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…)
The wait between seasons seems longer and longer, but when you view the 8 episodes comprising The Venture Bros.: Season Five (Adult Swim, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.98 SRP), you understand that the wait is a necessary byproduct of the quality Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer bring to the crafting of each and every episode. As a bonus, the set also contains both the Halloween and Shallow Gravy specials, plus audio commentaries on every episode from Astrobase Go.
As soon as we saw the seemingly endless variations of armor on display in Iron Man 3, we all knew it was going to be a marketing bonanza, so it came as little surprise that the ones to pounce on that opportunity were the fine folks at Hot Toys, who seem determined to make 1/6th scale versions of every single Tony Stark creation in the film. The first out of the gate is the Iron Man Mark XXI – Midas (Sideshow, $299.99), which presents the armored Avenger in gilded form, with the armor itself being very close in design to the bog standard red & gold outfit. Just gold. As usual, you get an incredible array of hands and flaps, plus the super-spiffy LED lighting in the chest, eyes, and palms.
It’s time for Matt Smith’s yuletide swan song as the 11th Doctor in Doctor Who: The Time Of The Doctor (BBC, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$19.98 SRP), which finds the post-50th anniversary time lord at the end of his regenerations and in a standoff with his greatest foes. Bonus materials include documentaries on Smith’s tenure and the inhabitants of the TARDIS over the years, plus a behind-the-scenes featurette.
Coming off a high water mark first season finale, the second season gets off to a running start with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutagen Mayhem (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), as the Turtles unwittingly shower the city with ooze canisters, leading to much… well… mayhem. This disc features the first 6 episodes of the season, plus 6 scene evolutions and a Channel 6 Special Report.
Shockingly, it’s taken this long for an official release of LA Law: Season One (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$29.93 SRP), but it should be little surprise that the much-loved NBC legal drama’s debut comes courtesy of those fine folks at Shout Factory. The 6-disc set contains all 22 episodes plus brand new interviews with creator Steven Bochco and the cast.
My overriding impression while watching Spike Lee’s Oldboy (Sony, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP) is that I really wish it was a better film. A vengeance tale about a kidnapped man (Josh Brolin) who is inexplicably released after 20 years in solitary confinement and proceeds to search for those responsible, it has all of the potential to have been great. It even has Samuel L. Jackson. Bonus materials include featurettes, alternate/extended scenes, and a workout video.
I’ve never really sparked to the books or the first film, but having seen The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (Lionsgate, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) in the theater with friends who were big fans, based on their positive reactions it seems the adaptation was a success. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, a making-of documentary, and deleted scenes.
At least in this age of ridiculously grim and gritty superheroes coming out of Warner Bros., we still have the fun and funny bright spot collected in Teen Titans Go: Mission To Misbehave (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$19.97 SRP), which collects 26 episodes of the Cartoon Network series.
You can now watch the goofy Nazis in space flick Iron Sky (E1, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.98 SRP) via an expanded director’s cut that adds 20 minutes of additional footage and revised special effects, with a brand-new making of documentary and a bonus booklet full of concept art.
Clint Eastwood returns to the role of foreman Rowdy Yates in the penultimate season of the show that launched the squinty-eyed legend, now available in Rawhide: Season 7 Volume 1 & Rawhide: Season 7 Volume 2 (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$45.98 SRP each). Each 4 disc set contains 15 episodes of old west action. Just don’t try to understand ’em.
Try to ignore some of the more sensationalized “history” found in the History Channel drama by exploring the actual facts in the BBC documentary Vikings (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP), in which historian Neil Oliver explores the actual Norwegian archeological sites to uncover the true facts about those legendary people.
No one did overblown Technicolor biblical epics like Cecil B. Demille, as you can see for yourself as another of his gets its high definition debut – because Samson And Delilah (Paramount, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$22.98 SRP) is just as deliriously overblown as you’d expect.
Though it presents a somewhat sanitized view of Nazi Germany, owing to its YA novel roots, The Book Thief (Fox, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) is still a sweetly inspiring tale of an illiterate young girl taken in by a German family who instill in her a love of reading and a compassion that finds outlet in protecting a young Jewish boy her adoptive family takes in. Bonus materials include featurettes and deleted scenes.
Venture into the mystery and intrigue roaming the university halls of Trinity (EagleVision, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP), about a college not in the least bit interested in giving up its secrets to a streetwise new student. Oh, and it also stars Charles Dance as a sinister professor. So it’s got that going for it. Bonus materials include a clutch of featurettes.
As one would expect, there’s ridiculous amounts of drama to be mined from the fashion world, so it should come as little surprise that the documentary Mademoiselle C (Cohen Media Group, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$34.98 SRP), which takes a behind the scenes look at French Vogue’s empress Carine Roitfeld, is a pretty interesting little watch. Bonus materials include premiere footage from Paris and the film’s trailer.
Fans of big giant robots that transform into planes, trains, and automobiles will want to pick up a pair of brand new releases – Transformers Prime: Ultimate Bumblebee (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$9.99 SRP) and Transformers Armada: The Complete Series (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$44.99 SRP). The Bumblebee release features 4 episodes of the modern series, while the 8-disc Armada contains all 52 episodes.
For the toddler set, this week brings Dora The Explorer: Dora In Wonderland (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, DVD-$16.99 SRP), which finds Dora exploring Wonderland (of course), and Bubble Guppies: Animals Everywhere (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, DVD-$16.99 SRP).
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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