‘Star Trek’ on Blu-ray, ‘Man of Steel’, ‘Dexter’ — Check It or Chuck It

Welcome back to 'Check It or Chuck It', where we preview some of the week’s noteworthy pop culture and entertainment offerings and warn you about a few stinkers and disappointing entertainment trends you’ll want to avoid.

This week, ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ gets digital, three indie films eclipse the big budget fodder, and SyFy’s quirky hit ‘Warehouse 13’ returns to the tube.

Star Trek: The Next Generation – The First Season on Blu-Ray

It’s a great time to be a ‘Star Trek’ fan. J.J. Abrams' sequel to his awesome ‘Trek’ revival flick will be here soon, and Paramount is finally releasing ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ on Blu-ray on Tuesday, July 24th. The Blu-ray set features remastered, high-def versions of every Season One episode, all of which were transferred from the original archive film stock and cleaned up with new special effects that, by most accounts, look great.

Killer Joe

Some critics are calling director William Friedkins’ quirky Western crime thriller one of the darkest and most shocking films he’s ever made. And this is the guy who directed ‘The Exorcist!’ The Texas set ‘Killer Joe’ stars Matthew McConaughey as a professional killer hired by a desperate drug dealer (Emile Hirsch) to murder his mother. Trouble, as it tends to do, ensues.

Klown

Drafthouse Films brings critically acclaimed dark comedy ‘Klown’ to U.S. theaters this week. This bizarre and raunchy film is also hitting DVD this Friday. Watch the trailer, squirm, watch the movie this weekend and squirm some more.

Ruby Sparks

Paul Dano plays a struggling writer who magically writes the perfect woman into existence. It’s the quirky indie version of ‘Weird Science,’ which is totally an idea we can get behind (*snaps bra on head*). ‘Ruby Sparks’ opens in theaters this Friday.

Warehouse 13 Season Four Premiere

If you haven’t seen SyFy’s fun and quirky ‘Warehouse 13’ yet, we encourage you to check out the show’s fourth season premiere, airing tonight.  The show blends wide-eyed sci-fi with screwball comedy in a tight procedural format that makes room for nerdy jokes about comic books, geek movies and TV shows. Plus it’s got recent Crush Allison Scagliotti lookin’ all hot and nerdy.

Terrible Batman Tattoos

Screencrush takes a look at some truly horrible Dark Knight inspired ink. We love Batman, but we’re deeply scarred by some of the atrocious designs our fellow Batfans have decided to display on their bodies. Please, if you must express your love for Gotham’s broody hero, do it by buying a T-shirt!

Step Up: Revolution

Yo, cuz, it’s a revolution. A DANCE REVOLUTION, BRO. In 3D, because them moves is tight, son! ... Do yourself a favor and avoid this dumb soul-crushing emptiness as if it were Whoopi Goldberg's unmentionables.

Dexter Season 7 preview

We were looking forward to the next season of Showtime’s ‘Dexter’ in hopes that the show would redeem itself after a terrible sixth season. Sadly, the latest teaser, which premiered at Comic-Con, leaves us feeling like the show will do more backtracking and resetting instead of moving forward into intriguing territory as we had hoped. Oh, Dexter, you crazy killer, you’re murdering our dreams.

Hobo Superman

So Superman is a fisherman now? A hobo, hitchhiking fisherman? We know some of you are digging the new ‘Man of Steel’ teaser trailers, but we’re not ready to stand up and cheer for Superman’s return just yet. Let’s see if director Zack Snyder can offer a good story and make a Superman movie that’s half as engrossing and entertaining as any of the last three Batman movies.