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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: Two new releases that sit squarely on my to-see list. And one… well… one that isn’t.

Pick of the Week

For people who hold on dearly: Never Let Me Go

Fox Searchlight’s Never Let Me Go was nowhere near the breakout sleeper I was expecting it to be when it debuted in U.S. engagements in mid-September. The $15-million budgeted weeper grossed just a couple million in the States, and its receipts internationally was barely worth the energy I hastily used in typing out this sentence. I’m a bit shocked, really, considering how acclaimed its source material is. (I’ve read it, too, and it’s darned good. Simple, but thought-provoking).

Originally a book, Never Let Me Go is arguably a dystopian story centered about an English boarding school for girls, and the secrets that confound their existence and way of life. It’s told from the first-person perspective of a young girl, Kathy, who’s seemingly more aware of her surroundings than her peers, and quietly goes about putting pieces of her mysterious reality together.

Maybe the theatrical version was poorly executed, and audiences responded to it as such. Yet I think where Fox went wrong – easy to play Monday Morning quarterback here, but still… - is in releasing this one two weeks before The Social Network. Little did they know, I guess, that Andrew Garfield would turn into a breakout star so quickly. A windfall of acting prizes and nods have followed, as well as the Spidey suit. Fox coulda struck while the iron was hot, but instead settled for way less than that. Like it’s gonna take lotsa everything on home media for Never Let Me Go to get in the black.

Disc includes: The Secrets of Never Let Me Go featurette, Director Mark Romanek’s On-Set Photography featurette, Tommy’s Art featurette





For people who are welcoming: Let Me In

If its Rotten Tomatoes score is any indication, the Americanized redux of Swedish book-turned-movie, Let the Right One In, did what very few Hollywood remakes do: Not suck. The flick holds a beastly 89% positive rating on the movie review aggregator website, and already eclipsed its $20-million budget (USA + foreign gross) before exiting domestic theaters in December. Horror dramas are exhilarating when done well, and Let Me In appears to be exactly that.

I’ll admit I got anxious when Matt Reeves decided to take on Let the Right One In. I was of the mindset of the director of the Swedish adaptation, who issued comments that basically said, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” - albeit way ruder. Tomas Alfredson was even approached to direct the American version himself, but fantastically spat back: “I am too old to make the same film twice and I have other stories that I want to tell.” Not bitter at all.

Disc includes: Audio commentary, From the Inside: A Look at the Making of Let Me In featurette, The Art of Special Effects featurette, Car Crash Sequence Step-by-Step featurette, Dissecting Let Me In featurette, deleted scenes, trailer gallery, poster gallery, comic book (limited edition)

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