How to Spend $20
By Eric Hughes
November 16, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Pick of the Week
For people who like their Office in bite-sized portions: The Office: Digital Short Collection
I must say, The Office has been on a bit of a creative resurgence this season. I wouldn’t argue the writers have grasped a central theme or idea this season like they have in the past. Instead, season seven has felt like a bit of a crazy hodgepodge. An episode about Andy performing in a Scranton production of Sweeney Todd begets an episode celebrating the christening of Jim and Pam’s little one, which begets an episode where most of Dunder Mifflin watches an episode of, um, Glee.
There isn’t much rhyme or reason from one episode to the next, other than that secondary players like Andy, Erin, Gabe, and even Meredith are receiving major play every now and again. And that Glee episode? Some damn good drama between Erin and Michael, elevated by the pair playing off awkward silences. The moment totally felt season two.
Meanwhile, for the past couple years the Dunder Mifflinites have been busy busy on the Internets as well. Since 2006, seven sets of webisodes have premiered online, the biggest of which would be the 10-episode Accountants, which follows Oscar, Angela and Kevin’s honest attempt to track down $3,000 in missing budget money. Being the writers’ room’s first stab at exclusive online content, it’s likely the most well known of the bunch. Well, either it or the more inspire Subtle Sexuality, which is about the founding of Kelly and Erin’s girl pop group.
Noticeably missing from the set is The 3rd Floor, a three-parter about Ryan’s attempts to make a horror film inside the Dunder Mifflin office building. In its place is a series about Gabe’s efforts to impress corporate through a homemade podcast (titled “The Podcast”). To the best of my knowledge, it hasn’t premiered on the web yet.
Disc includes: The Office Convention: Cast Q&A featurette, Paley: Inside the Writers’ Room featurette, Subtle Sexuality commentary, Blackmail commentary, Subtle Sexuality music video, Dwight Schrute music video, Lazy Scranton music video, Michael Scott’s Dunder Mifflin ad, Fake PSAs: The More You Know
For people who don’t know whether Warren Beatty would be jealous or turned on by his wife’s new lover: The Kids Are All Right
“So, who wants to go to a midnight screening of that movie about the 50-something lesbians?” Had you raised your hand on that one, then hot damn, you’ll see just about anything in the theater! Now, it isn’t that I wouldn’t see The Kids Are All Right. In fact, I very much would like to do so. I’m just of the mind that certain movies are tailored to make for fun times at the cineplex, and I don’t know that a Focus Features dramedy about anonymous sperm donation necessarily needs to be seen for $12 a pop.
Granted, Hollywood marking fresh territory about new family dynamics is exciting stuff, especially when it pertains to stories within the LGBT community. I don’t mean to single out an issue here, as The Kids Are All Right is probably about many things. Yet mainstream movies about gays – and primarily those that actually turn a profit – are an interesting talking point. Had a movie like Brokeback Mountain not been made (or, I guess, break out at the box office), I highly, highly doubt a movie like The Kids Are All Right would ever have been made.
In many ways, it set a precedent that opened doors for films like The Kids Are All Right that otherwise would have been blacklisted. (I think I Love You, Phillip Morris, the Jim Carrey-Ewan McGregor slammer dramedy set to open early next month, falls in the same category).
Universally liked by critics – 94% of the nation’s top critics said good things about it on Rotten Tomatoes – the Focus Features flick has earned $20.8 million to date against a small $4 million budget.
Disc includes: The Journey to Forming a Family featurette, The Making Of featurette, The Writer’s Process featurette, audio commentary
For people who have been practicin’ their Na’vi: Avatar (Extended Edition)
Remember when that totally lame Avatar disc came out… just in time for Earth Day? Well, all has been atoned. Out today is a beefed up Avatar disc, or, well, the disc that shoulda came out in place of that cash grabby, bare bones hunk of rubbish seven months ago. Among the amenities are more than 45 minutes of deleted scenes. So, tack ‘em on to Avatar’s already epic 162-minute runtime and you have yourself a – gulp – 207-minute movie. Even Titanic’s like, “Simmer down, James Cameron. Simmer!”
The extended edition release comes on the heels of news that Cameron would make not one, but two Avatar sequels. How does everybody feel about that? If anything, I’ll bet the inventor of the Na’vi language is excited to turn new phrases. As for me, I’m generally a purist and will be so here. I don’t know that I necessarily need another Avatar flick. Then again, when has anybody said they needed anything out of Hollywood?
Disc includes: Alternate opening, Capturing Avatar documentary, deleted scenes (45 minutes), family audio tracks
November 16, 2010
Blu-ray
16 Wishes
Air Force One
Avatar (Extended Edition)
Bad Boys
Beneath The Blue
Black Hawk Down
Cameron Romero's Staunton Hill
Casino Royale
Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore
Children of the Corn
A Christmas Story (Ultimate Collector's Edition)
Clash of the Titans
Crowley
The Da Vinci Code
Disney's A Christmas Carol
The Extra Man
Falling Down
The Fifth Element
Gangland: Complete Season 6
Ghost Machine
Ghost Rider
Hancock
It's Always Sunny...: A Very Sunny Christmas
The Kids Are All Right
The Last Airbender
The Lightkeepers
Lottery Ticket
Modern Times (Criterion Collection)
Mutiny On The Bounty
National Geographic: Great Migrations
The Night of the Hunter (Criterion Collection)
The Official FIFA World Cup 2010
Open Season
Peanuts Classic Holiday Collection
The Polar Express
Scooby-Doo: Camp Scare
Sherlock Jr. / Three Ages
Snatch New Packaging
Sondheim! The Birthday Concert
Space Station (IMAX)
Special Ops
Spider-Man (New Packaging)
Spider-Man 2 (New Packaging)
Spider-Man 3 (New Packaging)
The Tournament
Twilight Zone: Season 2 - The Definitive Edition
Under the Sea (IMAX)
Voltron Fleet: The Movie
Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory
World at War
DVD
16 Wishes
Avatar (Extended Edition Collector's Set)
Beneath The Blue
Carnivale: The Complete Second Season (New Packaging)
Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore
Children of the Corn
A Christmas Story (Ultimate Collector's Edition)
Clash of the Titans (3-D)
Disney's A Christmas Carol (3-D)
The Endless Summer (Director's Special Edition)
The Extra Man
Gangland: Complete Season 6
Glee: The Complete First Season (Gift Set)
Heroes: The Complete Series (Set)
It's Always Sunny...: A Very Sunny Christmas (Gift Set)
The Kids Are All Right
The Last Airbender
Leading Ladies of TV's Golden Age
The Lightkeepers
Lottery Ticket
Metropolis (Special Edition)
Modern Times (Criterion Collection)
National Geographic: Great Migrations
The Night of the Hunter (Criterion Collection)
The Office: Digital Short Collection
The Official FIFA World Cup 2010 (3-D)
Peanuts Classic Holiday Collection
SNL: Eddie Murphy / Chris Rock / Morgan / Sandler (Set)
Special Ops
Twilight Zone: Season 2 - The Definitive Edition
Wagon Train: The Complete Second Season
The Wire: The Complete Series (New Packaging)