How to Spend $20

By Eric Hughes

June 1, 2010

Cats can fly now? We're all doomed!

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Of course, once I started watching the show, I knew it was special. Yes, Campbell is awesome as the wisecracking buddy of lead character Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan), but there's so much more to it than that. The story of a covert agent who has been "burned" by the intelligence agency he had worked for, Michael spends each week searching for the people responsible for his current situation as well as their motivation for doing so. Along the way, he helps people who are in sticky situations. For example, one of the last episodes of Season 3 had him trying to assist a fashion VP wrongfully accused of murdering one of the two main partners in the business. Sam Axe (Campbell) and current?/former? girlfriend Fiona Glenanne (Gabrielle Anwar) are always on hand to provide tactical support (Fiona is an explosives expert and former IRA operative, while Sam is a semi-retired intelligence man and one-time Navy SEAL).

The show is a lot of fun, with plenty of humor mixed in with the somewhat serious proceedings. Donovan, Anwar and Campbell have fantastic chemistry together, and Michael's mother Madeline (Sharon Gless) has become pretty important to the story, too. Season 4 starts later this week, so now is the perfect time to get all caught up - especially since the final episode of Season 3 left us on a pretty big cliffhanger. (Kim Hollis/BOP)

Disc includes: Smash, Crash, Boom: Inside the Burn Notice Stunt Unit featurette; 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International featurette

For people who love it when otters do absolutely anything: Life

The Blue Planet was the first comprehensive series on the natural history of Earth’s oceans. Planet Earth, which I like to simplify as Blue Planet’s television series sequel, featured a global overview of Earth’s different habitats, from mountains to caves to jungles. The next logical series, then, would be one that pertains exclusively to Earth’s inhabitants.

First broadcast on BBC One in England in 2009 – and then again on the Discovery Channel earlier this year – Life takes a look at the specialized strategies and behaviors learned by living things to survive. It’s Charles Darwin’s “struggle for existence” caught on camera. (And, fortunately for us, it’s in high definition).




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Life’s debut on the Discovery Channel was watched by 11.8 million viewers, a 15% increase over Planet Earth’s premiere. The series’ cumulative viewer count over 10 episodes was even rosier. Life’s 78 million cumulative viewers outpaced Planet Earth by 22%. Clearly people love watching cute frogs skip over calm lakes and the rest of it.

Disc includes: Life On Location featurette

For people who think the moon brings out the crazy in people: The Wolfman (Unrated Director's Cut)

Joe Johnston’s The Wolfman turned out to be the non-factor that many figured it to be after its ever-changing release date helped plant the idea that the Benicio del Toro vehicle may, in fact, stink. (A new action scene and transforming the look of one werewolf were said to be the reason for the reshoots). Originally scheduled as a November 2008 release, The Wolfman bounced around Universal’s 2009 slate three times before it found a final home in February 2010. Even the Weinsteins don’t shift a release that much.


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