How to Spend $20
By Eric Hughes
August 24, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Pick of the Week
For people who thought they’d finally come to know the origins of the Hurley Bird: Lost: The Complete Sixth and Final Season
Lost celebrated finality in May when its sixth and final season came to a close with – if I remember correctly – four and a half hours of new and pre-packaged content.
The way you felt about the finale depended on what you expected from (and liked most) about the series. If you wanted answers to every single frickin’ piece of the puzzle, then you probably hated the final episode. If you’re like me, however, and have always cared more for the series’ characters above all else related to the show, then you probably liked it (and may have even cried a little bit. I know I almost did).
It’s amazing, really, to think about how this thing started and then where the series shifted to in subsequent seasons. That first season, my favorite, was so memorable. And even though it was as confusing as hell, the scope of the show by that point was so small. Who would’ve thought that what was inside that hatch would unleash all the characters, stories and so on we’d meet over the next five years? The plane crash, hatch and polar bears were just the tipping point.
No, I haven’t seen every episode of the show, but have always had at least a general idea of what was going on thanks to those uber helpful catch up specials. I did see nearly every episode of season six, though, and felt things really came together for at least the last half. A few of the earlier episodes of the final season made the show seem a bit laborious and misguided – to the point where I didn’t even know if I cared about how things ended. But then episodes like "Ab Aeterno" aired, and all was forgiven.
Disc includes: The New Man in Charge featurette; The End: Crafting a Final Season featurette; A Hero’s Journey featurette; See You in Another Life, Brotha featurette; Lost on Location featurette; Lost in 8:15: A Crash Course featurette; bloopers, deleted scenes, audio commentaries
For people who like when Homer gets terrorized by computers: The Simpsons: The Complete Thirteenth Season
Maybe in about five years, every season of The Simpsons will be readily available on the home media market. In 2001, Fox began an ongoing project to make the series available on DVD, and has released at least one season (if not two) every year since.
Well, we’ve finally made it to season 13. (Separately, season 20, which aired during the 2008-09 television season, was released in January). As I said, give Fox about five years and it just may get there.
The Treehouse of Horror this season is the one where Homer gets cursed by a gypsy and becomes a walking bad luck charm, Bart and Lisa go to a school for wizards and Marge buys a HAL-like computer system that attempts to murder Homer.
Other highlights include a Simpsons family trip to Brazil (“Blame it on Lisa”), a board game fight that leads to a social worker tending to the Simpsons family (“Brawl in the Family”) and Moe turning his long-time bar into a trendy nightclub.
Disc includes: A Token from Matt Groening featurette, audio commentary on every episode, Ralphisms featurette, The People Ball featurette, The 13th Crewman featurette, Blame it on the Monkeys featurette, The Games featurette, The Sweet Life of Ralph featurette, multi-angle animation showcases, sketch gallery, deleted scenes, special language feature, commercials
For people who wanna check out Jennifer Lopez’s triumphant return to Hollywood: The Back-up Plan
If this year’s releases are any indication, apparently America isn’t interested in romcoms about artificial insemination. Who knew?
Days ago, the Jason Bateman/Jennifer Aniston-fronted The Switch crashed and burned at the box office, raking in just $8.4 million at 2,000+ engagements. Earlier this year, Jennifer Lopez’s The Back-Up Plan, released today on the home media market, didn’t do much better with $12.2 million over three days. At 3,200+ locations, that one’s per-theater average was actually about $500 less than The Switch’s.
Critical opinion wasn’t much better – especially in Back-Up’s case. Over at Rotten Tomatoes, just 21% of critics had positive things to say about the flick, about a woman who conceives twins through AI on the same day that she meets the man of her dreams. Oh, Hollywood.
Penned by Kate Angelo, the movie marked the TV writer-producer’s debut movie. Prior to The Back-Up Plan, she worked on What About Brian, Will & Grace, The Bernie Mac Show and Becker.
Disc includes: Deleted scenes, Making Of featurette, Jennifer Lopez interview
For people who don’t get seasick: Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy [Blu-ray]
When that first teaser for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides gets released in probably the next couple months, the country will be all atwitter over what beholds Jack Sparrow and the rest of the gang (save for Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann) we’ve come to know over Pirates of the Caribbean’s first three movies.
Before that happens, Disney is releasing the (first?) trilogy in a convenient Blu-ray package. 'Tis a pity movies two and three aren’t anywhere near as good as the first movie. Yet maybe in time I’ll come to like ‘em more, like the Matrix trilogy.
The Curse of the Black Pearl disc includes: An Epic at Sea featurette, The Making Of featurette, Fly on the Set featurette, blooper reel
Dead Man’s Chest disc includes: Liar’s Dice: Interact with Real Pirates from the Movie game, Captain Jack: Secrets and Legends Revealed by Johnny Depp and Others featurette, Meet Davy Jones: The Creation, Mystery and mythology of the Sea’s Ghostly Ruler featurette, Bloopers of the Caribbean featurette
At World’s End disc includes: Enter the Maelstrom featurette, Bloopers of the Caribbean featurette, Keith and the Captain: On Set with Johnny Depp and the Rock Legend featurette, Anatomy of a Scene: The Maelstrom featurette, The Tale of Many Jacks featurette
August 24, 2010
Blu-ray
$5 a Day
2:22
Abandoned
Ajami
The Back-up Plan
City Island
Death Note Collection
Dorian Gray
Essential Holiday Collection
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Part 2
George A. Romero's Survival of the Dead (Ultimate Edition)
The Great Rift
Late Fee
The Long Good Friday
Lost: The Complete Sixth and Final Season
Machine Gun McCain
Mona Lisa
The Pixies: Acoustic & Electric
Redemption
Shogun Assassin (30th Anniversary Edition)
The Simpsons: The Complete Thirteenth Season
The Square
Time Bandits
The Universe: Our Solar System
Withnail & I
Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society: Boozed, Broozed
Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy
DVD
$5 a Day
2:22
90210: The Second Season
Abandoned
Ajami
Ax Men: The Complete Season Three
The Back-up Plan
City Island
Dorian Gray
Electric Light Orchestra: Live The Early Years
Flight of the Conchords: The Complete Collection (Set)
George A. Romero's Survival of the Dead (Ultimate Edition)
Gossip Girl: The Complete Third Season
The Great Rift
Lost: The Complete Sixth and Final Season
Machine Gun McCain
NCIS: Seasons 1-7 (Set)
NCIS: The Seventh Season
Pawn Stars: Season Two
The Pixies: Acoustic & Electric
Redemption
Shogun Assassin (30th Anniversary Edition)
The Simpsons: The Complete Thirteenth Season
The Square
The Universe: Our Solar System