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…
Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, John Romita, Curt Swan, Fred Hembeck… Yes, Fred Hembeck. Destroyer of universes, gentle mocker, ooner of lamps, and master of four-color mirth, our very own Fred Hembeck has been honored with The Nearly Complete Essential Hembeck Archives Omnibus (Image, $24.99) – a massive 912-page tome packed with 30+ years worth of Fred’s strips, pin-ups, commissions, and ephemera. Get this. Get this now (and not just because I’m thanked in the book, or strips from Fred’s column here at Quick Stop are included… Nosiree…).
Although my interest was certainly piqued, I in no way expected to be as swept up as I became in HBO’s miniseries on the political life of our 2nd president, John Adams (HBO, Not Rated, DVD-$59.99 SRP). But swept up I was, and it certainly brought all of the drama, disagreement, infighting, political machinations, interpersonal issues, and seemingly insurmountable obstacles that led to the formation and establishment of the United States as an independent, thriving democracy. As Adams, Paul Giamatti certainly earns the Emmy he is most assuredly due, alongside the equally Emmy-worthy Laura Linney as his wife, Abigail. The true test of a miniseries like this is if it manages to make history engrossing, and it succeeds in spades. The 3-disc set features a behind-the-scenes documentary, a spotlight on author David McCullough, and an onscreen historical guide.
Going in, I had my reservations about Jumper (Fox, Rated PG-13, DVD-$29.99 SRP). Even though it was directed by Doug Liman, it starred Hayden Christensen. That name is cause enough for trepidation. Surprisingly, though, Jumper is a great sci-fi flick. During a high school trauma, David Rice (Christensen) discovers he can “jump” – essentially, that means he can teleport to any location he can “see”. Leaving behind his troubled home life and using his powers to create a new life, he’s soon confronted by a mysterious gentleman (Samuel L. Jackson) hell-bent on eliminating him. He soon discovers that he’s far from alone with his gifts, and there’s a centuries-old war being fought. It’s fast, fresh, and fun… I know! I’m still surprised! Bonus features include an audio commentary, a behind-the-scenes documentary, featurettes, an animated graphic novel, deleted scenes, previz, and more.
As far as classic seasons go, I’d have to include the 4th season of The Odd Couple (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP), as it’s packed with classic episodes and both Jack Klugman and Tony Randall are in full stride. The 4-disc set features all 22 episodes, but sadly no bonus features.
I’ll never escape a jungle prison with nothing more than bubblegum and a fire ant, but I admit to feeling just a little bit MacGyver-ish when wielding the Utili-Key 6-in-1 tool (Swiss+Tech, $9.99). While at first glance it may seem to be nothing more than your average car or house key, its simple appearance hides the usual complement of ingeniously designed Swiss gadgetry – including both a Phillips and flat-head screwdriver, a micro eyeglass screwdriver, a bottle opener, a serrated knife blade, and a straight knife blade. Now, about that bomb…
Not realizing just want kind of legs the series would wind up having, Fox originally released the first season of 24 as a borderline bare-bones DVD set. Eager to rectify that mistake (and get fans to purchase a second version), we’ve now got 24: Season One – Special Edition (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP). The 7-disc set features an intro from Keifer Sutherland, audio commentaries on the premiere and the finale, extended/deleted scenes, an alternate ending to the season finale, a newly-produced documentary, The Rookie vignettes, and a letter from the co-creators.
Rest assured that not only is Steve McGarrett back in the fourth season of Hawaii Five-O (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$49.99 SRP) but so is Dano, as in addition to their usual criminal line-up, they also take on the evil Wo Fat. The 6-disc set contains all 24 episodes, plus the original episode promos.
After losing themselves in the wilderness of HD-DVD for a year, Paramount has come in from the cold with a full embrace of the high-def victor, Blu-Ray, with a clutch of releases to get up to speed. They all sport the same bonus features as the standard definition discs (save for Bee Movie, which does have some exclusive materials), but fancy-pants cinephiles can now pick up Cloverfield (Paramount, Rated PG-13, DVD-$39.99 SRP), There Will Be Blood (Paramount, Rated R, DVD-$39.99 SRP), Blades Of Glory (Paramount, Rated PG-13, DVD-$39.99 SRP), Bee Movie (Paramount, Rated PG, DVD-$39.99 SRP), Face/Off (Paramount, Rated R, DVD-$ 39.99SRP), and Next (Paramount, Rated PG-13, DVD-$39.99 SRP).
There’s always something mildly off-putting about reunion movies featuring the aged cast of beloved TV shows. Maybe that’s because they’re usually frozen in our memories looking and acting like they did when we last saw them, regardless of how time has since treated the actors. Such is the case with the pair of flicks contained on the Dukes Of Hazzard: Two-Movie Collection (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP) – Reunion! and Hazzard In Hollywood. Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke) is sorely missed.
If you made up the story of Raymond Burr’s life, you would call it a an outrageous soap opera fabrication – but the truth is just as outrageous as fiction, as you’ll discover in the biography Hiding In Plain Sight: The Secret Life Of Raymond Burr (Applause, $24.95 SRP). Who knew that the actor that brought Perry Mason to vivid life was a closeted homosexual that led an elaborately fabricated public life, to the extent of having lied on the witness stand about a fictional wife and child lost to tragedy. A fascinating read, to say the least.
Since everyone and their brother seems to be releasing westerns from their catalogues these past few months, it makes sense that Lionsgate would want to revisit High Noon (Lionsgate, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP). The new 2-disc special edition features an audio commentary, a retrospective documentary, featurettes, a Tex Ritter radio broadcast, and more.
I think I’m going to coin a new term for The Bucket List (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, DVD-$28.98 SRP) – “Quantum Comedy”. That’s because, while I’m sure it was supposed to be a rollicking hoot of a flick, with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman pursuing the contents of their respective “Before I Die” lists, every time I observed what should have been an enjoyable scene, the enjoyment just seemed to vanish. I knew it must be there – but it wasn’t there, at the same time. Odd, right? Bonus materials include a featurette on writing your own list and a music video.
If you never got around to picking up either Soap or What’s Happening!! (Sony, Not Rated, DVD-$59.95 SRP each) when they were being released as individual seasons, now’s your chance to make all those early buyers look like chumps by picking up the complete series box sets at a hefty discount. The content and disc counts are exactly the same, but now they’re all in one box and dirt cheap.
Not one, but two more actresses get the featured collection treatment – Sophia Loren and Catherine Deneuve. The Sophia Loren 4-Film Collection (Lionsgate, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) contains Atilla, I Girasoli, Madame Sans-Gene, and Carosello Napoletano. The Catherine Deneuve 5-Film Collection (Lionsgate, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) features Manon 70, Le Sauvage, Hotel Des Ameriques, Le Choc, and Fort Saganne.
Back in the early days of DVD, Image licensed a whole slew of catalogue titles from Universal – basically, a lot of smaller titles that Universal wouldn’t be getting around to any time soon, including titles like Flash Gordon, Earthquake, and Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (and, indeed, Universal took nearly a decade to finally get to some of those under their own banner). In a similar vein, Legend Films has licensed a massive quantity of catalogue titles from Paramount – some minor classics, some cult, and some that at least have a curiosity factor to them. The first wave just streeted, and includes the following titles: Baby It’s You, Mandingo, Rhubarb: The Millionaire Cat, The Possession Of Joel Delaney, Hitler: The Last Ten Days, Jekyll & Hyde: Together Again, Blue City, Daniel, The Pied Piper, Partners, King Of The Gypsies, Almost An Angel, French Postcards, Serial, Man, Woman & Child, Girl On The Bridge, Money From Home, Hurricane, Villa Rides!, The Optimists, Papa’s Delicate Condition, Desperate Characters, The Whoopee Boys, Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood, Student Bodies, Those Daring Young Men In Their Jaunty Jalopies, ZPG: Zero Population Growth, The Busy Body, Houdini, The Skull, and The One And Only (Legend Films, Rated-Var, DVD-$14.95 SRP each). They’re bare bones releases, but kudos to Legend for getting them out into the market.
The one-armed man is still on the loose in the first volume of The Fugitive‘s second season (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP), and Richard Kimble is still on the run from Lt. Gerard. So, really, nothing much has changed. The 4-disc set features the first 15 episodes of season 2.
When a TV show is successful, there’s always the a certain amount of curiosity as to whether the characters would transfer to the big screen. Sadly, Don Adams’s Maxwell Smart did not do too well in the transition, which meant the sublime genius that was Get Smart became the tepid disappointment of The Nude Bomb (Universal, Rated PG, DVD-$19.98 SRP). It’s worth viewing as a curiosity, but nothing more.
It’s a bit of a grab bag, but The Air I Breathe (Image, Rated R, DVD-$27.98 SRP) is worth a look see for the cast alone – Forest Whitaker, Andy Garcia, Kevin Bacon, Brendan Fraser, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Emile Hirsch . The story itself is an elaborate, intricate, if ultimately flawed crime drama that’s like a cross between Guy Ritchie and Richard Kelly.
All good things must come to an end, and so must things that lived a few years beyond their shelf life – the eighth and final season of Home Improvement (Buena Vista, Not Rated, DVD-$23.99 SRP) is an excellent case in point. The 4-disc set features all 28 episodes, plus a new cast reunion special and a blooper reel.
Having long ago given up on watching it since being disappointed when after its first few outings on Adult Swim and the first season DVD, I was curious to see if my opinion would be changed by the second season of Boondocks (Sony, Not Rated, DVD-$49.95 SRP). The answer, sadly, is that beyond some great design and animation, it’s still flat and, frankly, boring. The 3-disc set features all 15 episodes, plus audio commentaries, introductions, featurettes, and minisodes.
It’s a testament to the artists at Pixar and the toymakers at Thinkway that I spent a solid two hours watching my 4-year-old nephew go absolutely giddy over the U-Command Wall-E (Thinkway Toys, $49.99 SRP). Standing about 9″ and operating via an infrared remote control, Wall-E is an interactive ball of fun, as you command him to speak, dance, look around, or just take a tour of the room. It’s hands-on and captures the quirky little robot to a “t”, and makes me wish that the Ultimate Wall-E due out later this year would arrive sooner. Until then, though, I’m sure we’ll get plenty of enjoyment out of this one.
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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Comments: 1 Comment
One Response to “Weekend Shopping Guide 6/13/08: Wall-E & Geek Think”Leave a Reply |
June 16th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
I hate to be the one to break it to you, but you’re completely wrong about The Boondocks.