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Welcome to How to Spend $20, BOP’s look at the latest Blu-ray discs and DVDs to hit stores nationwide. This week: The Office takes to the Web, Annette Bening and Julianne Moore choose each other Mark Ruffalo and James Cameron re-releases his blue humanoid baby.

Pick of the Week

For people who like their Office in bite-sized portions: The Office: Digital Short Collection

I must say, The Office has been on a bit of a creative resurgence this season. I wouldn’t argue the writers have grasped a central theme or idea this season like they have in the past. Instead, season seven has felt like a bit of a crazy hodgepodge. An episode about Andy performing in a Scranton production of Sweeney Todd begets an episode celebrating the christening of Jim and Pam’s little one, which begets an episode where most of Dunder Mifflin watches an episode of, um, Glee.

There isn’t much rhyme or reason from one episode to the next, other than that secondary players like Andy, Erin, Gabe, and even Meredith are receiving major play every now and again. And that Glee episode? Some damn good drama between Erin and Michael, elevated by the pair playing off awkward silences. The moment totally felt season two.

Meanwhile, for the past couple years the Dunder Mifflinites have been busy busy on the Internets as well. Since 2006, seven sets of webisodes have premiered online, the biggest of which would be the 10-episode Accountants, which follows Oscar, Angela and Kevin’s honest attempt to track down $3,000 in missing budget money. Being the writers’ room’s first stab at exclusive online content, it’s likely the most well known of the bunch. Well, either it or the more inspire Subtle Sexuality, which is about the founding of Kelly and Erin’s girl pop group.





Noticeably missing from the set is The 3rd Floor, a three-parter about Ryan’s attempts to make a horror film inside the Dunder Mifflin office building. In its place is a series about Gabe’s efforts to impress corporate through a homemade podcast (titled “The Podcast”). To the best of my knowledge, it hasn’t premiered on the web yet.

Disc includes: The Office Convention: Cast Q&A featurette, Paley: Inside the Writers’ Room featurette, Subtle Sexuality commentary, Blackmail commentary, Subtle Sexuality music video, Dwight Schrute music video, Lazy Scranton music video, Michael Scott’s Dunder Mifflin ad, Fake PSAs: The More You Know

For people who don’t know whether Warren Beatty would be jealous or turned on by his wife’s new lover: The Kids Are All Right

“So, who wants to go to a midnight screening of that movie about the 50-something lesbians?” Had you raised your hand on that one, then hot damn, you’ll see just about anything in the theater! Now, it isn’t that I wouldn’t see The Kids Are All Right. In fact, I very much would like to do so. I’m just of the mind that certain movies are tailored to make for fun times at the cineplex, and I don’t know that a Focus Features dramedy about anonymous sperm donation necessarily needs to be seen for $12 a pop.

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