How to Spend $20
By Eric Hughes
December 1, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Pick of the Week
For people who want to see Michael Cera play a more serious version of George Michael: Paper Heart
Paper Heart is an undeniably sweet movie about one girl's struggle to find out more about love, specifically what it is, how people fall in love (and whether that's even possible) and why up to this point she (Charlyne Yi) has been unable to experience L-O-V-E firsthand. Along Charlyne's journey across various American cities, she meets a boy (Michael Cera, playing himself) who teaches her that she's just as susceptible to love as the next person. As their relationship blossoms, the movie's focus shifts from Charlyne's interviews and her man-on-the-street work to the sparks flying between Charlyne and her new boo.
Though Paper Heart feels like a documentary, it's actually a cleverly produced mockumentary. To believe otherwise would require the viewer to trust that everything that unfolds is completely coincidental. This, my friend, isn't the case.
Yet don't let its scripted parts deter you from understanding Paper Heart's underlying intentions. In fact, its very nature – the pre-planned Charlyne-Michael relationship mixing with Charlyne's true investigation of love – puts a totally refreshing spin on the boy-meets-girl scenario we've seen too many times already. Its inventive structure breaks even more ground than that other boy-meets-girl (500 Days of Summer) released earlier this year that a lot of critics seemed to find original and unique.
Disc includes: The Making of Paper Heart featurette, Live Musical Performances by Charlyne Yi featurette, "Heaven" music video by Charlyne Yi and Michael Cera, Live Interviews with the Comedians featurette, deleted scenes
For people who think ABC's comedy department is catching up with NBC's: Better Off Ted: The Complete First Season
If you're in the mood for zany and ridiculous comedy, look no further than Better of Ted, an ABC laffer that miraculously earned a 13-episode second season (scheduled to premiere a week from today) after bowing to dismal ratings and bouncing around from timeslot to timeslot during its freshman year stint earlier in the year.
Better Off Ted takes place within the wacky offices of Veridian Dynamics, a company that specializes in creating just about anything. (And I mean anything. In an early episode, two scientists try to grow cowless meat). Veridian's business ethics are also, shall I say, questionable. In the series premiere, the company forces one of its own to test out a new cryogenics chamber. That's right. Forces.
Arrested Development fans would probably feel right at home with Better Off Ted. The show doesn't take itself seriously, Portia de Rossi (Lindsay Bluth!) is a series regular as the company's head honcho and that familiar instrumental soundtrack that played in and between AD scenes is reproduced here.
Its low viewership says nothing about what Better Off Ted is doing creatively, however. Had things not been working out on that end as well, ABC's decision to cancel would have been way too easy. Instead, chalk it up to the fact that hit broadcast comedies still seem to require a laugh track. (Save for shows like The Office, which do well in the adults 18-49 demographic, and, of course, ABC's spankin' new Modern Family, which appears to be breaking the mold this fall).
Disc includes: None specified
For people who think Christian Bale should stick with just one blockbuster franchise: Terminator Salvation (Director's Cut)
Besides new talent (Christian Bale), McG's promise to bring credibility back to Terminator by personally talking to James Cameron and a proposal from those behind the project to begin a possible second trilogy of Terminator movies beginning with Terminator Salvation, I think the main reason I decided to skip out on the fourth Terminator movie was because it failed – at least from a marketing standpoint – to make me believe that it held on to anything rooted in the franchise that used to hail Governor Arnold as its star.
The movie looked like one giant action sequence without a strong enough connection with Terminators 1-3 (save for the fact that we're finally into the thick of the fight when machines went bad). I mean, take a second and Google even the poster to Terminator Salvation. Then, recall how shockingly wonderful Terminator 2 was. Don't you want to cry a little bit?
I do, however, consider myself a Terminator fan. (Heck, I remember going to see Terminator 3 on its opening weekend and being generally pleased with the results). So if anything, I do feel this one deserves to be seen at home. And that's exactly where I intend on watching Terminator 4.
Disc includes: Three extra minutes of the film, Immersive Maximum Movie Mode, The Moto-Terminator featurette, Re-Forging the Future featurette
For people who consider themselves history buffs: Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Taking the traditional route of Hollywood movie sequels, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is a big budget, bloated, special effects-heavy mess of a movie that works too hard to rehash the things that worked with modest success the first time around. Characters reappear for the sake of the filmmakers' insistence on finding something to do with them, and the story, consequently, suffers for it. Though its box office numbers came in lower than its 2006 predecessor, Night at the Museum 2 managed to justify its $150 million budget by earning about $177 million domestically and another $412 million abroad. Twentieth Century Fox shouldn't be too disappointed.
What worked, however, for the Ben Stiller vehicle, which shifts its focus from the American Museum of National History to the National Air and Space Museum, the National Gallery of Art and, finally, the Smithsonian Institution Building – even the museum count is overstuffed! – where new cast members Hank Azaria (evil Pharoah Kahmunrah) and Amy Adams (Amelia Earhart) "live". Azaria can comically chew out minions with the best of ‘em and Adams, as always, is a delight to watch.
Disc includes: Audio commentary, Curators of Comedy: Behind the Scenes with Ben Stiller featurette, deleted scenes, gag reel, Phinding Pharoah with Hank Azaria, Cherub Bootcamp featurette
December 1, 2009
Blu-ray
Ben 10: Alien Swarm
A Christmas Tale
Deadline
Death Warrior
Gimme Shelter
The Green Mile
Gremlins
Legend of Zorro / Mask of Zorro
Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels
The Mask Of Zorro
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Paper Heart (Special Edition)
Ride Around the World
Secondhand Lions
Snatch
Terminator Salvation (Director's Cut)
UltraMarathon Man: 50 Marathons, 50 States, 50 Day
The Wizard Of Oz
DVD
Better Off Ted: The Complete First Season
A Christmas Tale
Deadline
The Donna Reed Show: Season Three
Frat Party (Unrated)
Gimme Shelter
Halford: Resurrection World Tour (Deluxe Edition)
Interpol Investigates: Season 1
The Jazz Singer (30th Anniversary Edition)
Mental: The Complete First Season (Widescreen)
Mystery Science Theater 3000: XVI
Neil Simon's Lost In Yonkers
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Paper Heart (Special Edition)
Ride Around the World
Saturday Night Live: The Complete Fifth Season (Boxed Set)
Terminator Salvation (Director's Cut)
UFC 102: Couture vs. Noguerira
UFC 103: Fanklin vs. Belfort (2-Disc Edition)
The Wizard Of Oz (Collector's Edition)
WWE: Jeff Hardy