SPEND YOUR MONEY!
NEW RELEASES
*Blu-Ray prices are in BOLD BLUE
It’s Complicated $16.99 $24.99
It’s Complicated/Mamma Mia two pack $24.99
Avatar $19.99 $24.99
$9 Fitness DVD sale
Best of Billy’s Boot Camp
Leslie Sansone: Let’s Walk at Home
Rodney Yee’s Yoga———————————————–
NEW RELEASES
*Blu-Ray prices are in BOLD BLUE
True Blood: Season 1 $39.99 $49.99
It’s Complicated $17.99 $24.99
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus $17.99 $24.99
Avatar $19.99 $29.99
Armageddon $22.99
Tombstone $22.99
SEMI-NEW MOVIE SALE
Ninja Assassin $14.99
The Box $14.99
The Informant! $14.99
Sorority Row $14.99 $19.99
The Men Who Stare at Goats $14.99 $19.99
Pandorum $14.99 $19.99
Gamer $14.99 $24.99
Saw VI $14.99 $24.99
Fame $14.99 $24.99
Observe and Report $9.99 $16.99
Orphan $9.99 $16.99
Public Enemies $12.99 $17.99
Smokin’ Aces: Assassins’ Ball $12.99 $17.99
A Perfect Getaway $12.99 $17.99
Funny People $12.99 $17.99
9 $12.99 $17.99
Aliens in the Attic $14.99 $24.99
Disney’s Earth $14.99 $24.99
Video 
Target
FREE $10 Giftcard with purchase of Nintendo DSi system.
FREE $5 giftcard with purchase of any titles below:
-Super Street Fighter IV $39.99 (available April 27)
-Alice in Wonderland $39.99
-Toy Story Mania $49.99
-Monster Hunter 3 $49.99
-Bakugan Battle Trainer $29.99
-Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing $29.99
-FREE $10 giftcard with purchase of any titles below:
-2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa $59.99 (available April 27)
-Battlefield Bad Company 2 $59.99
-Final Fantasy XIII $59.99
-Red Steel 2 $59.99 includes motion plus
-Splinter Cell Conviction $59.99 (Xbox Live 1 month -Gold Card included)
-Mass Effect 2 $59.99
Best Buy
-2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa: $49.99 (360, PS3)
-Free Nerf Sports Pack with Wii System purchase ($20 Value)
-Gamers Club members who preorder Halo: Reach by May 15 and get 500
bonus Reward Zone points plus 1-month subscription to Xbox Live (3
months if you preorder the Limited or Legendary editions).
THIS WEEK’S DVD REVIEWS at CHUD
Did you miss a review this week? A lot of titles go unnoticed during the hectic news days around the site.
Click here to discover some of the latest DVD reviews.
THE REST OF THE DVDs THIS WEEK
Avatar
The Barbara Stanwyck Collection (Universal Backlot Series)
Beginning Of The End
Black And Blue
Bobby Slayton: Born To Be Bobby
The Buddha (PBS)
Colorado Steam
Crime Of Passion (Mya)
The Descent: Part 2
Disgrace
District 13: Ultimatum
The End Of Poverty?
Euro-Fantastico Double Feature: The Black Cobra/No Survivors Please
Every F—ing Day Of My Life (HBO DVD-R)
Five Minutes Of Heaven
The Fugitive Kind (The Criterion Collection)
G.I. Joe A Real American Hero: Season 2.0
Ghost Hunters: Season Five, Pt. 2
Gintama, Collection 1
The Hills: Season Five, Pt. 2
Hong Kong Godfather (Shaw Brothers)
How To Live In The German Federal Republic (Facets)
I Love Lucy: The Movie And Other Great Rarities
The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus
In Search Of Beethoven
It’s Complicated
It’s Garry Shandling’s Show: The Complete First Season
The Judy Garland Show: The Complete Episodes, Vol. 4
Last Of The Summer Wine: Vintage 1982-1983 (BBC)
Life Blood
Magic Knight Rayearth: Season One (15th Anniversary Edition)
Megapiranha
Michelangelo: Self-Portrait
Murphy’s Law: Series Two
Naruto: Uncut Season Two, Box Set Vol. 2
National Geographic: Five Years On Mars
Nightmares Of Nature
Opium And The Kung-Fu Master (Shaw Brothers)
Orson Welles: The Paris Interview (Kultur)
Perfect Victims
PF2: Possible Films, Vol. 2 – New Short Films By Hal Hartley
Pride And Prejudice (Restored Edition Of 1996 BBC Miniseries)
Red Rowan
Ride With The Devil (The Criterion Collection)
Rita Rocks: The Complete Season One
Roy Cohn/Jack Smith
Rurouni Kenshin: Complete Series
Sherri: The Complete Season One
Six Centuries Of Verse (Athena)
The Spectacular Spider-Man, Vol. 8
Spirit
Surviving Desire (Special Digitally Remastered Edition)
Tales From The Darkside: The Third Season
Transylmania
The Two Mr. Kissels
The Unquiet Death Of Julius And Ethel Rosenberg (Facets)
A Voyage Round My Father
The Voyeur AKA L’Uomo Che Guarda (Special Edition)
Wholphin, No. 10
Why We Laugh
William Kunstler: Disturbing The Universe (Arthouse Films 008)
Without Trace (Mya)
BLU-RAY: IT’S GETTING CHEAPER
Armageddon
Avatar (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack)
The Buddha (PBS)
Disgrace
District 13: Ultimatum
District 13 Collection – District B13/District 13: Ultimatum
Dune
Elizabeth
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Five Minutes Of Heaven
The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus
It’s Complicated
The Jackal (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack)
Out Of Africa: 25th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack)
Ride With The Devil (The Criterion Collection)
Tombstone
Traffic (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack)
MUSIC
section by: Jeb Delia
FEARLESS LOVE
Melissa Etheridge
CLICK HERE TO BUY IT AT AMAZON!
“Miss
NOBODY’S DAUGHTER
Hole
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Like Yoko Ono, Courtney Love has made a career out of being the widow of a martyred musician. Yoko, though, continued to make challenging music while morphing into a button-down businesswoman. Love went the opposite route, embarking on a career as a messy public nuisance while letting her music attain a polished sheen that would seem to belie her initial strengths: when you’re demanding to be heard even before you’ve learned how to play and sing, you get something like Live Through This. When you’ve got the act down too pat, you get Nobody’s Daughter: confessional and confused in the most generic way imaginable (“Tell me who I am / I always wanted to die” she writes—evidently to God). The album rocks just fine, but when she spits out something like “Skinny Little Bitch” or “How Dirty Girls Get Clean”, it’s Bad Girl 101—which, at this point, should be kids’ stuff for this tabloid queen.
THANK YOU, MR. CHURCHILL 
Peter Frampton
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Frampton’s Still Alive. His first album of new songs in about seven years underpins sentimental history lessons with chunky, slashing rhythm guitar, and solos that are glorious throwbacks to 70’s guitar hero-dom. Did I mention that he plays guitar? Because otherwise, he kind of takes a backseat to most of his contemporaries: he has always sung a bit like Winwood but doesn’t have half the voice; he writes a bit like Gabriel but doesn’t have as wide a vision. And because he’s a rich guy, when he wants to do a Motown cop, he hires the Funk Brothers to back him. If you’re an axe junkie, there might not quite be enough soloing here to tempt you, but the songs are earnest and well-constructed; if you want something to tide you over till the next Mark Knopfler album, this isn’t a bad alternative.
HOLY GROUND: LIVE IN NYC 
Mono
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Up to now, I only knew these guys by reputation, but this is an absolutely stunning live recording. I don’t know that I’ve ever thought of myself as exactly a “postrock” guy, but it did sound to me as though the band’s actual textures were being softened by the 24-piece orchestra rather than enhanced: washes of sound that sort of trail off like movie music feel as though they might have had some curves and edges when played by the band alone—all extremely impressive musicians. I can’t say it gripped me the whole way, but any time it seemed about to slide into the outright bland, some impressive piece of musicianship would pull it back from the brink. Going to have to check out some of their studio stuff, to see if the music is any livelier without a string section smoothing it all out. It also comes with a DVD of the show, which I haven’t seen.
Other noteworthy 4/27 music releases:
Drowning Pool: Drowning Pool. Talk about a band you just can’t keep down—more lead singers than Spinal Tap’s had drummers, and they’re still… well, depressed (“The love, the hate, regret, we all have it / Bring the hell if you feel like I do”). But in their case, I suppose that’s understandable.
Bullet for My Valentine: Fever. I’m sure some people regard their recruiting the producer of
Balkan Beat Box: Blue Eyed Black Boy. Their last was one of the more intriguing dance/world/folk/rock albums I’d heard in… well, probably the only one. I’m hoping for more of the same.
Gogol Bordello: Trans-Continental Hustle. Can even Rick Rubin stand up to the combined assault of gypsy ska, punk rap, dub bossa nova, and “positive primal energy”? Tune in Tuesday to find out…
Daddy Yankee: Mundial. Haven’t heard his new one yet, but to be described as “the single most relevant Latin urban artist in the world” is an interesting qualifier.
Sons of Sylvia. According to Fox, these smoothed-over alt-country guys were once The Next Great American Band. Still waiting…
Lonestar: Party Heard Around the World. The most original thought on this album went into coming up with the title… with all that implies. Adult-contemporary “country” with all the musical and emotional punch of a Miller Lite ad.
Miranda Cosgrove:
VIDEO GAMES
section by: Justin Clark and SCOTT!
SUPER STREET FIGHTER IV
CLICK HERE TO BUY IT!
Capcom
360, PS3
4/27
MSRP: $39.99
Street Fighter IV didn’t reinvent the wheel, but it was a wonderfully polished, deep, rewarding fighter that managed to let anyone of any skill level or familiarity with the series to enjoy, which is the factor that has prevented stuff like BlazBlue and Guilty Gear from achieving true greatness. Well, that and the hair metal. And the character design straight out of Yoshitaka Amano’s septic tank. Nevertheless, if there was room for improvement in that game, Super SF IV has got it all covered, from the 10 new characters, the completely revamped online multiplayer, the new Super move system, and a veritable wheelbarrow of bonuses features. The game isn’t even full price, which is exactly the way to do this kind of release.
Capcom loves you. What will make you believe me?
NIER
CLICK HERE TO BUY IT!
Square Enix
360, PS3
4/27
MSRP: $59.99
The often-awesome Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation fame once said of Ninja Gaiden II, which was developed specifically to appeal to Western audiences much like Nier, “I’m not sure if this says more about them, or us.” Nier doesn’t go as far off the blood n’ guts deep end as NGII, but it does seem to suffer from the same Japanese tendency of guessing what an American audience will go head over heels for instead of not giving a shit and doing their own thing with typically Western tropes*. In Nier‘s case, it apparently makes an attempt to be all things to all gamers of all genres, and failing at most. Which, I guess, could be some sort of commentary on how the Japanese see American games.
*–This means, get started on a next gen Parasite Eve, like NOW, assholes.
DEAD TO RIGHTS: RETRIBUTION
CLICK HERE TO BUY IT!
Namco Bandai
360, PS3
MSRP: $59.99
You know that old chestnut about the cop who gets killed 2 days from retirement? Imagine that cop gets shot, let’s say the face and neck, but lives. He can’t run, can’t speak, breathes and eats from a tube, and right now, for some bizarre reason, that guy needs to shoot his way up a 53-story skyscraper to save a kidnapped Malia Obama from a pack of mutant ninjas who all have acid for blood.
That guy is what releasing another Dead To Rights is in the current game climate. It is failure.
Other Games Of Interest
2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa (360, PS3, Wii, PSP; 4/27)
Splinter Cell Conviction (PC; 4/27)
OOOH: ON THE DLC TIP
DANTE’S INFERNO: TRIALS OF ST. LUCIA
XBL, PSN
4/29
$9.99/800 MS pts
Dante’s Inferno, even used, still hasn’t hit that magical $30 price point that would make it attractive and worthwhile in a world post-God of War III, but when it does, this DLC pack will definitely sweeten the deal. You get a new character, which isn’t terribly exciting, except for the fact that it also adds online co-op, a new trial mode which includes 40 EA created challenge stages, as well as a fairly robust engine to actually create and upload your own. Cue griping about why this wasn’t in the game to begin with and all that, but regardless, that’s pretty damned cool.
TECMO BOWL THROWBACK
XBL
4/28
800 MS pts
It’s a remake of the only football game that has ever mattered. Aside from not having the NFL license, the gameplay has not been altered, except to give it an optional coat of HD paint.
Fuck John Madden.
ROCK BAND TUESDAY
Busted – Thunderbirds Are Go!
Flyleaf – Again
Silverchair – Tomorrow
(Individual tracks are $1.99/160 MS pts)
That Busted track not being in Lego Rock Band is puzzling, since short of being 7 years old, that Busted track isn’t fit for human consumption.
Evanescence and Lacuna Coil are in the game now, Flyleaf. Your services are no longer required.
Silverchair grew up into an objectively great band. Tomorrow is an objectively mediocre song. If you were a teenager in the 90s, both these facts are overridden. You’re buying this track. You know you sang it at some point. Don’t even lie to me. You know that’s going to be a hit at whatever lameass party you play it during. You know you’ll be singing it for hours afterward. And you’ll have a ball. Just buy it. No one will judge you. It’s okay. I’m here. Do you need a hug? Fuck you, no hug. You’re buying the song. Suck it up. Take your cheap Aussie grunge injection like a man.
THE WEEK OF APRIL 27th 2010
GROUP EDITED by: TROY ANDERSON
DVD/BR SECTION by: Troy Anderson
THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS
Director: Terry Gilliam
Sony Pictures Classics
CLICK HERE TO BUY IT AT AMAZON!
Special Features
- Commentary with Director Terry Gilliam
- Introduction by Terry Gilliam
- Deleted Scene with Optional Commentary by Terry Gilliam
- Behind the Mirror
- Building the Monastery
- Heath Ledger Wardrobe Test with Optional Commentary by Terry Gilliam
- Interview with Heath Ledger
- Doctor Parnassus Around the World
- Cast & Crew Presentation on Stage
- The Artwork of Doctor Parnassus
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus has grown on me since my first viewing. A lot of noise was made about this being Heath Ledger’s last film, but I don’t feel enough attention is given to Christopher Plummer and Tom Waits. Playing off each very well, allows the veteran actor and troubadour to develop this great rapport. Jude Law and Johnny Depp support the main action with decent enough theatrics. But, you’re still left with the feeling that this is a lesser Gilliam work. It’s still better than Tideland, but much less important in the overall body of work.
THE DESCENT: PART 2
d. Jon Harris
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Special Features
- Audio commentary with director Jon Harris and actors Shauna MacDonald, Krysten Cummings and Anna Skellern
Deleted scenes
Storyboard gallery
The Descent Part 2 didn’t need to happen. But, like most horror movies…it screams franchise. Why do we need to force sequels down the throats of horror fans? Well, we can’t allow them to process gritty endings that showcase what happens when the mundane meets the supernatural. Plus, there’s something about now allowing a female-driven movie to end on a dark note. Sure, it’s not like this film tries to sunshine up the events. But, when you listen to the audio commentary…it’s hard to come up with answers justifying a second trip back to the caves.
RIDE WITH THE DEVIL
d. Ang Lee
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Special Features
Ride with the Devil
was not an easy film for some moviegoers in the Fall of 1998. Overshadowed by the gloss of Benigni and Madden, Ang Lee fell by the wayside at Awards time. The film is finally getting a second chance via this week’s Blu-Ray/DVD offering from the good folks at Criterion. Taking a look at the Bushwackers/Jayhawk border wars that took place in Missouri offers up an interesting look at the Civil War. One that takes away the majestic landscapes of Tara and offers up the dirt of the near frontier. Jeffrey Wright is amazing in the film, but it’s Tobey Maguire’s showcase.
THE FUGITIVE KIND
c. Marlon Brando, Joanne Woodward and Maureen Stapleton
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Special Features
-
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- New video interview with Lumet
- New documentary featuring Robert Bray and R. Barton Palmer
- A booklet featuring an essay by film critic David Thomson
- Plus ! Three Plays by Tennessee Williams, an hour-long TV presentation
The Fugitive Kind is a great Sidney Lumet film that came after his debut, but before he got into the serious drama of the 1970s. Brando channels James Dean as guitar slinging drifter Val Xavier. Every moment Brando is on the screen makes you wish that he had never turned into the giant slob of his old age. The film is meant to reflect Tennessee Williams’ dabbling in the Southern Gothic tradition. This means that there’s a lot of pining and women wanting to be fucked. Unfortunately, there’s no overt themes or near sexual assaults. Not every Williams adaptation can equal Kazan’s A Streetcar Named Desire.
NETFLIX INSTANT VIEW (POURING THE DIRT INTO BLOCKBUSTER’S GRAVE)
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4 comments
I'm all for the Tecmo Bowl revamp, but incredibly disappointed that it won't have updated rosters with the classics as an option.
First, Tideland is awesome and one of the best Gilliam movies. don't hate. Second, is my Dad doing the music section on here? Melissa Etheridge? Really? I've come to the realization that hardcore movie fans don't really have the best taste in music. Sorry.
The music I wind up featuring actually has more to do with what's available for advance preview than anything else– and often that will be mainstream stuff that a major label is pushing. I try to at least mention other music that I hope will be of interest to CHUD readers. If I'd got advance copies of, say, Drowning Pool or Bullet For My Valentine, those would have the feature section (for the record, I have almost no interest at all in Melissa Etheridge).
Personally, the album I'm most looking forward to this week is Balkan Beat Box, but there's not much point in my writing about it at length if I haven't heard it.
No, Tideland is badly flawed in it's basic conception. Made worse by Gilliam's absolutely retarded attempt to explain to the viewer on the DVD how children are "resilient" only to end the film with Jeliza-Rose clearly gone dangerously, batshit crazy. Escaping into insanity/fantasy worked for Brazil – in Tideland it's a tragedy. The whole film is about this little girl losing her battle against the forces of encroaching insanity. Parnassus though, was weirdly forgettable. The digital revolution has really cut Gilliam's lead in terms of wondrous visions.
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