JBO: Joystiq Box Office, June 22

JBO: Joystiq Box Office, June 22 - 26

by Kevin Kelly { Jun 26th 2009 at 10:15PM }

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:

The Girlfriend Experience (XBL to rent: 480 MS points for HD, 320 for SD): Steven Soderbergh returns to his indie film roots with this character study that was shot on one of the new RedOne HD cameras for only $1.3 million dollars. Real-life porn star Sasha Grey stars as Christine; an escort who offers the full "Girlfriend Experience" for a high price. Her boyfriend is okay with the arrangement on the surface, but underneath he's struggling. The film follows both of them as they deal with the reality of her job, and how they each handle the repercussions.

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.

Xbox Live Video Marketplace

Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon (320 MS points to rent, SD)
We know you've been missing Shannen Doherty terribly since she left 90210 back in the day, and Charmed later on. Well, you can stop crying into your Brenda-themed bedsheets, because she's back and starring in this film, which sounds like it was pieced together from rejected scripts for National Treasure sequels. Oh, there's also an ancient Aztec City and a flying serpent involved. Seriously. We're only recommending this for the "what the?!" value.

Netflix Watch Instantly (Xbox Live)

The Cider House Rules (Watch instantly through Xbox Live via Netflix, subscription required: starts at $4.99 per month)
A Pre-Apatow Frat Pack Paul Rudd. A somewhat whiny Tobey Maguire. Charlize Theron without clothes on. Macaulay clone Kieran Culkin. Plus an ether-sniffing, diploma-forging Michael Caine. What's not to love? Although John Irving's novel is far superior, this coming of age story is a decent movie that does its best to tug at your heartstrings and succeeds for the most part. If you were ever going to get stuck in an orphanage, this is where you'd want to end up. Well, that is if you didn't mind the "special work" that the medical staff is involved in.

PlayStation Store

Fletch ($4.50 HD or $2.99 SD to rent, $9.99 to own in SD)
Arguably Chevy Chase's finest film next to Caddyshack, Fletch is actually based on a series of mystery books by Gregory McDonald, and is a very loose adaptation. For years different directors, including Kevin Smith, have tried to revive Fletch, but it seems like it might never happen, leaving us with this note-perfect original. Newspaper reporter Irwin M. Fletcher unravels a conspiracy linking the chief of police and a local millionaire to drugs on the beach, and jokes the entire way through. You'll never listen to "Moon River" the same way again.

Blu-ray Disc

Waltz With Bashir ($39.95)
This is a powerful documentary about one man's experience during the 1982 Sabra and Shantila massacres in invasion of Lebanon. Instead of a film full of talking heads reminiscing about the experience, director Ari Folman uses animation to tell the story, allowing you into the surreal events as he remembers them as a 19 year-old soldier in the Israeli Defense Force. It's one of the first animated feature films from Israel to be shown theatrically, and is surprisingly moving: the animation is at times both poignant and horrifying.

What will you be watching?

Tags: Blu-ray, JBO, Joystiq-Box-Office, Movies, Netflix, Playstation-Network, PSN, video-marketplace, XBL

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

ChiTownRuler23 @ Jun 26th 2009 10:21PM

Haven't seen Fletch in years i guess now's a better time then never.

Sly @ Jun 26th 2009 10:22PM

why doesn't sony provide HD movies for purchase? that's so stupid. anyways, i like the post guys, it's almost always nice when sites branch out a bit.

Hydrophobicfish @ Jun 26th 2009 10:39PM

They don't provide many, and I'm not sure why. (maybe to push blu-ray sales?) but they do offer a couple.

Kevin Kelly @ Jun 26th 2009 10:52PM

Fish, l think you're exactly right. As much as Sony hypes the Blu-ray ability of the PS3, I doubt they want to cut into their preciousssssss Blu-sales.

Sly @ Jun 26th 2009 11:09PM

oh, so they do provide some? all the ones i've looked at didn't have the option. now that i think of it, the last time i actually looked through the video store was about 2 weeks after it went up...

Mike @ Jun 26th 2009 10:27PM

I HIGHLY recommend Best Men - it's available on Netflix streaming.

Markez @ Jun 27th 2009 12:54AM

Added it to my instant queue, thanks for the tip! After I hit 'add to instant' though, it brought up 'movies like best men', which for some reason included Stephen King's Cat's Eye? Weeeeird, especially since it really use to creep me out as a wee young lad.

copa @ Jun 26th 2009 10:48PM

Director: OK, Artie, here's the package. We're making Lost Treasure of the Incan Temple, starring Angelina Jolie. Shooting starts in two weeks. We'll need $45 million for production.

Studio Head: I'll give you $500,000, and you can borrow the studio Jeep.

Director: OK, Artie, we're making Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon, starring Shannen Doherty.

Girugamuk (Moptimus Slimed) @ Jun 26th 2009 11:19PM

Ron:[emotionally] And it grows, to a powerful, emotional climax when the father has to choose which one of his children will live ... and which one ... will die.
Executive Pass.
[Ron lets out a sigh]
What else you got?
Ron:Well, well, there is this one thing. It's about a killer robot driving instructor that travels back in time for some reason.
Executive:I'm listening.
Ron:Okay, okay, well, you see ... this robot, he's got a heartbreaking decision to make about whether his best friend lives ... or dies.
Executive:Eh.
Ron:His best friend's a talking pie!
Executive:Sold! Howard, you've done it again!
[he hands Ron two large bags of money; Ron holds them up
and smiles, as the closing line from the "Happy Days"
theme plays]

Girugamuk (Moptimus Slimed) @ Jun 26th 2009 10:50PM

"Waltz With Bashir"

Fuck. Yes.

The only thing is if Blu-ray prices act anything like DVD prices it'll be like $10 in a month

eipxen @ Jun 26th 2009 11:53PM

I saw Waltz with Bashir in a theater and probably can't recommend it enough. Descriptions don't do a good job of communicating the experience the animation and music create together. It's really very thought probing and provoking, and is probably worth buying instead of pirating. I'll probably end up buying it when I have the time to watch it again.

j.howlett @ Jun 26th 2009 11:58PM

i think the girlfriend experience is ondemand through my cable. i'll check into Waltz With Bashir

Rax Dakkar @ Jun 27th 2009 12:14AM

Anyone looking for something to watch on Netflix, I highly, highly recommend the TV show "Party Down".

It's hilarious, well written, full of great cameos and the first show to be truly Arrested Development-esqe.

Jason Statham (Aka Vegeta) @ Jun 27th 2009 9:19AM

Agreed. I fucking love Party Down.

Petebot330 @ Jun 27th 2009 12:41PM

Yeah, I wasn't expecting much, but the show really grew on me. The one with the guy from Wings is pretty great.

Drew @ Jun 27th 2009 2:03PM

Z ROCK!!!

Paul Nicholson @ Jun 27th 2009 12:14AM

"For years different directors, including Kevin Smith, have tried to revive Fletch, but it seems like it might never happen, leaving us with this note-perfect original"

...and its sequel, "Fletch Lives" from 1989. Or did you miss that one?

Petebot330 @ Jun 27th 2009 12:42PM

Fletch Lives, like the Star Wars prequels, does not exist.

Jeff Mukau @ Jun 27th 2009 1:13AM

I really really really can't wait to buy Waltz With Bashir tomorrow, it just looks amazing.

Shmil @ Jun 27th 2009 1:15AM

Thought you would've mentioned Dead Space: Downfall now being available on netflix. It wasn't half bad but I'm not usually one for horror flicks.

Arcaria @ Jun 27th 2009 10:22AM

The Girlfriend Experience sucked. The acting was horrible and the direction was even worse.

ill trooper @ Jun 28th 2009 3:40AM

...but the poster is a great design. I'll give it that.

Petebot330 @ Jun 27th 2009 12:43PM

I still don't understand why anyone would buy movies from XBL.

erik slavin @ Jun 27th 2009 1:09PM

Big fan of Soderbergh and Sasha Grey, but I was disappointed in "the Girlfiend Experience".

85 minutes of bitching about the economic crisis coupled with muddy cinematography and uninvolved acting. I did not connect emotionally with this film and recommend any one wanting to rent it instead check out Soderbergh's under-rated "Out of Sight."

Drew @ Jun 27th 2009 2:05PM

Sasha Grey can't act. She is a walking semen deposit box. What did you expect?

Professor Lario @ Jun 27th 2009 3:55PM

+1 for Out of Sight

erik slavin @ Jun 27th 2009 2:12PM

I expected that Soderbergh would be able to encourage her to bring her "A" game. He's one of the finest directors of actresses that we have (he's gotten great performances from both Julia Roberts and Jennifer Lopez). I believed that if he cast her, he must've believed she brought something more to the table than her fuckability.

Alas... I was mistaken.

Vespene @ Jun 27th 2009 2:53PM

I watched the GF Experience on a special screening a month ago. Met Sasha too. She's really down to earth in person. She's even chatted with me on MSN!

Professor Lario @ Jun 27th 2009 3:55PM

You might wanna get checked out at your local clinic...?

Saria the Cat @ Jun 27th 2009 3:42PM

I really like this feature. I'm always scrounging the Netflix Watch Instantly for good movies and recommendations, and this would do nicely.

Some really good stuff on Instant Watch:

Braveheart, Gattaca, Best in Show, The Green Mile, The Orphanage (I found it terrifying), Bladerunner, Serenity, Corpse Bride, Ocean's Eleven, Let the Right One In, Pan's Labyrinth...