How to Spend $20
By Eric Hughes
September 22, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Pick of the Week
For people who want to go to there: 30 Rock: Season Three
30 Rock underwent what I'll coin Will & Grace syndrome in the early parts of its junior season on NBC. The laffer simply had too many stars wanting to make an appearance on the show, and clearly fashioned makeshift ways to get their mugs on camera. (Remember when folks like Hall & Oates were guesting on W&G? What was that?! On 30 Rock, everybody from Oprah Winfrey to Megan Mullally, from Jennifer Aniston to select cast members from Night Court landed spots on the show. (In an episode, no less, appropriately titled, "The One with the Cast of Night Court", which is a play on how Friends episodes were titled). And we haven't yet covered Steve Martin and John McEnroe, among others.
But once all that stunt casting, jumping the shark business was out of the way, Liz Lemon and Jack Donaghy returned to the office, where the show's bread and butter – secondary characters, pop culture jabbery and the like – finally got its chance to shine. (And better yet, absolutely thrive). The season turned out to be just as good (if not better than) the series' second season, which is generally considered 30 Rock's best. Highlights include a Jack Donaghy look alike portraying a telenovela superstar, multiple-episode guest arcs by Salma Hayek, John Hamm and Elaine Stritch and the promise of a fourth season, announced before NBC aired 30 Rock's eighth episode on January 15th.
In case you missed it, 30 Rock won Outstanding Comedy Series at the Emmys Sunday night on CBS, having won the prize for every year that it has been eligible. For those who have yet to add this one to their TV viewing rotation... well... it's high time you get on that.
Disc includes: Audio commentary, deleted scenes, Behind-the-Scenes with The Muppets featurette, 1-900-OKFACE featurette, season finale table read, The Making of "He Needs a Kidney" featurette, photo gallery
For people who could have sworn they saw Seth Rogen riding around in a Segwey (better watch that trailer again – he never does!): Observe and Report
In the battle for the better of the two silly comedies about an obese, white male who a) works mall security, b) has his eyes on a cute blonde who works at the mall c) lives with his mom and d) has dreams to get the promotional bump up to the big leagues – I mean really, could Observe and Report and Paul Blart: Mall Cop be any more similar? – the Seth Rogen-starrer decidedly comes out on top. (If only because it's more foul-mouthed, ridiculous and thankfully doesn't transform itself into a mediocre, kidvid-like heist film about midway through its runtime like Paul Blart did).
Observe and Report stars Seth Rogen (back when he was fat) as Ronnie, a mall cop who works a job lamer than he leads people on to think. He also figures himself the right man for the job of taking down a flasher who, among other people, exposed himself to Ronnie's dream girl, Brandi (Anna Faris).
People who saw this one in theaters probably left their seats feeling slightly gypped. The flick has some funny moments, but overall comes off a bit uneven.
Disc includes: Picture-in-picture commentary with writer-director Jody Hill, Seth Rogen and Anna Faris; deleted scenes, gag reel, dramatized spoof recruitment video for mall security, digital copy
For people who think an Arnold guest spot would have done this show wonders: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles – The Complete Second Season
The Terminator empire – and we're counting the movies in this too – is on a bit of the fritz, wouldn't you say? Terminator Salvation, even with Dark Knight star Christian Bale, underwhelmed at the domestic box office this summer. So much so that talk of a new trilogy of movies, with Terminator Salvation marking the initial episode, may be over. Maybe. Then came the news at the tail end of the 2008-09 television season that Fox axed Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, a TV series spun off from the Terminator series of films. (More specifically, it follows the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day).
From a Terminator franchise perspective, it can only go up from here. (Or possibly nowhere at all – take your pick).
The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which recently made its way back in the news with a) season two hitting stores today and b) a mock Kanye photo surfacing on the Internet , received generally positive reviews from critics and its rabid fan base. Creatively, it would have made sense for Fox to let this one have a third season (like it did with Arrested Development). Ratings-wise, however, the cancellation was a no-brainer. Having averaged 11.4 million viewers per episode in its freshman frame (including a series high 18.6 million viewers for its "Pilot" episode), TSCC slipped to a paltry 4.64 million viewers in season two.
Disc includes: Audio commentary, The Continuing Chronicles: Terminator featurette, deleted scenes, The Storyboard Process: Cameron Goes Bad featurette, Cameron vs. Rosie Fight Rehearsal featurette, gag reel
For people who never knew being a police officer could be this fun: Hot Fuzz (Ultimate Edition) [Blu-ray]
I'm rounding out this week in How to Spend $20 with a Blu-ray version of Hot Fuzz, which, even better, is celebrating its jump to better picture/sound quality with an Ultimate Edition disc. The 2007 Brit action comedy again combines Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright and Nick Frost (who previously worked together on Shaun of the Dead and TV's Spaced). This time around, Pegg, who cowrote with Wright, stars as Nicholas Angel, a dedicated police officer in London who is transferred to a crime-free village in rural Gloucestershire by his superiors. While there, Angel partners up with a witless officer named Danny Butterman (Wright).
Disc includes: Outtakes, deleted scenes, audio commentary, featurettes, video blogs
September 22, 2009
Blu-ray
Adam Resurrected
Battle for Terra
Clive Barker's Book of Blood (Director's Cut)
The Complete Monterey Pop Festival
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
Gojira: The Original Japanese Masterpiece
The Haunted World of El Superbeasto
Hot Fuzz (Ultimate Edition)
Jimi Plays Monterey/Shake! Otis at Monterey (Criterion Collection)
Lymelife
Monterey Pop
The Morrison Murders
Observe and Report (Special Edition)
Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins
Shaun of the Dead
Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Star Trek The Original Series: Season Two
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek: The Next Generation Motion Picture Collection (Set)
Terminator The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Season 2
Wallace & Gromit: The Complete Collection
DVD
30 Rock: Season 3 (Widescreen)
Adam Resurrected
Battle for Terra
Bob Marley: Stations of the Cross Unauthorized
Brotherhood: Seasons 1-3 (Set)
Brotherhood: The Final Season
Castle: The Complete First Season (Widescreen)
Clive Barker's Book of Blood (Director's Cut)
Friday the 13th The Series: The Complete Series (Set)
Friday the 13th the Series: The Final Season
Ghost Whisperer: Seasons 1-4 (Set)
Ghost Whisperer: The Fourth Season
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
Hot Fuzz (Ultimate Edition)
Howling Trilogy (Trilogy Collector's Edition)
Jimi Hendrix: Collector's Box Unauthorized
Jimi Plays Monterey/Shake! Otis at Monterey (Criterion Collection)
Law & Order Special Victims Unit: Year 10
Lymelife
The Mentalist: The Complete First Season
Observe and Report (Special Edition)
Spongebob Squarepants: The First 100 Episodes
Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection (Set)
Taxi: The Fourth Season
Terminator The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Season 2
Terminator The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Series (Set)
Ugly Betty: The Complete Third Season (Widescreen)
Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death
Wallace & Gromit: The Complete Collection
Willie Nelson Special
WWE: SummerSlam 2009
Zombies Of The Stratosphere (2-Disc Edition)