SPEND YOUR MONEY!

NEW RELEASES

*Blu-Ray prices are in BOLD
BLUE
     
The Search for Santa Paws                                                  $16.99  $24.99
Eat Pray Love                                                                      $16.99 $22.99  $22.99  

The Expendables                                                                  $13       $24.99
Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue                                 $19.99

Beauty and the Beast                                                           $16.99
Toy Story 3                                                                          $19.99                                        

BLU-RAY sale

$19.99

The Last Song
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Alice in Wonderland (2010)

TV on DVD SALE

$19.99

Lost Seasons 1-5
Grey’s Anatomy Season 5
Bones Season 3
Monk Season 7

———————————————–

NEW RELEASES

*Blu-Ray prices are in BOLD
BLUE
   
Eat Pray Love                                                                        $17.99  $22.99
The Expendables                                                                   $16.99  $19.99
Madea’s Big Happy Family: The Play                                    $12.99  

The Pillars of the Earth                                                         $34.99   $44.99
How To Train Your Dragon                                                 $17.99
The Search for Santa Paws                                                  $17.99   $25.99  
Beauty and the Beast                                                           $17.99 

DVD Sale

$3.49

The Final Destination
Jaws 3

$7.99

Planet Hulk

$9.99

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Zombieland
The Tooth Fairy
Hot Tub Time Machine
She’s Out of My League
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
MacGruber
Remember Me
Green Zone
The Wolf Man (2010)
The Hurt Locker
Get Him to the Greek

BLU-RAY sale

$7.99

3:10 to Yuma

$12.99

The Tooth Fairy
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Hot Tub Time Machine
She’s Out of My League
Zombieland

$14.99

MacGruber
Remember Me
Green Zone
The Wolf Man (2010)
The Hurt Locker
Get Him to the Greek

$24.99

Sons of Anarchy: Season 1

TV on DVD SALE

$14.99

Heroes: Season 3
The Office: Season 5
House: Season 5
Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.5

$16.99

The Shield: Season 7
Rescue Me: Season 5

$17.99

One Tree Hill: Season 6
Two and a Half Men: Season 6

$19.99

Glee: Season 1

Video Game
Sales

Target

Donkey Kong Country Returns: $49.99 (Wii) comes with $10 Target gift card
Michael Jackson Experience: $49.99 (Wii), $29.99
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock: $75.00 (360/PS3/Wii)
DJ Hero 2: $75.00 (360/PS3/Wii)
EA Madden 11: $42.00 (360/PS3/Wii)
EA NCAA Football 11: $42.00 (360/PS3)
EA FIFA Soccer 11: $42.00 (360/PS3/Wii)
EA NHL 11: $42.00 (360/PS3)
EA Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11: $42.00 (360/PS3/Wii)
EA MMA: $42.00 (360/PS3)
NBA 2K11: $42.00 (360/PS3/Wii)

Best Buy

Donkey Kong Country Returns: $49.99 (Wii)
NBA Jam: $49.99 (360/PS3)
Lego Harry Potter Yrs 3-7: $49.99 (360/PS3/Wii), $34.99 (NDS)
Call of Duty – Black Ops: $59.99 (360/PS3)
Michael Jackson Experience: $49.99 (Wii), $29.99 (NDS/PSP)
Just Dance 2: $39.99 (Wii)
Just Dance Kids: $29.99 (Wii)
Dance Dance Revolution: $69.99 (PS3/Wii)
Pac-Man Party: $39.99 (Wii)
Tangled: $39.99 (Wii), $29.99 (NDS)
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: $49.99 (Wii), $29.99 (PSP)
Raving Rabbids – Travel in Time: $49.99 (Wii)
Wii Party: $49.99 (Wii)
Kirby’s Epic Yarn: $49.99 (Wii)

K-Mart

Donkey Kong Country Returns: $49.99 (Wii)*
* Get $50 in gaming coupons when you buy with a Wii bundle.
Poke Park: $49.99 (Wii)
Art Academy: $19.99 (NDS)
Splatterhouse: $59.99 (360/PS3)@
@ Get a $30 gaming coupon with purchase
Michael Jackson Experience: $49.99 (Wii)#
# Get a $15 gaming coupon with purchase
Just Dance: $29.99 (Wii)
Just Dance 2: $29.99 (Wii)
Just Dance Kids: $19.99 (Wii)
Dance on Broadway: $19.99 (Wii)
Family Feud: $19.99 (Wii)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: $19.99 (Wii)
Hollywood Squares: $19.99 (Wii)
Amazing Race: $19.99 (Wii)


TOYS R US

Donkey Kong Country Returns: $49.99 (Wii) comes with free T-Shirt and Strategy Guide
Sale: Buy 1, Get 1 50% off: all DS and PSP games

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

The Afterlife Experiments
Batman Beyond: The Complete Series
BearCity
Beauty And The Beast (Two-Disc Diamond Edition)
Beyond The Prairie: The True Story Of Laura Ingalls Wilder
Black And White (Facets Limited Edition)
Countdown To Zero
Deadland
Desert Punk: The Complete Series
Desperate Blackwives 6
The Disappearance Of Alice Creed
Durham County: Season Two
Eat Pray Love
The Expendables
Fire And Ice: The Dragon Chronicles
Flipped
Ghost Sweeper Mikami, Collection 1
Girls Bravo: The Complete Series
Grant Morrison: Talking With Gods
Grotesque
Harlan: In The Shadow Of Jew Suss
Hide And Go Kill
Hide And Go Kill 2
I’m Still Here: The Lost Years Of Joaquin Phoenix
If You Could Say It In Words
In/Significant Others
John Wayne 4-Film Collection: Dakota/In Old California/Dark Command/A Lady Takes A Chance
John Wayne 4-Film Collection: Flame Of Barbary Coast/Santa Fe Stampede/Westward Ho/The Fighting Kentuckian
Journal Of A Contract Killer
Kaleido Star: Season One
Kurokami, Pt. 4
Leather Jacket Love Story
Lennon Naked
Lifetime Christmas Bundle 2010
Lorna The Exorcist
Love Shack
Luther (BBC 2010)
Madea’s Big Happy Family: The Play
Mock Up On Mu
Murder, She Wrote: The Complete Twelfth Season
A Nanny For Christmas
National Geographic: Can The Gulf Survive?
The Nature Of Existence
Off Jackson Avenue
Other Side Of The Game
The Pillars Of The Earth
Saturday Night Live: The Best Of – Eddie Murphy/Chris Rock/Tracy Morgan/Adam Sandler (Four-Pack)
The Search For Santa Paws
Sekirei: The Complete Series
7th Heaven: The Final Season
7th Heaven: The Complete Series – 11-Season Value Pack
Sinner: The Secret Diary Of A Nymphomaniac
Space Precinct: The Complete Series
Stiff
Strongman Ferdinand (Alexander Kluge Collection) (Facets)
Super Spook
Terroir
The Tudors: The Complete Series
12 Men Of Christmas
2010: Moby Dick
Vampire Sisters
Victoria: En Busqueda De La Felicidad
The Vomit Gore Trilogy: Slaughtered Vomit Dolls/ReGOREgitated Sacrifice/Slow Torture Puke Chamber
Wagon Train: The Complete Season Two
Wholetrain
Wicked Passions: It Starts With A Kiss
The Winning Season

BLU-RAY: IT’S
GETTING CHEAPER

America Lost And Found: The BBS Story (Criterion Collection)
Countdown To Zero
Deadwood: The Complete Series
The Disappearance Of Alice Creed
Eat Pray Love
The Expendables (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)
Fire And Ice: The Dragon Chronicles
Flipped
Grotesque (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)
Human Weapon: The Complete Season One (History Channel)
The Hunting Party
I’m Still Here: The Lost Years Of Joaquin Phoenix
Kurokami, Vol. 4
Madea’s Big Happy Family: The Play
Metropolis: Complete (Kino)
The Nature Of Existence
Other Side Of The Game
The Pillars Of The Earth
Red Heat/The Running Man (Legends Two-Pack)
Salon Kitty
The Search For Santa Paws (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)
3D Magic Forest (3D)

Music

Section By Jeb D.

DANGER DAYS: THE TRUE LIVES OF THE FABULOUS KILLJOYS

My Chemical Romance

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The last few times I’ve heard from Gerard Way have related to comic books: his own comic series The Umbrella Academy, which I quite liked, and My Chemical Romance’s cover of “Desolation Row” on the Watchmen soundtrack, which I quite didn’t. So it’s not surprising to find that the latest MCR album is, basically, a comic-book story of teenage paranoia. The setting is a “futuristic” (read: “really, we’re talking ’bout today–wink!”) society rife with pirate DJ’s and kids packing heat while on the run from Greedy Corporate Overlords, but that’s just window dressing for a carefully crafted set of rabble-rousing anthems of adolescent self-pity. Whether appropriating concepts from Bowie, harmonies from Queen, riffs from Green Day, or synth wash from Duran Duran, song after song is constructed around Bic-waving sing-alongs that will make this album an absolute monster in concert; expect to hear audiences bellow “Motherfucker!” in all the right places. There’s catchy bits here and there (the half-rap “Planetary (GO!)”, the guitar slash of “Pretty Poison”), but you’ve heard them all before and better. “Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)” might be the single most annoying track this band has come up with yet (“Shut up and let me see your jazz hands“???), and songs like “Bulletproof Heart” and “SING” are so radio-ready generic that all you’ll remember is Way’s pronunciation of words like “hope,” which can’t be represented by any symbols I know in the English language.  And lest you fear that somehow the whole thing is to be taken seriously, it ends with a source recording of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” which–wait for it–dissolves into screeching noise just as it reaches its climax. Didn’t see that coming, did ya?

ABSOLUTE DISSENT

Killing Joke

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Huh. I had no idea that it had been almost thirty years since all the original members of Killing Joke recorded an album together. Well, regardless of who was and wasn’t playing, they’ve certainly had a huge influence on an awful lot of punk, goth, dub, metal and industrial bands over the years, so it’s appropriate that their new album feels like a summing up of KJ’s strengths: Walker’s fractured, skittering guitar lines, thick, thudding bass from Youth, Ferguson’s propulsive drumming, and Coleman’s roar of a voice over it all; given the fact that he basically bequeathed us the throaty gargle that characterizes much of today’s “adjective-metal” scenes, it’s actually kind of nice to hear the slightly cracked croak that has overtaken him, and which lends a welcome air of vulnerability-you might almost call it humanity-to his voice on songs like “Fresh Fever From The Skies” and “In Excelsis.” The album’s sound is familiar without sacrificing freshness or variety, from the Gang of Four-like groove of “European Super State” to the bouncy, almost poppy “Endgame;” and the concluding “Ghosts of Ladbrooke Grove” takes things out on a deep dub groove that, in context, sounds almost hopeful. If you mostly know KJ as just a name that your favorite band drops as one of their influences, here’s as good a place as any to rectify that.

SISTER SPARROW AND THE DIRTY BIRDS

Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds

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The retro-soul field is getting more and more crowded these days, and it would appear from the evidence of this album that we’re into phase two: moving on from the expert recreation of a particular past era (Sharon Jones for example) to mining the entire history of R&B to develop a style that’s as comfortable with Dinah Washington or Sarah Vaughan as it is with Martha Reeves, which is where we find Arleigh Kincheloe, lead singer of Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds. Fronting a punchy horn section, with the funkiest of licks provided by guitarist Sasha Brown, this is a potent revue that doesn’t limit itself to any one genre. Kinchloe and her band are comfortable as they lay down the Famous Flames groove of “Quicksand,” reggae skank on “Boom Boom,” some hip-swingin’ samba on “”Baby From Space” and the swoony Tin Pan Alley romance of “Just My Eyes.” And fans of The Social Network will get a kick out of the absorption of “In The Hall Of The Mountain King” into the chorus of “Who Are You.” Kinchloe’s also got a nice view of the partying lifestyle of a rock and roll woman: “I stumble to my feet / Praying I could chance to meet. / The standards for a lady / But I’ve been such a sailor lately.” And there’s a stunning ache in her voice as she belts the simple plea “Why did you run out on me Eddy? / Why?” This has been a great year for neo-traditional female R&B vocalists (Eden Wells, Caro Emerald, Trixie Whitley, etc.); Kinchloe’s another worthy addition to the list.

WORD JAZZ: THE COMPLETE 1950S RECORDINGS

Ken Nordine

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The term “beat poet” doesn’t exactly conjure up the picture of a button-down, crew-cut radio personality, but the most famous (and, save Ginsberg, arguably most influential) of the beat poets wasn’t a beat at all, but a Chicago disk jockey named Ken Nordine. Already established as a voice-over artist and narrator, Nordine (who still works and records today), emerged in the 1950’s with a unique style of free-form story, verse, and observation, usually spoken to accompaniment by jazz musicians Chico Hamilton and Fred Katz (who composed most of the music), or occasionally with nothing but the creative use of sound effects to punctuate his “word jazz.” He was highly influential on performers from Tom Waits to Garrison Keillor, and this collection presents his work at its newest and freshest. “My Baby” is an early piece that ends with kind of a limp joke, but tweaks the argot of the beats in a gentle way. “Hunger Is From” is a fascinating, goofy narrative on the pleasures of noshing that is a model for future stuff from The Firesign Theater, and both “The Sound Museum” and “Bury-It-Yourself Time Capsules” feature sly bits of commentary on art and consumerism. By the time he gets to the cityscape of “Faces In The Jazzamatazz,” Nordine is taking off into something truly experimental and impressionistic, and the chilling “Looks Like It’s Going To Rain,” accompanied by sound effects only, is like a Lake Woebegone story narrated by The Shadow.  This set collects the complete original albums Word Jazz, Son of Word Jazz, and Next!, with informative liner notes.

Other Notable 11/23 Releases

Kesha, Cannibal. A song called “Blow” could potentially be about either of two interesting topics. This one isn’t.

William Tyler, Behold the Spirit. Gorgeous acoustic guitar soundscapes from a veteran session player, with occasional touches of brass and piano. Not recommended to those for whom structure is a priority.

Southern Culture on the Skids, The Kudzu Ranch. Maybe the most outright fun release of 2010, previously only a download, now available on CD: Rick Miller’s wacked-out white trash storytelling and John-Fogerty-Meets-Dick-Dale guitar are amply complemented by Mary Huff’s sultry vocals and fluid, swinging bass. And their live show was the party of the year.

Smashing Pumpkins, Teargarden By Kaleidyscope Vol. II “The Solstice Bare”. The music continues to come out in dribs and drabs (only four songs on this $25 list set), but by golly, these folks know how to commission a collector’s box.

Agalloch, Marrow Of The Spirit. Epic metal fantasia, painting bleak landscapes with monstrous guitar from John Haughm, Aesop Dekker’s doom-laden drumming, and a touch of whispering cello by Jackie Perez Gratz. Unfortunately, I will never know what it all may or may not be about, because Haughm delivers the vocals in the gargling rasp of a cartoon ghost from an episode of Scooby-Doo.

Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The gang’s all here (Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nikki Minaj, Kid Cudi, Elton John, etc.) for a fascinating, darkly autobiographical, and inescapable song cycle on the fame that West damn well knows he deserves, and can’t help feeling guilty about.

Florence + The Machine, Between Two Lungs. Expanded 2-disk edition of last year’s Lungs, including live stuff, remixes, and something from one of those Twilight movies. Nice, but if you don’t already have this one, I’d say pick up the single disk.

Mason Jennings, The Flood. The singer-songwriter reclaims some of his early songs from old cassette tapes found in his dad’s attic.

Giant Sand, Blurry Blue Mountain. Gelb’s latest continues to not be Calexico, but the sound is close enough that I tend to wonder if Convertino and Burns left more because they weren’t interested any more in Gelb’s music, or just in Gelb. Either way, an album that goes down so easily that it’s barely there.

John Koerner, Spider Blues. Reissue of the 1965 folk-blues album by the guy whose guitar playing Bob Dylan idolized.

Nine Inch Nails, Pretty Hate Machine. Game-changing album is remastered, sounding even more amazing.

Calle 13, Entren Los Que Quieran. Even if this weren’t an amazing blend of contemporary hip-hop, pop, rock and Latin stylings (which it absolutely is), it’s a fucking brave gesture to make political music in Latin America these days… or any America, really.

David Wilcox, Reverie. I have to admit that “End Of The World (Again)” makes its point, but stuff like “Shark Man” and “Cast Off” gets pretty on-the-nose. Still, as overly-sensitive acoustic guitar guys go… well, he goes.

Various Artists, Canadian Celebration of the Band. Haven’t heard it yet, but when you have combinations like Neil Young with The Sadies, or Garth Hudson himself revisiting “The Genetic Method,” this has got to be worth a listen.

GRAN TURISMO 5
Sony Computer Entertainment of America
PS3
11/24
MSRP: $59.99

CLICK HERE TO BUY FROM AMAZON!

Personally, I’ll believe this shit is actually happening when I’m holding an actual disc in my hands that I’ll refuse to buy. I know for some people this is as big a dance for their PS3 as God of War III was for most of the sane world, but this series is car porn, little else, and there had to have been several interactive/non-interactive forms of entertainment to scratch that itch that I just have trouble believing GT5 will ever live up to after this much of a wait. The story of its myriad delays is infinitely more interesting than whatever technical quirk they decided to put into the new Nissan.

SPLATTERHOUSE
Namco-Bandai
360, PS3
11/23
MSRP: $59.99

CLICK HERE TO BUY FROM AMAZON!

Splatterhouse is a subject close to my heart. It was not only my first, but the medium’s first flirtation with digital blood, guts, and gore, with a side order o’ blasphemy to boot. 23 years later, we have this new beast, which promises to be just as bloody, squishy, creepy, and hostile as the ones prior (which are all available as unlockables, I might add). In a year where I just got to tear off the Sun God’s head in slow, excruciating detail to the point where we can see his skin and neckmeats fly apart in 1080p, this game’s got its work cut out for it to keep up with a quarter century of electric entrails, but God of War had me doing it to random Greek chanting and horns. Splatterhouse has shit like this. There is a clear advantage here.

DONKEY KONG COUNTRY RETURNS
Nintendo
Wii
11/21
MSRP: $49.99

CLICK TO BUY FROM AMAZON!

FACT: The original Donkey Kong Country was ass. Once your eyes got used to the (at the time) mindblowing CG animation, you had a maddeningly standard platformer that got blown the fuck out of the water in terms of quality once Sonic and Knuckles and Earthworm Jim hit. The sequels didn’t fare much better, especially 64, which almost single-handedly bred my contempt to collect-a-thons in gaming (and probably the reason Sony’s platformers give me very little joy).

So, the fact that I’m thoroughly convinced Retro Studios may have crafted a platforming classic out of a franchise that I hate better not be lost on anyone. There’s been nothing but glowing impressions from anyone who spends more than 30 seconds in this game’s presence. I must admit, this has been a pretty awesome month to own that little white doorstop that could.

MAJIN AND THE FORSAKEN KINGDOM
Namco-Bandai
360, PS3
11/23
MSRP: $39.99

CLICK TO BUY FROM AMAZON!

This is one of those games I’m 100 percent sure is gonna get just buried under the weight of the holiday glut. Just when this thing will threaten to peek out from the holiday glut, The Last Guardian will likely be out, which is basically a better version of this same concept all around, especially since its protagonist is a fully realized animal figure, and the big galoot in this one wouldn’t seem out of place should the words “And I will name him George…” creep past his lips. Still, it’s already budget priced, and the demo gave the impression of a derivative, but still enjoyable little platformer. If you don’t own a Wii this week, that is.

OOOHHHH: ON THE DLC TIP

PAC MAN CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION DX
Namco-Bandai
XBox Live Arcade, Playstation Network
11/24
$9.99/800 MS pts

There have been plenty of choice pick-up-n-play downloadable puzzlers on XBL and PSN in recent years, but aside from Geometry Wars 2, none worthy of the exhalted title of Digital Crack. If a new version of Pac Man with bigger mazes, 9 new modes, leaderboards, slick-as-hell HD graphics, and 20 times the number of ghosts onscreen at once, to the point where it is literally possible to rack up a chain of 100 ghosts to eat in a row isn’t worthy of that title for you, you should really consider taking up actual crack.

CRAZY TAXI
Sega
XBox Live Arcade, Playstation Network
11/23
$9.99/800 MS pts

So, Crazy Taxi‘s back, and while I’m glad this thing gets a proper makeover for the HD era, and Leaderboards and Achievements are in, and the game’s still a heap of fun after all these years (and yes, I still entirely associate The Offspring with this game), and all that jazz, this also reminds me of how much of a pisser it is Crazy Taxi 3 isn’t backward compatible.

But let’s cut the bullshit. Jet Grind Radio HD. This *is* next, right Sega? RIGHT??

ROCK BAND TUESDAY

John Lennon – Imagine ($14.99/1200 MS pts)

• Crippled Inside
• Jealous Guy
• It’s So Hard
• I Don’t Wanna Be A Soldier Mama
• Gimme Some Truth
• Oh My Love
• How Do You Sleep? X
• How?
• Oh Yoko!

$1.99/160 MS pts per track
X-Pro Guitar and Pro Bass expansion available for 99 cents/80 MS pts

For some, the one true reason to snatch this album up came on disc. These people are called bastards. This album allowed John to be as groovy as he wanted, and this is going to make for some truly fun times for guitar and keyboard players.

By the way, I can now definitively say if you own any of these games, and didn’t buy Beatles Rock Band, you’re kind of an asshole.

The Week of November 23rd, 2010

GROUP EDITED by: TROY ANDERSON

DVD/BR
SECTION by: Troy Anderson

AMERICA LOST AND FOUND: THE BBS STORY – CRITERION COLLECTION

Directors: Bob Rafelson, Jack Nicholson, Henry Jaglom, Dennis Hopper and Peter Bogdanovich
Criterion

CLICK HERE TO BUY IT AT AMAZON!

Special Features

Head

America Lost and Found: The BBS Story covers that period in American cinema history where the hippies got mad and tried to conquer Hollywood. They drug The Monkees into the mix, as they spent six years thumbing around and making cynical dramas about how much life sucks. That’s when they weren’t popping pills, shooting up and exploring the merits of LSD laced stamp collecting. Five Easy Pieces is my favorite film in the set, as it’s more indicative of this period in American cinema than anything else. A gifted pianist gives up his upper crust life, so that he can work in the oil fields with his waitress girlfriend in tow. When the pianist has to deal with a sudden return to his family, he’s super critical and lambasts them for not discovering a better way of life. Nothing says pissy Me Generation than watching Jack Nicholson abandon the love of his life after not getting his way. Baby boomers are the scum of the world.

THE COMPLETE METROPOLIS
Director: Fritz Lang

CLICK HERE TO BUY IT AT AMAZON!

Special Features

The Complete Metropolis is a snobby geek’s dream come true. Thrill to the uncut sights of the Weimar Republic’s greatest cinematic offering that wasn’t directed by Leni Riefenstahl. You can listen to your snobby friends wax poetic about a film that they discovered in a Junior College Film Appreciation class, while you just try to watch Star Wars. They’ll describe Maria as the perfect version of a robot in film, while you’re just trying to watch Buck Rogers. By the time, the film is finished…you’ll want to kick Kino in the balls for having released it. For the cheapskates out there, this flick is also available on Netflix Instant View RIGHT NOW!!!

THE EXPENDABLES
director: Sylvester Stallone