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Discuss: What Were Your Best Black Friday Deals?
Filed under: Deals, Home Entertainment
As my Twitter feed fills with constantly re-Tweeted online bargains (be still, my weeping wallet), and as our own site did its best to prepare you readers for today's Thunderdome of savings, it's likely that a great many of you ventured out to capitalize on Black Friday in all its mania.There were certainly deals to be had on movies and home entertainment equipment alike, and that's really what we want to hear about (not that a thirty-dollar camping tent isn't impressive or anything).
Where'd you go? How long did you wait in line? How cold was it? How busy was it? What did you get? What was already gone? Did you upgrade to Blu-ray this year? And did any of our readership outside the States take advantage of the online deals without leaving the comfort of your own home?
So go ahead, brag and boast about your claimed trophies. Me? I've got an empty wallet to console.
Free Flick of The Day: Blame It On Rio
Filed under: Comedy, Romance, Fandom, Home Entertainment
A film about an affair with your best friend's daughter is probably the last place you would expect to find a lesson on morality. But oddly enough, that's exactly what you get in Larry Gelbart's sex comedy, Blame It On Rio. Like many of the films I saw during my childhood, I was well out of the prescribed age group for the story of a May-December affair, but I always remembered this movie for two reasons: it was where I learned about the world of mid-life crisis, and I even learned a little something about the consequences of your actions ... but we'll get to that later. So if you've never seen this movie, you're in luck because SlashControl offers the flick as part of their free film selection.Released in 1984, Rio was written by Gelbart, who is best known for his work in TV (as one of the creators of M.A.S.H) and in film (as the writer of Tootsie), and was directed by movie-musical legend, Stanley Donen (Singin' in the Rain). The story centered on two friends, Victor and Matthew (played respectively by Joseph Bologna and Michael Caine), who decide to go on vacation to Rio de Janeiro when their marriages have hit the skids. But things get a little tricky when Matthew (Caine) begins an affair with his best friend's teenage daughter, Jennifer (played by Michelle Johnson).
New Site Makes It Easy to Buy and Sell DVDs
Filed under: Tech Stuff, Home Entertainment
When it comes to my home entertainment collection, I have a problem saying no. If it's cheap enough and I can come up with a rationale for owning it, I'll shell out my hard earned dollars. Of course, this results in my shelves sagging under the weight of unloved and unwatched DVDs that seemed like a good idea at the time -- frankly, I couldn't tell you why I had to buy my very own copy of Step Up 2. But, selling those unwanted discs can be a bit of a hassle, and this is where Glyde comes in. This new service was created by the founder of eBay Motors and promises a new (and easier) way of buying and selling your used DVDs, video games, books, or CDs online. So here's how it works: you simply sign up for an account, enter your credit card info, shipping address and you're ready to go. You can buy or sell with a single click, and best of all Glyde offers a no-hassle return policy -- which is sometimes a bit of a worry of mine when shopping online. If you're selling, Glyde sends you a Netflix-style prepaid envelope once the item has been sold and you pop it back into the mail within 24hrs. Glyde takes 10% of the sale price (and the price of the mailer) and the rest is deposited into your account, and you can withdraw your money at any time (via bank transfers or checks). Buying is even easier, and just takes one click to charge the item to your credit card. It all sounds pretty good on paper, and it is about time I started culling my own home entertainment collection -- I just hope I don't buy it all back again.
Watch a video intro to Glyde after the jump.
Black Friday Movie Deals: Amazon.com
Filed under: Deals, Home Entertainment
At first I thought this would be too difficult. Target, Best Buy, Walmart ... all those stores offer a very manageable number of Black Friday movie deals. Surely Amazon.com would prove way too massive of an undertaking ... but nope! Of course Amazon.com is offering a lot more movie deals than the non-virtual stores are, but they've made things quite easy by categorizing everything, and with handy links and everything!First off, here's the Amazon Black Friday sales page, movies-only division. But that page offers way too many options, so let's pick out some of the best standard (non-blu-ray) dvd deals: Blazing Saddles ($5.99)! The Marx Brothers Collection ($17.99)!! The Goonies ($6.99)! The Nightmare on Elm Street box set ($24.99)! Spaceballs ($8.49)! And on and on it goes. New, old, classic, crappy, there's a good deal in here whatever you're after.
And what I'm after is blu-rays! 2001: A Space Odyssey ($9.49)! The Silence of the Lambs ($8.99)!! Watchmen director's cut ($16.99)! Goodfellas ($10.99)!! And those crafty Amazoners are planning to change the titles every day. It's like they want you to visit their website six times a day!
Last but not least, for those who love not just the deals but also the crazy pressure that comes with Black Friday, Amazon is now offering some nifty "Lightning Deals" that are scheduled throughout the week and last only a few hours. For example, tonight you can purchase the X-Men Origins: Wolverine blu-ray for $9.99. That's a pretty good deal on a very recent blu-ray release. Too bad the movie stinks.
Making The (Up) Grade: North By Northwest
Filed under: Warner Brothers, Fandom, Home Entertainment
Initially I planned to make North by Northwest a title revisited in my "Shelf Life" column, but I decided against it when I realized that most folks just love that movie to death, including myself, so seeing whether it's still good would be purely redundant. But the new Blu-ray released by Warner Brothers also didn't seem like it warranted a question of whether or not it was superior to its predecessors thanks to a wealth of bonus content – that is, until I discovered that in fact some of it was on previous versions, no doubt leaving longtime fans with a quandary whether or not to shell out a few more shekels to see one of their favorite Alfred Hitchcock films in high-definition.
As such, North by Northwest is the overdue subject of this week's "Making The (Up) Grade," and I spare no effort examining the past, present and future of this film's home video incarnations.
What's Already Available:
Free Flick of the Day: Pieces of April
Filed under: Home Entertainment
In this current world where Katie Holmes is wife to Tom Cruise and mother of Suri, it's easy to forget she used to have a pretty solid indie career intermingled with her days on the popular Creek -- Libbets Casey in The Ice Storm, Claire in Go, Hannah in Wonder Boys, Jessica in The Gift, Nurse Mills in The Singing Detective, April Burns in Pieces of April, and Heather Holloway in Thank You For Smoking. But there is one starring role in there that's quite applicable this week: Pieces of April. *Her last big role of worth (she played only a supporting character in Smoking and she was bad enough to be axed from Gotham law after Batman Begins), Pieces of April finds Holmes the black sheep of a dysfunctional family. Living a life on her own in New York with her boyfriend Bobby, April decides to tackle the daunting halls of turkey roasting and have her family over for a Thanksgiving feast. Unfortunately, her oven fails and throws her into ultimate turkey turmoil as she struggles not to be seen as a failure (again) by her family. The film earned Patricia Clarkson an Oscar nomination for her role as Holmes' cancer-plagued mom, and is a pretty decent indie as a whole.
So, as you gear up for your own turkey feast:
Head over to SlashControl and watch Pieces of April for free!
*And one supporting gig that's prime for the more cynically holiday-minded -- The Ice Storm.
Black Friday Movie Deals: Toys "R" Us
Filed under: Deals, Home Entertainment
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Our good friend and EIC Erik Davis had a very thoughtful idea for the holiday season: Why not scan the early flyers for the Black Friday sales, and report back to you -- the ravenous movie junkie -- to let you know where to find the best treats on the day after Thanksgiving? The next big brick and mortar retail stores we'll be scouring for Black Friday deals is Toys "R" Us . While there isn't a great selection of DVD/Blu-ray players, those parents looking to save on kid-friendly titles should find more than enough to pick up here. Note that the doorbuster items are marked with a *
Toys "R" Us is open at 12:00am on Black Friday. Their online sale starts at 12:01am EST on Thanksgiving Day.
Our previous Black Friday Movie Deals:
Best Buy
Target
Walmart
Kmart and Sears
DVD/Blu-ray
20 Select DVD Movies $9.99
30 Select DVD Movies $4.99
Aliens In The Attic DVD $9.99
All $9.99 Sony DVDs - 60 Titles (In-Store Only) $3.99
Aristocats DVD $9.99
A Tale Of Tails DVD $4.99
Babe DVD $4.99
Barbie Thumbelina DVD $4.99
Blues Clues World Travelers DVD $4.99
Bolt Disney DVD $9.99 *
Christmas Star DVD $4.99
Coraline DVD $9.99
Curious George DVD $4.99
Diego Saves Christmas DVD $4.99
Hanna Montana The Movie Blu-Ray $14.99
Hero Rails DVD $9.99
Hotel For Dogs DVD $9.99
Jonas Brothers Disney DVD $9.99 *
More after the jump
Shelf Life: Fight Club
Filed under: Fandom, Home Entertainment, Shelf Life
By all accounts, 1999 was one of the best years in film history, featuring an amazing glut of debuts and career-defining follow-ups from a rich and varied roster of directors who are steadily working some ten years later. For example American Beauty, which was also released in '99, was one of the first films revisited in our "Shelf Life" series, and it seemed most likely to lose its luster, especially given its Oscar win and almost universal critical acclaim, but thankfully the film sustained most of its initial appeal and impact.
Fight Club, meanwhile, faced markedly more polarizing reactions from audiences and critics, although like Alan Ball and Sam Mendes' film it captured a moment in the zeitgeist that made it important almost regardless of how good it was. Ten years later, Fox Home Entertainment just released the film on Blu-ray in a gorgeous new set, and after a decade of conspicuous consumption and ironic detachment, it's time to see whether the weight of its message or meaning still holds relevance.
'Funny People' Star Aziz Ansari Getting His Own 'Randy' Spin-off
Filed under: Comedy, Scripts, New on DVD, Newsstand, Home Entertainment
If the sound of the name "Ruh-Ruh-Ruh-Raaaaaaaandy!" partnered with a few DJ effects and the sight of comic actor Aziz Ansari jumping maniacally around a stage made you tingle in Judd Apatow's Funny People, then prepare yourself for what I'm about to say: Randy is getting his own movie. To paraphrase Randy himself, if you fine folks are prepared to chortle until your genitals become disconnected from your body, let me hear you say "Yes!"
Variety reports that Ansari and fellow Human Giant collaborator Jason Woliner pitched the Randy spin-off to Apatow along with two other intended Ansari vehicles, a buddy road flick about motivational speakers and an astronaut comedy. While Apatow's production company will produce all three, the report doesn't mention which of the projects will happen first.
Over at the MTV Movies Blog, Christopher Campbell notes that just last week, Apatow indicated some hesitation on Ansari's part to revisit the character of Randy. "Aziz may be concerned that more people think he's Randy than Aziz," Apatow explained. And that may be a legitimate concern for Ansari, who currently co-stars on "Parks and Recreation." His Randy characterization is so subtle, even in its bombastic raunchiness, that it's an entirely believable comic persona -- kind of a douchebag persona, but a hilarious one nonetheless. (Personally, if Ansari did nothing but "Randy" for the rest of his life, I'd be satisfied.)
More on the Randy spin-off and a video from Funny People after the jump.
Free Flick of the Day: Hang 'Em High
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Western
After nominating For a Few Dollars More and The Good the Bad and the Ugly for Free Flick of the Day, I'm going to sound like a very old and tired drum by nominating Hang 'Em High. But hey, you need something to watch today and it's just sitting there, waiting for someone to notice it.Hang 'Em High isn't a great film by any means, and it's not a very remarkable Western. It's full of missed opportunities, and the end hints that there may have been plans for a franchise centered around Marshall Jed Cooper. It's notable because it was the first film Clint Eastwood produced with his Malpaso shingle, which he would obviously go onto do great things with. (Would there be an Unforgiven without Hang 'Em High? Probably, but who knows!) It's also his first post-Sergio Leone Western, and one of the first attempts to bring Leone's style to America. It doesn't succeed in doing that very well, though a lot of the Man with No Name's trademarks remained. I think Eastwood sold himself a bit short by relying on that cigar so much, particularly since this is a character who is miles away from the cold bounty hunter of the Leone flicks. Jed Cooper is a man who is genuinely trying to do the right thing in life, and gets screwed over again and again.
However, this film entertaining enough, and is worth watching just for the whole hanging sequence. I've already mentioned this film as the probable inspiration for Lt. Aldo Raine's hanging scar and while I'm still not sure if that's true or not, you can watch it and pretend Cooper is Raine's grandfather.
Watch Hang 'Em High for free on SlashControl
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