Special Edition column - Page 3

"I'd totally do you if I got this from you."

Now I have to clean the soda/mucus combination off of my shirt that just shot out of my nose.

Indeed. Thanks for the laugh.

They must have changed the cover art for Collateral because that one looked like Cruise was about to shoot Foxx in the nards.

Where did you hear about the Buffy season sets being $17? I didn't see anything on target.com about that. Is it just for Black Friday?

I'm wondering if I should pick up Man on Fire or if there will ever be a special edition of it? Great film.

The Special Edition column is on hiatus due to John's schedule. I am seeking someone to seize hodl of this column now, someone who knows DVD, can write, and is able to get something up Sunday Nights or Monday Mornings in time for the week's released. Email nick@chud.com if interested.

And thanks to John Carroll for a very solid and creative job during his tenure.

No joke, Flyarz is some pretty big shoes to fill.

New column tomorrow guest hosted by me.

A bit messy, but you get the drift...


http://chud.com/specialed/989

In the quiet words of the virgin Mary: "Come again?" You haven't seen this?
Anyway, it's fantastic and you should check it out.
I was in the mood for a Samurai film on the day I bought it. Putting the word in the title is just common business sense, lets the audience know what they're in for. Although this is a surprisingly quiet and beautiful love story without much Katana action.

And I'll admit to laughing out loud at "Lassie: All up in this Muthafucka".

I laughed. Hard.

Great article Nick.

That said, a small horde of people in red and green plumber outfits will be leaving a burning effigy of a Spartan-II soldier on your front lawn tonight. Thank you.

Best SE Ive read in a long time. Funny stuff. And anyone getting offended over the Nintendo comment...c'mon! What a silly thing to get riled up about. It's a box. You play video games with it. Relax.


BTW....yeah, GC is nothing but a paperweight. heheheh

Nintendo loyalists remind me of those battered wives who somehow think they did something to deserve the pummeling. They keep going back to the abusive spouse, even through it's out of their control and the puncher feeds on their weakness.

When are people going to realize that Nintendo is bogus? They release a few really choice exclusive titles and the rest is shate. Also, it's the same frigging things each format. Here's a Mario title. Here's a Smash Bros./ title. Here's a Res eve. Here's another variation on Rogue Squadron. SCREW.

Great column Nick....just like Kurt Gibson limping out of the dug-out and hitting it out of the park.

...Good luck John, I for one will miss your special brand of insanity that was The Special Edition.

First off, Pleatherface, calm down, my post was intended as a good natured return fire jab and nothing else. If you think my comment was overreacting, go to Gamefaqs. Makes a mighty strong case for aggressive eugenics, that is, eugenics with an address book, a fast car, and a 12 gauge.

Now down to business....

Hmm...you make an interesting point...few really great titles, and a lot of shite....why, that sounds like "GASP!" every other system on the market. Think about how many really great XBox or PS2 titles there are out there, and how much Z-grade, $10 bullshit you have to wade through to get to them. It's just easier to notice with Nintendo since their library's so small.

And "the same things each format"? Kinda easy to point out for a company that's been in the console game for 20 years now. Granted, I've got my issues with Nintendo too, at the top of the list being the whoring out of Mario to everything except bukkake target practice, but the amount of fun I've had with so many games on that system outweighs that particular pain in the ass.

What I think the big problem is that gamers grew up, Nintendo hasn't, and it makes them look stunted by comparison to gamers looking for more mature thrills. But fuck that. When I want to slice some poor nameless bastard in half and watch the blood spray, I'll gladly pull out the XBox or the PS2. When I want something simple I can play after a hard day's work without a care in the world, primarily, that's when the GameCube comes out.

Different strokes, I guess. I'm just tired of seeing my beloved paperweight get the third degree this year.

We now return to Special Edition discussion, currently in progress.

I have all three major systems, and it's not even close. The PS2 and the XBOX dwarf the Gamecube in both sheer quantity of choice titles as well as titles that apperal towards people with puberty in the rearview mirror. I'm not prejudiced against them. They've earned my spite.

Hmph. i heard the mob use Xboxes to tie to the feet of people they throw in the Hudson these days.

But, again, look how many games OVERALL are out for PS2 compared to GameCube. Of course there's going to be a bigger quantity of good games. Bigger quantity of shit, too.

Can't really argue with the age range statement, though. But again, when i sit down with a controller, I don't always want a gun or a sword in my hands. And for all games to have that, which is kinda the direction every company except Nintendo seems to be headed, is a painful imbalance. Not to mention, it's the whole "All games have to aim for the older crowd to work" mentality that made Ubi Soft think that giving Prince of Persia an attitude adjustment this year was a good idea.

Best way I can explain my standpoint is this: The best game of this year was undoubtedly either Halo 2 or GTA (flip a coin). My favorite game this year was Katamari Damacy.

If that statement makes any sense, then the reason why I still like Nintendo is explained.

Because the size of a system matters. I could care less if the XBOX needed a winch to hold it in my office, provided it played the games with the speed and flash that it does.

on the demogrpahics issue - i think there's an assumption that a game with guns and techno music is more mature than a game with giant mushrooms and rinky-dink music.
it's just as valid an argument to say that all games are still fairly immature, so, if you are going to sit down in front of any little box you've already made the choice to indulge in a little childish behaviour.
same goes for 'realism'. blood and and muted colour schemes don't make the games more realistic, only the level of interaction. and Mario tennis is as deep and responsive as any other tennis game and smash brothers is a damn sight better than any mortal combat drek.
games are still pretty silly, so having a cartoon plumber doesn't seem to take away from the experience of playing. perhaps it's being more honest?

as for how they treat the consumer - nintendo treats europe even worse than the americans. believe or not, you've got it good. nintendo need to go the way of Sega and put Zelda on the next xbox or playstation. it would make me happy.



who's going to replace the irreplaceable John?

Smash Bros Melee is the greatest non-Halo multiplayer game of all-time, pretty much. Have you seen the new Resident Evil? It's fresh. Rogue Squadron? Yeah, the sequel is anus. You're right about the overall dearth of titles (I'll take my XBox if forced to choose one console), but the exclusives are AAA and good enough to warrant owning the system for. I'm not a loyalist, but I'm happy with my Cube.

This was a fun read Nick. Great to see you doing these. Btw you should try and pickup The Twilight Samurai its a very solid little flick I think you'll dig it. Its more of a drama though.

The consoles wars is both pointless and rediculous to me, I get equal enjoyment out of all three systems, most of those complaints by Nick apply to the other two systems as well so really it's all a matter of what you enjoy, as another user said different strokes for different folks.

So when can we expect a Anchorman and Twilight Zone DVD review?

Holy shit! I think I like this new guy.

http://chud.com/specialed/1049

Me likey

"In what one could essentially assume is a moral tale about man’s search for the elusive “big one” (and boy did they just miss one of them) (...)"

Yeah, he was pretty good and had a lot packed in there. I like the round up of the latest releases, I can never remember what's out there.

Yeah nice job. Region free and a Criterion lover I dig it.

I feel for you Whitey I was this close to getting Rio Bravo saturday night glad I didn't.

just awesome. straight up, to the point...a nice big chunk of info to chew on + dvd deals/bargains to boot. great work guy.

Holy shit that was fucking awesome. Great job!

I thought about offering my services for the SE. Even if I had, you'd have been the better choice, Yando. Excellent, amazing work.

Look at all the goddamned links? Good God, fella.

Great stuff.

Oh.... we've got a live one here! Cue: evil laughter... + go right into Prince singing Batdance.

http://chud.com/specialed/1127

Damn, it's a long one, but ultimately satisfying.

Good GOD, man. Great work! You put more info in that column than most websites that are devoted to release dates have. I applaud you. Like, one of those really impressed fast clap applauses.

I figured that most people would either be upgrading their existing copies, since they've already been out before on DVD and people must have seen them. That said, in regards to Without A Paddle and Paparazzi, I guess I'll just say: "One man's trash is another man's treasure", and be horribly cliched about it.

Oh, and thanks for the kind words Rob. I'm having great fun doing these, but I just hope that people like what they're getting. If not, I'll re-work the formula.

re: 01.09.05

I'm all for movie rants, thats why i like the site but i generally cant get past the 3rd article in the special edition column because the opinions are always from someone that hasn't even watched the stuff being mentioned. I suppose it lets you link old site reviews (or the extremely useful, "reviews to come") but why bother talking if your most important comment is "i haven't seen it"? Better to just say "the following dvd's were recently released" and list them.

Unless this is some subtle joke at how inadequate "special edition" dvd's tend to be the column is wasting space really. And if that is the joke, it died after the first column.

Oh, it's no joke. While I'll admit that I most certainly will never get the chance to have seen every DVD being released on a particular day, what you're asking is an almost herculean task. I guess if you'd prefer it, I'm going to have to say you're going to continue to not make it through the 3rd Article in each Special Edition, so I'll say thanks for reading, sorry I can't accommodate you. It's not better for me.

If I'd say the following DVD's were released and list them, then it would be kind of bland and not very interesting, in my opinion, and part of the reason I make comments is because it fits into the layout of this site. For an example, would you prefer Devin sees every film before he lists it over in his Prognosticator column? That is also a herculean task (that can be accomplished), but I'm sure he doesn't get to see these things months in advance.

So I'm trying to make things work and comment on items, tell you what it's about, and post a lot of cover art. I feel that that should clue you into what the film's about, for you to decide on your own. It's really up to you, but all in all, I feel what you're asking is to basically strip the column down and make it into something that's really bland and somewhat uninteresting.

Thanks for the comments though. I take most of what you said to heart next time I'm crafting the next one. Hopefully you'll be able to get through more than just the 3rd paragraph in future special editions.

I'm in awe of the amount of work you're putting into these, Yando.

Great work, man.

I was thinking the same thing that Slater said. Hopefully you don't burn out on it too soon, because that's a great column for lazy chumps like me to read. All the info is there, so I don't have to cruise around looking for it.

My thoughts exactly. This is a great job your doing...please don't burn yourself out.

Consider this man burnt out.

http://chud.com/specialed/1213

Also, next week should be sufficiently even bigger due to all of those crazy-ass titles coming out to bankrupt you.

Another excellent job, sir.

Well, thank you for taking the time to read it.

Anything you'd like me to add/subtract/delete/banish?

On top of my rambling, I bow down humbly to your intense html skills all the time, of course.

I love this fucking thing.

It is like reading a DVD column written by someone who has very close cinematic interests as me and the writing is top notch.

Keep this up.

BTW, House of Bamboo is delayed until later this year (Noir Wave 2 is the bet, around June). But a widescreen copy of that, hells yeah.

I am happy to see that Special Edition is giving classic films a lot of love. It's amazing how many fanboys have never seen anything that is A. In Black and White or B. Made before 1977. Anyhting to expand their horizons is welcome.
I just preordered the Warner's Gangster Pack.
BTW glad to see another "Big Country" fan out there A Grossly underated Western. And aside from "They Live", I wonder how many Ren and Stimpy fans realize that the lines the Stinky Wizzleteeth has in "Happy,Happy,Joy,JOy" are direct quotes from Burl Ives's Old Man Hennesey in "Big COUntry".
I am tempted to ask about my most desired DVD, "EL CID', but that and the other Samuel Bronson epics seem to be in some kind of LImbo,probably legal in nature....

Can I just say how much more I love THIS Special Edition as opposed the OTHER Special Edition? 'Cause it's so much damn better. And the "what you may have missed" thing is fucking brilliant. I love you, man.