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 FRED Weekend Shopping Guide – your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…
(Please support FRED by using the links below to make any impulse purchases – it helps to keep us going…)
It’s not quite as consistent as Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but I certainly enjoyed Couples Retreat (Universal, Rated PG-13, DVD-$29.98 SRP) for what it is – a goofy, often slapstick relationship comedy that plays like a post marriage take on the Swingers generation (which, considering it stars Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau, is not a difficult leap). Bonus materials include featurettes, deleted scenes, and alternate ending, and a gag reel. A Blu-Ray edition ($36.98 SRP) is also available, which adds a pair of exclusive deleted scenes.
Want to protect your oh-so-precious eyes from evil green lasers, all the while looking ridiculously stylish? Well, look no further than the Green 532nm LaserShades ($39.99). Now, you can keep your eyesight safe, and pretend you’re in the future.
Fans of the great Orson Welles will delight in this newly-restored edition of Omnibus, a television showcase featuring the arts, which in 1953 televised a production of King Lear (E1, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP), starring Welles in the title role. The DVD also features archive featurettes and a 16-page booklet.
Many have called the Coen Brothers’ A Serious Man (Universal, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$36.98 SRP) their most autobiographical picture to date, but since I don’t know how accurate that assessment is, I will say it’s one of their strongest films of the past decade, and paints a darkly comic portrait of its Job-like patriarch – a physics professor whose life is unraveling, sending him on an offbeat search for meaning. Bonus materials include a trio of featurettes.
History nerds (like me) will probably want to dive right in to The Ultimate Dambusters Collection (BFS, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP), which brings together a trio of documentaries on the legendary WWII raids. Heck, the first is even narrated by Stephen Fry.
After a massive wait, fans can finally wrap up the second season of The Sarah Silverman Program (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$26.98 SRP) with the second volume, featuring the remaining 10 episodes plus audio commentaries, animated shorts, and a behind-the-scenes featurette. Now, if only they’d make a 3rd season.
Take a life-spanning love-affair and complicate it with a time-hopping lover who doesn’t know when he’ll disappear and when in his own timeline he’ll reappear, and you’ve got the unique relationship featured in The Time Traveler’s Wife (New Line, Rated PG-13, DVD-$29.98 SRP), as the titular wife encounters the man she’ll fall in love with and marry at various times throughout her life. Of course, she never knows which version of her husband – and where in their relationship – she’ll be encountering him. Got all that? Bonus features include a behind-the-scenes featurette. A Blu-Ray edition ($35.99 SRP) is also available, with identical bonus materials.
Now that the full series has made its way to DVD, the single-disc themed releases are the focus, with Fraggle Rock: Wembley’s Egg Surprise (Lionsgate, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP) being the latest. The disc contains a trio of episodes (“Wembley’s Egg”, “The Great Radish Famine”, & “The Finger Of Light”) plus an episode from the animated series, a pair of sing-alongs, and a look at Jim Henson’s Animal Show With Stinky And Jake.
Fox has bungled up the X-Men nicely, and Heroes has lost its way, but both can take a page from the series Misfits (Channel 4, Not Rated, Region 2 DVD-£19.99 SRP), which finds a group of delinquents gifted with powers during a freak electrical storm. Think of it as Heroes meets Skins. Bonus materials include a pair of featurettes and character films.
Featuring dozens of actors and musicians, The People Speak (New Video, Not Rated, DVD-$19.95 SRP) brings to life the late Howard Zinn’s People’s History Of The United States and Voices Of A People’s History Of The United States. It’s quite a moving – and inspiring – portrait of the nation’s history.
He’s become a slab of a man, but you still get exactly what you expect from a Steven Seagal action flick in A Dangerous Man (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP), in which Seagal is dangerous man Shane Daniels, an ex-Special Forces operative framed for murder newly-released from prison. He then does plenty of Seagal ass-kicking.
How about some catalogue titles coming to high-def this week? Fox and MGM back up the truck with a trio of modern classics – Walk The Line (Fox, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP), To Live And Die In LA (MGM, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP), and The Last King Of Scotland (Fox, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP). Walk The Line sports an audio commentary, deleted scenes, extended musical performances, featurettes, and the theatrical trailer. To Live And Die In LA contains an audio commentary, deleted scenes, and a documentary. Last King Of Scotland gets deleted scenes, a featurette, a documentary on Idi Amin, and a casting session.
And since you’re always looking to upgrade those catalogue titles with spiffy new high-definition versions all shiny and bright, hitting Blu-Ray this week are the Richard Dawson classic The Running Man (Lionsgate, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$19.99 SRP), Morgan Freeman & Christian Slater in the wet Hard Rain (Lionsgate, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$19.99 SRP), Billy Zane in the not-as-bad-as-you-think The Phantom (Lionsgate, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$19.99 SRP) and Wesley Snipes in Drop Zone (Lionsgate, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$19.99 SRP). All but The Running Man are limited to the theatrical trailer as their sole bonus feature, but Man gets a pair of audio commentaries and a pair of featurettes.
One day, I’m sure a fascinating film about the life of landmark aviator Amelia Earhart will be made, Sadly, Amelia (Fox, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) – starring Hilary Swank as the legendary pilot – is not that film. It’s just dull, really – which is the last thing this tale should have been. Sigh. Bonus features include deleted scenes, a featurette, and vintage newsreels.
If you never got a chance to pick up the box sets a few years ago, your only chance to get their classic cartoons are though the single disc Tom & Jerry’s Greatest Chases (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), the 4th volume of which is now available, containing 14 shorts.
It’s one of the few recent successes in hour-long drama, and Army Wives (ABC Studios, Not Rated, DVD-$45.99 SRP) is still going strong in its 3rd season. The 5-disc set contains all 18 episodes, plus webisodes, featurettes, deleted scenes, and bloopers.
Just when the Sci-Fi Channel (I refuse to call it that other… thing) was getting too far up their own… yeah… they go and launch a new Stargate that manages to evoke the engaging fun of the original with Stargate Universe (MGM, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$69.99 SRP). Think of its ragtag group stranded on the far side of the universe as the SG version of Voyager and Lost In Space. The 2-disc set contains an extended version of the pilot, featurettes, and video diaries.
I’ve been a fan of his going back to Action, but I’ve yet to find the same kind of pleasure in Jay Mohr’s formulaic sitcom Gary Unmarried (ABC Studios, Not Rated, DVD-$39.99 SRP), in which he stars as newly-single dad Gary Brooks. Think of it as a male version of The New Adventures Of Old Christine. The 3-disc set contains all 20 episodes, plus a trio of featurettes and a blooper reel.
Of course, you can never have too many adaptations of Jane Austen’s Emma (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP), so the BBC have made another one, this time featuring Romola Garai in the title role. The 2-disc set contains a trio of featurettes and an interview with Michael Gambon.
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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