Big Lots - Your Source for cheap ass DVDs

I find you don't often hear a lot of kind words about Big Lots (your friendly neighborhood closeout retailer). Probably due to their notoriety of seemingly only being located in terrifying neighborhoods in less than reputable parts of town. That and the fact that the employees look more zombie-like and miserable than even those at Wal-Mart. I mean no disrespect to employees of either store - I work at a store myself - just saying, they seem to hate being there more than people employed at most stores.

That being said, fellow DVD collectors who have overlooked the store should probably visit their nearest location at their earliest convenience. For the past year or two they've been stocking tons of DVDs for the sum of $3 a piece. And these aren't just crappy public domain titles, these are real sealed DVDs from companies like Sony, MGM and HBO and there are some spectacular deals to be had for people who still collect regular old SD DVDs.

Above is a picture of my recent Big Lots purchases over the last few months. Mostly the past couple of weeks though, as the MGM and HBO stock is pretty recent. As you can see, a few poor choices are to be found - I still can't explain why I handed over currency in exchange for the Super Dave movie - but there are some very good titles in there as well. Some of the stuff I picked up, like the Batman serials, the Deluxe Guys and Dolls and Arli$$ still sell for $25-$40 on Amazon. Big Lots, somehow, is letting them go for three American dollars. So it's well worth a visit if you, like me, can't resist a good bargain.

I was originally going to post the complete list of titles available here, but it's literally several hundred titles long. So I'll just list some of the notable titles.

Columbia TriStar/Sony Titles
3-Iron
An Evening With Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder
Anatomy 2
Auto Focus
Bad Education (Original Uncut NC-17 Edition)
Batman: The Complete 1943 Movie Serial Collection
Christine
Crimson Rivers (Jean Reno)
Crimson Rivers 2: Angels Of The Apocalypse (Jean Reno, Christopher Lee)
The Dark (2005 Maria Bello, Sean Bean)
The Dark Crystal Collector's Edition
The Devil Commands (1941 Boris Karloff)
The Fog (1979) - Special Edition WS
The Fog (2005 remake - Tom Welling, Maggie Grace, Selma Blair)
Groundhog Day Special Edition
Joe Dirt
Labyrinth Collector's Edition
Like Father, Like Son
Little Women (Boxed set with DVD and book)
Memento (2-disc Limited Edition)
Monster 2-disc SE
Monty Python's And Now for Something Completely Different
Mr. Sardonicus (1961)
The Omen 2-disc CE
Panic Room SE (3-disc)
Private Resort (Johnny Depp)
Sheena WS/FS Flipper (Tanya Roberts)
Spun
Stand By Me Deluxe Edition (with CD, Anamorphic)
Steamboy DC
Talk To Her (dir. Pedro Almodovar - OOP)
Torture Garden - 1967 Amicus horror anthology
Walk the Talk
Warriors Of Heaven And Earth
What To Do In Case Of Fire


HBO Video Titles
American Splendor (Paul Giamatti)
Angel Rodriguez: A Life In A Day
Angels In America
The Comeback: The Complete Only Season (Lisa Kudrow - 2 discs)
Cracker: Series One
David Spade: Take The Hit
The Hitcher (Rutger Hauer)
The Hitchhiker (1980s TV Series 2-disc)
The Hitchhiker Vol. 2 (1980s TV Series 2-disc)
The Hitchhiker Vol. 3 (1980s TV Series 2-disc)
Jerry Seinfeld: "Live on Broadway"
Lewis Black: Black On Broadway
Lewis Black: Red, White And Screwed
Louis CK: One Night Stand
Lucky Louie: The Complete First Season (2005 - 2 discs)
Maria Full Of Grace
The Mind Of The Married Man (Complete First Season - 2 discs
Mom And Dad Save The World


MGM Titles
8 Heads In A Duffel Bag
21 Hours At Munich
The Adventures Of Mark Twain (1985)
Alien From L.A.
The Amityville Horror (1979 James Brolin, Margot Kidder)
The Amityville Horror (2005 remake - Ryan Reynolds, Melissa George)Amityville II: The Possession
Amityville 3-D
Bowling For Columbine
The Brood
Bubba Ho-Tep CE
A Bucket of Blood
Burnt Offerings
Candyman
Candyman 2
Candyman3
Confessions Of An American Girl (Jena Malone, Brad Renfro)
CQ (SE)
Die Monster Die! (Midnite Movies - Boris Karloff, Nick Adams)
Dillinger
The Dunwich Horror (Midnite Movies)
Fatal Instinct
F.I.S.T.
The Flamingo Kid
For a Few Dollars More
Foxy Brown
The French Lieutenant's Woman
Frogs
Gates Of Heaven
The Ghoul (1933 Boris Karloff)
Guys And Dolls (Deluxe Edition, with book)
Heavy Traffic (1973 Ralph Bakshi animation feature, FS)
Hot Dog: The Movie
Hotel (2001 John Malkovich, Burt Reynolds, Saffron Burrows)
The Howling SE
The Howling II: Your Sister Is A Werewolf
Johnny Be Good
Killer Klowns From Outer Space (Midnite Movies)
Konga
La Cage Aux Folles II (World Films)
The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane
National Lampoon's Movie Madness
Once Bitten
Phantom Of The Opera (1989)
Pieces Of April
The Pink Panther Classic Cartoon Collection, Volume 3: Frolics In The Pink
The Pink Panther Strikes Again (older version with old artwork -UPC#027616750327)
The Pit And The Pendulum (Midnite Movies)
The Rachel Papers
The Rage: Carrie 2
Rampage: The Hillside Strangler Murders
Revenge Of The Pink Panther
Roadie (1980)
Robocop 2 (1990)
Robocop 3 (1993)
Rollerball (1975 James Caan)
Rollerball SE (2002)
Romantic Comedy
S.F.W.
The Saddest Music In The World
Scanners
Semi-Tough
Sex And The Teenage Mind
Shadows and Fog
A Shot In The Dark
Shredder
Slaughter's Big Rip-off (1973 Jim Brown)
Son Of The Pink Panther
Spaceballs CE (2-disc)
Special Effects
Species (1995)
Species III UE (2004)
State Of Grace
The Sure Thing
Swamp Thing
They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (sequel to "In The Heat Of The Night")
Thrashin'
Thunderbird 6 (1968)
Thunderbirds Are Go
To Live And Die In LA
Vernon, Florida
X:The Man With The X-Ray Eyes (Midnite Movies) (1963 Ray Milland)
Y Tu Mama Tambien (R rated)
The Yes Men
Young Doctors In Love

Thanks to the fine people on the DVDTalk forum for compiling the list which I then compiled this much shorter list from.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Episode 523 - Village of the Giants

I thought it was time for another MSTie post, so here’s Village of the Giants, starring Beau Bridges, Tommy Kirk and a very young Ron Howard. Village was directed by pioneer of really big stuff Bert I. Gordon and he really goes to town on huge effects here. We get huge ducks invading a dance, said huge ducks in roasted form, huge cats, dogs, huge plastic legs, and a 50 foot tall shimmying Beau Bridges. Oddly, no one seems to mind the huge ducks at the dance. As someone who has been bitten by a duck I’d say a big ass duck is reason for alarm.

Things to watch for: 10 minute fully clothed mud orgy, The Beau Brummels, free giant breast rides, build your own Cthulhu kit, attempted seduction of a 10-year old Opie by humongous hussy, elaborate plans to inconvenience Beau Bridges, and the buffalo shot that covered 3 states. Trust me, all of that will make sense to you soon. So, get ready to join Mike, Tom and Willow-fan Crow as they take on Village of the Giants.


The file is split over 8 parts, you’ll need all 8 parts to watch the episode. Like I’ve mentioned before, if you’re looking for more MST be sure to check the torrent sites out there. I know at least one of them has the entire series up. Of course it’s split over 35 DVDs, but it’s a good way to fill in any gaps you might have.

Jim Begg’s Love Handles!

On a related note, the newest Cinematic Titanic episode The Doomsday Machine is available for purchase or download. I haven’t checked it out yet myself, but I really liked what they did with the first movie so I’m getting this one as soon as I can. Just hope they aren’t any Britney, Lindsay Lohan, or Youtube jokes this time, I think they snuck a few of those in there last time. I don’t care what Leno says, topical humor isn’t funny.

George Carlin Dies at 71

Wow, even more sad legendary celebrity death news to report. George Carlin - forever known as Rufus to me - has passed away at 71. He died of heart failure on Sunday. This is a huge loss to the comedy world as he is often considered one of the top 3 comedians ever. Seriously, look at any "Great Comedian" list out there, he's always in the top 3. As a tribute to George I thought I would post some random George-isms. Here they are in no order whatsoever.

When cheese gets it's picture taken, what does it say?

If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn't it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted?

When someone is impatient and says, "I haven't got all day," I always wonder, How can that be? How can you not have all day?

I thought about how mothers feed their babies with tiny little spoons and forks so I wondered, what do Chinese mothers use? Toothpicks?

If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?

Is a vegetarian permitted to eat animal crackers?

What if there were no hypothetical questions?

Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck.

Some national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations. When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong.

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.

Before they invented drawing boards, what did they go back to?

Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.

Why do croutons come in airtight packages? It's just stale bread to begin with.

I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it.

Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?

If the #2 pencil is the most popular, why is it still #2?

I think it would be interesting if old people got anti-Alzheimer's disease where they slowly began to recover other people's lost memories.

Electricity is really just organized lightning.

Women like silent men, they think they're listening.

"I am" is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that "I do" is the longest sentence?

Men are from Earth, women are from Earth. Deal with it.

If all the world is a stage, where is the audience sitting?

Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?

Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy.

I recently went to a new doctor and noticed he was located in something called the Professional Building. I felt better right away.

Why is the man (or woman) who invests all your money called a broker?

I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.

There's no present. There's only the immediate future and the recent past.

At a formal dinner party, the person nearest death should always be seated closest to the bathroom.

As a matter of principle, I never attend the first annual anything.

The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done.

Death is caused by swallowing small amounts of saliva over a long period of time.

Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.

I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.

The only good thing ever to come out of religion was the music.

Religion convinced the world that there's an invisible man in the sky who watches everything you do. And there's 10 things he doesn't want you to do or else you'll go to a burning place with a lake of fire until the end of eternity. But he loves you! ...And he needs money! He's all powerful, but he can't handle money!

This is a lttle prayer dedicated to the separation of church and state. I guess if they are going to force those kids to pray in schools they might as well have a nice prayer like this: Our Father who art in heaven, and to the republic for which it stands, thy kingdom come, one nation indivisible as in heaven, give us this day as we forgive those who so proudly we hail. Crown thy good into temptation but deliver us from the twilight's last gleaming. Amen and Awomen.

Stan Winston dies at 62.

Tremendously sad news to report. After I had just posted the score from Pumpkinhead last week I just heard that film's director, special effects legend Stan Winston has passed away at the age of 62. Details about his death can be found here.

Most celebrity deaths don't affect me all that much, but this is really getting to me. I think of all the movie monsters and creatures he's been responsible for that I've loved over the years (Pumpkinhead, The Terminator, The Monster Squad villians, Edward Scissorhands to name a few) and it honestly gets me a little misty eyed. He seemed like such an enthusiastic and genuinely nice person every time I heard him speak in an interview. I, and a legion of horror/science fiction fans will miss him.

CREEPY - Special Ed Dracula Lives!

Here are 8 more issues of CREEPY. This set includes 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117 and 118. I don't know what's up with the vampire on the cover for 112, kinda looks like Lon Chaney's Phantom of the Opera with down syndrome. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Part1
Part2
Part3
Part4

Here's an ad from that same issue is an ad I always enjoy seeing. And since I've pretty much put the kibosh on my Space Bastard site I thought I'd post it here.

Genuine soil from Dracula's Castle? In a tiny glass coffin, artistically secured on a gold chain? Sold!

Anyone out there ever actually own one of these Dracula dirt necklaces? I used to really want one of these when I was a kid, (along with everything else in the back issues I used to read). Of course I didn't realize at the time that Creepy had stopped being printed in 1983, when I was all of 2 years old. Plus most of the issues I actually owned were from the 70's, so I don't know how successful I would've been in sending away for the dirt necklace. Or the Creepy Undies.

Army of Darkness - Ashes 2 Ashes

Okay, here's the Ashes 2 Ashes series. Sorry about switching up the order there.

Download

On an absolutely completely unrelated note, while looking through some older files on my computer I found the Savage Streets CD cover I had made after I posted the soundtrack. So here's a look at that, if anyone needs it for whatever reason.

Army of Darkness - Shop Till You Drop Dead

Here are all 4 issues from Dynamite Comics' Army of Darkness - Shop Till You Drop Dead mini-series. Personally I think Shop Till You Drop....Dead would've been funnier. Dots equal funny.

Anyway, this series is actually a follow-up to another 4-issues series called Ashes 2 Ashes. I'll be posting that one later on today, I haven't read either yet and didn't realize the order they were supposed to go in. Ashes takes place immediately after the events of the film Army of Darkness, Drop Dead takes place immediately after Ashes. So just be sure to check out that one before you check out this one or you might be a little lost.

Download

Cinematic Titanic Episode Two Promo

Joel Hodgson/Trace Beaulieu/J. Elvis Weinstein/Mary Jo Pehl/Frank Conniff's Cinematic Titanic has released the promo trailer for their second episode. This time they're letting the 1972 film The Doomsday Machine have it. First Elvira now these guys. Poor movie. Here's a brief glimpse of the episode.

The episode (I guess you can call them episodes) will be available for purchase June 19th. No word yet on whether the price will remain the same as The Oozing Skull, but this time they will be sending the discs out in an amaray case with cover art, so that's good news at least.

It's been a few months since the first CineTit release, but according to their site they should be back on track with a more frequent release schedule.

Richard Stone - Pumpkinhead

I also had a request for this one, from the same person who was after E.T. if I recall correctly. This is Richard Stone's score from Stan Winston's underrated 1988 directorial debut Pumpkinhead. The film is also known by the hilarious title of Das Halloween Monster in Germany. I know very little German but I'm pretty sure there is a German word for 'Monster' and it's not Monster.

I've noticed that any females I've ever discussed the character of Pumpkinhead with (that would 2 of them, for those of you keeping track) seem perplexed when I tell them that Pumpkinhead in no way resembles a pumpkin. I guess they're assuming he'd look more like this guy, but I can't imagine Merv there invoking much fear into the hearts of moviegoers. The actual Pumpkinhead however, is a pretty frightening creation, so I'm glad then steered away from any kind of pumpkin resemblance. In fact, I'd say old Pumpkey is one of my all-time favorite movie monsters, at least appearance wise. I even have the Movie Maniacs figure of him on a desk next to Godzilla and the Chris Farley bobblehead. I'm not sure if a demon hellbent on vengeance could really be considered a "maniac", but I guess if Jaws is one, then Pumpkinhead is as well.

1. End Credits (03:12)
2. Bud's Help (02:42)
3. Father & Son (01:30)
4. Steve's Death / It's Evil (01:20)
5. A Holy Place (02:42)
6. Innocence Lost (01:28)
7. Visitors Arrive (01:44)
8. Raising Pumpkinhead (03:48)
9. A Witch in the Woods (04:58)
10. Mr. Harley's Remorse (02:10)
11. Can I Take Your Picture (00:45)
12. It Begins (03:55)
13. Resolution / A New Beginning (01:49)

For each of man's evils a special demon exists...