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…)
Trust me, you’ll never know just how much you want a fully-remastered high definition collector’s edition of Pee-wee’s Playhouse (Shout Factory, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$149.99 SRP) until you feast your eyes and nostalgia upon that very wonder. By going back to the original 16mm elements and doing a modern digital reassembly and compositing, the show has literally never looked better. To say it’s incredible is an understatement. And if that weren’t enough, there are hours of brand new bonus documentaries featuring all of the on-camera and behind-the-scenes talent – except, glaring by his absence, Paul Reubens himself. But regardless of his lack of on-camera presence, his influence and attention to detail is evident throughout this must-have set.
If the first half of the final season of Mad Men (Lionsgate, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.97 SRP) consisted solely of Robert Morse’s parting scene, it would already be a success in my book, but that was once of many fine moments weaving through the set up to the show’s swan song in a catch-22 of it can’t come fast enough and is all-too-soon. Bonus materials include audio commentaries and a clutch of featurettes.
The fine folks at Criterion have once again worked their sacred cinephile magic to conjure up a pair of truly fantastic special editions making their high definition debut. First up is Federico Fellini’s legendary La Dolce Vita (Criterion, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.95 SRP), featuring a new 4k digital restoration, numerous interviews, and a visual essay. Second is Orson Welles’ “documentary” F For Fake (Criterion, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.95 SRP), which sports the documentary One Man Band, an audio commentary, additional documentaries, interviews, and much more. To say that both are must-haves is an understatement.
In this age of miracles, Shout Factory has pulled off another of their patented wonders by somehow managing to untangle and license nearly all of the music found in the feared-to-be-unreleasable-in-a-manner-it-deserves WKRP In Cincinnati (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$139.99 SRP). So here we have the best possible set we’ll ever get, and it’s finally worth shelling out your hard earned money for. Bonus materials include the Paley Center cast reunion and a trio of featurettes.
Monty Python’s absolutely final run of reunion performances as captured in Monty Python Live: One Down Five To Go (Eagle Vision, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.98 SRP) is everything one would expect from a concert of septuagenarians put together by Eric – a massive musical spectacle that occasionally involves the Pythons proper and their greatest hits. But because it’s what we expected, and because the five remaining members were together, and because this is probably the last time that will ever happen on stage, nostalgia and warm fuzzies carry the day even when the performances don’t. Bonus materials include featurettes and exclusive footage.
Cartoon Network brings together a handful of its heavy hitters for a Cartoon Network Holiday Collection (Cartoon Network, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), featuring yuletide editions of Adventure Time, Regular Show, and The Amazing World Of Gumball, plus bonus episodes of Clarence and Steven Universe.
It’s been a while since we last checked in with the fine folks at the Warner Archive Collection, and in the interim they’ve been busy digging up even more hidden gems and guilty pleasures from the deepest recesses of their vaults for our viewing pleasure. Fresh from the depths come the Jack Benny features The Horn Blows At Midnight (Warner Bros., Not Rated, MOD DVD-$21.99 SRP) & George Washington Slept Here (Warner Bros., Not Rated, MOD DVD-$21.99 SRP), Charles Laughton as the titular spirit in The Canterville Ghost (Warner Bros., Not Rated, MOD DVD-$19.99 SRP), the 80s HBO rotation staples Feds (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, MOD DVD-$17.99 SRP) & Second Sight (Warner Bros., Rated PG, MOD DVD-$17.99 SRP), and the forgotten Buck Henry presidential comedy First Family (Warner Bros., Rated R, MOD DVD-$21.99 SRP). For kids, they’ve bolstered their animated offerings with the complete collection of Hanna-Barbera’s French Canadian wolf Loopy DeLoop (Warner Bros., Not Rated, MOD DVD-$29.99 SRP), the full Shirt Tales (Warner Bros., Not Rated, MOD DVD-$35.99 SRP), the first volume of the 60s made-for-TV Popeye The Sailor (Warner Bros., Not Rated, MOD DVD-$35.99 SRP), and the must-have release of the whole lot, the complete run of Gilligan’s Planet (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$29.99 SRP).
And while we’re on the subject of the Warner Archive Collection, they’ve also been releasing a handful of their niche titles in high definition, the latest being Blake Edwards’ madcap The Great Race (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$21.99 SRP), the big screen take on the Broadway classic Gypsy (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$21.99 SRP), Greystoke: The Legend Of Tarzan, Lord Of The Apes (Warner Bros., Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$21.99 SRP), and the complete second season of the animated Batman: The Brave And The Bold (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP). More, please!
Long before the man behind ALF created that wacky alien, Paul Fusco produced a series of puppet-based holiday specials, the first of which – Santa’s Magic Toy Bag (Legend, Not Rated, DVD-$14.99 SRP) – makes its home video debut just in time for seasonal viewing.
I’d say “amiable” is a better word than “funny” to describe the one-man autobiographical show Billy Crystal: 700 Sundays (HBO, Not Rated, DVD-$19.97 SRP), which finds the venerable comic reflecting on the first few decades of his life and the influences that helped shape him as a performer.
I wasn’t expecting much from Earth To Echo (Fox, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), so it was with genuine surprise that I found it to be a charming little film evocative of kid-centric under-the-radar 80s flicks like Explorers and Flight Of The Navigator in its simple tale of a trio of kids who discover a small alien who just wants to get home. Sounds familiar, right? Give it a go, ya jaded mooks. Bonus materials include featurettes and deleted scenes.
Rewind back to the very beginning of the long-running Brit crime drama, back when forensic pathologist Dr. Samantha Ryan was solving murder cases in Silent Witness: Season One (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP), then fast-forward to the modern run and the team headed up by Nikki Alexander in Silent Witness: Season Seventeen (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP).
Regardless of all the brouhaha over the band’s recent free album, there’s no denying U2’s place in the musical firmament, and that’s why it’s surprising it’s taken this long for the Irish quartet to get a fitting illustrated history like U2: Revolution (Race Point Publishing, $35), which charts the history and evolution of the band as they rock into their fourth decade.
It’s a kinder, gentler, often goofily amiable kind of comedy that you’ll find in The Red Skelton Show: The Early Years (Timeless, Not Rated, DVD-$59.97 SRP), an 11-DVD set that collects 90 episodes of Skelton’s variety show spanning from 1951 to 1955 and featuring guest appearances from the likes of Jackie Gleason to John Wayne. The set also includes a bonus disc with a documentary, a dress rehearsal, and bonus episodes.
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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