Year: 2009
Running Time: 95 Minutes
Rated: PG-13
SRP: $39.99
Studio(s): Fox Searchlight Pictures
Release Date: December 22, 2009

Film/Feature: B+
Ladies, excuse me for a second while I ask the men out there a question. Hey guys, have you ever been in love or thought you’ve been in love with someone who just crushes your heart? Then you just can’t seem to get over them? Ever have these great expectations of what that relationship was and then come to grips with the very different reality of the situation? (500) Days of Summer is that remedy you need to help get that girl out of your system.

Back in 2000, Bryan Singer brought the classic Marvel comic X-Men, to the big screen, and it was good. Never had a filmmaker successfully taken on the challenge of bringing a superhero team to the big screen. But with 2003’s X2: X-Men United, Singer proved what he could do with the characters and gave us, even in this post-Iron Man/The Dark Knight era of comic book films, what many fans consider to be one of the best comic book films of all-time.

But fans would ultimately be disappointed when it was announced that Singer wouldn’t be returning for a third film, opting to take the reigns on the long-delayed Superman reboot. And while X-Men: The Last Stand would prove even more successful at the box office than its predecessors, many considered it a step back creatively. For all the build-up towards the introduction of The Phoenix, the character ended up taking a back seat to Magneto and a handful of nameless mutant henchmen. The death of characters like Cyclops and Professor Xavier didn’t sit well with fans either. The X-Men Franchise would take another blow with the lackluster Wolverine spin-off. And Singer’s Superman Returns only aggravated the fanboy blues, turning out to be both critically and financially disappointing, and leaving Singer’s involvement in that franchise–in fact, the whole Superman franchise–in doubt.

Which brings us to the recent announcement of Bryan Singer directing the upcoming X-Men: First Class. Is this a reason for X fans to rejoice, or, with so many post-Singer comic movie franchises taking off and garnering massive critical and box office success, is it call for a resounding meh? Can Singer get the X franchise–and his own comic con credibility–back on track, or have we already witnessed the fall of the mutants?

» 1. Can Singer recapture the magic of the first two films?

Year: 2009
Running Time: 731 Minutes
Rated: TV-14
SRP: $79.99 Regular (SRP $120 Dharma Initiative Kit)
Studio(s): ABC (Disney) Studios
Release Date: December 8, 2009

Film/Feature: A–
Hurry up, you’ve only got five weeks left to catch up to speed on Lost before the final season begins, and what better way than the Lost Complete Fifth Season on Blu-ray to assist you in that task. Whether you need just a refresher, or you want to build up to that momentous premiere on February 2, 2010, this blu-ray has all of the contents you hope to attempt to make some sense of this fifth season.

Year: 2009
Running Time: 91 minutes
Rated: R
SRP: $ 39.99
Studio(s): Miramax Studios
Release Date: December 22, 2009

Film/Feature: C+
Mike Judge is one of those few creators who understands what makes people laugh in both animation, and live action. A good comedic mind would tell you that it doesn’t matter what the format is, and they’re right, but it’s rare to be able to toe that line and do it as successfully as Judge. He’s given us Beavis and Butthead, King of the Hill, and to many of you out there, he’s simply known as the man behind Office Space. It the latter’s more of your taste, then perhaps you might want to see how Judge’s cubicle dynamics go from the corporate buzzkill to the assembly line at Reynold’s Almond Extract.

Joel (Jason Bateman) is sexually frustrated CEO of a small extract company piddling about his routine life until he runs into the worst month of his life. A freak accident threatens to destroy the company and a two-bit scam artist (Mila Kunis) is pulling the strings. If only he could make it home before 8pm. After the clock strikes eight, his wife (Kristin Wiig) puts on the sweat pants and the chance of him getting lucky goes out the door. His best friend Dean (Ben Affleck), a bartender and Xanax pusher, comes up with a wild and elaborate plan to rid him of all of his troubles; except that Dean and plan should never be used in the same sentence.

Pop Culture Shock participated in a Virtual Q/A session with Mike Judge (Beavis and Butthead, King of the Hill) to talk about his new film, Extract, which comes out on Blu-Ray and DVD on December 22nd, and is what he describes as his own little sequel to his live-action cult-classic, Office Space. Extract is about Joel (Jason Batemen) who has built an empire of vanilla extract and his troubles. His bartender friend, is a drug pusher. His wife (Kristen Wiig) leaves him sexually frustrated and his neighbor Nathan is the most annoying person on the planet. Joel hopes to sell his company off to the highest bidder until an accident on the clock puts that in jeopardy. You know these characters, and you know these situations. Judge again is able to recreate a small town world that’s familiar and is filled with funny and odd characters. Here is a full review of the Extract Blu-Ray.

ON EXTRACT’S STORY AND CHARACTERS

While so many other comedies tend to shoot for these big company stories, you tend to reside in settings with small town folks as the main characters (King of the Hill, Office Space and now Extract) what draws you to these small town stories?

Mike Judge: I would say my stuff resides in suburbs of big towns also, or small towns that are near big towns. I guess that’s because I’ve mostly lived in places like that — Albuquerque NM, Richardson TX, etc. I think that a lot of writers in film and TV in the past have tended to come from NY or big east-coast cities, and there have also been great stuff written about really small hick towns, and so I feel like I can maybe bring a different perspective on things with a suburban setting.

Did you always have Jason Bateman in mind for the lead role?

MJ: I started writing this a long time ago – I think it was shortly after Office Space came out. I originally wasn’t thinking of any actor in particular, just writing it. Jason had done King of the Hill and I always liked him, but when I saw him in Arrested Development, I thought he would be perfect for this, and when I rewrote it and finished it, I was imagining him as the lead. It’s a similar character to what he did in AD, but I think Joel is a little less slick or something. Jason was the first actor I gave the script to and he said he liked it and wanted to do it, so it was him from the get go.

So what makes a gift is worthy for a TV or Film geek? I’ve hand-selected 10 box sets that will keep that special somone busy for days. These are not only gifts I would love to receive, but would have pride in giving them as gifts. Giving a great gift doesn’t just mean knowing what he or she likes, but also knowing what gift sets have that shelf life that will continue to keep on giving throughout the new year and many more after. I’ve also listed the suggested retail prices and low price ranges that the items could be found at on Amazon or other retail stores (Deepdiscount.com, Buy.com, DVDPlanet.com, Criterion Collection, to name just a few) These are not final prices, but rather approximations of what they could be found online.

Buying a last minute gift for a movie or TV fan, or maybe you’re trying to come up with a list for someone trying to get you a next-to-impossible-to-find gift? Or perhaps you’ve got some holiday gift cards to use, maybe a Christmas bonus? Wanna cash in on some After-Christmas sales? Keep this 2009 PCS Gift Guide: Movies and TV list handy for all your last minute pre-holiday needs and post-holiday wish fulfillment!

Hey, remember that link I gave yesterday to a Publishers Weekly article on AfAm lit in today’s marketplace? Well, this is the cover image. I thought you should see it because it’s gotten more than a few people pissed off.

You can read more about it at the link, but basically, the original image is from a book about black imagery in America, taken by a professional photographer, and used by PW with her permission. It’s a striking and remarkable image on its own – but here, on the cover of a major book trade magazine, representing an otherwise excellent article about current AfAm literature, one has to question its appropriateness. PW editor Calvin Reid (a former Glyph Comics Award judge) is quoted in the article at the link above as believing the image was “ironic” and the accompanying copy as “amusing and memorable.”

I dunno. If he honestly didn’t believe that this cover would garner such a negative reaction, I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but I think he should’ve gotten a second opinion. Why choose an image that is highly evocative of the 70s to represent an article about how AfAm writers want to break free from the stereotypes of the past and reach a wider audience with their work? I would argue that this cover undermines the article it’s supposed to represent. At the very least, this amounts to an error in judgment on Reid’s part which could’ve been easily avoided had he stopped and thought about it for a minute. (And couldn’t they have put the space for the subscriber address someplace where it’s not blocking the face?)

Year: 2009
Running Time: 300 minutes
Rated: G
SRP: $ 29.98
Studio(s): 20th Century Fox
Release Date: December 1, 2009

Film/Feature: A–
Working in scientific research, is not as glamourous as other high profile careers. I come to that conclusion based on how many movies and television shows have been based on science and research… yeah, it’s tough to come up with one–until now.

Better Off Ted is about the inner-workings of global think tank, Veridian Dynamics, a research and development company in the dozens of fields including innovative industrial products, biomedicine, cryogenics as well as, defense technology. They come up with innovations such as biocomputers, exploding pumpkins, cow-less beef, and hair-growth remedies. This particular division of Veridian is headed by Veronica Palmer (Portia De Rossi) and in charge of research is Ted Crisp (Jay Harrington). Ted talks directly to the camera and is our main entry point to the company. He’s a confident, organized, corporate stiff who’s wife ran out on him and their daughter, Rose (Isabella Acres) who keeps her father in check.

Reporting directly to Ted are Head Scientists Phil Myman (Jonathan Slavin) Lem Hewitt (Malcolm Barrett), who are kept in the basement away from corporate but are always involved in the episode as they have to update the uppers of their progress, present in front of the board, and some of their experiments make their way up the building. Linda Zwordling (Andrea Anders) also reports to Ted. She works in the Testing, is the company idealist, flirts with Ted, and looks to violate company policies in protest of the anti-autonomous corporate culture.

De Rossi plays what she does best, and that’s playing a cold, heartless bitch. Borrowing familiar notes from her character in Arrested Development, De Rossi embodies corporate management perfectly lacking any sensitivity, looking for ways to cost-cut, and living the coda of ‘company first, employees last.’ She carries out mandates by her superiors and throws enough bones and scrap meat to the employees to keep them satisfied that they have a job.

It’s not comedy because it’s made up, folks.

Square Enix released new screenshots and box art for the upcoming Spring 2010 Action-Rpg NIER for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Details are still scarce on exactly how much RPG might get mixed into the action experience, but the most recent press release hints at party members assisting Nier playing a greater role than suspected.

Draw your own conclusions from the press release below:

Year: 2009
Running Time: 85 Minutes
Rated: TV-14
SRP: $ 29.99
Studio(s): ESPN Home Entertainment
Release Date: November 24, 2009

Film/Feature: B
Have you ever wanted to get so close to an NBA basketball game that you know what’s going on? No, I’m not talking about seeing what’s going on, but really knowing what’s going on? That means you’d either have to be a player or a coach to have that privileged information, and chances are you’re neither, but Spike Lee filmed Kobe Bryant late in his 2007 MVP season with several cameras, and mic’ed him up for an ESPN documentary, Kobe Doin’ Work. Afterwards, Bryant visited the footage long after and recorded a commentary to give a much fuller context of what was really going on in that game.

It starts inside the locker room during the Lakers pregame routine before a late season game against Western Conference rivals San Antonio Spurs. While watching video of the Spurs, Lakers head coach Phil Jackson warns his captains to tell the refs before the game starts, “My coach told me to tell you guys ‘Don’t let Oberto or Duncan pick and use their hands.” Kobe’s response is priceless.