The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the Quick Stop Weekend Shopping Guide – your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…
It’s rather appropriate (and crafted as such) that the tragic tale of the Baudelaire orphans comes to a close on Friday the 13th of October. A Series of Unfortunate Events Book 13: The End (HarperCollins, $12.99 SRP) certainly lives up to its title, as Violet, Klaus, and Sunny have their final confrontation with the evil Count Olaf, but there are plenty of unexpected surprises in store. Will it all have a happy ending? Is there such a thing?
I respected them as performers and magicians, but with their Showtime series Bullshit (Showtime/CBS, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP), Penn & Teller have performed – in my opinion – a public service. With their engaging style of presentation and a keen sense of puncturing modern myths and hypocrisy, they’ve tackled some dangerous topics in the course of their three seasons on the air, exposing the truth behind incredibly foolish – to incredibly dangerous – social dogma. Over the course of the 13 episodes collected in the 3-disc set of the third season, those topics include endangered species, circumcision, conspiracy theories, gun control, ghostbusting, life coaching, college, and more. Unfortunately, there’s no bonus features this go round (past seasons have at least contained deleted footage), but it’s great that – at the very least – the show is still getting released on DVD.
Never having read Vice before, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the first in their series of DVDs collecting a clutch of short films based around a particular topic, The Vice Guide To Travel (Vice, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP). Instead of some slapdash road punk version of Girls Gone Wild (which was my chief fear, admittedly), I found it to be a remarkable travelogue of sometimes forgotten, sometimes dangerous, but altogether fascinating locales that are the very epitome of the phrase “off the beaten track.” From hunting mutant game in the ruins of Chernobyl to the deadly black markets of Bulgaria and Pakistan, there wasn’t a slack moment. The disc comes packaged in a hardcover book offering additional insights and interviews on each piece. All in all, it’s an incredible visual document, and the first in what I hope is a long series of releases.
It’s fun to observe the evolution and maturation of Adam Sandler as the years go by. Watching Click (Sony, Rated PG-13, DVD-$28.95 SRP), we get to see Sandler as fully-evolved a family man named Michael Newman, with a wife and two kids and a house and a dog and a job – and all the stress that goes with them. It’s a far cry from Happy Gilmore, to be sure. So frazzled is his life as an underappreciated architect (with a boss played by David Hasslehoff, it’s to be expected), that he seeks some measure of respite by seeking out a common convenience for his busy life – a universal remote. Finding most stores closed during his impulse search, he finds store open – Bed, Bath, & Beyond. Not finding the remote anywhere in the store, he stumbles upon the hereto unknown “Beyond” section, where he finds an eccentric employee (played, of course, by Christopher Walken) who gives him a truly universal remote – one which he soon finds allows him to control all aspects in his life, from muting the dog to fast-forwarding through awkward moments. As you can expect from mature, latter-day Sandler, lessons about cherishing the small moments in life is the central theme. And you know what? I think I like the mature Sandler. Bonus features include deleted scenes, featurettes on the make-up effects (let’s just say his character’s love of Twinkies is not a good thing), special effects featurettes, and more.
The fourth season of Scrubs (Buena Vista, Not Rated, DVD-$39.99 SRP) is when the show began to veer more towards the wacky side, losing some of the delicate balance between comedy and drama that it was brilliantly able to capture in previous years. Still, even off-kilter Scrubs is better than the bulk of TV today. Bonus features include deleted scenes, alternate lines, an interview with Donald Faison, and 4 behind-the-scenes featurettes. The biggest disappointment is a measly pair of commentaries, marking a disturbing decline in the number we’ve been getting with each successive set.
One would think it impossible, but the 13 episodes featured on the second volume of Harvey Birdman (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP) manage to be even more surreal – and funny – than the adult swim original’s first 13. No small feat, to be sure. The 2-disc set features audio commentaries (including series regular Stephen Colbert, which makes me hope he’ll take the time to do something for The Venture Bros.‘ second season set on his Professor Impossible episode), deleted scenes, a completely clothes-less “naked scene,” behind-the-scenes video of the voice actors, promos, and more.
Cover versions of classic hits – particularly when they focus on a single, legendary band – can sometime be a spotty, even embarrassing affair. There are very few clunkers amongst the 18 tracks featured on Paint It Black (Virgin EMI, $15.99 SRP), which – as you might have guessed – contains a compilation of Rolling Stones cover tunes. From David Bowie’s “Let’s Spend The Night Together” to Aretha Franklin’s take on “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” I can honestly say there wasn’t a single embarrassing moment amongst the cuts.
To those unfamiliar with radio as an art form, the idea of a film based upon a live broadcast of a radio show might seem like an evening spent at the proverbial opera. In Robert Altman’s presentation of the fictional final recording of Garrison Keillor’s long-running A Prairie Home Companion (New Line, Rated PG-13, DVD-$27.98 SRP) – as the theater’s new owner (Tommy Lee Jones) evicts the show in order to tear the place down – what comes to the fore is just what makes radio so special – ironically enough, presented with visuals. As you watch the melancholy of the surreal family that makes up the cast – including singing cowboys (Woody Harrelson & John C. Reilly), sisters (Lily Tomlin & Meryl Streep), a hard-boiled security man (Kevin Kline), and GK himself – you realize that radio is all about these types of extreme, easily relatable archetypes, be it radio drama, comedy, or talk radio. As for the film, it’s a beautiful confection – and I didn’t even mention the literal angel of death stalking the theater, or a sober Lindsey Lohan’s memorable turn as Streep’s suicide-obsessed daughter. And Altman, as he gets older, makes tighter and tighter pieces that seem to fly by –I don’t know what happened, but he seems to have snatched the mojo Woody Allen has lost. Bonus features include an audio commentary with Altman and Kevin Kline, a making-of documentary, and additional scenes.
I think it’s safe to say that everyone was a bit surprised that the 13-episode 5th season of The A-Team (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$49.98 SRP) turned out to be the end of the line for our heroes. This is even after they brought in Robert Vaughn to fill the shoes of the oft-mentioned General Stockwell. The 3-disc set features a brand new interview with series creator Stephen J. Cannell – but still no Mr. T commentary.
For the “Everything’s Duckie Edition” of Pretty In Pink (Paramount, Rated PG-13, DVD-$14.99 SRP), the powers-that-be have added 5 new featurettes to the complement of extras featured on the original DVD release, which included an audio commentary from director Howard Deutch, the original ending, and a retrospective featurette. Those 5 new featurettes include a making-of, a spotlight on the “Zoids and Richies,” prom stories from the cast & crew, a featurette about the film’s fashions, and a spotlight on Molly Ringwald entitled – appropriately enough – “Prom Queen: All About Molly.” But where, oh where, is writer/producer/teen auteur John Hughes? He’s become the 80’s comedy version of Stanley Kubrick.
As time passes, its regrettable that the current generation never got a chance to experience firsthand one of the true dynamos of modern comedy, the late Sam Kinison. For a taste of what made the man such a force to be reckoned with – and an influence on scores of comedians – look no further than the documentary Sam Kinison: Why Did We Laugh? (S’More/Image, Not Rated, DVD-$19.95 SRP), which tries to come to some conclusion, via interviews with his friends, family, & colleagues, what made the man tick. Also included is a CD of Kinison preaching his last sermon in the ministry after his success in comedy.
One of the biggest double-dipping trends has become the unrated “Director’s Cut,” and you can add Terry Zwigoff’s caustically funny Bad Santa (Dimension, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP) to the list. If you don’t recall the flick, it’s the one with Billy Bob Thornton as a boozing, lecherous, thoroughly and hilariously reprehensible mall Santa. Yeah. Now you remember. The DVD features a new audio commentary with Zwigoff and editor Robert Hoffman, deleted/alternate scenes, a behind-the-scenes featurette, and outtakes.
Speaking of Zwigoff, Art School Confidential (Sony, Rated R, DVD-$26.96 SRP) that you desperately want to be better than it is, but it sadly never quite accomplishes that desire. As a viewer, I wanted it to be a fantastic satire on the pretension, selfishness, delusion, and high comedy of the art school mentality. Instead, it’s a genial, sometimes semi-fiery look at that world, focusing on a talented young artist named Jerome Platz (Max Minghella) and his journey from a large high school to an exclusive East Coast art school filled with too-stereotypical arty types. Ah well, I guess my wait for the perfect satire goes on. Bonus features include deleted scenes, making-of & Sundance featurettes, and a blooper reel.
You’d think that Numb3rs‘ premise would eventually wear thin, but golly help me, I can’t get enough of the improbable duo of FBI agent Don Eppes (Rob Morrow) and his mathematician little brother Charlie (David Krumholtz), solving crimes with math. Yes. Match. But Krumholtz is a fascinatingly engaging actor (as is Morrow, who was vital to the appeal of Northern Exposure), and kudos to the producers and writers for realizing that keeping Peter MacNicol as Dr. Larry Fleinhardt would be a very fun thing, indeed. The 6-disc second season set (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$54.99 SRP) features all 24 episodes, plus audio commentaries on select episodes, interview with David Krumholtz & creator Nicolas Falacci, and a season 2 retrospective featurette.
While a good friend of mine was working on a screenplay about a famous ballerina whose life and career was marked by tragedy, he would tell me tales of the legendary choreographer George Balanchine. It was with those stories in mind that I dove into the PBS documentary on the man, simply titled Balanchine (Digital Classics DVD, Not Rated, DVD-£9.99 SRP). The documentary features interviews, archival audio and video, and footage from the ballets themselves.
With a little nephew to entertain, I’m always on the lookout for DVDs that will capture his attention for a long enough time that I can rest a bit (you can only push a hot wheel down a ramp so many times), and the latest discs to pass the “he likes it” test are the double-length Dora The Explorer: World Adventure! (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP) and The Backyardigans: Mission To Mars (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$16.99 SRP each). Even better, both titles also contain a pair of bonus adventures. Huzzah!
As Halloween bears down on us, those more ghoulishly-minded amongst you are already planning your evening’s festivities – which I’m sure include a scary flick or two. If you haven’t gotten the films previously, no might be the best time to get the 6-disc The Exorcist: The Complete Anthology (Warner Bros., Rated R, DVD-$42.98 SRP) – which features the 2-disc original (both the theatrical and director’s cuts), Exorcist 2: The Heretic, Exorcist III, Exorcist: Dominion, and Exorcist: The Beginning. All of the discs feature the same bonus features as their previous individual releases.
As far as female comedy duos, if the UK has French & Saunders, then the closest the US has is Kathy & Mo. The Complete Kathy & Mo Show: Parallel Lives /The Dark Side (Image, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP) collects both of Kathy Najimy and Mo Gaffney’s critically-acclaimed specials. The 2-disc set also features audio commentary from the duo, plus rare film clips of early performances.
Black Rain (Paramount, Rated R, DVD-$14.99 SRP) is one of those “lost flicks” that are often made when a gifted filmmaker is going through the doldrums before rediscovering their muse. Here, the filmmaker in question is Ridley Scott, and while there’s anything particularly wrong about this flick – that finds a New York cop (Michael Douglas) and his partner (Andy Garcia) escorting a killer back to his native Japan and accidentally delivering him into the hands of his own gang – it just lacks the spark that ignites Scott’s more memorable films. It’s interesting that they’ve gone-all out to give it a special edition, featuring an audio commentary from Scott, and a 4-part series of behind-the-scenes featurettes.
I mentioned it a few weeks back, but Docurama has been releasing a new batch of amazing documentaries to DVD that had previously only been seen at select festivals around the country. Their DVD-based “Docurama Film Festival” (Docurama, Not Rated, DVD-$26.95 SRP each) has been giving many of these films a shot at the spotlight and audiences. New entries in the “Fest” that are worth your time and effort to pick up include Waging a Living (which follows four of America’s “working poor” as they try and navigate the increasingly difficult American dream), Passin’ It On (about Bronx-born Dhoruba Bin Wahad and his involvement in the Black Power movement of the 60’s and 70’s before being sent to prison – and acquitted 19 years later – for the wounding and disfigurement of two police officers), Farmingville (a shocking portrait of a small suburban town that explodes under the pressures of its burgeoning illegal immigrant population and an act of violence that sets the powder keg off), Con Man (the story of James Arthur Hogue, who conned his way into a scholarship at Princeton and lived a life as a master imposter until the law caught up with him), The Lady In Question Is Charles Busch (about the actor, writer, drag artist, and leading lady and star of the cult hit Die Mommy Die!), and The Shvitz (a look behind the doors at the last remaining American bathhouses and the unique communal clubhouse culture they exemplified). All in all, it’s a great, diverse selection of flicks.
Slamming together a clutch of pulp heroes – Flash Gordon, The Phantom, and Mandrake the Magician (along with bodyguard Lothar) – and pitting them against the galaxy-conquering threat of Ming the Merciless, Defenders of the Earth (BCI, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) is one of those odd early 90’s animated series that seemed to throw a bunch of properties against the wall and hope that something stuck. For as marginal a show as this, kudos once again to BCI for pulling out all the stops in regards to bonus materials, which include a commentary, interview with the creators, storyboards, and the original pilot.
I’m not sure how I missed the release of the sixth season of Everybody Loves Raymond (HBO, Not Rated, DVD-$44.98 SRP), but I did. The 5-disc set features all 24 episodes, plus six audio commentaries, deleted scenes, bloopers, and a retrospective look back on the show’s first 6 seasons.
For the longest time growing up, I would always confuse sleuthing siblings Simon & Simon (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$39.99 SRP) with Simon & Garfunkel. Yeah, sometimes I wasn’t the sharpest tool – and I can’t think of a single crime ever solved while the duo was singing “I Am A Rock.” As for Simon & Simon, you can now snap up the complete first season of brotherly action.
Try as I might – and despite the presence of Patricia Arquette – I’ve never gotten into Medium (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$54.99 SRP). It combines aspects of some of my least favorite show – CSI and Touched By An Angel – along with a healthy dose of The Dead Zone. So not only does it seem like I’ve seen the show before, but it’s tainted by the feel of those crap influences as well. Still, I know there are plenty of fans out there that will be picking up the 6-disc complete second season (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$ SRP) featuring all 22 episodes,. Plus audio commentaries on 4 episodes, featurettes (“The Story of Medium,” “A Day In The Life of The Dubois Daughters,” & “Medium In Another Dimension” – focusing on the 3-D episode), the Museum of Television & Radio Q&A, and a gag reel. The set also contains a pair of 3-D glasses.
All you fans of ABC’s medical soap-on-a-rope can program your listening day to the second McDreamy Grey’s Anatomy Soundtrack (Hollywood Records, $18.98 SRP), featuring 15 tracks from the show from the likes of Moonbabies, Snow Patrol, Foy Vance, Metric, and Jim Noir.
No one can not look at the existence of the Garfield sequel Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (Fox, Rated PG, DVD-$29.99 SRP) and not think that it must be some elaborate fulfillment of a contractual obligation. Who could possibly have walked out of the first film thinking, “You know, that was such an incredibly good flick that I can’t wait for the follow-up.” If you’re one of those people, please let me know. I’d like to hit you. Bonus features include a music video, a drawing featurette with Jim Davis (in which he actually draws his own characters), an exclusive Garfield comic strip, and a photo gallery.
For all intents and purposes, by the fifth season of Magnum P.I. (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$49.98 SRP), everything was on autopilot. Cruising the Hawaiian isles, solving crimes, being all Tom Selleck-y – it’s pretty much all there. Oh, Higgins grows a beard. There’s that. The sole bonus features of the 5-disc set is an episode from season 6, “The Treasure of Kalaniopu’u.”
Watching the sketches featured in the 8 episodes comprising the second season of The Andy Milonakis Show (Paramount, Not rated, DVD-$26.99 SRP), I’m struck by the feeling that it’s like watching both the best and worst of a single man-child’s YouTube output. Occasionally you laugh, occasionally you think it’s genius, and sometimes you wonder who thought this crap should ever see the light of day. But no matter what, Milonakis kinda weirds me out. He just does. The 2-disc set features audio commentaries, un-aired skits, outtakes, and a music video.
No one can call The Fox and the Hound (Walt Disney, Rated G, DVD-$29.99 SRP) a Disney animated classic, but it does have the distinction of being the final film to have involved the “old guard” of animators from Disney’s heyday, who worked alongside (and effectively passed the baton) to the young turks (who were about to fall on their face with The Black Cauldron before dusting themselves off and launching Disney’s second golden age). So for those reasons, Fox and the Hound is a historical curiosity – sadly, as a film, it’s a disjointed, boring mess. Not counting all the garbage Disney tends to throw on their DVDs now, the newly remastered film also features a “Passing the Baton” featurette, a gallery, and the short “Lambert The Sheepish Lion.”
While I was initially a fan of Carlos Mencia’s Mind of Mencia, I’ve found that his act has devolved into almost braying schtick that relies almost entirely on “dangerous” racial and stereotype humor that often falls flat, and never hits the insights of more insightful comedians like Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, or the late, great Richard Pryor. Nowhere is his unfortunately laugh-deprived more evident than in his stand-up special, Carlos Mencia: No Strings Attached (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP). Judge for yourself, as the DVD contains an extended edition of the special, plus his original Comedy Central Presents spotlight.
If you’ve got a daughter, niece, or just any ol’ young girl on your holiday shopping list, you might want to snag a pair of new releases featuring Kay Thompson’s Eloise – Me, Eloise and Little Miss Christmas (Anchor Bay, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP each).
So there you have it… my humble suggestions for what to watch, listen to, play with, or waste money on this coming weekend. See ya next week…
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