THE WEEK OF JANUARY 26th, 2010

WHIP  IT
directed by. Drew Barrymore
20th Century Fox

Special Features

  • Alternate Opening
  • Deleted and Extended Scenes

Whip It has only strengthened my fetish for dumpy looking Roller Derby chicks. Drew Barrymore does her best with a female empowerment movie that could’ve easily turned into a lackluster work. Ellen Page and Alia Shawkat keep the film centered as the young dreamers from Abilene that desperately hope to escape their rural surroundings. Kristin Wiig shows up to show America that she can act. 

THIS IS IT
c. Michael Jackson and a ton of dancers

Special Features

  • Documentaries
  • Vignettes
  • Featurettes
  • This is It is proof that corpse-fucking is still legal in California. I shouldn’t be so mean. I’m sure that all quickly edited post-mortem celluloid throwdowns aim to have the heart of this picture. Needless to say, the parts that work are the same entertaining pieces from MJ’s pre-molestation adventures. Everything in the modern era comes across as an old man trying to recapture the magic of his youth.

    I HOPE THEY SERVE BEER IN HELL
    c. Jesse Bradford, Geoff Stults, Traci Lords and Henry Matt Czuchry

    Special Features

    • Deleted Scenes

    I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell is the ultimate in date-rapist retardation. Hell, it’s like Top Gun for jackholes that pop their collar and listen to terrible House Music. What works is the unintentional humor factor that comes with repeat viewings. Tucker Max has to know the comedy goldmine he’s fielding with this kind of shit. Why some people actually consider following him like some Axe Body Spray soaked messiah is beyond me. But, it allows for extra LOLs upon finishing the film. Stick with it for one of the worst line readings since Tough Guys Don’t Dance.

    PARIS, TEXAS: CRITERION COLLECTION
    d. Wim Wenders
    c. Harry Dean Stanton, Dean Stockwell, Nastassja Kinski, Hunter Carson and Bernhard Wicki

    Special Features


    • New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Wim Wenders (with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
    • Audio commentary featuring Wenders
    • Video interview with Wenders by German journalist Roger Willemsen
    • Excerpts
      from a 1990 documentary on Wenders, featuring interviews with Wenders,
      cinematographer Robby Müller, composer Ry Cooder, actors Harry Dean
      Stanton, Dennis Hopper, Peter Falk, and Hanns Zischler, novelist
      Patricia Highsmith, and director Samuel Fuller
    • New video interviews with filmmakers Allison Anders and Claire Denis
    • “Wim Wenders Hollywood April ’84,” a segment from the French television program Cinéma cinémas, showing Wenders and Cooder at work on the score
    • Deleted scenes and Super 8 home movies
    • Gallery of Wenders’s location-scouting photos
    • Behind-the-scenes photos by Robin Holland
    • Theatrical trailer
    • PLUS:
      A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Nick Roddick, interviews
      with Stanton, writer Sam Shepard, and actors Nastassja Kinski and Dean
      Stockwell, and excerpts from Wenders’s book of photos Written in the West

    Paris, Texas is one of those arthouse films that really seems to be mainstream friendly. Taking its relaxed nature from Sam Shepard’s expert screenplay, you get a nice change of pace for Wim Wenders. Some would accuse Wenders of trying to entertain a more American audience. I just admire the fact that he got the best performance of Dean Stockwell’s life captured on film. Harry Dean Stanton is always a champ and his sullen face belongs in HD. Study this and more when you pick it up this week.

    NETFLIX INSTANT VIEW (POURING THE DIRT INTO BLOCKBUSTER’S GRAVE)

    New movies to watch instantly
    New TV to watch instantly

    INSTANT VIEW/ON-DEMAND/HULU/GOOGLE VIDEO SHUT-IN CINEMA

    For
    the premiere Instant View sub-section, I’ve decided to cobble together
    the best of what you might’ve missed at the video store. If you have
    any legit suggestions to share, post them in the Talkback below.

    Below,
    I’ve included some decent documentaries that have made their way to
    Netflix/Hulu. Give them a viewing and let me know what you thought.

    Whether
    or not this becomes a mix and match of the latest cool instant view
    material is up to the readers. I’ve toyed with doing basic list
    updates, giving you guys a chance to pick a film to show others. Hell,
    just keep it legal and I’m open to whatever you find. Also, if you just
    want to bitch about the shitty video quality of the Starz flicks on
    Netflix Instant View…that works too.

    The Color Purple (1985)

    Click the link to watch it over at Netflix Instant View
    (membership required)

    The Free Option via HULU

    loudQUIETloud:  A Film about The Pixies  (2006)
    with some commercial interruption



    COMING SOON TO YOUR HOME THEATER

    1. When a
      Group of Medical Students Go on a Ski Trip They Discover That Navigating the
      Slopes Is the Least of Their Problems in this A HORROR HOOT THAT HAS BECOME A
      WORLDWIDE SENSATION. DEAD SNOW ARRIVES ON DVD/BLU-RAY on FEBRUARY 23rd, 2010.


    Get ready for the film that
    shocked Sundance, rocked Europe and knocked
    American horror fans out of their seats with DEAD SNOW. When a
    group of medical students take a sex-and-booze-fueled ski vacation to a remote
    cabin in the scenic Norwegian Alps, they uncover a dark secret from World War
    II. After arriving at a remote cabin and unpacking their beer and ski gear, the
    students are visited by a suspicious hiker, who tells them that during the war,
    Nazis occupying the area were driven by the locals deep into the mountains and
    were presumed to have frozen to death there. But the vacationers discover that
    there’s indeed something stirring out there, and it’s not long before they are
    confronted by a battalion of uncontrollable, unstoppable and extremely undead
    Nazis.


    THE CRITERION COMPLETION PROJECT (160 out of 500)

    The
    Chewer
    Nation has been having fun with the little monthly challenges I’ve
    thrown down. I’ve got a new one that just might take us through the end
    of 2009. What I want us all to do is to review The Criterion
    Collection
    . But, there’s a catch. The number of words you can use will
    be determined by the spine number.

    Due to length, click on the titles to access the spine specific reviews.

    1 – 100.  The First Hundred
    101. Cries and Whispers
    102. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoise
    103. The Lady Eve
    104. Double Suicide
    105. Spartacus
    106. Coup de Torchon
    107. Mona Lisa
    108. The Rock
    109. The Scarlet Empress
    110. Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday
    111. Mon Oncle
    112. Playtime
    113. Big Deal on Madonna Street
    114. My Man Godfrey
    115. Rififi
    116. The Hidden Fortress
    117. Diary of a Chambermaid
    118. Sullivan’s Travels
    119. Withnail and I
    120. How to Get Ahead in Advertising
    121. Billy Liar
    122. Salesman
    123. Grey Gardens
    124. Carl Theodore Dreyer Boxset
    125. Day of Wrath
    126. Ordet
    127. Gertrud
    128. Carl Theodore Dreyer: My Metier
    129. Le Trou
    130. The Shop on Main Street
    131. Closely Watched Trains
    132. The Ruling Class
    133. The Vanishing
    135. Rebecca
    136. Spellbound
    139. Wild Strawberries
    140. 8 1/2
    144. Loves of a Blonde
    147. In the Mood for Love
    150. Bob le Flambeur
    151. Traffic
    153. General Idi Amin Dada
    157. The Royal Tenenbaums
    160. A Nous La Liberte
    175. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
    177. The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum
    180. I Am Curious…Yellow
    186. Stolen Kisses
    187. Bed and Board
    188. Love on the Run
    189. The White Sheik
    190. Throne of Blood
    191. Jubilee
    197. Night and Fog
    198. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul
    199. Schizopolis
    247. Videodrome
    267. Kagemusha

    281. Jules and Jim
    422. The Last Emperor

    and so on and so on.

    Post your Criterion reviews on the CHUD message board.

    THE REST OF THE DVDs THIS WEEK

    The Abbott And Costello Show: The Collection
    Act Of God
    Action Man Collection: Action Man/Peking Blonde/The Big Game/The Day Of The Wolves
    The Adventures Of Robin Hood (Collector’s Embossed Tin Packaging)
    Alone In The Dark II
    B-Girl
    Blade Of The Immortal, Vol. 3: No Virtue In Forgiveness
    Blade Of The Ripper (Mya)
    Bonekickers
    The Boys Are Back
    Bridget’s Sexiest Beaches (The Travel Channel)
    Bright Star
    British Cinema Drama Collection: The Rough And The Smooth/The Scamp/Grand National Night/Kill Me Tomorrow
    The Burns And Allen Show (Collector’s Embossed Tin Packaging)
    Callan, Set 2
    Carnera: The Walking Mountain
    Copyright Criminals
    Daido Moriyama: Stray Dog Of Tokyo
    Daytime Drinking
    Dead At The Box Office
    Desirable Teacher (Mya)
    Dirty Jobs, Collection 5 (The Discovery Channel)
    Doctor Death
    Drive-In Grindhouse: Psychedelic Fever/Summer School/Up Yours/The Farmer’s Other Daughter
    The Escapist
    Fireball
    First Films: Milos Forman/Philip Kaufman – Black Peter/Goldstein
    Five Element Ninjas (The Shaw Brothers Kung-Fu Collection)
    Frontier Of Dawn
    Frontline: The Card Game (PBS)
    Fuel
    George Shrinks: Zoopercar Caper
    Give ‘Em Hell Malone
    Give Me Your Hand
    Goodbye Gemini
    The Great Epochs Of European Art: The Art Of The Ancient Greeks And The Art Of The Romans
    Hello Goodbye
    Holla If You Hear Me Kill You
    I Heart Jonas
    I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell
    Ikki Tousen: Dragon Destiny, Vol. 2
    IMAX: Wild Ocean
    In A Day
    Inspector Lewis: The Complete Set (PBS)
    Island Of Desire
    The Last Stage
    Little Ashes
    Little People Big World: Season Two, Vol. 1 (TLC)
    Lost City Raiders
    The Lucy Show (Collector’s Embossed Tin Packaging)
    Magic Knight Rayearth: Season One (15th Anniversary Edition)
    Maz Jobrani: Brown And Friendly – Live From Hollywood
    Mermaid
    MI-5, Vol. 7
    Michael Jackson: This Is It
    Mickey Rooney: The Long And The Short Of It
    Naruto: Shippuden, Box Set 1 – Season One
    Neo Angelique Abyss, Vol. 1
    Omnibus: Leonard Bernstein
    On The Line (1984 Movie)
    Painters Painting (Arthouse Films 004)
    Paris, Texas (The Criterion Collection)
    Parker Lewis Can’t Lose: The Complete Second Season
    Pawn Stars: Season One (The History Channel)
    Peanuts: You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown (Remastered Deluxe Edition)
    Pie In The Sky: Series Two
    Pokemon Elements, Vol. 7: Psychic
    Pokemon Elements, Vol. 8: Dragon
    Pontypool
    Prom Night In Mississippi
    Quiet Chaos
    The Real Ghostbusters, Vol. 2
    Reality-Based Personal Protection: Series 2, Vol. 1 – How To Beat Various Fighters
    Reality-Based Personal Protection: Series 2, Vol. 2 – The Most Important Self-Defense Lesson Of Your Life
    Rebellion
    The Red Green Show: The Infantile Years – Seasons 1991-1993
    RiffTrax: Plan 9 From Outer Space – Riffed Live From Nashville 2009
    RiffTrax: Planet Of Dinosaurs
    RiffTrax: Shorts-Tacular Shorts-Stravaganza
    RiffTrax: Voodoo Man
    RiffTrax: Wide World Of Shorts
    Roberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy (The Criterion Collection)
    Sands Of Destruction: The Complete Series
    Satan’s Wife (Mya)
    Saw VI
    Secrets Of The Dead: Mumbai Massacre (PBS)
    Sex Advice (Mya)
    Sgt. Frog: Season Two, Pt. 1
    Soul Power
    Southland: The Complete First Season
    SpongeBob SquarePants: Viking-Sized Adventures
    St. Trinian’s
    Surrogates
    Switchblade Double Feature: Kokurri-San/Birthday Mail
    Tears To Tiara, Collection 2
    Tennessee
    A Touch Of Spice
    Touched By An Angel: Inspiration Collection – Faith
    Touched By An Angel: Inspiration Collection – Love
    Troma’s War (The Tromasterpiece Collection)
    The Waltons: Movie Collection
    Warszawa AKA Warsaw
    Whip It
    The Whitest Kids U’Know: The Complete Second Season
    Worlds Apart
    Wushu
    WWE: The Best Of RAW 2009
    WWII In HD (The History Channel)

    BLU-RAY: IT’S GETTING CHEAPER

    Atonement
    B-Girl
    Fame
    Fuel
    Ghajini
    Give ‘Em Hell Malone
    IMAX: Wild Ocean
    Michael Jackson: This Is It
    Paris, Texas (The Criterion Collection)
    Pride And Prejudice (2005)
    Rebellion
    Saw VI
    Soul Power
    Surrogates
    The Toolbox Murders
    Whip It
    WWII In HD (The History Channel)

    SPEND YOUR MONEY!

    NEW RELEASES


    *Blu-Ray prices are in BOLD BLUE

    Surrogates                                                                $16.99   $24.99
    Whip It                                                                     $17.99  $24.99
    Spongebob Squarepants: Viking Size Adventures      $9.99
    This Is It                                                                   $15.99   $24.99
    Saw VI                                                                     $16.99   $22.99

    $19.99 BLU-RAY SALE

    X-Men Origins: Wolverine
    Up
    Night at the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian
    Angels and Demons
    Public Enemies
    Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
    The Hangover
    Terminator: Salvation

    $16.99 TV on DVD SALE

    SNL: The Complete Fourth Season
    The Office: Season Four
    House: Season Four
    30 Rock: Season Two

    $7.50 DVDs

    Saw V
    Nim’s Island
    Juno
    Burn After Reading


    ———————————————–

    NEW RELEASES

    *Blu-Ray prices are in BOLD BLUE

    Surrogates                                                                $16.99   $24.99
    Whip It                                                                     $17.99  $25.99
    Spongebob Squarepants: Viking Size Adventures       $9.99
    Southland: Season 1                                                  $22.99
    I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell                                 $17.99
    WWII in HD                                                             $19.99
    This Is It                                                                    $15.99   $24.99
    Saw VI                                                                      $16.99   $24.99

    $18.99 BLU-RAY SALE

    Star Trek
    Transformers
    Transformers 2 : Revenge Of The Fallen
    G.I Joe
    Braveheart
    Gladiator
    Eagle Eye

    $16.99 BLU-RAY SALE
    Buy one of the following and get a free pizza from Papa Johns


    The Bourne Identity
    The Bourne Ultimatum
    The Bourne Supremacy
    Hulk (Norton version)
    Fast & Furious
    Land Of The Lost

    TV on DVD

    Gossip Girl: Seasons 1-2                                                 $16.99 each
    The Big Bang Theory: Seasons 1-2                                  $16.99 each
    Entourage: Seasons 1-5                                                   $14.99 each
    Smallville: Season 8                                                         $16.99   $24.99

    Supernatural: Season 4                                                    $16.99   $24.99
    Fringe: The Complete First Season                                  $16.99   $24.99
    Terminator : The Sarah Conner Chronicles Season 1       $16.99   $24.99

    Terminator : The Sarah Conner Chronicles Season 2       $16.99   $24.99