The Doctor and Amy address America…
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December 30, 2010
December 28, 2010
Best Blu-Rays of 2010
Best Blu-Rays of 2010
After acquiring my Playstation 3 last summer, I’ve gone mad with Blu-Ray fever, and I spent most of 2010 attempting to make my Blu-Ray collection resemble the massive and unnecessary scale of my DVD stash. Though I do not have a multi-region player and thus this list will include only Regions A and 0 discs, I stand by my year-end picks of the most essential discs for a cinephile’s collection. Not all will give your home theater a workout, but most will, and they all demonstrate the capacity of the medium to not only give the best possible image but to retain film-like quality like never before. So, without further ado, here are the Blu-Rays, and a handful of DVDs, you need to own.
Best Blu-Rays of 2010
1. By Brakhage, Vols. I & II (Criterion)
A collection of a master’s work that displays its greatness as much by the caliber of material left off the set as the genius of the included short films, By Brakhage is a necessary and infinitely rewarding trove of experimental cinema. Criterion have always erred on the side of preservation of a film’s look over completely smoothing grain, but they’ve managed to upgrade the technical specs of Stan Brakhage’s work while doing nothing to compromise the original image. Grain is omnipresent, because Brakhage incorporated it into his visual freak-outs (some of the shorts left off the set were omitted because Brakhage designed them with the flicker of a proper film projector in mind). Complete with footage of Brakhage’s lectures and interviews and a massive booklet, By Brakhage is a masterpiece right down to the cover art.
2. City Girl/Sunrise (Masters of Cinema)
It’s understandable that the otherwise laudable Kino and Criterion would insist on region-coding now that UK’s Eureka! label have gotten in on the Blu-Ray game: their pledge to release region-free BDs could cause trouble when Americans get a full view of the quality of their products. To date, their finest offerings are two restorations of F.W. Murnau classics. City Girl may not be on the same level as Sunrise (one of the 10 best films ever made), but the restoration Eureka! did for it manages to outstrip even that of Sunrise. A film made In 1931 has no business looking this pristine, and the near-total lack of the heavy damage expected in films this old distracted me from how great the film itself is, and how much it influenced masters like Terrence Malick. As for Murnau’s masterpiece, it shows its age more but still looks fantastic, and the alternate version unearthed looks even nicer. It also comes with a documentary on 4 Devils, Muranu’s legendary lost film, making these two must-owns for any cinephile.
3. The Night of the Hunter (Criterion)
Criterion’s work on Charles Laughton’s fairy tale/horror The Night of the Hunter leaps over the high bar the distributor has already set for itself, turns around, raise the bar higher, then jumps over it again. Certain flaws inherent in the print remain, but the grain is pleasantly balanced when it appears, and the film never suffers for its shifts between cleaner studio shots and hazier location shoots. As impressive is the home video debut of the 2002 documentary comprising a trove of outtake footage Laughton’s widow released after his death. The two-and-a-half-hour behind-the-scenes doc shows just how meticulously and forcefully the director planned each moment, even berating the child actors to make them convincing in their scenes of terror and despair (or maybe he just hated them; Robert Mitchum himself attested to the latter). The Night of the Hunter is one of the most lyrical, multifaceted movies ever made, and Criterion gave it the treatment it well deserved.
4. Apocalypse Now: Full Disclosure Edition (Lionsgate)
Presented in its definitive packaging, the Full Disclosure Edition of Apocalypse Now contains so many extras that it’s almost easy to ignore the film itself. Then you watch it (and, just as importantly, listen to it), and the stuffed-to-the-gills set takes a back seat to the enduring audiovisual might of Coppola’s schizoid triumph. A sterling video transfer and flawless update of the pioneering surround sound track make Apocalypse Now not only a film that should be a go-to on its cinematic quality but as a means of showing off a home theater. They don’t make ’em like this anymore, and that’s probably a good thing for the mental and physical health of every director working today.
5. Beauty and the Beast (Disney)
Disney’s work with their films has been nothing less than exemplary, and I nearly flipped a coin to decide between this and their restoration of Walt Disney’s still-ahead-of-its-time, genre-annihilating Fantasia. But the Beast won out, not only for the slight edge it offers it audiovisual upgrade but for the host of extras it offers. Commentary tracks, a making-of twice as long as the actual film, remastered deleted scenes, a host of ported DVD extras and more add to the immaculate restoration of one of Disney’s finest films, making the complexities of the love story between Belle and a transformed prince all the more engaging. The best Disney movies have the ability to take your breath away, and however much of an imperial sub-power they’ve become, someone over there still recognizes that and has put all effort into ensuring the presentations of those films leave us breathless, too.
6. The Thin Red Line (Criterion)
Far and away the best audiovisual presentation of the year, and certainly a contender for one of the most impressive in home video history, Criterion’s Blu-Ray of The Thin Red Line took one of the most beautiful films ever made and somehow makes it look even better. Fans sent rumors into a whirlwind over the possibility of the original, five-hour workprint version being included, but the scant outtakes that are included are a joy, containing elongated shots of Terrence Malick’s sensual transcendentalism and even the faces of cut actors like Mickey Rourke. Yet the caliber of the extras only seems the cherry on top as I continue to marvel over the sheer perfection of the film’s high-definition mastering. The Thin Red Line is one of the great war films, one that manages to avoid glorifying war while still being enthralling, and the Blu-Ray perfectly captures its power.
7. The Double Life of Veronique (Artificial Eye)
With Criterion’s own update on the way in February, I shall be interested to see if they can produce a finer transfer than the sterling one offered by Artificial Eye’s region-free disc. Containing most of the extras included in Criterion’s DVD release – the highlight of which are short films by Kieslowski – the Artificial Eye Blu-Ray proves its own mettle with a stunning transfer that restores, then bolsters, the original cinematography to its transfixing, green-yellow glory. Kieslowski was a sensualist poet, treading in metaphysics but only ever putting emotion on the screen in a way that only the finest modern directors – Malick, Kar-wai, Kiarostami – can manage. The Double Life of Veronique is possibly the best starting point for Kieslowski’s
8. Minority Report (Paramount)
Steven Spielberg was an early supporter of Blu-Ray and refused to let his films appear on what he felt was the inferior HD-DVD, but since Paramount initially had HD-DVD exclusivity, we had to make do with the (excellent) Close Encounters of the Third Kind set until Spielberg could get to work on remastering his modern films for Blu-Ray release. The wait was worth it. All of Spielberg’s Dreamworks releases this year — Minority Report, War of the Worlds and Saving Private Ryan — Minority Report benefits the most from the upgrade (besides, it’s my favorite of the three listed). The sterile, hyper-white tones of deceptively utopian society are blinding, while the more chaotic look of the film’s dynamic scenes is immaculately preserved while still looking gritty. Spielberg avoids commentary tracks (a crying shame, since he’d probably be brilliant at them), but there are enough behind-the-scenes mini-documentaries to satisfy all your pressing questions. The bounty of extras pushes a superb offering over the top, and one of Spielberg’s finest films has never looked better.
9. The Twilight Zone: Season 1 (Image Entertainment)
Rod Serling was a few decades ahead of his time when he took the budding television medium to an early zenith with The Twilight Zone. Dismissed in its own time by those who could not process the numerous commentaries on ’50s social and political life — a particularly risible interview at the time had Mike Wallace asking Serling, “For the time being and for the foreseeable future, you’ve given up on writing anything important for television, right?” — The Twilight Zone is today rightly heralded as a masterpiece of programming. Image Entertainment has set out to honor the show’s legacy, and they’ve succeeded beyond doubt with this set. The remastered A/V quality astounds for a 50-year-old series recorded on old T.V stock, but the extras, oh Lord, the extras. The only reason this is just in ninth place is because I haven’t yet had the time to go through them all. Commentaries of 19 of the season’s 36 episodes, the unaired pilot, the unaired unofficial pilot, interviews, radio dramas inspired by the series, lectures by Serling at Sherwood Oaks College. It is an absurdly bountiful package, and I assume the same is true of the recently released second season, which I have not yet bought. The show is a seminal piece of pop culture history, it now looks as if it had just been made, and the extras are voluminous and (at least of the ones I’ve gone through so far) highly rewarding. What more must you know?
10. The White Ribbon (Sony)
A personal choice, perhaps, but I continue to be struck by the perfection of Sony’s transfer of The White Ribbon, one of the most gorgeous films in years. Unlike the other choices on this list, all of which came out before I was born or when I was too young to go see them in a theater or at least retain the experience, I had the luxury of catching The White Ribbon in theaters. Take it from me: the Blu-Ray puts the film on the small-screen without error, completely capturing the texture of its old-school film. Extras may be on the slim side, but this is a film that should seep into your mind without the director standing five feet away informing you of the themes as soon as you finish. For all its beauty, this is not an easy film to watch, but Sony have made things as gentle on your eyes as possible, so give this haunting allegory for the rise of Nazism if you have the fortitude to stand it.
Best DVD-only releases:
Rossellini War Trilogy (Criterion)
Roberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy truly changed the face of film forever, exploding Italy’s nascent neorealist scene into international acclaim. Viewed today, the film that started it all (Rome, Open City) looks remarkably melodramatic, but its spiritual sequels — Paisan and Germany Year Zero are uncompromising and scathingly political in a country that would probably best be served by just keeping quiet and saying only “Thank you, sir, may I have another?” to anyone that paid them attention. Criterion gives these films strong transfers despite the limitations of the grainy, cheap stock used to record them, elegantly preserving some of the most important movies of all time.
The Larry Sanders Show: The Complete Series (Shout! Factory)
While Seinfeld may deservedly command reverence among comedy acolytes for its depiction of “a show about nothing,” for my money it will always live in the shadow of Garry Shandling, whose metacomedic It’s Garry Shandling’s Show subverted conventions far more than a lackadaisically plotted tour of Manhattan. But Shandling’s greatest achievement was a six-season sitcom on HBO that received copious praise but little in the way of commercial attention. Based on the fallout from the Tonight Show handover — with which Shandling, considered to take Letterman’s vacant spot at Late Night when Dave jumped to CBS — The Larry Sanders Show peeled back the veneer of late night, exposing the greasy sheen and phony interest that Johnny Carson could make genuine and inviting but everyone else could not contain. I had previously been acquainted with the show by its first season the only one released by Sony all the way back in 2002, and I was struck immediately by its pitch-black tone of voice, a relentless discomfort that would go on to influence most of the best comedy of the new millennium (Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant cited it as a major influence for The Office). Having just gotten it for Christmas, I’ve only just started to work through the other seasons, but taking that and the abysmal video quality of the low-budget show into account, I feel no qualms calling this essential. I’ve heard that the show maintained its quality throughout, but even a dip couldn’t kill the power of its early seasons. A buried classic is finally unearthed.
Best Music DVD:
The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story
Bruce Springsteen intended to give 30th anniversary reissues to his classic albums – which is a redundancy on my part, as they’re all classics – but he never made it to the second reissue without problems. Two years late, the anniversary edition of Darkness on the Edge of Town makes up for the setback by blowing the impressive Born to Run package out of the water. The box set offers a remastered album and a two-CD set of songs that were left off the meticulously planned final cut of Darkness — and these 21 songs are but a fraction of the nearly 70 Springsteen wrote during the legal duress that kept him from recording after Born to Run, some of which would make his release The River while others remain in the vaults or nothing more than notebook scribblings. But the three DVDs are the chief draw. One features a making-of documentary for the album with background info on the legal troubles and a self-critical eye toward the writing and recording of ten perfectly chosen songs. The second disc features the album played in its entirety last year, while the third unloads a previously unseen film of one of the Boss’ legendary Darkness tour shows in Houston. While I wish he’d remastered the Dec. 20 show in Seattle, a bootleg I hold so dear I would actually trade the memory of concerts I’ve attended just for high-quality audio of this performance, I think it’s admirable Springsteen would acknowledge the efforts of bootleggers to put out material from that tour and give them something new. Bruce Springsteen is simply the most dynamic white man to perform rock ‘n roll, and he never topped the energy and force of his ’78 tour. To have an official release finally documented it is a joy, and the other five discs included – to say nothing of the impressive packaging – are delightful extras compared to it.
– Jake Cole is a journalism student at Auburn University, where he regularly avoids people in favor of writing about film, television and music on his blog, Not Just Movies. Where he gets the nerve (or the money) to get and review all these Blu-Rays is anyone’s guess. After all, he’s too fat to be a thief. The mystery continues.
December 26, 2010
December 24, 2010
Ken P. D. Snydecast #165: Not A Creature Was Stirring
Adult Swim’s Dana Snyder and FRED’s Ken Plume set out to have a literate conversation between two pals, but inevitably devolve into a verbal, and funny, free-for-all full of bickering, infighting, and the special kind of male bonding that comes from conflict expressed through the podcast medium.
Actor/comedian/raconteur Dana Snyder, you’re certainly aware, is Aqua Teen Hunger Force’s Master Shake, Squidbillies‘ Granny, Minoriteam’s Dr. Wang, and The Venture Bros.‘ Alchemist. Available for weddings and bar mitzvahs (bat availability pending), you can keep tabs on him via his website, www.eyeofthesnyder.com.
Ken Plume is the editor-in-chief here at FRED. He is a friend of Dana’s, as well as his arch-nemesis.
VISIT THE SNYDECAST EXPERIENCE
KEN P.D. SNYDECAST #165: Not A Creature Was Stirring – Ken & Dana return with ever-diminishing holiday tidings, and even a listener mailbag. Remember when they used to do that? Seriously.
[CONTENT WARNING]: This podcast may contain some foul language and horribly off-color jokes. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
DOWNLOAD: (right click to save)
Episode #165 (MP3 format)
[audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/snydecast/ken_p_d_snyde_cast-165.mp3]
SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to this Podcast via iTunes
Got something to say? E-mail Dana & Ken at the Snydecast mailbag.
CLICK HERE FOR THE SNYDECAST ARCHIVES
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Party Favors: The 2010 MEH Awards
PASADENA – Forget the AFI Top 10 list of Best TV shows. Why should care about TV since they are the American Film Institute? This is kind like the American Diabetic Prevention Society’s Top 10 Favorite Sugary Candy Bars list. Or Bravo’s Top 10 Hunting Shows. Or MADD’s Best 10 Drinks to Mess You Up. Or Charlie Sheen’s Top 10 Things You Can Do Without Involving Hookers and Blow. If they care about TV that much, shouldn’t they be the AFTVI? But they are a pack of List Whores over at AFI with their 100 Years a 100 Stupid Lists press releases.
Why does critic or critic group have to tell you the Best or Worst of the Year? Party Favors is proud to announce the MEH Awards for the 10 TV shows that didn’t work for me in 2010. They weren’t the most pathetic things on TV, but made me lose interest in watching them.
TENTH: Glee – I wanted to like this show so I can stay hip with the kids. But it’s about a bunch of post graduate students stuck in high school making pop songs safe for grandma. The Rocky Horror tribute show was so bland enough for Up With People to adopt.
NINTH: Sarah Palin’s Alaska – it’s a fishing show.
EIGHTH: Terriers – I should have liked this more, but the whole dog thing was annoying. I’m holding out for Donal Logue to have an affair with his old wife on Rules of Engagement.
SEVENTH: NFL Network – do we really need this much football in our life? I can understand the MLB Network since the season is longer and every day has games. Pro football is Sunday only in my house. Can’t the NFL get complete coverage with a daily 30 minute segment on ESPN? The off-season programming is painful at best including their 12 part series on punters overcoming the stigma of athlete’s foot.
SIXTH: Modern Family – Lenny and Squiggy were more affectionate to each other than the gay couple on this show.
FIFTH: George Lucas’s Live Action Star Wars Series – Already bored of it and I haven’t seen it. But I still have the shakes from The Star Wars Holiday Special.
FOURTH: Boardwalk Empire – Great cast. Great subject. Meh execution. It was like they wanted to outdo The Untouchables, but couldn’t touch the genius of Robert Stack. Maybe this was a case of too many executive producers and not enough visionaries.
THIRD: Sons of Anarchy – this season was 13 episodes that could have been done in a two hour special. Every time I flipped over, it was more of the “gimme back my baby” trip to Northern Ireland. If I want to see a grown man cry, I’ll turn on C-SPAN for the John Boehner Happy Hour.
RUNNER UP: Bored to Death – the show lived up to its name. Remember when New York artists were exciting and not completely a pack of self centered douchebags? Neither do I, but it might have happened. Noel Coward left more entertaining turds in Broadway bathrooms than this HBummer-O. Bed bugs were not the most annoying thing to invade Manhattan.
WINNER: Pacific – I watched 20 minutes and just gave up on it. I didn’t even feel tempted to catch up on HBO OnDemand. Maybe it didn’t help that high school history class spoiled the ending.
Normally I’d be sending these shows their MEH trophies, but why bother?
BEST MOVIE CAST
I’m not going to name the best films of 2010 until they all get on Netflix. But I’m willing to say that all Best Ensemble cast awards should go to Human Centipede. If you’re watching an award show that doesn’t give the trio credit – turn the channel.
CINEMA OVERDRIVE
For a few years now I’ve been jealous of the folks in Texas since they can enjoy the various Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas. Sure Texans have to put up with a governor that hates being a part of America, but they can watch cool old films while getting drunk and polishing their guns. Luckily there’s no more Texan temptation since Cinema Overdrive has parked itself at the Colony Theater in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Every month (and sometimes more) Matt Pennachi and Adam Hulin dig up an addicting title from the vault. These is all the good flicks that moron professors at film studies programs ignore. Recent movies included Demons, The Candy Snatchers, Lightning Swords of Death and Chuck Norris’ Missing In Action 2: The Beginning. There are classics shown such as Halloween, Evil Dead and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. For Christmas they played Silent Night, Deadly Night and the last two reels of Silent Night, Deadly Night 2. The first three reels are flashbacks to the first film so nothing was really missed. The last 2 reels have the murdering rampage including “Garbage Day!” Trailers selected for before and after the features reflect the genre. Plus there’s local brews on tap including Big Boss. It’s a fab night out for celluloid geeking. These are 35mm prints and not “digital video” projections.
What makes the series extra cool is the promotional posters. They’re limited edition prints. The artists don’t merely ape their favorite designs of the past asking “What if Saul Bass rose from the grave?” Nor do they play off the old posters. They look beyond the images that have been watered down by focus groups that end up at the Cineplex. They don’t restrain their vision to make normal posters. For Rock and Roll High School, Rob Liberti screen printed the images of the Ramones and P.J. Soles onto the vinyl of used Beethoven records. Danny Miller captured Ash and Leatherface onto huge baseball cards. Travis Getz transformed Missing In Action 2 into a cross between a comic book and a videogame cartridge.
Here’s video of CK getting a tube full of goodies.
The one that complete blew me away was James Rheem Davis’ Silent Night, Deadly Night 1.4 that’s as controversial as the movie. I won’t even describe it. Just click on the link and take in the grotesque beauty. You’re going to wish you could have this hanging up at your company Christmas party. It has fun with Leonard Maltin and Gene Siskel’s outraged quotes.
http://www.cinemaoverdrive.net/merch/
Even if you don’t live in the Raleigh-Durham area in North Carolina, you might want to order these up for your movie room. Act fast because they are limited prints. We won’t talk about how much these might increase in value, but they appear to be the Franklin Mint of movie posters. Remember that during the Robot Holocaust, you should be able to get plenty of petrol and women for Silent Night, Deadly Night 1.4.
A SLICE OF LIFE
If you’re in the Raleigh area, make sure you visit the Big Boss Brewery’s bar on the weekend. Lately on Friday and Saturday night, the Klausie’s food truck has been selling my favorite pizza in the area. It’s a deep dish style with a tasty dough.
In case you’re in Raleigh during the week, you can discover the location of the Klausie’s food truck at: http://www.klausies.com/
FAST GIFTS
As zero hour arrives, you might want a few quick gift ideas to grab at the mall that don’t involve the Snuggie or a few buds of salvia. Two of my normal yearly gifts have no entries. Why did they have to stop the Disney Treasures and Looney Tunes Golden Collection series?
Thankfully one keeps up the seasonal joy: The Complete Peanuts Boxed Set 1975 – 1978 (Vol. 13-14) should be at your nearby bookstore. This is the time that Snoopy got sucked into the disco life. Charlie Brown sports wider stripes during this era. Like all Studio 54 action, there’s plenty of sexual exploration courtesy of Peppermint Patty.
You can make it a Garry Shandling holiday season with both of his legendary pay channel shows finally out on complete boxsets. It’s Garry Shandling’s Show: The Complete Series has all four seasons that ran on Showtime and Fox. Garry creates a fake world within his studio reality. There’s a touch of Dada humor such as the time he goes to Hollywood to see the taping of his own show. The Larry Sanders Show: The Complete Series ended years of frustration for me. Over seven years ago they put out the first season and was only followed up with a greatest hits of the last five seasons. Now you can get all the goodness in one box. The show gave us a strange insight into why Garry Shandling let Jay Leno take the Tonight Show desk from Johnny Carson.
Max Headroom: The Complete Series collects the show that truly bit network TV’s hand. Benny Hill: The Complete Megaset – The Thames Years 1969 – 1989 is all the Yakety Sax you’ll ever crave.
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Rolling Stones finally legally came out. This is their best concert film that doesn’t feature a body count or buyer’s remorse. This is a pure concert film from their “Exile on Main Street” tour in 1972. The highlight of the film is getting to see how much guitarist Mick Taylor brought to their sound. He contributed the long blues licks. The Blu-ray brings out the detail in how little he moved on stage. He makes Billy Wyman look active. But close your eyes to truly experience what he does to “Gimme Shelter.” If you’ve got a buddy that loves the Stones – this is the gift they better be getting. The price is reasonable especially compared to what bootleggers used to demand for a VHS.
MARRIED TO STONED
The saddest show on TV is E!’s Married to Rock. Ever wonder what happened to the guys from Guns ‘n’ Roses, The Cult, Jane’s Addiction and Billy Idol? Now you must pay a price for your curiosity. It ain’t pretty as they do their hardest to extend their nostalgia based career. They all dream that the world stopped turning in 1987. They so badly want to look like that themselves from the MTV video. Most of their conversations involve wishing Hot Tub Time Machine was real. But this series isn’t about them. They’ve been dragged onto E! by their ladies.
What’s shocking is how their wives look like expert advisors on RuPaul’s Drag Show. Steve Stevens’ wife’s breast job hurts my eyes. They can explode at any moment.
The saddest moment is when Perry Farrell’s wife rode his ass with her suspicion that he’s eyeing another woman. And he took it. He didn’t look at her and say, “I’m Perry Ferrell! I’m not Pat Boone.” I can understand the rock star giving up the pills and booze. That stuff works against you. The carnal debauchery can’t stop. You might want to first send the groupies to a doctor to make sure they have VD clinic give them a seal of approval. Although odds are if you survived backstage in the ’80s, you’re immune to everything except split ends. Watching Perry get his balls yanked by his wife for the sake of a TV series nearly made me cry. Odds are high it made Trent Reznor laugh.
After watching this show, it’s easy to understand the positive side of rock stars taking their lives. Maybe those dead idols glimpsed their future of being a whipped Dorian Gray with a wife addicted to Hello Kitty crap and decided to blow their brains out? Gone to soon or checked out in the nick of time?
PLEASE GIVE
Remember this holiday season to keep up donations to the Party Favors Lengthwise Fold Club. During this time, people forget about the artists – especially those that specialize in dancing on an intimate level. They have to pay for next semester’s tuition at med school. Take time off from your family activities and reward those who purse the perfect gyration by donating directly to their effort at an intimate dance club in your local combat zone.
Thanks to evil people at the Center For Disease Control, the Party Favors Porn for the Impoverished Project has been stopped. Seems there was a misinterpretation to the words: Slightly used magazine. It’s a shame the people in third world countries won’t be able to enjoy the bliss of Barely Legal and Juggs.
STEWART RAHR CYBER DOUCHEBAG
The worst charity donation of the year happened when billionaire Stewart Rahr gave half a million dollars so Kim Kardashian can Twitter. In case you’re wondering, Stewart Rahr is a douchebag. The internet was smarter when Kim Kardashian maintained radio silence. Now it is ruined. If Stewart Rahr pledges to donate a million dollars through the Lengthwise Fold Club, I won’t call him a douchebag in this column ever again. Otherwise this will a constant feature.
BLU-RAY HEAVEN
Derailed: Unrated Version – Blu-ray reminds us about the necessity of good hotel room security. Clive Owen is a guy on a commuter train that’s got issues with his wife and ill daughter. He gets a little relief when he hooks up with fellow traveller Jennifer Aniston. She’s hot for Owen and their night out ends up at a cheap motel for a nasty hook up. Since this isn’t a porn film, there’s got to be trouble. In this case it’s Vincent Cassel busting into the room. He roughs them up, but lets them go. However he senses there’s no reason to let the crime end at the check out. He contacts Owen for a little blackmail action. Owen wants to put an end to it, but it turns into an East Coast – West Coast Rap Feud involving Xzibit and RZA. This is my second favorite Jennifer Aniston movie after Office Space. The reminder of her cinema career is a three-way for last. The 1080p image brings out the detail in Aniston’s hair.
Harsh Times – Blu-ray is Christian Bale going all badass. He’s an ex-Army Ranger who is having issues getting back to the real world. His only pal is Freddy Rodriguesz (Six Feet Under). The two are extremely toxic together. Freddy’s wife (Eva Longoria) doesn’t like what Bale does to her hubby. Bale is all up for a hard night of partying with booze, drugs and trouble in the greater Los Angeles area. This is kinda the precursor to his brother character in The Fighter. Except he doesn’t have Marky Mark to redeem his soul. He’s hell bent on destruction. The bonus features include a commentary track from director David Ayer and deleted scenes. Bale looks stunning in Hi-Def when he gets messed up. Ayers wrote the script for Training Day.
DVD SHELF
Disciples of the 36th Chamber is the third and final installment in San Te (Gordon Liu) Shaw Brothers series. This time the pupil is now the teacher at the Shaolin Temple. Fong Sai-Yuk (Hsiao Ho) is a student confident in his mad martial arts skills. He thinks he’s too cool for school. He gets into a bit of ugliness with the Manchu overlord. His mom has him hidden at the Temple. He’s still a pain in the ass for even San Te. It looks like the kid will be the downfall of all if he doesn’t straighten up. There’s a lot of great group fights with the various factions going all foot and fist. While Liu isn’t the true star, he make excellent use of his time. There’s a commentary track from Bey Logan, author of Hong Kong Action Cinema – my favorite book on the glory days.
Annie’s Point is a sweet TV movie that has found life on DVD thanks to the Betty White-mania. Annie Eason (White) has been recently been widowed. Her son (The Waltons‘ Richard Thomas) wants toss her into a retirement home. But she’s not willing to go quietly to the rest stop to the funeral home. She’s got a mission to complete with her granddaughter (8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter‘s Amy Davidson). Her late husband’s ashes must be spread at Annie’s Point. They make a slight detour in Las Vegas cause the lady needs her glitz and gambling. This piece of land was named after her by the guy. Betty is able to flex her muscle as the twisted grandmother and the sentimental wife. This is one of those tender films that could go to your relative that is addicted to The Golden Girls.
Gunsmoke: The Fourth Season, Volume 2 is more of the half hour black and white episodes. “Jayhawkers” has a weird twist with Ken Curtis playing a non-Festus character. It involves those folks from Kansas that call themselves Jayhawkers. This is why they’re a school mascot. “The Bear” has Denver Pyle (Dukes of Hazzard) getting framed for murder before his wedding day. Russell Johnson (The Professor on Gilligan’s Island) gets to go cowboy. “The F.U.” shoots down Joe Flynn (McHale’s Navy) on the streets of Dodge. Everyone thinks it happened because of a Poker game. “Print Asper” lets Ted Knight (Mary Tyler Moore‘s Ted Baxter) be an evil lawyer working to swipe a ranch. He has no limit to his scheming. It’s 20 episodes that get Marshal Dillon (James Arness) and Chester (McCloud‘s Dennis Weaver) in trouble. The bonus feature is the original cast ads that ran this season.
Hawaii Five-O: The Tenth Season is the big farewell to Chin Ho Kelly (Kam Fong). Unlike previous Five-O members that just vanished like Kono and Ben, Chin Ho gets an emotional exit from the series. “A Short Walk on the Longshore” makes McGarrett get into disguise to work the docks to expose a murderer. Jack Lord always looks so funny when he’s not wearing the blue suit. “Tall on the Wave” gives another glimpse that Danno (James MacArthur) has a life outside of McGarrett’s office. He is qualified to judge surfing competitions. During one invitational, a body turns up and it’s Danno’s friend that’s the prime suspect. “Frozen Assets” has Rat Packer Peter Lawford involved in cryogenics. “Deep Cover” gives us Geoffrey Lewis, the man who isn’t Robert Pine and Maud Adams (Octopussy). “Deadly Doubles” Kurt Russell in a Russian tennis star defection plot. McGarrett’s got to keep it from getting ugly. Only two more season till all the Jack Lord-era episodes are out on DVD.
The Andy Griffith Show: 50th Anniversary – The Best of Mayberry collects 17 of the most beloved episodes. Sheriff Andy Taylor and his “The Pickle Story” tells us about how Aunt Bee wasn’t the original Paula Dean. Her abilities in the kitchen were rather iffy. “Convicts At Large” presents the greatest case of Deputy Barney Fife (Don Knotts). He’s got to use all his cunning and charm to stop escapees. Ernest T. Bass crashes “Mountain Wedding.” The cute Darling daughter wants to get hitched, but Bass knows he’s the real man for her. He’s going to throw a brick through her heart to prove it. “Citizen’s Arrest” pits Barney against Gomer Pyle (Jim Nabors). The big bonus feature is the beginning and the end of the series. There’s the original Danny Thomas Show where Andy busts the nightclub comic. Andy’s a bit of schemer at this point. There’s also the TV movie Return to Mayberry. If you swear you can name 25 episodes you hold more dearly, maybe you should just spring for the Complete Series boxset. The 50th Anniversary boxset is a great gift for your relatives that like sweet southern treats.
Space Precinct: The Complete Series is another intergalactic entry from Gerry Anderson (Space 1999 & Thunderbirds). A NYPD cop (Knots Landing‘s Ted Shackelford) launches himself onto a bigger beat in 2040. He’s part of the law enforcement in a new city on another planet in a distant solar system. The show combines science fiction with normal police work. Amazing how many types of lifeforms are outlaws. The show reminds me of a cross between Quark, Men In Black and Max Headroom with Dragnet and Adam-12. Anderson’s effects crew do a fine job at mixing the cops with rockets. The production doesn’t look cheap. They mess around with various cop show cliches except now they’re not limited to human forms. The boxset has all 24 episodes that aired in the mid-90s.
Trailer Park: Golden Globes and TRUE GRIT
Check out my other column, This Week In Trailers, at SlashFilm.com and follow me on TWITTER under the name: Stipp
My Golden Globes Rant or No Wonder They Keep Them Hidden in Their Pants by Ray Schillaci
The award season is rolling in and once again, I am deeply disappointed. Golden Globe nominations have hit their biggest low since nominating and awarding Pia Zadora, Best Newcomer (I wonder if that was a bizarre porn reference) for the forgettable film and performance in “Butterfly.” Throwing in the craptasticals; “Burlesque” and “Alice in Wonderland,” as the best Picture for a Musical or Comedy is like swallowing something that should never go down one’s throat. But to include the ho-hum “The Tourist” and “RED” in that category displays an extreme lack of imagination or proper thought process.
Goddamn, if they needed nominees so badly they didn’t have to look any further than ‘Kick-Ass” “Cyrus” or “Toy Story 3”. These films were far more entertaining and had so much more to say. In defense of 2 out of the 3 mentioned (Kick-Ass and Cyrus) they had nowhere near the studio backing or publicity machine that cranked out false kudos for their misconceived products that offered nothing but false hopes for our entertainment. Unfortunately, for “Toy Story 3″ it was dumped into the limited nomination of Best Animation with total disregard of all its other star attributes.
My God, the HFP’s heads are so far up their asses, I think they are choking on their Adam’s apple. Perhaps that explains their biggest crime; to nominate Fincher’s soulless “the social network” over such better story driven, far more passionate pieces and expertly crafted fare as “The Town,” “True Grit” and, once again, “Toy Story 3.” Having HFP dismissing the much better films and going the popularity route is like wiping a canvas with a handful of shit.
Then to add something special from their sphincter’s, they have the balls (take it back – they have no balls) to give a nomination nod to Jessie Eisenberg for what could be called a sedate version of what he’s been doing all along in every other movie. Have the Hollywood Foreign Press not seen any of his films? The guy was a hundred times more engaging in “Zombieland” and “Adventureland.” It’s like nominating Stallone for a limit to his acting range.
What about that nomination in Musical/Comedy for Johnny Depp for “Alice in Wonderland”? Perhaps a special nomination should have been concocted for “Best Fagela – Who Cannot Help but Tell, Even If You Ask!” I like Depp, but his Mad Hatter performance was a new low, right up there with Willy Wonka. Please, let’s not encourage this fine actor into anymore lowbrow John Water-type character roles. They are better suited for the gay cabaret club circuit.
Also, how could anyone exclude Blake Lively with her intense raw performance in “The Town”? She is a standout in this year’s acting category. This is one case where ignorance is far from bliss. Shame on the Hollywood Foreign Press for their omissions and inclusions, they have single-handedly dismissed the entire art of cinema with a ballot made from Charmin.
As for the TV nominations, I will not waste anyone’s time, since it really doesn’t matter. The Golden Globes are a pale version of the Oscar telecast and an even a worse boring mess compared to the Emmy’s. Will I watch it? Perhaps by accident if I am not stuck in the john with a bad book or magazine.
At this time I wish you all Happy Holidays with some wonderful suggestions for your viewing pleasure:
Kick-Ass ““ How many adjectives can I use to describe the geek-love I have for this film? It’s a thrill ride-in-a-half that appeals to the bad boy in all of us. Nicholas Cage is perfection and the young wunderkind, Chloe Moretz playing his daughter is a true find. Together, they are the greatest duo since Ryan and Tatum O’Neal from “Paper Moon.” Aaron Johnson is warm, compelling and sincere as the kid who tries so hard to be a real superhero. By the way, language and violence is rough on this one. So prudes, stay clear.
Inception ““ Let’s take an extreme action film and give it a mind! What a concept that is beautifully executed by writer/director Christopher Nolan. Multiple viewings will probably be required to catch up with the intricate plot. This is a Blu-ray must!
The Town ““ I have never been a big fan of Ben Affleck. I actually thought “Goodwill Hunting” was either a one-of-a-kind fluke or secretly ghost written by somebody else. Yes, I know Damon was his partner, but we have not seen anything else from that man either. Back to Affleck (Ben), he then blows us all away with “Gone, Baby, Gone” and now presents his very best work yet with “The Town”. In fact, I will go out on a limb and declare that “The Town” is the best picture of the year with the very best acting ensemble to go with it. It could also fall under the category as one of the greatest heist films ever made. It’s not fun or cagey, but filled with real people and their gut-wrenching stories. Once again, Blake Lively as Krista Coughlin, Ben Affleck’s old flame, scorches the screen and surprisingly Affleck shows he can hold his own with her and co-star Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker).
Toy Story 3 ““ Not that it’s anywhere in the same category, but TS3 is right up there with my best picture choice (The Town) in 2010. Who would ever think that there was another tale to be told by the Toy Story people? Not only did they capture the charm of the original, they improved upon it and had us crying and cheering along with our children.
The Book of Eli ““ A snazzy, off-beat post-apocalyptic tale that never ceases to surprise. Denzel Washington is mesmerizing as Eli, the quiet, simple man with a mission to deliver a book while thwarting cannibals and demigods. This is a survival story with heart that never gets morose or boring.
Cyrus ““ As I had mentioned before in my June review, the film is creepy, quirky, and highly original and loads of fun. It’s right up there with such underground classics as “Harold & Maude” and “Where’s Poppa?” John C. Reilly reaffirms his comic prowess and plays it beautifully off both Marisa Tomei and Jonah Hill who only add to the hilarity and sincerity of dysfunctional people trying to survive love.
Monsters ““ This movie actually has the biggest WOW factor of any of the films mentioned. But warning, it’s definitely not for the simple minded. Therefore, all you couch potatoes waiting for an onslaught of special effects to continue to wipe out another major city for your viewing pleasure will be disappointed. This wonderful film (see Christopher Stipp’s review) concentrates on the aftermath and an incredible journey of two people discovering a passion for living and loving in the midst of disaster. It is intense and awe-inspiring. Yes, there are monsters involved, but they are almost an engrossing subplot to the whole story. The ending gave me the same chills I received when I first viewed Steven Spielberg’s original cut of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” But there is one very big exception, this film looks like a multi-million dollar movie, yet it was made for reported $15,000. Unfortunately, we have to wait till February 1, 2011 before it is released to Blu-ray or possibly catch it as a viewing rental from Amazon, unless there is enough of a public outcry to get the film a decent theatrical release as did “Blair Witch” or “Paranormal Activity.” But please do not confuse it with those movies. It is not a first-person camera story (found footage, etc.). It is far better than any of those types of films in every way, shape and form. It has to be seen to be believed.
Enjoy the holidays, the recommendations and the few good films that are available to us via theatrical release (Black Swan, The Fighter, True Grit, Tangled) and home video release. Remember, it’s the season to relish the time you can spend with those family members you love and stomach the time with those you have no tolerance for. One last thought for the year; life is too short not to be entertained.
TRUE GRIT – Review
This movie belongs to Hailee Steinfeld and Jeff Bridges.
Forget about Matt Damon, who is nonetheless excellently poised at every moment to add flavor and humor to a tightly shot script, and certainly pay no attention to Josh Brolin who might as well have been given a Guest Starring credit as Barry Pepper is the true force majeur in the moments we spend with him. The real pleasure is watching Hailee and Jeff spin in each other’s orbit, the harmony that exists as the two of them shuck and jive is something to behold.
Whereas Henry Hathaway’s 1969 version was something of a departure from Charles Portis’ novel upon which these films were based the Coens’ version hews closely to the book and it shows. The newest incarnation feels sinewy, not an ounce of fat to be cut from what is a pretty simple tale of a little girl coming into a strange town to hire someone to get the man who killed her father. Really, this should be a movie that is about revenge and the ineptitude of a girl who fancies herself a woman. However, what Joel and Ethan Coen do is wrap this western in a true coming of age tale, the real masterstroke that makes this one of the most exciting westerns to come out in the last ten years.
The male bravado that is on display in so many westerns is the very thing that has held it back as a genre. The modern testosterone fueled picture is but a simulacrum for these things where men are men, women are women, and the Indians are always the bad guys.
The Coens flip this and what you end up with is a movie that wants to be more than just the tale of drunkard Rooster Cogburn’s redemption as a man of law and as man in general. For it’s Mattie Ross (Steinfeld) who provides the role reversal in being the fast talking, and quickest witted, girl who can carry herself just fine. It’s a postmodern feminist tale set in the old west where there was no such thing as the kind of defiance she exerts to those around her who she feels has wronged her, belittled her, or seek her subjugation to their will. In countless scenes she is seen as neither sassy, nor cute, in her attempts to exact the Shakespearean level revenge, her pound of flesh, from the hide of Tom Chaney (Brolin).
With Ross’ story, the ultimate face-off between Chaney and herself seems perfunctory. It’s irrelevant, even, to the larger themes being discussed which really is that the journey means more than the destination. The revenge is sweet, no question, but the lack of any character development whatsoever with regard to Chaney and the events that lead to his exiting the picture happen so fast that there isn’t any other conclusion to be reached other than this is a story of Ross and Cogburn. And Cogburn, for all he’s worth, really helps to anchor this film and establish it as a movie worthy of being this year’s best.
Bridges commands both sides of being both amusing and lethal. The gray areas in between are where we see glimpses of a man who used to be something more than a lawman who fudges the letter of the law, of showing a determination and honesty to his word when he realizes he has nothing else left to him but these virtues. Loyalty is something that’s developed slowly and gradually but Bridges brims with the character of a man who is beaten but who has not given up. There is some honor left in this samurai of the west and the Coens do what they do the best: allow their actors to stretch the skins of their character.
Yes, the words are on the page and are intended to be delivered word for word but they realize that it’s in nuance, in small moments when their players are talking to simply step back and let the material, and not their style, be the guide. Matt Damon as LaBoeuf does well as a man who would like to think himself as the superior enforcer with regards to the law of the land but in a place where there are no rules Damon comes off well as the in-over-his-head fop who constantly finds himself in many inopportune situations.
The real pleasure of this version of True Grit comes across not only in the performances which are uniformly great but in the honesty with which everyone plays their part. This is a western, yes, but with the infusion of innocence that is slowly rubbed away like oxidation on a copper penny you have a film that means so much more than a stamp that will place it in the Western genre. It’s a story of redemption and loss and what it means to keep pushing forward even when it seems the night is at its darkest hour.
A Merry Hands Down Christmas!
Welcome to Hands Down, FRED’s own look into the world of the folks that frequent this sordid world of geekery. Follow Aaron, Brian and Colin (and a menagerie on the way) as they traverse the light fantastic or some such nonsense… What? It’s an online fortnightly comic strip, what kind of description did you expect?
Written by Aaron Poole. Art by John Merker. Copyright 2010.
December 17, 2010
Weekend Shopping Guide 12/17/10: Townies
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…)
If The Departed was Scorsese’s attempt to get a hold on Boston, Ben Affleck’s The Town (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP) is a homegrown take on the intricate web of Goodfellas, right down to a heist that ultimately tears everyone apart. Sure, it’s a simplistic view of a remarkably good flick, but why don’t you give it a spin for yourself? Bonus materials include an audio commentary (on both the theatrical and extended cuts) and a clutch of featurettes.
Write all of those holiday gift thank you letters in the most beautiful and pretentious way possible with the Old Tyme Writing Set ($24.99). You get a feather, a wooden pen handle, seven interchangeable nibs, and a bottle of ink.
I greatly enjoyed the first Nanny McPhee movie, and hoped against hope that Emma Thompson would be able to maintain the same level of Poppins-esque whimsy, heart, and humor she captured so well. Thankfully, Nanny McPhee Returns (Universal, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$39.98 SRP) more than maintains it, and is an equal standalone bit of fun in its own right, as McPhee tackles the unruly household situation in WWII Britain. Do check it out. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, and deleted scenes.
Going in, I didn’t know quite what to expect from The Other Guys (Sony, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$34.95 SRP), but I was hoping it would be just another boring entry into the long line of buddy cop movies. Well, color me pleasantly surprised, because it managed to entertain me quite a bit with its story of bottom-tier NYPD partners – Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg – who get a shot at glory after the precincts top cops are die in the line of duty. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, deleted/extended scenes, featurettes, a music video, gag reel, and more.
It’s always nice to see a new collection of Groucho material, even if it’s all culled from the public domain – that doesn’t mean it’s something I’ve seen. Groucho Marx: TV Classics (Synergy, Not Rated, DVD-$24.95 SRP) contains 16 You Bet Your Life episodes, a pair of Groucho-hosted episodes of The Hollywood Palace, and a few other miscellaneous bits and bobs.
If you want a prime example of exactly how NOT to capitalize on public knowledge of a pop culture fixture for a big screen relaunch, look no further than the lifeless, drab take on The A-Team (Fox, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), which manages to suck every bit of likeability out of this ragtag group of ex-special forces attempting to clear their name. Bonus materials include featurettes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel.
Fans who seemingly didn’t watch the poor-rated show when it was on can now partake of the final clutch of episodes via Caprica: Season 1.5 (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$49.98 SRP), including the still-unaired final few. Bonus features include commentaries, video blogs, deleted scenes, and featurettes.
If your kids liked Happy Feet and really want to see a movie about owls, then Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls Of Ga’Hoole (Warner Bros., Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP) is the film for you. You want to see good owls fight evil owls, right? Bonus materials include featurettes and galleries – and one bonus that makes picking up the disc worth it… A new Road Runner cartoon.
It’s with a bit of a whimper that the once-riveting 24 (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP) came to a close in its 8th and final season, having long since become a hyper version of itself. The 6-disc set contains all 24 episodes, plus commentaries, featurettes, and deleted scenes.
I must admit, I do so love an old school, cat & mouse thriller of the kind that Hitchcock and Carol Reed would make, and that’s exactly the type of methodically taut pace found in The American (Universal, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$39.98 SRP), in which George Clooney plays a mercenary who can’t escape his past. Just watch the damn thing. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, a featurette, and deleted scenes.
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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Ken P. D. Snydecast #164: Every Day’s A Holly-Day
Adult Swim’s Dana Snyder and FRED’s Ken Plume set out to have a literate conversation between two pals, but inevitably devolve into a verbal, and funny, free-for-all full of bickering, infighting, and the special kind of male bonding that comes from conflict expressed through the podcast medium.
Actor/comedian/raconteur Dana Snyder, you’re certainly aware, is Aqua Teen Hunger Force’s Master Shake, Squidbillies‘ Granny, Minoriteam’s Dr. Wang, and The Venture Bros.‘ Alchemist. Available for weddings and bar mitzvahs (bat availability pending), you can keep tabs on him via his website, www.eyeofthesnyder.com.
Ken Plume is the editor-in-chief here at FRED. He is a friend of Dana’s, as well as his arch-nemesis.
VISIT THE SNYDECAST EXPERIENCE
KEN P.D. SNYDECAST #164: Every Day’s A Holly-Day – Ken & Dana return with even more holiday tidings, plus talk of auditions, dying movies, death, and other festive things.
[CONTENT WARNING]: This podcast may contain some foul language and horribly off-color jokes. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
DOWNLOAD: (right click to save)
Episode #164 (MP3 format)
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Got something to say? E-mail Dana & Ken at the Snydecast mailbag.
CLICK HERE FOR THE SNYDECAST ARCHIVES
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December 16, 2010
2010 FRED Holiday Shopping Guide
It’s that time of year again, when sites the web-over compile helpful holiday shopping lists to guide you into the deepest, darkest pits of retail with a map that will hopefully get you out alive. Here now, without further ado, is the 2010 FRED Holiday Shopping Guide.
(If you see anything you like, please support FRED by using the links below to make your holiday purchases – it’s appreciated!)
It’s been over 10 years since cultural icon Stephen Fry released his first memoir, Moab Is My Washpot, which left leaders with only a portion of the story, ending as it did in his teenage years, just released from a prison sentence for credit card fraud, with college – the legendary Cambridge – and fame still before him. Well, he picks it all right back up in the same warm, witty, candid style with The Fry Chronicles (Penguin, £20.00 SRP), a must-read volume that, sadly, only covers the 1980’s… But at least we can look forward to more volumes.
Another year has gone by, which means that we’re all being gifted with a lovely clutch of brand new QI books, first and foremost being The Second Book Of General Ignorance (Faber & Faber, £12.99 SRP), which compiles a whole slew of new knowledge and clarifications on common misconceptions. Add onto that The QI Annual: H (Faber & Faber, £12.99 SRP), featuring all things having to do with that 8th letter of the alphabet. Of course, if you’ve missed previous years editions, The EFG Bumper Book of QI Annuals (Faber & Faber, £12.99 SRP) is just the things, bringing together the 3 previous volumes into one handy, massive paperback.
Before television turned Charlie Brooker into a superstar (hush, you), he ran a website called TVGoHome, which put more than one skewer through television, from fake listings to articles and ads. These were all collected into the book TVGoHome: TV Listings The Way They Should Be (Faber & Faber, £12.99 SRP), which has thankfully returned to print after a long absence, because it is brilliantly funny. It is.
It was with some trepidation that fans entered the 5th season of Doctor Who (BBC, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$89.98 SRP) – Not only were we losing fan-favorite David Tennant as the 10th Doctor, but the 11th Doctor would be the ridiculously young unknown Matt Smith. Surely this would be when the new series stumbled. Well, no. No it didn’t. In fact, Matt Smith is a wonder in the role, and has more than made it its own, and new companion Amy Pond puts all former Nu-Who companions to shame. Add to that some brilliant writing and a true sense of fun (Remember when sci-fi wasn’t just maudlin navel-gazing?), and you have a brilliant season. Bonus materials include newly-filmed short interludes between episodes, video diaries, Doctor Who Confidential, in-vision commentaries, Monster Files, outtakes, teasers, and trailers.
What would the holiday season be without cookies? And, naturally, a geek needs somewhere to put those cookies – so why not a light-up (with sound effects!) Doctor Who: TARDIS Cookie Jar ($26.99). Of course, you’ll want to put your own Doctor figure in front of the TARDIS, so why not pick up the 2-figure 11th Doctor Crash 2-Pack ($19.99), featuring the disheveled post-regeneration Matt Smith Doctor and his regular outfit.
Evocative of Addams, Dahl, Gorey & Seuss but gloriously the unique genius that is the combination of my friends Trace Beaulieu and Len Peralta comes Silly Rhymes For Belligerent Children ($19.95), a beautiful book full of cautionary ““ and not so cautionary – tales sure to entertain (or scar) many a child lucky enough to be gifted with it this holiday season.
Another could-have-been-a-disaster moment turned out to be gold with Steven Moffat & Mark Gatiss’s modern take on Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock (BBC, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.98 SRP), which managed to make the mythos current without undermining the essence of what has made the character a perennial. My only regret? That the first season is on 3 feature-length episodes long. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, a making-of featurette, and the original pilot episode.
It’s a been a few months, and you know what that means – a new Mystery Science Theater 3000 set! Continuing their yearly tradition, this holiday period box set comes packed with another bot action figure, and this times it’s the absolutely massive (and wonderfully accurate) Gypsy. If that weren’t enough, the movies contained in the Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Volume XIX (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$69.97 SRP) are the 1st season episode Robot Monster (with a Josh Weinstein intro), season 4’s Bride Of The Monster, and the Sci-Fi era Devil Doll and Devil Fish. Bonus materials include featurettes on Bride & Devil Doll, a look at the “Invention Exchange”, a panel from CONvergence 2009, and trailers.
Over the past year, there have been a trio of documentaries that any self-respecting Disney fan will find essential viewing, and all three are being released on DVD the same day (making purchase that much easier, natch). First up is Waking Sleeping Beauty (Walt Disney, Rated PG, DVD-$29.99 SRP), which looks at the resurgence of Disney feature animation in the period between 1984-1994, and ends as the foundation begins to erode, which would lead to the late 90’s downturn and eventual (albeit brief) shuttering the of the legendary department. For a look at another unique period in Disney history, Walt & El Grupo (Walt Disney, Rated PG, DVD-$29.99 SRP) focuses on the trip Walt Disney and a select group of his artists undertook a good neighbor trip to South America at the behest of the US government, just prior to the WWII. Last but not least, there’s The Boys (Walt Disney, Rated PG, DVD-$29.99 SRP), about the legendary songwriting brothers Richard & Robert Sherman. All three are packed with bonus features, including deleted scenes, additional interviews, and archive footage. Get them all.
While both films have their highs and lows – Fantasia has the “Sorcerer’s Apprentice”, “Dance of the Hours”, Night On Bald Mountain”, and “Nutcracker Suite” as highs, while Fantasia 2000 manages only the Hirschfeld inspired Gershwin sequence and the Flamingo with a yo-yo – it’s still lovely to have them both fully remastered in high definition as a Fantasia/Fantasia 2000 set (Walt Disney, Rated G, Blu-Ray-$45.99 SRP), containing audio commentaries, featurettes, the short Destino, and much more, plus bonus DVD editions of both films.
For the true Disney fan, their incredible Walt Disney Animation Studios: Archive Series continues with the 3rd volume, Design (Disney Edition, $50.00 SRP), which collects a beautiful overview of the production artwork that influenced the final look of many an animated classic.
But the Disney fun doesn’t end there, as the Disney legacy is also explored in a far different way via the grand Mouse’s videogame comeback – Epic Mickey (Disney Interactive Studios, $49.99 SRP), in which our hero must reclaim an animated world left to rot, while at the same time reconnecting with his “older brother”, Oswald The Lucky Rabbit.
If you’ve yet to see Graham Linehan’s brilliant UK sitcom The IT Crowd (MPI, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP), the beauty of it is that you can literally watch any episode and be able to enjoy that glorious madness that unfolds. So why not pick up the newly released 4th season set and then back-fill from there? Bonus materials include audio commentaries, featurettes, outtakes, and hidden goodies.
Because they’re so attuned to exactly what geeks want – pop culture geeks, the lot of us – Thinkgeek has become a prime destination for picking up LEGO sets that both geek adults and geek kids will want. Need proof? Well, considering you Star Wars geeks can pick up Boba Fett’s Slave I ($79.99), the Hoth Wampa Cave ($39.99), and the massive Battle Of Endor ($99.99), while Harry Potter fans can snag Hagrid’s Hut ($39.99).
But what if your child likes LEGOs but you don’t want to buy them a construction set? Thinkgeek also stocks the LEGO Lantern ($23.99), for those scary nights, or a hand crankable LEGO Dynamo Torch ($24.99). Heck, they even have an oversize Darth Vader or Stromtrooper Minifig Alarm Clock ($29.99).
Ach, but that’s not all! They’re also stocking all of the new LEGO board games, from the LEGO Minotaurus Game ($24.99) to LEGO Creationary ($34.99). So yes, Thinkgeek has your LEGO needs clearly squared away.
There’ve been a few quite nice highlight and retrospective sets released in the past, but if you want a truer picture of just why Johnny Carson was considered the King of Late Night, you should pick up Tonight: 4 Decades Of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (Respond2, Not Rated, DVD-$119.99 SRP), a 15-disc set that features shows from across Johnny’s 40-year reign. It’s an impressive set that I hope is only the first of many.
Chemistry sets are so passe – Today’s kids want to investigate crimes… Particularly if their investigative materials are branded with a hit TV show. In other words, you can give the gist of a trio of kiddie-crime-solving kits – the CSI: Impression Kit ($35.77 SRP), CSI: Facial Identification Kit ($21.95 SRP), & the CSI: Ink & Handwriting Analysis Kit ($23.99 SRP). Promote logic and critical thinking skills!
I’m always leery when a new CG animated film comes down the pike and it’s not from Pixar, just because there have been so many duds trying to emulate their winning formula. This year, however, ahs been a banner one for non-Pixar flicks, starting with How To Train Your Dragon and including Despicable Me (Universal, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), which stars Steve Carrell as a supervillain whose plan to achieve “World’s Greatest Villain” status by stealing the moon suddenly goes pear-shaped when he enlists a trio of little girls who decide to latch onto him as a father figure. Bonus materials include a trio of new mini-movies, audio commentary, featurettes, and more.
Yeah, I’m a sucker for the Guinness Book of World Records. There’s just something so compellingly exciting yet sad about the various and sundry attempts at dubious immortality “achieved” by the people, events, and tragedies included in the Guinness Book of World Records: 2011 Edition (Guinness, $28.95 SRP).
Covering the wild personal upheaval between 1964-1971, Lennon Naked (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP) stars Christopher Eccleston as a very convincing John Lennon in a drama about that period during which the rise of the Beatles was matched by the destruction of Lennon’s first marriage and his courtship of Yoko, and ends with the end of Fab Four and rise of a new Lennon.
While it never achieves the transcendent by-golly-wow reaction it desperately wants for assembling such a massive all-star action pic hall of fame cast, The Expendables (Lionsgate, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) is still a throwback bit of high octane fun, more concerned with blowing things up and throwing out one-liners than telling a story. Which, really, is exactly how this kind of picture should be played, ya namby-pambys! Bonus materials include an audio commentary, a making-of documentary, featurettes, deleted scene, 2010 Comic-Con panel, a gag reel, and more.
After they released the brilliant – and much-requested – It’s Garry Shandling’s Show, fans were ready to throw a parade for the fine folks at Shout Factory after they announced they would be giving a complete series release to the even more brilliant Larry Sanders Show (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$149.99 SRP). So yes, you can now watch the entire 6 season run! The copious amount of bonus features are all ported over from Sony’s “Best Of” collection from a few years back, but those featurettes and interviews were so comprehensive, that the port is appreciated. Now, if only they can get the rest of Dream On out, too…
There’ve been a few different versions released over the years, but the definitive edition – in high def, no less – is the Apocalypse Now: Full Disclosure Edition (Lionsgate, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$59.99 SRP), which contains a fully remastered theatrical cut, the more recent expanded cut, and the behind-the-scenes documentary Hearts Of Darkness. Besides the commentaries and featurettes, the best bonus feature in the lot is a chat between Coppola and screenwriter John Millus. A must watch.
For the past few years, Insight Editions has been putting out some truly spectacular books, from their series on the modelmaking and costuming of Star Wars to spotlights on John Lennon. While Chronicle Books has the lock on Pixar and Disney, Insight has been publishing massive, beautiful “Art Of” collections from Dreamworks and Sony. Currently available – and worth picking up – are The Art and Making Of Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs ($50.00 SRP), The Art Of Megamind ($39.95 SRP), and The Art Of Shrek Forever After ($24.95 SRP).
Also worth mentioning from Insight, even though they’re not “Art Of” books, are Jerry Beck’s 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons ($24.95 SRP), the stunningly realized Harry Potter Pop-Up Book ($34.95 SRP) and even though I hated the film, the pictures featured in Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull: A Photographic Journal ($29.95 SRP) make it worth a pick-up.
I have been counting the days until the high definition 25th Anniversary edition of the Back To The Future Trilogy (Universal, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$79.98 SRP) arrived, eager to see it looking all snazzy and hoping the reality lived up to my outrageous expectations. Well, I’m delighted to say all three films look and sound amazing, and they’ve managed to plus the bonus materials above and beyond the ridiculous amount found on the original DVD special editions, including new documentaries (plus some tantalizing yet still unsatisfying glimpses of the legendary Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly footage). Is this an upgrade worth making? Yes. Yes it is.
By the time we reach the third volume of Bloom County: The Complete Library – 1984-1986 (IDW, $39.99 SRP), we’ve arrived at the golden age of the strip, where both the political satire and the humor had gelled into a transcendently pointed, funny strip that cemented itself in the comics pantheon. If you’re new to Bloom County, get all of the available volumes. Fast. Rectify that oversight now.
About 5 years ago, I became aware that a documentary had been made about an artist I held dear to my heart – the underrated, underappreciated Harry Nilsson. I received a promo copy at the time, and found the documentary to be a comprehensive, enlightening overview of a brilliant artist beloved by friends and fans (including the likes of The Beatles) who happened to be a very flawed human being whose excess led to a far too early death. The doc floated around the festival circuit for the past few years, but Who’s Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him?) (Lorber, Not Rated, DVD-$29.95 SRP) is finally available on DVD, along with nearly 90 minutes of additional interview footage. Get this documentary, and get Harry’s music. Now.
It’s no Ben 10, but Cartoon Network’s Generator Rex (Cartoon Network, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP) is certainly constructed to try and hit all of the same buttons with the kids, right down to a super-powered kid – in this case, a 15-year-old boy/weapon made of nanites – fighting the big bad world. The 2-disc set contains 9 episodes.
Where the US version of the UK’s middle-age male crisis dramedy Manchild never got past pilot, the similarly themed Men Of A Certain Age (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) – starring Ray Romano, Andre Braugher, and Scott Bakula – seems to be going strong. The first season set contains audio commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel.
I know a lot of you are probably waiting for next year’s Blu-Ray release of the entirety of season 4, but for those who can’t wait, The Venture Bros.: Season 4 Volume 1 (Adult Swim, Not Rated, DVD-$23.98 SRP) contains the first 8 episodes of the season, plus audio commentaries (in which, yes, I am mentioned – count the times!), deleted scenes, a Comic-Con promo, and a “lost” open.
It’s been almost a year since the Blu-Ray Ultimate Editions of the first two films were released, but the rather long wait has brought us the just-in-time for Deathly Hallows: Part 1 release of Harry Potter & The Prisoner Of Azkaban: Ultimate Edition & Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire: Ultimate Edition (Warner Bros., Rated PG/PG-13, Blu-Ray-$49.99 SRP each), both of which are necessary upgrades from the previous Blu-ray editions, if only for the next two installments of the 8-part documentary series “Creating The World Of Harry Potter, which have been newly produced for these Ultimate Editions. Also included are all of the previous special features and documentaries from the previous releases, plus photo books and character cards. The bottom line? Get ’em both, and hope the next two come out a lot quicker.
You know who else has comedy locked up for you this holiday season? The fine folks at Channel 4, who have a lovely clutch of comedy coming to DVD, including new stand-up specials – Jimmy Carr: Making People Laugh, Frankie Boyle: If I Could Reach Out Through Your TV And Strangle You, I Would, & Rhod Gilbert & The Cat That Looked Like Nicholas Lyndhurst (Channel 4, Not Rated, DVD-£19.99 SRP each) – and TV series collections – Miranda: Series 1, The Inbetweeners: Series 3, Russell Howard’s Good News: Best Of Series 1, and Peep Show: Series 7 (Channel 4, Not Rated, DVD-£19.99 SRP each).
If you’d like to spend your holidays with a big green ogre, then you can fulfill that very odd wish with the Shrek: The Whole Story box set (Dreamworks, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$76.99 SRP), which brings together all four films – Shrek, Shrek 2, Shrek The Third, & Shrek Forever After – for the first time in high definition. Not only do all of the sets contain all of the bonus materials found on the original releases, but the set also includes Donkey’s Christmas Shrektacular and an exclusive 4-part documentary.
The one factor that made Christopher Nolan’s Inception (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP) work for me is that Nolan didn’t burden the storytelling with the concept, but instead dumped the audience right into the action, allowing the headiness of it all to permeate, rather than overwhelm. That being said, I’m not even going to try explaining the plot, but will instead just recommend you give it a spin. Bonus materials include in-depth featurettes, an animated prequel short subject, and more.
You may know Haynes as the folks who put together all of those car manuals you see sitting on your mechanic’s (or father’s) shelf. Well, they’ve decided to venture into geek territory with the USS Enterprise Owner’s Workshop Manual (Simon & Schuster, $27.00 SRP). Its detailed schematics may not be entirely accurate, and it unfortunately also features the Enterprise NX-01, but it’s a fun read nonetheless.
You can always bet that if there’s a new version of anything in the offing, the original version will get a release to coincide with it – and such is the case with the classic 1969 version of True Grit (Paramount, Rated G, Blu-Ray-$24.99 SRP), starring John Wayne as the larger-than-life Marshall Rooster Cogburn. The film looks superb in high definition, and bonus features include an audio commentary, featurettes, and the theatrical trailer.
For the longest time, I’ve been able to suppress whatever last vestige of giddy Star Wars fanboy remained within me after being so mercilessly stamped out by the overwhelming mediocrity of the Prequels. That was, until I laid eyes on Hasbro’s incredible – in both execution and freaking size – new AT-AT ($119.99). Standing over two feet tall, articulated, and full of lights and sounds, it’s everything we hoped for after walking out of Empire Strikes Back 30 years ago. Granted, we’re adults now, but so what?
The folks at Fox want to load down your holiday viewing schedule as well, and have moved to do so with a pair of holiday box sets. The Christmas Collection (Fox, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$79.99 SRP) brings together Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, the George C. Scott A Christmas Carol, the modern Miracle on 34th Street, and Jingle All the Way. If you just want to spend some time with Kevin McCallister, there’s the Home Alone Collection (Fox, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), which sports all 3 films in the canon (yes, even the forgettable non-Culkin one). Of course, if the kiddies are clamoring for something animated, they’ve also got Ice Age & Ice Age 2 (Fox, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$24.99 SRP each), in snazzy high definition.
And finally, let’s wrap up this year’s holiday guide with a couple of beautiful pieces from the fine folks at Sideshow Collectibles. Hopefully you’re familiar with their Premium Format line, which used mixed-media materials to create some truly stunning display pieces. Earlier this year, they secured a license from Disney, and have been working their magic on everything from Pirates Of The Caribbean‘s Captain Jack Sparrow ($324.99) to Sleeping Beauty‘s Maleficent ($299.99), as you’ll see from the photos below. And about as different from Disney as you can get, how about an incredible polystone diorama featuring Conan The Barbarian – Conan: The Prize ($299.99).
-Ken Plume
December 15, 2010
Contest Round-Up: 2010-12-15
Welcome to our weekly round-up of featured giveaways here at FRED. Every week, we’ll present a new clutch of DVDs, books, and other cool stuff you can take a shot at winning. All you have to do is click on the graphics below to be taken to their respective contest pages. And good luck!
In conjunction with Penguin Books, we’re giving away a SIGNED copy of Stephen Fry’s THE FRY CHRONICLES.
In conjunction with Faber & Faber, we’re giving away two (2) copies of THE SECOND QI BOOK OF GENERAL IGNORANCE.
conjunction with Faber & Faber, we’re giving away two (2) copies of THE QI ANNUAL: H.
In conjunction with Faber & Faber, we’re giving away three (3) copies of THE EFG BUMPER BOOK OF QI ANNUALS.
In conjunction with Faber & Faber, we’re giving away two (2) copies of CHARLIE BROOKER’S TV GO HOME.
In conjunction with It Books, we’re giving away three (3) copies of PRETTY THINGS: THE LAST GENERATION OF AMERICAN BURLESQUE QUEENS.
In conjunction with A&E Home Video, we’re giving away three (3) copies each of GENE SIMMONS FAMILY JEWELS: THE COMPLETE SEASONS 4 & 5 on DVD.
In conjunction with A&E Home Video, we’re giving away three (3) copies each of BILLY THE EXTERMINATOR: THE COMPLETE SEASONS 1 & 2 on DVD.
In conjunction with Fox Home Video, we’re giving away three (3) copies of CYRUS on DVD.
In conjunction with author Scott Neumyer, we’re giving away three (3) copies of JIMMY STONE’S GHOST TOWN.
In conjunction with Sideshow Collectibles, we’re giving away three (3) INDIANA JONES: 12″ MUTT WILLIAMS figures.
In conjunction with Spin Master Toys, we’re giving away a whole slew of TRON LEGACY Action Figures & Vehicles – Everything from 3 3/4 and deluxe figures to light cycles and more.
Win TRON: LEGACY Figures & Vehicles from Spin Master Toys!
In conjunction with Spin Master Toys, we’re giving away a whole slew of TRON LEGACY Action Figures & Vehicles – Everything from 3 3/4 and deluxe figures to light cycles and more.
Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, January 5th.
Official Rules
No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
One entry per day, per person.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, January 5th.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.
Win an INDIANA JONES: 12″ MUTT WILLIAMS Figure from Sideshow Collectibles!
In conjunction with Sideshow Collectibles, we’re giving away three (3) INDIANA JONES: 12″ MUTT WILLIAMS figures.
Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, January 5th.
Official Rules
No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
One entry per day, per person.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, January 5th.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.
Win JIMMY STONE’S GHOST TOWN!
In conjunction with author Scott Neumyer, we’re giving away three (3) copies of JIMMY STONE’S GHOST TOWN.
Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, January 5th.
On December 7th, Scott Neumyer released his thrilling, fun, and heartfelt middle grade novel JIMMY STONE’S GHOST TOWN, on Amazon.com (http://amzn.to/jimmystone)! Available for the special introductory price of only $0.99, JIMMY STONE’S GHOST TOWN is can be downloaded on the Amazon Kindle (as well as Kindle for Mac, Kindle for PC, Kindle for iPhone, Kindle for iPad, Kindle for Android, and Kindle for Blackberry)!
In a matter of less than a week, JIMMY STONE’S GHOST TOWN started climbing up the Amazon.com charts! It reached #2 in Children’s Books for Boys & Men (ahead of Justin Bieber’s new book) and was #1 on the Hot New Releases section of that same genre!
For less than a dollar, readers can enjoy this “fantastical mystery for young readers” that Lara Zielin (Author of DONUT DAYS and THE IMPLOSION OF MAGGIE WINCHESTER) has called “…irresistibly appealing!” Available now on Amazon.com, JIMMY STONE’S GHOST TOWN is the most entertaining way to spend 99 cents!
Official Rules
No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
One entry per day, per person.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, January 5th.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.
Win CYRUS on DVD!
In conjunction with Fox Home Video, we’re giving away three (3) copies of CYRUS on DVD.
Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, January 5th.
Official Rules
No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
One entry per day, per person.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, January 5th.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.
Win BILLY THE EXTERMINATOR: THE COMPLETE SEASONS 1 & 2 on DVD!
In conjunction with A&E Home Video, we’re giving away three (3) copies each of BILLY THE EXTERMINATOR: THE COMPLETE SEASONS 1 & 2 on DVD.
Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, January 5th.
Official Rules
No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
One entry per day, per person.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, January 5th.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.
Win GENE SIMMONS FAMILY JEWELS: THE COMPLETE SEASONS 4 & 5 on DVD!
In conjunction with A&E Home Video, we’re giving away three (3) copies each of GENE SIMMONS FAMILY JEWELS: THE COMPLETE SEASONS 4 & 5 on DVD.
Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, January 5th.
Official Rules
No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
One entry per day, per person.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, January 5th.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.
Win PRETTY THINGS: THE LAST GENERATION OF AMERICAN BURLESQUE QUEENS!
In conjunction with It Books, we’re giving away three (3) copies of PRETTY THINGS: THE LAST GENERATION OF AMERICAN BURLESQUE QUEENS.
Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, January 5th.
Official Rules
No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
One entry per day, per person.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, January 5th.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.
Win CHARLIE BROOKER’S TV GO HOME!
In conjunction with Faber & Faber, we’re giving away two (2) copies of CHARLIE BROOKER’S TV GO HOME.
Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, January 5th.
Official Rules
No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
One entry per day, per person.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, January 5th.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.
Win THE EFG BUMPER BOOK OF QI ANNUALS!
In conjunction with Faber & Faber, we’re giving away three (3) copies of THE EFG BUMPER BOOK OF QI ANNUALS.
Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, January 5th.
Official Rules
No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
One entry per day, per person.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, January 5th.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.
Win THE QI ANNUAL: H!
In conjunction with Faber & Faber, we’re giving away two (2) copies of THE QI ANNUAL: H.
Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, January 5th.
Official Rules
No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
One entry per day, per person.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, January 5th.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.
Win THE SECOND QI BOOK OF GENERAL IGNORANCE!
In conjunction with Faber & Faber, we’re giving away two (2) copies of THE SECOND QI BOOK OF GENERAL IGNORANCE.
Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, January 5th.
Official Rules
No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
One entry per day, per person.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, January 5th.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.
Win a SIGNED copy of Stephen Fry’s THE FRY CHRONICLES!
In conjunction with Penguin Books, we’re giving away a SIGNED copy of Stephen Fry’s THE FRY CHRONICLES.
Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, January 5th.
Official Rules
No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
One entry per day, per person.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, January 5th.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.
A Bit Of A Chat with Ken Plume & Dom Joly
I’m Ken Plume, and soon you’ll be listening to “A Bit Of A Chat” with me, Ken Plume.
In this episode, I chat with writer/comedian/documentarian/presenter Dom Joly, creator and provocateur of TRIGGER HAPPY TV, about Dark Tourism, celebrities trapped in the jungle, and much more…
Hope you enjoy…
Download “A Bit of a Chat with Ken Plume & Dom Joly“:
[audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/bitofachat/bit_of_a_chat-dom_joly.mp3]
SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to this Podcast via iTunes
Drop Ken a line HERE.
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You can also find more of my interviews by clicking HERE.
December 13, 2010
TV Or Not TV: 12/13 – 12/19
Well another season of DEXTER has now come and gone. Although I’ve read mixed reviews about this season I have to say that I was really entertained by it. I’m also going to not hold anything back in talking about it so if you haven’t seen it yet and plan to then be forewarned that there be spoilers abound in these waters.
This season of DEXTER had the very large shoes of last season to try and fill. JOHN LITHGOW had a stellar performance as the TRINITY killer in an amazing story line that shocked, amazed, and hit us with a punch in the gutt on its way out the door with the unexpected murder in the final moments.
When viewing the season’s overall story arc I think the writers did a pretty good job of delivering us a season that wasn’t too over-the-top while still being a fufilling viewing experience. They started the season off slow, with DEXTER dealing with the fallout after RITA’s death. It isn’t until the middle of the second episode where we start to see some of the old DEXTER return. He also doesn’t fufill the cravings of his “dark passenger” until the end of the third episode, giving us as viewers enough time of mourning over the loss of RITA before moving on to the DEXTER that we all know and love.
The first few episodes of the season are the only ones that I have a complaint about because the pace and stories of the supporting characters in the show seemed drawn out. Yes some elements of the stories were necessary to allow for other characters to be introduced like the great PETER WELLER. These characters for the DEXTER fan, however, are a mixed bag since they help move the story along but even though they are his co-workers they are also his adversaries. I never want to get too involved in their stories because, as the second season taught us, they can become expendable.
The direction the show took with the introduction of LUMEN and the situation surrounding the BARREL GIRLS was a new type of terror that we haven’t really had to face. I understand why it was necessary but the simple shocking reality is that this type of thing may go on in our world which made it slightly difficult to endure. After you get over that shock it is very easy to see why the story had to unfold the way it did. In the third season it was very difficult to stomach JIMMY SMITS character committing the types of attrocities that DEXTER does because he didn’t live by “the Code” so he was just a psychopath. We can handle what DEXTER does because he acts out what the id feels when we learn what these people do. Unless it is to ensure his survival DEXTER doesn’t just kill someone that makes his life difficult. JORDAN CHASE and his BARREL GIRLS group gave this season two important things: something for DEXTER to focus on that involved protecting future innocent lives being taken away just like RITA and allowing someone to go down such a dark path we didn’t mind if they commited the same type of vigilante killings that DEXTER does.
In the season finale there was a season ripe with tension but for me it was also wrought with metaphor. DEXTER’s sister DEBORAH comes across the camp and the very room where DEXTER and LUMEN have dispatched the last person reponsible for her horrific ordeal. In this moment the pair are hidden by a murky sheet of plastic that divides the room. DEB can see that they are there but can’t see them completely. This moment also reflects, for me, the same way that DEB must view DEXTER. Other police officers in the Miami Metro Homicide division have been suspicious of DEXTER yet DEB never questions. She sees her brother every day but she must have a similar murky filter between her and her brother that belays any suspicions she must have. This has to be the case since at least two other detectives have had suspicions about DEXTER (speaking of which, don’t any of these cops wonder why their area attracks so many demented murderes? The Ice Truck Killer, The Bay Harbor Butcher, The Trinity Killer, Barrel Girl Killers… that’s a lot for one city isn’t it?).
The writers did a pretty good job as well of wrapping up this season in a manner that allows them a clean slate for the recently green lit sixth season. LUMEN is leaving in a non-fatal manner, one that given her story was a foregone conclusion for me the moment she and DEXTER were working together. DEXTER is still a father but has the perfect nanny and RITA’s children can conveniently be around during visits and then dispatched conveniently back to their grandparents home. After DEXTER clears QUINN of the crime that DEXTER knows he didn’t commit QUINN admits to owing DEXTER which will hopefully avoid any future suspicions of DEXTER’s “other” activities. DEXTER is once again free to just be DEXTER.
Now that I’ve said my piece on DEXTER let’s move on to the crime that is this week’s available viewing options.
MONDAY
CBS – 8:00 PM: Have you noticed yet that the only show on CBS I recommend on Monday’s is HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER? ’nuff said.
NBC – 8:00 PM: I don’t know why I can’t stop watching THE SING-OFF since it’s the exact same show as last year. There’s one group of older people,
several mediocre groups and then there’s the entertaining college kids (ON THE ROCKS) and the smaller but completely amazing ensemble that were the clear winners from day one (COMMITTED). Ah well, it’s not like anything else is really on.
ABC – 9:00 PM: From the “We don’t give a crap file” I humbly submit to you MARIAH CAREY: MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU. Let me guess, she’s got a holiday album out this year?
TUESDAY
ABC – 8:00 PM: I love the PEANUTS specials (Who can forget the touching story told in IT’S FLASH BEAGLE, CHARLIE BROWN) but I don’t think I’ve ever seen I WANT A DOG FOR CHRISTMAS, CHARLIE BROWN!
FOX – 8:00 PM: It’s a pop-star tribute GLEE-peat double header tonight with the MADONNA and BRITNEY SPEARS episodes. I’d make a joke about this but I think the show writers already did by making them.’
NBC – 9:00 PM: It’s the live season finale of THE BIGGEST LOSER where I’m rooting for PATRICK to win. This show is such a great motivator and reminder to ea… oh look, Christmas fudge!
WEDNESDAY
NBC – 8:00 PM: OK, if you actually watched THE SING-OFF along with me then be sure to remember there’s another episode on tonight.
USA – 8:00 PM: Oh, look! ELF is on USA tonight. There’s something you don’t see happen very often.
COMEDY CENTRAL – 8:00 PM: If you missed the first ever FUTURAMA HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR then here is another chance to catch it.
DISCOVERY – 9:00 PM: In tonight’s all new MYTHBUSTERS special it’s a special GREEN HORNET edition where SETH ROGEN drops in to help bust some myth’s. Which myth are they attacking, “You’re not off ’till you cough?”
THURSDAY
ABC FAMILY – 6:00 PM: On a night full of repeats ABC FAMILY gives us the gift of PIXAR with FINDING NEMO followed by THE INCREDIBLES.
FX – 10:00 PM: It’s the IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA holiday special! Need I say more?
TBS – 10:00 PM: If it weren’t for the fact that the “Man Your Man Could Smell Like” himself, ISAIAH MUSTAFA, is hosting I’d think sitting around watching the FUNNIEST COMMERCIALS OF THE YEAR was silly. Even sillier? If you DVR this you’re going to be skipping over the commercials to get to the commercials.
FRIDAY
CBS – 8:00 PM: CBS is offering up a large helping of holiday cheer with YES, VIRGINIA followed by FROSTY THE SNOWMAN and FROSTY RETURNS.
USA – 9:00 PM: Oh, look! ELF is on USA tonight. There’s something you don’t see happen very often.
ABC – 9:00 PM: In this PRIMETIME special WHAT WOULD YOU DO? the network uses hidden cameras to see how people react when tey think no one is watching. Does putting the PRIMETIME name on it class it up enough so that we don’t know it’s a classed up version of SCARE TACTICS?
CBS – 9:30 PM: Tonight special I GET THAT A LOT as they look back at some of the highlights (I use the term loosely) from past shows and some unseen footage. Come watch again as nobody believes that it isn’t PARIS HILTON pumping their gas.
SATURDAY
ABC – 8:00 PM: Need a way to distract the kids for three hours? ABC rolls out another airing of I WANT A DOG FOR CHRISTMAS, CHARLIE BROWN! followed by MADAGASCAR.
NBC – 8:00 PM: The Peacock offers up a retread as well as they re-run the Christmas party episode of THE OFFICE.
HALLMARK – 8:00 PM: BATTLE OF THE BULBS sure feels a lot like DECK THE HALLS when DANIEL STERN and MATT FREWER get ugly trying to one up each other’s holiday decorations.
NBC – 11:30 PM: I still haven’t watched last week’s episode of SNL with PAUL RUDD but this week is a no-miss as THE DUDE himself JEFF BRIDGES hosts the weekly train wreck.
SUNDAY
ABC – 7:00 PM: ABC puts forth no programming effort whatsoever with the airing of THE SANTA CLAUSE 2 and THE SANTA CLAUSE 3: THE ESCAPE CLAUSE.
CBS – 8:00 PM: It’s the season finale for SURIVOR: NICARAGUA and I’ve not watched a single moment of the show.
FOX – 9:00 PM: FAMILY GUY‘s retelling of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK airs tonight to serve as a warm up to all the people that will no doubt be watching…
ADULT SWIM – 11:30 PM: I completely missed the mark in neglecting to mention the amazing VENTURE BROTHERS season finale so I am making it a point to mention the ROBOT CHICKEN: STAR WARS EPISODE III special. Nothing says Happy Holidays like stop-motion Star Wars comedy.