How to Spend $20
By Eric Hughes
April 27, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Pick of the Week
For people who aren’t enthused by American horror: The Descent: Part 2
Four years ago, Brit horror film The Descent was released in U.S. theaters. Like a majority of people who saw it, I enjoyed the heck out of it. Set in the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina, The Descent is about a group of women who go on a caving expedition, only to become trapped underground soon after beginning their journey. Inside the cave, they struggle to survive amongst an apparently countless pack of menacing and exceptionally fugly humanoid creatures. Against a small $7 million production budget, pic tallied $57 million internationally – 45.6% of that coming from U.S. ticket sales.
Besides being a rollercoaster thrill ride – and, I’ll admit, one of the very few films that actually creeped me out – The Descent is a commendable horror movie for having both an actual story and multidimensional characters whose safety you’ll end up caring a lot about. This is especially true of the movie’s lead, Sarah (Shauna Macdonald), who casually transforms from a quiet and dainty thing into a powerful, big screen force not unlike Ellen Ripley.
Taking place two days after the events in The Descent, The Descent: Part 2 begins with Sarah, who is rushed away to a nearby hospital drenched in blood. While there, Sarah learns that some of the blood covering her body belongs to Juno Kaplan (Natalie Mendoza), one of the women she went into the caves with in the original film. Determined to find Juno and any of the other women who may still be alive in the caves, law enforcement officials force Sarah to embark on a risky expedition back underground.
Despite a premise that sounds like little more than a cash grab, the sequel to The Descent is anything but. Though the movie hasn’t been released in U.S. theaters, I had the pleasure of watching the sequel just a few weeks ago and found myself pleasantly surprised by what unfolded on screen. The Descent: Part 2 rehashes a familiar storyline, but does so in a way that respects the events that transpired before the sequel expedition. There are allusions to the original movie (which I totally dug), and one big surprise – a ZOMG moment, if you will – that’ll have Descent fans pumping their fists.
Between the two movies, the original Descent is the better film. Even so, I can’t imagine you’ll regret making time for part two.
Disc includes: Audio commentary, Making Of featurette, storyboard gallery, deleted scenes
For people who think they would lose to Meryl Streep in a bakeoff: It’s Complicated
Nancy Meyers is the writer-director behind some of my favorite romantic comedies. This includes everything from the fantastic Father of the Bride remake with Steve Martin and Diane Keaton to The Holiday, which had Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet temporarily swapping homes after they each experience moments of heartbreak with their respective
love interests.
I have a certain respect for Meyers, too, given that her recent romcom resume has been devoted to giving older actors a share of the mainstream Hollywood spotlight. Something’s Gotta Give had a 50-something Keaton falling for her daughter’s new 60-something boyfriend (Jack Nicholson). The trend continued six years later in It’s Complicated, which had Meryl Streep – now 60 – caught in a love triangle between her 50-something ex-husband (Alec Baldwin) and her 60-something architect (Martin). Tallying $100 million each at the U.S. box office, both movies proved successful with American audiences.
Scored by the Oscar-winning Hans Zimmer, It’s Complicated did not disappoint for a number of reasons. Meyers, who wrote the script, gave her leads many moments to act charming (Streep and Martin making post-party chocolate croissants) and hilarious (a Skype session involving an innocent Martin and a naked Baldwin). The Office’s John Krasinski also put in a noteworthy performance as Streep’s nonsensical son-in-law, Harley.
Disc includes: The Making Of featurette, audio commentary
For people who didn’t think Across the Universe was trippy enough: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
The production of Terry Gilliam’s 2009 fantasy film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, was temporarily suspended in January 2008 when news broke of Heath Ledger’s unfortunate death at the young age of just 28 years. In order to keep Gilliam’s film alive, close friends of Ledger’s – Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell – were cast to portray the late actor’s character in scenes that had yet to be filmed. The justification? The additional men would represent transformations of Ledger’s character as he travels through a magic world.
According to the nation’s critics, the quick solution mostly worked. Courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes, about two-thirds of film reviewers liked the movie, which follows a theater troupe leader who allows people to explore their imaginations after he makes a deal with the Devil. The movie’s box office performance, however, was less than stellar. Against a production budget of $30 million, the film earned just $7.6 million in the United States.
Disc includes: Six behind-the-scenes featurettes, Heath Ledger interview, Wardrobe Test featurette, deleted scenes, audio commentary, The Imaginarium of Terry Gilliam featurette, Heath Ledger and Friends: Cast and Crew Remember Their Friend featurette, The Drunk Multi-Angle Progression Sequence featurette
For people who don’t want to miss a thing: Armageddon [Blu-ray]
Like a typical Roland Emmerich disaster flick, the science in Michael Bay’s Armageddon doesn’t make any sense. Come on… crash-landing a shuttle on a Texas-sized asteroid hurtling more than 20,000 miles per hour in space, then blowing it up with a bomb? Really? NASA, actually, screens the film during its training program for potential new managers, who try to find as many scientific inaccuracies as they can. Consider it Hollywood’s way of giving back – at the expense, of course, of making L.A. filmmakers look like idiots.
Out today is a Blu-ray version of the popular film, which made bank for its distributor, Touchtone Pictures, a dozen years ago. Worldwide, the $140 million movie starring Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler and Ben Affleck earned a staggering $554 million worldwide.
Disc includes: “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” music video by Aerosmith
April 27, 2010
Blu-ray
Armageddon
Brothers Five
The Buddha: The Story of Siddhartha
The Delightful Forest
Disgrace
District B13 / District B13: Ultimatum (Double Feature)
District B13: Ultimatum
Dune
Elizabeth
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Five Minutes of Heaven
The Heroic Ones
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
It's Complicated
The Jackal
La Bayadere: Paris Opera & Ballet
Out Of Africa
Pride and Prejudice
Ride With The Devil (Criterion Collection)
Romeo & Juliet: Paris Opera & Ballet
Sex and the City
Tombstone
Traffic
DVD
The Descent: Part 2
Disgrace
District B13 / District B13: Ultimatum (Double Feature)
District B13: Ultimatum
Five Minutes of Heaven
Ghost Hunters: Season 5, Part 2
The Hills: Season Five, Part Two
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
It's Complicated
It's Garry Shandling's Show: Complete First Season
Orson Welles: Paris Interview
Ride With The Devil (Criterion Collection)
Rita Rocks: The Complete First Season
Survivors: Complete Seasons One and Two (Set)
Survivors: The Complete Original Series 1975-77
UFOs & Close Encounters (Deluxe Edition)
UFOs & ET: Men In Black, Aliens & Flying Saucers
Voyeur (Special Edition)