How to Spend $20
By Eric Hughes
December 2, 2008
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Pick of the Week
For people in favor of Angelina Jolie's return to action movies that don't have Lara Croft in the title: Wanted (Special Edition)
James McAvoy proved his unexpected versatility as an actor after co-starring with Angelina Jolie in Timur Bekmambetov's Wanted. Immediately preceding the action flick, the 29-year-old starred alongside Keira Knightley in the tearjerker Atonement, which among other awards picked up Best Motion Picture Drama at the Golden Globes.
Loosely based on Mark Millar's comic book miniseries of the same name, Wanted is about a young man, Wesley (McAvoy), who learns that his long lost father is a professional assassin. When his father gets murdered, Wesley is recruited into the organization and trained by Sloan (Morgan Freeman) to avenge his father's untimely death. Jolie (as Fox) plays his mentor.
After a surprise $50.9 million opening weekend in the States (and a final box office take of $322.5 million worldwide), you can probably expect Wanted 2 to hit theaters sometime in the next few years.
Disc includes: Alternate opening, assassin profiles, picture in picture, Stunts on the L Train featurette, Special Effects: The Art of the Impossible featurette, Groundbreaking Visual Effects: From Imagination to Execution featurette, The Origins of Wanted: Bringing the Graphic Novel to Life, extended scenes, my chat, Wanted: Motion Comics featurette, scene explorer
For people who still like to Shake 'N Bake: Step Brothers (2-Disc Unrated)
Will Ferrell realized he had a new comedy partner in John C. Reilly the last time around (2006's Talladega Nights). So it came as no surprise that the funny boys would be at it again two years later in Step Brothers, co-starring Richard Jenkins (the Six Feet Under guy), Mary Steenburgen (the Joan of Arcadia lady), Adam Scott and cameos by Seth Rogen and Horatio Sanz. In this one, grown-up dysfunctional losers Brennan and Dale (Ferrell and Reilly) try to learn to live with one another after their respective parents (Jenkins and Steenburgen) get hitched.
Penned by Ferrell and Adam McKay (the same team behind Talladega Nights) and notably produced by comedy mastermind Judd Apatow, the movie earned less money ($100.4 million vs. $148.2 million) and wasn't as well received (54% vs. 73% on Rotten Tomatoes) as Talladega Nights. However, something tells me this won't be the last time we see Ferrell and Reilly partner up.
Disc includes: Theatrical and extended cut of the film, deleted scenes, extended and alternate scenes, Line-O-Rama featurette, gag reel, Boats 'N Hoes music video, Job Interviews featurette, Therapy Sessions featurette, Prestige Worldwide Full Presentation featurette, Dale vs. Brennan Sibling Rivalry featurette, The Music of Step Brothers featurette, The Making of Step Brothers featurette, audio commentary
For people who "want to believe" that Chris Carter can do better: The X Files: I Want to Believe (Ultimate Edition)
So, Chris Carter. Your uber popular show has been off the air for six years now...and this is what you give us? The X-Files: I Want to Believe, basically rejected by sane movie critics everywhere, marked the reteaming of Mulder and Scully in a standalone horror/thriller concerning the disappearances of several women, including an FBI agent. The duo then meet up with a frantic Billy Connolly, who here plays a priest defrocked for pedophilia. And the rest is downhill from there.
If I Want to Believe made a pretty penny, Carter said numerous times that he'd make a third movie. Unlike I Want to Believe, he'd return to the TV series' original mythology, focusing specifically on the alien invasion and colonization of Earth set to occur on December 22, 2012 (as discovered in the 2002 series finale). I Want to Believe grossed $20.9 million domestically (and another $42.6 million worldwide) against a $30 million budget. It's a bit unknown whether that will prove to be lucrative enough for another X-Files installment.
Disc includes: Theatrical and extended cut of the film, audio commentary, Trust No One: Can The X-Files Remain a Secret? documentary, Chris Carter: Statements on Green Production featurette, Bonus View: Picture in Picture Commentary featurette, visual effects featurette, interactive timeline, deleted scenes, gag reel, still galleries, digital copy of the film
For people who can't wait until December 5th: Frost/Nixon: Original Watergate Interviews
Before going to see Ron Howard's take on Frost/Nixon, based on the award-winning 2006 play of the same name, feast your eyes on the original Watergate interviews broadcasted in May 1977 between interviewer Sir David Frost and interviewee U.S. President Richard Nixon.
From more than 28 hours of interview footage, the 88-minute program features a rather candid Nixon, who agreed to appear on camera with zero preparation and absolutely no screening of questions. You know, kinda like Dubya (but WITH prep). In addition to the footage, the disc also contains new video with Frost, who reacts to his famous encounters with Nixon and discusses the screenplay adaptation by playwright Peter Morgan (who wrote the original play).
Disc includes: Introduction by David Frost, David Frost's Reactions to the Encounter featurette
For people who think The Chronic-WHAT!-cles of Narnia is still funny: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (Collector's Edition)
Picking up a year after their first adventure in Narnia, the Pevensies (Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy) return back to the magical land, only to discover that hundreds of years have passed, and evil King Miraz has taken charge. Enlisting the help of a mouse (Reepicheep), the exiled heir to the throne (Prince Caspian) and that crazy talkin' lion (Aslan), the kids seek to overthrow the king. While earning less than half of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe's U.S. gross of $291.7 million, Prince Caspian was still a success worldwide ($420.1 million).
Part of the series' problem is that the source material is so darn short. Series installments tend to hover around the 200-page mark (Prince Caspian is a slim 195). The next chapter in the seven-part series, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, will inevitably hit theaters, though Disney may need to shake up the series a bit to make it all the way to the end.
Disc includes: Creating the Castle Raid featurette, audio commentary, bloopers, deleted scenes, Inside Narnia: The Adventure Returns featurette, Sets of Narnia: A Classing Comes to Life featurette, Big Movie Comes to a Small Town featurette, Previsualizing Narnia featurette, Talking Animals and Walking Trees: The Magical World of Narnia featurette, Secrets of the Duel featurette, Becoming Trumpkin featurette, Warwick Davis: The Man Behind Nikabrik featurette
December 2, 2008
Austin Powers Collection (Special Edition)
Bam Margera Presents: Where the #$&% is Santa?
The Beatles: Composing The Beatles Songbook
The Best of Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist
Bon Jovi: In The Third Millennium Billion Dollar
Cannon: Season 1
Cannon: Season 1, Volume 2
Casablanca (Ultimate Collector's Edition)
The Contract
Cruel Restaurant
Day of the Dead: The Need to Feed
The Day The Earth Stood Still (Special Edition)
Home Alone (Special Edition)
Jake & The Fat Man: Season 1
Jake & The Fat Man: Season 1, Volume 2
Jingle All The Way (Special Edition)
Johnny Winter: Live Through the '70s
Law & Order: The Sixth Year
The Longshots
Mythbusters: Big Blasts Collection
Perry Mason: Season 3, Volume 2
Saturday Night Live: The Complete Fourth Season
Stranger Than Fiction (Special Edition)
Three Days Grace: Live at the Palace 2008