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 wasn’t sure what to expect from Pitch Perfect (Universal, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$34.98 SRP), but was happy to find the drama behind competitive college a capella groups a modern take on the kind of sly yet heartfelt tales that John Hughes used to make. See it. Bonus materials include commentaries, deleted/extended scenes, featurettes, and more.
Thinkgeek time! Googly eyes are fun. You know it. I know it. And you know what’s even more gun than googly eyes? Giant Googly Eyes ($7.99). At 8″ wide w/ an adhesive backing, you can make anything googly fun. ANYTHING.
It doesn’t have the flash bang of a Harry Potter, but the Diary Of A Wimpy Kid series continues to get soplidly entertaining adaptations with its aging cast, the latest being the summer-themed Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (Fox, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP). Bonus materials include deleted scenes, a gag reel, an animated short, and a featurette on series creator Jeff Kinney.
Mike Birbiglia’s Sleepwalk With Me (IFC Films, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$29.98 SRP) is a brilliant little movie about dreams both sleeping & waking, based on Birbiglia’s off-Broadway show about a struggling comic whose anxiety about his stalled career and strained relationship with his grilfriend manifests itself in increasinly dangerous sleepwalking incidents. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, a Q&A, featruettes, outtakes, and a trailer.
I find Seth MacFarlane’s humor to be hot & cold, but for the most part, the be-careful-what-you-wish-for comedy Ted (Universal, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$34.98 SRP) strikes the right balance, as we see the ramifications of a young boy’s wish that his teddy bear was real has upon his life nearly 30 years later, as the two have grown to be a pair of dead-end codependent stoners faced with accepting adulthood. Plus fart jokes and pop culture references. So, totally Seth. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, alternate takes, featurettes, a gag reel, and more.
Even after watching the entire first season, I’m still not sure if I like Lena Dunham’s celebration of privileged naval-gazing, Girls (HBO, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$49.99 SRP). Sometimes the humor works, and sometimes the characters make me despair the existence of the human race. So, yeah, I’ll probably watch season 2. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, interviews, featurettes, deleted scenes, cast auditions, and a gag reel.
As a kid watching the early days of The Disney Channel, I must have seen Babes In Toyland (Walt Disney, Rated G, Blu-Ray-$20.00 SRP) a half-dozen times every holiday season. It’s not a great musical, but it does feature some gorgeous Technicolor photography and a great villainous turn from Ray Bolger. Long done a disservice my mediocre pan & scan releases, the new Blu-Ray is the first to present it in its original widescreen, fully restored.
I’m all for Jeremy Renner, but I think he got the short end of the stick in trying to follow up an absent Matt Damon in The Bourne Legacy (Universal, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$34.98 SRP), which unfortunately plays like an average action flick slapped with the “Bourne” name and forced to deal with an absent Matt Damon. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, and deleted scenes.
If you’ve only ever seen Gordon Ramsay being all shouty and sweary in his various programs, you should try seeing him in a more relaxed mood, just doing what he loves, and does well. And hey, you can see exactly that on Gordon Ramsay: Cookalong Live (BFS, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP), in which he cooks various dishes. Live. The 4-disc set comes with a batch of laminated recipe cards, as well.
It’s a messy failure, but Warren Beatty certainly seemed to be genuinely interested in trying to bring Dick Tracy (Touchstone, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$26.50 SRP) to the big screen, even if it is a bit of a still birth. Still, the film is a celebration of primary colors and stylization aiming to capture Chester Gould’s style, so it’s at least worth a spin for the visuals.
Though I still find Robert Pattinson to be a cipher as an actor, that works for his role in David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis (E1, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.98 SRP), as a 28-year-old biollionaire whose meticulously ordered world is brutally unraveled over the course of a cross-town journey. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, a featurette, and interviews.
You’ve got to hand it to director Gordon Liu – if you want a non-stop adrenaline rush of martial arts fury, look no further than the bombastically-titled Kill ‘Em All (Well Go USA, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.98 SRP), which is all that, in spades.
So what happens if you combine the adrenaline rush of Run Lola Run with the dangerous world of New York City bike messengers by giving a messenger a delivery that results in deadly chase through the streets? You get the surprisingly enjoyable thriller Premium Rush (Sony, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP), starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the hunted cyclist. Bonus materials include a clutch of featurettes.
Also making their high definition debut this week are the catalogue titles The Joy Luck Club (Hollywood Pictures, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$20.00 SRP) and the odd Judd Apatow-produced family film Heavyweights (Walt Disney, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$20.00 SRP), starring Ben Stiller as Ben Stiller, who takes over a fat camp and becomes the enemy of the fat kids. By being Ben Stiller. Joy Luck Club is featureless, but Heavyweights sports a ton (no pun) (really) of new bonus features including an audio commentary, featurettes, deleted/extended scenes, and more.
Forget every memory you’ve etched in your brain about the Schwarzenegger flick, because the new Total Recall (Sony, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$40.99 SRP) doesn’t even go to Mars – and restores much of the depth of Phillip K. Dick’s original short story… Which is probably why the film was swamped by audience expectation to see an updating of Arnie’s action flick. Now that it’s on home video, give it a go, especially via the new extended cut. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, and more.
This week also brings a pair of Showtime series to DVD, including the first season of the Don Cheadle vehicle House Of Lies (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$45.98 SRP) and the fifth season of the David Duchovny series Californication (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$45.98 SRP). While Californication only contains bonus episodes of The Borgias, House Of Lies, and Dexter, House Of Lies actually has some meaty features, including commentaries, featurettes, and cast interviews.
After his awkward piece of performance art at the Republican National Convention, it’s a shame that the next time we saw Clint Eastwood on film it’s in the turgid Trouble With The Curve (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP), which tries to be a charming tale of an aging baseball scout’s reunion with his estranged daughter (Amy Adams) who bond over a last-ditch scouting trip to save his career. Bonus materials include a pair of featurettes.
Various elements are certainly dated, but there are some genuine scares to be found in the classic UK television anthology Chiller (Synapse, Not Rated, DVD-$29.95 SRP), which sadly only ran a total of 5 episodes before fading into the night.
It’s not the recent 25th anniversary concert that brought the house down at the O2, but Les Miserables In Concert: The 10th Anniversary (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP) is still a beautiful celebration of the music from the legendary production, newly remastered with 5.1 surround, plus a vintage documentary and interviews.
US Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness) is back in the saddle for Gunsmoke: The Seventh Season Volume 1 (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$36.98 SRP), featuring the season’s first 15 episodes of law being kept in restless Dodge City. Bonus features include preview trailers on select episodes and sponsor material.
Serious baseball nuts with disposable cash will probably want to pick up the official Major League Baseball World Series 2012: Collector’s Edition (A&E, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$59.98 SRP), featuring every game that pitted the San Francisco Giants vs. the Cincinnati Reds, plus bonus discs with additional footage and features.
They’ve become as regular as the seasons, but Resident Evil: Retribution (Sony, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP) proves that this Milla Jovovich-starring franchise can still crank out a perfectly enjoyable little post-apocalyptic monster flick. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, and outtakes.
Not nearly as polarizing as his son, it’s easy to watch the documentary about George Herbert Walker Bush, 41 (HBO, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP), which though told in his own words, manages some moments of candor as he reflects on everything from his war service to the presidency.
It can be very Lifetime Movie “Up With People”, but at least the History Channel’s miniseries Mankind: The Story Of All Of Us (History Channel, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.95 SRP) actually deals with history and not some cruddy reality series farce, as its 12-hour span is dedicated chronicles the rise of civilization from ancient Mesopotamia to today. The set also contains additional footage.
Get a whole new clutch of short attention span comedy with the complete second season of Funny Or Die Presents (HBO, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP), packed with guest stars including Will Ferrell, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Zooey Deschanel, Fred Willard, and more.
In 1964, James Whitmore starred in a powerful adaptation of John Howard Griffin’s Black Like Me (VSC, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP), portraying the writer’s journey into the racist, segregationist Jim Crow south after medically altering his pigment to pass as a black man. Now the film has been fully restored, featuring a bonus documentary on Griffin and an excerpt from his biography.
We’ve previously seen two takes on Captain America from the fine folks at Hot Toys and Sideshow – the half-Army uniform “Rescue” version, and the full-on costume from his feature debut. Now, adding to his growing roster of already-available teammates, we get the Avengers: Captain America ($214.99), decked out in his brighter-hued, more costume-y togs from the first cinematic adventure of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. As usual, the costuming is top-notch, with the added bonus of both a clean and battle-damaged shield, one of the invading alien’s super-gun, and a swappable Steve Rogers head – which, as per usual, is a creepily accurate scale representation of actor Chris Evans.
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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