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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: An undertaker makes money from the living, Edie Falco pops pills and Chris Nolan’s first classic celebrates 10 years.

Pick of the Week

For people who wanna throw a Depression-time funeral: Get Low

A cast nearly as aged as the one in Red assembled together for Get Low, a ‘30s-era period piece about a recluse who wants a living funeral so he can be there for the stories - and to share a story of his own. I liked this one a lot, and not only because my man Bill Murray is the owner of the funeral parlor that takes on the old man’s wish. Among its positive attributes are solid storytelling and gentle pacing.

Robert Duvall is fantastic as the labored and throaty Felix Bush, a character loosely based on a true Tennessean named Felix Breazeale. He sports a beard rivaling that of your average hipster, and has been living on his own for the better part of 40 years. Of course, the townspeople consider him a nut job for being such an extreme introvert, but their prejudices exist without fact. They know nothing about the dude: his experiences, his beliefs, his reasons - or should I say reason - for an obscure and misunderstood lifestyle choice. (All is revealed in a King’s Speech-ian way).

Duvall and Murray snag most of the runtime, but in this one, too, is Sissy Spacek, a widow and supposed flame of Felix’s past. She and Duvall share some nice exchanges.

Get Low qualifies as one of the best overlooked films I saw this year. After about five months in theaters - it may still be screening in a location or two - it has earned $9.1 million.

Disc includes: Cast and Crew Q&A featurette, The Deep South: Buried Secrets featurette, Getting Low: Getting Into Character featurette, A Screenwriter’s Point of View featurette, On the Red Carpet featurette, audio commentary





For people who work in hospitals: Nurse Jackie: Season Two

Not sure I can pinpoint what initially drew me to Nurse Jackie. Like a moth to a light source. I think it was the opportunity to see Edie Falco in something new - or faith that Showtime had developed another smart one. (Its track record with me - Dexter and Weeds - had been stellar until then). Or maybe I missed ER.

The series’ first season came and went, and I came away liking just about everything. Nurse Jackie teetered on the line between comedy from drama, and though the drama was silly at times - nearly satire, I think - the show issued a good amount of heart and consistent comedy. As well, Edie was surrounded by colorful support.

Season two was messier, and I wasn’t nearly as invested as that freshman season. Principally, the writers uncovered big, clunky scissors and snipped away everything hanging off the season finale. Other seasonal things - the Pill-o-Matix machine, a minor character - were done away with, too. In a way, season two was a baker’s paradise. It started from scratch. And I don’t know what type of message that sends to fans, or what that might say about a writers room’s confidence. Season two is okay, but not as thrilling.

Disc includes: Audio commentary, All About Eve featurette, Perfecting an Inappropriate Touch featurette, Main Title Music Montage featurette, gag reel

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