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…
The crew of the Planet Express return in the 2nd of the 4 direct-to-DVD adventures that manage the rare feat of resurrecting a show with not only the same level of quality of the original run, but above and beyond it. Futurama: The Beast With A Billion Backs (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$29.99 SRP) tells the tale of a rip in space that opens a portal to another dimension – but what lies beyond the rift? There’s plenty of bonus features as well, including an audio commentary, the animated story originally produced for the Futurama video game, deleted scenes, an animatic, bloopers, and much more.
As a fan ever since it first unspooled over 20 years ago, I’ve thought it a crime that there’s been little-to-no Back To The Future merchandise. Every other franchise seems to be having its day in the sun over the past few years, and it’s high time BTTF got its due. Well, as and you shall receive, ’cause now we’ve got a prop replica of Doc Brown’s greatest invention – the Flux Capacitor ($275). Lovingly crafted and based on the original (inspired, as we all know, by a blow to the head while hanging a clock in the bathroom), this limited edition replica (only 1,000 made!) features sully functional light effects, whose frequency can be adjusted via the knobs within the unit’s case. Now where is the panel so I can input my destination date?
If you were to transplant Grosse Point Blank to Belgium, you’d wind up with In Bruges (Universal, Rated R, DVD-$29.98 SRP). Simple as that. Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson star as hitmen Ray & Ken, who decide to kick back and enjoy a little downtime after a big job. Unfortunately, they’re not very good at the low-key touristy thing, so they soon find themselves in deep with the local crime boss (Ralph Fiennes). It’s a fun little flick that’s worth a spin. Bonus features include a making-of featurette, deleted scene, and a gag reel.
If I have one disappointment with the soundtrack album to Pixar’s Wall-E (Disney Records, $ SRP) – with a score by Thomas Newman and a new song from Newman and Peter Gabriel – it’s that the disc doesn’t feature the piece that was used in the trailers from Michael Kamen’s Brazil score. Would it have been so hard to include it on the disc? Other than that, the album is a must.
I’ve spoken many times of my Anglophilia, and my fascination with the oftimes bizarre and eccentric history of England. With that in mind, it’s understandable that I dug right in to London’s Strangest Tales: Extraordinary But True Stories From Over A Thousand Years Of London’s History (Robson Books, $13.00 SRP). Where else can you read about the Bishop of Winchester’s prostitutes and human lavatories?
The History Channel’s dramatic recreations of classic wartime aerial combat makes their high-flying return with the complete second season of Dogfights (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$49.95 SRP). The 5-disc set features all 17 high-adrenaline episodes, plus additional scenes.
I don’t know why exactly it is that it seems the bulk of today’s kiddie flicks compare unfavorably to the classics of yesteryear. Maybe it’s that manufactured sheen that it all seems to have – CGI is a sterile tool, and it adds a cold, uninvolved feeling to modern children’s films. Case in point is The Spiderwick Chronicles (Paramount, Rated PG, DVD-$39.99 SRP), based on the book series by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. It’s all so digital and clean that a thousand Freddie Highmores with their preternaturally adult acting couldn’t elevate it much beyond a pleasant diversion. The 2-disc set features behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and more. A Blu-Ray edition is also available (Anchor Bay, Not Rated, DVD-$39.99 SRP), featuring identical bonus materials to the standard edition.
If I had a time machine, somewhere on “to do” list would be to travel back just a few short years to when people like Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg proclaimed 2-D animation a dead artform and slap them over the head with a copy of the film Persepolis (Sony, Rated PG-13, DVD-$29.95 SRP) – the animated adaptation of Marjane Satrapi’s comic book version of her Iranian childhood during the Islamic Revolution, and her eventual move to France after the Fundamentalists took hold. Bonus features include an English language soundtrack, behind-the-scenes featurettes, audio commentary, the 2007 Cannes press conference, and more.
I’m all for goofy, well-written fun in kids shows, and Tak And The Power Of Juju passes the “Does my 4-year-old nephew like it?” test. He likes it. And he also likes the first DVD volume, The Trouble With Magic (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$16.99 SRP). The disc features 10 episodes, plus 5 shorts, a featurette on the voices, and an animatic.
Genre-bending shows are always a gamble on network television, as viewers are usually slow on the uptake and executives are quick to lower the axe. Occasionally, one slips through the cracks and is given some legs – such as Early Edition (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$49.98 SRP), which starred Kyle Chandler as Gary Hobson, a reluctant hero who is delivered the next day’s news in advance and must choose how he uses that information. Does he prevent tragedy? Does he buy a winning lottery ticket and profit off of it? Does he do both? The 6-disc set features all 23 first season episodes, plus promos.
Despite the hokey kitsch value the success of the Broadway musical version has brought it, Xanadu (Universal, Rated PG, DVD-$19.98 SRP) is still an awful movie. Now, however, you can get this awful film in a new special edition, with a retrospective documentary and a photo gallery, plus a bonus soundtrack CD.
If you were to take that early 90’s HBO staple Dream On and transport it to Showtime and reinvent it as an edgy dramedy about a sex and drug addicted author (David Duchovny), you’d have Californication (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$39.99 SRP). The 2-disc box set features all 12 first season episodes.
If you were to ask Roland Emmerich to remake Caveman, the result would be 10,000 BC (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, DVD-$28.98 SRP) – a laughably earnest look at a heroic caveman who must do battle with massive prehistoric beasties in order to rescue his kidnapped cave-gal. Bonus features include additional scenes and an alternate ending.
Ignore that abysmal Roland Emmerich flick, and delve into the real pre-history with Journey To 10,000 BC (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$19.95 SRP). Would you guess that it’s a documentary featuring cavemen and mammoths? Wouldja?
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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