How to Spend $20
By Eric Hughes
December 30, 2008
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Pick of the Week
For people who think Alan Ball is doing just fine with his vampire love affair on HBO: Towelhead
Wow. With just one movie, Alan Ball proved just how it easy it is to go from the top to the very, very bottom. In 2000 the writer, alongside director Sam Mendes, won serious hardware at the Academy Awards for their critically acclaimed American Beauty, released in September of the previous year. The movie ended up earning $130 million. People loved it. You know the story.
Jump ahead nine more Septembers to 2008, where Ball makes his triumphant return to Hollywood with Towelhead, based on Alicia Erian's debut novel that happens to carry a number of American Beauty-esque themes. Its domestic total? Not even half a million. To be exact, just $372,000 and change. Sheesh. The likes of Toni Collette, Aaron Eckhart and Maria Bello apparently did nothing to save the project.
Never appearing in more than 100 theaters in a weekend, the drama didn't make it out to my neighborhood. So to no one's surprise I haven't seen it. However, what can be said is that the book, about an Arab American girl who struggles to adjust to unfamiliar racist attitudes following a move to the South to live with her strict Lebanese father, is quite good. Coming from Ball, who was the brains behind the fantastic Six Feet Under and current hit True Blood, it's safe to assume this one was severely overlooked.
Disc includes: Towelhead: A Community Discussion featurette
For people who think David Zucker would have more success in crafting another Airplane! sequel: An American Carol
Running out of films to spoof through the unmistakably lucrative Scary Movie franchise he has a stake in, Airplane! alumnus David Zucker found a new target in filmmaker Michael Moore, that brash, loud-mouthed fat man who's apparently more un-American than any other American. (I decline to agree with this, but so be it). At least that's the loose premise to An American Carol, a spoof that uses the framework of the classic Christmas Carol in telling the story of a cynical Hollywood filmmaker, Michael Malone (Kevin Farley), who goes on a crusade to rid the nation of the Fourth of July holiday. That's when he's visited by three spirits (played by Kelsey Grammer, Jon Voight and Trace Adkins) who attempt to teach Michael the true meaning of America.
On paper, it sounds smarter than the Scary Movies or any of the other seriously deranged spoofs (Epic Movie, Meet the Spartans, Superhero Movie, Disaster Movie, etc.) that have hit theaters in recent years. Even so, An American Carol disappointed at the box office. Just $7 million was earned in the States, against a budget of $20 million.
Disc includes: Audio commentary, deleted scenes
For people who like to know just how Joan Rivers got to looking the way she does today: Nip/Tuck: Season 5, Part 1
A precursor to shows like reality hit Dr. 90210, FX's Nip/Tuck ranks as one of the cable network's most popular dramas, right up there with The Shield, which just ended its seven-season run on November 25th. Focusing on the lives of two plastic surgeons, Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) and Christian Troy (Julian McMahon), the show has maintained a fairly consistent buzz ever since its debut season premiered to the tune of 3.7 million people. The fifth season, which was broken up into two parts – the second of which is expected to resume in early 2009 – started out with 4.3 million viewers.
Due to a plot-related development, the series relocated its two star surgeons from Miami, their home for the first four seasons, to Los Angeles, where Nip/Tuck has been ironically filmed from the start. Following the two-part fifth season, 19 more episodes are slated to be produced, which will end the show with an even 100 episodes.
Disc includes: Hollywood Hedonism: The Transition from Miami to Hollywood, unaired scenes, gag reel
For people who want to see Bob Saget cry like a baby (seriously, he's unexpectedly a pretty emotional guy): The Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget
Originally airing in August 2008, The Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget may have turned out to be pretty funny, but it surely didn't attract the attention of any big name stars. Susie Essman? Greg Giraldo? Brian Posehn? Granted they're friends of Saget's so he must have appreciated the special, but where in the heck did they find these people? The roast's "more popular" stars – Sarah Silverman, Lewis Black, fellow Full Houser Lori Loughlin – smartly skipped the ceremony and videotaped their messages instead.
At this time, no word on who will be roasted next for the cable net special. Willie Nelson was originally tapped as next in line, but the taping has been postponed indefinitely.
Disc includes: On the Blue Carpet featurette, After the Roast featurette, Bob Saget Interviews featurette
For people who consistently confuse this movie with a similarly titled 1994 flick starring the one-and-only Chuck Norris: Hellbound: Hellraiser II (20th Anniversary Edition)
A remake of the original Hellraiser is supposedly in the works, but god knows what the hell is going on with that project at this point.
Until the update sees the light of day, feel free to feast your eyes on the 20th Anniversary Edition of Hellbound: Hellraiser II, a 1988 film directed by Tony Randel. Featuring the infamous Pinhead, who'd later go on to star in six more Hellraiser sequels (excluding the in-limbo remake), the horror movie centers on the head of a psychiatric prison, Dr. Philip Channard (Kenneth Cranham), who accidentally unleashes a series of pain-seeking demons who terrorize his daughter. The girl must then figure out a way to force the beings back to hell.
Disc includes: Audio commentary, On-Set Interview with Clive Barker and Cast/Crew featurette, The Soul Patrol featurette, Outside the Box featurette, The Doctor is In featurette, Under the Skin featurette, Lost in the Labyrinth featurette, poster and stills, trailers and TV spots
December 30, 2008
100 Dollar Taxi Ride: 1st Season
Anthrax: Live Noize
Area 88 TV: Complete Collection
Baby (Widescreen)
Black Lagoon Season 1 (Boxed Set)
Chuck Norris Collection (Set)
Dogs on Board: 1st Season
Greek: Chapter Two
John Mayall: Bluesbreakers
Kyle XY: The Complete Second Season
Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti Classic Album
Nip/Tuck: Seasons 1-5 (Set)
Psi Factor: 3rd Season (Full Screen)
Secret Life of the American Teenager: 1st Season
This Is Our Moment: Election Night 2008