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…)
I think it largely disappeared from theaters, which is a shame, because Dinner For Schmucks (Dreamworks, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) is actually a fun little comedy in the vein of most recent pics starring Paul Rudd and/or Steve Carrell – affable, funny, and heartwarming. Rudd stars as a business exec whose attempt to get a better position are hindered only by making a good showing at the titular dinner, which requires executives to find a bizarre person to bring as a guest to be mocked by the others. Naturally, Rudd pegs onto Carell to be his guest, but things don’t go quite to plan. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes, and outtakes.
Want a little bit of quick, cheap work area light with the convenience of USB? Then the USB LED Desktop Lamp ($7.99) is the convenient, bright, perfectly-named solution to your needs. Easy, right?
If you enjoyed the Ricky Gervais podcast, the animated versions made from those recordings and presented as The Ricky Gervais Show (HBO, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP) don’t really enhance the humor that much, but serves as a nice “best bits” collection that just happens to have some visuals attached. The 2-disc set contains the entire 1st season plus an episode storyboard and Comedy Gala animation.
After a smattering of single-disc releases, the long-awaited second volume of iCarly Season 2 (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP) has arrived, sporting 12 episodes plus a small clutch of behind-the-scenes extras (though it’s ridiculous there aren’t far more).
When I first saw My Dog Skip (Warner Bros., Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$19.98 SRP), I feared it would some kind of saccharine, nostalgia-fueled snoozer. To my surprise, it was actually a sweet little flick that’s largely carried on the back of the then still-lovable Frankie Muniz. Don’t believe me? Give it a spin via this new high-def edition. Bonus features include audio commentaries and additional scenes.
The fourth season of Big Love (HBO, Not Rated, DVD-$59.99 SRP) finds multiple-family man Bill Hendrickson out from under the thumb of mad “prophet” Roman Grant, but will his plans to run for the Utah State Senate tear apart his happy homes? Bonus materials include a special behind-the-scenes featurette for every episode.
Like most Ron Howard films, I found Backdraft (Universal, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$26.98 SRP) to be wholly competent, but ultimately lifeless and dull. Sure, the fire visuals remain impressive – more so now in high definition – but the story and its execution by Howard just sort of sits there. Bonus materials include an introduction, featurettes, and deleted scenes.
It’s in re-watching it that I fully understood just how mannered and poor man’s Wes Anderson (which, really, should be left up to Wes Anderson) Sofia Coppola’s Lost In Translation (Universal, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$26.98 SRP) is. Though, I admit, it’s always fun to see Bill Murray on autopilot. Bonus features include featurettes, deleted scenes, a music video, and more.
ABC Family’s The Secret Life Of The American Teenager (ABC Family, Not Rated, DVD-$39.99 SRP) continues to steam along, as the 5th season finds the characters facing teenage pregnancy head-on. Bonus materials include a quartet of featurettes.
Yeah, Family Guy‘s Star Wars parodies are largely inferior to Robot Chicken‘s, but that’s largely due to the former’s shoehorning of their characters into the roles, instead of being allowed to just play with the universe as it exists. Thankfully, they’ve come to an end with the 3rd and final installment, Family Guy: It’s A Trap (Fox, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP) which, as you can guess, takes on Return Of The Jedi. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, and outtakes.
It’s a daunting proposition, revisiting a film that defined the 80’s with the simple phrase “Greed Is Good”, and I’m not entirely sure Oliver Stone succeeds with Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (Fox, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), which comes on the heels of the economic collapse of the past few years that itself has played like an awkward sequel to the financial whirlwind of the 80’s. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, interviews, featurettes, and more.
For fans eager for its release the wait for the complete high definition release of Battlestar Galactica: Season Four (Universal, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$88.98 SRP) have had their prayers answered by a robot with this 6-disc set featuring audio commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, extended cuts, video blogs, and more.
The idea of carrying on a TV series in comic book form – written by the showe’s creator and writers – is actually a pretty good idea. Sadly, Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season 8 (Fox, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$34.99 SRP) is a motion comic version of the comic book series that managed to maintain the same level of tragic mediocrity that marked the pitiful end of that once-proud series.
The Warner Archive Collection certainly has been going full bore when it comes to their catalogue releases, and have ramped up things considerably on the animated side. I mean, I don’t think anyone ever expected they might one day be able to purchase a complete series set of Hanna-Barbera’s short-lived Swat Kats (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$34.95). But here it is.
I thought the fine folks at Sideshow did a bang-up job with their original Indiana Jones Premium Format figure, taken from Raiders Of The Lost Ark and holding the golden fertility idol. As well done as that mixed media figure was, they’ve trumped it with the one-two punch from Temple Of Doom with Premium Format Figures of both Indiana Jones ($309.99) and Mola Ram ($294.99). Both are very limited editions, and supplies are dwindling fast. I’d recommend you pick both up before you miss out, or you’ll regret being left at the mercy of the aftermarket for these gems.
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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