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…)
TV doesn’t get more perfect than the story and character bliss found in the second series of Steven Moffat & Mark Gatiss’s brilliant Sherlock (BBC, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.98 SRP). While “The Hounds of Baskerville” is a bit shaky, both “A Scandal In Belgravia” and ” The Reichenbach Fall” are just stunning. Bonus materials include audio commentaries and a behind-the-scenes featurette.
Do you have kids who have money they want to store in a fun way? Why get a traditional static (and boring) piggy bank when you can get a dynamic, motorized doggy bank? That’s just what Bailey The Mechanical Doggie Bank ($19.99) is. Put a coin in his food dish and he laps it up, right into safekeeping. Bow wow.
As brilliant as the author himself – who happens to be quite brilliant – Dave Hill’s collection of autobiographical essays, Tasteful Nudes: …and Other Misguided Attempts at Personal Growth and Validation (St. Martin’s Press, $24.99 SRP), is a slice of recursive brilliance. Go ahead and buy it, but only if you like to laugh. And if you don’t like to laugh, let this change your life. With laughter.
What’s wonderful about The Woman In Black (Sony, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP) is that it feels like a proper gothic ghost story, full of bumps and chills and none of the lazy gore and grisly grotesquerie that passes for modern horror. Blood and violence on screen is too easy, but the suspense and release that’s at play in this film, about a widowed lawyer (Daniel Radcliffe) sent to re mote village to save his career by putting the affairs of a recently deceased eccentric in order, only to find the town, and house, are full of secrets – is textbook proper. Bonus materials include an audio commentary and a pair of featurettes.
In the age of digital delivery, Paul McCartney is making the special edition purchase of traditional media truly desirable with exquisitely put together and very affordable deluxe catalogue releases for the true fan. Case in point is the Ram: Deluxe Book Edition (Hear Music, $94.19 SRP). Not only does it contain a beautifully restored version of the classic album, but also contains an additional 3 CDs full of rarities, demos, and live tracks, plus a DVD of videos, live performances, and a newly-produced documentary. If that weren’t enough, there’s also book, 5 8 x10 photos in a vintage-style photographic wallet, 8 full size facsimiles of Paul’s original handwritten lyric sheets, a mini photographic book of outtakes from the original album cover photo shoot, a Ram photo flip book, a free download card, and a year’s access to the member section of his website. This is the set to get.
Continuing their release of always must-see Studio Ghibli titles in high definition, Disney brings The Secret World Of Arriety (Walt Disney, Rated G, Blu-Ray-$22.99 SRP) – Ghibli’s take on The Borrowers – to the US in both its original Japanese form and the usual star-studded English vocals track. Bonus materials include featurettes, storyboards, trailers, and TV spots.
We’ve gotten the Die Hard films in high definition. We’ve gotten the Alien films. Superman? Check. Batman? Check. The most notable film franchise that hadn’t yet made it to high definition finally gets its turn with the release of the Lethal Weapon Collection (Warner Bros., Rated R, Blu-Ray-$79.98 SRP), which collects all four films plus a bonus disc packed with a clutch of new retrospective featurettes, in addition to all of the commentaries, deleted scenes, featurettes, and more which carry over from the previous DVD special editions of the films. Does the remastered sound and picture and batch of bonus featurettes make the upgrade worth it? Yes indeedy.
As much as I loved the music from the first season of Sherlock (and its accompanying score), I’ve enjoyed David Arnold & Michael Price’s music from Sherlock: Season 2 (Silva America, $15.00 SRP) even more. Pretty much equivalent to how absolutely brilliant that second season turned out to be.
It took awhile to finally hit a watchable groove, but when it did, the debut season of The River (ABC Studios, Not Rated, DVD-$29.99 SRP) made for a nice mystery about a missing nature TV presenter who goes missing in the Amazon, and the journey his wife and estranged son undertake into that odd, now-supernatural region to find him. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, deleted scenes, and a featurette.
While it’s interesting and mostly fun to see Chris Pine and Tom Hardy as a pair of covert CIA operative buddies who go to war over the love of a woman in This Means War (Fox, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), the fun mood is killed by the fact that woman ion question is played by Reese Witherspoon, who somehow manages to become more brittle with every role. I fear in a matter of a few more films, she’ll shatter. Bonus materials include featurettes, deleted scenes, alternate endings, and a gag reel.
When it comes to the subject matter, the documentary Carol Channing: Larger Than Life (E1, Rated PG, DVD-$24.98 SRP) certainly lives up to its billing, as it delves into the 90-year-old Broadway dynamo’s legendary career and the life behind it. The disc also sports 15 bonus featurettes.
You can get all of the kicks you could possible want via the new 24-disc Route 66: The Complete Series set (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$129.99 SRP), featuring all 116 episodes plus vintage commercials, an in-depth look at the Corvette, and the 1990 Paley Festival panel spotlighting the show.
Celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee (that’s 60 years of rule) with a pair of celebratory releases from the fine folks at the BBC. First and foremost is The Diamond Queen (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP), a documentary hosted by Andrew Marr which looks back at her reign. For architecture buffs, there’s The Queen’s Palaces (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP) which is a tour of exactly what it says on the tin.
I spent the entire first season of Teen Wolf (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) trying to figure out how this MTV hairy teen drama fit in with the Michael J. Fox (and Jason Bateman) sports comedy franchise. I suppose this modern angsty take isn’t intended for old people like me. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, 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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While many a college professor has probably done the same, Drunk History (Comedy Central, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP) makes learning train wreck fun by getting blitzed comedians to relate true stories from our country’s history in soused fashion, which are then reenacted by a bevy of guest stars. The 3 disc set contains the first two seasons, plus additional footage.
Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon return to their largely improvised hyper-reality selves in Michael Winterbottom’s The Trip To Italy (IFC, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.98 SRP), which finds the two awkwardly competitive chums chumming around Europe’s boot sampling fine fair and engaging in eminently watchable chitchat. Bonus materials include deleted scenes and a trailer.
Despite a shaky start and a network that doesn’t seem to know what to do with it, The Legend Of Korra Book Three: Change (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$35.98 SRP) finds the show coming fully into its own in a way that fans of the original Avatar: The Last Airbender had hoped it would, as all of the world and character building finally starts to coalesce into powerful storytelling. Bonus materials include audio commentaries and featurettes.
Fill the increasingly chilly hours during your December lock-in by partaking of a pair of Comedy Central shows ready for bingeing – Kroll Show: Seasons 1 & 2 (Comedy Central, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP) and Broad City: Season 1 (Comedy Central, Not Rated, DVD-$ SRP). Both are loaded with bonus features, including commentaries, outtakes, and more.
Taken as a slick B movie, the adaptation of Joe Hill’s pulpy morality horror Horns (Anchor Bay, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP) is an enjoyable bit of schlock, owing largely to lead Daniel Radcliffe as the devilish murder suspect who brings out the worst in those around him.
The Warner Archive continues to be a refuge for the studio’s often-overlooked animated fare, with brand new high definition releases for Young Justice: Invasion (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP) and the complete run of the newer take on Thundercats (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP). Young Justice sports a pair of audio commentaries on the two-part finale, plus interviews.
While purists may grumble with some alterations to the plot, none of that affects the thoroughly enjoyable soundtrack to Disney’s adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods (Walt Disney Records, $15.98 SRP), which gets a lavish 2-disc deluxe edition.
It may be a bit soft-focus, but there’s something certainly uplifting in The Hundred-Foot Journey (Dreamworks, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$36.99 SRP), starring Helen Mirren as an emotionally distant chef who feels profoundly disconcerted when a young Indian immigrant opens a restaurant 100 feet from her own, leading to an all-out war as worlds collide. Bonus materials include a clutch of featurettes.
The Beeb has kids covered this season with the A Very Funny Christmas collection (BBC Not Rated, DVD-$16.95 SRP) featuring the adaptations of David Walliams children’s books Gangsta Granny and Mr. Stink, plus the museum mystery of Guardians Of The Museum (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$18.86 SRP).
If, like me, you were onboard and hooked by the early days of Nick At Nite, a horse is a horse, of course, but there’s no horse as famous as Mister Ed (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$139.99 SRP), whose full six season run is available for the very first time in uncut form, with an audio commentary on the pilot, interviews with castmembers Alan Young and Connie Hines, and vintage Studebaker ads.
Dysfunction has rarely been as enjoyably watchable as in This Is Where I Leave You (Warner Bros., Rated R, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP), which finds a group of squabbling siblings forced to coexist under the same roof after their father passes away. Maybe that’s because the cast is stacked with aces including Tina Fey, Jason Bateman, Adam Driver, Ben Schwartz, Rose Byrne, and Jane Fonda. Bonus materials include featurettes, outtakes, and deleted/extended scenes.
It’s not often you see a romantic comedy centered around a pair of leads in the twilight of their lives, but Elsa & Fred (Millennium, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$24.99 SRP) anchors its enjoyable tale with Shirley MacLaine & Christopher Plummer. Bonus materials include a making-of featurette.
If nothing else, the sixth season of Happy Days (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) is memorable for the return of the Orkan alien Mork, played with gusto by Robin Williams, cementing the character’s spin-off future. The 4-disc set contains all 27 episodes, plus the 5th anniversary show “Mork Returns”.
Watching the Michael Bay-produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Paramount, Rated PG-13, 3D Blu-Ray-$54.99 SRP) is a painful view into a wrongheaded, steroidal world of poor decisions and even poorer design choices, particularly in a world where the consistently endearing animated Nickelodeon turtles exist. So truly, watch this at your own peril. Bonus materials include featurettes, an extended ending, and a music video.
Glen Morgan was part of the key creative team on The X-Files, and he brings that supernatural sensibility to the BBC’s eerie paranormal thriller Intruders (BBC, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$34.98 SRP), about a secret society whose key to immortality is taking possession of the living. And it stars John Simm and Mira Sorvino.
Listen, as far as charming little family flicks go, Dolphin Tale 2 (Warner Bros., Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP) delivers exactly that – a pleasantly warm diversion with an affable cast that neither offends any sensibilities nor will live terribly long in your memory. Bonus materials include featurettes and a blooper reel.
History buffs who want to pass the long family gathering hours watching documentaries instead can dive into the History Channel’s massive 20-disc The Definitive WWI & WWII Collection (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$99.98 SRP), which includes the docs World Wars, 100 Years Of WWI, 75 Years Of WWII, Patton 360, WWII From Space, The Color Of War, and WWII In HD.
Holiday viewing has reached its crass nadir with the arrival of Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever (Lionsgate, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), which exists solely to ensure that Aubrey Plaza can buy a new car with her fees for voicing the titular tabby.