How to Spend $20
By Eric Hughes
July 20, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Pick of the Week
For people who think Kristen Stewart learned to play guitar via Guitar Hero: The Runaways
In between her continued role as human sex object between a jealous vampire and buff werewolf, Kristen Stewart broke the Led out with teeny bopper (and fellow Twilight alum) Dakota Fanning in The Runaways, a biopic about the 1970s all-girl rock band of the same name based on Cherie Currie's tell-all tome, Neon Angel: Memoir of a Runaway. In the flick, Fanning played lead vocalist Currie, while Stewart filled the shoes of rhythm guitarist and vocalist Joan Jett. A good amount of the movie focuses on Currie and Jett's relationship, as well as the band's formation in 1975 and Currie's subsequent departure.
Produced for $10 million, The Runaways failed to deliver at the box office. It opened in limited release - 244 theaters - on March 19th and never debuted in more venues than that in a weekend. (It was slated for a wide release on April 9th, yet appeared in 20% less theaters that weekend in comparison to its mid-March debut. The Runaways’ soft $3,300 venue average probably had a lot to do with that). All said and done, The Runaways limped to a Stateside total of only $3.5 million.
For those hoping to hear Stewart and Fanning's respective pipes, you're in luck. Both girls lend their real voices to covers of "Queens of Noise" and "Dead End Justice," while Fanning flies solo for one of the band's most known songs, "Cherry Bomb."
Disc includes: Audio commentary, Behind the Scenes featurette
For people who forget if Tracy Morgan’s real last name is Morgan or Jordan: Cop Out (Special Edition)
Tracy Morgan proved his hard (and funny) work on 30 Rock is paying off for a possible lengthy career in mainstream Hollywood when a pair of recently released movies he starred in performed decently at the domestic box office. One of those movies would be Cop Out, a $37 million buddy cop comedy with Bruce Willis that debuted to $18.2 million in its opening weekend (coming in behind Shutter Island) on its way to a $44.8 million total. Against a production budget of $37 million, the project is already in the black before the lucrative home media market comes into play.
Like Michael Cera, Morgan essentially plays the same character every time we see him, yet audiences seem to largely embrace it. His split personality of brash meets oblivious on 30 Rock earned him an Emmy nod in 2009 - something he failed to repeat, however, this year.
Disc includes: Extended scenes and outtakes, PIP Moments with Kevin Smith and Seann William Scott featurette, Walks-On by Kevin Smith featurette, Wisdom from the S* Bandits featurette, Factoids About the Movie featurette
For people who think The Losers would have performed at least 25% better at the box office had Zoe Saldana been covered in blue paint: The Losers
Based on the Vertigo comic book series of the same name, The Losers is an ensemble action movie starring the likes of Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chris Evans, Idris Elba and Hollywood hot thing Zoe Saldana. Many people drew comparisons between it and The A-Team. And rightfully so. Both projects have eerily similar log lines. A key difference between the two, however, is that the movie’s protagonists were betrayed and left for dead, not framed for a crime they didn’t commit.
Critical opinion of the movie was mixed, and it ended with about what it cost to make -- $25 million. Director Sylvain White told MTV that he purposefully left the door open for a potential sequel. Even so, The Losers has a lot of ground to make up on the home media side of things if audiences are to expect more Losers movies.
Disc includes: Band of Buddies: Ops Training featurette, The Losers: Action-Style Storytelling featurette, deleted scenes, Batman: Under the Red Hood sneak peek, Plus: Zoe and the Losers featurette
For people who think the unruly fans of Philadelphia – a tyke drinking a beer, anyone? – should automatically disqualify its teams from winning championships: Chicago Blackhawks 2010 Stanley Cup Champions
For a city that celebrated a ridiculous number of NBA championships in the ‘90s, followed by a World Series title in 2005, it seems silly (and greedy) to say that Chicago just a month or so ago was itching for its next champion. Yet given the state of the miserable, Lebron-less Bulls, and the fact that half the city is incapable of rooting for the Black Sox because they’re Cubs fans, Chicagoans had an obvious hankering for a championship when the Blackhawks reached the NHL finals against Philadelphia’s Broad Street Bullies.
I had the fortune of moving to Chicago by the time the series came ‘round, and let me tell you first hand that Blackhawk fans were hungry. The franchise hadn’t won a championship since the early ‘60s, and prior to this season hadn’t even tasted a division title since 1993. Players (and fans) grew beards for camaraderie, and one of the city’s most popular publications kept a daily log of the facial hair.
The night the Hawks clinched Lord Stanley’s cup, organized chaos flooded the streets. Sure, policemen on horseback patrolled certain areas, but fans were mostly orderly. Besides broken bottles of beer on the streets, the worst I saw was… people honking their horns. Because it’s, you know, Chicago! And not, you know, the city where obnoxious teens literally regurgitate on young girls.
Disc includes: Extended Chicago Parade Celebration featurette, 2006 NHL Draft: Jonathan Toews featurette, 2007 NHL DraftL Patrick Kane featurette, Behind the Scenes with the Stanley Cup featurette, Extended Locker Room Stanley Cup Celebration featurette, Extended On-Ice Stanley Cup Celebration featurette, Extended Phantom Camera Game 4 Highlights featurette
July 20, 2010
Blu-ray
Being Human: Season 1
Black Narcissus (Criterion Collection)
Cats & Dogs
Chicago Blackhawks 2010 Stanley Cup Champions
Cop Out (Special Edition)
Evil Aliens
Forbidden World
Galaxy Of Terror
Just Another Day
Kurokami: Part 2
Last Chance to See
Legends of the Dark Kings: Fist of the North Star
The Losers
Margot/The Royal Ballet
Mother
The Red Shoes (Criterion Collection)
Rin Daughter of Mnemosyne: The Complete Series
The Runaways
Tin Man (Collector's Edition)
UFC Presents WEC: Aldo vs. Faber
DVD
Being Human: Season 1
Black Narcissus (Criterion Collection)
Chicago Blackhawks 2010 Stanley Cup Champions
Cop Out (Special Edition)
Degrassi the Next Generation: Season 9
Forbidden World
Galaxy Of Terror
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Includes free item)
Jackson Browne: Going Home
Jersey Shore: Season One Uncensored
Just Another Day
Kurokami: Part 2
Legends of the Dark Kings: Fist of the North Star
Look Around You: Season One (Widescreen)
The Losers
Matlock: Seasons 1-5 (Set)
Matlock: The Fifth Season
Mother
My Boys: The Complete Second & Third Season
The Red Shoes (Criterion Collection)
The Runaways
Tin Man (Collector's Edition)