SPEND YOUR MONEY!
NEW RELEASES
*Blu-Ray prices are in BOLD
BLUE
Clash of the Titans (2010) $16.99 $25.99
Repo Men $17.99 $25.99
Batman: Under the Red Hood $12.99 $15.99 $19.99
$12 DVD sale
Step Up 2 The Streets
Adventureland
Monsters vs. Aliens
Mamma Mia
High School Musical 3
National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets———————————————–
NEW RELEASES
*Blu-Ray prices are in BOLD
BLUE
Clash of the Titans (2010) $16.99 $24.99
Repo Men $19.99 $26.99
Batman: Under the Red Hood $12.99 $22.99
Our Family Wedding $14.99 $24.99
Observe and Report $9.99
DVD SALE
$7.99
The Hangover
Observe and Report
Green Street Hooligans
Pandorum
National Lampoon’s Senior Trip
The Boondock Saints
Terminator Salvation
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
$14.99
Green Zone
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief
sale
$14.99
The Hangover
Whiteout
Watchmen: Director’s Cut
Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince
The Invention of Lying
Terminator Salvation
The Final Destination
Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire
$19.99
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
TV on DVD Sale
Stargate SGU: Season 1.5 $24.99
Video
Sales Update
Target
FREE $20 GC with purchase of any TWO games or accessories $39.99 or
more. (Over 200 items to choose from. Excludes video game systems)
FREE $10 GC with purchase of any TWO DS or PSP games $29.99-$34.99. (Over 50 to choose from. Excludes video game systems.)
Best Buy
- Nothing Major
TOYS R US
Buy 1 Get 1 50% off All video games (equal or lesser value to the lowest priced item purchased)
K-Mart
- Nothing major
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
Accidents Happen
The Agatha Christie Hour, Set 1
Appointment With Danger
The Art Of The Steal
The Australian Story
Bad Blood
Batman: Under The Red Hood (One-Disc Standard Edition)
Batman: Under The Red Hood (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Batman: Under The Red Hood (Two-Disc Limited Edition With Litho Cel) (Amazon Exclusive)
Best Of The Fest
The Black Arrow: Complete Series
Cezanne: Three Colors (Kultur)
Change Of Life
Cholo Comedy Slam
Clash Of The Titans (2010)
The Colors Of Curacao: Ava And Gabriel – A Love Story/Papa’s Song
Crack In The World
Dark City
Deadly Shift
Death Kappa
Dog The Bounty Hunter: Crime Is On The Run
Dogs Vs. Cats (Animal Planet)
Don’t Look Up
Dragon Ball: Season Five
Edouard Manet (Kultur)
Egypt Uncovered (Kultur)
Everything You Wanted To Know About Gay Porn Stars: The Complete Series
G.I. Joe: The Movie (Special Edition)
Goodnight Nobody
The Great Epochs Of European Art: The Art Of The 19th Century And The Art Of The 20th Century (Kultur)
The Guernica Tree AKA L’Arbre De Guernica
Hannie Caulder
Hell Girl: Two Mirrors, Collection 2
High Tide
Home
Hunter: The Complete Series
Huxley On Huxley
I Need That Record! The Death (Or Possible Survival) Of The Independent Record Store
Ip Man (Standard Edition)
Ip Man (Collector’s Edition)
Jesse Stone: No Remorse
Joan Mitchell: Portrait Of An Abstract Painter (Arthouse Films 016)
The Job
Joy
Katia Kabanova
Lalee’s Kin: The Legacy Of Cotton (HBO) (DVD-R)
Life After People: The Complete Season Two
Loos Ornamental
Love Hina: The Complete Series
Magic Knight Rayearth: Season Two (15th Anniversary Edition)
Memory Of Water (Facets Limited Edition)
The Missing Lynx
MLB: The Kansas City Royals – 1985 World Series (Collector’s Edition)
The Monster And The Ape
The Mothers-In-Law: The Complete Series
Neighbor
The Only Way
Operation: Endgame
Pawn Stars: Season Two
A Poet’s Guide To Britain (Kultur)
Poirot: The Classic Collection, Set 4
Poirot: The Movie Collection, Set 5
Prodigal Sons
Puppet Master
Puppet Master: Axis Of Evil
Queen’s Blade, Vol. 2: The Beaten Path
Ray Bradbury’s Chrysalis
Repo Men
Sabrina The Teenage Witch: The Final Season
Sabrina The Teenage Witch: Complete Series Value Pack
Sacha Guitry: Presenting (Eclipse Series 22)
Scholastic Storybook Treasures: The Rosemary Wells Collection Featuring Max And Ruby
The Secret Of The Grain (The Criterion Collection)
Seduction Cinema: Lesbian Vampire Lovers Collection
Sgt. Bilko: The Phil Silvers Show – The First Season
The Snake
Song From The Southern Seas
Soul Eater, Pt. 4
Spinnin’
Stargate Universe (SGU): Season 1.5
Stephen Fry In America
Steve Byrne: The Byrne Identity
The Sweeney: The Complete Series One And Pilot Movie
The Sweeney: The Complete Series Two
The System
Tricks Of A Woman
Trouble In The Sky
21 Jump Street: The Complete Series
The Uninvited
Union Station
Vincere
Viva Castro (Facets Limited Edition)
Youth Of Chopin
BLU-RAY: IT’S
GETTING CHEAPER
Accidents Happen
Batman: Under The Red Hood (Special Edition)
Batman: Under The Red Hood (Limited Edition With Litho Cel) (Amazon Exclusive)
Battlestar Galactica (2000s): Season Three
Beyond The Darkness: Buio Omega (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)
The Burnt House
Clash Of The Titans (2010) (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)
The Crimson Mask
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Death Kappa (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)
Don’t Look Up
Fanboys
G.I. Joe: The Movie (Special Edition)
Home
Ip Man (Standard Edition)
Ip Man (Collector’s Edition)
Johnny Handsome
Life After People: The Complete Season Two
Lock Up
The Missing Lynx (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)
Operation: Endgame
The Prowler
Puppet Master
Puppet Master: Axis Of Evil
Rambo (Extended Cut)
Rambo: The Complete Collector’s Set
Repo Men
The Secret Of The Grain (The Criterion Collection)
Stargate Universe (SGU): Season 1.5
Stephen Fry In America
Steve Byrne: The Byrne Identity
Victor/Victoria: The Original Broadway Cast Production
section by: Justin
Clark and SCOTT!
STARCRAFT II
Blizzard
PC, Mac
7/27
MSRP: $59.99
This release means absolutely nothing to me whatsoever, considering my utter apathy towards real-time strategy, but for those who give the requisite damns, Tuesday is Christmas coated in a thin layer of springtime, smothered in rich creamery 4th of July, and considering the wait (what is it, 11 years?), and the amount of tender loving care Blizzard pours into their passion projects like this, you have every right to be elated.
That said, if I were Kim Jong Il, Tuesday would be the perfect day to roll up on South Korea and plant a flag. Possibly while yelling “I’m in your DMZ, killin ur joint security force” into a megaphone.
BLAZBLUE: CONTINUUM SHIFT
Aksys Games
360, PS3
7/27
MSRP: $39.99
CLICK TO BUY FROM AMAZON!
I really wished I could understand why BlazBlue didn’t do anything for me when it came out. Gorgeous hand drawn sprites, complex 2D fighting engine, insane hair metal soundtrack. Then I remember I already played this game in years prior, when it was called Guilty Gear, and that I hit the wall fairly early in that series where the game simply ceased to be fun. This is what Aksys doesn’t seem to get. It’s wonderful they’re making games for the hardcore, but the beauty of a game like, say, Super Street Fighter IV, is that it’s deep without sacrificing the ease of use that makes someone want to go back. If I’m going to need to spend a month learning a multi hit combo/dodge/cancel routine I can’t apply in real life situations, your game has already crossed the line into obsessive territory where I cannot follow. And those that do are those I am afraid of. And probably smell better than.
OTHER GAMES OF INTEREST
Arc Rise Fantasia (Ignition; Wii; MSRP: $39.99)
Clash of the Titans: The Video Game (Namco Bandai; 360, PS3; MSRP: $59.99)
OOOHHHHH: ON THE DLC TIP
HYDRO THUNDER HURRICANE
Vector Unit/Microsoft
XBox Live Arcade
7/28
1,200 MS points
Week 2 of the Summer of Arcade series, and just reading the title just brings back memories of random bowling alleys and movie theater lobbies I’ve seen in my time. Something was always lost for this series when I wasn’t sitting in that giant cabinet, pumping quarter after quarter into that thing just trying to place first so I can sit in for free, but the gameplay footage so far remains faithful to the wild, theme park fun that made this series a blast to begin with. 1,200 points for a lifetime pass to one of the great pick-up-and-play games of recent years is a small price, I think.
ROCK BAND TUESDAY
Avenged Sevenfold Pack 01 ($5.49/440 MS pts)
- Nightmare
- Scream
- Seize The Day
Juanes Pack 01 ($9.99/800 MS pts)
- A Dios le Pido
- Fijate Bien
- Gotas de Agua Dulce
- La Camisa Negra
- Mala Gente
- Yerbatero
$1.99/160 MS pts each
Avenged Sevenfold is pretty much the winner and still champion of the Band I Can’t Stand That I Can’t Stop Playing In This Game competition. They’re consistent proof of that Harmonix ability to find the fun in music, no matter how annoying they may be as stand alone tunes. Leave ’em off my IPod, but I begrudge no one being excited for this pack.
I have a conspiracy theory that Juanes is really John Mayer’s twin, created in a lab to conquer the hearts and groupies of Latin America while John takes the North. They both have this “waste of good talent” thing going on where they should be cranking out truly outstanding guitar tunes, but too often settle for considerably less. Juanes isn’t BAD guitar-pop in the least, but can just imagine his report cards being riddled with “If only he applied himself” as a kid.
Although, he hasn’t told anyone in the press he has a negro pass, so, advantage Juanes, I suppose.
Music
Section By Jeb D.
CRAZY FOR YOU
Best Coast
No offense to Katy Perry, but for my money, THE single of the summer of ’10 is Best Coast’s impossibly catchy “Boyfriend.” The laid-back sunshine that fuels the first full-length album from Bethany Cosentino and Bobb Bruno harks back to the days of classic singles like “Be My Baby” or “I Get Around,” with a contemporary sheen of reverb that sounds like a perkier version of The Raveonettes-and like them, Best Coast seem perfectly happy to wrap an entire album in the echoing sound, without varying the arrangements much. Still, The Ramones’ sound didn’t vary much from song to song: it’s all in what you do with it, and Cosentino’s got a keen eye and ear for the paradox of lazy, hazy, crazy summer days: “I can’t get myself off the couch / I don’t wanna talk to anyone else / I lost my job / I miss my mom / I wish my cat could talk.” It’s that dangerous late adolescent period where the exuberance of youth begins giving way to the wariness of responsibility; when making an effort seems impossible: not because it’s too much work, but because the results might be even scarier; after all, grownups don’t get Endless Summers. Instead, they make albums that feel like one.
NIGHTMARE
Avenged Sevenfold
Another group of metal warriors, soldiering on in the wake of tragedy. Still, the death of drummer Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan seems to have his bandmates reaching just a bit deeper into themselves than before, producing an album that actually might reward repeated listening. It helps that these guys are still fairly young in what is fast becoming a greybeard’s game, and they’re adaptable. The pop influences that leaven the sturm und drang are welcome, from the xylophone that opens the album, to the infectious chorus of “Welcome To The Family;” while the guitar shredding is as competent as you’d expect. The Rev himself puts in his final appearances, drumming on a few tracks and contributing vocals on his own compostion, “Fiction” (supposedly retitled after his passing: it was originally called “Death”). It’s no secret that I don’t have a lot of interest in the current crop of metal bands whose adoption of horror-movie clichés and ludicrously “badass” sounding names (“Zacky Vengeance”? “Synyster Gates”?) would embarrass any but the most completely stoned. But props to the ones like Avenged Sevenfold who at least make an effort: these guys may still be caught up in tedious bilge like “Tonight The World Dies” and “God Hates Us,” but at least they occasionally give the impression that they’re in on the joke.
PRAISE & BLAME
Tom Jones
It’s one thing for a B-list indie queen like Liz Phair to call out her label and get booted, but for a label exec to email people that the latest outing from a Knight of the British Empire is”a sick joke” and demand the return of his healthy advance? That’s evidently the reaction Island Records’ David Sharpe had to hearing the two million bucks they handed over to sign Jones be plowed not into a bunch of dance singles, but a down-and-dirty collection of blues songs. And largely gospel blues, at that: there really aren’t any familiar blues standards, Jesus gets name-checked regularly, and the album opens on the hoarse whisper of a relatively obscure Bob Dylan tune. That said, the band (including guitarist BJ Cole, keyboardist Booker T Jones, and a batch of background vocalists that includes Gillian Welch) deliver both fine musicianship and rock and roll punch. Much of the album’s production is in the familiar post-retro T-Bone Burnett style, but a few of the rockers actually recall the bluesy bluster of The Faces, of all people. As for Jones… well, there’s no question, he’s not very idiomatic in this material: when he repeats “Lawd he’p the waw-tawn pipples” over and over again, it sounds like he’s trying to figure out just how Van Morrison makes it work. Still, his love of the music is evident throughout, and let’s face it: a man who’s lived seventy very full years might actually have something to tell us about the approach of the ultimate set closer, and on numbers like “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” or “Ain’t No Grave,” the approach of death feels real, but not sensationalized; and the ache in “If I give my soul to Jesus / Will he stop my hands from shaking? / Will my son love me again? ” from “If I Give My Soul” might be the most affecting singing Jones has ever recorded. As for Sharpe: well, the guy sounds like a Philistine, and I’m sorry he didn’t like the album… but he’s right: this ain’t making anyone two million bucks.
MARCUS GARVEY & GARVEY’S GHOST 
(35TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION)
Burning Spear
In 1976, less than a year after Bob Marley’s first American release, Burning Spear brought American listeners a different kind of reggae: polyrhythms instead of easy grooves, and a darker, more overtly political bent. Where Marley’s message was always one of humanity and tolerance, even in the face of adversity, Winston Rodney looked the white downpresser man in the face, and demanded “Give me what is mine!” in a voice of eerie, frightening power. Ghostly horns float over definitive beats on songs like “2000 Years” and “Dread River,” and no concessions are made to mainstream ears-or what passed for mainstream at the time; an album this far ahead of its time sounds entirely relevant today. The 35th anniversary reissue has been remastered (subtly, but effectively), and includes a booklet with a great collection of essays and interviews, as well as the followup album, Garvey’s Ghost, a dub version of Marcus Garvey that is probably more responsible for the eventual popularity of the remix as a musical form than any other single album. An essential addition to anyone’s music collection.
Other Noteworthy 7/27 Music Releases
Robert Cray, Cookin’ in Mobile. Unlike a lot of his blues brethren, Cray doesn’t necessarily need a live setting to flourish, since the strength of his music lies in his material, not endless I-IV-V7 nattering, and since he already released a pretty definitive live set from London a few years back, this feels a bit superfluous. For what it’s worth, though, it sounds great, it’s light on the over-familiar (only two songs from Strong Persuader), and does unearth some underrated gems (“One In the Middle” “Time Makes Two”).
Jorn, Dio. The “Norwegian God of Metal” would like everyone to know that this album was actually recorded before Ronnie James Dio’s untimely passing. So, no jokes about this being enough to kill him
Charlie Louvin, Hickory Wind: Live at the Gram Parsons Guitar Pull. At age 83, you’d naturally expect Louvin to be the last word on songs like “Long Journey Home” and “I Still Miss Someone.” Nice to hear, though, that he’s still got a young man’s blood in his veins (“Hickory Wind”, “Cash On the Barrelhead”).
Menomena, Mines. Maybe not their most song-focused outing, but rich with inspiration, with nods to everyone from John Cale (“Queen Black Acid”) to Paul Weller (“Taos”), and enough musical textures piled on top of each other it’ll take a week of listening just to get to the bottom of it all. Thankfully, Harris and Knopf layer the dark emotion just as thickly, making the effort worthwhile.
Sky Sailing, An Airplane Carried Me to Bed. Evidently, before he began his wholesale pillaging of the Postal Service catalog, Adam Young was a genuine blue-collar guy (a steelworker, it says here). And, it would seem, one who dreamed of leaving it all behind for a world of butterflies and sailboats.
Emerson Lake & Palmer, Live at the High Voltage Festival. James Brown tried this once: he named an album James Brown Live At The Garden not because it was recorded at Madison Square Garden–it was actually recorded in a Jersey nightclub–because he was GOING to be appearing at the Garden, and wanted to hype that. Thus, this collection: a bunch of old ELP live stuff released in anticipation of the fact that they are going to be at something called the High Voltage Festival this summer. Perfect for everyone who thought last week’s release of four CD’s worth of live bombast JUST WASN’T ENOUGH.
THE WEEK OF JULY 27th 2010
GROUP EDITED by: TROY ANDERSON
SECTION by: Troy Anderson
CLASH OF THE TITANS (2010)
Director: Louis Leterrier
Warner Brothers
CLICK HERE TO BUY IT AT AMAZON!
Special Features
- Maximum Movie Mode: Harnessing the Gods, with Sam Worthington, Liam
Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, and director Louis Leterrier and enhanced
picture-in-picture; enhanced scene breakdowns; enhanced VFX breakdowns;
on-the-spot vignettes; close-up views of the Kraken, the Scorpiochs,
Medusa, stuntwork, filming locales, and more - Sam Worthington: An Action Hero for the Ages
- Alternate ending: Perseus confronts Zeus on Mount Olympus
- Additional scenes
Clash of the Titans was
a noble effort at remaking a Special Effects icon of the early 1980s. It’s just that between the recutting of the film and the awkward shift of focus onto weird supporting characters, it never quite came together. Sure, it was entertaining to see that Ralph Fiennes can now sleepwalk his way through a movie while doing the Voldemort voice. It’s just that I never quite got the same charm and appeal that I did from the original movie. I’ll give Liam Neeson a pass on this movie, as I’m enjoying his effort to appear in a genre film every three months.
REPO MEN
Director: Miguel Sapochnik
CLICK HERE TO BUY IT AT AMAZON!
Special Features
Repo Men shows us a future where human organs can be bought on credit. Naturally, the world screws it up and we’ve got agents sent out to steal your organs back for their creditor overlords. It’s kind of like that one sketch from Monty Python and The Meaning of Life. Jude Law and Crazy Eye Whitaker shows up to try and make you think that the film is going to be well-acted, but it isn’t. The film never fully tries to embrace it’s nuevo B-movie roots and have fine like Liev Schrieber does. Everyone should be more like Liev Schrieber. That guy is hood.
HANNIE CAULDER
d.
Burt Kennedy
CLICK HERE TO BUY IT AT AMAZON!
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Nothing.
Hannier Caulder has finally received a Region 1 release. But, it has no special features and it’s a Paramount title being handled by a third party. For those that aren’t down with the Revisionist western, this film was the first mainstream studio attempt at setting up a lady gunfighter flick. When Kill Bill was first announced, a lot of older cinephiles started digging to try and find what Tarantino was going to reference. Naturally, attention was paid back to this seemingly forgotten Burt Kennedy title. The story centers around a group of rapists who try to flesh tackle a hotter than hell Raquel Welch. Welch then begins to train with Robert Culp to find a way to put her rapers in the ground. Basically, it’s a family flick.
BATMAN: UNDER THE RED HOOD
d. Brandon Vietti
CLICK HERE TO BUY IT AT AMAZON!
Special
Features
- Featurette: Robin’s Requiem: The Tale of Jason Todd – The story of how
DC Comics heard the fan outcry and reshaped the Robin character for the
new millennium. - 2 bonus episodes from Batman The Animated Series Season 1 handpicked by Bruce Timm
- Next Upcoming DCU Sneak Peak (10 min)
-
DC Showcase: Jonah Hex – animated short. The tough-as-nails bounty
hunter Jonah Hex always gets his man – until someone else gets to him
first – in this case a murderous madam who wants to steal more than just
his bounty from Jonah Hex. Based on a story from the award-winning
Jonah Hex comic series. - Featurette: Robin: The Story of Dick Grayson- Explore the evolution of the character through the years.
- 2 bonus episodes from Batman The Animated Series Season 1 handpicked by Bruce Timm
Batman: Under the Red Hood is one of those DC Direct films that tries to convince man-children that cartoon adaptations of lackluster comics can be edgy. Speaking as a long-time DC fan, I have to attest to the fact that no one gave a shit about Jason Todd. When Jeph Loeb started the Jason Todd Round 2 with his work in Hush, everyone groaned. Then, they passed it off to Judd Winnick who vomited Jason Todd back into the DCU. Now, we get to see the animated adventures about the lesser Robin died and came back as an edgy vigilante. While I wasn’t nuts over the film, I have to admire the voice acting choices. Bruce Greenwood provides a nice counterpart to the Kevin Conroy version of Batman. However, John DiMaggio simply makes the Joker his own.
NETFLIX INSTANT
VIEW (POURING THE DIRT INTO BLOCKBUSTER’S
GRAVE)
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