Welcome to my new weekly column showcasing the “must haves” for your New Release Tuesdays! Buy, Rent or Borrow, just make sure you check these out!

Music

NOFX: Coaster

It’s hard to believe NOFX has been around for 25 years.  NOFX has been delivering consistently good irreverent punk rock over 11 full length albums and a pile of EPs and 7″ singles.

Coaster shows us that they are still relevant today as they were 25 years ago.  This could be their best album yet, and from what I’ve heard could end up being my favorite NOFX album.

From Absolutepunk:

Breezy, lighter and simple, Coaster will give those who’ve never listened a solid base for what to expect as they learn to find the art & pure entertainment/joy in any NOFX record. It might not change the course of music today, but for a band who isn’t U2 or Metallica to remain this vital and successful after nearly 30 years of making records? The real joke seems to be on all those who still have yet to appreciate 25 years of dedication, honesty & consistency.

Buy it from Amazon: MP3 download or CD

Movies

JCVD

Jean-Claude Van Damme is a guilty pleasure of mine.  I love Bloodsport, Kickboxer, Hard Target, Universal Soldier and Timecop respectively.  He’s never been the greatest actor and it seems that after the ill-fated Street Fighter, Jean-Claude slide from big budget action star to a B-movie/straight-to-video name along-side Dolph Lundgren.  I tried to go with him into the straight-to-video world with The Quest.  After that, I sadly abandoned the Muscles from Brussels.  Until now.

JCVD is apparently very meta and even a commentary on his own career.

From IMDB:

The film establishes Jean-Claude Van Damme, who is playing himself in an alternate reality, as an out of luck actor. He’s out of money, his agent can’t find him a decent production, and the judge in a custody battle is inclined to give custody of his daughter over to his ex-wife. He returns to his childhood home of Brussels: where hes still considered a national icon.

When he goes into a post office to receive a wire transfer, he finds himself in the middle of a hostage situation. Due to an unfortunate mistake, the police believe Van Damme is responsible for the crime. As the events are played from different perspectives, Van Damme finds himself acting as a hero to protect the hostages, as well as a negotiator as the presumed perpetrator. Van Damme is forced to play a different kind of hero by accepting responsibility for crimes he didnt commit and the life mistakes that he made.

Buy it from Amazon: Blu Ray or DVD

Martyrs

French horror is on a role these days.  With the success of High Tension, the French show us they’re here to stay with Pascal Laugier‘s intense horror film, Martyrs.

I haven’t seen it yet, but am looking forward to checking it out.  The Horror community has embraced this as one of the years most intense and one of the best horror films to come out in recent memory.

From Amazon:

Lucie, a 10 year old girl, is found wandering in the streets, bruised and bloodied. Unable to say who did this to her, or why, she is placed in a hospital where she meets Anna, another young girl who had been abused. Fifteen years later, with Anna s help, Lucie sets out to get revenge on her attackers. When she believes she has found the couple who abused her, she confronts them …and that is when the terror truly begins.

Buy it from Amazon: DVD