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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: It's the beginning of the end for Harry Potter, Gwyneth Paltrow gets twangy and, I wonder, what would Elaine Benes say about a collector's edition of The English Patient?

Pick of the Week

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

Milking it as much as it can before putting Harry Potter to bed for good, Warner Bros. made an executive decision back when the final book was in development to present the last chapter in two parts instead of the traditional one. The move even enticed other money hungry studios to follow suit. The obvious example would be Twilight’s final movie, Breaking Dawn, which Summit Entertainment will release in two installments, beginning with part one in November.

Is this Warner Bros. fronting a serious effort to finally please Potterphiles by sticking more of Rowling’s source material into its adaptations? Of course not. The WB probably couldn’t care less about how the movies stack up to the Brit’s masterwork. Instead, it merely discovered a sneaky way to make more Harrys without damaging the reputation of the series, and audiences totally ate it up. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 made almost a billion dollars worldwide. And there’s still more Harry to be had come July 15th.

Disc includes: The Seven Harrys featurette; On the Green with Rupert, Tom, Oliver and James featurette; Dan, Rupert and Emma’s Running Competition featurette; additional scenes; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1: Behind the Soundtrack featurette

No Country for Old Men (Deluxe Edition)

I was reminded of how much I enjoy the Coen brothers when I popped in A Serious Man just a few weeks ago and then went on to rabidly enjoy the thing. The movie is just wonderful: Such a labor of love from two men who adore their day jobs. They and Quentin T are among my favorite auteurs for being so consistent with quality. Even if the story largely fails to engage me - True Grit, for example, I wouldn’t say was one of the brothers’ best - its composition, directing, soundtrack or another major component will at least make me appreciate something I just watched.





Anyway, I go back and forth between No Country for Old Men and Fargo when talking about the Coens’ cream of the crop. I admire Fargo for many things, but most of all its dark humor and hysterical Midwestern accents, and then No Country for Old Men for its stillness and gentle pacing. The movie trumps Cormac McCarthy’s book in some scenes - their take on the shoot ‘em up at the hotel is, I think, better than the way McCarthy illustrated it - and the team of Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin was just exciting.

Disc includes: N/A

Country Strong

Country Strong only went wide at the beginning of the year, and already here it is on the home media market. The film earned back its $15 million investment, but not by much. It spent about a month in theaters and grossed a little over $20 million. Country Strong’s soundtrack, actually, seemed to get more recognition than the film. The album charted at No. 6 on the U.S. Billboard 200, and one of its songs, “Coming Home,” got an Oscar nod.

Gwyneth first tested her abilities as a singer in Duets, the 2000 movie about competitive karaoke - a precursor, I guess, to American Idol. Her cover of Smokey Robinson’s “Cruisin’” with Huey Lewis certainly bought the film a little notoriety. It hit No. 1 on the U.S adult contemporary chart 11 years ago. And today, along with Country Strong, Paltrow has been guesting on Glee with covers of Prince’s “Kiss” and Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide.”

Disc includes: Original ending, deleted scenes, “Shake That Thing” extended performance by Gwyneth Paltrow, “Country Strong” music video featuring Gwyneth Paltrow, “A Little Bit Stronger” music video by Sara Evans

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