How to Spend $20
By Eric Hughes
May 10, 2011
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Pick of the Week
Home Improvement: The Complete Collection (20th Anniversary Edition)
Bundled in what appears to be a makeshift tool kit, the complete collection of Home Improvement DVDs arrives in stores today for way more than twenty bucks.
With Seinfeld, Friends, Frasier, Will & Grace and other half hours also on the air at the time Home Improvement was running on originals, I know I forget sometimes just how popular The Tool Man and his dysfunctional mix of friends and family were in their heyday. In fact, its third season, which finished about a year or so in front of the debut of Friends, was the most-watched scripted television show in America (and second only to 60 Minutes). Almost 20 million people tuned in each week, and by that time it wasn’t just horny men tuning in to see Pamela Anderson having her way with power tools. She had left the show for Baywatch a season prior.
One of the things I most liked about the show was its sweetness. Other comedies airing at the time really didn’t come close, and it wouldn’t be until the premiere of Scrubs and later The Office that I’d finally see something as comparably adorable. Tim’s one-on-one relationships with Jill and Al were a highlight for me, as were the Taylor family’s consistent chats with their neighbor to the right. Wilson’s intellect helped keep Home Improvement rooted in family values - no matter how wonky the comedy would get.
Disc includes: N/A
No Strings Attached
I’ve come to trust my mother as a good barometer on whether a given Hollywood chick flick is as sucky as its trailer makes it out to be. She’ll see just about anything with a little star power, and with No Strings Attached co-starring Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher, she of course saw No Strings Attached. I want to say the movie, for her, fell somewhere between Morning Glory (the low end) and The Bounty Hunter (the thing next to the low end).
I do wonder, with Black Swan now under her belt, whether Natalie Portman will make a more permanent transition to artsier fair like Closer or Brothers in lieu of cheap thrills like No Strings Attached. It seems silly for an actress who tore up the Oscars to next appear in a romcom about two attractive people who make a pact to have fun sex with each other. As if after accepting Best Actress for The Queen, Helen Mirren really did turn around to make a spoofed When Harry Met Sally sequel.
Disc includes: Deleted scenes, Sex Friends: Getting Together featurette, Inside the Sassy Halls of Secret High featurette, Modern Love: The Do’s and Don’ts featurette, audio commentary
Justin Bieber: Never Say Never
There are really only two kinds of camps in this world: Those that are with Justin Bieber, and those that are not. Anyone who says, “Well, in my eyes the Biebs is both a positive and negative force at the same time…” is a liar. You either like the pint-sized crooner or you don’t.
Now, with that said, there is an additional mix of people that have no opinion on the matter because a) they’ve never heard of him or b) they just don’t care, and I’d like to think I fit in there. And I’m not one of those individuals who feign ignorance on the matter and then privately detest Justin with an indelible passion. I really couldn’t care less whether he sticks around the industry another dozen years or checks out in a few as a 20-something mega millionaire. I mean really, what do I care?
The amount of attention the boy receives is extraordinary, to the point where I don’t know any more if he’s bigger than Hanson or, really, any of the boy bands that sprang up in the mid to late ‘90s. And with all that attention comes all that bad press, particularly among hardened male youth who feel their looks are threatened by an angelic boy they will never ever meet.
Disc includes: N/A
Blue Valentine
Shot on a shoestring budget of $1 million, Blue Valentine senselessly broke hearts everywhere with its sad story of marriage dissolution. And unlike (500) Days of Summer, which was at times emotional but from what I remember being fairly carefree for a breakup movie - thank you, indie soundtrack and cucumber cool Zooey Deschanel - Blue Valentine apparently overdosed its viewers with unsettling queasiness. So much so that it wasn’t beating the dead horse, but beating the guy who was beating the dead horse with, no less, the club he used to beat the horse. Sheesh.
Michelle Williams, who aged six years in the time between receiving the script and actually shooting Blue Valentine, and co-star Ryan Gosling were showered with a bunch of accolades for their performances. But awards attention went to Portman and Colin Firth almost unanimously.
Disc includes: Audio commentary, The Making of Blue Valentine featurette, deleted scenes, Home Movies featurette
May 10, 2011
Blu-ray
300
AC/DC: Live at River Plate
Adam Lambert: Glam Nation Live
Alexander
Alien
Alien 3
Alien Resurrection
Aliens
Another Stakeout
Batman
Batman & Robin
Batman Forever
Batman Returns
Batman: Gotham Knight
Batman: Under the Red Hood
Betsy's Wedding
Big Business
Black Death
Blue Valentine
Bull Durham
Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (Limited Edition)
Catwoman
Children Of The Corn III: Urban Harvest
Chobits Complete Collection
Consenting Adults
Constantine
Cougars, Inc.
Dead Man Walking
Dracula 2000
Equilibrium
Flicka 2
From Dusk Till Dawn / From Dusk Till Dawn 2
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
Green Lantern: First Flight
Gross Anatomy
The Gun In Betty Lou's Handbag
Halloween: The Curse Of Michael Myers
Hang 'Em High
The Hangover
Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo
Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
Hellraiser: Bloodline
The Hit List
Home of the Brave
The Horse Soldiers
Hotel Rwanda
I Am Legend
I Saw the Devil
The Illusionist
An Innocent Man
Jonah Hex
Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths
Justice League: The New Frontier
Leaving Las Vegas
The Manchurian Candidate
The Marrying Man
Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World (Limited Edition)
The Misfits
Money For Nothing
My Father, The Hero
My Sister's Keeper
National Geographic: Journey to Mecca
No Strings Attached
Patton (Limited Edition)
Rocky (Limited Edition)
Rocky II
Rocky III
Rocky IV
Rocky V
Semi-Pro
Showgirls
Some Like It Hot
Something Wild (Criterion Collection)
Spaceballs
Straight Talk
Supercop
Superman II
Superman Returns
Superman/Batman: Apocalypse
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
Superman: Doomsday
Superman: The Movie
The Terminator (Limited Edition)
Texas Rangers
Troy
UFC Ultimate Royce Gracie
The Usual Suspects (Limited Edition)
V for Vendetta
V.I. Warshawski
Valkyrie
The Violent Kind
Watchmen
Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter
Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic
Wedding Crashers
Wonder Woman
WWE Wrestlemania XXVII (Collector's Edition)
The Yards / Lookout
Justin Bieber: Never Say Never
DVD
AC/DC: Live at River Plate
Black Death
Blue Valentine
Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (Limited Edition)
Consenting Adults
Cougars, Inc.
Hang 'Em High
The Hit List
Home Improvement: The Complete Collection (20th Anniversary Edition)
I Saw the Devil (Unrated)
Justin Bieber: Never Say Never
Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World (Limited Edition)
My Father, The Hero
No Strings Attached
Patton (Limited Edition)
Rocky (Limited Edition)
Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated: Season 1 Volume 2
Something Wild (Criterion Collection)
The Terminator (Limited Edition)
The Usual Suspects (Limited Edition)
The Violent Kind
Webster: Season 2
WWE Wrestlemania XXVII (Collector's Edition)