JBO: Joystiq Box Office, July 6 - July 10
We can't be gaming all the time, despite our best efforts, and from time to time we'll actually take advantage of the movie-playing abilities on our gaming systems. JBO features our top picks for XBL, PSN, Netflix's Watch Instantly and Blu-ray each week.
Recommendation of the Week:
(480
to rent HD, 320
to rent SD): Saria the Cat and our own David Hinkle suggested Let The Right One In in our first JBO post, and it's definitely worth our official stamp of approval. Probably one of the best vampire movies you'll ever see. It's subtitled, but don't let that turn you off. There's a scene near the end that makes it worth all that reading, and then some. It's a good example of how foreign films have pulled far ahead of American movies in the storytelling department.
Read for the full list on a system-by-system basis just after the break. As usual, we'll see you at the popcorn st ... well, actually we won't see you at all. But you catch our drift. Plus, be sure to tell us what you'll be watching, or what you've seen recently that bowled you over.
Xbox Live Video Marketplace
(240
to rent HD, 160
to rent SD: per episode)
Poor Ian McShane. First Deadwood gets canceled, and then they stop the movie version. Then he stars in the extremely ambitious Kings on NBC and it gets canceled as well. This is television well ahead of its time and features McShane as King Silas ruling over an alternate universe version of the United States, which is now a monarchy called Gilboa. Nine of the first thirteen episodes are available on XBL, before it goes to DVD in September. Terrific cast and great drama.
Netflix Watch Instantly (PC or Xbox Live)
Baghead (PC or Xbox Live, subscription required: starts at $4.99 per month)
It was going to be all too easy to slot Pineapple Express in here, since it's newly available on Netflix Watch Instantly and features one of the best stoners in recent movie history. But, Baghead is a small indie film that really needs to be seen. It's run the festival circuit, and now comes to your home. It's funny, scary, features realistic characters, and has a unique premise. We'd compare it to The Blair Witch Project in a good way, but that's almost an insult these days. Give it a spin.
PlayStation Store
Knowing
($4.50 HD or $2.99 SD to rent, $9.99 to own in SD)
Knowing isn't a perfect sci-fi film, but they're so far and few between these days that when something comes along that's even halfway decent, it's on our radar. Despite the overexposed presence of Nick Cage, Alex Proyas' set pieces are very impressive, and it's nice to see a film that doesn't dumb down the concept to a first-grade level.
Blu-ray Disc
The Deep
($28.95 SRP)
Just in time for summer! Peter Benchley of Jaws fame wrote the book this is based on, and even though it came two years after Jaws, it features another iconic image of a woman (this time Jacqueline Bisset) swimming towards the surface on the poster. Nick Nolte, Robert Shaw, and a bikini-clad Bisset? Your summertime has arrived. Plus it's all about treasure hunters, and fans of Uncharted will enjoy it.
What will you be watching?
