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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: James Franco gets pinned, Jake Gyllenhaal fails a drug test and Cher mentors a young starlet.

Pick of the Week

For people who need to invest in a nice Cephalon meat cutter: 127 Hours

So before I get to 127 Hours, it feels appropriate to discuss James Franco’s job at co-hosting the Academy Awards with Anne Hathaway. More specifically: What in the hoo hang was that? I’m baffled, really, as the young stud couldn’t have been more apathetic about honoring the year’s best in film. For someone who loves jobs so much, you’d think he’d be geeking out at the thrill alone of being one of the centers of attention. I mean, heck, the awards show grabs a far larger share of television viewers than, say, an average episode of General Hospital.

But no. It was more like catching James Franco on the first day of rehearsals. Or, after a full day of Hollywood moviemaking. Or, an hour or so into a quality, rainy day nap. If Oscars’ producers were going
for droopy, I want to say they hit the nail on the head. But I seriously doubt it.

Instead, I think you, me and tens of millions of other person got to see what “biting off more than you can chew” really means. Why did the Academy so happen to tap the shoulder of one of Hollywood’s busiest people when it very well could have gone for someone who could use the work?

Anyway, 127 Hours, at least, gives you a chance to see James slightly more prepared for the task at hand. In the movie, Franco plays real-life mountain climber Aron Ralston, who gained fame about seven years ago when he dislodged his arm from a massive boulder by slicing off his appendage with a dull knife. Comedy can’t be suited in a paragraph like this, so I’ll leave it at that.

Disc includes: Audio commentary, deleted scenes





For people who are crazy about Viagra: Love & Other Drugs

Funnily enough, Anne Hathaway’s got a movie release of her own this week with Love & Other Drugs, a dramedy co-billed with an actor no longer pretending to be Persian. In it, Jake Gyllenhaal plays a salesman who works into the aggressive world of pharmaceuticals essentially for insider access to performance enhancing drugs. I mean, hey, what’s college for any more?

For what it’s worth, Love & Other Drugs was mostly a larger budget sleeper hit. It cost about $30 million to produce, and ended with about that in the States alone. Internationally, it grossed another $65 million. Perhaps moviegoers were extra giddy about seeing an Edward Zwick dramedy, his first in about 25 years (About Last Night…)

Disc includes: N/A

For people who didn’t know Cher’s still got it: Burlesque

Part of me wishes I’d seen Burlesque because I can’t help but sense that with a few beers in me, it could be an entertaining movie. Anybody who went into it thinking they’d be seeing greatness while sober clearly is a) advertising’s best friend, or b) physically unable to put together the pieces on what a Cher + Cristina Aquilera mash up could be like. And that’s just unfortunate indeed.

I figured its three Golden Globe nods (and one win) to be somewhat of a fluke, but then “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me” won Best Original Song at the Globes, too. Featuring Cher crooning about a comeback, people must’ve dug into the meta at work.

Disc includes: Six music performances, alternate opening, blooper reel, audio commentary

March 1, 2011

Blu-ray
127 Hours
Anneliese: Exorcist
Bambi
Bambi
Burlesque
Cannes Man
Daughters Of Darkness
Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia
Faster
Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould
Ghosts of Goldfield
Harry Connick Jr.: In Concert On Broadway
Love & Other Drugs
Michael Jordan To The Max
Out Of Sight
Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy (Trilogy Collector's Edition)
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
S.W.A.T.: Firefight
Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster
The Ultimate Wave: Tahiti
Waiting for Dublin
WWE: Royal Rumble 2011

DVD
127 Hours
Bambi (Rental)
Burlesque
Cake Boss: Season 3
Cannes Man
Faster
Ghosts of Goldfield
In Loving Memory: Series One
Leave It To Beaver: Season 6
Love & Other Drugs
Noah's Castle: The Complete Series
Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy (Trilogy Collector's Edition)
Reboot: Seasons 1 & 2 (Set)
S.W.A.T.: Firefight