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…

Long before Comedy Central’s The Daily Show was a glimmer in creator Lizz Winstead’s eye, there was another program that brilliantly satirized programs like 60 Minutes and 20/20 – it was Michael Moore’s TV Nation. One of the TV Nation correspondents that caught my eye was a Brit by the name of Louis Theroux, whose segments included memorable visits with the “new” Klu Klux Klan and NRA rocker Ted Nugent. In fact, it was exactly those profiles of subculture and celebrity that Theroux would explore with his post-TV Nation series Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends, which originally aired on Bravo in the US and the BBC in the UK. In it, Louis traveled around America, seeking out and trying to make sense of fascinatingly oddball American subcultures such as professional wrestling, rappers, swingers, UFO enthusiasts, etc. In addition, he’s spent face-to-face time with various unique, somewhat eccentric celebrities in his series When Louis Met…. Sadly, the Best of Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends volumes available in the UK have not made their way to the US yet, but his recent companion book thankfully has. The Call of the Weird: Travels In American Subcultures (Da Capo Press, $24.00 SRP) finds Theroux following up on some of the subjects of those Weird Weekends, and it’s a positively wonderful read. I just hope that a network in the US sees fit to begin airing his work Stateside – particularly as he’s just begun a brand new series of specials for the BBC, the first of which took him to Las Vegas in an effort to understand the siren call of gambling.

After a long and storied career, Martin Scorsese proves that he’s still got what it takes with his adaptation of the Hong Kong crime thriller Infernal Affairs, The Departed (Rated R, DVD-$34.99 SRP). Not since Goodfellas has Scorsese made a film that positively crackles – from the script to the cast and Scorsese’s direction itself, which holds it all together. Here’s your quick plot primer – the state of Massachusetts is keen to finally take down crime boss Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson), and they plant a rookie cop (Leonardo DiCaprio) into Costello’s organization to feed them info to bring it down. What they don’t know, however, is that a rising rookie in their own department (Matt Damon) is a mole for Costello – and what follows is a marvelous series of double-crosses, feints, bluffs, and pure cinematic joy. It’s great to see a filmmaker reclaim their crown, and with this flick, Scorsese most certainly has. The 2-disc special edition features 9 additional scenes (with intros from Scorsese), TCM’s career profile of the director, a featurette on the real-life mobster that inspired Nicholson’s character, a look at the early neighborhood influences of Scorsese’s work, and the theatrical trailer.

Of course, now that you’ve viewed Scorsese’s take, I’d recommend you grab yourself a copy of the original via the handy all-in-one Infernal Affairs Trilogy box set (Genius, Rated R/Not Rated, DVD-$39.99 SRP). All three films in the trilogy are loaded with bonus features, including behind-the-scenes featurettes, trailers, deleted scenes, and even a commentary (on Infernal Affairs 2).

Oh, and while you’re at it, pick up the new special edition of Jackie Chan’s incredible Police Story 2 (Genius, Not Rated, DVD-$19.95 SRP), featuring an audio commentary, interviews, behind-the-scenes featurettes, outtakes, trailers, and more.

It’s an oft-told tale, but documentarians David Leaf & John Scheinfeld (who also produced the criminally unseen doc Who Is Harry Nilsson & Why Is Everybody Talking About Him? – look it up) have managed to create an illuminating, engaging, altogether fresh take on the legendary case of The US Vs. John Lennon (Lionsgate, Rated PG-13, DVD-$27.98 SRP). If you’re unaware of this slice of Lennon history, it was the multi-year struggle against the U.S. government to stay in his beloved New York and avoid deportation – a politically motivated action due to Lennon’s fiercely public antiwar stance. The DVD features additional cut footage and interviews.

While many have compared Clint Eastwood’s American side of his Iwo Jima chronicle unfavorably to the Japanese-centered Letters From Iwo Jima, Flags of Our Fathers (Paramount, Rated R, DVD-$29.99 SRP) is just as assured a film, and in may ways is more honest in its portrayal of war and the sacrifice and the accomplishment of the soldiers on the ground than Spielberg’s far bigger and more expensive Saving Private Ryan. That unadorned, matter-of-fact portrayal is an Eastwood hallmark, and a much welcome one in a flick that portrays an iconic battle in military history. Here’s hoping a future edition makes up for this bare bones release – it deserves a bevy of supplemental material, particularly of a historic nature.

As much as I enjoyed the deluxe, lavishly-illustrated behind-the-scenes chronicle of costuming in the Star Wars franchise courtesy of last year’s must-have tome Dressing a Galaxy, there’s no denying that I was even more geekily jazzed by this year’s companion volume, Sculpting A Galaxy (Insight Editions, $50.00 SRP). The title is rather self-explanatory, but if you’re having trouble figuring it out, this equally massive tome spotlights all of the intricate, maddeningly meticulous model and creature work featured in the dual trilogies.

And on the subject of that meticulous work, Sideshow – as part of their distribution agreement with Japan collectible manufacturer Medicom – has been importing select items from their line of “VCDs” (Vinyl Collectible Dolls). The latest of which is a tribute to those amazing special effects mavens – Stuart Freeborn, in this case – who brought Yoda to life. The Medicom VCD Yoda ($59.99) stands approx. 4″ tall, and is in scale with Sideshow’s 12″ Star Wars line. And, as you can see from the pictures below, the sculpt, clothing, and paint job are amazing.

Warners has more themed releases than you can shake a stick with, including their banner “Signature” collections, and to that impressive pedigree you can add their new “Director’s” series. The inaugural quartet consists of some quality titles – Nicolas Roeg’s Performance, Fellini’s Ginger & Fred, Neil Jordan’s The Butcher Boy, and Tony Richardson’s The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13/R, DVD-$19.98 SRP each). Bonus features on Loneliness and Ginger & Fred are limited to the original theatrical trailers, while Performance sports both brand new and vintage behind-the-scenes featurettes, and Butcher Boy has an audio commentary from Roeg and additional scenes.

A perfect companion piece to This Film Is Not Yet Rated, producer/director Steve Anderson has produced a beautiful portrait of a word that can cause the faint of heart to flutter and the closed of mind to blow their tops – FUCK (Thinkfilm, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP). With animation from Bill Plympton and an amazing list of commentators – including Billy Connolly, Drew Carey, Janeane Garofalo, Bill Maher, Hunter S. Thompson, Kevin Smith, and more – it’s worthy subject and worth a spin. Bonus features include an audio commentary, extended interviews, deleted scenes, and more.

While Philip Seymour Hoffman’s turn as Truman Capote got most of the buzz, I think the largely overlooked (by nature of losing the race to the screen) Infamous (Warner Bros., Rated R, DVD-$27.98 SRP) features a much more nuanced performance from Toby Jones as the larger-than-life author whose journey to write In Cold Blood forms the crux of this outing as well. Bonus features include an audio commentary and the theatrical trailer.

Better than both Ocean’s 11 & 12 combined, the second series of the UK’s con drama Hustle (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP) is just as engagingly high energy and intelligent as its inaugural run. Heck, any series smart enough to cast Robert Vaughn as an aging pro is aces in my book. The 2-disc set features all 6 episodes, plus an in-depth documentary on the smashing final episode.

The 6th season of All In The Family (Sony, Not Rated, DVD-$29.95 SRP) was to prove to be a transitional one for the show, setting the stage for a major shake-up to come. That major event was Gloria’s pregnancy, coupled with Mike and Gloria moving out of the Bunker household and into the house next door (which would eventually lead to the Stivics departing the show altogether). Regardless of what was to come, this was still a banner year for the show, and still consistent with the incredible level of quality they were able to maintain for the bulk of the show’s legendary run. In particular, the episode “Joey’s Baptism” is a true classic, and one of the series’ most powerful. The 3-disc set features all 24 episodes, but no bonus features. Is it that hard to get Sally Struthers on the line?

Few thought that something as off-the-beaten track as a prime time soap about, well, about the surprisingly romantic adventures of Beauty and the Beast (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$50.99 SRP) would ever fly on network TV, but fly it did, as millions of viewers tuned in to see the blossoming romance between the noble man-beast Vincent (Ron Perlman, in his breakthrough role) and assistant New York D.A. Catherine (Linda Hamilton). Long after Dark Shadows left the airwaves and before The X-Files made odd chic, there was the star-crossed adventures of Vincent and Catherine – the complete first season of which is now available on DVD, sans any bonus features whatsoever. Not even a make-up featurette! I do want to point out, though, how much I love the case the set comes in – it features all 6 discs, safe and secure, in a regular single-disc size case. Brilliant!

Though it sank from sight rather quickly, there’s an endearing, oddball charm to School For Scoundrels (Genius, Not Rated, DVD-$29.95 SRP), starring Jon Heder as a unconfident schlub who enrolls in the confidence-building seminar of a decidedly extreme Billy Bob Thornton – only to have the lessons turn into a quickly escalating all-out war between the two of them to prove who’s the manliest. The unrated special edition features additional footage, an alternate ending, audio commentary, a making-of featurette, gag reel, and the theatrical trailer.

Long before ER brought viewers into the high stakes, adrenaline-loaded atmosphere of emergency rescue and the emergency room itself, there was a little show in the 70’s called Emergency! (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP), which followed paramedics Ray DeSoto (Kevin Tighe) and John Gage (Randolph Mantooth) as they arrive at scenes of near-death and often violent destruction, and must get their patients to the doors of Rampart Hospital alive. Great stuff. So pick up the complete third season, now available.

If you’d like your weekend to lean a little bit more high-brow, partake of a pair of BBC miniseries making their way to DVD, the first of which is World War II: When Lions Roared (Koch, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP), whose biggest selling point is its cast – Michael Caine as Stalin, John Lithgow as Roosevelt, and Bob Hoskins as Churchill. Also available is the Beeb’s epic adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans (Koch, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP). Both are worth a spin (although my preference will always lie with the powerhouse trio of Roared).

Are we already at the end of The Golden Girls on DVD? Well, with the release of the seventh and final season (Buena Vista, Not Rated, DVD-$39.99 SRP), it certainly seems we are. In addition to all 26 episodes, the 3-disc set also contains the retrospective documentary Thank You For Being a Friend: A Look Back With The Golden Girls.

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…

-Ken Plume

##

Comments: None