How to Spend $20
By Eric Hughes
May 12, 2009
Welcome to How to Spend $20, BOP's look at the latest DVDs to hit stores nationwide. This week: Seth MacFarlane pumps out fresh material, a great standalone movie somehow becomes a franchise and Liam Neeson shoots some people. Pick of the Week
For people who are kinda sick of Family Guy: Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy
Seth MacFarlane's comedy is cheap. (Just ask the boys behind South Park, who stand convinced he and his writing staff conceive their storylines via idea balls and manatees. Yet for all the crap they give him, I've got to credit him in creating some pretty funny material. Out today is the funnyman's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy, an Internet side project that shares nothing with Family Guy – other than similar looking animation.
The disc comes packed with 50 shorts, many of which were released on YouTube, Hulu and other popular Web video services before Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy earned a release date. Highlights include a dog on the $25,000 Pyramid, Jesus talking with Vishnu on Christmas Eve and a play on a horse (with a long face) walking into a bar.
Disc includes: Red Carpet Piece featurette, still galleries
For people who are ready to tarnish an excellent movie by watching its expectedly bad sequel: S. Darko: A Donnie Darko Tale
This week in unnecessary movie sequels: S. Darko, the loose follow up to the cult psychological thriller Donnie Darko (released in 2001). Everyone from the last flick had the common sense of abandoning ship, save for Daveigh Chase, who not only reprises her role as Donnie's sister, but also becomes the sequel's lead character.
Here, she and a friend (Briana Evigan) embark on a cross-country road trip from Virginia to California. Their plan is cut short when a series of strange occurrences begin to happen after their car breaks down in Utah, from a meteorite crash-landing in town and Samantha suffering from bizarre, hallucinatory dreams about Earth's final days.
Just to put it out there, here's what Donnie Darko writer-director Richard Kelly had to say about S. Darko: "To set the record straight, here's a few facts I'd like to share with you all - I haven't read this script. I have absolutely no involvement with this production, nor will I ever be involved." Uh, yikes.
Disc includes: None
For people who'd like to see Liam Neeson shoot a gun: Taken (2-Disc Edition)
I'm hardly an advocate of action movies. The Terminator series and The Matrixes are the only movies coming to mind at the moment. Yet, there's something I find awfully alluring about Taken, a film starring Liam Neeson as an ex-CIA agent who viciously hunts down the people who have kidnapped his daughter.
I wasn't a fan of the flick's trailer – nor its hokey ad campaign. What did it for me was Taken's positive word-of-mouth. Practically anyone that I ran into who saw this thing had something positive to say about it (a figure represented nicely online through its high 90% rating among the Rotten Tomatoes community).
Disc includes: Theatrical version and extended cut, audio commentary, Making-of featurette, Avante Premiere featurette, Inside Action Side-by-Side Scene Comparisons featurette, digital copy of the film
For people who think it's not really Underworld if Kate Beckinsale isn't involved: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
Michael Sheen made the logical decision to follow up his acclaimed performance in Frost/Nixon with that of Lycan leader, Lucian, in Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. And by logical I mean completely without thought.
The third entry in the Underworld series managed to make $20.7 million in its opening frame. A solid, if not unspectacular figure, considering the Underworlds before it earned $21.8 and $26.9 million, respectively.
The people behind the franchise have repeatedly said they planned for Underworld to be a three-part series. But given its profitable performance at the box office, another Underworld very easily could be greenlit. Cue Beckinsale in tight leather.
Disc includes: The Origin of the Feud featurette, Recreating the Dark Ages – The Look of Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, "Deathclub" by William Control (music video), audio commentary, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans – From Script to Screen featurette
Blu-ray
3 Mo' Divas
Action Hero Collection
Amazon: River of the Sun
Bartoli / La Scintilla / Chr: Semele
Black Sheep
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - First Season
Earthscapes: Flowers and Gardens
Fargo
Force 10 From Navarone
Funny Guy Collection
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
The Grudge
Jock Collection
Licence To Kill (Ultimate Edition)
Lost Worlds: Life in the Balance
Major League Special Edition
The Man With The Golden Gun (Ultimate Edition)
North America's National Parks
Passengers
Personal Effects
Plague Town
Return to Forever: Live at Montreux 2008
S. Darko: A Donnie Darko Tale
Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy
Star Trek: The Motion Picture Trilogy
Star Trek: The Original Motion Picture Collection
Taken 2-Disc Edition
Underworld Trilogy
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
War Hero Collection
Wayne's World
Wayne's World 2
Without a Paddle
DVD
The Best of Star Trek: The Next Generation
The Best of Star Trek: The Original Series
Case Closed: Season 5
The Dana Carvey Show
Donnie Darko 2-Pack
Galaxy Quest (Deluxe Edition)
The Grudge 3 (Widescreen)
Jeff Foxworthy Show: The Complete Second Season (Full Screen)
Licence To Kill (Ultimate Edition)
Lovejoy: The Complete Season Five
Major League (Special Edition)
The Man With The Golden Gun (Ultimate Edition)
Penn & Teller: Bullshit! The Complete Sixth Season
Pie In The Sky: Series 1
Queen: Rock in Rio
Return to Forever: Live at Montreux 2008
Star Trek: The Motion Picture Trilogy (Triple Feature)
Star Trek: The Original Motion Picture Collection (Set)
Two and a Half Men: Complete Seasons 1-5 (Set)
Two and a Half Men: The Complete Fifth Season (Widescreen)
U2: Rock Crusade - An Unauthorized Story on U2
Underworld Trilogy (Triple Feature)
Wise Blood (Criterion Collection)
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