JBO: Joystiq Box Office, August 3 - August 7
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.
With the sad passing of writer/director John Hughes yesterday, we're featuring an all-Hughes JBO. The man left a lasting impression on audiences and filmmakers throughout the 1980s, and his movies helped define that generation while providing them with numerous lines to quote.
Recommendation of the Week:
The Breakfast Club
(PlayStation Store: $4.50 HD, $2.99 SD to rent, $9.99 to own SD):
Nothing says the 1980s more loudly than The Breakfast Club, and the iconic Simple Minds song "Don't You (Forget About Me)" has been drilled into many heads as an anthem for Generation X. It's a near perfect film, although John Hughes' original cut was two and a half hours long. Universal trimmed it down to 97 minutes, and destroyed all of the negatives. Talk about boneheaded. Apparently Hughes himself had the only complete copy. Let's hope we can see it some day.
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)
(360
HD,
240
SD, to rent)
Part of the whole "Nerds Rule" movement in movies from the mid 80s, Weird Science showed that with the help of some sort of supernatural pseudo-scientific tomjiggery, even nerds can become popular with the help of sexy supervixen. Wyatt and Gary are both great characters, but Robert Downey Jr.'s small role as a complete jackass takes the cake. Plus this movie gave us Bill Paxton's wonderfully nasty Chet, as well. What's not to love?
Netflix Watch Instantly (PC or Xbox Live)
Uncle Buck (PC or Xbox Live, subscription required: starts at $4.99 per month)
Sadly, not all of John Hughes' films are available on Netflix's Watch Instantly. In fact, the only one you can watch right now is Uncle Buck. But that's somewhat fitting since it was one of John Candy's last (and finest) films. It's also probably one of the best babysitting films ever. The way Buck gets Macaulay Culkin to brush his teeth probably works as a line even today.
PlayStation Store (PlayStation 3 or PSP)
Pretty in Pink
($4.50 HD or $2.00 SD to rent)
Hughes followed up his ultra-popular The Breakfast Club with alumni Molly Ringwald in this coming of age story about the angst of high school love. He only wrote the screenplay, Howard Deutch, a first time director was behind the camera, but it made quite an impression, and Molly Ringwald calls it one of her favorite movies. Sadly, Ringwald and Hughes never worked together again after this movie.
Blu-ray Disc (PlayStation 3)
Ferris Bueller's Day Off: The Bueller ... Bueller Edition
($29.99 SRP)
Probably Hughes' most popular film after The Breakfast Club, Feis Bueller became such an iconic character that guys wanted to be, and girls wanted to date. Even today it's hard to see Matthew Broderick without thinking about this movie, even though it was 23 years ago. In fact, if you have $2.3 million dollars, you can even pick up Cameron's house where the famous Ferrari scene went down. Starting saving now, or just get the movie. Much cheaper.
What will you be watching?
