Every Thursday, Replay hosts B-Movie Beatdown, a screening of a low-budget, sank-without-a-trace film. Much like in ’90s cult classic “Mystery Science Theatre 3000,” viewers are encouraged to yell at, criticize and demean the movie in every way possible.

Arndt decided to stay for the show which happened to be “Illegal Aliens,” starring Anna Nicole Smith and Chyna.

“If I saw the beginning, I might as well see the ending, otherwise I’ll always be wondering how it went,” Arndt said. “Now I regret knowing.”

Making wisecracks on a movie is the whole purpose of the Beatdown.

“You can’t do this in the real movie theater,” said Ted Wilson, owner of Replay. “(Here) you can say what you really want to say about whatever you’re watching.”

Wilson began hosting the Beatdown at Replay back in October of 2008, before moving the store from M.A.C. Avenue to its East Grand River Avenue location in January.

Wilson said he mainly chooses movies to show from what he receives on trade.

“When we get stuff traded into us, we look at it. I mean, someone bought this movie,” Wilson said, referring to “Illegal Aliens.”

“They traded it in to me and it’s just like, I saw it and said ‘oh my God, we have to watch this.’ And we’ll have people suggest movies and bring it in themselves, but a lot of it is just stuff that just comes across our paths. People do actually buy this crap and watch it.”

The Beatdown went on hiatus for about a month after the move, but Wilson soon started hosting again. He posts a schedule of the month’s upcoming movies on the store’s Web site, iReplay.net, so people can anticipate what movie they’ll get to beat down next. In addition to “Illegal Aliens,” past flicks have included “Creepies,” a B-horror film about mutant spiders, and “Anacondas,” the sequel to “Anaconda.”

“Movies don’t normally suck this bad,” Wilson said. “If people know a certain movie they like ripping on is going to be on, they’ll come watch it. It’s just fun. The reason why we have it is because it’s part of making the store a community. It’s something we all get to do together.”

The community that centers around Replay and the Beatdown is something that keeps Lansing residents Gary Harper and his wife, Ashleigh, coming back to the store, where they have forged friendships and become loyal customers.

“I think the community aspect is really cool,” Ashleigh Harper said. “We always come up here like, ‘where’s John?’ John’s always working here. Rob, the guy with dreadlocks, is always here. Ted’s always working here. It’s just fun. You just can sit in front of the TV and play Tetris and talk or you watch a terrible movie or you just hang out and get a soda.”

“All of our friends that we know are here,” Gary Harper added.

“Yeah, all of our friends come here because we either met them through this or have gotten them to come here,” Ashleigh Harper said. “It’s just like when you’re in high school and you don’t have any place to hang out … This is kind of a cool place for older people because you’re like ‘man, I wish there was a cool place to hang out where people weren’t puking.’”

As for Arndt, a self-proclaimed super fan of “Mystery Science Theatre 3000,” he said he plans on returning for future beat downs.

“I’ll come again,” he said. “I just hope the next movie is a little less Anna Nicole Smith-ish.”