How to Spend $20

By Eric Hughes

December 23, 2008

Why am I working with this boy instead of Robert Downey Jr. or Tom Cruise again?

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Welcome to How to Spend $20, BOP's look at the latest DVDs to hit stores nationwide. This week: Shia LaBeouf runs around for two hours, Greg Kinnear turns into a pesky ghost and TBS discovers the humor in grocery stores.

*Note: all picks featured in this week's column are not available in stores today. Instead, they will be released on Saturday, December 27th.

Pick of the Week

For people who didn't see Shia LaBeouf burn enough calories in Transformers: Eagle Eye (Special Edition)

Someone wants to play a game. And no, this time it isn't the infamous Jigsaw and his complex set of deathtraps. In Eagle Eye, heartthrob Shia LaBeouf stars as Jerry Shaw, a Stanford University dropout who is forced to join forces with a single mother through an anonymous caller, whose mysterious voice demands that the pair carry out a secret plot. Jerry witnesses an interesting situation at an ATM, which leads to loaded guns and ammo in his apartment, which leads to Jerry standing on the edge of a skyscraper and being told to jump. And so forth. It's an adrenaline-rushed, 118-minute thriller.

However, this isn't to say critics loved the thing. A common complaint is the plot's general implausibility, which is best described as an assault on intelligence. Roger Ebert went one step further and called the D.J. Caruso-helmed actioner an "assault on consciousness." Ouch. Even so, this one still racked up just over $100 million Stateside and another $73 million and change abroad.

Disc includes: Deleted scenes, Road Trip: On Location with the Cast and Crew featurette, alternate ending, Asymmetrical Warfare: The Making of Eagle Eye featurette, Eagle Eye On Location: Washington, D.C. featurette, Is My Cell Phone Spying on Me? featurette, Shall We Play a Game? featurette, gag reel, photo gallery




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For people who dread the day when Ricky Gervais keels over for real: Ghost Town

Co-written by David Koepp, whose writing credits include cult classic Death Becomes Her, Mission: Impossible and the original Spider-Man (you know, back when the franchise didn't suck), Ghost Town stars comic genius Ricky Gervais as Bertram Pincus, a misanthropic dentist who endures a near-death experience during a routine colonoscopy. After the close call, he goes all Haley Joel Osment on us by gaining the ability to see dead people, who ask Bertram to carry out some of their unfinished business.

One such befriending ghost is Frank Herlihy (Greg Kinnear), who for reason's unknown asks Bertram to break up a blossoming relationship between his former wife, Gwen (Tea Leoni) and her new love interest, Richard (Billy Campbell). Alan Ruck and SNL's Kristen Wiig also appear, but in a limited capacity.

Disc includes: Audio commentary, Making Ghost Town featurette, Some People Can Do It featurette, Ghostly Effects featurette


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