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…)
After years of pale impressions of brilliant piss-takes Airplane! and Police Squad!, Charlie Brooker does an equally pitch-perfect parody of the TV detective genre with A Touch Of Cloth (Channel 4, Not Rated, DVD-£12.99 SRP), which manages the delicate balance of smart writing, deft direction, and actors who are up to the challenge. Just watch the damn thing already, and delight in the fact that more episodes are coming down the pike soon. Bonus materials include a clutch of interviews.
Want a quick and idiot proof way to add some versatile LED lighting to your home or office? Try the OLS Pro Multi-Color Lighting Kit ($149.99), which comes with a handful of LED strips you can stick to any surface, coupled with a remote control that allows you to rainbow up your options for complete flexibility. Now head over to Thinkgeek and grab one!
While the criticisms of emotional button-pushing remain, time has only increased my estimation of E.T. (Universal, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$34.98 SRP), which plays more and more as a gruff view of a broken family being brought together… admittedly by an extra-terrestrial. This high definition restoration is really quite beautiful, trumping the DVD anniversary edition from almost a decade ago. And missing from this release? The atrocious “walkie-talkie” version. Good riddance. Bonus materials include deleted scenes and a handful of featurettes.
It seems long overdue, but Richard Schickel’s Steven Spielberg: A Retrospective (Sterling, $35.00 SRP) is a beautifully put-together overview of Spielberg’s directing career, made so by Spielberg’s involvement in discussing his films and putting them within a personal context. A brilliant book for fans and cinephiles alike.
And now that you’ve bought your high definition copy of Steven Spielberg’s classic, why not explore its creation and read the screenplay in the illustrated 30th anniversary edition of ET The Extra-Terrestrial: From Concept To Classic (It Books, $24.99 SRP), which is packed with behind-the-scenes photos, art, and information.
A trio of Major Toms make a mysterious return from Mars and prove to be a conspiracy almost too hot to handle for Jon Pertwee’s 3rd Doctor & companion Liz Shaw in the latest classic Doctor Who release Ambassadors of Death (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP). The wonderful Restoration Team has put a lot of work into bringing color back to this serial, one of many hurt by the BBC’s tape wipe policy, which had left the only surviving film version a black & white print. Bonus materials are the usual fun collection of featurettes.
It’s a mess in many ways, but there’s a bizarre zeal to the Beatles’ underappreciated TV special Magical Mystery Tour (Apple, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.98 SRP), which gets a startlingly brilliant treatment in high definition. If you’ve never seen this televisual fever dream, you owe it a spin. Bonus materials include a McCartney audio commentary, featurettes, rare footage, and more.
It can get a bit draggy, but I admit that dozens of childhood cable viewings has endeared John Huston’s wonderfully off-key Annie (Sony, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$14.99 SRP) to me. The actors all came to play, especially noteworthy being Carol Burnett’s turn as the wonderfully boozy yet still horrible Miss Hannigan. And after years of sub-par pan & scan DVD releases, we finally get an anamorphic remastered print that looks and sounds great. Bonus materials include a clutch of featurettes.
As far as CG has come, it still lacks the subtle charms and realistic touch that can be found in traditional stopmotion animation. The methods have been refined greatly over the last few years, as is readily evident when you explore The Art And Making Of Paranorman (Chronicle, $40.00 SRP), about the latest effort from the same studio that produced Coraline. This the usual wonderful Chronicle Art Of book, packed with photos and conceptual artwork.
The problem with Prometheus (Fox, Rated R, 3D Blu-Ray-$24.99 SRP) is that Ridley Scott would rather be coy than commit. A true shame, because I certainly was open for an Alien prequel with big ideas beyond the simply action-oriented sequels, but it was with the hope that we might actually get some simple answers rather than watch an extended preview for whatever the next film is. It is a beautiful film, though, with a wonderful performance from Michael Fassbender as the android David, but those are the only real highlights, particularly among a cast of largely idiotic characters (save for the aforementioned David and Idris Elba’s captain) that never should have been allowed on such an important mission. Bonus materials include an audio commentary and deleted scenes. For the real meat – a 3 1/2-hour documentary – you’ll have to get the 3D edition.
A camp masterpiece gets the high definition treatment with the arrival of the feud-tastic What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$34.99 SRP), a tour de force for both Bette Davis and Joan Crawford as an aging child star and her crippled sister. The pair of siblings are in a lifelong contest of psychological warfare, and the restoration work done for this release is top notch. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, documentaries, featurettes, and the theatrical trailer.
It’s difficult to enjoy a musical like Rock Of Ages (New Line, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP) when you really don’t like many of the rock hits presented, from everyone from Def Leppard to Poison – Just not my cup of tea, really. But even getting over that hurdle, you’re left with a middling flick with pretensions to greatness, unsure of the line between earnestness and schlock in its tale of a teen with stars in her eyes who gets a wake-up call when she hits the late 80’s Sunset Strip trying to break into the business. Much like the music itself, really. Bonus materials include a clutch of featurettes.
The DVD release of the ginger legend’s last great sitcom comes to a close with the release of The Lucy Show: Official Sixth & Final Season (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP), featuring guest stars including Carol Burnett and Jack Benny, plus a slew of bonus features from rare footage and outtakes to galleries and vintage openings & closings.
Got kids? Pick up the latest brilliant Scholastic Storybook Treasures My First Collection Volume 4 Featuring Robot Zot! (Scholastic, Not Rated, DVD-$24.95 SRP), featuring the aforementioned robot tale, plus 11 addition al tales animated in a fund and engaging way.
This week’s soundtrack pick is Edgar Rothermich’s faithful reconstruction and performance of Vangelis’ score to Blade Runner (BSX Records, $19.30 SRP) – a score which has never gotten a proper release due to a dispute between Vangelis and Ridley Scott. So this is as close as your going to get, and it really does sound fantastic.
For hardcore and casual Disney fans alike, Dave Smith’s Disney Trivia From The Vault: Secrets Revealed And Questions Answered (Disney Editions, $9.99 SRP) is a treasure trove of little known informational nuggets regarding every corner of the Mouse House, from the films to the parks. And Smith should know what he’s talking about, as he’s the Chief Archivist Emeritus of the Walt Disney Archives.
The 7th season of Bones (Fox, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$69.99 SRP) finds Emily Deschanel’s Dr. Temperance Brennan in the throes of motherhood while still loaded down with homicides to solves, all while her bond with David Boreanaz’s Agent Booth grows deeper. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, featurettes, and a gag reel.
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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Let’s kick things off this week with a very special video feature – an episode of COOKERY! hosted by me, Ken Plume. Like many others before me, I’ve become addicted to partaking of both Pineapple and Orange-flavored Dole Whips whilst enjoying a day… or a week (whatever!)… in either Disneyland or Walt Disney World. Thanks to a bit of sleuthing and the fine folks at Precision Foods and Cuisinart’s ICE-45 soft-serve ice cream machine, I managed to make my very own batch of Dole Soft Serve in my very own home, and you can, too. Watch…
Oh, Shout Factory. I’ve long since come to have an unconditional belief in your ability to clear even the gnarliest of rights tangles, and you’ve proven your miraculous powers once again in Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XXXII (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$59.97 SRP) and its inclusion of Space Travelers (aka Marooned), which was once thought to be unclearable. And then you did it. The set rounds out with Hercules, Radar Secret Service, and San Francisco International, making for a nice mix of Joel and Mike episodes, plus a clutch of bonus featurettes and introductions from Frank Conniff.
Their brand new seasons are returning soon to deliver us from the doldrums of Girls, but in the meantime you can rewatch the stellar debut season of Silicon Valley (HBO, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$49.99 SRP) and the equally brilliant third season of Veep (HBO, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$49.99 SRP). As for bonus materials, Silicon Valley has audio commentaries and a trio of featurettes, while Veep has a quartet of audio commentaries and a clutch of deleted scenes.
In an era of CG, it’s refreshing to see a beautifully realized animated film like Song Of The Sea (Universal, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$34.98 SRP) done in hand-drawn 2D by the same folks who created the also-gorgeous Secret Of The Kells. Based on the Irish legend of the Selkies, it’s like getting a feature film mash-up between The Legend Of Zelda and The Black Cauldron. And did I mention how wonderful it looks? Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, and animation tests.
I’d like to say that the final installment of Peter Jackson’s 3-part adaptation of pulls together all of the threads into a gloriously satisfying finish, but The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, 3D Blu-Ray-$49.95 SRP) instead feels like a lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing. There are some grand moments, and a fair number of characters we’ve come to, if not love, at least be fond of, but poor Bilbo feels like an afterthought in his own story, as the focus remains squarely on Thorin and its associated sturm & drang. A shame, really. And we all know we’re merely marking time until the release of the expanded edition at the end of the year, so this theatrical cut gets only the barest of bonus features, with about an hour’s worth of featurettes.
Chris Rock is a funny, funny man. And his writing and directorial debut, Top Five (Paramount, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) is a funny, funny film, starring Rock as a stand-up forced to take a long, hard look at himself after an encounter with a journalist (Rosario Dawson). Bonus materials include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, and outtakes.
As both a documentary film and a powerful indictment of justice mishandled, Errol Morris’s The Thin Blue Line (Criterion, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.95 SRP) remains just as effective today, particularly in light of recent events. And now the film looks and sounds better than ever, thanks to a high definition upgrade from Criterion. Bonus materials include new interviews with Morris and The Act Of Killing director Joshua Oppenheimer, an NBC news report from 1989, and an essay by film scholar Charles Musser.
It seems hard to believe, but it’s only now that the Marlon Brando classic The Wild One (Mill Creek, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$14.98 SRP) is making its high definition debut. Joining it on Blu-Ray is the lesser Orson Welles classic The Lady From Shanghai (Mill Creek, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$14.98 SRP). Both are a long time in coming, but finally here.
Much like the overly-ballyhooed Gravity before it, Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar (Paramount, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) tries to trade on a ham-fisted approach to real science before devolving into mealy-mouth spiritual gobbledygook in a saccharine finale. Which is a shame, because it could have been so much more, rather than a half-baked Kubrick. Bonus materials include a clutch of behind-the-scenes featurettes.
A beautifully shot documentary about an incredibly nifty animal narrated by Morgan Freeman? In 3D? Yes, please. Because that’s exactly what IMAX Island Of Lemurs: Madagascar (Warner Bros., Rated G, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP) delivers. plus a passel of additional featurettes.
If you’re not willing or able to dive into the complete season sets but just want to dip your toe, CBS has released a trio of sampler collections for just that purpose. Star Trek: Captain Kirk’s Boldest Missions (CBS, Not Rated, DVD-$16.99 SRP) contains the episodes “The Corbomite Maneuver”, “The Doomsday Machine”, “The City On The Edge Of Forever”, “The Conscience Of The King”, “Balance Of Terror”, “Space Seed”, “Mirror Mirror”, and “Return To Tomorrow”. Matlock: Greatest Cases (CBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP) is a 3-disc affair sporting a dozen episodes spanning the run of the show. Finally, Petticoat Junction: Family Favorite Episodes (CBS, Not Rated, DVD-$12.98 SRP) sports 8 episodes, fully restored, from across its black & white and color run.
Exercise your dormant creativity with Drawing Is Magic: Discovering Yourself In A Sketchbook (Melanie Falick, $17.95 SRP), as artist John Hendrix presents scores of brilliant creative prompts and lessons that make drawing fun and interactive.
Another week, and the fine folks at Olive Films surprise with another solid clutch of new-to-high-def catalogue releases. This week brings Brian Dennehy & James Woods in Best Seller (Olive, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP), Bill Pullman & Gabriel Byrne in Wim Wenders’ The End Of Violence (Olive, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP), Robert Duvall & James Earl Jones in Convicts (Olive, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP), Gary Oldman & Dennis Hopper in Chattahoochee (Olive, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP), Tim Roth & Paul Rhys in Vincent & Theo (Olive, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP), and the brilliant documentary John Ford: Dreaming The Quiet Man (Olive, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP), about the director’s 20 year journey to realize his film.
It came and went at the box office, but the modern re-make of Annie (Sony, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$38.99 SRP) is a nice little charmer, even if it will never reach the iconic status of the flawed John Huston take on the musical. Bonus materials include featurettes, an audio commentary, a deleted song, bloopers, a music video, and more.