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…)
If you only know him from Derrick Comedy or Community, you owe it to yourself to partake of Donald Glover’s first stand-up special Donald Glover: Weirdo (E1, Not Rated, DVD-$14.99 SRP), recorded live in New York. Bonus materials include an interview and a bonus featurette.
Who doesn’t love being able to launch things at friends, foes, and family alike with their very own desktop catapult? Particularly when that desktop catapult launches safety-friendly foam balls? Well, that’s just what the Air Strike Catapult ($14.99) lobs, with a range of up to 40 feet. Yes, you know you want one. So head over to Thinkgeek and get it. Just remember – the desktop arms race has begun.
Further closing the hole in fans’ complete collection of every episode, a pair of rather good Jon Pertwee 3rd Doctor stories – Doctor Who: The Daemons (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP) and a new 2-disc special edition of Doctor Who: Carnival Of Monsters (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP). Both are beautifully restored, considering that both suffered from the 1970’s-era BBC’s lack of care for the show’s master tapes. Both releases are jam-packed with the usual load of bonus materials, including commentaries, new documentaries, deleted scenes, interviews, ephemera, and more.
I’m delighted that my goof buddy Loren Bouchard’s brilliant Bob’s Burgers (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP) caught on in its debut season, because like all of Loren’s previous work, right back to Home Movies, his naturalistic, character-based comedy shines through the giddy absurdity of Bob Belcher and his family-run burger restaurant. Just pick this up, and watch it. Bonus materials include audio commentary, outtakes, featurettes, the original demo, a music video, and more.
While Meryl Streep is certainly wonderful in the role, it’s a shame that The Iron Lady (Anchor Bay, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) isn’t a better film, because Margaret Thatcher was certainly an interesting, very controversial figure, and the movie doesn’t quite ever capture that. A shame, really. Bonus materials include a clutch of behind-the-scenes featurettes.
It’s one of those not-terribly-good releases that curious and completionist genre fans have been asking about for years, so they’ll be delighted to get Logan’s Run: The Complete Series (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP), containing all 14 episodes of the small screen spin-off.
Kudos to director Brad Bird for helming Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (Paramount, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$44.99 SRP), the third film in the Mission Impossible series starring Tom Cruise as IMF superagent Ethan Hunt, which also happens to be the most enjoyable outing of the bunch. In fact, so much so that I wouldn’t mind seeing another outing from Bird. Bonus materials include deleted scenes, an audio commentary, making-of featurettes, and more.
Just when you thought it was safe to assume that David Attenborough and the BBC’s nature documentary team couldn’t possibly top themselves comes the incredible beauty of Frozen Planet (BBC, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.98 SRP), which – as you can probably guess – explores Earth’s Arctic and Antarctic regions. Bonus materials include bonus featurettes and video diaries.
Time for another soundtrack round up for all of you fans of cinematic scores – you know who you are. First up is David Arnold & Michael Price’s score from the BBC’s superb Sherlock (Silva Screen, $13.97 SRP), followed by another bit of Brit goodness with Marco Beltrami’s haunting score to The Woman In Black (Silva Screen, $14.12 SRP), and the new 2-disc special edition of James Horner’s score for Jim Cameron’s Titanic (Sony Classical, $22.19 SRP), which contains the traditional classical works performed by the Titanic band.
Kiddies and hipsters alike will rejoice at the release of Yo Gabba Gabba: Super Spies (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), which collects another 3 episodes of the trippy kinder show. But why no box sets?
While most of the talk has been about Michael Fassbender’s part in Steve McQueen’s Shame (Fox, Rated NC-17, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) – and his wonderful performance – I found Carey Mulligan’s presence to be just as riveting in a tale about a pair of damaged siblings and how the secret, destructive lives they’re both living come crashing down around them as they slam together. Bonus materials include a clutch of featurettes.
As if Frozen Planet weren’t enough, another visually stunning nature documentary hits home video this week with IMAX: Born To Be Wild (Warner Bros., Rated G, 3D Blu-Ray-$44.95 SRP), which looks at the people who rescue and raise orphaned orangutans and elephants. And as if IMAX wasn’t lovely enough, the 3D version is definitely the one to get, just for that aforementioned cinematography popping out at you. Bonus materials include webisodes and trailers.
Elmo gets supersized in Sesame Street: Big Elmo Fun (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), towering over the street in this collection of 3 full-length stories. Also included as a bonus is the video Monster Hits, featuring all your favorite Monster songs.
Fans can pick up the 7th volume of Seth MacFarlane’s often overlooked other series, American Dad (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP), which contains 19 episodes, audio commentaries, featurettes, and deleted scenes.
The adventures of Ben 10 come to a close with Ben 10 Ultimate Alien: The Ultimate Ending (Cartoon Network, Not Rated, DVD-$19.97 SRP), as he faces down both Dagon and Vilgax and everything comes crashing down.
The second season of Treme (HBO, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$79.98 SRP) brings the residents of New Orleans over a year past the events of Katrina, as the pieces remain fractured and the ability for the city to hold onto its identity seems an almost insurmountable task as people continue to move away and crime is on the rise. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, music commentaries, and featurettes.
Dance your weekend away – or at least watch the master do it – with a pair of deep catalogue release from the Warner Archive Collection starring the great Fred Astaire – The Sky’s The Limit & Living In A Big Way (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$17.95 each). Both are worth a spin based on charm alone.
How about a clutch of new releases from the History Channel? On the good side, you have a pair of documentaries worth a look-see, with Planet Egypt (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$24.95 SRP) exploring the ancient kingdom and its legacy, and The Presidents (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$29.95 SRP) exploring the lives and legends of the US Chief Executives. On the not-so-good side is their mostly obnoxious reality programming – which, granted, still has its fans, en masse – including the second volume of Only In America With Larry The Cable Guy (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$19.95 SRP), the fourth season of Billy The Exterminator (A&E, Not Rated, DVD-$19.95 SRP), the fifth season of the still-trucking Ice Road Truckers (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$29.95 SRP), and the third season of Top Shot (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$29.95 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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