JBO: Joystiq Box Office, August 10 - August 14
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:
(Mac/PC or Xbox Live, subscription required: starts at $8.99 per month):
Pretentious, talky, and without any action in it whatsoever. So what makes Whit Stillman's classic Metropolitan so good? He just has a way of making the upper crust of New York seem vapidly interesting. The characters seem extremely real, and even though it's a slow film, it doesn't seem like a long one. Although Stillman hasn't directed a movie since 1998's The Last Days of Disco, his writing and directing has influenced both Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach. Watch Metropolitan and you'll see why.
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 (Xbox 360)
(480 HD, 320 SD, to rent)
Given the title of this Japanese horror flick, you'd probably expect a lot of gore ... and you'd be right. Horrific, spraying, jetlike spouts of blood, gore, dismembered torsos, and more. I saw this movie at Fantastic Fest in Austin last year, and it was a squirming audience favorite. A private company takes over the policing of all of Japan, a la Robocop, and of course things don't always go exactly as planned. Particularly when some supernatural mutants are involved. If you're looking for over the top action, and oceans of blood, look no further. You've found it.
Netflix Watch Instantly (Mac/PC or Xbox Live)
Welcome to Macintosh (Mac/PC or Xbox Live, subscription required: starts at $8.99 per month)
This is niche film, to be sure, but it's a good look behind the scenes of the creation of the Macintosh, and the cult that it inspired. This movie has been a long time coming, and probably won't be seen in many places outside of Netflix, so give this a whirl and love it or hate it. Suffice it so say, if you loathe Apple, you'll probably loathe this movie. Personally, I found it a fun watch, although it makes the birth of the Mac feel like it happened a billion years ago.
PlayStation Store (PlayStation 3 or PSP)
Serenity ($4.50 HD or $2.99 SD to rent, $9.99 to own)
While we're busy touting Joss Whedon's Dollhouse on Blu-ray (below), Serenity has quietly come to the PlayStation Store, and if you haven't seen it yet... well, we'll send Tommy back there to hit you on the head with a tack hammer. Seriously, both Firefly and the follow-up movie version Serenity are some of the best science fiction to come out of the film and television industry in years, and helps prove you don't need mega-explosions and tons of CGI to make a good movie. Chiwetel Ejiofor
Blu-ray Disc (PlayStation 3)
($69.99 SRP)
Joss Whedon returns to sci-fi, this time with a modern day Stepford Wives spin. Eliza Dushku stars as Echo, a woman who has had her own identity wiped completely clean, and she gets imprinted with different personalities and rented out like a super expensive doll. Of course, things start to go wrong and Echo starts to realize something is wrong, and there's an escaped male doll named Alpha on the loose who might be trying to bring the Dollhouse crashing to the ground. Whedon doesn't talk down to his audience, and Dollhouse is no exception. It might not be Firefly, but it ain't bad.
What will you be watching?
