How to Spend $20
By Eric Hughes
March 29, 2011
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Pick of the Week
Mad Men: Season Four
When Mad Men went off the air at the close of its third season, it left us patient viewers hanging on with the series’ most exciting chain of events to date: Sterling Cooper would cease to be – at least how we’d known it for three good years – and in its place would be an ambitious and completely at risk upstart, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. All in a handful of minutes. And from the outro of the season finale, we’d learned that the number of full-time employees had dropped considerably, main operations would be out of a hotel room and, to save money, Trudy Campbell would probably be in charge of many a noontime snack.
When season four premiered, I was all but certain – rather begrudgingly, mind you – that the worst of my season four fears had likely come alive: Matthew Weiner really had cheapened the events of “Shut the Door. Have a Seat” by cheating us out of those first few weeks, or months, of Draper and Co. starting their new business. Shame on him! Namely, the offices of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce already out-flashed those of the former company, and Don, Roger and the rest appeared far too comfortable in their luxurious outfittings and sparkling, glass cages.
But then we’re told that Lucky Strike accounts for more than half of SCDP’s business, and that the office itself is without a bloody conference table. And that Don Draper is a sad, sad man when he isn’t all pretty and primped in hair gel and black tie.
Mad Men: Season Four is an experiment in how to do reinvention mostly right. A lot could’ve gone wrong through the kind of radical transition Weiner put in motion at the end of season three, and I have to say that, on the whole, I like what he and his writing staff – OK, mostly Weiner – came up with in their brainstorming sessions.
On the soapy end, Don’s life is in pieces now that Betty married another man, and he goes through a season-long arc of self-discovery that ends about as unexpectedly as Sal’s exit from the show. And Peggy, sweet Peggy, is still distancing herself from the naïve youth we met in the pilot. With a new friend and social circle, she engages in activities that put to shame her silly adventures with pot in early season three.
But what I’m finding I liked most about the fourth season is the series’ return to, well, business. If season three of Mad Men was season four of The Office, then season four of Mad Men is Office season two. I’ve confused you. What I mean by that is that much of the season’s drama comes from SCDP at work. It was refreshing in this season to see Don and his men (and Peggy!) do what they get paid big money to do. Much of that seemed to be missing even a year ago.
With that said, it’s a damn shame Weiner and AMC are unable to come to terms on a contract both sides can agree on for seasons five and beyond. I’d had to see a series like Mad Men lose steam creatively over something as pithy as how much Weiner deserves to be paid an episode.
Disc includes: Divorce: Circa 1960s featurette, How to Succeed in Business Draper Style featurette, Marketing the Mustang featurette, 1964 Presidential Campaign featurette, audio commentary
Black Swan
Black Swan is probably the strangest movie I’ve seen in theaters. It’s got Natalie Portman yanking out her fingernails, Winona Ryder stabbing herself in the cheeks and Barbara Hershey looking extremely old. Unbeknownst to me going in, viewers are all but required to have super stomachs.
And as much as I “enjoyed” the thing, I don’t think I have any real desire to go out and see it again. Like Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan is once and done. Because I need to see Nina’s existence spin violently out of control the same way I do the last five minutes of Requiem. There’s only so much bodily mutilation I can take before I yell shenanigans.
For what it’s worth, Black Swan is profoundly dark, and is rather relentless once the magic of Nina’s metamorphosis begins unraveling. Which is to say Daron Aronofsky does a bang up job making you feel very uncomfortable from the moment Natalie makes her first appearance.
Black Swan is more cinematic than Aronofsky’s last, The Wrestler, and I think that to be the case because Black Swan is less character study and more “let’s see how Natalie Portman reacts when treated with X.” As well, the movie utilizes that fantastic behind-the-head dolly we all remember from The Wrestler, and I commend Aronofsky for not thinking it unwise to do so again. I love that shot.
Disc includes: Metamorphosis (behind-the-scenes documentary), Behind the Curtain featurette, Ten Years in the Making featurette, Roles of a Lifetime featurette
Treme: The Complete First Season
After fitting the final pieces together on The Wire, David Simon didn’t pack up his things and go off and live a sustainable life far, far away from here. Or, at least, take anything resembling a “break.” He shifted his focus on a new part of the country and, you know, birthed another critically acclaimed HBO television show, Treme. I mean, why pull a Seinfeld and leave while on top – many television critics think The Wire to be the greatest show ever produced – when you can just, well, shoot higher with a show about a post-Katrina New Orleans?
Strangely, like The Wire, Treme has its foot in the door critically, but is by no means a bona fide hit with HBO subscribers. Additionally, Treme wasn’t the golden calf of HBO’s 2010 television slate, Instead, that prize went to Boardwalk Empire, which has got a lot more people talking.
A second season of Treme has already been ordered.
Disc includes: N/A
March 29, 2011
Blu-ray
Alice in Wonderland
All Dogs Go To Heaven
All Dogs Go To Heaven 2
All Good Things
Apocalypse World War II
Black Swan
Charlotte's Web
Dead Awake
Dogtooth
The Embodiment of Evil
Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance
The Exorcist
Fair Game
The Game Plan
Gangland: The Final Season
The Greatest Game Ever Played
High School Musical
High School Musical 2
Hotel for Dogs
Inferno
Invincible
Kenny Chesney: Summer in 3-D
King Of Kings
Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde
The Long Kiss Goodnight
The Machine Girl
Mad Men: Season Four
Made in Dagenham
Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1
The Mikado (Criterion Collection)
Miracle
Mummies: Secret of the Pharaohs
National Geographic: When Rome Ruled
Picture This!
Remember The Titans
The Resident
The Rookie
Scar
Scream
Scream 2
Scream 3
The Secret Of NIMH
Seven
Soylent Green
The Spiderwick Chronicles
The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie
Star Trek II / Star Trek IV
Tangled
Teen Wolf
The Ten Commandments
Topsy-Turvy (Criterion Collection)
Treme: The Complete First Season
UFC: Best of 2010
Ultimate G's: Zac's Flying Dream
DVD
Ace Ventura 1-3 Collection (Triple Feature)
All Good Things
Black Swan
Dead Awake
Fair Game
Gangland: The Final Season
Here's Lucy: Season 4
In Plain Sight: Season Three
Inferno
Mad Men: Season Four
The Mikado (Criterion Collection)
The Resident
Scar
Tangled
The Ten Commandments
Topsy-Turvy (Criterion Collection)
Treme: The Complete First Season
Upstairs, Downstairs: The Complete Series (Anniversary Edition)
Vega$: The Complete Second Season
Vega$: The Second Season, Volume 2
Xena Warrior Princess: Season Two