The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the FRED Weekend Shopping Guide – your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…
(Please support FRED by using the links below to make any impulse purchases – it helps to keep us going…)
It was seen as a strident, preachy end to The Little Tramp when it originally premiered, but the years have proven what lovely political stand Charlie Chaplin was taking with The Great Dictator (Criterion, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.95 SRP), released while the US was still actively avoiding entry into Europe’s war. The new Criterion edition features a beautiful print of the film with enhanced sound, plus an audio commentary, an in-depth documentary, visual essays, color production footage, a pair of Barbershop sequences that predate the famous one in the film, and the re-release trailer. A brilliant, must-have addition to your high-def library.
If you’re not wanting to spring for an expensive pad but you need to eliminate heat build-up under your laptop, try the Cool Feet Airpsace For Laptops ($9.99), which is simply a quartet of suction-cupped feet that attach to the bottom of your laptop. Simple as that.
It’s always a beautiful thing to see two actors at the top of their game, particularly when they’re both in the same film. Papillon (Warner Bros., Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$34.99 SRP) is not only a great prison escape film whose arrival to high definition is most welcome, but it also features Dustin Hoffman and Steve McQueen at their powerful peak, lighting up every scene they share. Sadly, bonus materials are limited to a featurette and the theatrical trailer, but having the film look and sound this good is good enough for me.
It’s not Pixar, but Gnomeo & Juliet (Touchstone, Rated G, 3DBlu-Ray-$49.99 SRP) doesn’t want to be a work of art – it just wants to be a fun, funny romp, which it is. C’mon, telling a Romeo & Juliet riff with garden gnomes and other assorted backyard denizens is just goofy enough to be enjoyable. Bonus materials include alternate endings, deleted scenes, featurettes, and a music video. And really, if you’re in the least bit a smart shopper, you’ll go ahead and purchase the 3D release, as the set contains not only the multidimensional marvel disc, but also the standard 2D Blu-Ray and the old-fangled DVD, as well. It just makes sense.
If you’re looking for pulse-pounding cinematic science fiction, you’re not going to find it in Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris (Criterion, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.95 SRP), which has made the transition to high definition courtesy of the fine folks at Criterion. However, if you like the psychological drama and mystery of a more recent film like Moon, you’ll probably enjoy this. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, interviews, a documentary excerpt, and deleted scenes.
If Apocalypse Now is the operatic version of the Vietnam War, then Oliver Stone’s Platoon (MGM, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP) tries to more closely approximate the gritty reality from the perspective of an actual veteran. Though, I have to say, I still prefer Apocalypse, but having Stone’s film in high definition is a nice addition. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, deleted/extended scenes, featurettes, documentaries, TV spots, and the theatrical trailer.
If you’ve held off on picking The Kids In The Hall: The Complete Series (A&E, Not Rated, DVD-$99.95 SRP) because the box was just too big for you, now’s the time to pick up this must-have set, as it’s been slimmed down considerably and also now includes the 8-part IFC miniseries that reunited the guys, Death Comes To Town. The sets is also packed with interviews, audio commentary, best-of compilations, rare sketches, and more.
Studios can latch onto just about any day and turn it into an excuse to release a special anniversary edition of one of their catalogue titles, and Warners has done just that with a pair of new-to-Blu-Ray titles ostensibly making their debut to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War – Gettysburg (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$34.99 SRP) & Gods & Generals (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$34.99 SRP). Both feature the extended director’s cuts, plus audio commentaries, featurettes, trailers, and more.
Long before Days of Thunder or Hal Needham, Grand Prix (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$19.98 SRP) was the first film that really tried to – and succeeded in – capturing the speed and energy of car racing. The fact that it also starred the ever-likable James Garner was also a definite plus. Besides a lovely high definition transfer, the special edition features 5 in-depth featurettes and the theatrical trailer.
While Warners releases Grand Prix on Blu-Ray, Paramount digs up the Steve McQueen racing movie Le Mans (Paramount, Rated G, Blu-Ray-$24.99 SRP) which featured McQueen doing much of his own racing as a driver determined to win the famous race the year after a devastating accident. Bonus materials include a making-of featurette and the theatrical trailer.
Previously available, for some reason you can now pick up a standalone edition of Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky (MGM, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$34.98 SRP) that drops all of the bonus materials available on previous editions, substituting in collectible booklet packaging. Very odd.
Has the Royal Wedding already come and gone? So fast! If you’d like to relive all of the memories, the BBC has put together an overview of their coverage titled, appropriately, The Royal Wedding: William & Catherine (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$9.98 SRP), running over 2 hours and including a 50-minute documentary about their courtship. However, if you prefer a dramatized version of that courtship, there’s the Lifetime original movie William & Kate (Lifetime, Not Rated, DVD-$19.95 SRP), which does exactly what it says on the tin.
As kids growing up in the 80’s, I think we knew instinctively when something was a low-rent rip-off of a far more popular property, and that’s exactly what I felt about the Gobots, which were the bane of any kid hoping to get a Transformers figure from a clueless (often frugal) parent. Relive just how sad the rip-off was with Warner Archive’s release of the original miniseries Challenge Of The Gobots (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$14.95).
While I wouldn’t say it’s a great, must-see film, I Am Number Four (Touchstone, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$44.99 SRP) was at least enough of a thriller and featured enough unexpected twists to keep me interested, which is a lot more than most films can do. It’s almost as if producer Michael Bay remembered how to make a film. Bonus materials include deleted scenes, a featurette, and bloopers.
I think the most endearing thing about Nickelodeon’s CG-animated series Fanboy & Chum Chum (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$16.99 SRP) is its unbridled giddy exuberance. It’s just a fun, funny, raucous good time. I just wish the initial release was more than 8 episodes. Bonus features include animated shorts and the pilot episode for the Jimmy Neutron spin-off Planet Sheen.
Have running out of ice roads to be anticlimactic on, the franchise has decided to further move the whole affair into artifice by dropping the drivers into crazy dangerous roads around the world with the first season of IRT Deadliest Roads (History Channel, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$34.95 SRP). The 3-disc set contains all 10 episodes, plus additional footage.
Via rare archival footage and personal interviews, the History Channel documentary Reagan (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$19.95 SRP) seeks to paint a balanced portrait of our 40th President. You’ll ultimately walk away with your own view on the man and his presidency, but it’s an interesting piece nonetheless.
You know, if they’d actually given half an effort to make Brad Meltzer’s Decoded (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$29.95 SRP) into the Mythbusters of conspiracy theories, it might actually be a worthwhile show. Instead, it’s a collection of crackpot theories poorly investigated into half-assed conclusions. Sad, really.
Before he moved on to making big-budget blasé blockbusters, Ron Howard put his child actor past behind him as part of Roger Corman’s stable of actor/filmmakers, as the latest double feature release from the Corman Collection will enlighten you with Eat My Dust/Grand Theft Auto (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$19.93 SRP). Dust starred Howard, while Grand Theft Auto both starred and was his directorial debut. Bonus features include audio commentaries, interviews, an intro from Corman, and TV spots.
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
##
Comments: None
Leave a Reply |