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…
Its place in film history as the first “talkie” firmly established, Warners has given the full-tilt special edition and restoration treatment to The Jazz Singer (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$39.92 SRP). The Al Jolson story gets a snazzy 3-disc affair, with the first disc devoted to the stunningly restored feature itself, plus an audio commentary, vintage Jolson shorts, a trailer gallery, and Tex Avery’s classic animated homage “I Love To Singa”. Disc 2 features a feature-length documentary on the history of sound in motion pictures, surviving sound samples from 1929’s Gold Diggers Of Broadway, and studio shorts from or celebrating the early sound era. Finally, disc 3 sports over 3 1/2 hours worth of rare Vitaphone comedy and music shorts that will make cinephiles and comedy fans drool, as many of them feature vaudeville legends. If that weren’t enough, Warners has also included a nice complement of printed materials, including reproductions of photos, lobby cards, the original souvenir program, and more.
For Disney fans – and fans of Disney ephemera – The Mickey Mouse Treasures (Disney Editions, $60.00 SRP) is a must-have tome. Written by the manager of Disney’s archives, Robert Tieman, the oversized volume contains recreations of various advertising and promotional materials, cels, merchandise, and much more from the Mouse’s 66 year history. Get this. Now.
While I wish they’d just release full season sets, I guess I should be happy that we’re getting any Whose Line Is It Anyway? (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$26.98 SRP) at all. The second volume of season one features the final 10 episodes of that inaugural outing, completely uncensored, with unaired games and gag reels. Bring on season two!
It was a good ride while it lasted, and the end of That 70’s Show (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$49.98 SRP) is nigh in the penultimate season (seven, if you’re keeping track). How do you know for sure that a long-running show is on its last legs? When your lead actor decides to move on and become a semi-recurring in the final season (Hello, Topher!). The 4-disc set features all 25 episodes, plus audio commentaries, a trio of featurettes, and promos.
As much as I dug the extended version of Quentin Tarantino’s half of the Grindhouse equation, I couldn’t get into Robert Rodriguez’s ode to John Carpenter, Planet Terror (Genius, Not Rated, DVD-$29.95 SRP). Its everyday people versus zombie mutants story tries to push every last genre button it can – and then some more – but it never really seems to get past an over-calculated vibe. The 2-disc set features an audio commentary, an audience reaction track, behind-the-scenes featurettes, a 10-minute film school, trailers, and more.
For the first time in a very long while, I got a glimpse of Angelina Jolie truly sinking deep into a character – and she couldn’t have picked a better venue than as Mariane Pearl, the wife of murdered journalist Daniel Pearl, in A Mighty Heart (Paramount, Rated R, DVD-$29.99 SRP). The film chronicles the disappearance of Pearl when he was kidnapped, and Mariane’s desperate search for clues to his location and attempts to save him before his ultimately grisly fate. Bonus features include a PSA and a making-of featurette.
I was curious in a “Can they possibly screw this up again” kind of way when it came to Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (Fox, Rated PG, DVD-$34.98 SRP). I thought the first film was a tonal mess, with a shit script, poor directions, and zero respect for the characters or the fans (like myself). Could they get it all wrong the second time around, with one of the greatest supporting characters ever to grace a comic book page – the enigmatic, cosmically-powered Silver Surfer? Yes, Virginia, they can botch it all over again. The script is still piss-poor, and there’s nothing of the magic that made the Fantastic Four the “World’s Greatest Comic Magazine.” The 2-disc set features audio commentaries, deleted/extended scenes, behind-the-scenes featurettes, a making-of documentary, a documentary on the comic book origins of the Silver Surfer (which makes this poor film translation seem all the worse by comparison), still galleries, trailers, and more.
Though it’s one of those flicks destined to remain cult due to its inside-the-industry nature, for those that do have an inkling about what goes on behind-the-scenes of making a prime time television series, The TV Set (Fox, Rated R, DVD-$27.98 SRP) is a funny portrait of the often soulless meat grinder that it is. David Duchovny is the writer whose dreams of bringing a creatively fulfilling show to prime time are dashed upon the rocks of a network president (Sigourney Weaver) intent on bringing her own vision to fruition. Bonus features include an audio commentary, a making-of featurette, deleted scenes, and more.
If you’re a bona fide recluse who never appears in public and speaks with no one but a select group of handlers, I suppose it was only a matter of time before a clever con man would take advantage of that. Such was the case with famed tycoon Howard Hughes, who fell victim to just such a con man – one Clifford Irving (Richard Gere), who sold a manuscript he claimed was the authorized autobiography of Hughes. The story of his scam – and attempts to prevent its discovery – are the focus of The Hoax (Miramax, Rated R, DVD-$29.99 SRP). Bonus features include audio commentaries, deleted scenes, interviews, and featurettes.
If I had a glove in hand and the opportunity, I’d slap Michael Bay across the face. Then I’d sucker punch him and kick him a few times. Why, when you have a concept as simple as “giant robots with the ability to transform into everyday vehicles bring their intergalactic war to Earth”, do we get the poorly designed, badly scripted, ineptly overdirected, live action big screen version of Transformers (Dreamworks, Rated PG-13, DVD-$36.99 SRP)? I mean, is it such a difficult thing to pull off? Maybe if you have an ego as massive as Bay’s. It’s a shame, really. For all of you sad fanboys who lapped up this cinematic golden shower, the 2-disc edition features a commentary and a trio of featurette collections breaking down the production.
I try, and try, and try, but I just don’t find much funny in How I Met Your Mother (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP). I mean, I know it’s supposed to be funny – that’s what everyone says – and the actors are gifted, but the writing always seems less-than-sharp. Still, I know there are those out there that think it’s the second coming, and they’ll be snapping up the second season. The 3-disc set features all 22 episodes, plus audio commentaries, music videos, a behind-the-scenes featurette, additional scenes, and a gag reel.
If you can get past the intense, almost greasy smarminess of James Lipton, there’s plenty of interesting conversation and the occasional insight in the latest Inside The Actors Studio set, Leading Men (Shout! Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$39.99 SRP). The four leading men in question are Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Sean Penn, and Russell Crowe. Bonus features include reflection pieces from Lipton, plus deleted footage.
Now that TV has become fertile waters for movie stars wishing to settle in for long runs, it was inevitable that James Woods would eventually take the plunge – and you can’t find a better vehicle than Shark (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP), playing a slick, ruthless attorney who suddenly shifts gears after the death of a young woman and enters the DA’s office. The 6-disc box set features all 22 episodes, plus commentaries, deleted scenes, a behind-the-scenes featurette, and a gag reel.
The genre of films about predatory hybrid aliens intent on mating with unsuspecting human males owes its existence to the original Species (MGM, Rated R, DVD-$19.98 SRP) – a schlock flick if there ever was one, which now gets a 2-disc special edition featuring audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes featurettes, an alternate ending, and more.
In many ways more sweeping than the original landmark miniseries, I found a certain spark missing from the sequel, Roots: The Next Generations (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP). It certainly aspires to – and nearly reaches – the same lofty heights, but I just got worn down by the time the 11-hour miniseries was finished. The 4-disc set features a brand-new behind-the-scenes documentary.
If the first 8 seasons of Roseanne were Superman, then the 9th and final season (Starz, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) was Bizarro. Focusing on the radically different lives of the Conner clan after they win the lottery, the show lost its working class charm and became some kind of odd fantasy world mixed with a nouveau riche Beverly Hillbillies thing. At least we still have the golden 8 seasons that preceded it. The set is worth picking up – not just for completionists – for the two candid Roseanne interviews featured within.
Before celebrity went straight o her head and her ego began a mediocre recording career, an unaffected Jennifer Lopez was pretty darn good as the Latin pop star Selena (Warner Bros., Rated PG, DVD-$20.98 SRP), whose career came to a tragically premature end at the hands of her fan club president. The 2-disc special edition features both the original theatrical and an extended cut, a making-of featurette, additional scenes, and more.
As innocuous as it is, I really don’t think that the Arnold Schwarzenegger holiday flick Jingle All The Way (Fox, Rated PG, DVD-$19.98 SRP) is in need of an extended director’s cut, or a special edition DVD. Fox seems to think otherwise, so here we get that longer cut, plus a trio of behind-the-scenes featurettes.
As much as I loved Home Movies and wanted to follow Brendon Small to his next project – Metalocalypse (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP) – I couldn’t find a thing to latch onto. I know there’s a fanbase, though, that will probably want to snap up the complete first season set, sporting 20 episodes, with bonus materials including interviews, a murder reel and more.
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
Leave a Reply |