SPEND YOUR MONEY!
NEW RELEASES
*Blu-Ray prices are in BOLD
BLUE
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time $17.99 $22.99 $26.99
Glee: The Complete Season One $37.99 $47.99
Just Wright $17.99 $26.99
The Big Bang Theory: Season 3 $29.99 $39.99
Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale $12.99
Letters to Juliet $17.99 $26.99
Grey’s Anatomy: Season 6 $39.99
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Season 5 $24.99 $34.99
Fellowship of the Ring $17.99
Fringe: Season 2 $39.99 $49.99 ———————————————–
NEW RELEASES
*Blu-Ray prices are in BOLD
BLUE
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time $16.99 $23.99 $27.99
Glee: The Complete Season One $34.99 $44.99
Just Wright $14.99 $22.99
The Big Bang Theory: Season 3 $29.99 $36.99
Fringe: Season 2 $37.99 $45.99
The League: Season 1 $24.99 $26.99
Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale $14.99
Letters to Juliet $17.99 $29.99
Grey’s Anatomy: Season 6 $39.99
America: The Story of Us $24.99
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Season 5 $26.99 $34.99
Monster House: 3D Blu-Ray $34.99
TV on DVD Sale
$19.99
Smallville: Season 8
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Season 4
30 Rock: Season 3
Castle: Season 1
Desperate Housewives: Season 5
How I Met Your Mother: Season 4
Two and a Half Men: Season 6
Law and Order: Special Victims Unit – Season 10
$7.99
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Trick R Treat
Bullitt
Gothika
Eraser
The Number 23
Swordfish
Collateral Damage
$19.99
Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
Return of the King
WWE: Summerslam (2010)
$24.99
Se7en
Video
Sales Update
*Our VG Sales guy has vanished. If you’re interested in doing VG Sales, let me know.
Target
$20 giftcard when you buy HALO: REACH and any of the following for 360.
- Red Dead Redemption
- Mafia II
- Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions
- Battlefield Bad Company 2: Gold Edition
$29.99
- Halo 3
- Halo ODST
- Halo Wars
Best Buy
$20 gift card when you buy HALO: REACH
TOYS R US
Nothing major
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
Afterschool
All Men Are Brothers (Shaw Brothers Sword Masters)
America: The Story Of Us (History Channel)
Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale
Beneath Clouds
The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Third Season
Bill Maher: … But I’m Not Wrong
The Black Cauldron (25th Anniversary Edition)
Blade Of The Immortal: Complete Collection
Blade Runner: The Final Cut
Boogie Woogie
Broken Lizard: Stands Up
Carrie (1976)/The Rage: Carrie 2/Carrie (2002) (Triple Feature)
Casino Jack And The United States Of Money
Corpse Princess, Pt. 1: Aka
Corpse Princess, Pt. 2: Kuro
Craziest Christmas Collection
Dalziel And Pascoe: Season Two
Designing Women: The Complete Fourth Season
Dolemite: The Total Experience – The Complete Collection
Dungeons And Dragons: The Animated Series – Into The Magical Realm
Fringe: The Complete Second Season
Ghost Adventures: Season Two (Travel Channel)
Ghost Hound: Complete Collection
Glee: Season One, Vol. 2 – Road To Regionals
Glee: The Complete First Season
Golgo 13, Collection 2
Grey’s Anatomy: Complete Sixth Season
Hannibal/Manhunter/The Silence Of The Lambs (Triple Feature)
Held Hostage
Hetalia: Axis Powers – Season One
Horror Halloween
The Howling/Howling II (Double Feature)
Important Things With Demetri Martin: Season Two
It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia: Season Five
James And The Giant Peach
Janeane Garofalo: If You Will – Live In Seattle
Judge John Deed: Season Two
Just Wright
Lark Rise To Candleford: The Complete Season Three
The League: The Complete First Season
Leave It To Beaver: Season Four
Letters To Juliet
Lonesome Dove Collection
Looking For Eric
Lovebirds
Mad Ron’s Prevues From Hell
Madchen In Uniform
The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya: Second Season
Mrs. Washington Goes To Smith
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done
Necromentia
The Next Hit
NFL: Greatest Rivalries – Cowboys Defeat Redskins
NFL: Greatest Rivalries – Redskins Defeat Cowboys
NFL: History Of The Minnesota Vikings
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (Collector’s Edition)
Outrage (2009)
Pedro Infante: Coleccion – El Hombre (The Man)
Penitent Man
Pepe And Santo Vs. America
The Pirates Of Penzance (1983 Movie)
Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time
Princess Kaiulani
Private Practice: The Complete Third Season
Raging Phoenix
The Return Of The 5 Deadly Venoms AKA Crippled Avengers (Shaw Brothers Dragon Dynasty)
RiffTrax: Plays With Their Shorts
RiffTrax: Shorts-A-Poppin’
Robin Hood: The Complete Series
Rules Of Engagement: The Complete Third Season
Sagwan
Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare
Sherlock Holmes Double Feature: Sherlock Holmes In Washington/Sherlock Holmes Faces Death
Sherlock Holmes (1964-65 BBC Series)
Shut Up And Kiss Me
Sorry, Thanks
Spirit Of The Forest
Starcrash (Roger Corman’s Cult Classics)
Terminal Island
Tim And Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! Season Four
UFC 116: Lesnar Vs. Carwin
Under Still Waters
Weapons Of War, Vol. 1 (PBS)
Who Is Clark Rockefeller?
World’s Most Relaxing Places: Tropical Paradise
WWE: SummerSlam 2010
BLU-RAY: IT’S
GETTING CHEAPER
All Men Are Brothers (Shaw Brothers Sword Masters)
America: The Story Of Us (History Channel)
The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Third Season
Bloodsport/Timecop (Double Feature)
Boogie Woogie
Breathless (Criterion Collection)
A Cinderella Story/Another Cinderella Story (Double Feature)
Delicatessen (StudioCanal Collection)
Feast
Fringe: The Complete Second Season
Ghost Hound: Complete Collection
Glee: The Complete First Season
Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1978) (Blu-ray/DVD Combo In Blu-ray Packaging)
Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1978) (Blu-ray/DVD Combo In DVD Packaging)
It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia: Season Five
Jacob’s Ladder
Janeane Garofalo: If You Will – Live In Seattle
Just Wright
The League: The Complete First Season
Letters To Juliet (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)
The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring
The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
Mandingo
March Of The Wooden Soliders
Monster House (3D)
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (Collector’s Edition)
The Order (2003)
Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time
Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)
Raging Phoenix
The Return Of The Living Dead (Blu-ray/DVD Combo In Blu-ray Packaging)
The Return Of The Living Dead (Blu-ray/DVD Combo In DVD Packaging)
Seven (Book Packaging)
Shiloh/Saving Shiloh (Double Feature)
Spirit Of The Forest (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)
Starcrash (Roger Corman’s Cult Classics)
The Third Man (StudioCanal Collection)
The Twilight Zone (1960s): Season One
section by: Justin Clark and SCOTT!
HALO: REACH
Bungie/Microsoft
360
9/14
MSRP: $59.99
I don’t see any reason to bother here. Those of you who are and aren’t buying it already made up your minds, and yes, I stand with the aren’ts. Halo bores me. It’s become increasingly overwrought, humorless, and unsatisfying as a single player experience as time goes on, a dour nature it hasn’t earned since Halo 2 (which, as an overall package, is still the definitive Halo game for me), and even failing to arouse the part of me that gets off on pure spectacle. As a multiplayer experience, it’s well crafted, but cold, generic. That is to say, another goddamned space marine shooter. Reach supposedly does a better job in both those areas than a lot of what’s come before, but the people making that assertion also tend to make positive comparisons to the authentic Jackson Pollack mess that was Halo 3. I’d like to believe, but I’d also like to avoid spending $60 to pretend I get any enjoyment out of teabagging F4gPwn3r97.
PLAYSTATION MOVE
Sony
PS3
9/17
MSRP (Sports Champions Bundle): $99.99
So, the motion control wars are officially kicking off this week. I’m sure your moms are very excited. Actually, wait, she already owns a Wii, doesn’t she? Right, so she doesn’t care, even though the entire launch library’s tailor made for her. So, there’s just you, Mr. and Mrs. Serious Gamer. There’s support for Heavy Rain and RE5 for you guys. Oh, wait, you’ve played those already. So. Um. Here’s a baby squirrel who purrs like a kitten. Enjoy.
PROFESSOR LAYTON AND THE UNWOUND FUTURE
Nintendo
DS
9/12
MSRP: $34.99
Another shining example of Nintendo’s If-It-Ain’t-Broke policy working in practice. It’s one of those games where the creativity well just refuses to run dry, even if the formula hasn’t really been tweaked. This is the latest title, but lest we forget, the first three titles in this series are still missing in action on American soil, and it’s been roughly a year since the last one. Anytime you’re ready, Nintendo, feel free to fill in the gaps until the next one.
LORD OF THE RINGS: ARAGORN’S QUEST
Warner Home Video Games
PS3, Wii, PS2, DS, PSP
9/14
MSRP: $59.99 PS3, $49.99 Wii, $29.99 PS2, DS, PSP
In all but name and art style, this is essentially Lego Lord of the Rings. The idea is fine, and the central backdrop is kind of endearing (Samwise reading Frodo’s book to his kids), but it also means any you will be mocked if you’re excited for this and over the age of 12.
OOOHHHHH: ON THE DLC TIP
SONIC ADVENTURE
Sega
XBox Live Arcade
9/15
800 MS pts
This is more exciting for what it represents than the game itself. Because, in case you forgot how to judge things, 3D Sonic hasn’t exactly worked out well. The part of this game that has Sonic in it is….okay, especially compared to the later 3D titles, but especially if you can still switch Sonic’s hateful voice acting to a nice, incomprehensible Japanese. But there’s 5 other characters you can futz about with, and playing as any of them will make make life seem futile. However, this does represent the first shot in what Sega and Microsoft has promised to be a deluge of Dreamcast titles hitting the Live Arcade in the coming months. Supposedly, Crazy Taxi and Jet Grind Radio are already done deals. If you’re not hiding your nerd boner already, consult your physician.
SPACE INVADERS: INFINITY GENE
Taito/Square Enix
Xbox Live Arcade, Playstation Network
9/14
$9.99/800
Attempts to update the ancient ancestors of modern gaming usually doesn’t go that well (when was the last Pac-Man update that wasn’t a Technicolor shitheap?). But if you’re gonna try to update Space Invaders, splicing it with the best and most innovative parts of Geometry Wars, Ikaruga, Rez, and Every Extend Extra and offering that beautiful creation for $10 is one hell of a place to start.
ROCK BAND TUESDAY
Dio – Holy Diver +
Dio – Stand Up and Shout +
Juliana Hatfield – Nirvana
Morrissey – Irish Blood, English Heart
Silverchair – Straight Lines
The Smiths – This Charming Man +
Underoath – Writing on the Walls
$1.99 per track
+=Available for Lego Rock Band
Another random week, but with a higher percentage of awesome than the last one. Holy Diver and the Smiths/Morrissey tracks should be instant buys. The Silverchair track is basically what Coldplay would sound like if anyone in that band was able to find and make use of their testicles, and I can’t imagine this not being one of those tracks already tailored for the RB3 keyboard. Juliana Hatfield is never a bad thing, though I regret the best line in this song likely getting chopped out just as much as I regret the damage trying to hit that woman’s vocal range is going to do to a lot of people. The Underoath track is great if you’re 14 and don’t know any better.
Music
Section By Jeb D.
BAND OF JOY
Robert Plant
It’s not Raising Sand Part Two, and not just because the album misses Krauss’ vocal contributions; Plant’s years screeching in front of one of the most massive noise machines in rock history didn’t prompt him to cultivate much subtlety, and while his voice is still strong, it doesn’t have as much character when he drops the decibels, something that Krauss supplied on their Grammy machine. When he does duet with Patty Griffin, though, on songs like “Harm’s Swift Way,” Plant manages to supply a rasping urgency that recalls the glory days. He even manages some nostalgic arena-size squeals on “Cindy I’ll Marry You Someday.” Producer/guitarist Buddy Miller has a nice bag of post-Burnett instrumental tricks, and he puts Plant through paces that range from roots to Radiohead and back again. The material covers bases from trad to Low, and while not every song fits Plant’s instrument as well as you’d hope (on the opener, Los Lobos’ “Angel Dance,” Plant sounds surprised that the song’s in English), most of them are good-to-excellent fits, with “Central Two-O-Nine,” Richard Thompson’s “House of Cards,” and the ominous “Monkey” among the standouts. In the end, if Band of Joy is less convincingly contemplative than Raising Sand, it’s faster, livelier, and more varied, to compensate. It would be funny to imagine that “Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down” is an ironic dig at an old partner, but my guess is that it just means that Miller played Plant an old Louvin Brothers album.
GRINDERMAN 2
Grinderman
In contrast to the relative polish of Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!, this is Cave and Ellis at their loosest and most raucous, with expertly-placed distortion, shrieking guitars, deep dark swamp sound, shoes for industry, and that damned electric bouzouki that’ll give you nightmares. There’s even the odd touch of subtlety, and the enterprise peaks with the epic final pairing of “Palaces of Montezuma” and “Bellringer Blues.” Cave’s lyrics have always gotten a bit of a pass because he wrote a book (Dude! Just like Jim Morrison!), but for all his wild allusions to JFK and the devil, his thought process rarely coheres when he ventures past “Can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em;” in other words, he’s most convincing when he sings about his cock. On t’other hand, he never fails to make you believe that he actually might go out and do something about that, so give him credit for honesty. And I’m certainly not the only writer who’s going to single out “My baby calls me the Loch Ness monster / Two great big humps and I’m gone” as my favorite line of the week.
MAJESTY SHREDDING
Superchunk
Having spent the better part of the last decade springing bands like Arcade Fire and Neutral Milk Hotel on an unsuspecting public, McCaughan and Ballance decide to see if they can still stretch their own musical muscles; and even if they’re not veterans on the order of, say, Jerry Lee Lewis or Mavis Staples, it is nice to hear that they’ve still got it going: nine years is a lifetime in today’s indie rock scene. Someone once said that this is what Husker Du would have sounded like if either Mould or Hart could sing; not really fair to either band, but they both do share the breathless thrill of a sheer wall of guitar sound, and the ability to craft harmonies that skew from the expected in a way that wakes up and refreshes the ear. The playing is sharp and joyous; song after song becomes an instant anthem, with inescapable choruses, and moments like the “one moooore tiiiime” of “Slow Drip” or the “oh-ooohh-oooohhhh!” of “Digging For Something” will lodge in your brain like a happy summer memory. Maybe most impressive is the way that Superchunk is able to acknowledge the passage of time without either losing a step or sounding hopelessly arrested: “My Gap Feels Weird” is a dead-on perfect narrative of the maturing of the band and their fans, and a celebration of the amazing discovery that having kids of your own doesn’t mean you can’t rock those “kids on the corner” anymore. Go on, pump your fist a bit. You know you want to.
HARLEM RIVER BLUES
Justin Townes Earle
Dad was the fighter: he was white trash, a musician that scared the Nashville establishment that couldn’t pigeonhole him. So, while Justin played some ambitious “like father, like son” (became a musician and drug addict even younger than Steve did!), he wound up as more of an observer: if his songs feel more personally detached than Steve’s best, they’re every bit as immediate because of Justin’s sympathetic eye for his fellow man (and woman, to a degree, anyway). Like Ryan Bingham, Earle deploys the music of the past to show us a portrait of today: less stark and scary than Bingham, but also more musically varied, with Earle leavening the alt-country sound with a bit of gospel, some light lashings of rockabilly, and a touch of the folk tradition. His lyrics paint a clear picture of the modern American world of love, life, work, and heartbreak. Is the narrator of the title song going “to the Harlem River to drown” so as to commit suicide or to be baptized? On the leadoff track, it’s pretty ambiguous; by the time it’s reprised at the end, the meaning seems clearer: salvation may lie ahead, but there’s a lifetime of tears and heartache along the way, and frankly, not everyone’s going to get there: you can live with pain, Earle says… but living without hope is a whole different matter.
Other Noteworthy 9/14 Releases
Mavis Staples, You Are Not Alone. Her recent live album, exciting as it was, showed the strain of trying too hard to compensate for the ravages of time. The control that a studio recording permits allows her to deploy her still-amazing voice with just the right blend of passion and control. With production from Jeff Tweedy, stark bluesy guitar from Rick Holmstrom that recalls Duane Allman’s Aretha sessions, and song choices that range from Jesus to John Fogerty and back again, this is an album that your soul needs.
Of Montreal, False Priest. The affected offhandedness of songs like “Crazy Girl” can get a little grating, but the band’s cheerful delivery– and the genuinely laugh-out-loud silliness– puts it across. Listening to this album is the rough equivalent of having your ADD-addled best friend changing radio stations every two minutes while you’re driving through 1985.
Junip, Fields. Buzzy, distorted acoustic guitar, hints of Afrobeat and Beatles harmonies, supple percussion, well-deployed synth, and a lyrical worldview that traces an arc from the outward-facing “In Every Direction” and “Without You” to the darker introspection of “Howl” and “Tide.” While I’ve heard some of Gonzalez’ solo stuff before, this is the first time that he’s recorded with this particular group of musicians; evidently, though, they’ve been playing together for over a decade, and it shows in the amazing sure-footedness of the ensemble. This blend of end-of-summer dusk and autumnal repose is the real sleeper of the week.
Blonde Redhead, Penny Sparkle. I’d probably be more inclined to pay attention to Makino’s musings on life and love if the music didn’t sound as though it was drifting away on the wind before it got as far as my ears.
Bostich And Fussible, Bulevar 2000. I will gladly admit that I had no idea that there was such a thing as a “Nortec Collective,” whose goal seems to be to play Euro-style acid jazz with a Tex-Mex lilt. Works for me.
Leonard Cohen, Songs From The Road. On the one hand, four of the twelve songs were also on last year’s Live in London (though the actual performances are different). On the other hand, that leaves eight songs of the caliber of “Chelsea Hotel” and “Famous Blue Raincoat” to be presented here in pretty much definitive performances. Plus you get a live DVD. Caveat: if you swore you’d never again buy an album with “Hallelujah” on it, well…
Weezer, Hurley. Up until fairly recently, I had no idea these guys had prompted such strong, divisive debate among partisans, detractors, and lapsed believers; I just thought they were kinda goofy, developmentally arrested, and occasionally entertaining… and, with that, I ju
2 comments
Good work as always guys.
So…the column that used to be about movies being released to home video, now doesn't showcase the movies until page 4 of the column. Will the birth of this new site take all of this non-movie nonsense along with it? One can only hope.
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