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…
Summer is fast approaching, and if you’ve yet to discover the novels of John Swartzwelder (writer, as the cover of each book will tell you, of 59 episodes of The Simpsons), you will have a far duller time during the sweltering months ahead. If you’re bright enough to navigate the web towards that massive cyber-emporium Amazon, you have at least enough intelligence to order all 4 of Swartzwelder’s forays into sublime sci-fi comic storytelling. The latest entry in the adventures of the rather dim detective Frank Burly is The Exploding Detective (Kennydale Books, $15.95), and it merely whets the appetite for more adventures. Think of it as a palate cleanser for your life.
Speaking of titles to snag, another to add to the list is Berkeley Breathed’s latest children’s book, Mars Needs Moms! (Philomel, $16.99 SRP). As the title pretty clearly indicates, the denizens of the red planet are in desperate need of mothers, and hatch a plan to acquire them from Earth – an Earth were a young boy named Milo doesn’t fully appreciate his own mother. Beautifully illustrated, funny, and poignant, it’s just as wonderful as all of Breathed’s other excursions into juvenile fiction.
Rather than the magnificent, comprehensive box set they got in the UK, here in the US the BBC has been trickling out the releases of Michael Palin’s wonderful travel documentaries. The latest to finally hit the colonies is Palin’s Around The World In 80 Days (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$4.98 SRP) which – as the title suggests – takes Palin on a circumnavigational race in the footsteps of Phileas Fogg. The 3-disc set features a new interview with Palin, reflecting on his rather insane journey. Now, where are the rest of Palin’s adventures? Come on, already!
A staple move of most modern sketch comedy acts in the UK, Matt Lucas & David Walliams decided to take their hit Little Britain on the road in a live show, featuring new material starring their now-iconic cast of characters. Everyone from Lou & Andy to Vicky Pollard and Marjorie Dawes make it onto the stage in the document of that tour, Little Britain Live (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP). Bonus features include behind-the-scenes featurettes, commentary from Matt & David, and exclusive “Lou & Andy in Blackpool” sketch, deleted scenes, and David’s Comic Relief swim across the English Channel. If that weren’t enough, a miniature replica of the official tour program is also included. Yeah no but yeah.
Plug one of the very few gaping holes in your Alfred Hitchock collection with the new special edition release of the director’s To Catch A Thief (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$14.99 SRP), which stars Cary Grant as a reformed jewel thief who must clear his name when he’s blamed for a rash of thefts along the French Riviera, using the family jewels of an heiress (Grace Kelly) to bait a trap for the real thief. In addition to a quartet of newly-produced featurettes, the disc also features an audio commentary with Peter Bogdanovich & Laurent Bouzereau, and the original theatrical trailer.
My good friend Glen will be utterly delighted to know that his long quest to own a non-pirated, legitimately released, bonus-feature filled set of the complete Jason of Star Command (BCI, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP) has finally reached an end, as the low-rent-but-fun Filmation-produced 70’s series. Featuring both Jimmy Doohan and Sid Haig, you know you can’t pass it up. The 3-disc set features all 28 episodes, plus a trio of commentary tracks, a brand-new documentary, a special effects demo reel, and galleries.
Previously available separately, you can now pick up a trio of obscure – but must-have – John Cleese projects via the John Cleese Comedy Collection (White Star, Not Rated, DVD-$29.99 SRP). The set features How To Irritate People, The Strange Case Of The End Of Civilization As We Know It, and Romance With a Double Bass. Get it.
Until I saw the DVD set, I wasn’t even aware that The 4400 had made it to a 3rd season (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$38.99 SRP). I guess it’s just like The Pretender once was – just plugging along in the background, beloved by its core fanbase, and unrecognized by the rest of humanity. But good on them for making it that far, and the 4-disc set features all 12 episodes, plus audio commentaries, a quartet of behind-the-scenes featurettes, and a gag reel.
It’s post-graduation, and the sixth season of That 70’s Show (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$49.98 SRP) found itself in that always awkward position for any show that featured high-schoolers – namely, how do you contrive to keep them all together when they’ve gotten their diplomas? All those gymnastics are to be found here, but overall the strength of the characters and writing holds the whole thing together. Bonus features include audio commentary on select episodes, promo spots, interviews with Debra Jo Rupp & Kurtwood Smith, and a “Six Minutes of Season Six” featurette.
Tom Hanks-aholics will have two reasons to visit their local (or online) DVD emporiums, with the release of not only a new 2-disc extended edition of Big (featuring 25 minutes of additional footage), but also a director’s cut of his own That Thing You Do! (Fox, Rated PG/Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP each). Big features an audio commentary, deleted scenes, 4 behind-the-scenes featurettes, TV spots, trailers, and an AMC Backstory, while That Thing You Do! sports both the original and extended cuts of the film, 4 behind-the-scenes featurettes, a TV spot, the theatrical trailer, the HBO First Look, and a music video.
I admit to be a bit teary-eyed seeing a still-vibrant Peter Boyle cavorting about in the eight season of Everybody Loves Raymond (HBO, Not Rated, DVD-$44.98 SRP), and I can only hope everyone misses him as much as I do. The 5-disc set features all 23 episodes, plus 8 audio commentaries (kudos for having a commentary with Chris Elliott), deleted scenes, bloopers, and the Museum of Television & Radio panel with executive producer Phil Rosenthal and the show’s writers.
Saccharine sweet and terribly predictable, Hugh Grant stars as a washed-up 80’s pop star whose only chance at a return to stardom is to team up with a bubble gum pop star (played in bubble gum mode by Drew Barrymore) and try to write a hit song together in the rom-com Music & Lyrics (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, DVD-$29.98 SRP). Would you guess they fall in love? Would ya? Bonus materials include a making-of featurette, additional scenes, a music video, and a gag reel.
Scaled back and wonderfully intimate, writer-director Anthony Minghella managed to hold my attention with Breaking and Entering (Genius, Rated R, DVD-$28.95 SRP), a low-key drama – starring Jude Law, Juliette Binoche, & Robin Wright Penn – about a pair of Londoners brought together by a string robberies, whose affair threatens to destroy the lives of those around them (you know how it is with those pesky affairs). Bonus features include an audio commentary with Minghella, a making-of featurette, deleted scenes, and the theatrical trailer.
Adapted from the W. Somerset Maugham’s novel, Edward Norton & Naomi Watts star in The Painted Veil (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, DVD-$27.95 SRP), about a wealthy socialite who embarks on a journey of self-discovery following a traumatic event, removing herself from the bustle and party-life of the big city for a cholera-ravaged village deep in the Chinese countryside. It’s evocative of the sweeping Hollywood romances of the 40’s, with the vistas found in the 50’s and 60’s, making for a nice throwback to that bygone age of filmmaking.
Diane Keaton plays an overly-intrusive mother keen on making sure her daughter doesn’t wind up a spinster in Because I Said So (Universal, Rated PG-13, DVD-$29.98 SRP), an amiable rom-com made better by the sparkle-fresh presence of Mandy Moore as the daughter in question. Bonus features include a pair of behind-the-scenes featurettes, and more.
Completely groundbreaking and, to this day, never-repeated, Cagney & Lacey (MGM/UA, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) was the first cop show that dared to ask, “Why can’t Starsky & Hutch be two female police officers?” And it worked. The complete first season features 4-discs (unfortunately, those s***ty double-sided ones) with all 22 episodes, plus a two-part retrospective documentary.
Originally aired in the UK as Jam & Jerusalem, Clatterford (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$29.99 SRP) is the new sitcom from Jennifer Saunders, reuniting her with both Dawn French and Joanna Lumley. The series focuses around Sal Vine (Sue Johnston), a practice nurse whose small-town doctor husband suddenly dies of a heart attack, leaving her jobless when her son decides to replace her with his own wife. With her newly freed time, Sal decides to join the local Women’s guild – a collection of rather unique characters in an even more eccentric setting. The 2-disc set features all 6 episodes, plus the 2006 Christmas special.
John-Boy and the massive Walton family return to DVD in the complete fifth season of The Waltons (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP), as John-Boy launches The Blue Ridge Chronicle and covers a series of brutal murders in their sleepy little hamlet. Okay, not really – it’s The Waltons… Nothing like that happens. But imagine if it did. The 5-disc set features all 24 episodes.
Try as I might, I can’t keep thinking of “They call me Mr. Tibbs” jokes while trying to come up with a line about the first season release of everyone’s favorite dolphin (take that, SeaQuest fans!), Flipper (MGM/UA, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP). They don’t call me Flipper, but you can guarantee your own strange looks if you dig through all 30 episodes in this 4-disc set.
It seems – even though we didn’t know it – that we must have needed another special edition of Dirty Dancing. This time, it’s the 2-disc Dirty Dancing: 20th Anniversary Edition (Lionsgate, Rated PG-13, DVD-$19.98 SRP), featuring newly-remastered audio, audio commentary with writer/co-producer Eleanor Bergstein, a trivia track, an interview with Patrick Swayze, a tribute to Jerry Orbach, deleted/alternate/extended scenes, outtakes, screen tests, multiangle dance sequences, cast interviews, music videos, and more. Whew! Please say this is the final, ultimate edition.
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
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