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…)
As its original run was airing, I would rarely miss a new episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation (Paramount, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$129.99 SRP). As years have gone by, my love of the show has waned, and I find more and more flaws in its stories with the truly outstanding episodes dwindling to a handful. But I must applaud and support the phenomenal effort that has been put into making the show available in HD, which includes going back to the actual film source and constructing the show from all of the original elements in HD, rather than the original video mastering… Which means the show has never, ever looked as good and, frankly, modern as it does now. So for that reason alone, I recommend these sets, especially in hopes that their success will ensure Deep Space Nine gets the same treatment. As far as bonus features go, not only do we get the original DVD features, but also brand new documentaries, and the now-legendary blooper reel.
With the Holga iPhone Lens Filter Kit ($29.99), you have the ability – via a simple rotary design – to rotate in nine different filters, from gels to duplications and more. It’s a fun little add-on to muck around with on a summer’s day.
The gap between releases is an endurance test, but when a new Cinematic Titanic Live DVD arrives, the beautiful little comedy gem makes you forget just how long it’s been since the last one. And oh, does Rattlers (Cinema Titans, Not Rated, DVD-$14.99) deliver some comedy gold, as a discount Ken Doll (and tenured herpetologist) intones his way through a ham-fisted entry in that honored 70’s genre – animals gone scholockily wild. Get this, and hope that the wait for the next release is far shorter.
Another month, another pair of classic Doctor Who releases bringing us that much closer to having all of the almost 30 years of stories on DVD. And this month brings a pair of corkers – Patrick Troughton’s 2nd Doctor in Doctor Who: The Krotons (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP) and Jon Pertwee’s 3rd Doctor in Doctor Who: Death To The Daleks (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP). As usual, both are loaded with bonus features, the real standout being the nearly hour-long 2nd Doctor retrospective on Krotons.
Yes, American Masters: Johnny Carson – King of Late (PBS, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.99) is just as brilliant and welcome and ultimately unsatisfying as I hoped it would be. Really, any attempt to paint a portrait of the famously private Carson was going to leave a viewer left wanting, but I’m delighted that a portrait even exists, which is a brilliant appreciation of what made Johnny king – a crown no one else has come to claiming.
I’ve said it before, and I shall continue to say it as long as he continues to write them – If you’ve not yet read John Swartzwelder’s series of brilliantly comic novels starring dim detective Frank Burly, than you do not deserve to be literate. So yes, do catch up, and also pick up the latest – The Million Dollar Policeman (Kennydale Books, $15.95 SRP) – or just walk away and never read again.
The fine folks at Fantagraphics continue to do more to keep classic Disney characters in front of audiences than Disney does, with the release of both the 3rd volume collecting Floyd’s Gottfredson’s classic Mickey Mouse comic strip, Mickey Mouse: High Noon At Inferno Gulch (Fantagraphics, $29.99 SRP), and the 2nd volume collecting the works of the great Carl Barks, Uncle Scrooge: Only A Poor Old Man (Fantagraphics, $28.99 SRP). Presented in beautiful hardcover form and supplemented by essays and insight, they are must have additions to the library of fans and sure-to-become-fans alike.
And speaking of a company doing fine work for those who truly love comics, the folks at Twomorrows have released a pair of books which are both worth picking up – Marie Severin: The Mirthful Mistress Of Comics (Twomorrows, $24.95 SRP) looks at the silver age Marvel Bullpen legend, while Modern Masters: Eric Powell (Twomorrows, $15.95 SRP) takes a look at the art of the man behind The Goon. Both are packed with interviews and art and yes, both should be on your shopping list.
While the US remake has me worried, the must-see feature film is getting it’s US debut soon and the original UK series has finally been released in the US. So what does that mean? That means you should get The Inbetweeners: The Complete Series (eOne, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) immediately, and partake of the immature misadventures of Will, Neal, Simon & Jay. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, featurettes, and more.
The show may be running out of steam, but there’s still a lot of fun to be had in the 4th season of iCarly (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP), which comes bearing 10 episodes in widescreen for the first time, all of which are full of hijinks. Hi-jinks, I tells ya. Bonus materials include 5 episodes of the show How To Rock.
Warners has brought a pair of much-requested sci-fi titles to high definition with the arrival of Peter Hyams’ Outland (Warner Bros., Rated R, Blu-Ray-$19.98 SRP), starring Sean Connery as a colonial marshal on Jupiter’s moon investigating the mysterious deaths of miners, and Ken Russell’s still-bizarre Altered States (Warner Bros., Rated R, Blu-Ray-$19.98 SRP). As far as bonus materials go, Outland gets an audio commentary and trailer, while Altered States gets only a trailer. Still, at least we finally have both of these flicks on Blu-Ray.
Been waiting for another UCB movie? I have. Is there another UCB movie, written and helmed by Matt Besser and starring his brilliant partners? Yes, there is. Does it have dance? Not only does it have dance, it has Freak Dance (Image, Not Rated, DVD-$27.97 SRP) – The greatest dance of them all. Just watch it. Now. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurette, and deleted scenes.
Still one of the greatest concert movies ever put to film, Peter Gabriel: Secret World Live (Eagle Vision, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$19.98 SRP) makes its way to high definition in a phenomenal presentation whose sound is an improvement over the already-stellar DVD from a few years back. Get this.
Seeing as how every season since the third has gotten a concurrent high-definition releases, Warners has gone back to fill in the blanks with high-definition releases of The Big Bang Theory: Season 1 & The Big Bang Theory: Season 2 (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP each). Both have the same featurettes and gag reels of their original DVD versions, but now the picture looks oh so much better.
Yeah, I don’t know if I really wanted to catch up with the characters of American Pie almost 15 years later, and seeing them coming to terms with adulthood and families and maturity and stagnation in American Reunion (Universal, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.96 SRP) proves my initial trepidation to be prescient, as boy, is this just an awkward trudge. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, featurettes, and a gag reel.
What a world we live in when Mel Gibson has so damaged his reputation that his new film essentially goes direct-to-video, as is the case with the action flick Get The Gringo (Fox, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP), where he’s a grizzled thief whose last heist lands him in a Mexican prison, and mixed up with corrupt cops, druglords, and a 10-year-old boy with a special liver. Bonus materials include featurettes and a music video.
Many years ago, the book Salmon Fishing In The Yemen (Sony, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP was recommended to me by the great Neil Innes. I enjoyed the book immensely. The film, while not as great as the book, is a worthy adaptation of the source material. Bonus materials include a pair of featurettes.
There’s nothing altogether wrong about Friends With Kids (Lionsgate, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) – in fact, it has a great cast (everyone from Maya Rudolph and John Hamm to Chris O’Dowd and Kristen Wiig) – it’s just that its romantic comedy tropes feel like warmed over Judd Apatow… Which is no mean feat, considering Judd Apatow movies feel like warmed over Judd Apatow. In a nutshell, it’s about a pair of friends (Adam Scott & writer/director Jennifer Westfeldt) who, upon seeing the rest of their friends have kids, decided to have a baby together… But remain platonic friends and still actively pursue outside relationships. See? Bonus materials include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, a gag reel, and more.
Hans Zimmer’s score to The Dark Knight Rises (Water Tower Music, $10.00 SRP) wraps up Christopher Nolan’s trilogy with cues as dark, brooding, and majestic as you’ve come to expect, aided by a powerful sonic arrival of baddie Bane.
For a unique view of history, look no further than Michael Wood’s Story Of England (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP), which charts the country’s history using a single village over the course of 2000 years, from the Roman occupation to the present day.
Warners, MGM, and Sony have all jumped into the MOD catalogue business, but one of the studios with the biggest libraries has finally arrived on the scene with the 20th Century Fox Cinema Archives, dropping 15 never-before-released titles that cinema fans are sure to want to snap up. That initial batch is comprised of Dangerous Years, Fraulein, Love Is News, Mr. Belvedere Rings The Bell, My Wife’s Best Friend, Rings On Her Fingers, Suez, Diplomatic Courier, They Came To Blow Up America, Way Of A Gaucho, Claudia, The Foxes Of Harrow, Kidnapped, Frontier Marshal, Life Begins At Eight-Thirty (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP each).
MGM’s MOD Limited Edition Collection has dropped a new clutch of titles from the vault, the highlights of which are Dave Thomas and Sally Kellerman in the Boris And Natasha: The Movie (MGM, Rated PG, DVD-$19.98), Tab Hunter and Jim Backus in Operation Bikini (MGM, Not Rated DVD-$19.98), Boris Karloff in Mr. Wong In Chinatown (MGM, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98), and Mickey Rooney in Leave ‘Em Laughing (MGM, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98).
Disney continues to fulfill their promise to unleash a slew of catalogue titles on Blu-Ray this year, with this week bringing a new release, including Robert Redford in The Horse Whisperer (Touchstone, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$20.99 SRP), Diane Lane in Under The Tuscan Sun (Touchstone, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$20.00 SRP), and John Travolta in Phenomenon (Touchstone, Rated PG, DVD-$20.00 SRP).
The Three Stooges film (Fox, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) just confuses me. I want to hate it. It wants to be loved. We meet in the middle at “eh.” But I did walk away wanting a film with Nun Larry David. So that’s something, right? Bonus materials include deleted scenes, featurettes, and a screen test.
If you’ve got kids, Scholastic’s ever-expanding library of animated adaptations of children’s books is worth picking up, the latest of which is My First Collection Volume 3: Featuring Chicken Little (Scholastic, Not Rated, DVD-$24.95 SRP), which collects 13 award-winning stories across 3-discs.
In this week’s reality dump, we get another pseudo-nailbiting season of IRT Deadliest Roads (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$29.95 SRP), in which another batch of truckers truck their way through deadly trucking territory in a truckmanlike fashion, this time in the high Andes. Also available is the third volume of Storage Wars (A&E, Not Rated, DVD-$19.95 SRP), in which the usual suspects lift a lot of doors to pull out a lot of junk.
Slowly but surely we’re creeping towards catching up as Roy Clarke’s long-running Last Of The Summer Wine (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP) brings its vintage up to 1992, which also features that year’s special “Stop That Castle”.
This week’s spotlight of what those purveyors of wonder over at Sideshow and Hot Toys have on tap features a pair – yes, that’s two! – figures that are available right now, both from the same film. First up is the very limited San Diego Comic-Con exclusive Captain America – Rescue Version ($219), sporting the outfit Steve Rogers quickly assembled in order to save his fellow soldiers. Next up is the dastardly villain Cap was rescuing those solders from – The Red Skull ($199.99). As you can see from the photos, both figures feature exquisitely tailored costumes and eerily lifelike head sculpts. I mean, just look at that swappable Hugo Weaving head! The work that Hot Toys is doing is, quite simply, amazing. If you can get them both, do so. You’ll regret passing them up later.
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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With not the least bit of hyperbole, Criterion’s new high definition remaster of the Beatles’ legendary feature debut, A Hard Day’s Night (Criterion, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.95 SRP), is absolutely stunning. Crystal clear with nary a blemish to be found, it looks as pristine as one could possible hope for. Add a brilliant new sound mix that is equally as sharp, and you’ve got the ultimate presentation of the still-enjoyable lark. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, a featurette incorporating vintage interviews with the Fab Four, a pair of making-of documentaries, a featurette on director Richard Lester’s work, Lester’s Oscar-nominated The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film, a featurette on Lester’s style, and more. Get this.
Fans knew it was only a matter of time before we could finally buy our own toy version of The Other Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver (Underground Toys/Thinkgeek, $23.99) from the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special “The Day Of The Doctor”, as wielded by John Hurt. It features a light-up tip and four individual sound effects.
A few years back, it seemed a pretty unlikely notion that Paramount would invest the money necessary to completely remaster Star Trek: The Next Generation (Paramount, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$129.99 SRP) in high definition. Now, we’ve got 6 of the show’s 7 seasons fully remastered from the original 35mm elements, and even when the stories are lackluster, the show looks and sounds spectacular. Bonus features include everything available with the previous DVD edition, plus newly-produced documentaries, commentaries, and a gag reel. As they have with previous seasons, they’ve also carved out a two-parter – this time, it’s the Cardassian torture episodes Chain Of Command (Paramount, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.99 SRP) – and edited them into a feature-length presentation, with a new audio commentary and documentary.
They were the first to commit to the idea, and Warner Bros. remains at the forefront of getting their deep catalogue titles out to the diehard fans of various properties via their Warner Archive, which has just dropped a slew of brand new discs. First and foremost, their Blu-Ray program has released the long-awaited John Milius masterpiece The Wind And The Lion (Warner Bros., Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$21.99 SRP), sporting an audio commentary from Milius and a behind-the-scenes featurette. They’ve also given a high-def release to the first season of The Mentalist (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$40.99 SRP), with featurettes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel. On the standard-def MOD deep catalogue side, they’ve released 1979’s Beyond The Poseidon Adventure (Warner Bros., Rated PG, MOD DVD-$17.99 SRP), Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes (Warner Bros., Rated R, MOD DVD-$17.99 SRP), and Paul Greengrass’s Bloody Sunday (Warner Bros., Rated R, MOD DVD-$17.99 SRP).
But it’s not just feature films in the offing, as the Warner Archive wraps up a classic series with the release of Maverick: The Complete Fifth Season (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$40.99 SRP) and its short-lived 80’s follow-up Bret Maverick (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$47.99 SRP), which returned James Garner to his iconic role. On the animated front, Warners delivers both Challenge Of The Gobots: The Original Miniseries (Warner Bros., Not Rated, MOD DVD-$17.99 SRP) and Challenge Of The Gobots: The Series – Volume One (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$35.99 SRP), Jonny Quest: The Complete Eighties Adventures (Warner Bros., Not Rated, MOD DVD-$29.99 SRP), and The Jetsons: Season 3 (Warner Bros., Not Rated, MOD DVD-$21.99 SRP).
I’m still not entirely sure if I like Comedy Bang Bang (Anchor Bay, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP). I mean, I think I do… And then it just gets slightly more bizarre than actually funny bizarre, and I have to reconsider my position. Your mileage may vary. I *think* I like it. Yeah. The complete second season set contains audio commentaries, VFX tests, supercuts, test shoots, and more.
Few series stand up terribly well decades after they first aired, but one that most certainly does is I Spy (Timeless Media Group, Not Rated, DVD-$129.99 SRP), which is available for the first time as a complete series box set collecting all 3 seasons. And the reason it holds up so well? The timeless affability and charm of its secret agent double act, Robert Culp and Bill Cosby. Give it a spin and you’ll see for yourself.
It doesn’t quite succeed in what it’s trying to do, but Winter’s Tale (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP) still manages to be a perfectly enjoyable little fable about the struggle of good versus evil with the love of a woman at its core. And who doesn’t want to see Russell Crowe and Colin Farrell as the adversaries in that struggle? Bonus materials include a clutch of featurettes.
Shout Factory has become the last great hope for many TV series whose DVD releases were cut off short of completion, as they turn their benevolence towards Sipowicz and his new partner Danny Sorenson (Ricky Schroder) for the complete sixth season of NYPD Blue (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$34.99 SRP). The 6-disc set contains all 22 episodes, but sadly no bonus features.
When you watch 300: Rise Of An Empire (Warner Bros., Rated R, 3D Blu-Ray-$44.95 SRP), expectations are quite simple – essentially, a rudimentary plot that exists solely as a lattice upon which to hang nudity, blood, guts, and incredibly displays of deep male bonding. And guess what? That’s exactly what you get! Plus sea battles! Bare-chested sea battles! It’s so much easier when a film just gets to its point. Bonus materials include a grab bag of behind-the-scenes featurettes.
Fans of Dora and her monkey sidekick will want to explore her latest DVD release, Dora The Explorer: Dora’s Magical Sleepover (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), which includes her titular museum sleepover adventure, plus two more bonus episodes.
If the first two years were awkward and the future brought diminishing returns, the 3rd season of 
And speaking of the season 3 finale, Paramount is also releasing 
Best known as a correspondent for The Daily Show, comedian Al Madrigal gets his first full-length stand-up special with 
The Warner Archive Collection continues to be a source of catalogue titles that would probably otherwise never see the light of day, but whose limited run availability delights a small but interested fanbase. Case in point is the complete first season of the 1960’s medical drama 
You could tell when watching The Sopranos that creator David Chase was a lover of music, and he gets to explore that affection with a love letter to those who share his passion in his directorial debut, 
Baz Luhrmann’s kinetic technicolor celebration of dance comes to Blu-Ray with the high definition release of 
Disgraced NYPD officer turned PI Mark Wahlberg takes on a case to follow the wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) of the mayor (Russell Crowe) who believes she’s cheating on him in the crime thriller 
Who could have predicted that the patron saints of stoner comedy would make their triumphant return in animated form, but that’s just what has come to pass with 