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…)
Fans were lucky to get one – MAYBE 2 – Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collections each year during the old Rhino days, but Shout! Factory has really stepped up the pace as we now get their THIRD release, Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Volume XV (Shout! Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$59.99 SRP). The 4-disc set features The Robot Vs. The Aztec Mummy, The Girl In Lovers Lane, Zombie Nightmare, and Racket Girls. In addition to the episodes themselves, you also get a pair of clips packages taken from the long out-of-print MST3K scrapbook video, promos, interviews with the stars of Zombie Nightmare, and a sneak peek at Trace Beaulieu and Kevin Murphy’s contributions to a project called Hamlet A.D.D. Bring on the next volume!
Sometimes you just have to sit back and admire a piece of equipment that takes a standard device and just plusses the heck out of it. Such is the case with the Neverlate Executive Alarm Clock ($59.99). It’s takes your basic alarm clock – you know, the thing you need to get your exhausted, overworked body aware enough to get out of bed and start another day – and adds functions such as two separate alarm schedules, customizable buzzers and sleep options, MP3 player input, a USB jack for recharging your equipment, and more. It’s definitely time for an upgrade.
As much as I love Derren Brown’s various series (and I do love them so), I think I dig his live shows even more. There’s something supremely entertaining seeing a master mentalist and showman at work in front of an audience, where the energy is palpable. His latest show to make its way to DVD is Derren Brown: An Evening Of Wonders (Channel 4, Region 2, Not Rated, £12.98 SRP), and the title is an apt description. Bonus features include an all-too-brief interview and some deleted scenes.
The cast has been shaken up (Deputies Garcia, Johnson, & Kimball are absent and Joe Lo Truglio and Ian Roberts have joined as Deputies Rizzo & Declan) and the comedy has gone even more into the realm of bizarre slapstick, but the sixth season of Reno 911 (Comedy Central, Not Rated, DVD-$26.98 SRP) remains a fun, funny romp in improvisational excess. Bonus features include outtakes, deputy profiles, and audio commentaries.
Thee Beebs roll out of classic Doctor Who continues with a pair of new releases. The first comes from the William Hartnell years – Doctor Who: The Rescue Of The Romans (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP). The second is a Cyberman story from the Colin Baker years – Doctor Who: Attack Of The Cybermen (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP). Both releases are, as usual, packed to the hilt with bonus materials, including commentaries, featurettes, interviews, and much more.
Celebrate the launch of Apollo 11 and mankind’s trip to the moon with Moon Machines (Image, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP), a spiffy little documentary that looks at all of the amazing tech it took not only to get to the moon, but also to work on its surface.
While most of the attention has been paid to contemporaries like Peter Cook, John Cleese, and David Frost, let me take a moment to give some proper attention to “The Two Johns” – Bird & Fortune – and the numerous gifts they’ve given to the field of brilliant satire. Much of their recent contributions are featured in Bird & Fortune: Two Johns and a Dinner Party (Channel 4, Region 2, Not Rated, DVD-£19.99 SRP), which contains almost 3 hours of their often prescient and thoroughly cutting face-to-face interview pieces, as well as their dinner party sketches. Trust me – just get this. You’ll want more.
What otherwise might be an interesting, enjoyable thriller turns to mush when it stars Nic Cage, which is a shame when Knowing (Summit, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$34.99 SRP) could be a fun romp. Cage plays a professor who deciphers a coded message that accurately predicts upcoming disasters, leading him to try and uncover the source of the prophecies and find a way to prevent them. Bonus features include an audio commentary and a pair of featurettes.
Personally, I can’t get into the charm and wit of The Prairie Home Companion. Regardless, I did enjoy the documentary Garrison Keillor: The Man On The Radio In The Red Shoes (Docurama, Not Rated, DVD-$26.95 SRP), which looks at the man behind The Prairie. Bonus features include outtakes, an interview with Keillor and Robert Altman, and footage of Keillor speaking to students.
I’m not going to mention what recent film Push (Summit, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$34.99 SRP) is awfully similar to, but the tale of a group of super-powered operatives on the run from the government (one of which is Dakota Fanning) is enough of a silly romp to hold your interest. Bonus features include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, and a featurette.
It’s not the feature-laden special edition that some were hoping for, but at least we have a nice, widescreen, spiffy high-def edition of Grumpy Old Men (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray- $28.99 SRP) – a still fun reunion of Jack Lemmon & Walter Matthau. The sole bonus feature is the theatrical trailer.
Like most procedural shows, by the time you’ve seen a half-dozen episodes, you’ve pretty much seen all the rest – for good or ill. Third Watch (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP) certainly falls into that mold. The 6-disc set features all 22 episodes, plus a gag reel.
A little bit The Exorcist, a little The Omen, and a little Japanese horror, The Unborn (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP) is a standard, professional little thriller that doesn’t exactly break new ground. Bonus features include deleted scenes, plus both a theatrical and unrated cut of the flick. A Blu-Ray edition ($39.98 SRP) is also available with identical features.
Take a very funny Australian sitcom about a white trash mother and daughter, remake it, put it on NBC starring Molly Shannon and Selma Blair, and watch all of the funny disappear. Such is the sad case with the first season of Kath & Kim (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP). The 2-disc set features all 17 episodes, plus audio commentaries, deleted scenes, and a gag reel.
Oh, Power Rangers – you never seem to stop, like some kind of Energizer Bunny. The latest iteration is hitting DVD with Power Rangers RPM: Start Your Engines (Buena Vista, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP). Yes, they fight monsters. Lots of ’em.
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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