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…)
They rebuilt him… Better… Stronger… Faster… And now, after an interminably long wait, The Six Million Dollar Man (Time Life, Not Rated, DVD-$239.95) has finally arrived on DVD. As if that weren’t enough, Time Life has delivered the complete 5-season run in one massive set, which includes all 3 pilot films, all 3 reunion films, the Bionic Woman crossover episodes, newly-recorded cast interviews, and alternate syndication edits of the pilots. All in all, it’s 40 discs worth of bionic fun… So plenty to keep you occupied during the long winter ahead.
As a child in the early 80’s I remember the magical joy of coloring pieces of thin plastic that, when cut out and put in the oven, would shrink and thicken into tiny little 2-D plastic figurines. Yes, I’m speaking of Shrinky Dinks ($4.99), and thanks to the fine folks at Thinkgeek, I’m able to introduce my nephews to the joy of heat-shrinky plastic.
In the mid-60’s, a trio of producers named Bob Rafelson, Bert Schneider, and Steve Blauner stepped from the surging counterculture and into the mainstream conservative milieu of Hollywood and crafted a definitive TV property with the manufactured pop band/TV show The Monkees. Seeking to move into films, they developed a decidedly unorthodox film for The Monkees written by good friend and Corman regular Jack Nicholson. After it bombed miserably, they hit paydirt with an era-defining film – Easy Rider. High definition version of both those films – plus the rest of their output (Five Easy Pieces, Drive, He Said, A Safe Place, The Last Picture Show, & The King Of Marvin Gardens) – in the box set America Lost & Found: The BBS Story (Criterion, Not Rated/Rated R, Blu-Ray-$124.95 SRP). In addition to the remastered films themselves, the set includes audio commentaries, documentaries, screen tests, outtakes, interviews, TV/radio spots, trailers, and a collectible booklet.
For decades, Fritz Lang’s silent masterpiece – a visual and conceptual feast that his inspired scores of filmmakers – has been a fractured film, with whole chunks of footage and sequences that were in the debut cut deemed lost forever. Well, never say never, as recent discoveries have allowed the fine folks at Kino to assemble the complete Metropolis (Kino, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.95 SRP), which they are making available in high definition. The print quality on some of the formerly lost material doesn’t quite match the sparkling extant footage, but that in no way negates the wonder of watching the film as it was intended to be seen, particularly after all these years. Bonus materials include a recording of the original score, a 50-minute documentary, an interview with the curator of the Buenos Airen museum where the footage was found, and the 2010 re-release trailer.
Earlier this year, Kino also began releasing its extensive Buster Keaton collection in high definition, with the result being a trio of must-have releases for any aficionado of cinematic comedy – Steamboat Bill Jr., The General, and a double-feature of Sherlock Jr. & Three Ages (Kino, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$34.95 SRP each). All four feature multiple score choices, featurettes, intros, and more.
When HBO’s brilliantly dark western Deadwood began its first season, the time period within the series was only a few weeks following the massacre of Custer’s troops in 1876. Into the lawless South Dakotan town rode two men – one a bitter ex-lawman, and the other a man looking to start a new life – and both ran afoul of the local heavy who owns half the town. What followed was an epic drama of operatic heights, and one you can watch in its entirety in high definition with Deadwood: The Complete Series (HBO, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$209.98 SRP). The 13-disc set features all 36 episodes, audio commentaries, featurettes, interviews, and an exclusive bonus disc with creator David Milch discussing the season’s conclusion, a historical featurette on the real Deadwood, a Q&A with the cast & creative team, the Al Swearengen audition reel, and a 360-degree tour of Deadwood.
Your perennial holiday viewing just got a high definition upgrade with the Blu-Ray release of The Original Christmas Classics box set (Classic Media, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$44.95 SRP), featuring the Rankin Bass specials Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty The Snowman, and Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town. Yes, you know you’ll be getting this.
Killing time between now and when the globe-trotting Cars 2 comes out next summer? Well, you can dip into brand new adventures featuring everyone’s favorite hillbilly tow truck in Cars Toon: Mater’s Tall Tales (Walt Disney, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP), which features 9 short subjects, plus intros, featurettes, and more.
The complete runs of both the classic Batman and Superman animated series have already made their debut as box sets, as well as Justice League, so the last to get the treatment arrives with Batman Beyond: The Complete Series (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$99.98 SRP). The 9-disc set contains all 52 episodes, plus commentaries, retrospectives, a collector’s booklet, and a bonus disc with the documentary Secret Origin: The Story Of DC Comics and a trio of new featurettes.
It’s not really a brilliant series, but Gerry Anderson’s Space: 1999 (A&E, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$99.95 SRP) is one of those canon sci-fi series that everyone should see at least once, even if you might walk away wondering what all of the fuss is about. It does look better than ever in high definition, as you can now watch via the complete 1st season set, containing 24 episodes plus loads of bonus material, including commentaries, featurettes, documentaries, interviews, and much more.
It’s certainly not as well-known or well-loved as shows like Space: 1999 or Thunderbirds, but completionists are sure to rejoice at the arrival of Gerry Anderson’s Space Precinct (Image, Not Rated, DVD-$49.98 SRP) on DVD, even if it plays like a low budget Alien Nation.
As the little Fockers will be making their way to the big screen shortly, it makes sense that Blu-Rays of Meet The Parents and Meet The Fockers (Universal, Rated PG-13, Bly-Ray-$26.98 SRP each are making their way to shelves, both of which contain featurettes, deleted scenes, audio commentaries, and outtakes.
We’re now into the second season, and I’ve pretty much written off Parks And Recreation (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) as an awkward, failed comedy that still hasn’t discovered what it wants to be, outside of another Office. Which is a shame, because the cast deserves so much better. The 4-disc set contains all 24 episodes, plus deleted scenes, featurettes, and bloopers.
Most people think of Romeo + Juliet or Moulin Rouge when they think of Baz Luhrmann and over look the dance-happy Strictly Ballroom (Miramax, Rated PG, DVD-$19.99 SRP), but it’s actually his most straightforward and watchable. Bonus materials on the new special edition include an audio commentary, featurettes, and a deleted scene.
It’s been a long string of single-disc releases leading up to the release of Spongebob Squarepants: Season 6 Part 2 (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$29.99 SRP), whose 2 discs contain 23 episodes, featurettes, and shorts. So yes, your kids can be fully immersed in Spongebob this holiday season.
Beginning after his emigration to the Big Apple in 1971, Lennon NYC (A&E, Not Rated, DVD-$24.95 SRP) looks at the new, post-Beatles life John Lennon forged for himself as a husband and a father, making music infrequently. Packed with rare footage and new interviews with Yoko, Elton John, David Geffen, and more, it’s a unique look at an artist in the city he came to love.
The Warner Archive has decided to celebrate the holidays be bringing together the holiday episodes of everything from The Courtship Of Eddie’s Father and Alice to Mama’s Family and Dr. Kildare in the Classic TV Christmas Collection (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$29.95). The 4-disc set contains 10 episodes total.
The Warner Archive Collection continues to release titles no sane fan would ever think they’d eventually get their hands on, and I’d say the complete animated spin-off of The Dukes Of Hazzard – The Dukes (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$29.95). The 4-disc set contains all 20 episodes.
In an attempt to further turn themselves into Spike, the History Channel’s Human Weapon (History Channel, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$49.95 SRP) pairs a martial artist and an ex-football player on a journey to learn different forms of combat, from karate to stickfighting, while also journeying across the globe and manhandling relics. Oh, and there’s CGI! The set contains all 16 first season episodes.
I’ve become less and less interested in seeing Tom Cruise on screen in recent years, and was hoping that the True Lies-esque bit of a blast thrill ride Knight And Day (Fox, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) would win me back over, but instead I got an amiable enough actioner about a small toen girl (Cameron Diaz) who gets mixed up with a fugitive super-spy (guess who) that leaves practically no impression after it’s over. Bonus materials include a clutch of featurettes.
After Santa and his canine BFF travel to New York and the big man loses his memory, it’s up to the doggie to make sure Christmas is achieved in the saccharine sweet The Search For Santa Paws (Walt Disney, Rated G, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP). Well, I’m sure the kids will eat it up… Or at least be babysat by it. Bonus materials include a featurette, a music video, and a the standard DVD.
You know how long it’s been since Rush Hour (New Line, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$24.98 SRP) – the action flick that made household names out of Jackie Chan & Chris Tucker – came out? Long enough that there’s a blurb from both Ebert and Siskel on the cover of this new high definition release. Doesn’t seem like it should be that long ago, does it? Well, here it is, sporting audio commentaries, featurettes, music videos, a trailer, and more.
For every surprisingly enjoyable bad idea like Pirates of the Caribbean comes a misfire dud like The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (Walt Disney, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), which takes How To Train Your Dragon’s Jay Baruchel and makes him the new apprentice to sorcerer Nicolas Cage, who’s channeling both Keanu Reeves’ Neo and a drunken drifter. I’m sure you’ll eventually catch this film on cable, entirely by accident, and when you do – you might want to change the channel. Bonus materials include featurettes, deleted scenes, outtakes, and more.
Real-life lovers Drew Barrymore and Justin Long have gone down the path of many actor couples by immortalizing their relationship as an onscreen duo, with their particular vehicle being Going The Distance (New Line, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP), about a bicoastal pair of lovers who decide to make a go of their long distance relationship after a summer fling in New York City. Bonus materials include an audio commentary and behind-the-scenes featurettes.
Rob Reiner shoots straight down the middle with his amiable adaptation of young love novel Flipped (Warner Bros., Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP), about a pair of 7th graders who are coming to realize that they love each other in a “destined to” kind of way – Well, actually, the girl knew since second grade, but through a twisty path, the boy comes to fall for her as well. Bonus materials include behind-the-scenes featurettes.
It’s no Ben 10, but Cartoon Network’s Generator Rex (Cartoon Network, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP) is certainly constructed to try and hit all of the same buttons with the kids, right down to a super-powered kid – in this case, a 15-year-old boy/weapon made of nanites – fighting the big bad world. The 2-disc set contains 9 episodes.
Part of me cringes to say this, but I’ve begun to think that YouTube sensation Fred Figglehorn is this young generation’s Pee Wee Herman, particularly after seeing the feature-length Fred: The Movie (Lionsgate, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP), which finds the gratingly-voiced teen attempting to find his former-neighbor-but-just-moved-to-a-new-house crush, Judy, while avoiding neighbor bully Kevin. It’s not nearly as funny or polished as Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, but it does play to the a lot of the same absurdist man-child qualities. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, and more.
As always, it’s rather pointless to criticize the Twilight movies, as the rabid, massive audience care’s not what anyone has to say about their beloved pap-fest, and the same rule applies to Eclipse (Summit, Rated PG-13, DVD-$26.99 SRP), which features more shirtless wonder for teens and 40-somethings. The 2-disc set contains audio commentaries, a 6-part making-of documentary, deleted/extended scenes, music videos, and a photo gallery.
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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It’s always a worry when Pixar revisits their past films for a sequel. Will this be the time it all falls apart and the bloom is finally off the rose? Happily, that’s not the case with Monsters University (Walt Disney, Rated G, 3D Blu-Ray-$49.99 SRP), which takes is back to their genesis of Mike and Sully’s friendship at the titular alma mater, and manages to be a snappy college comedy that evokes genre classics like Animal House and Back To School to enjoyable effect. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, a clutch of featurettes, deleted scenes, and the theatrical short The Blue Umbrella.
Slowly but surely, Disney/Pixar has been revisiting their catalogue titles with snazzy new 3D versions, and the latest to get the treatment is the original Cars (Walt Disney, Rated G, 3D Blu-Ray-$49.99 SRP). It’s certainly a film that benefits from the upgrade, particularly the various race scenes. This new edition ports over all of the bonus features from the previous Blu-Ray release, including an audio commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes, and the short subjects One Man Band and Mater And The Ghostlight.
Invite the legendary Carol Burnett over for the holidays via The Carol Burnett Show: Christmas With Carol (Time Life, Not Rated, DVD-$12.95 SRP), which collects a handful of episodes and holiday sketches together into a cornucopia of comedy delights.
In the mood for a clever little romantic comedy? You know, the type perfected by the Brits? Then give a spin to I Give It A Year (Magnolia, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.98 SRP), about a young couple in a marriage no one thinks will last. Bonus materials include featurettes, deleted scenes, interviews, and a gag reel.
The prehistoric beasties of the UK’s Primeval make their way to American shores in the US version Primeval: New World (E1, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.98 SRP), and you can now watch all 13 episodes of the short-lived series at your leisure. Bonus materials include a clutch of featurettes.
Despite the unfortunate participation of Zack Snyder, I was pleasantly surprised by the documentary Necessary Evil: Super-Villains Of DC Comics (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$19.98 SRP), which takes an in-depth look at the baddies that define the DC superheroes. And it’s narrated by the great Christopher Lee, so it’s got that going for it, too.
America’s favorite fat cat returns in The Garfield Show: A Purr-fect Life (Vivendi, Not Rated, DVD-$14.93 SRP), which collects 6 episodes from the orange tabby’s new show, plus additional shorts. Now, if it only came with lasagna…
I love how The Conjuring (Warner Bros., Rated R, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP) touts its tale of a pair of ghosthunters helping a family terrorized by a poltergeist as being “based on true events”, because… ghosts? Really? Besides that nonsense, the film itself is a snappy little thriller in the vein of, well, Poltergeist. Bonus materials include a trio of featurettes.
Are you a fan of rare archive films? And an Anglophile? If so, dig into the historical films collected in London’s East End: 1900s – 1970s, London’s War: During WWII, London Life In The 1930s, 50s, & 60s, and The Golden Age Of British Railways (BFS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP each). Plenty of nifty sights to behold.
Every once in awhile, The History Channel puts out a few releases to remind people their programming used to be about more than garbage pickers and pawn shops. The JFK Collection (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP) brings together 8 documentaries on all aspects of Kennedy, including his family members. Meanwhile, the high definition WWII Collection (History Channel, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP) contains a trio of documentaries – WWII In HD, WWII In HD: The Air War, and WWII From Space.
Considering it’s a Christopher Guest project in his improvisational style and it stars the eminently affable Chris O’Dowd, I had high hopes for Family Tree (HBO, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP). Sadly, the resultant journey of O’Dowd’s character through his family’s unexpected history is a dull, draggy affair that never manages to find the transcendently sublime riffs that usually carry Guest’s humor along. A shame. Bonus materials include featurettes and additional scenes.
Honestly, I can see why RIPD (Universal, Rated PG-13, 3D Blu-Ray-$49.98 SRP) was a bit of a dud at the box office – It plays much better as a schlocky sci-fi flick to be watched on a cold winter night in the comfort of your own home. With Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds as a pair of deceased lawmen back on the mortal plane to defend it against destructive spirits who discover a scheme that could mean the end of all existence, it’s just the right kind of cheese. Bonus materials include alternate openings, featurettes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel.
Another week, and other roundup of brand new soundtracks releases! This week, we’ve got selections of Richard Marvin’s scores from the first two seasons of Grimm (La-La Land Records, $15.98), Steven Price’s score for Gravity (Watertower Music, $9.98 SRP), the 2-disc collector’s edition of Bear McCreary’s music for Da Vinci’s Demons (Sparks & Shadows, $8.99 SRP), the soundtrack album to the Paul Potts biopic One Chance (Sony, $10.99 SRP), Oscar Navarro’s score to La Mula (Moviescore Media, $7.99 SRP), and finally, we’ve got David Schwartz’s music and songs from Arrested Development (Varese Records, $11.88 SRP).
The fine folks at Film Chest have released the first of their Roger Corman’s Horror Classics Volume 1 (Film Chest, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP), featuring A Bucket Of Blood, Dementia 13 & The Terror, all of which have been restored from 35mm film elements.
The fine folks at the Beeb present their own take on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP), as a young woman must make a perilous journey deep into the domain of the titular queen to rescue a penniless urchin she had befriended before he was spirited away. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, a featurette, and a Blue Peter program on Hans Christian Andersen.
Get the full at-home 3-D experience of their theatrical releases with the new 3-D editions of 
If your kid is both a LEGO and a Star Wars fan, then they’re probably in need of a place to put all of those piles of bricks. Well, with the 
I don’t see it as quite the abomination that some purists have made it out to be, and it’s not like Pixar hasn’t done sequels before, but the best I can say about 
While it’s not the feature-laden special edition I was hoping for, I’m still delighted that we’ve gotten one of my favorite holiday flicks, 
Even if you’re not terribly curious about the entertainment industry, there’s no denying that 
Join Victoria Justice and the kids at Hollywood Arts High School for more singing, dancing, and ventriloquism in