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…)
Two things to ponder – National Lampoon’s Vacation (Warner Bros., Rated R, Blu-Ray-$19.98 SRP) is 30 years old, and could probably not get made today. While the sequels hewed close to PG-13 sensibilities, the original westward adventure of the Griswold clan was an unapologetic, and genuinely funny, R. The new 30th anniversary Blu-Ray cleans up the picture and sound a bit, adds a new 90-minute retrospective documentary, and carries over the original DVD’s audio commentary and introduction.
While not in an accurate 1/4-scale, it’s still nice to be able to add NECA’s Smeagol Action Figure ($29.99) to the shelf, courtesy of the fine folks at Thinkgeek. Featuring a spot-on sculpt of the nicer side of Gollum with a lovely paint job (and even hair!) for such a low price point, this is a Lord Of The Rings figure worth adding to your collection.
A few years back, we were gifted with the first batch of high definition releases from the fine folks at Studio Ghibli. And then? A long, long, terribly long, wait. But rejoice! Two of director Hayao Miyazaki’s best are finally here – Howl’s Moving Castle & My Neighbor Totoro (Walt Disney, Rated PG/G, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP each) – both looking and sounding a charm, and porting over all of the wonderful features from the previous DVD special editions.
Mel Brooks is an institution. And he also happens to be an institution in the midst of a well-deserved renaissance that includes the brilliant American Masters documentary Mel Brooks: Make A Noise (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$19.97 SRP). Featuring insight from the likes of Carl Reiner, Cloris Leachman, Nathan Lane, and more, give it a spin. Bonus materials include deleted segments.
The brilliant Ben Kingsley is not just on the big screen with Iron Man this week, but also starring in the taught thriller A Common Man (Anchor Bay, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$24.99 SRP), as a man who plants five bombs around a major metropolis and makes a single demand – that the government release a clutch of terrorists from prison. What follows is a cat-and-mouse chase with plenty of surprises.
So far, all of the LEGO movies have been fun, but with LEGO Batman The Movie: DC Superheroes Unite (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.98 SRP), they’ve managed to make a movie that captures the essence of the DC superhero universe better than the overwrought and grim live action films Warners has been cranking out in recent years. All of which is to say do watch this, and here’s hoping it’s the first of many. Bonus materials include a featurette and bonus cartoons.
For more years than I can recall, the amiable scholars at Twomorrows have been publishing a wide range of magazine and books chronicling every nook and cranny of the comics, creators, characters, and companies fans know and love. A few months back, they took that love and scholarly approach to the next logical step, by launching a must-have document of four-color history in the American Comic Book Chronicles (Twomorrows, $41.95 SRP), which will eventually chart from 1940 to today. The debut volume covered the 1960’s from 1960-1964, but the second release jumps ahead to the 1980’s, covering from 1980-1989 – a decade full of Crises, mutants, the direct market, and the rise of grim and gritty. Get this book, as well as the previous volume, and then start setting aside shelf space for the rest – which can’t come fast enough.
Oh, and while you’re at it, be sure to pick up another new magazine from the folks at Twomorrows – Comic Book Creator (Twomorrows, $8.95), featuring spotlights on Jack Kirby, Alex Ross, Frank Robbins, Kurt Busiek, and Todd McFarlane.
Events have escalated in True Blood: Season 5 (HBO, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$79.98 SRP) as the fate of humanity now lies in the balance, just as Sookie is trying to deal with her erratic faerie powers and Bill & Eric are called into action by the Vampire Authority. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, featurettes, Authority Confessionals, and more.
Get all high and mighty with The BBC’s Royal Collection (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP), which contains 4 different documentaries focusing on the British monarchy through the years – Queen Victoria’s Children, King George & Queen Mary, The Coronation Of Queen Elizabeth II, and How To Be A Prince. Also included is a bonus reproduction of a vintage booklet from the Queen’s coronation day.
I’ll say this for Steven Soderbergh’s thriller Side Effects (Universal, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$34.98 SRP) – I don’t think I ever knew where it was going. For the most part, in a good way, as its tale of an anxiety-suffering woman is prescribed an experimental medication with deadly side effects mostly keeps to a successful high wire act. Bonus materials include featurettes and faux commercials.
Granted, it’s no sophomore effort like Jason Bateman’s, but the complete second season of MTV’s Teen Wolf (MGM, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) finds the much darker and angstier take on the tribulations of a teenage werewolf expanding its mythos as the war between hunters and werewolves heats up. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel.
For the show’s sixth season, they decided to move Laverne & Shirley (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) out of Milwaukee, and set in motion a decline that would see the once strong comedy limp to an awkward end minus Penny Williams. Still, this sunnyside season does feature one episode I still recall from my childhood, in which the dynamic duo experience their first earthquake in pure slapstick fashion. Bonus materials include episodic promos and a gag reel.
This week’s indie cinema spotlight falls on a pair of dramas – the pitch black comedy Charlie Casanova (Brink, Not Rated, DVD-$19.95 SRP) and the 70’s-evocative road comedy Robert Mitchum Is Dead (Brink, Not Rated, DVD-$19.95 SRP). Both are worth a spin, and sport a clutch of bonus materials including deleted scenes and featurettes.
If you’re ready for another quirky procedural, try the complete first season of Perception (ABC Studios, Not Rated, DVD-$29.99 SRP), starring Eric McCormack as a neuroscience professor with visions who’s recruited by the FBI to help solve cases. Got that?
Hey hey, film music fans! It’s another soundtrack round-up, this week featuring Eric Neveux’s score to Tom Fontana’s Borgia: Season II (Silva Screen Records, $16.42 SRP), James Newton Howard’s After Earth (Sony Masterworks, $10.79 SRP), Mike Mogis and Nathaniel Walcott’s Stuck In Love ($9.99, Varese Sarabande), Haiam Mazar’s The Iceman (Relativity Music, $9.49 SRP), Bear McCreary’s Da Vinci’s Demons (Sparks & Shadows, $9.99 SRP), and Music From The Films of Ridley Scott (BSX Records, $8.99 SRP).
How the mighty have fallen. Were you even aware that Arnold Schwarzenegger releases a new film? You wouldn’t be the only one that didn’t know about The Last Stand (Lionsgate, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), which finds Arnie the sheriff of a sleepy town who must stop an escaped drug cartel kingpin who wanders into his jurisdiction. Bonus materials include featurettes and deleted/extended scenes.
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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Calling 
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