How to Spend $20
By Eric Hughes
November 24, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Pick of the Week
For people who didn't know Adam Sandler did stand up anymore: Funny People (Special Edition)
In The 40 Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up, Judd Apatow created lasting, hilarious comedies with heart. You know, movies I can watch more than once. Apatow flubbed it with Funny People. Perhaps my expectations were too high. Perhaps I was expecting one thing but got another. Perhaps it just, well, didn't work. (I tend to think it's the latter observation).
Like most Judd Apatow projects, I wanted to like it. Funny People has Seth Rogen, who I adore; Jason Schwartzman, who I'm warming up to (in much the same way as Paul Rudd for me); Adam Sandler, who I consider a wild card but am generally satisfied with; and Leslie Mann, who in my book killed it in Virgin and was solid again in Knocked Up. Eric Bana's in this one too, though he did the usual for me (which translates to, uh, nothing).
It's not that Apatow can't do drama, because he can. We've seen it in his "comedies" and in shows like Freaks and Geeks. But the seriousness of Funny People felt forced to me, and the ad-libbed, off-the-cuff banter between his characters didn't seem as polished. And it's a common complaint, but I'm going to have to agree: What's up with the last third of the movie? What we begin with (and think we have) isn't where we end. The strongest material is in the first half, and then Funny People just runs out of gas.
Not to say that the movie is devoid of anything good – or vintage Apatowian. It has much of the comedy we've come to expect from Apatow. In fact, I'm looking forward to his next movie, just not with bated breath.
Disc includes: Gag reels, deleted/extended/alternate scenes, Line-O-Rama featurette, audio commentary, Funny People Diaries (documentary), Judd's High School Radio Show (documentary), Raaaaaaaandy! (documentary), Music from Funny People featurette, From the Archives featurette, The Films of George Simmons featurette, Prank Call 1990 featurette, Yo Teach...! featurette
For people who need visual confirmation on whether Vince Vaughn is taller than Reese Witherspoon (or vice versa): Four Christmases (Special Edition)
When Four Christmases was originally announced with Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon as its leads (and actors like Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Jon Favreau and Kristin Chenoweth as secondary players), curiosity piqued for me. But what we ended up with – as I half expected – was something more Jingle All the Way than Elf or The Holiday. Though it's silly (some would probably say stupid) and its characters are pretty plastic, the movie still manages to dish out a decent amount of laughs to make it worthwhile to see again. (Just don't go in expecting something of It's a Wonderful Life caliber. This, of course, is not that movie).
For those who somehow missed out on the barrage of advertisements that descended on this fine nation a few weeks before Four Christmases' opening weekend, the movie stars Vince and Reese as two lovers each with divorced parents who make it a point to visit all four of their families' Christmas parties after their exotic vacay is cut short by an act of god. (In this case, fog). As always, Kristin Chenoweth puts in a good performance, this time playing the sister of Reese's character.
Disc includes: Seven-Layer Holiday Meals in a Flash featurette, Four Christmases: Holiday Moments featurette, gag reel, additional scenes, Four Christmases: Behind the Madness (HBO First Look)
For people who know who Antsy Pants and The Moldy Peaches are: Slumdog Millionaire / Juno [Blu-ray]
I don't generally promote combo packs here on How to Spend $20, if ever. But this Blu-ray bundle proved to be too difficult for me to simply brush under the rug. Available together today are Juno, conveniently one of my favorite films of 2007, and Slumdog Millionaire, conveniently one of my favorite films of 2008.
Beyond Slumdog's beautiful cinematography and the talent (both new and old) in Juno, I think what I like most about the respective films are their soundtracks. Albeit totally different in artists and sound, I remember both discs to be in heavy rotation when I first got my hands on ‘em. Whereas I enjoyed Slumdog's for its beats (which, FYI, make for great jogging music), I took a liking to the simplicity in most Juno tracks. Take Kimya Dawson, for example, who in addition to having a rockin' name generally accompanies her voice with solely an instrument or two.
Disc includes (Slumdog): Making of Slumdog Millionaire featurette, deleted scenes, audio commentary, Behind-the-Scenes of the "Toilet Scene," Manjha short film, "Bombay Liquid Dance" music video
Disc includes (Juno): Audio commentary, deleted scenes, gag reel, Cast & Crew Jam featurette, Screen Tests featurette, Way Beyond "Our" Maturity Level featurette, Diablo Cody is Totally Boss featurette, Jason Reitman for Shizz featurette, Creating Juno featurette, Fox Movie Channel featurettes
For people who have forgiven Tom Hanks' hair for making him look so terrible in The Da Vinci Code: Angels & Demons (Extended Edition)
Marketed by Columbia as a sequel to The Da Vinci Code – though Dan Brown actually published Angels & Demons before Da Vinci – Tom Hank's second outing as famed symbologist Robert Langdon proved to be mostly a letdown for its parent studio as Angels & Demons' box office returns were significantly less than Da Vinci ("just" $486 million worldwide for Angels vs. Da Vinci's $757 million) and its Rotten Tomatoes score topped out at 36% positive (a modest improvement over Da Vinci's 24%). One thing Angel & Demons did succeed in, however, was making Tom Hanks look like Tom Hanks again. In this one, he journeys to Vatican City to save the country from a destructive antimatter attack.
These movies generally have done little to nothing for me. I tend to enjoy Brown's books a lot more (especially Angels & Demons, which is superior to both Da Vinci and The Lost Symbol, released in September).
Disc includes: Rome Was Not Built in a Day featurette, Writing Angels & Demons featurette, Characters in Search of the True Story featurette, CERN: Pushing the Frontiers of Knowledge featurette, Handling Props featurette, Angels & Demons: The Full Story featurette, This is an Ambigram featurette
November 24, 2009
Blu-ray
Air America
Angel Heart
Angels & Demons
Babylon A.D./ Planet of the Apes
Blood: The Last Vampire
Boondock Saints / Die Hard
Bride Wars / 27 Dresses
Cujo (25th Anniversary Edition)
The Day The Earth Stood Still / Independance Day
Donnie Darko (2-Pack)
Four Christmases (Special Edition)
Frailty
Funny People (Unrated)
Ghost In The Shell 2.0
Gomorrah
Ink
Kings of Leon: Live at the O2 London
La Hacienda
Marley & Me / The Princess Bride
Max Payne / Hitman
Megafault
The Monster Squad (20th Anniversary Edition)
My Bloody Valentine
New Police Story
Pink Panther 2 / Igor
Quantum of Solace / Dr. No
Righteous Kill / The Traitor
Sex & Death 101 / Heathers
Shorts
Slumdog Millionaire / Juno
The Sopranos: The Complete First Season
Streets of Blood / Lies & Illusions
Taken / The Marine
The Way Of The Gun
The Wrestler / Rocky
DVD
2009 World Series
30 Rock: Seasons 1-3
Air America (Special Edition)
Akihabara@Deep Movie (Special Edition)
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Season 4
Angels & Demons (Extended Edition)
The Best of Spike Jones Collection (Set)
Beverly Hills 90210: Seasons 1-8 (Set)
Beverly Hills 90210: The Eighth Season
Beyonce: I Am... Yours, An Intimate Performance
Bill Engvall: Aged & Confused
The Black Crowes: Cabin Fever
Blood: The Last Vampire
Buck Rogers (Anniversary Edition)
Cujo (25th Anniversary Edition)
Devilman (Special Edition)
Donnie Darko 2-Pack (Double Feature)
Four Christmases (Special Edition)
Funny People (Special Edition)
Ghost In The Shell 2.0
Gomorrah
Ink
Kings of Leon: Live at the O2 London
La Hacienda
Laredo Complete Series 1965-1967
Law & Order: Criminal Intent - Season 4
Life on Mars (UK Version): Series 2
Mad Dog Morgan (Limited Edition)
Megafault
Melrose Place Seasons 1-5 (Set)
Mondovino: The Complete Series
The Monster Squad (20th Anniversary Edition)
My Bloody Valentine
The Night Before Christmas (Special Edition)
Santa Buddies
Shorts
Superman: The Complete Animated Series (Set)
Uninvited (Widescreen)
WWE: Bragging Rights 2009