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…
(Please support Quick Stop by using the links below to make any impulse purchases – it helps to keep us going…)
There are many catalogue titles whose arrival in high definition have been long awaited, and near the tippy top of the nerd list (I count myself amongst you, my brothers and sisters) is the Star Trek feature films. The arrival of JJ Abrams’s big screen revamp means that we get the 6 films comprising the original cast’s own cinematic adventures, all contained in the Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection (Paramount, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$139.99 SRP). All 6 films are in their original theatrical cuts (meaning no Motion Picture director’s cut, or extended cuts of II & VI). You do get most of the special features contained in the 2-disc special editions from a few years back, plus new audio commentaries and featurettes. The biggest bonus, though, is an exclusive 7th disc – a 70-minute conversation between William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, and host Whoopi Goldberg titled “Star Trek: The Captain’s Summit”.
This past winter, things got a bit dry in the ol’ air I was a’ breathin’. Not wanting to cart out the massive room humidifier I had occasionally used in years past, I instead suffered through the dryness. If only I knew then about the Personal Humidifier ($59.99), I would have been far happier. As you can see in the picture, it’s a small, portable humidifier that gets its water source from your average bottled water bottle. It also runs pretty darn quietly, has low energy usage, and is something you could easily throw into your luggage and take on a trip.
Even though the new Star Trek film effectively eliminates all of these stories from continuity (big nerd boo!), the eight episodes – 4 on each – contained on the single disc Best Of Star Trek: The Original Series and Best Of Star Trek: The Next Generation (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP each) really are the cream of the crop. The TOS set features “The City On The Edge Of Forever”, “The Trouble With Tribbles”, “Balance Of Terror”, and “Amok Time”. The TNG set features “The Best Of Both Worlds” Part I & II, “Yesterday’s Enterprise”, and “The Measure Of A Man”.
Some see it as the film the broke the back of the Star Trek franchise, poking fun at some of the barnacles that had long ago become franchise cliches. Nonsense. I see Galaxy Quest (Dreamworks, Rated PG, DVD-$14.98 SRP) as a wonderful, post-modern celebration of the classic Star Trek series, from its sci-fi tech to its message, and the writing and actors that brought it all to life. Galaxy Quest has just gotten a newly remastered special edition, with a clutch of new featurettes and deleted scenes, in addition to the materials from the original release.
For some inexplicable reason, North America’s first DVD introduction to the wonderful Kingdom (BFS, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) – starring Stephen Fry as a small town lawyer – is starting with the release of the show’s second series. Why? I have no idea. Pick this up, but here’s hoping they hurry up and release the first series.
Penn & Teller are back on the case, exposing bullshit for what it is in the complete sixth season of the appropriately titled Penn & Teller: Bullshit (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP). Their targets this time include NASA, porn, new age medicine, dolphins, sleep, green products, sensitivity training, child safety, nostalgia, and world peace. Yes… They call bullshit on world peace. I love these guys.
Remind yourself of Tom Hanks’s mulleted-glory in full high definition via the new extended cut of The Da Vinci Code (Sony, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$38.96 SRP). Not only does the 2-disc set contain the enbiggened cut, but is also contains a 5-minute preview of the sequel Angels & Demons, an audio commentary, and a whopping 17 behind-the-scenes featurettes.
Launched as an online extension of his low-cost animation empire, Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$22.97 SRP) comes to DVD in a collection of all of the shorts released so far. Bonus features include a red carpet featurette and galleries. A Blu-Ray edition ($24.99 SRP) is also available, with identical bonus features.
Liam Neeson plays a father (and ex-CIA agent) who’s hot on the trail of his kidnapped daughter in the surprisingly engaging thriller Taken (Fox, Rated PG-13, DVD-$34.98 SRP), as the seemingly quiet man calls upon his CIA training to try and piece the puzzle of her whereabouts together. Bonus features include audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and side-by-side scene comparisons A Blu-Ray edition ($39.99 SRP) is also available, with identical bonus materials.
It’s no great flick, but there was a certain B-movie horror punch to The Grudge (Sony, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$28.95 SRP) that only the Japanese can deliver with enough psychological hoo-ha to make it all seem classy, and now you can see it all in high definition (with identical bonus features to the standard release). This is happening because the far lesser new installment, Grudge 3 (Sony, Rated R, DVD-$24.96 SRP) is making its own DVD debut, with deleted scenes and a pair of featurettes.
Remember all those TV shows you bought on DVD? Well, you might as well get used to re-buying them all on Blu-Ray, particularly when shows like CSI get a high definition season 1 release (Paramount, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$89.99 SRP) presented in 16×9 for the first time, plus a director’s cut of the pilot and all of the featurettes, promos, deleted scenes, and outtakes found on the original release. That’s right – start saving pennies.
I suppose somewhere, in some universe, someone was hoping for a direct-to-video sequel to Donnie Darko focusing on the now grown-up sister of Donnie and her own encounters with time-hopping bunnies and bizarreness. Well, that person will be happy to hear about the existence of S. Darko (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$22.98 SRP), which does exactly that. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, and a pair of featurettes, A Blu-Ray edition ($29.99 SRP) is also available, with identical features.
The House of Mouse continues its Walt Disney Animation Collection of classic short films with the release of a new trio of discs featuring The Wind In The Willows, The Tortoise And The Hare, and The Reluctant Dragon (Walt Disney, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP each). Each disc also contains of clutch of additional shorts mostly themed to the title short.
Kicking back with more comforting junk food comedy in the form of the complete fifth season of Two And A Half Men (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$44.98 SRP) is always an option. The 4-disc set contains all 19 episodes, plus the episode of CSI written by the Two And A Half writing staff, a featurette about the crossover, a look at the show’s 100th episode, and a spotlight on the rotating end title cards.
The latest Marvel premium format figure from the fine folks at Sideshow Collectibles is none other than that prince of the deep, the sovereign ruler of Atlantis, Prince Namor, The Sub-Mariner ($244.99). Namor stands 18″ high, and the Sideshow exclusive edition (limited to only 350 pieces) comes with a replaceable hand wielding the incredible trident you see pictured below.
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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