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…)
Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright, and Nick Frost wrap up their Cornetto Trilogy in epic fashion with The World’s End (Universal, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$34.98 SRP), as a group of friends return back to their home town in order to complete a legendary pub crawl, only to find their sleepy village is harboring a sinister menace. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, and outtakes.
Here we are at the fully remastered high definition edition of Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season 5 (Paramount, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$129.99 SRP), and while the quality is still high, the narrative cracks are beginning to show and will eventually lead to the running-on-fumes 7th season. But for now, the show is still firing, and even managed to pull in Leonard Nimoy for a big ol’ Spock cliffhanger finale. Bonus materials include brand new documentaries including a spotlight on the show’s music, plus audio commentaries, deleted scenes, episode promos, archival mission logs, and a gag reel. And speaking of that Spock finale, you can watch both it and the 6th season premiere in the feature-length cut of Star Trek: The Next Generation – Reunification (Paramount, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.99 SRP), which sports an exclusive audio commentary, featurette, and deleted scenes.
It seems we’re in a golden age of witty, intelligent coming-of-age flicks, what with The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, The Way Way Back, and The To Do List (Sony, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP), which stars Aubrey Plaza as a high school class valedictorian who sets her post-high school graduation sights on losing her virginity in the most methodical, studious way possible. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, deleted/extended scenes, featurettes, and a gag reel.
Just in time for the forthcoming holiday regeneration of the 11th Doctor into the 12th, the BBC brings fans back to the very first instance our favorite Time Lord changed his appearance with the 1st Doctor William Hartnell’s swan song story The Tenth Planet (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP). The still-missing fourth and final episode has been reconstructed in animated form, and the 2-disc set contains the usual bevy of excellent extras including an audio commentary, featurettes, and rarities.
The best thing I can say about We’re The Millers (Warner Bros., Rated R, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP) is that it wants nothing more to be a fun, funny little character comedy and accomplishes just that, with a game cast and the straightforward comic premise of a small-time drug dealer (Jason Sudekis) who convinces his oddball neighbors (Jennifer Aniston, Will Poulter, & Emma Roberts) to join him on a drug smuggling operation to Mexico as his fake suburban family. Bonus materials include featurettes, deleted scenes, outtakes, and more.
There are no direwolves or Steve Buscemi, but HBO’s Treme (HBO, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$49.99 SRP) has soldiered on into its three seasons with the same overlooked dignity as the city at its center, as the post-Katrina redevelopment of New Orleans continues to come with strings attached. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, music commentaries, and featurettes.
The great thing about Clear History (HBO, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.99 SRP) is that it’s one of those wonderfully absurd ensemble comedies that Larry Gelbart used to write… Think Barbarians At The Gate, and you’ve got this tale of a marketing executive at an electric car company (Larry David) who is publicly humiliated when he cashes out his percentage before the company goes on to make billions. Flash forward a decade and, living as a recluse on a small island, his new life is threatened by the one he left behind.
The highest praise I can give pure popcorn entertainment like 2 Guns (Universal, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$34.98 SRP) is that its evocative of the fast & loose unlikely buddy flicks of the 80s like Tango & Cash and 48 Hours, as Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg star as a pair of undercover federal agents forced to go on the run after a drug deal goes south, each unaware that the other is an agent. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, and featurettes.
For any fan of music and the seemingly magical craft that goes into producing hits, the documentary The Greatest Ears In Town (Shelter Island, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP) is a beautiful portrait of just such a genius – Arif Mardin. While you may not be familiar with Mardin by name, this doc illuminates that you certainly know the hits he’s produced from artists like The Bee Gees, Willie Nelson, Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, and many more.
While much of the bloom has been taken off Woodward and Bernstein in the years since their massive scoop, there’s still something empowering about the mythologizing the duo get in All The President’s Men (Warner Bros., Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$19.98 SRP), which is getting a brand new 2-disc special edition with the feature-length documentary All The President’s Men Revisited, plus additional documentaries, an audio commentary, featurettes, a vintage interview, and the trailer.
Fox has dropped another one of their periodic nuggets of catalogue gold with the high definition arrival of Joanne Woodward’s tour de force as the troubled housewife suffering from multiple personality disorder in The Three Faces Of Eve (Fox, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.99 SRP). Bonus materials include an audio commentary, a Fox Movietone News clip of the Academy Awards, and the theatrical trailer.
If you’ve ever wanted to see a grim, disheartening, and thoroughly dour take on Superman, then Zack Snyder’s drab Man Of Steel (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP) is the Superman for you, as it takes everything powerful, heroic, and uplifting about the cultural icon right out of the mix, leaving only a pale Batman wannabe with delusions of cosmic grandeur. If you think my dissatisfaction harsh, it’s not nearly as harsh as the film itself. Bonus materials include a clutch of featurettes.
Yes, yes – Know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em, and know there’s plenty of folksy charm to be had in the TV movie of Kenny Rogers The Gambler (Timeless Media Group, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.97 SRP), presented here in anamorphic widescreen. Heck, it’s even got Bruce Boxleitner. How can you not enjoy Captain Tron Sheridan?
Fans of the late, great Ernie Kovacs will want to pick up the straight-from-the-vaults-and-unseen-since-its-original-broadcast DVD debut of Here’s Edie (MVS, Not Rated, DVD-$49.95 SRP), the variety series starring Kovacs’ wife Edie Adams, which ran from 1962-1964. Guest stars include the likes of Sammy Davis Jr., Duke Ellington, Spike Jones, Bob Hope, Bobby Darin, and more. Bonus features include musical sketches from the Ernie Kovacs shows, ads, and a booklet.
When Mother Goose has rhymer’s block, it’s up to Elmo to try and save the day in Sesame Street: Fairy Tale Fun (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), featuring Oscar as the Prince Of Nice and Big Bird lending a helping hand to Hansel & Gretel.
Kids can get their winter fix of Dora with Dora’s Ice Skating Spectacular (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), which finds her going up against the Ice Witch to reclaim her friends’ stolen ice skates. And there’s a pair of bonus episodes to boot.
Following up on the super-massive release of the complete classic era of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comes the equally super-massive Power Rangers: Seasons 8-12 Collection (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$179.99 SRP), which brings things up to the near-present. The 26-disc set contains Lightspeed Rescue, Time Force, Wild Force, Ninja Storm, and Dino Thunder, plus an exclusive bonus disc packed with featurettes.
There are still people winging about 3D TVs in the home being a novelty, but when that novelty can give me nifty nature documentaries like Ocean Predators 3D, Fascination Coral Reef 3D: Hunters And The Hunted, & Polar Bears 3D: Ice Bear (Universal, Not Rated, 3D Blu-Ray-$26.98 SRP each), all of which are full of fascinating and immersive nature footage, then give me the miracle of modern novelty.
While I consider it to be the least of their efforts, I could still find something to like about Pixar’s Cars and its sequel, but there’s no charm to be found in the rather crass cash-in Planes (Walt Disney, Rated G, 3D Blu-Ray-$49.99 SRP), which takes the Cars design sensibility and translates it into even more toys, the lead of which is voiced by Dane Cook – who makes Larry The Cable Guy look like Richard Burton. Here’s hoping this is a one-time aberration… But I think we all know that’s not the case. Bonus materials include Deleted scenes, a bonus song, and featurettes.
Spawned in the mid-90’s and based on a pulp comic book, Tank Girl (Shout Factory, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$24.97 SRP) is a throwback to the gloriously cheesy low-budget sci-fi “eh-pics” of the 80s… You know, like Freejack. Think Road Warrior with Lori Petty as Mel Gibson. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, interviews, and a featurette.
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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