edition)
The Game After Life
A Grandpa for Christmas (Full Screen)
Half A Person
Halloween (Collector's Edition)
The Incredible Hulk: The Complete Fifth Season
Incredible Hulk: The Complete Series
Johnny Cash For Kenya: Live In Johnstown, PA
Knight Rider: The Complete Collection
LA Ink: Season 1 Volume 2
The Last Man On Earth
The Lazarus Project (Widescreen)
Live And Let Die (Ultimate Edition)
The Living Daylights (Ultimate Edition)
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.: The Complete Series
Manhattan By Numbers
The New Adventures of Old Christine: Season 2
Octopussy (Ultimate Edition)
One Crazy Night The Sequel
Paul Stanley: One Live Kiss
Phantom From Space
Phantom Planet
Thin Lizzy: Live & Dangerous (Includes Music CD)
A Threevening with Kevin Smith (Special Edition)
Thunderball (Ultimate Edition)
Up In The World
Vice (Widescreen)
Young & Handsome: A Night with Jeff Garlin