JBO: Joystiq Box Office, November 16 - November 20
by Kevin Kelly 
{ Nov 20th 2009 at 9:15PM } 
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:
North by Northwest: 50th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray)
It's been 50 years since Alfred Hitchcock's classic North by Northwest first appeared in theaters, and Warner Bros. has put together an amazing package that includes a new one hour documentary about Hitchcock called "The Master's Touch: Hitchcock's Signature Style," and a new half-hour documentary about the film itself. It also carries over older extras like a documentary about Cary Grant, commentary and more. It's packaged in the Warner Blu-ray Book format that I loathed at first, but now love: No inserts or booklets to lose, and they look fantastic on a shelf. You've probably seen the iconic image of Cary Grant running in terror from a biplane, but never seen North by Northwest. For my money, it's his best film.
Read on for the rest of the recommendations, and as usual, we'll see you at the popcorn sta -- 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.
Recommendation of the Week:
North by Northwest: 50th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray)It's been 50 years since Alfred Hitchcock's classic North by Northwest first appeared in theaters, and Warner Bros. has put together an amazing package that includes a new one hour documentary about Hitchcock called "The Master's Touch: Hitchcock's Signature Style," and a new half-hour documentary about the film itself. It also carries over older extras like a documentary about Cary Grant, commentary and more. It's packaged in the Warner Blu-ray Book format that I loathed at first, but now love: No inserts or booklets to lose, and they look fantastic on a shelf. You've probably seen the iconic image of Cary Grant running in terror from a biplane, but never seen North by Northwest. For my money, it's his best film.
Read on for the rest of the recommendations, and as usual, we'll see you at the popcorn sta -- 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)
WWII in HD (240
($3) HD, 160 ($2) SD, to purchase, per episode)Note that the Xbox Live Video Marketplace is now simply Zune Video, although it requires leaping through a couple more hoops and barrels to access. There's no easy way to go online and see which Zune videos are available for the Xbox, which is slightly maddening. Hopefully they'll iron out the kinks in this. WWII in HD (which is available for the Xbox) is from the History Channel, and it brings you tons of never before seen, newly discovered color footage from the war. They've pushed the envelope on both the picture and the sound, and the conflict has never looked so beautiful, or so brutal before.
Netflix Watch Instantly (Mac/PC, Xbox Live, PS3, subscription required: starts at $8.99 per month)
Saturday Night LiveNetflix has recently added a ton of Saturday Night Live content to Watch Instantly, and there's enough hours of comedy here to keep you occupied well into next year. They've included full seasons of the show, as well as many of the "Best Of..." sets, like Chris Farley, John Belushi, and even Commercial Parodies ("Happy Fun Ball" is in there, along with "Little Chocolate Donuts"). If you've been waiting to see Steve Martin and The Kinks from season two way back in 1976, or Neil Patrick Harris from Season 34 last year, then you're in luck. This definitely showcases one of the reasons that streaming video is going to supplant bulky DVD collections.
PlayStation Store (PlayStation 3 or PSP)
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving ($9.99 SD to own)Planes, Trains and Automobiles is probably the best Thanksgiving movie ever made, and rightfully tops the short list of movies about that holiday. However, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving shouldn't forgotten, especially because Snoopy cooks up probably the best Thanksgiving meal ever in this one: Two slices of buttered toast, pretzel sticks, popcorn and jelly beans. Plus Woodstock dresses up like a pilgrim. How cute is that? Even though it originally aired in 1973, it's still a great view of Turkey Day from a kid's perspective. And seriously, that menu just can't be beat. Forget cranberries and pumpkin pie. Bring on the buttered toast.
Blu-ray Disc (PlayStation 3)
Star Trek ($39.99, lower at many retailers)A lot of great Blu-ray discs came out this week: Fight Club, Galaxy Quest, Leon: The Professional and Rome: The Complete Series are all new to the format. However, Star Trek ends up taking the cake. I have to admit, I enjoyed this movie when it came out, but I wasn't over the moon about it. But something happened when I saw it a second time, and I've been waiting on this to come out on Blu-ray ever since. Thankfully, the wait was worth it. There's a ton of actually good extra material on this disc, and it's not filler material that you normally see on three-disc sets (like interviews with the key grip). I mean, two of the featurettes are called "The Shatner Conundrum" and "Red Shirt Guy." I would've been sold with that, but the video just looks ... perfect. This is the disc that you want to show off your PS3's Blu-ray capability to drooling friends.
What are you watching?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
brian @ Nov 20th 2009 9:18PM
the only good movie to come out this year is inglorious basterds.
Discotheque @ Nov 20th 2009 9:29PM
The Hurt Locker makes Inglorious Basterds look like the joke it is. I'm sick of Tarantino.
Residentevil72501 (PSN: rankore) @ Nov 20th 2009 9:29PM
You have not seen very many movies this year then have you?
Bubbameister33 (Confused by Fanboyism) @ Nov 20th 2009 9:31PM
You haven't seen District 9?
Alton Brown (Now With Mystic Eyes of Death Perception!) @ Nov 20th 2009 9:31PM
Inglorious Basterds was not up to Tarantino standards.
Also, you seem to be forgetting Ponyo. Sure, it's no Howl's Moving Castle, but it's still great.
Discotheque @ Nov 20th 2009 9:34PM
District 9 was alright, nothing too special to be honest. I think Moon rawked it's sawks off.
And The Hurt Locker was just pure awesome. Best movie of the year (so far).
Bubbameister33 (Confused by Fanboyism) @ Nov 20th 2009 9:35PM
I'm waiting for Moon to come out on Blu-ray.
Discotheque @ Nov 20th 2009 9:44PM
Yeah it should be coming in January. Can't wait to pick it up. Even more awesome fact about the movie:
David Bowie's son directed it. Yes, King Bowie's offspring is a great director and made a wonderful debut.
Bubbameister33 (Confused by Fanboyism) @ Nov 20th 2009 9:52PM
David Bowie you say.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViftZTfRSt8
Discotheque @ Nov 20th 2009 10:23PM
LOL I remember that movie. It was pretty sweet.
Young_Nastyman @ Nov 21st 2009 12:07AM
The guy from Labyrinth turned into a bird!!!
Riley @ Nov 21st 2009 1:25AM
I vote yes on all of these movies (except Ponyo, don't really care), including a double vote for Basterds
Discotheque @ Nov 20th 2009 9:28PM
I just bought the North By Northwest BluRay. Fucking phenomenal. I hope Vertigo comes soon on Blu too, it's my favorite Hitchcock.
Also I love these book-format covers.
Prox @ Nov 23rd 2009 9:03AM
Is the picture good? It seems like it'd be difficult to make such an old film display "Blu-Ray quality".
Alton Brown (Now With Mystic Eyes of Death Perception!) @ Nov 20th 2009 9:35PM
I'm on a Ghibli binge. Just finished My Neighbor Totoro and I'm going to start Spirited Away in about an hour.
Discotheque @ Nov 20th 2009 9:43PM
Dude, Mononoke and Spirited Away. Yah must watch them. His best films for sure.
Alton Brown (Now With Mystic Eyes of Death Perception!) @ Nov 20th 2009 9:46PM
I agree. I own all of Miyazaki's films. Mononoke is probably my favorite, though.
BananaBoat @ Nov 20th 2009 10:49PM
Mononoke is definitely my favorite. The Castle of Cagliostro is a close second though.
t_m @ Nov 21st 2009 12:07AM
Nothing will ever beat Totoro.
Solace @ Nov 20th 2009 9:52PM
i love charlie brown holiday specials
Prox @ Nov 23rd 2009 9:23AM
Me too! When I was a kid, I got really tired of watching them with my parents every year, but now I love 'em!
riyadh @ Nov 20th 2009 9:54PM
I think the best films I've seen this year are The Hurt Locker, Waltz With Bashir and Gomorra. I was prepared to hate Inglorious Basterds but I actually liked it.
Discotheque @ Nov 20th 2009 10:15PM
Oh shite I completely forgot about Gomorra. Man that film is brutal. It's definitely the Anti-Godfather.
Rein [Prime Minister of the city-state of New Bjork] @ Nov 20th 2009 10:38PM
Dear God, I love Star Trek. I love it so much I'm buying the Blu-Ray version (along with the DVD version) and I don't even own a PS3. I don't even like watching movies, but I could watch Star Trek until the end of time.
Mmmm, Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto with normal eyebrows... @_@
BananaBoat @ Nov 20th 2009 10:53PM
(spoilers incoming)
I remember watching NBNW as a boy and wondering where the hell George Caplin was at the end of the movie. I don't think the whole "he's not a real person" thing registered on my younger self. Loved the movie though, it is easily up there with any of the James Bond movies on my list of excellent spy movies.
Is the Blu-Ray version worth having? Nothing was said about the quality of the transfer. I'd hope it is excellent, but you never know until you watch.
t_m @ Nov 21st 2009 12:21AM
I don't have one, but how is the blueray transfer of old movies in general?
I know that even with the transfer to DVD it didn't always do them any favors. Suddenly the matt-paintings became obvious, the wires popped up, the cheap looking sets could be seen for what they were, and generally there was "too much clarity".
In particular, Way of the Dragon changed from "that videotape with the cool end fight in the colluseum at the end" to "that dvd with the fight infront of a painting of the colluseum at the end". :-(
Discotheque @ Nov 21st 2009 4:46PM
The transfer on this one is excellent. It really looks sharp and almost like-new.
t_m @ Nov 21st 2009 12:12AM
Recently reading joystiq is making me feel old.
First: "Hey look, it's jackie chan as chun li!!!" and now "You've probably seen the iconic image of Cary Grant running in terror from a biplane, but never seen North by Northwest".
How can anyone over the age of 10 have NOT seen NBNW????
t_m @ Nov 21st 2009 12:17AM
On the topic of Star Trek, I finally got to watch it on Thursday. -> Meh.
I was pretty hyped to watch it, after hearing such great things about it, but it really wasn't particularly great. Maybe it lost something in the transition to the small screen? Maybe if i'd seen it first in the cinema it would have been more impressive.
The actors did an ok job. The SFX looked pretty good. There were some nice references and jokes. But it's story seemed pretty poor. There were lots of big plot holes, lots of illogical actions and decisions. (illogical captain!!). Came off like a very poor episode of the series.
Bascially it seemed to boil down to: This is kirk. He's an idiot. He has no plan. The rest of Star Fleet is on vacation though, so lets give him a ship and let him shoot stuff.
Discotheque @ Nov 21st 2009 1:19AM
That's basically it. Huge joke compared to the actual series. And I'm not even a big fan either. As a stand-alone movie it's pretty lame too. It only got the attention it got because this summer was fairly poor anyways. If it released last year alongside Iron Man and The Dark Knight nobody would even mention it again.
why not the LS2LS7? @ Nov 21st 2009 1:37AM
Yeah, you summed it up pretty well. It's more Star Wars than Star Trek really. And Kirk is such a shit in the movie it's unbelievable. It's inconceivable he would actually be promoted and given a ship with the crap he pulled.
The worst part? It's isn't like Kirk has to triumph against great odds to get into Starfleet. He's stuck on Earth because he can't be bothered to stop being a jackass and do anything to get somewhere. And when he finally does decide to join Starfleet, he's literally off Earth within 24 hours.
It's a pretty dumb store. Lots of good effects and some good acting too though. I don't regret seeing it, but I would never buy it and I often don't recommend it to others.
Galaxy Quest just came out on Blu-ray. See that instead. It's more Star Trek than this movie is and it's a laugh riot too.
why not the LS2LS7? @ Nov 21st 2009 1:33AM
Personally I don't like North by Northwest much at all. My favorite Hitchcock movie is Rear Window, it's fantastic. Charade is my favorite Cary Grant movie, although he sure did a lot of good movies. If you haven't seen Charade, see it.
Taren @ Nov 21st 2009 3:03AM
North by Northwest is probably my favorite film of all time. If you want to start getting into Alfred Hitchcock films and don't know where to start, North by Northwest makes for a great start.
Zoidberg! @ Nov 21st 2009 10:48AM
Rear Window>North By Northwest
There, I said it.
Levi (God Hand Defense Force) @ Nov 21st 2009 12:18PM
Hell yeah, North by Northwest is one of my most favorite movies. Up there with The Big Lebowski and Rushmore.
Cool Story Bro alert: I rented North by Northwest from Blockbuster online several years ago. They sent me two copies for some reason, so I kept one and sent the other back. Free copy of NBNW for me, thanks Blockbuster!
Iliad Force @ Nov 21st 2009 12:50PM
Dear Microsoft: How was Apple able to secure rights to sell Trek as a digital download in HD but you were not? Why does the Zune marketplace only offer the film in standard definition?
Nobledevil @ Nov 21st 2009 2:35PM
It probably has less to do with Microsoft than with Apple's already high standing as a digital media seller. How many people own iPods compared to Zunes, seriously? Companies would do best to simply sell in both stores, obviously, but if it's an exclusivity thing I'd say companies will give Apple more consideration 99% of the time for their product.