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…)
It’s not quite as consistent as Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but I certainly enjoyed Couples Retreat (Universal, Rated PG-13, DVD-$29.98 SRP) for what it is – a goofy, often slapstick relationship comedy that plays like a post marriage take on the Swingers generation (which, considering it stars Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau, is not a difficult leap). Bonus materials include featurettes, deleted scenes, and alternate ending, and a gag reel. A Blu-Ray edition ($36.98 SRP) is also available, which adds a pair of exclusive deleted scenes.
Want to protect your oh-so-precious eyes from evil green lasers, all the while looking ridiculously stylish? Well, look no further than the Green 532nm LaserShades ($39.99). Now, you can keep your eyesight safe, and pretend you’re in the future.
Fans of the great Orson Welles will delight in this newly-restored edition of Omnibus, a television showcase featuring the arts, which in 1953 televised a production of King Lear (E1, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP), starring Welles in the title role. The DVD also features archive featurettes and a 16-page booklet.
Many have called the Coen Brothers’ A Serious Man (Universal, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$36.98 SRP) their most autobiographical picture to date, but since I don’t know how accurate that assessment is, I will say it’s one of their strongest films of the past decade, and paints a darkly comic portrait of its Job-like patriarch – a physics professor whose life is unraveling, sending him on an offbeat search for meaning. Bonus materials include a trio of featurettes.
History nerds (like me) will probably want to dive right in to The Ultimate Dambusters Collection (BFS, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP), which brings together a trio of documentaries on the legendary WWII raids. Heck, the first is even narrated by Stephen Fry.
After a massive wait, fans can finally wrap up the second season of The Sarah Silverman Program (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$26.98 SRP) with the second volume, featuring the remaining 10 episodes plus audio commentaries, animated shorts, and a behind-the-scenes featurette. Now, if only they’d make a 3rd season.
Take a life-spanning love-affair and complicate it with a time-hopping lover who doesn’t know when he’ll disappear and when in his own timeline he’ll reappear, and you’ve got the unique relationship featured in The Time Traveler’s Wife (New Line, Rated PG-13, DVD-$29.98 SRP), as the titular wife encounters the man she’ll fall in love with and marry at various times throughout her life. Of course, she never knows which version of her husband – and where in their relationship – she’ll be encountering him. Got all that? Bonus features include a behind-the-scenes featurette. A Blu-Ray edition ($35.99 SRP) is also available, with identical bonus materials.
Now that the full series has made its way to DVD, the single-disc themed releases are the focus, with Fraggle Rock: Wembley’s Egg Surprise (Lionsgate, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP) being the latest. The disc contains a trio of episodes (“Wembley’s Egg”, “The Great Radish Famine”, & “The Finger Of Light”) plus an episode from the animated series, a pair of sing-alongs, and a look at Jim Henson’s Animal Show With Stinky And Jake.
Fox has bungled up the X-Men nicely, and Heroes has lost its way, but both can take a page from the series Misfits (Channel 4, Not Rated, Region 2 DVD-£19.99 SRP), which finds a group of delinquents gifted with powers during a freak electrical storm. Think of it as Heroes meets Skins. Bonus materials include a pair of featurettes and character films.
Featuring dozens of actors and musicians, The People Speak (New Video, Not Rated, DVD-$19.95 SRP) brings to life the late Howard Zinn’s People’s History Of The United States and Voices Of A People’s History Of The United States. It’s quite a moving – and inspiring – portrait of the nation’s history.
He’s become a slab of a man, but you still get exactly what you expect from a Steven Seagal action flick in A Dangerous Man (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP), in which Seagal is dangerous man Shane Daniels, an ex-Special Forces operative framed for murder newly-released from prison. He then does plenty of Seagal ass-kicking.
How about some catalogue titles coming to high-def this week? Fox and MGM back up the truck with a trio of modern classics – Walk The Line (Fox, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP), To Live And Die In LA (MGM, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP), and The Last King Of Scotland (Fox, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP). Walk The Line sports an audio commentary, deleted scenes, extended musical performances, featurettes, and the theatrical trailer. To Live And Die In LA contains an audio commentary, deleted scenes, and a documentary. Last King Of Scotland gets deleted scenes, a featurette, a documentary on Idi Amin, and a casting session.
And since you’re always looking to upgrade those catalogue titles with spiffy new high-definition versions all shiny and bright, hitting Blu-Ray this week are the Richard Dawson classic The Running Man (Lionsgate, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$19.99 SRP), Morgan Freeman & Christian Slater in the wet Hard Rain (Lionsgate, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$19.99 SRP), Billy Zane in the not-as-bad-as-you-think The Phantom (Lionsgate, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$19.99 SRP) and Wesley Snipes in Drop Zone (Lionsgate, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$19.99 SRP). All but The Running Man are limited to the theatrical trailer as their sole bonus feature, but Man gets a pair of audio commentaries and a pair of featurettes.
One day, I’m sure a fascinating film about the life of landmark aviator Amelia Earhart will be made, Sadly, Amelia (Fox, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) – starring Hilary Swank as the legendary pilot – is not that film. It’s just dull, really – which is the last thing this tale should have been. Sigh. Bonus features include deleted scenes, a featurette, and vintage newsreels.
If you never got a chance to pick up the box sets a few years ago, your only chance to get their classic cartoons are though the single disc Tom & Jerry’s Greatest Chases (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), the 4th volume of which is now available, containing 14 shorts.
It’s one of the few recent successes in hour-long drama, and Army Wives (ABC Studios, Not Rated, DVD-$45.99 SRP) is still going strong in its 3rd season. The 5-disc set contains all 18 episodes, plus webisodes, featurettes, deleted scenes, and bloopers.
Just when the Sci-Fi Channel (I refuse to call it that other… thing) was getting too far up their own… yeah… they go and launch a new Stargate that manages to evoke the engaging fun of the original with Stargate Universe (MGM, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$69.99 SRP). Think of its ragtag group stranded on the far side of the universe as the SG version of Voyager and Lost In Space. The 2-disc set contains an extended version of the pilot, featurettes, and video diaries.
I’ve been a fan of his going back to Action, but I’ve yet to find the same kind of pleasure in Jay Mohr’s formulaic sitcom Gary Unmarried (ABC Studios, Not Rated, DVD-$39.99 SRP), in which he stars as newly-single dad Gary Brooks. Think of it as a male version of The New Adventures Of Old Christine. The 3-disc set contains all 20 episodes, plus a trio of featurettes and a blooper reel.
Of course, you can never have too many adaptations of Jane Austen’s Emma (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP), so the BBC have made another one, this time featuring Romola Garai in the title role. The 2-disc set contains a trio of featurettes and an interview with Michael Gambon.
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
##
Overlooked at the box office, I will declare here and now that Ricky Gervais’s 
You may not know this about me, but you certainly will now. “What is it? What is this secret?” you ask, breathlessly. C’mere, and I’ll tell you…. Closer… Closer… Okay. I like playing with magnets. I think they’re cool. I’ve thought magnets were cool ever since I was a kid. I also like money. Sadly, US coinage is non-magnetic, so I was never able to combine my two loves, Reese’s style. Until now. The 
I never thought I’d see the day when 
Michael Adams took a bullet for us all when he decided to sit down for a year and watch some of the worst movies ever made, and provide not only a chronicle of that feat, but also analyses and perhaps even an appreciation for crappy filmmaking. Of course, perhaps he didn’t take the bullet too soon, as I’ve seen many of the flicks in 
For anyone that came out of the tepid Funny People hoping that they had instead been able to see more of Aziz Ansari, your prayers have been answered with the DVD arrival of his debut stand-up special – 
It’s mindless action, yes, but it’s a shame to see Gerard Butler and Michael C. Hall slumming it in the B-movie actioner 
Glaringly absent from the high definition catalogue up until now, you can put a check mark beside a pair of much-requested Paul Thomas Anderson flicks – 
Shot as he was covering his final murder trial for Vanity Fair – that of Phil Spector – 
The first two Bourne films arrive in high-definition as the inaugural entries in Universal’s new line of flipper single-disc Blu-Ray/DVD combos. I loathe flipper discs with a passion, so even though I understand the cost-cutting thought behind it, I can’t get behind the concept. Looking at the Blu-Ray side, 
If fans of English costume drama were to do a dream casting session, they probably would arrive at the cast that was assembled for Cranford – Judi Dench, Michael Gambon, Eileen Atkins, and Imelda Staunton. Cranford revolves around the ruling ladies of the titular town in 1842, for whom etiquette and custom reign supreme but are a thin veneer over secrets and change. Think a corseted Desperate Housewives. Your best bet is to pick 
It was like a poor man’s Guy Ritchie (which is odd, since he’s already filled that role himself in recent years), but there was a sliver of fun to have from 
Instead of abandoning release of the shows in mid-stream due to sales issue for niche fan-favorites, Shout! Factory has taken the welcome step of making new season sets of the shows in question available directly from their website. This makes the economy feasible and fans happy – especially since the discs are identical in quality to their store-bought predecessors. The first sets to get the direct-purchase treatment are 
And in this weeks soundtrack round-up, we’ve got John Murphy’s score to 
The disc-on-demand Warner Archive continues to live up to its name and promise by releasing a little-seen TV movie, adapted by Richard Matheson from his short story – 
Nancy Botwin is full ensconced with her business south of the border in the 5th season of 
A co-ed crew exploring the solar system gets up to sudsy scientific exploration in the first season of 
The 12th season of 
It dips into melodrama occasionally, but for the most part 
Using none of the original voices and sub-par animation, there’s nothing much about 
It’s not something I would have made a night out for, but watching 
There was a constant fear it might stumble in its first season, and there’s always fear of a sophomore season fail, but 
When I interviewed Berke Breathed a few years back, I asked him if there would finally by a comprehensive Bloom County collection like the recently available Calvin & Hobbes and Peanuts volumes. Breathed was dismissive of the idea, claiming that no one wanted to read the strip, that it was no longer relevant, and it just wasn’t going to happen. Well, a few years have gone by, someone talked a bit of sense into him, so we have the first, glorious volume of 
Ever wish you had the ability to switch something on and off with a regular ol’ wall switch? Like a lamp, or a game system? But without having to have the switch be on the wall? And have it be wireless? Well, now you can, with the 
I’m often baffled by their selection process, but the one thing the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame manages to impress with on a rather consistent basis is the musical performances of the inductees – and tributes from other artists who perform their work. With a roster that includes everyone from Paul McCartney and The Doors to John Lee Hooker and Little Richard, it’s an eclectic bunch, to be sure. For those who’ve never caught the ceremonies in the past – or just want to relive the music – Time Life has delivered an incredible collection across 9 volumes – 
Hitchcock’s classic 
Another strip which IDW has begun collecting is Bil Keane’s precocious kids via the 
A very close second to the original cross-country trek of the Griswold clan, I’m a big fan of 
It’s the holidays, which means some classic perennials are getting an upgrade and re-release just in time for seasonal viewing. Getting the high definition treatment is Frank Capra’s 
There are unique minds, and then there are uber-unique minds… Minds which create their own sphere of reality, daring others to step within the range of its influence and be swept away. One of those minds is Tony Millionaire, whose work has been given a must-have hardcover tome in 
Long, long after the release of the penultimate 3rd season and a poorly-packaged complete series box set, everything is made right with the release of 
More so even that ET, 
By its 3rd season, 
Whereas the live action film was a mess, I thought that 
You know that great Saturday Night Live book from a few years back – the one by Tom Shales that features dozens of interviews telling the tale of the show’s history in a remarkably candid way? Well, Author Mike Thomas has done the same thing for the legendary improvisational group which spawned many an SNL castmember – and comedy icon – with 
While it’s not the educational films I would have liked to have seen in the series (or Song Of The South), I welcome the Walt Disney Treasures release of both 
I’m not exactly sure what the concept is behind 
Bit by bit, we’re getting DVD releases of all of the various Saturday morning animated iterations of the DC superheroes, and the latest to get its time on plastic is the short-lived 
There’s nothing quite so electrifying as Muhammad Ali in interviews, even those when he was in the early years of his decline, and you’ll find plenty of them in 
Really – it seems like there are an unlimited number of classic Doctor Who adventures. Are we even close to getting them all on DVD? They just keep coming and coming. Latest is an arc from the Peter Davison years – 
I know I should be swept up in its formulaic, rom-comminess, but there’s an unavoidable charm to Richard Curtis’s 
It may not be a very well-written or executed superhero cartoon, but I have find childhood memories of the episodes contained in 
It may not be as polished as the films of Pixar, but there’s a lot of charm and energy in the Ice Age series, and I was surprised to find out that there was still some steam in 
How do you make sure the DVD re-release of 
It’s certainly not the holidays without penguins, right? Right. Which makes 
In the vein of goofy babysitter flicks of the 80’s like Batteries Not Included and Spaced Invaders comes the kids & extraterrestrials romp 
It’s not the sharpest, most clever of political commentary, but there’s a certain closure to Will Ferrell’s Broadway outing 
The TV show releases are wrapped, which brings us to the first volume of 
As a tour guide into the work of Charles Darwin and his landmark theory of evolution, one couldn’t hope for a better, more engaging host than Sir David Attenborough, who takes by the hand on 
I admit, there was a schlocky appeal to the first Wrong Turn, and it’s always worth watching Eliza Dusku (well, except in Dollhouse – there’s nothing about that worth watching. But with Eliza long gone, there’s very little to