How to Spend $20
By Eric Hughes
November 18, 2008
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Pick of the Week
For people who never knew incommunicative robots could be so entertaining: WALL-E (Special Edition)
It's been 17 years since an animated film was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. (The lone title is the 1991 Disney classic, Beauty and the Beast). This summer, Pixar's WALL-E was released in theaters, scooping up $223 million domestically and another $262 million abroad when all was said and done. On top of this, the flick received near universal acclaim from critics. And deservedly so. It's remarkably sweet and perhaps my favorite Pixar release to date (take that, Toy Story and Finding Nemo).
So with news of Disney's decision to push this movie as a contender for Best Picture, I couldn't help but wonder whether WALL-E could snap the streak. Having its own animation category at the award ceremony, coupled with the Academy's preference on only nominating movies with actual humans acting, certainly doesn't help matters. But of all the animated films in recent memory, this Pixar gem would certainly deserve such a nomination.
Forget that lame Best Animated Feature award, which has only been around since 2001 anyway. Give WALL-E, about a robot that goes nutso for another robot named EVE, some real hardware!
Disc includes: Audio commentary, BURN-E animated short, Presto animated short, deleted scenes, WALL-E's Tour of the Universe sneak peek, Animation Sound Design featurette, The Pixar Story by Leslie Iwerks featurette, WALL-E's Treasures and Trinkets: Hilarious Moments featurette, BnL Shorts: An Amusing Peek into the Inner Working of the Buy n Large Corporation featurette, Lots of Bots Storybook featurette, Making Of featurette, digital copy of the film
For people who chuckle at the name Les Grossman: Tropic Thunder (Director's Cut)
Tom Cruise making a cameo appearance as a fat, balding guy? Is this not reason enough to see this Ben Stiller comedy? Then throw in a (as per usual) manic Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. in *cough* black face *cough* and you've got yourself a pretty good time. Other actors making cameos as themselves include Christine Taylor (no surprise there), Sean Penn, Jon Voight, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Tobey Maguire and several others.
Written, directed, produced and starring Stiller, the action-comedy is about a group of conceited actors (Stiller, Black, Downey Jr.) who are in the process of making a Vietnam War film when their writer and director decide they want out of the project. Left abandoned in the middle of the Vietnamese jungle, the men are forced to safely find their way out.
Disc includes: Audio commentary, Before the Thunder featurette, The Hot LZ featurette, Designing the Thunder featurette, The Cast of Tropic Thunder featurette, Rain of Madness featurette, Dispatches from the Edge of Madness featurette, deleted/extended scenes, alternate ending, MTV Movie Awards: Tropic Thunder featurette, Full Mags featurette, Video Rehearsals featurettes
For people who read Harry Potter: Charmed: The Complete Series
Lasting for eight seasons on the now out-of-commission WB, Aaron Spelling's Charmed was the network's longest running show during its supernatural shows kick. (Buffy the Vampire Slayer aired for seven years, Angel five and Roswell three). The series focuses on three sisters, the Halliwells, who live together in a house dubbed "the manor", and for their day job they mostly do battle with the typical demons and other evil beings that inhabit the San Francisco area. Known throughout the supernatural community as "The Charmed Ones", the girls are the world's most powerful good witches.
Its premiere drew the network's highest viewership debut (at the time) with about 7.7 million people tuning in. However, Charmed's numbers steadily declined in successive years. Just 4.5 million watched the series finale, which actually was a season high for its final year.
Disc includes: The original, unaired pilot; The Demons of Charmed featurette; The Men of Charmed featurette; The Book of Shadows featurette; easter eggs
For people who are sick of all the police procedurals on CBS: Bones: Season Three (Special Edition)
A quiet hit on the Fox schedule (methinks it gets overshadowed by the network's bigger drama hits, House and 24), Bones is in the middle of its fourth season, with its third available for purchase beginning today.
Starring Emily Deschanel (yes, Zooey's sister) and a post-Angel David Boreanaz, each episode of the police procedural focuses on a new FBI case file concerning mysterious human remains. Seeley Booth (Boreanaz) brings the evidence to Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan (Deschanel), and the two go to town. The series is based on real-life forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs, one of the producers of the show.
Disc includes: Unaired version of "Player Under Pressure," extended kiss from "The Santa in the Slush," gag reel, Director's Take featurette, four bonus episodes from season four
For people who don't mind starring at images of Antarctica while it's already pretty freezing outside their own windows: Encounters at the End of the World
Werner Herzog is quite a dude. Steadily releasing new material basically every year since 1962's Herankles, his Encounters at the End of the World marks the helmer's 54th project as director.
Released in theaters in June, the documentary studies the people and places of Antarctica, from a guide teaching his students how to survive a white-out, to animal researchers milking mother seals, to volcanologists (yes, they do exist) talking about what they know best.
Like most of Herzog's previous work, the film was received well by critics. According to Rotten Tomatoes, 96% of critics gave the movie a positive review. Though Encounters wasn't a box office success story by any means (unlike Rescue Dawn's $5.4 million and Grizzly Man's $3.1 million), it did pull in a respectable (by documentary standards) $943,000.
Disc includes: Audio commentary, featurettes
November 18, 2008
300 (Collector's Edition)
Bang (Collector's Edition)
The Black Keys: Live at the Crystal Ballroom
Bottle Rocket (Criterion Collection)
Cannibal! The Musical (Anniversary Edition)
Days Of Thunder
Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan: Celebrity Edition
Dr. Who: The Complete Fourth Series (Widescreen)
Dr. Who: The Infinite Quest (Widescreen)
Foo Fighters: Live at Wembley Stadium
Gene Simmons Family Jewels: The Complete Season 3
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson
Hannah Montana: The Complete First Season
Hawaii Five-O: Seasons 1-5 (Set)
Hawaii Five-O: The Fifth Season
Heathers (20th Anniversary Edition)
The Last Emperor (Criterion Collection)
The Man Who Fell To Earth (Criterion Collection)
McHale's Navy: Season 4
Monty Python: Flying Circus Complete Collection (Set)
Odd Couple: The Complete Series (Set)
Odd Couple: The Final Season
Paris, Je T'aime
Paul McCartney: The Space Within Us
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2
Spongebob Squarepants: Season 5, Volume 2
Stanley (Special Edition)
Star Trek Original Series: Seasons 1-3 (Remastered)
Star Trek The Original Series: Season Three (Remastered)
The Third Man (Criterion Collection)
The Universe: The Complete Season One
The World of Leona Lewis