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…)
There are a handful of beloved shows that many have claimed we’d never see on home video in their original form, due to their extensive use of popular music over the course of their runs. Well, you should never says never and nothing is impossible, and to prove that, the folks at TimeLife managed to clear an immense amount of obstacles to being out a truly special edition of The Wonder Years: The Complete Series (Starvista, Not Rated, DVD-$249.95 SRP), in which they’ve managed to clear nearly all of the music for the series, and added in a truly impressive clutch of newly-produced bonus materials to boot. And, if you buy the complete series set, it comes packaged in a miniature metal case fashioned like a school locker, complete with combination lock. However, if you want to buy the show in easily digestible season form, they’ve also released Season 1 individually (Starvista, Not Rated, DVD-$19.95 SRP).
While his rogues gallery has already been well-represented with the release of The Joker, Harley Quinn, and Catwoman, we finally get the dark knight detective himself with the arrival of Sideshow’s spiffy Batman (Sideshow Collectibles, $199.99). Based on his classic blue & gray look, it thankfully finds a nice middle ground from all of the various visual incarnations the character has had over the years, avoiding the awful grim and gritty trap to present a great representation of an iconic character. The figure comes with various hands, batarangs, a grappling gun, a swappable head (you can choose long ears or short ears), and swappable mouths (neutral and toothy grimace).
The Walt Disney company has a brilliant musical legacy going back 85 years to its very first sound cartoon, and the company is diving headfirst into its impressive archives and surfacing with the absolutely incredible “Legacy Collection” of releases. Over the course of the next year on an almost monthly schedule, they’re releasing completely remastered and expanded editions of soundtracks from their most beloved films, as well as what one can only hope is a multi-disc set spotlighting the music of Disneyland. In addition to the soundtracks themselves, each set also includes rare demos, deleted songs, and newly-recorded “Lost Chords”, which takes those deleted songs from the films and realizes them with brand new recordings that attempt to match how they might have sounded if they were finished for the original films. The first clutch of releases to come down the pike – all of which are a must-have – are 2-disc sets for The Lion King and Sleeping Beauty (Walt Disney Records, $14.98 SRP each) and a 3-disc set for Mary Poppins (Walt Disney Records, $21.88 SRP). My fondest hope is that the series will keep rolling along even beyond its August 2015 end date, and start giving long-deserved proper treatment to the music of Disney’s 1940s compilation films like The Three Caballeros, Make Mine Music, Fun & Fancy Free, The Adventures Of Ichabod & Mr. Toad, Melody Time, and Saludos Amigos. Here’s hoping, but until then, buy every single one of these.
Has there ever been a cartoon as delightfully and decidedly weird and wonderful as Adventure Time (Cartoon Network, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$32.07 SRP) consistently proves to be? Because it has grown and matured into as epic a narrative as any full blown adventure should be, with a surprisingly mature narrative at its core. Want proof? Dive into the fourth season episodes collected in this set, and then prepare yourself for the bright darkness to come in season 5. Bonus materials include commentaries and a featurette on the show’s music.
While the legendary Carl Barks will always be foremost among the many comics creators working with Disney’s ducks, not the least for his creation of Scrooge McDuck, the second position in my heart goes to Don Rosa. Taking his inspiration from Barks, Rosa was able to craft incredible epics for a new generation of fans, full of intricate details and mythology that embraced the legacy of Barks’ classics. And now, the fine folks at Fantagraphics have followed up their wonderful Carl Barks Library releases with the first volume of the new Don Rosa Library, Uncle Scrooge And Donald Duck: The Son Of The Sun (Fantagraphics, $29.99 SRP), which collects the first batch of Rosa’s Duck Family work, along with additional essays and insights. And it is GREAT.
It took a few episodes for me (and the show) to latch onto its tone, but once we both did, it was a delight to dive into the twisted, brilliant, and consistently funny world of Rick And Morty (Adult Swim, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.02 SRP). Kudos to Justin Roiland, Dan Harmon, and the entire writing staff for a ride that’s probably the closest we’ll get to an American version of Doctor Who. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, animatics, a featurette, deleted scenes, and special guest commentaries (with the likes of Matt Groening, Pen Ward, and more).
Chalk it up to poor marketing, because Edge Of Tomorrow (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, 3D Blu-Ray-$44.95 SRP) is too good a film to have died the death it did at the box office. But it’s entirely appropriate that a sci-fi Groundhog Day about coward Tom Cruise learning from his mistakes in order to prevent total destruction of the human race in a war with aliens may get a second chance to be discovered on home video. Heck, it even appears the studio is trying to rename the film from its vague theatrical title Edge Of Tomorrow to the much more straightforward Live. Die. Repeat. Will it work? I hope so. See it. Bonus materials include a handful of featurettes, deleted scenes, and more.
It still baffles me that Nickelodeon has not released their positively beautiful Ninja Turtles series in high definition, but at least they’ve finally bundled together Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Complete 1st Season (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, DVD-$34.99 SRP), which simply boxes together the previously available releases. I guess that’s something right?
I’m surprised it’s taken this long for him to turn his eye towards such an iconic American dynasty, but Ken Burns is at his absolute best in his portrait of The Roosevelts (PBS, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$129.99 SRP). The 7-part series explores the lives of Teddy, Franklin, and Eleanor in the usual comprehensive and irresistibly fascinating fashion. Bonus materials include additional footage, deleted scenes, and a making-of featurette.
As the world gears up for a newly reimagined big screen take on the character, dive into the original problem solver for hire with the limited edition complete collection of The Equalizer (VEI, Not Rated, DVD-$205.56 SRP), starring Edward Woodward as the titular Equalizer, Robert McCall, a British army vet and former member of a shadowy government agency who seeks atonement for his time in “The Company” by offering his services to the public. The 30-disc set contains the complete run, plus an audio commentary on the pilot, featurettes, and a photo gallery.
Every once in awhile, Disney drops another feel-good inspirational sports drama, and Million Dollar Arm (Walt Disney, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) has the benefit of starring Jon Hamm as a desperate sports agent angling to save his fading career by finding the next big Major League pitcher in a quite unorthodox location – amongst Indian cricket players. Bonus materials include deleted scenes, an alternate ending, featurettes, and outtakes.
Freddie Highmore and Vera Farminga continue to be the main draw as young Norman and matriarch Norma in the second season of Bates Motel (Universal, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$49.98 SRP),as the consequences from last year’s murder and quickly unraveling family secrets drive mother and son down far darker paths. Bonus materials include featurettes and deleted scenes.
Disregarding his unfortunate obsession with William Shatner, To Be Takei (Anchor Bay, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP) presents an intimate portrait of George Takei as an actor, a pop culture icon, a longstanding campaigner for gay rights, a living witness to the treatment of Japanese-Americans during WWII, and just a charmingly entertaining human being. As far as bonus features go, the DVD contains a clutch of bonus scenes.
I can appreciate what Seth MacFarlane was trying to do with A Million Ways To Die In The West (Universal, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$34.98 SRP), which was to make a latter-day Blazing Saddles with modern crass sensibilities brought to the Western milieu. A great shame, then, that it’s so relentlessly off target and resoundingly unfunny, couple with a run time of over 2 hours that makes it feel like Judd Apatow found a time machine. Bonus materials include audio commentaries on both the theatrical and unrated versions, featurettes, deleted/extended/alternate scenes, and a gag reel.
Over 30 years ago, the now-legendary Motown 25 (StarVista, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) concert aired on NBC, celebrating a quarter century of the legendary hit factory and featuring the debut of Michael Jackson’s famous moonwalk. Unseen since then, the special has been fully remastered with 5.1 sound for this brand new special edition, featuring 3 discs packed with unseen performances and more.
And from across the pond, we get the complete second season runs of a pair of the BBC’s supernatural dramas, with Afterlife (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$ SRP) and In The Flesh (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP). Flesh is featureless, but Afterlife contains a behind-the-scenes featurette about crafting the show’s spooky atmosphere.
Just as atmospheric and fun as the film itself, Dario Marianelli’s score to The Boxtrolls (+180 Records, $12.99 SRP) is a perfect little sonic gem to pass an evening with while you’re waiting for the film to come to home video.
As biopics go, the greatest trick Houdini (History Channel, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP) performs is managing to take a compelling person and story and render it in a dishearteningly bland fashion with Adrien Brody as the titular escape artist/paranormal debunker. Which is a shame, because I wanted it to be so much more than it is. The real draw of the set is the glimpses in the bonus materials of the real Houdini.
From The Beatles to Lady Gaga, Money For Nothing: A History Of The Music Video (Virgil Films, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP) takes a comprehensive, and exhaustive, look at the evolution of the art and commerce behind the enduring marketing phenomenon.
I’ve got to give Michael Bay credit for finding a way to make his already bloated and off-putting take on a fairly straightforward and ostensibly fun IP even more frustratingly boring and messy in Transformers: Age Of Extinction (Paramount, Rated PG-13, 3D Blu-Ray-$49.99 SRP), which actively works to make you hate even “hero” Optimus Prime. It’s just… It’s really baffling. I would almost go as far as to call it an exercise in contempt for the franchise, or a form of self-loathing. With Mark Wahlberg. So, way to go, Bay! Bonus materials include a mess of featurettes and more.
Picking up a year after the events at the end of the first season, the second season of The Following (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$49.99 SRP) finds ex-FBI agent Ryan Hardy (Kevin Bacon) still in the process of rebuilding his life as a horrific killing spree brings Hardy and his ex-partner into the investigation and on a most disturbing trail. Bonus materials include an alternate season ending, deleted scenes, featurettes, and a gag reel.
The revolving roster of Sipowicz’s partners lands on Rick Schroder in the seventh season of NYPD Blue (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$34.99 SRP), which finds Dennis Franz’s grizzled detective emotionally scarred following the previous season’s events. The 6-disc set contains all 22 episodes, but sadly no bonus materials.
It’s about as far from the hip, modern Friendship Is Magic reinvention of the franchise, but those who want every iteration of a thing will probably still pick up My Little Pony: The Complete Series (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$29.93 SRP), which collects all 65 episodes of the 1980s original.
Paul Haggis has never met a top-heavy, overly-layered story he doesn’t latch onto and infuse with a profound self-importance, and that’s pretty much what you get in Third Person (Sony, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP), which interweaves a trio of relationship tales in three different locales, peopled by a cast that includes Liam Neeson, Mila Kunis, James Franco, Adrien Brody, and Kim Basinger. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, a featurette, and a Q&A with Haggis.
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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