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…)
Those gloriously wonderful folks at Shout Factory have rescued yet another beloved but neglected classic television show from the pits of neglect in the form of The Bob Newhart Show: The Complete Series (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$129.99 SRP). That’s right – you can now get all 142 episodes in one super-box, packed with audio commentaries and a bonus disc sporting the original version of the pilot, a reunion featurette, the 1991 19th anniversary special, a gag reel, and more. THIS is why Shout Factory is one of the best companies out there. Now, if only they could get their hands on Sgt. Bilko, I’ll be a very happy chappie.
For Doctor Who fans, Mark Gatiss’s docudrama An Adventure In Space And Time (BBC, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.98 SRP) is a brilliant love letter to the franchise, its creators, and its fans, as it tells the tale of the show’s humble origins as a simple kid’s show that managed to make all of the right decisions – including the casting of the irascible first Doctor, William Hartnell – to become an institution. Bonus materials include a making-of, deleted scenes, recreated classic Who scenes using vintage cameras, and a bonus DVD with the first Doctor’s inaugural story, “An Unearthly Child”.
After quite a long wait, the fine folks at Criterion have given another quirky Wes Anderson curiosity a high definition upgrade with The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (Criterion, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$39.95 SRP), and it both looks and sounds as snazzy as you were hoping. The massive clutch of bonus features should be familiar to fans of Criterion’s DVD release, including an audio commentary, the making-of documentary “This Is An Adventure”, an Italian talk show interview, an intern video journal, interviews with the cast and crew, a Mark Mothersbaugh interview, deleted scenes, still galleries, a conversation between Anderson and his brother, and Seu Jorge performing Bowie songs in Portuguese.
With a script from the Coen Brothers and a fun cast including Colin Firth, Cameron Diaz, and Alan Rickman, it’s surprising that Gambit (Sony, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$30.99 SRP) has made barely a ripple, as it’s a little confection of a con comedy, with an art curator (Firth) deciding to snooker his abusive media tycoon boss (Rickman) by getting him to purchase a fake Monet. Give it a spin.
Hard to believe there was a time that Clint Eastwood was the star of a TV show – and one that ran for eight years, at that – but now you can witness the end of that era with the release of that eighth and final season of Rawhide (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP), starring Eastwood as trail boss Rowdy Yates.
It was only a matter of time before a documentary was made about the life and career of Vincent Furnier, the preacher’s son better known to the world as Alice Cooper. Super Duper Alice Cooper (Eagle Vision, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$19.98 SRP) is that documentary, and it’s an exhaustive, engaging piece, peppered with contributions from contemporaries like Elton John and John Lydon, in addition to rare footage. Bonus materials include deleted scenes, additional rare footage, and interviews.
There’s no denying that Parts Per Billion (Millennium, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP) is a downer of a film. Considering it deals with humanity on the verge of extinction after a biological disaster, there should be little surprise in that. But thanks to a cast that includes Frank Langella and Gena Rowlands, it’s a fascinating character piece about how a trio of couples cope with the looming specter of death.
For anyone who doubted that we’d ever see the rest of it, Warners has released The New Adventures Of Superman: Seasons 2 & 3 (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$19.97 SRP), featuring 32 episodes produced by Filmation from 1966-1970. That just leaves the fourth and final season and it’s a wrap.
Catch up on the sixth and penultimate season of True Blood (HBO, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$79.98 SRP) before the final season premieres, as Sookie Stackhouse prepares to confront her parents’ killer at the same time the Louisiana governor calls open season on vampires. Bonus materials include audio commentaries and featurettes.
It’s become a go-to joke for a yokel paradise, but the story behind the Redneck Vegas, Branson, Missouri, makes for a fascinating story in the documentary We Always Lie To Strangers (Virgil Films, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP). It doesn’t change my opinion of the place, but it does allow me to understand why it became the powerful Ozarks oasis that exists today.
Even though outside success means that the days of Adam, Blake, and Ders are probably numbered, enjoy the merry misadventures of Workaholics (Comedy Central, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$22.98 SRP) in its fourth season. Two words: Renaissance Faire. Bonus materials include deleted/alternate scenes and outtakes.
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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