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…)
Further proving that everything is awesome, the awesome LEGO Movie (Warner Bros., Rated PG, 3D Blu-Ray-$59.98 SRP) arrives in full 3D glory just in time for a much needed boost of awesome as the sweltering heat of summer descends. It should come as no surprise that the only way you should purchase such an awesome film is via the deluxe “Everything Is Awesome Edition”, which features both the 3D and 2D versions of the film, plus a 3D portrait of Emmett and, most awesome of all, an exclusive Vitruvius LEGO minifigure. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, outtakes, and a sing-along. Awesome.
Seth MacFarlane relaunches Carl Sagan’s groundbreaking science program for a modern audience? The Family Guy guy? And it is great? Yes, the brand new Cosmos (Fox, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$59.98 SRP) truly is great, as Neil deGrasse Tyson fills Sagan’s massive shoes in spectacular fashion in a tightly crafted journey through the universe and humanity’s place within that impressive expanse, while also exploring our place on Earth. If you’ve not seen it, watch it. If you’ve seen it, watch it again, as well as the over 2 hours of bonus material and commentaries on the Blu-Ray set.
More often than not, I find I’m left cold by the overly-precious affectations of Wes Anderson’s films, but there is much to love in the rather straightforward fable presented in The Grand Budapest Hotel (Fox, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), which feels like his most straightforward narrative since Rushmore. Bonus materials include a trio of vignettes and a clutch of featurettes.
There’s brilliant and there’s bizarre, and then there’s the brilliantly bizarre True Detective (HBO, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$79.98 SRP), which has more twists and turns than nay one series has a right to, which is why to discuss it is to spoil and lovely little ride. It’s enough to say it stars Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey as a pair of police detectives investigating a bizarre murder, and… Oh, just watch it. Bonus materials include a pair of audio commentaries, featurettes, interviews, and deleted scenes.
There’s something instantly enjoyable about the travel documentaries fronted by Monty Python’s Michael Palin. As the Python troupe frequently exploited, there’s a lovely everyman quality to Palin that makes him intrinsically endearing. It also doesn’t hurt that the folks capturing his travels make it all look so gosh darn beautiful, as it most certainly does in his latest, Brazil (BBC, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.98 SRP), which finds Palin in the South American country currently hosting the World Cup.
The most I can say about Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (Paramount, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) is that it’s an entirely forgettable attempt to relaunch, yet again, Tom Clancy’s action superspy, this time as a fresh CIA recruit played by FauxKirk himself, Chris Pine. Stuff happens. Things blow up. It’s an okay ride, and Kevin Costner is there. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, and deleted/extended scenes.
Long after his original series, Raymond Burr’s Perry Mason returned for a run of guest-star filled TV movies which found the world’s foremost crime-solving lawyer getting many a client out of a right pickle. The run of these can be had in the 3-volume Perry Mason Movie Collection – Volume 1: Perry Mason Returns/The Case Of The Notorious Nun, Volume 2: The Case Of The Lost Love/The Case Of The Shooting Star, and Volume 3: The Case Of The Murdered Madam/The Case Of The Sinister Spirit (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$16.99 SRP each).
While it’s not nearly as good as the original 80s G1 animated series, Transformers: Animated (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$39.97 SRP) does at least fix the abysmal visual mess of the Michael Bay films into a much more pleasing form. The 6-disc complete series set contains all 42 episodes, plus audio commentaries.
If you’re younger than 30, you probably don’t recall that Sinbad was once a very funny stand-up comedian. Well, now you can find out just how he exists in my memory via his quite funny new stand-up special, Sinbad: Make Me Wanna Holla (Comedy Central, Not Rated, DVD-$16.99 SRP).
There’s nothing like a monster teaching manners, except when those monsters are the ones teaching manners in Sesame Street: Monster Manners (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), with the master class being given by none other than Cookie Monster.
The fine folks at Mill Creek have opened the floodgates of their classic Sony TV catalogue program, re-releasing a veritable ton of TV, including The Jeffersons: Seasons 1 & 2 (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), The Partridge Family: Seasons 1 & 2 (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), Highway To Heaven: Season 4 (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), Gidget: The Complete Series (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$9.98 SRP), Bewitched: Seasons 3 & 4 (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), Party Of Five: Season 1 (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), and The Larry Sanders Show: Seasons 1 & 2 (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP).
Plenty of shirts are discarded with prejudice in Teen Wolf: Season 3 Part 2 (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP). Oh, and there are werewolves. Plus a bonus featurette. But it’s mainly just about removing shirts, from what I can tell.
Howzabout a soundtrack round-up for this week? Now available for your listening pressure are Rolfe Kent’s score for Gambit (Lakeshore, $9.49 SRP), Scott Shields’ Strike Back (Varese Sarabande, $9.49 SRP), Tony Morales’ In Your Eyes (Lakeshore, $9.49 SRP), Ceiri Torjussen’s Test (Moviescore, $8.99 SRP), Nima Fakhara’s The Signal (Varese Sarabande, $9.49 SRP), Jeff Beal’s House Of Cards: Season 2 (Varese Sarabande, $18.49 SRP), and Trevor Morris’ The Vikings II (Sony Masterworks, $10.99 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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