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 Quick Stop Weekend Shopping Guide – your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…
First and foremost, take a moment to celebrate the glorious demise of the ill-conceived American version of Spaced with the news that this July brings the release with the original Britcom that put Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Jessica Hynes, and Edgar Wright on the geek map. Loaded with bonus features from not only the UK release, but also exclusive to the US edition, this is a must-have set. Keep an eye out at your favorite online retailer or DVD emporium.
By the third season of Saturday Night Live (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$69.98 SRP), all of the classic cast was in place and running on all cylinders. The writers and performers knew exactly what the show was capable of doing, and the audience was right there with them. The clunker sketches were just as much a part of the “golden age” as they are today, but the successes have become institutions. Bonus materials this go round include the short film “Things We Did Last Summer” and a wardrobe test with John Belushi and Howard Shore.
For years now, I’ve been reiterating that you should buy, post-haste, the comedic sci-fi novels of Simpsons writer John Swartzwelder. Every one so far has been a gem, and he’s managed to keep the plate spinning with his latest tale of slow-witted detective Frank Burly, Dead Men Scare Me Stupid (Kennydale Books, $15.95). If you still miss Douglas Adams, get this book. And the rest of them. Get them now, in fact. I’ll wait here for you… And then, together, we’ll eagerly await the next installment.
With a new Indy flick in the offing, it was a foregone conclusion that we’d see some form of re-release on the original trilogy – and so we have with the Indiana Jones Adventure Collection (Paramount, Rated PG, $59.98 SRP). All three films sport the exact same prints prepared for the special editions a few years back. What’s unfortunate, though, is that despite a clutch of brand new featurettes and introductions, they somehow decided to remove the bonus fourth disc from the original set, which contained the in-depth documentaries and vintage featurettes. What the hell? I guess we’ll be seeing the proper special edition set at Christmastime, along with Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull.
Cinema geeks rejoice! Universal has seen fit to collect 10 of their catalogue’s most genre-tastic titles into one box set – The Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection: Volumes 1 & 2 (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP). The flicks features in the set are Tarantula, The Mole People, The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Monolith Monsters, Monster On The Campus, Dr. Cyclops, Cult Of The Cobra, The Land Unknown, The Deadly Mantis, and The Leech Woman.
As much as I liked the “official” history found in the deluxe tome To Infinity And Beyond, it’s nice to have a complementary, unauthorized book about the early days and rise of Pixar to balance out the picture, and David Price’s The Pixar Touch (Knopf, $27.95 SRP) fills that desire perfectly.
The movie’s not yet in theaters, but everything I’ve seen of Kung Fu Panda has made me keen to do so. It’s taken awhile for rival studios that the way to fight Pixar is not to make knock-off Pixar flicks, but to realize the same thing that Warners did in their heyday – leave the heart to Disney and focus on the comedy instead. If you want to whet your appetite for this flick, look no further than The Art Of Kung Fu Panda (Insight Editions, $45.00 SRP), a lavish behind-the-scenes look packed with artwork and interviews, and featuring a preface from star Jack Black. My only regret, after seeing all of the beautiful, stylish 2-D design work, is that this is a CG film rather tan traditional animation.
I wasn’t alive to experience firsthand growing up in the 50’s, but I’m certainly aware of the shows and celebrities that made up the pop culture diet of that generation. If you’re as interested as I am in that period, you’ve got to get yourself a copy of Hiya, Kids!! A 50’s Saturday Morning (Shout! Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$34.99 SRP). The 4-disc set is packed to the brim with episodes from the shows that shaped early kiddie TV – Howdy Doody, Kukla, Fran And Ollie, Lassie, The Paul Winchell Show, Winky Dink And You (one of my mother’s favorites), Juvenile Jury, Time For Beany, Sky King, The Pinky Lee Show, Flash Gordon, and more. Get this.
It’s been 10 years since the passing of the Chairman of the Board, and Warners has seen fit to celebrate his passing with a quartet of box sets celebrating Frank Sinatra’s cinematic legacy – The Early Years, The Golden Years, The Frank Sinatra & Gene Kelly Collection, and The Rat Pack Ultimate Collector’s Edition (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP each). Frank Sinatra: The Early Years features Double Dynamite, Higher and Higher, Step Lively, It Happened in Brooklyn, and The Kissing Bandit. Frank Sinatra: The Golden Years features The Man with the Golden Arm, None But The Brave, Some Came Running, The Tender Trap, and Marriage on the Rocks. The Frank Sinatra & Gene Kelly Collection features On the Town, Take Me Out To The Ballgame and Anchors Aweigh. Finally, The Rat Pack Ultimate Collector’s Edition sports Robin and the Seven Hoods, Ocean’s Eleven, 4 For Texas, and Sergeants 3. All of the sets contain a boat load of special features, including featurettes, trailers, documentaries, and more.
Everyone’s favorite sleuthing antiquities dealer returns in the complete third season of Lovejoy (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$69.98 SRP), starring Ian McShane as the titular gumshoe. The 4-disc set features all 13 episodes, plus the third part of McShane’s retrospective interview, as well as Alan Titchmarsh interviewing McShane.
It’s not like I would have paid to see it in the theater, but Mad Money (Anchor Bay, Rated PG-13, DVD-$29.97 SRP) is an amiable little heist flick, about a trio of women (Diane Keaton, Katie Holmes, and Queen Latifah) who decide to steal a boat load of money earmarked for disposal at the Federal Reserve. Would you believe that things get complicated? Bonus features include an audio commentary, a behind-the-scenes featurette, and the theatrical trailer.
The fourth season of Mission: Impossible (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$49.98 SRP) finds Leonard Nimoy joining the show as master magician Paris, joining Jim Phelps (Peter Graves), Barney Collier (Greg Morris), and Willy Armitage (Peter Lupus) on fantastical missions full of hi-tech gadgetry. The 7-disc set features all 26 episodes, but still no bonus materials.
Just when my nephews have nearly burned out the previous release, along comes The Backyardigans: High Flying Adventures! (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$16.99 SRP) to appease their insatiable appetite. The disc features a quartet of episodes, plus a pair of music videos.
One of my nephews is fast approaching the one-year mark, and getting him to sleep is quite a feat with all that teething going on. We’ve found that a big help in the seemingly never-ending battle is Nickelodeon’s Sleepytime Stories (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$16.99 SRP). As the title suggests, it’s a collection of cartoons geared towards getting your little one to sleep. Also available is a companion CD, Sleepytime Lullabies (Nick Records, $ SRP).
The off-color puppets are back with The Passion Of Greg The Bunny: Best Of The Film Parodies Volume 2 (Shout! Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP) – jam-packed with a slew of new star-studded interplay and cinema take-offs. Bonus materials include deleted scenes & outtakes, behind-the-scenes featurettes, the reunion special, audio commentary, a gag reel, webisodes, and more.
Have you ever picked up a book and thought “This is an idea that was a long-time coming…”? I thought that very thing when I thumbed through Band ID: The Ultimate Book Of Band Logos (Chronicle Books, $40.00 SRP). Within its sturdy cover, there lurks 1,000 of the most iconic band logo designs ever to grace drum kits, album covers, and t-shirts – everything from The Beatles to Snoop Dogg. Pick it up and see if you don’t get hooked – and wonder why Black Sabbath needed so many damn logos.
You’ll weep, you’ll awww, you’ll get plenty of points from your significant other if you pick her up a copy of the new Bridges Of Madison County (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, DVD-$19.98 SRP), featuring an audio commentary, a making-of featurette, a music video, and the theatrical trailer.
Like According To Jim, Two And A Half Men (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$44.98 SRP) is certainly not appointment viewing, but if it’s all that’s one, it certainly isn’t painful to watch. It just sort of exists in a marginal comedic limbo… And that’s fine with me. Every generation needs its Coach and Wings. The 4-disc set features all 24 episodes, plus a gag reel.
Surprisingly enough, Sean Combs acquitted himself quite well in last year’s TV adaptation of A Raisin In The Sun (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$24.94 SRP). See for yourself with the special edition DVD, containing an audio commentary and a behind-the-scenes featurette.
One of those programs that will always grab my attention if insomnia or boredom has me scanning channels at 4 in the morning is anything with forensic examiner Dr. Michael Baden. An all-new edition of Autopsy: Postmortem with Dr. Michael Baden (HBO, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP) is now available on DVD, packed with more stories of forensic detective work that put C.S.I. to shame.
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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So yes, the Force has finally woken up, and the December 18th release to theaters opened the floodgates on all of the spoiler-laden materials that had been embargoed. First and foremost, of course, came the official score album from Star Wars: The Awakens (Walt Disney Records, $14.92 SRP) from maestro John Williams, featuring 23 tracks that will transport you to a galaxy… well, you know the rest.
And because it’s a Star Wars film, we also get a lovely The Art Of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Abrams, $ SRP), which is loaded with concept art, much of which explores early drafts of the story and many abandoned sequences and characters in charting the visual evolution of the various designs.
Of course, if you’re still baffled by the flurry of characters, locales, and hardware that made it into the movie, you’ll be able to fill in all of the gaping narrative holes and backstory skimmed over by the film with Star Wars: The Force Awakens – The Visual Dictionary (DK, $19.99 SRP), written by Lucasfilm Lore Gnome Pablo Hidalgo.
But if vehicles are your thing, they’ve got you covered with Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Incredible Cross Sections (DK, $19.99 SRP), which is exactly what you’d expect it to be. So, yeah, all of the major vehicles, laid bare and fully explored.
Years in the making and beyond worth the wait, modern Disney legend Andreas Deja dives deep into the art and influence of his artistic forefathers with The Nine Old Men: Lessons, Techniques, And Inspiration From Disney’s Great Animators (CRC Press, $44.95 SRP). As that equally impressive title suggests, it’s an impressive tome that artists and aficionados alike should own and devour.
Marceline the vampire takes center stage in the 8-part miniseries event Adventure Time: Stakes (Cartoon Network, Not Rated, DVD-$14.97 SRP), in which a batch of foes from her past come forward just as she decides she doesn’t want to be undead anymore. Bonus materials include animatics, song demos, and an art gallery.
If the first season was funny (and it most certainly was), the second season of Broad City (Comedy Central, Not Rated, DVD-$26.98 SRP) doubles down on the funny with twice as much fun. Did I mention it’s funny? ‘Cause it is. Bonus materials include featurettes, deleted scenes, outtakes, “Body By Trey” videos, and a pop-up enhanced episode.
While, sure, the based-on-real-life tale of survival on the side of the highest mountain in the world is harrowing and all, the real treat watching Everest (Universal, Rated PG-13, 3D Blu-Ray-$49.98 SRP) in 3D is for the breathtaking visuals that threaten to put you on the side of that mountain with the snowstorm-bedeviled expeditions. Bonus features include an audio commentary and a quartet of featurettes.
Rita Hayworth remains magnificent, but Criterion’s new high definition master of Gilda (Criterion, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.95 SRP) finally brings a restoration as beautiful as the performance. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, interviews, a featurette, and a 1964 episode of Hollywood And The Stars spotlighting Hayworth.
Take a journey Inside Einstein’s Mind (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP), in which PBS’ NOVA celebrates the 100th anniversary of his General Relativity with a fascinating look at that landmark achievement.
It’s always enjoyable when Robert De Niro manages to land in that very tiny sweet spot of affable and good-natured that he so rarely gets cast in, and so rarely can hit. But when he does, he’s as charming and warm as he is in The Intern (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP), in which he stars as a 70-year-old widower who decides to reenergize his life by taking a job as a senior intern at a fashion start-up founded by a driven visionary (Anne Hathaway). Bonus materials include a trio of featurettes.
I suppose theater audiences viewing a real-life election-cycle farce at home just weren’t in the mood for political satire, which is a shame, because Our Brand Is Crisis (Warner Bros., Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.98 SRP) is actually a biting ensemble piece that deserves a second look now that it’s arrived on home video. Bonus materials include a featurette on Sandra Bullock’s character.
I don’t quite understand the cult that has built up around it, though it’s a funny film, so the Zoolander: Blue Steelbook (Paramount, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$16.99 SRP) is a special edition high-def debut for those superfans awaiting the upcoming sequel, with brand new bonus features including audio commentaries, featurettes, and more.
One of the delightful side effects of its recent comeback is that we’re getting official releases of classic episodes, so Reading Rainbow: Miss Nelson Is Back (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$6.99 SRP) features 4 vintage stories including the titular tale, all anchored by the delightful LeVar Burton.
For fans of the first season eager to experience the same kind of magic, the second season of True Detective (HBO, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$79.98 SRP) proved to be a decidedly un-magical affair, long on banality and short on inspiration. Sad, really. Still, there is that first season. Bonus materials include audio commentaries and featurettes.
For the past few years, the folks at Olive films have been making a whole clutch of much-requested catalogue titles from the vaults of various studios available in high definition. Added to their already impressive list of accomplishments is the Blu-Ray debut of the John Malkovich & Gary Sinise Of Mice And Men (Olive Films, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP) and the mondo-bizarre Serial (Olive, Films, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP), starring Martin Mull, Tuesday Weld, Sally Kellerman, & the great Christopher Lee.
Mill Creek has brought forth another batch of catalogue titles from the Sony library at a remarkably affordable cost. The biggie is Party Of Five: The Complete Series (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$69.98 SRP), a 24-disc set containing all 142 episodes. They’re also dropping the short-lived Richard Dean Anderson series Legend (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), from Star Trek producer Michael Piller.
Because I don’t often get a chance to see them when they run, I love binge-watching a batch of PBS DVDs, as they continue to produce incredible documentaries and science programs that are oft-overlooked. My most recent dive took in the 3-D laser-scanning history program Time Scanners, specifically their episodes on the Colosseum, Jerusalem, and Machu Picchu (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP each). Then I took in current affairs with Frontline: Inside Assad’s Syria (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP), then the cookery doc Off The Menu: Asian America (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP), and finally Craft In America: A Journey To The Origins, Artists, And Techniques Of American Craft (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP).
One day, I hope we get to see whatever film Hugh Jackman thought he was in while chewing up the scenery in Pan (Warner Bros., Rated PG, 3D Blu-Ray-$44.95 SRP), because I bet that one’s a corker. Instead, we get a mealy prequel explaining Peter’s origins, because someone thought that was something we needed to know. Turns out, we didn’t. Still, it’s got some pretty 3D work. Bonus materials include an audio commentary and a quartet of featurettes.
With the brand new sequel coming out, it should come as little surprise that Kung Fu Panda & Kung Fu Panda 2 (Dreamworks, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$14.98 SRP each) are getting “Ultimate Edition Of Awesomeness” re-releases, packed with audio commentaries, featurettes, animated shorts, and a preview of Kung Fu Panda 3.
The third season of DaVinci’s Demons (Anchor Bay, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$54.99 SRP) Leonardo’s world exploding as the Ottomon invasion finds its way to his town, as he finds his own inventions used against him, before we joins a Rome-launched Crusade against the Turks.