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…)
Any time we can get fully remastered editions of the Studio Ghibli films, color me delighted – and that’s just we’ve got with new 2-disc special editions of Castle In The Sky, Kiki’s Delivery Service, & My Neighbor Totoro (Walt Disney, Rated PG/G/G, DVD-$29.99 SRP each). Each release features a behind-the-scenes exploration of the film, an introduction by John Lasseter, and a storyboard presentation of the film. Sadly, none of the films are getting a Blu-Ray release, but at least the most recent – Ponyo (Walt Disney, Rated G, Blu-ray-$ SRP) – does, and comes with a standard version to boot, plus the same bonus materials as the other Ghibli releases. Will we get high definition versions of them soon? I hope so.
Eliminate all of those excuses about it being far too difficult and time consuming to brew a proper mug of tea by picking up the IngenuiTEA 16oz teapot ($18.99), an ingenious device that allows you to put the tea leaves in the plastic pot, brew to perfection, then set it on your mug and let the spring action release just the tea – leaving the leaves behind. Great, right?
Prior to starring in John Carpenter’s Elvis (Shout! Factory, Rated PG, DVD-$19.99 SRP), Kurt Russell was largely known for the work he’d done at the Disney studio as a teenager. After his remarkable turn in this memorable biopic, there was little doubt that Russell had an adult career in the offing. This new special edition sports an audio commentary, a new featurette with archival interviews, rare American Bandstand clips, and a photo gallery.
The market’s being flooded with any movie or special that ever bore the name, but what sets the 1966 BBC production of Alice In Wonderland (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), besides being directed by Jonathan Miller, is its all-star cast – including Peter Sellers, Sir John Gielgud, Peter Cook, Sir Michael Redgrave, Alan Bennett, John Bird, and more. Bonus materials on the disc include an audio commentary, the 1903 silent film version of Alice, a photo gallery, a Ravi Shankar performance, and Dennis Potter’s 1965 biopic about the real-life Alice Liddell.
It’s a memorable book, but Maurice Sendak’s Where The Wild Things Are (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, DVD-$28.98 SRP) is also a very slight book – certainly not something that’s easily expanded and transitioned to a feature-length film. Purists may cry foul, but I feel Spike Jonze succeeded in making that transition, creating a film that melds Gilliam’s Time Bandits with Henson’s Dark Crystal & Labyrinth in terms of just endearingly oddball energy. Bonus features include a series of behind-the-scenes short subjects. The Blu-Ray edition ($36.99 SRP) adds the HBO First Look special and an animated adaptation of Sendak’s Higglety Pigglety Pop! Or There Must Be More To Life.
It’s a trippy, Teutonic mess of a children’s film (What can you expect from Wolfgang Petersen?), but thousands of viewings on 1980’s HBO endeared me to The Neverending Story (Warner Bros., Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$28.99 SRP), which has made its way to high definition in a restored print that blows previous DVD editions away. Sadly, there’s not a bonus feature to be found, which is a real waste.
The Daleks get their due in a pair of classic Doctor Who releases, starting with the 4-disc Doctor Who: Dalek War set (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP), featuring the fully restored (now in color!) Jon Pertwee arcs Frontier In Space & Planet Of The Daleks. We then jump ahead to the Sylvester McCoy years with Remembrance Of The Daleks (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP). As usual, both releases are positively loaded with bonus features, from commentaries and featurettes to interviews and easter eggs.
Get your fill of good ol’ country lawyerin’ with the complete fourth season of Abe Simpson’s favorite show, Matlock (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$49.99 SRP). The 6-disc set contains all 23 episodes. My favorites? Whenever Don Knotts would show up. When. Ever.
If you’re a fan of The Sarah Silverman Program and have been endlessly wondering if they’d ever release all of the music featured in the show, you can now cease your endless wondering and simply pick up a copy of Songs Of The Sarah Silverman Program: From Our Rears To Your Ears (Comedy Central Records, $9.98 SRP). It contains all of the songs (and dozens of dialogue snippets) from the first 3 seasons.
Calling Bitch Slap (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$22.97 SRP) a B-movie is a bit generous, but it certainly is a raucous C-D-grade flick about a trio of hard fightin’ women out to retrieve some stolen jewels from a gangster’s hideout. Yup. That about sums it up. Bonus features include audio commentaries and a featurette.
The trailers for the movie have left me cold, but I’ve been an admirer of Chris Sanders’ artwork since Lilo & Stitch, so to see it pop up in the design for the titular beast in Dreamworks’ How To Train Your Dragon was welcome, and I’m always a fan of pouring through books like The Art Of How To Train Your Dragon (Newmarket Press, $40.00 SRP), which is packed with production artwork for the film.
The film itself lags in spots, but Robin Wright proves again how powerful she can be on screen as the titular middle-aged housewife and mother in The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee (Screen Media, Rated R, DVD-$27.98 SRP), who undergoes a reawakening and seeks to recapture the wild energy of her youth (as shown in flashbacks, played by Blake Lively) as she encounters a kindred soul (Keanu Reeves). Bonus features include an audio commentary and cast interviews. A Blu-Ray edition ($29.98 SRP) is also available, with identical bonus features.
I’m sure car nuts enjoy TLC’s reality series focusing on the refurbishment of old cars, Overhaulin’ (TLC Store, Not Rated, DVD-$29.95 SRP). Like everything else on the channel, it’s essentially a reality series about the builders tasked with turning these clunkers around in a short time.
It’s dangerous and sensationalistic, but for the footage of the storms alone, I’m always going to be entranced by a show like Storm Chasers (Discovery Store, Not Rated, DVD-$29.95 SRP), which follows the men who follow devastating midwest storms.
After releasing them as full seasons, they’ve decided to start the whole split-season thing with Have Gun – Will Travel: The Fourth Season Volume One (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP). The adventures of Paladin continue with the 19 episodes contained in the set.
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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