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…)
Following on the heels of the incredible Citizen Kane presentation on Blu-Ray, another legendary piece of cinema gets a stunning delivery in high definition – William Wyler’s epic Ben-Hur (Warner Bros., Rated G, Blu-Ray-$64.99 SRP). As if the sound and picture weren’t enough, the 3-disc ultimate collector’s edition contains a new documentary, the retrospective documentaries featured on the original DVD release, the 1925 silent version of the story, screentests, newsreels, a collectible book, a reproduction of Charlton Heston’s journal and sketches, and more. Warners remains at the forefront of catalogue presentation with simply amazing sets like this.
If you’re up to mischief, there’s no better way to manage it than with your very own Harry Potter: Marauder’s Map ($34.99). This full-size replica of the film prop is, unfortunately, completely static – which can only mean that it’s a slow day at Hogwarts. Still, it’s perfect for display purposes.
Made on the cheap after the failure of Fantasia and on the eve the US’s entrance into the second World War, Dumbo (Walt Disney, Rated G, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) is a marvel of economy. Running only 64 minutes, it’s a brilliant, compact, finely-tuned piece of storytelling that holds up brilliantly even after 70 years, and this newly restored Blu-Ray edition looks and sounds absolutely brilliant. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, a deleted scene and song, featurettes, galleries, a pair of classic animated shorts, and more.
The remake looks 4 kinds of awful, so it’s good that we can go back and relive the 80’s charm of the original Footloose (Paramount, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$24.99 SRP) in high definition. Well, really, it’s just nice to revisit yet another amazing turn from John Lithgow, this time as the dance-hating preacher. Oh, John Lithgow. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, a screen test, and more.
Every time I’ve heard a story about a lion in the suburbs, I’ve been curious about what other exotic – and dangerous – pets may be lurking in suburbia. Well, The Elephant In The Living Room (Nightfly Entertainment, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$25.99 SRP) is a documentary about just that, providing a fascinating portrait of the type of person who would try to keep these types of animals in a domestic setting, as well as the opposing views of those who believe such deadly beasts have no place so close to the general populace. Bonus materials include untold stories, deleted scenes, and an audio commentary.
The kids and hipsters alike will want to snap up Adventure Time: My Two Favorite People (Cartoon Network, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), the first DVD collection of Finn & Jake’s escapades containing 12 memorable episodes plus a “Little Did You Know” feature.
Set in the 1950’s, The Hour (BBC, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.98 SRP) is a just-launched news program featuring a trio of journalists who become embroiled in an intense thriller as a breaking story of murder and conspiracy send them down the rabbit hole. The 2-disc set sports a pair of featurettes.
Yeah, I think it about time we finally get to meet the titular mother of How I Met Your Mother (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP), as the 6th season begins to dip into the well so many ensemble shows that are growing long in the tooth in order to justify keeping a group of people together (I’m looking at you, Friends), with contrived hook-ups an increasingly cartoonish characterizations. So yes – Season 7 damn well better have that mother. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel.
If your kids are not quite old enough for Jack Sparrow but love all of the pirate material in Peter Pan, they’ll probably love Jake And The Never Land Pirates (Walt Disney, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP), which plays like a kid-pirate combination of Young Einstein and Wonderpets. The DVD set features 7 episodes, a music CD, and even a pirate eye patch for the kids to fight over. ARRR.
If you’d like to see a “historical” dramatization with shaky history and an unpalatable agenda at work, look no further than The Kennedys (Reelz, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.95 SRP), the controversial miniseries that was booted around a bit before landing on Reelz. But, by all means, make your on conclusions… Including Greg Kinnear’s JFK accent and Katie Holmes rare moments of freedom.
Scholastic continues to produce their outstanding line of Storybook Treasures Read-Along DVD sets, with the latest must-have collections for anyone with a young reader in their life being Chrysanthemum… And More Whimsical Stories (Scholastic, Not Rated, DVD-$14.95 SRP), which contains 17 stories, and My First Collection Volume 2 Featuring Spoon (Scholastic, Not Rated, DVD-$12.95 SRP), which sports 13.
It took me a second to realize the figure on the cover of Transformers: Dark Of The Moon (Paramount, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$44.99 SRP) is actually Optimus Prime. I can’t be blamed, really, as ball of shrapnel design sensibilities of these films is just one of the man, many misfires that make Michael Bay’s vision of the franchise a big, nonsensical mess… And he certainly hits that mark here. And bonus materials? None here.
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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