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…)
This really is a golden age for Doctor Who fans, as the DVD releases of classic storylines are coming fast & furious, with another quartet now available – the Peter Davison stories Snakedance and Kinda (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP each) and the Jon Pertwee stories Terror Of The Autons (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP) and Planet Of The Spiders (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP). All of them are TARDIS-full of bonus features, including commentaries, featurettes, trailers, interviews, and more.
I’m a sucker for a specific task kitchen widget that also taps into childhood nostalgia, so you can imagine my delight at being able to put a homemade spin on corn dogs with the Corn Dog Factory ($24.99), which is an easy-to-use widget to make – you guessed it – corn dogs. Isn’t that fantastic?
With the fourth volume of Bloom County: The Complete Library (IDW, $39.99 SRP), we fully entered the golden age of Berkely Breathed’s legendary strip, as it contains many of the strips and satire that firmly placed Opus & friends into the pop culture landscape. Hopefully you’ve been picking up these volumes – and if not, why not? GO! GET!
Prepare for Father’s Day with a pair of new-to-Blu-Ray catalogue classics from Fox – John Wayne in The Comancheros and Paul Newman & Jackie Gleason in The Hustler (Fox, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$34.98 SRP each). Both look better than ever, and sport audio commentaries and featurettes galore. Oh, and both are must-haves.
If you’re a big fan of Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett’s post-MST3K endeavor Rifftrax, you owe it to yourself to partake of the heightened energy of a pair of new live show releases, that were originally beamed to theaters around the country – Rifftrax Live: House On Haunted Hill Riffed Live From Nashville 2010 & Rifftrax Live: Reefer Madness Riffed Live From San Diego 2010 (Legend Films, Not Rated, DVD-$14.95 SRP each). Heck, the Nashville show even has a special set from special guest Paul F. Tompkins.
I can’t remember the last time I was surprised by the end of a romantic comedy, as the resolution of the couple-to-be is pretty well set in storytelling cliché by now, so my enjoyment of a romantic comedy comes largely from the journey. No Strings Attached (Paramount, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) is an enjoyable flick due largely to the unexpected chemistry between Aston Kutcher and Natalie Portman as the inevitable couple whose lifelong crossed paths culminates in an agreement to become casual sex partners and nothing more. You can guess what happens from there. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, and deleted scenes.
In the 4th season of The Lucy Show (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$42.99 SRP), Lucille Ball’s Lucy Carmichael ups stakes and moves to sunny California, which means the guest star quotient increases even beyond its usual level, in including Bob Crane and Mickey Rooney. Bonus features include clips, promos, vintage openings & closings, and more.
I wish it weren’t the case, but the eighth season of Penn & Teller: Bullshit (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$31.99 SRP) isn’t nearly as strong as the earlier seasons, which owes largely to the feeling that the duo are scraping the bottom of the topic barrel and delivering material they don’t feel quite as passionately about.
I am not the audience for Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (Paramount, Rated G, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), the bubblegum hair popper’s concert film. No, I’m most definitely not. But for the audience of pre-teen girls still enamored with his inoffensive tunes and robotic stylings, this special edition is sure to be tops on their must-have list.
While we’re still not to the season that contains my absolute favorite episode, if you’ve yet to pick up the stellar high definition sets of Rod Serling’s classic anthology series, you can at least start with the newly-released Twilight Zone: Season 4 (Image, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$99.98 SRP), featuring all 18 episodes plus more bonus features than you can shake a cord of sticks at. Not only do you get all of the bonus materials from the original release, but also 13 new audio commentaries and a vintage audio interview with DP George Clemens.
While Trading Places and 48 Hours remain the greatest of Eddie Murphy movies in my estimation, it’s a welcome addition to the high definition library to get Beverly Hills Cop (Paramount, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$24.99 SRP) on Blu-Ray. Bonus materials include an audio commentary from director Martin Brest, featurettes, a location map, and the theatrical trailer.
While many studios have been dumping sub-par catalogue releases in massive Blu-Ray waves, MGM has decided to release a wave of many films buffs consider must-haves – The Terminator (MGM, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$34.98 SRP), The Manchurian Candidate (MGM, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$44.95 SRP), The Usual Suspects (MGM, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$34.98 SRP), Dead Man Walking (MGM, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$44.95 SRP), Leaving Las Vegas (MGM, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$34.98 SRP), Hotel Rwanda (MGM, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), and Some Like It Hot (MGM, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$19.99 SRP). All of the discs port over the special features from their most recent DVD editions, including commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, and more. They’ve also thrown in a pair of westerns – The Horse Soldiers (MGM, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$16.99 SRP) and The Misfits (MGM, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$19.99 SRP) – for good measure.
More insidious than wartime physical injuries, the effects of what has been termed everything from shell shock to post-traumatic stress disorder in soldiers is explored in the documentary Wartorn: 1861-2020 (HBO, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP). The disc also contains a post-premiere panel discussion at the Pentagon.
Did you know that Jackie Gleason and Steve McQueen did a film together in the 60’s? Co-written by Blake Edwards? No? Neither did I, until the Warner Archive Collection made Soldier In The Rain (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$19.95) available. It’s actually a pretty strong dramedy, anchored by its leads, that had the misfortune of being released the same week as the Kennedy assassination.
It’s always nice just to have a disc that you can put in and show off your fancy a/v setup at home – One that looks and sounds pretty darn spiffy. The high definition IMAX documentaries Search For The Great Sharks and The Greatest Places (Inception, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$19.98 SRP each) both fit the bill, with one taking you under the sea and the other taking you around the rest of the world.
Now that we’ve got the full run of the Six Million Dollar Man on DVD, it’s left to The Bionic Woman (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) to catch up, and with the release of the 2nd season, it’s one step closer. The 5-disc set contains all 24 episodes, plus audio commentaries, a featurette, a pair of Six Million Dollar Man crossover episodes, and a photo gallery.
MGM continues to drop almost a literal ton of catalogue titles via their new MOD (Manufacture On Demand) Limited Edition Collection program, including the David Niven sex romp comedy Old Dracula (MGM, Rated PG, DVD-$19.98), Rita Hayworth & Rex Harrison in The Happy Thieves (MGM, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98), Charlton Heston in The Call Of The Wild (MGM, Rated PG, DVD-$19.98), and Michael Caine & James Mason in The Destructors (MGM, Rated PG, DVD-$19.98).
If the big screen live action outing of the Norse god of thunder has whet your appetite for more adventures look no further than the animated feature Thor: Tales Of Asgard (Lionsgate, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP), which finds the him on a seemingly harmless treasure hunt which turns deadly dangerous right quick. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, a featurette, and an Avengers episode.
Universal drops a pair of newer TV shows on DVD this week, including the debut season of the Piper Perabo-starring CIA procedural Covert Affairs (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP) and the second season of the blue blood doctor series Royal Pains (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP). Both sets sport audio commentaries, deleted scenes, featurettes, and gag reels.
The Warner Archive Collection continues to roll out long-forgotten animated oddities from the Hanna-Barbera library with the release of Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos: The Complete Series (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$14.95), which is truly the gift that keeps on giving.
If Flashpoint (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$42.99 SRP) has one thing going for it, it’s star Enrico Colantoni as the lead negotiator for his police department’s Strategic Response Unit. The 4-disc season 3 set contains all 16 episodes plus featurettes and deleted scenes.
It may just be the Atheist in me, but I’m tired of films about priests regaining their faith in the face of demonic presences. It’s like demons are God’s hitmen. So yeah, I was less than interested in The Rite (New Line, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP), which finds a seminary student questioning his faith who’s sent to understudy a legendary exorcist priest played by Anthony Hopkins. Bonus materials include an alternate ending, a featurette, and additional scenes.
I know there are many people I love and respect who love Tim & Eric Awesome Show Great Job! (Adult Swim, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP), but I’m not one of them. I don’t subscribe to the school that weird automatically equals funny, and find their constant bizarre antics grating. Still, fans will enjoy this season 5 set, sporting 10 episodes plus special features.
Hey! Doctor Who fans of both Tom Baker’s 4th Doctor and the Daleks can pick up a pair of action figure sets spotlighting the classic Baker stories Genesis Of The Daleks and Destiny Of The Daleks ($54.95 SRP each). Both sets contain episode-specific costume variations of the 4th Doctor, Davros, and a pair of Daleks. As usually, the 5″ Doctor Who figure line features impeccable sculpts and fan-friendly choices. So yeah, support the line and get ’em while you can.
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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