Paul Newman was a great actor: for his talents onscreen, his strikingly handsome features, engaging blue eyes, and a deep, resonating voice. For his charity work off-screen: Newman’s Own (one of the most successful non-profit organizations, and one of the best bags of popcorn), The Hole-in-the-Wall camps for children with illnesses, and the countless donations to schools and theaters nationwide.

So it’s hard to imagine Mr. Newman, in life or in death, as a jerk. But that’s precisely what he portrays in Hud, directed by Martin Ritt. Newman plays Hud Bannon, a reckless cowboy with a penchant for fisticuffs and married women. He spends his days cruising around in his convertible-escaping the wrath of cheated husbands-and his night’s boozing and picking fights at the local bar. He lives at home on a Texas cattle ranch with his father Homer, his teenage nephew Lon and the housekeeper Elma. Hud’s mother is dead. And let’s just say him and Pa don’t exactly get along.

The plot centers around the family business, which is at risk of collapse after one of Homer’s cattle is found dead on his land. Homer and Hud clash over how to respond. Homer believes that if his cattle are afflicted with foot-and-mouth disease then the whole bunch must be killed to prevent an epidemic. Hud selfishly believes that the diseased cattle should be sold off for profit, thus potentially spreading the infection to other livestock.

Young, impressionable Lonnie is caught in the middle. Should he follow in the footsteps of his grandpa Homer, a man of traditional values, or in the blazing path of the young, rebellious Hud, who possesses some of the more free-spirited yet less honorable traits of the younger generation? By the films finale, Lonnie has made his decision and you’re not too surprised.

What is surprising is Newman’s Hud, a stubborn, villainous SOB that holds a bitter grudge towards the world. If you’re looking for a character transformation–a neglected son who sees the error of his ways to gloriously lift the family mantel in “Lion King” fashion-you will be disappointed. (That’s right, I just compared Hud to The Lion King.) Hud Bannon is an infection, lurking in the background of every scene (with brilliant cinematography by James Wong Howe), preying off the land with no intention of giving anything back.

Despite losing out in the Best Actor category that year to Sydney Poitier, Newman’s Hud stands as an iconic character. He doesn’t have the brute tact or charm of Brando’s baddie Stanley Kowalski, but he does have a staunch resistance to authority that would eventually make Newman an icon of his era.

Some might see Hud as an oversimplified story with an unjustified antagonism between father and son. But for me, Hud stands the test of time precisely because of this tenuous clash. There is a strange tension in this film, a slow erosion of a family legacy marked by a quiet, barren landscape overrun with tractors and muted out by portable radios and the technology of an oncoming era. It’s minimal and effective as an American work of art.

In one particular scene, Newman casually lies on his bed, with a beer, watching TV; a scene quite commonly found in people’s homes today. But in Hud, immortalized in black & white, there’s something disconcerting about the image. Is Hud’s inactivity one of his faults? Is TV and beer part of the problem? If it is, then Hud Bannon is one of the coolest, most likeable jerks you’ll ever encounter.

Zoe Saldana is ruthless in "Colombiana," but no match for "The Help" and Hurricane Irene.

Hurricane Irene created havoc in the box-office this weekend with combined domestic grosses totaling a measly $91.0 million, as most theaters on the East Coast closed down. The only movie not to suffer was The Help, which grossed $14.3 million, down just 28.4% from last weekend, now tallying a 19-day gross of $96.6 million, no doubt “helped” by terrific word of mouth.

Zoe Saldana’s latest vehicle Colombiana was the strongest new release and grossed $10.3 million on 2,900 screens at 2,614 locations. This is an improvement on Saldana’s latest action role in comic-book adaptation The Losers, which only grossed $9.4 million during its first weekend. Distributor Sony Pictures’ exit reported that, unusually, 57% of the audience was female while 65% was age 25 years and older.

Written and produced by Guillermo del Toro, the R-rated horror movie Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark took third place with a disappointing $8.6 million at 2,760 single-screen locations. This poor result is in direct contrast with FilmDistrict’s previous release, Insidious, which grossed  $13.3 million in its opening week. I would personally blame the poor casting: Katie Holmes was great in Dawson’s Creek but in a supernatural thriller? I don’t think so.

The weekend’s last new release, Our Idiot Brother, rounded out the top five with $6.5 million at 2,555 single-screen locations. Distributor, The Weinstein Company, reported that 55% of the audience was female and 70% 25 years and older. The R-rated comedy suffered from tepid reviews despite picking up some nice online buzz in the last week or so, mostly about the onscreen lesbian relationship between Zooey Deschanel and Rashida Jones.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes ranked fourth with $8.6 million, and its total climbed to $148.5 million in 22 days, despite a 46% drop from last week-end. This is the science-fiction reboot’s fourth week in the top 5 and it’s managing to hold up very nicely thanks to good word of mouth and mostly positive reviews.

To get ready for Labor Day weekend movies are being released earlier during the week. Wednesday sees the opening of Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life, a biopic of legendary sleazeball/musical genius Serge Gainsbourg, and The Debt, an espionage thriller starring British ice queen Helen Mirren. On Thursday, we are being treated to strange and gory happenings in space with Apollo 18, a slew of 3-D gigantic great white sharks devouring attractive young things in a Louisiana lake (yeah, right…) in Shark Night 3D, and Jason Sudeikis and Lake Bell try their hand at A Good Old Fashioned Orgy in the Hamptons.

Watch These Movies

The Help

Colombiana

The Losers

Set Top Boxes offer a great opportunity to download movies in SD, HD, and HDX. Many also come with a variety of third party features including Netflix Instant, Pandora, Flickr and YouTube. Things you should look for are the variety of movies available through the set top box service and how it can fit in your home entertainment center. We have listed some of our favorite.

See more….

Blu-Ray Players

This is not your mother’s DVD player. Blu-Ray has arrived and it has brought with it a multitude of features through third party online features including Vudu, Netflix Instant, Pandora, CinemaNow, Flickr and YouTube. Also many Blu-Ray players could connect to social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, making it a device for the whole family to enjoy. While there are many Blu-Ray choices out there, our editors have compiled a list of their favorites based on functionality, design, utility and price.

See more….

Video Game Systems

Cost: $700

What to enjoy:
The Mac Mini has a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 320 GB Hard Drive and 2GB of memory. It’s compact size makes it easy to take on the go or fit in the smallest of places, out of the way.

Features:
The Mac Mini works well with Boxee and Final Cut, making the small device quite a good the Home Theatre Personal Computer.

Video:

Editor’s Assessment:
Even though the Mac Mini has the high price tag of 700 dollars, certain people swear by it as the go to device for home theatre. It gets high ratings as a excellently executed home PC and it could hook up to almost anything but the high price tag may make certain consumers wondering what extra features they could get for the same price in the PC world.

Cost: $500

What to enjoy:
Apple’s newest innovation sports a glossy screen that surfs the internet, checks email, provides access to movies and television. The device works through a wireless connection or a 3G version, with data plan, is available for an extra 129 dollars.

Features:
With a number of applications made and many more in the works, the apple iPad offers a variety of options for the consumer, including a easy to use Netflix application as well as Apple’s own iTunes.

Video:

Editor’s Assessment:
The iPad seems to be the magical product that Apple claims, building more and more applications every day. While the 500 dollar price may be high for some consumers, the Apple iPad shows to have multiple uses, from a media player to ereader to a home entertainment remote. And with over 3 million ipads sold, it seems like Apple has found another winner.

Image Source: Engadget

Cost: $300

What to Enjoy:
While D-Link’s Boxee Box has a Tegra 2, NUU Media’s NUU player runs XBMC on a more powerful Atom Processor. It also has a 160GB local hard drive and runs a WebKit browser, compared to the Boxee Box’s no local storage and Mozilla. The NUU Player will come with two USB ports, an HDMI port, and an Ethernet hook-up.

Third-Party Features:
The NUU Player offers integration with Boxee, as a licensed partner, YouTube and, most impressively, Skype with Bluetooth Support. With Skype’s recent announcement of transmitting HD quality through televisions this addition seems to have great potential.

Video


Editor’s Assessment: The Nuu Player is 100 dollars more than the Boxee Box but it’s added hardware is not to be ignored. An Atom Processor is much more powerful than a Tegra 2 and for anyone that is putting Skype as a priority, and it seems that Skype-oriented televisions are an addition to the not too distant future, the Nuu Player may be a worthy jump investment.

Cost: $200

What to enjoy:
After connecting to your tv, viewers get the easy to use Boxee menu system that plays content partners (Netflix, MLB, Wired, Clicker and even Suicide Girls).

Third-Party Features:
The Boxee Box has an HDMI output, an analog RCA audio, two USB ports, and a SD slot. It also has Wi-Fi, Ethernet and can be used anywhere in the house.

What can’t you get with Boxee? Primarily, it does not support DRM files”files protected by Digital Rights Management. This includes iTunes downloads (prior to Apple going DRM-free earlier this year), and downloads from MSN Music and Audible.com.

The big site not found on Boxee is Hulu. Both companies are in the midst of a battle and the much-ado, which really is about nothing more than the right to display content, can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Video:

Sales Info & Figures:
Video Business (08/13/2009): Boxee streams in $6 million for funding – “Internet TV software startup Boxee — which is hoping to score partnerships with cable and media companies — closed $6 million in financing led by venture-capital firm General Catalyst, with participation by prior investors Spark Capital and Union Square Ventures.” {Read more}

Latest Press Releases:

Editor’s Assessment:
Boxee is looking to be a big player in the getting internet television and movies to your tv industry that has boomed over the recent years and, with an easy to use interface and a very customer friendly approach, it’s easy to see why. Crowned Last Gadget Standing at the 2009 CES Conference, the Boxee Box is a set top box to eagerly anticipate in 2010.

Cost | What to Enjoy | Features | News & Reviews | Press Releases