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…)
I’ve known of Russell Brand – his stand-up and celebrity in the UK – for years, so it was with great delight that I greeted his first US stand-up special, which is now available on DVD in an expanded form. Russell Brand In New York City (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$16.99 SRP) contains not only the extended cut of the special, but also Brand’s infamous (and funny) 2008 MTV VMA monologue, a featurette, and gem titled “Loose Cannon Drunk Girl”.
As someone who’s stressed himself inordinately trying to reach around corners and through tiny crevices to get to unreachable screws – wither putting them in or taking them out – the Flexible Shaft Ratcheting Screwdriver ($19.99) is a godsend. With a mighty reach, a flexible shaft, and full ratcheting action even when bent (no jokes, please) – plus a ton of magnetic sockets – it’s a hand tool to have around the house or office.
While Cars, Ratatouille, and Wall-E have all been available on Blu-Ray, A Bug’s Life (Walt Disney, Rated G, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) is the first of the classic Pixar films to make their way into high definition, and the results are spectacular. The original DVD release was always a stunner, but this is even better. The bonus materials are identical to that original 2-disc DVD edition, with the addition of newly-animated sequences from the original story treatment, plus a filmmakers’ round table discussion about the creation of the film.
For all of the drama that surrounded its filming and reception, Valkyrie (United Artists, Rated PG-13, DVD-$34.98 SRP) – about the internal German military plot to assassinate Hitler and starring Tom Cruise as chief conspirator Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg – is a solid if unmemorable piece of historical dramatization. It certainly features a cast that makes it entirely watchable – including Eddie Izzard, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Terrance Stamp, and Tom Wilkinson. The 2-disc set features a pair of audio commentaries, a documentary on the history behind the story, featurettes, and a Q&A with Cruise and director Bryan Singer. A Blu-Ray edition ($39.99 SRP) is also available, with identical bonus features.
Oh, Terminator 2 (Lionsgate, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP). I must have owned about a dozen versions of you over the years. I think the only film re-released more is Evil Dead II. Now you’ve made the transition to high definition, looking rather spiffy, and containing audio commentaries, over 140 minutes of behind-the-scenes video, storyboards, and more.
Another pair of classic Bond flicks make their way into spiffy high-definition with the release of both the Moore-era The Man With The Golden Gun and the Dalton-era License to Kill (MGM, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$34.98 SRP each). Both discs, besides looking and sounding wonderful, also sport audio commentaries, loads of featurettes, TV & radio spots, documentaries, galleries, and much more.
Paramount’s prestige Centennial Collection continues with another pair of 2-disc, fully restored special editions – El Dorado & The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$16.99 SRP each). Both sets contain audio commentaries, new and vintage featurettes, trailers, and galleries.
Warner Bros. has an immense catalogue of titles. Thousands and thousands of them. And even with their aggressive DVD release schedule, there’s no way they can get to all of them – and, economically, some of the titles have such a small appeal that it’s just not viable to do a wide release on them. Those who thought their chances of picking up some of those obscure titles were nil can rejoice in the continuation of Warner’s Archive Collection – www.warnerarchive.com. Essentially, it’s DVDs on demand, allowing you to purchase either a physical DVD-R copy (for a flat $19.95) or an instantly downloadable digital copy (for $14.95) of an ever-increasingly library of titles from the Warner vaults. I’ve had a chance to look at a pair of new additions – Sidney Lumet’s Bye Bye Braverman and the wisecracking Freebie And The Bean.
You know how, every once in awhile, you want a simple comedy whose only goal is to give you a chuckle and a smile? Paul Blart: Mall Cop (Sony, Rated PG, DVD-$28.96 SRP) is that film, and does exactly as the tin describes. How you can you not love Kevin James? In everything but Hitch? Bonus features include deleted scenes, featurettes, outtakes, and more. A Blu-Ray edition ($39.95 SRP) is also available, with identical bonus features.
Paramount kicks out another clutch of brand-new-to-Blu-Ray catalogue titles, leaving other studios in the dust after a slow start (backing HD-DVD). With some very nice high definition transfers and bonus features identical to their standard edition cousins, the new titles are Wayne’s World, Wayne’s World 2, Without A Paddle, 3 Days Of The Condor, Black Sheep, Paycheck, The Machinist, Changing Lanes, Enemy At The Gates, and Major League (Paramount, Rated PG/PG-13/R, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP each).
Neither rain, nor sleet, nor diversions ordered by a court of law would keep Jack Bauer from eventually getting 24‘s 7th season mission (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$49.98 SRP) finished. Bauer has been hauled before Congress to justify his tactics, but wouldn’t you know it – a big national emergency arises, and who are they gonna call? The 6-disc set features audio commentaries, deleted scenes, and a trio of featurettes.
A legendary album gets a fantastic live performance in Van Morrison: Astral Weeks Live At The Hollywood Bowl – The Concert Film (Listen To The Lion Films, Not Rated, DVD-$29.99 SRP). As you can probably guess, it features the elfin Irishman performing the entirety of the Astral Weeks album, and he sounds just as good as ever.
Fox has dropped a pair of catalogue transfers to high definition, bringing both Big and There’s Something About Mary (Fox, Rated PG/R, DVD-$34.98 SRP each) to Blu-Ray with upgraded sound an picture, but identical bonus features to their standard def editions, including commentaries, deleted scenes, featurettes, and more.
Almost 300 years after his reign of terror ended with his capture and beheading, a group of marine archeologists have recovered the remains of Blackbeard’s flagship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge, in Secrets Of The Dead: Blackbeard’s Lost Ship (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP). The documentary seeks to piece together whether the grounding of the ship off the Carolina coast was an accident, or part of a plan by the infamous pirate to doublecross his own men.
Ridiculously over-the-top, Elton John: The Red Piano (Universal, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.95 SRP) is exactly what you’d expect Elton John’s Las Vegas show to be. In addition to the concert itself, the disc also contains a documentary with unseen backstage footage from the show, plus the full-length versions of the David LaChappelle films shown during the concert.
I don’t know about you, but any movie with a title like Afro Ninja: Destiny (Lightyear, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP) at least deserves a second glance. Yes, it’s based on the YouTube video, and its title explains exactly what it is – an ninja with an afro.
Anyone familiar with Mystery Science Theater 3000 will remember with glee the cringe-inducing Hercules Against The Moon Men. Well, now you can get that flick – plus 4 other muscle-y kitsch classics – in the Muscle Madness set (Infinity, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP). In addition to Moon Men, you also get Giant Of Marathon, War Of The Trojans, Goliath And The Sins Of Babylon, & Colossus And The Amazon Queen.
Schwarzenegger fans hoping to pass the weekend on the cheap should pick up the Schwarzenegger 4-Film Collector’s Set (Lionsgate, Rated R, DVD-$29.98 SRP), which packaged together a quartet of catalogue titles – Terminator 2, Total Recall, Red Heat, and The Running Man into one convenient box.
I’m sure the makers of Fanboys (Genius, Rated PG-13, DVD-$19.98 SRP) thought they were making a film for geeks like me, but it’s such a ham-fisted, inconsistent comedy (with some drama) – about a group of buddies who travel to George Lucas’s Skywalker Ranch in order to steal a pre-release copy of Star Wars: Episode I (the poor fools) – that I just couldn’t find any love in it. Which is a shame, because there’s a good film in there somewhere. The DVD features an audio commentary, deleted scenes, webisodes, and a quartet of featurettes.
If Twilight seemed too tween for you and the Buffyverse was too nerd – and you like your soap drama – then HBO’s True Blood (HBO, Not Rated, DVD-$59.99 SRP) is probably for you. Alan Ball has brought together an eclectic bunch of locals in a small Louisiana town – and by eclectic, I mean vampires and mind readers and hicks. The 5-disc set features all 12 episodes, plus audio commentaries, featurettes, a mockumentary, and fake PSAa and ads.
It’s difficult to sell the 3-D gimmick with the limitations of home theaters, when you’re stuck using rinky-dink red-green glasses. That’s what makes seeing My Bloody Valentine (Lionsgate, Rated R, DVD-$34.98 SRP) at home even more of a let down than its theatrical run. At least in a theater, the by-the-numbers horror flick could at least rely on the 3-D gimmick. At home? No such luck. The 2-disc set contains both the 2-D and 3-D versions of the film, an audio commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes, an alternate ending, and a gag reel.
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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