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 I’ve become quite a fan of him during his tenure as a Daily Show correspondent over the past few years, it wasn’t until Wyatt Cenac: Comedy Person (Comedy Central, Not Rated, DVD-$14.95 SRP) – his first special – that I discovered what a brilliant stand-up he is, too. Go. Discover it for yourself.
Although I loathe JJ Abrams Trek refute, I’m a sucker for a prop replica such as the screen-accurate Phaser Replica ($39.99), which is a metal-plated reproduction of the weapon found in the film. The styling is influenced by the TOS phasers, with cluttery geegaws added.
We’re over halfway done, and have moved into the last 20 years of the strip with the release of The Complete Peanuts: 1981 to 1982 (Fantagraphics, $28.99 SRP). Can you believe how fast time is flying? Kudos to Fantagraphics for maintaining the incredibly high standard of quality and presentation they established at the outset, with this entry featuring an introduction from cartoonist Lynn Johnston. More!
I’ve been waiting for ages – okay, to be honest, only about a year – for my absolute favorite episode of The Twilight Zone (Image, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$99.98 SRP) to make its high definition debut, and with the release of the complete 5th season, I finally have it. The episode? William Shatner as the gremlin-spotting passenger in “Nightmare At 20,000 Feet”. Yeah, I’m a sucker for a carpet monster. As we’ve come to expect from these brilliant upgrades, the already massive amount of bonus features have been substantially bolstered by new commentaries, interviews, and much more.
One of the loveliest cinematic experience I’ve ever had was during a trip to LA during which I partook of the recent 3D conversion of Tim Burton & Henry Selick’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (Walt Disney, Rated PG, 3D Blu-Ray- $49.99 SRP) at the impressive El Capitan theater. While the home 3D experience isn’t quite as impressive, seeing the added dimensions combined with Selick’s magical stop motion animation in the comfort of your own home is well worth it. All of the bonus features carry over from the previous Blu-Ray release – in fact, the bonus Blu-Ray disc in this set is that previous special edition – so you get all of the featurettes, short subjects, and other ephemera you expect.
If anyone is set to inherit the legacy of Carl Sagan when it comes to making the Wonders of the Universe (BBC, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.99 SRP) as fascinating as they rightly should be to the general public, it’s Brian Cox. In his new series, he asks the big philosophical questions and presents the hard scientific answers of where we – and the universe around us – came from.
Lionsgate recently made a distribution deal with Miramax, which means that many titles not yet available on Blu-Ray are soon going to be coming fast and furious. The highlight of the first clutch of titles is John Favreau’s Swingers (Lionsgate, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$14.99 SRP), which sports an audio commentary, a documentary, featurettes, and the “Swingblade” short film. Also available from the catalogue are Matt Damon & Edward Norton in the poker flick Rounders (Lionsgate, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$14.99 SRP) and Bruce Willis in Hostage (Lionsgate, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$14.99 SRP).
The bargain-friendly folks at Mill Creek are unleashing a massive clutch of multi-disc classic TV sets, including Bonanza: Adventures Of The Cartwrights (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$9.98 SRP), Lucy: A Legacy Of Laughter (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$9.98 SRP), Heroes Of The Old West (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$9.98 SRP), The Legend Of Rin-Tin-Tin (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$9.98 SRP), The Beverly Hillbillies: Meet The Clampetts (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$9.98 SRP), and Family TV Classics (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$9.98 SRP).
It was inevitable they’d get their shot at the big time, which brings us Phineas & Ferb The Movie: Across The 2nd Dimension (Walt Disney, Not Rated, DVD-$26.99 SRP), which finds our hapless heroes transported to another dimension ruled over by an evil Dr. Doof. Bonus materials include deleted scenes, Perry-oke, a bonus episode, and more.
How about another much-requested Nickelodeon animated title courtesy of the fine folks at Shout Factory? This time, it’s the complete first and second season of The Angry Beavers (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$29.93 SRP). The 4-disc set contains all 26 episodes.
Despite a stellar cast and a workable premise – a pair of average means parents desperate to get their pre-K daughter into an exclusive NYC private school – The Best And The Brightest (Flatiron, Rated R, DVD-$26.95 SRP) never manages to give that stellar cast terribly strong material to work with. A shame. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, interviews, audition footage, and a Q&A.
I know all of those involved in the production of the traditionally animated feature are quite proud of the word they’ve done, but there’s no getting around that Bambi II (Walt Disney, Rated G, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) is a wholly unnecessary sequel. I really don’t need to see Bambi reunite with his father for adventures and learning. Nope nope nope. Bonus materials include featurettes and a deleted song.
After months of quickie single disc releases, fans will finally be able to pick up iCarly: The Complete 3rd Season (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP), which features 10 episodes, including the movie iParty with Victorious plus a trio of featurettes.
More Miramax catalogue titles are making their way to high definition via the Lionsgate deal, the newest being the Academy Award-winning Good Will Hunting (Lionsgate, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$19.99 SRP). Re-watching it after all these years, I do find it to be even more cloying that I remembered, but there’s a genuine earnestness to the story, and nascent Matt Damon remains a treat. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes, and more.
I suppose the tween audience that still view it as a magically romantic event still in their future as opposed to an anticlimactic night of drama and angst probably love the goofy, rose-colored sweetness of Disney’s Prom (Walt Disney, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP). I hope they enjoy it while they can. Bonus materials include a short, featurettes, deleted scenes, music videos, bloopers, and more.
Oh, A&E. Now you’ve got people digging into repossessed storage units and calling it a reality series? Have we sunk so low as a culture that we’ll actually sit through a whole season of Storage Wars (A&E, Not Rated, DVD-$19.95 SRP)? As if that weren’t enough, The History Channel continues to be intent to prove their name a farce by putting on Only In America With Larry The Cable Guy (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$19.95 SRP), which finds the comic touring the country and nattering on about something they try desperately to spin as informative.
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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Getting a long-overdue top-to-bottom overhaul of it sound and picture, 
In our fast-paced, on-the-go, insert clich̩ world, making our entertainment mobile is a must. With iPhones, iPods, laptops, and other portable media devices Рplus scores of DVDs and TV shows to get through in a day Рfinding a way to automate the process of making those videos easily uploadable to your devices is a must. Enter the 
With the third 
It’s been almost a decade since Randy Newman put out a new album of original tunes – not since Bad Love for the doomed Dreamworks Records, in fact – and it was with some trepidation that I spun up 
Three years in and Everybody Hates Chris (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) has managed the rare feat of still being a quality, funny show. Unlike Malcolm In The Middle, which squandered its brilliant start by becoming a cartoon, Chris is still grounded in the reality it set up right from the beginning. The 4-disc set features all 22 episodes, plus audio commentaries, webisodes, interviews, featurettes, deleted scenes, a gag reel, and more.
Very rarely does a film manage to capture the of-times bizarre flights of fantasy that envelop the average childhood, so when a flick does manage to capture lightning in a bottle, it’s worth noting. Such is the case with Son Of Rambow (Paramount, Rated PG-13, DVD-$19.99), which finds a young boy discovering common ground with a bully by taking a video camera and a worn copy of Rambo: First Blood, and making a little cinematic magic of their own. To say anymore would ruin the fun, but suffice to say – see it. Bonus features include an audio commentary, the short film that inspired the movie, a making-of, and more. This title is currently a Best Buy exclusive.
Seven years after it came out with an underground, viral splash, Brotherhood Of The Wolf (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP) gets a new director’s cut and a 2-disc special edition, featuring a making-of documentary, deleted scenes, featurettes, storyboards, and more.
If you were in any sort of doubt that we were, in fact, in a presidential election year here in the US, let the immense American Experience: The Presidents Collection (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$129.98 SRP) remind you. The 10-disc set features profiles on Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, FDR, Harry Truman, The Kennedys, LBJ, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George HW Bush.
For all of the brilliance of Heroes‘ first season, its second season (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) fell into that awful, stereotypical sophomore season confusion that has derailed many a promising series before it. In fact, the best thing that happened to the season was probably the writer’s strike, which truncated the wrongheaded direction and allowed a rethink breather. We can only hope season 3 is a course correction. The 4-disc second season set features all 11 episodes, plus audio commentaries, an alternate ending and behind-the-scenes look at the episode “Generations”, featurettes, interviews, and a sneak peek at season 3.
By now, you pretty much now to expect quite a nice dramatic ride from Detective Vic Mackey, and the 6th season of The Shield (Sony, Not Rated, DVD-$59.95 SRP) doesn’t disappoint., as Internal Affairs is breathing down his neck and forced retirement is looming. The 4-disc set features all 10 episodes, plus audio commentaries, featurettes, and deleted scenes.
Mark Harmon and his team of crackerjack Naval Investigators are up against murderers, kidnappers, spies, terrorists, and tigers (maybe not tigers) in the 5th season of NCIS (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP). The 5-disc set features all 18 episodes, plus audio commentaries, featurettes, and more.
See, I thought the arrival of Pixar’s John Lasseter and Ed Catmull at the head of Disney animation was going to put a stop to the roll-out of mediocre direct-to-video sequels. I guess there’s no stopping the Disney marketing machine, because here we are with The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning (Walt Disney, Rated G, DVD-$29.99 SRP), a prequel to the 1989 classic. Bonus features include deleted scenes, a behind-the-scenes featurette, and more.
I gotta admit – even though I was never a big fan, I at least found some enjoyment from Entourage. With the fourth season (HBO, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP), I must say – I’m off it. The charm is gone, and the characters have devolved into soapy clichés. It’s a shame, because it at least had its charm. The 3-disc set features all 12 episodes, plus a trio of audio commentaries, featurettes, and a US Comedy Arts Festival panel with the cast.
Hunker down this weekend with the complete first seasons of a pair of new History Channel shows – UFO Hunters and Battle 360 (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$39.95 SRP each). The 4-disc set UFO Hunters features all 13 of the investigative (if misguided) episodes plus additional scenes, while the 4-disc Battle 360 sports all 10 episodes chronicling and recreating the USS Enterprise’s dramatic WWII battles, in addition to a clutch of bonus scenes.
The second volume of The Untouchables‘ second season (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) finds Elliot Ness and his G-Men shifting their focus away from alcohol and onto narcotics, and also expanding further afield than just the mean streets of Chicago. The 4-disc set contains 16-episodes.
Even though it’s more hit than miss, there’s a certain joy in discovering that there was once a sketch show that starred Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson, Ben Elton, and Robbie Coltrane. That series – Alfresco (Acorn, Not Rated, DVD-$39.99 SRP) – is now available in its entirety on DVD, and is worth checking out for the talent alone.