How to Spend $20
By Kim Hollis
October 13, 2009
Also new and featuring McShane is a 1967 BBC edition of Wuthering Heights, where his performance as Heathcliff established him as a bit of a heartthrob. (And if that doesn't float your boat, there's a whole Bronte Collection that includes Wuthering Heights, a 1983 version of Jane Eyre - with Timothy Dalton, and a 1996 edition of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall).
For people who may find themselves in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife...: Stop Making Sense - Blu Ray
This concert film featuring The Talking Heads is considered the gold standard in the genre. Directed by Jonathan Demme, the movie is noteworthy for being the first one to ever entirely use digital techniques for filming. Other innovations that set it apart from the standard concert movie include no audience shots whatsoever (until the end), unique lighting, and out-of-the-ordinary tracking shots that linger much longer than what a music video audience is used to seeing. It's a great representation of one of the finest bands to emerge from the 1980s and will now have a much richer look and sound thanks to the Blu Ray experience.
For Ashley J. Williams, wherever he may be: Drag Me to Hell
Despite the fact that I've grown weary of horror films and everything to do with them, I was out with bells on to see Drag Me to Hell in its opening weekend. Why, you ask? Well, it was directed by Sam Raimi, the guy behind the camera for one of my favorite scary movies ever - The Evil Dead. Since that time, he's gone on to direct bigger things, like, oh, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3, but there's something about seeing Raimi go back to his roots that makes Drag Me to Hell feel like a step above.
If critical response is any indication, Raimi's return to horror was an unquestionable success. He goes back to the unique tracking shots and tongue-in-cheek dark humor that make his blend of scary something unlike anyone else's. For my part, I was actually a little bit disappointed in the film - it felt too glossy and lacked some of the rawness that I like about the Evil Dead series. Or perhaps I just didn't like that it was missing Bruce Campbell. Regardless, I think it's a film that requires people to judge for themselves, and has a chance to be quite a hit on DVD.
For people who are behind on the movies of Summer 2009: Land of the Lost/The Proposal
Despite the fact that both movies featured big above-the-title stars, Land of the Lost and The Proposal had very different results at the box office. The former started with $18.8 million on its way to $49.4 million at the box office. That total is just a bit less than The Proposal's opening of $33.6 million. It made $163.3 million domestically. People are probably going to be inclined to give Land of the Lost more of a chance on DVD than they did in theaters, and there's no doubt that The Proposal will knock it out of the park in this format. It appears that Will Ferrell's star is falling, but the jury's out on Sandra Bullock. Sure, The Proposal did great, but All About Steve showed that her name alone isn't enough to drive a film to big bucks. Of course, it'd help if she'd skip out on those types of roles altogether.
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