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Welcome to How to Spend $20, BOP's look at the latest DVDs to hit stores nationwide. This week: James Bond goes hi-def, Ben Stein criticizes evolution and Liv Tyler does her best Janet Leigh impression.

Pick of the Week

For people who can't wait for Quantum of Solace: James Bond Blu-ray Collection Six-Pack (Dr. No / Die Another Day / Live and Let Die / For Your Eyes Only / From Russia with Love / Thunderball) (Amazon.com Exclusive) [Blu-ray]


The $230 million-budgeted Quantum of Solace is just 3.5 weeks away, so what better way to prep for the most expensive Bond film of all time than to watch part of the franchise on good ol' Blu-ray? Released today is a collection of six James Bond features in wonderful high definition. The series includes Dr. No, Die Another Day, Live and Let Die, For Your Eyes Only, From Russia With Love and Thunderball.

And in addition to the movies themselves are a bounty of featurettes, which are so numerous that I took the liberty in telling you only the number of featurettes per film, instead of going into more detail (forgive me, but this column would be all Bond had I done it a different way — which may or may not be a bad thing anyway).

Also released today, though not part of the package, is 2006's Casino Royale on Blu-ray.

Disc includes: Dr. No (plus seven featurettes), Die Another Day (plus nine featurettes, Madonna's Die Another Day music video and photo gallery), Live and Let Die (plus nine featurettes), For Your Eyes Only (plus eight featurettes and For Your Eyes Only music video), From Russia With Love (plus seven featurettes), Thunderball (plus 10 featurettes).





For people who don't think the Family Guy writers are secretly just manatees: Family Guy, Vol. 6


There are two kinds of people in this world: those that like Family Guy, and those that don't. I myself fall into the former category. I'm certainly no diehard by any means, but if I happen to catch a clip or two on the Internet, there's a good chance I'll find something funny about it. On the opposite side are the creators of South Park, who lambasted the cartoon two years ago with its two-part Cartoon Wars episode, in which Matt Stone and Trey Parker reveal that Family Guy writers are actually manatees that come up with their disjointed storylines by pushing rubber "idea balls" into a bin. So yeah. Two, distinct kinds of people in this world.

No matter how you slice it, more Family Guy is due out today. This time it's Volume 6, which includes the remaining five episodes of season five and the first seven episodes of season six. For reasons I can't understand, the show continues to use the funkiest of methods when releasing its content on DVD. Unfortunately, the volume does not include season six's "Blue Harvest," a spoof of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, because the special episode is already available in a standalone DVD.

Disc includes: Audio commentary, deleted scenes, Family Guy 100th Episode Special featurette, Family Guy Live!: Just for Laughs featurette, The Making of the 100th Episode featurette.

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