How to Spend $20
By Eric Hughes
April 12, 2011
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Pick of the Week
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Milking it as much as it can before putting Harry Potter to bed for good, Warner Bros. made an executive decision back when the final book was in development to present the last chapter in two parts instead of the traditional one. The move even enticed other money hungry studios to follow suit. The obvious example would be Twilight’s final movie, Breaking Dawn, which Summit Entertainment will release in two installments, beginning with part one in November.
Is this Warner Bros. fronting a serious effort to finally please Potterphiles by sticking more of Rowling’s source material into its adaptations? Of course not. The WB probably couldn’t care less about how the movies stack up to the Brit’s masterwork. Instead, it merely discovered a sneaky way to make more Harrys without damaging the reputation of the series, and audiences totally ate it up. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 made almost a billion dollars worldwide. And there’s still more Harry to be had come July 15th.
Disc includes: The Seven Harrys featurette; On the Green with Rupert, Tom, Oliver and James featurette; Dan, Rupert and Emma’s Running Competition featurette; additional scenes; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1: Behind the Soundtrack featurette
No Country for Old Men (Deluxe Edition)
I was reminded of how much I enjoy the Coen brothers when I popped in A Serious Man just a few weeks ago and then went on to rabidly enjoy the thing. The movie is just wonderful: Such a labor of love from two men who adore their day jobs. They and Quentin T are among my favorite auteurs for being so consistent with quality. Even if the story largely fails to engage me - True Grit, for example, I wouldn’t say was one of the brothers’ best - its composition, directing, soundtrack or another major component will at least make me appreciate something I just watched.
Anyway, I go back and forth between No Country for Old Men and Fargo when talking about the Coens’ cream of the crop. I admire Fargo for many things, but most of all its dark humor and hysterical Midwestern accents, and then No Country for Old Men for its stillness and gentle pacing. The movie trumps Cormac McCarthy’s book in some scenes - their take on the shoot ‘em up at the hotel is, I think, better than the way McCarthy illustrated it - and the team of Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin was just exciting.
Disc includes: N/A
Country Strong
Country Strong only went wide at the beginning of the year, and already here it is on the home media market. The film earned back its $15 million investment, but not by much. It spent about a month in theaters and grossed a little over $20 million. Country Strong’s soundtrack, actually, seemed to get more recognition than the film. The album charted at No. 6 on the U.S. Billboard 200, and one of its songs, “Coming Home,” got an Oscar nod.
Gwyneth first tested her abilities as a singer in Duets, the 2000 movie about competitive karaoke - a precursor, I guess, to American Idol. Her cover of Smokey Robinson’s “Cruisin’” with Huey Lewis certainly bought the film a little notoriety. It hit No. 1 on the U.S adult contemporary chart 11 years ago. And today, along with Country Strong, Paltrow has been guesting on Glee with covers of Prince’s “Kiss” and Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide.”
Disc includes: Original ending, deleted scenes, “Shake That Thing” extended performance by Gwyneth Paltrow, “Country Strong” music video featuring Gwyneth Paltrow, “A Little Bit Stronger” music video by Sara Evans
The English Patient (Collector's Edition)
Whenever my eyes run across The English Patient, I am, of course, reminded of that fantastic Seinfeld episode that had Elaine ripping at the dullness of it in just about every scene she appeared in. Her extreme dislike of the movie, which would go on to win nine Oscars about a week and a half after the episode aired on NBC, was a welcome respite at a time when just about everybody was going gaga for Patient. It’d be like The Office mounting a campaign to usurp The King’s Speech’s Oscar buzz in favor of, say, The Social Network.
And yet, I’ve seen a good portion of the movie and have to side with Elaine: The English Patient is quite boring. Granted, I saw most of it in Spanish - dubbed, not just captioned - and after my Madrilena house mom insisted that we watch it after consuming one of her fantastic marathon dinners. It would have been bad form to eat free food, drink free wine and then say: “Nah, I think I better just hop on over to bed.”
Disc includes: N/A
April 12, 2011
Blu-ray
Aleutians Cradle Of The Storms: After The Classic
Aleutians Cradle Of The Storms: World War II
The Antarctic Mission
Attack Force Z
Cars
Country Strong
Farewell
Highwater
The Incredibles
The Inheritance
The Last Continent
Last Continent / Antarctic Mission
Le Cercle Rouge (Criterion Collection)
Moribito: Guardian Of The Spirit Series Part 2
Nature: Broken Tail - A Tiger's Last Journey
Needless Collection 2
Rory Gallagher: Irish Tour '74
Sharpes (Collector's Edition)
White Material (Criterion Collection)
DVD
The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl
The Antarctic Mission
Bad Santa (Director's Cut)
Belladonna
The Big Bang Theory: Complete Seasons 1-3 (Set)
Car 54, Where Are You? The Complete First Season
Chicago (Collector's Edition)
Children Of Corn II: Final Sacrifice (Widescreen)
Children of the Corn Triple Feature (Triple Feature)
Clerks (15th Anniversary Edition)
Country Strong
Dallas: Complete Seasons 1-14 (Set)
The English Patient (Collector's Edition)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Harry Potter: Years 1-7 Part 1
Man vs. Wild: Season 5
No Country for Old Men (Deluxe Edition)
Scream (Collector's Edition)
Scream 2
Scream 3
Sharpes (Collector's Edition)
Sling Blade (Special Edition)
The Waltons: Complete Seasons 1-9 (New Packaging)
White Material (Criterion Collection)