How to Spend $20
By Eric Hughes
June 2, 2009
Welcome to How to Spend $20, BOP's look at the latest DVDs to hit stores nationwide. This week: Mary-Louise Parker heads to the border, Kate Winslet gets the verbal smackdown from Michael Shannon and The Graduate is lookin' good 42 years later.
For people who never knew drug dealers could be so attractive: Weeds: Season Four
In an unprecedented move, Showtime's Weeds opened its fourth season in an entirely new location. Same characters. Same comedy. But a different story, with new characters to boot. Granted, the change in setting was necessary, given that Nancy Botwin's former neighborhood was all but destroyed in the third season finale.
Ushering the Botwin family into their new Ren Mar, California home was comedian Albert Brooks, who guest starred in the first couple episodes as Nancy's father-in-law, Lenny. Though his appearances were typical Brooks (read: fanastic), the rest of the season was less than stellar.
I commend the series for taking a huge risk by shifting to the U.S.-Mexico border and forcing Nancy (Mary-Louise Parker) to engage in some dangerous drug trafficking, but I'd be lying if I failed to mention that the simplicities of the show's earlier seasons are sorely missed.
Season five starts up June 8th.
Disc includes: Gags, cast and crew commentaries, Little Titles by Jenji Kohan featurette, Burbs to the Beach featurette, I'm a Big Kid Now featurette, The Weed Wranglers featurette, Moving Weight featurette, tour of Bubbie's House featurette, One Stop Chop Shop featurette, The Real Hunter Parrish featurette
For people who agree Kate Winslet is one of the top three actresses working today: Revolutionary Road
Had Kate Winslet not won Best Actress for her performance in The Reader, she for sure would have deserved it for her work in Revolutionary Road, based on the 1961 novel of the same name by Richard Yates. She's oh-so-good as disgruntled suburban housewife April Wheeler in this repairing of everyone's favorite Titanic lovebirds.
Though Winslet is great, Michael Shannon's small role as kooky nut job, John Givings, is awesome. He's blunt. He's honest. He speaks his mind more openly than Bill O'Reilly could ever imagine.
Disc includes: Audio commentary, deleted scenes, Lives of Quiet Desperation: The Making of Revolutionary Road
"Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me": The Graduate [Blu-ray]
Along with Bonnie and Clyde and Blowup, The Graduate helped open the floodgates to a new era of American cinema. In this case it was sex, and increased openness in sexuality. Available today is the 1967 classic dramedy, which features a 30-year-old Dustin Hoffman who tries passing as a recent college grad.
Disc includes: None
For people who can no longer listen to The Cure's "Friday I'm in Love" without thinking of this movie: He's Just Not That Into You (Special Edition)
Starring everyone under the sun and relentlessly advertised on all media platforms so as to give the average Joe an incurable headache – seriously, I'd gag if I ever had to hear Drew Barrymore complain about getting dissed on her portals of communication – the $25-million budgeted He's Just Not That Into You opened to more than $27 million in the States, on its way to $93.9 million to date.
Women flocked to see this one in theaters, despite coming away with information they probably wouldn't have wanted to hear. Let's hear it for depressing romantic comedies!
Disc includes: Additional scenes, Baltimore Blade: The Relationship Issue interactive newspaper, How 6 Simple Words Inspired a Book and a Movie featurette, Duet for Telephones featurette, digital copy of the film, additional features via Blu-ray Live
For people who get a high off of escaping high security jails: Prison Break: Season 4
Prison Break is one of those Fox shows that feels like it's been on forever. How has it only been four years? With all its breaking out of prison, breaking back into prison, breaking back out again... no other characters have been this confused about where they really want to be since the Losties decided to head back to the island after spending a number of seasons getting the hell off of there.
A spinoff series was being discussed in October 2007, however the writers' strike and season four's low ratings dashed its hopes.
Disc includes: Audio commentary; The Plan, the Execution and the Bullet featurette; Fade Out: The Final Episode featurette
June 2, 2009
Blu-ray
Air Force One
Anaconda
B.B. King: Live at Montreux 1993
Bruce Almighty
Dark Blue
Defiance
Direct Contact
Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp
Elsewhere
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
First Look Blu-ray Starter Pack
Fletch
Glory
The Graduate
Home
Inside Man
Nature's Most Amazing Events
Navy SEALs
Neil Young: Archives Volume 1
Out of Time
Paul Simon & Friends: The Library of Congress
The People's Republic of Capitalism
Pittsburgh Steelers: Road to Super Bowl XLIII (Collector's Edition)
Revolutionary Road
Road House
Rollerball
Spring Breakdown
Walking Tall
Weeds: Season Four
DVD
Anacondas: Trail of Blood (Widescreen)
Arizona Cardinals: 2008 NFC Champions
Army Wives: The Complete Second Season
B.B. King: Live at Montreux 1993
Blood Ties: Season One
Callas (30th Anniversary Edition)
Cannon: Season 2, Volume 1
Defiance
Direct Contact
Eddie Murphy: Delirious (25th Anniversary Edition)
Elsewhere
Employee of the Month
He's Just Not That Into You (Special Edition)
Home
The Hunger: The Complete First Season
Paul Simon & Friends: The Library of Congress
The People's Republic of Capitalism
Pittsburgh Steelers: Road to Super Bowl XLIII (Collector's Edition)
Prison Break: Season 4, The Final Season (Widescreen)
Quincy M.E.: Season 3
Raising the Bar: The Complete First Season
Reaper: Season Two (Widescreen)
Spring Breakdown
Umphrey's McGee: Live (Widescreen)
Zeroman: The Complete Series
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