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…)
While Disney has been slow in releasing their A-List animated films like The Little Mermaid and Aladdin, they’ve been doing quite a bang up job of cranking out the rest of their animated features. Coming down the pike this week are a trio of recent films – The Emperor’s New Groove, Atlantis, & Lilo & Stitch (Walt Disney, Rated G, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP each). All 3 releases also sport their direct-to-video sequels – Kronk’s New Groove, Milo’s Return, and Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has A Glitch. The only disappointment is that the releases are devoid of the bonus materials featured in their deluxe special edition DVDs – save for a handful of featurettes and deleted scenes that supplement Atlantis – which means we’ll inevitable be getting another release of these in the future. Hope it’s the near future.
If I were still a kid, I would probably never leave the Doctor Who TARDIS play tent ($104.99). At 61″ tall and with an interior printed with the 11th Doctor’s control room, it’s every bit the tiny Time Lord fortress of solitude. So, yeah, head on over to Thinkgeek and pick one up. I may crawl into mine right now, in fact.
Lisa Kudrow returns as the dysfunctional online therapist Fiona Wallace in the complete second season of Web Therapy (E1, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP), which manages to up the daft comedy even further with a star turn of patients that includes Lily Tomlin, Conan O’Brien, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and even Meryl Streep. Bonus materials include deleted scenes, a featurette, outtakes, and more.
I’ve always been fascinated to peek behind the curtain to see the nuts and bolts of filmmaking, so how about a clutch of tomes that do just that? You’ve got Sam Raimi’s recent journey to the world of L. Frank Baum in The Art Of Oz The Great & Powerful (Disney Editions, $40.00 SRP). Then there’s Tim Burton’s tale of a resurrected canine in Frankenweenie: The Visual Companion (Disney Editions, $50.00 SRP). If the adaptation of Max Brooks’s zombie infestation is more your style, then best pick up World War Z: The Art Of The Film (Titan Books, $19.95 SRP). And a last, get a better sense of the context of actual events that informed Steven Spielberg’s epic historical tale with Lincoln: A Cinematic And Historical Companion (Disney Editions, $45.00 SRP).
While the remake was all well and fine, nothing will match the power of Glenn Ford in the original 3:10 To Yuma (Criterion, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.95 SRP), which also just so happens to have gotten the premium high definition treatment from the fine folks at Criterion. Bonus features new interviews and their usual essay booklet.
After spending the first half of the 1970’s in fractured form, the original line-up of the Beach Boys came together, released an album, and were the spotlight of the television documentary Beach Boys: Good Vibrations Tour (Eagle Vision, Not Rated, DVD-$14.97 SRP), that combined concert footage, interviews, and filmed segments, and is now available for you to own and enjoy.
For a comics fan, there are few things in life more delightful than opening up a parcel from the fine folks at Twomorrows Publishing and finding a new clutch of wonderfully interesting tomes to dig into – the latest of which is the 2nd volume of The Best Of Alter Ego (Twomorrows, $19.95 SRP), Roy Thomas’s brilliant celebration of a bygone era, and Dan Spiegle: A Life In Comic Art (Twomorrows, $17.95 SRP), which spotlights the legendary artist.
Catch up with the slackers of TelAmeriCorp in the third season of Workaholics (Comedy Central, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$22.99 SRP), packed with 20 episodes of surprises, spying, roommates, and Jesus. Bone materials include commentary, alternate takes, featurettes, and bloopers.
I think the key takeaway of Stoker (Fox, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP) is to never let a family member move in, as a grieving daughter and her mother (Nicole Kidman) are surprised by the arrival of an uncle (Matthew Goode) they never knew existed in this whip-wicked little mystery. Bonus materials include featurettes, deleted scenes, and galleries.
Eiljah Wood and Jason Gann return as a man and his dog in the complete second season of the still delightfully weird Wilfred (Fox, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP). Bonus materials include deleted scenes, an exclusive short, featurettes, and a blooper reel.
Births, babies, and romance are all to be found in the second season of Call The Midwife (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$44.98 SRP), all of the episodes on which include an additional 10 minutes of exclusive runtime not seen in the original broadcast. Bonus materials include cast & crew interviews.
From the writers of The Hangover comes the college version of a trio of friends getting lost in a night of bacchanalia in 21 & Over (Fox, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), when a straight-A student on the day before a critical interview gets an unexpected visit from a pair of old friends intent on celebrating his 21st birthday. Bonus materials include featurettes and a gag reel.
I can’t say that Jack The Giant Slayer (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP) is a particularly good film, but it does at least try to be a rousing adventure yarn with a wink and a nudge, though never quite able to stick the landing despite game performances from Stanley Tucci and Ewan MacGregor. Bonus materials include an interactive guide with star Nicholas Hoult, deleted scenes, and a gag reel.
Star-studded and with so much potential, sadly Movie 43 (Fox, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) is just an obnoxious, crass, crude mess of a film… Which makes sense when you realize it’s from the mind of Peter Farrelly.
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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