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Welcome to How to Spend $20, BOP’s look at the latest Blu-ray discs and DVDs to hit stores nationwide. This week: Nicolas Cage fights a kid, Will Ferrell gets more SNL love and a mix of obvious stereotypes share detention together.

Pick of the Week

For people who think Nicolas Cage should never be referred to as Big Daddy: Kick-Ass

It seems trite of me to issue disappointment in Kick-Ass’ total receipts at the U.S. box office – principally because it outdid its $28 million production budget by about $20 million – and yet that’s what I’m going to do. It's got a great name, its marketing and trailer were stellar, it reviewed rather well, Nicolas Cage was in it (wait, how did that get in here?!). So many signs pointed to this one turning into an April success story. And to a certain extent it was. I just would have liked the project to crack at least $50 million domestically – a feat Kick-Ass missed by about $2 million.

Based on the same-named comic book and starring no one you’ve heard of (well, Christopher Mintz-Plasse), Kick-Ass is the story of an ordinary teen boy who rechristens himself Kick-Ass, a DIY superhero. Later, he gets caught in the middle of a war between a drug lord and a former cop, Big Daddy, who trained his young daughter to be Hit-Girl, another DIY superhero.

Speaking of Hit-Girl, the actress who plays her, Chloe Grace Moretz, likely has a big career ahead of her – at least in the short-term. Prior to Kick-Ass’ release, Moretz starred in 20th Century Fox’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Later this year, she’ll be the lead in Let Me In, an American adaptation of the fantastic Swedish vampire drama, Let the Right One In.





Disc includes: Ass-Kicking Bonus View featurette, audio commentary, A New Kind of Superhero: The Making Of featurette, It’s On! The Comic Book Origin of Kick-Ass featurette, The Art of Kick-Ass featurette, Marketing Archive featurette

For people who go to East Lake High School: SNL: Best of Will Ferrell Volume 3 (Widescreen)

Will Ferrell was already the only former Saturday Night Live player to get not one, but two “best of” DVDs. Relatedly, as of today he’s the proud owner of a third disc.

The thing is, sure, these collections are cash grabs. I don’t think former cast members count down the days to the release of their best ofs or anything. But with a dude like Ferrell, at least you know you’re probably getting some funny stuff for your money.

His work on the big screen has been largely hit or miss with me. His years of service on the late-night staple, however, was quality. The disc’s description doesn’t conveniently outline all included sketches, yet I do know his James Lipton (Inside the Actors Studio), his Alex Trebek (Celebrity Jeopardy – obviously) and his work as one half of the Spartan cheerleading squad are all here.

Disc includes: N/A

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