Tag: nick fury

Weekend Shopping Guide 5/1/15: Guardians Of The Pixilated Parrot

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…)

While we’re all still eagerly awaiting the “any day” arrival of Rocket & Groot and the launch of the pre-orders for Drax, fans of those loveable intergalactic rogues the Guardians Of The Galaxy can snag a trio of fantastic figures to make the wait for a full set bearable. Not only can you get the team’s erstwhile leader, Star-Lord (Sideshow, $234, but you can pick up the green-skinned assassin Gamora (Sideshow, $199.99) and the Hot Toys take on the dancing fan-favorite Little Groot (Sideshow, $44.99). Star-Lord is the most feature-laden, coming with a light feature in his visored head, his trusty walkman and headphones, the infinity gem storage balls, and a swappable Chris Pratt head for all of your Parks And Recreation posing needs. Gamora has her long and short knives (for cutting!), and Groot features a trio of swappable heads and poseable arms. As we’ve come to expect from Hot Toys, the tailoring on the costuming is ridiculously exquisite, bordering on magical in their ability to pull off screen-accurate scaled reproductions. Just look at Star-Lord’s coat and Gamora’s leather togs.

The fine folks at Fantagraphics continue to do a stellar job presenting the works of the legendary Carl Barks for a brand new generation keen to discover the finest Disney Ducks comics ever created with the release of Donald Duck: The Pixilated Parrot (Fantagraphics, $29.99 SRP). Not only does this volume contain the titular tale, but its 200 pages are packed with long and short classics, plus the usual scholarly essays and context that makes these positively ducky. Yeah, I went there.

If they have to revisit Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas (Warner Bros., Rated R, Blu-Ray-$34.99 SRP) on blu-ray, at least they did it the right way, by presenting it via a brand new 4k restoration that looks absolutely stunning, plus a brand-new star-studded documentary about what it’s like acting the criminal for Scorsese. The set also includes ad8itional featurettes and materials from previous releases, plus a 36-page photo book.

It should come as little surprise that the brilliant Timothy Spall is brilliant in Mike Leigh’s biopic about Britain’s revered, emotionally complicated painter J.M.W. Turner in Mr. Turner (Sony, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$34.99 SRP). Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, and a deleted scene.

They’re not the best films ever made, but there’s a Technicolor delight to be found in the 5 flicks which comprise Warners’ new Frank Sinatra Collection (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$69.95 SRP). Presented in brilliantly restored high definition, the set includes Anchors Aweigh, On The Town, Guys And Dolls, Ocean’s 11, and Robin And The 7 Hoods. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, vintage cartoons, vintage featurettes (fans of Warners’ wonderful old school movie night DVDs will remember them), a Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson excerpt, trailers, and more.

I’ve been a big fan of MiniMates going back to their original larger-scale debut, so I was happy to hear that they’d picked up the license to produce Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles MiniMates (Diamond Select Toys, $5.99 SRP each) based on the hit Nickelodeon series. The first wave of blind-bagged figures includes all four turtles, Shredder, two foot soldiers, and a chase translucent Michaelangelo.

It’s quite a challenge to follow up such a powerful first season, but the second season of Broadchurch (E1, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) is a solid sophomore effort, and that rests wholly on the shoulders of David Tennant and Olivia Colman and a compelling mystery. Bonus materials include featurettes, interviews, and deleted scenes.

No longer do we have to content ourselves with the lackluster standard definition piecemeal releases of the gloriously vibrant pop-pop animated Teen Titans Go (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP), as the Warner Archive gifts fans a high definition release of the complete first season. Sadly, there’s not a single bonus feature, but at least it all looks great and I in one package.

I love diving into books where you spend every page thinking, “Finally! Someone put together an awesome book that I never knew I wanted until it existed!” Such is the case with Meet Mr. Product: Volume 1 and its companion Mr. Product: Volume 2 (Insight Editions, $17.99 SRP each), which combined are a visual encyclopedia of advertising characters spanning the bulk of the 20th century up until 1985, on everything from cereals to auto parts and from the Michelin Man to Charlie Tuna.

No one in their right mind would consider the latter-day Curly Joe features made by the Three Stooges to be the boys at their finest, but there is a charm and novelty to be found in The Three Stooges Triple Feature: Time Out For Rhythm/Rockin’ In The Rockies/Have Rocket Will Travel & The Three Stooges Triple Feature: The Three Stooges Around The World In A Daze/The Three Stooges Meet Hercules/The Outlaws Is Coming (Mill Creek, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$14.98 SRP each). It’s nice to see them all get the high def treatment, and also nice that Rhythm and Rockies are both Curly Howard-era features.

S.H. Figuarts are known for their ridiculously poseable action figures with a level of near-miraculous articulation. Combine that with two Nintendo superstars and you’ve got must-have, shelf-ready figures of Mario (Thinkgeek, $18.74) and Link ($54.99). While Mario comes with a Super Mushroom, a block, and a gold coin, Link has his sword (with optional energy effect), shield, a swappable face, and a nifty stand allowing for even more dynamic posing. Woo-hoo!

Ryan Gosling’s writing & directing debut, Lost River (Warner Bros., Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.98 SRP) really is a mess of a film. Equal parts pretentious and baffling in its attempt to be a deep character piece about a mother’s attempt to hold her family and town together, but instead is a must-see-to-believe misfire with a great cast, including Christina Hendricks, Matt Smith, and Iain De Castecker.

As a longtime Marvel comics nerd who owned every issue of the original Official Handbook Of The Marvel Universe, I mightily enjoyed the tech and geeky trivia packed into the official Haynes’ Marvel Vehicles: Owner’s Workshop Manual (Insight Editions, $29.95 SRP). Guided by S.H.I.E.L.D. head Nick Fury himself, it’s a peek inside everything from the helicarrier to the Green Goblin’s Goblin Glider. And yes, you even get the dune buggy Spider-Mobile.

Because they’re wonderful maniacs, Olive Films have dropped another clutch of catalogue titles new to high-def, including Abbott & Costello’s final film, Dance With Me, Henry (Olive Films, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP), Jodi Foster’s directorial debut Little Man Tate (Olive Films, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP), the 1990 version of Lord Of The Flies (Olive Films, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP), Robert Townsend’s Hollywood Shuffle (Olive Films, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP), Paul Newman & Robby Benson in Harry & Son (Olive Films, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP), Nick Nolte & Judd Hirsch in Teachers (Olive Films, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP), Pauley Shore’s opus Bio-Dome (Olive Films, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP), Cooley High (Olive Films, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP), Jessica Lange & Tommy Lee Jones in Blue Sky (Olive Films, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP), and Chuck Norris & Lou Gossett in Firewalker (Olive Films, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP).

Twomorrows has taken their long out-of-print stellar biography of a comics legend and expanded it into a must-have deluxe edition with Will Eisner: A Spirited Life (Twomorrows, $39.95 SRP). The hardcover tome is not only a detailed overview of Eisner’s life, but is also packed with rare artwork and photographs.

This week’s toddler time titles from the folks at Nickelodeon include Wallykazam! (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), sporting four enchanted adventures, and Let’s Learn S.T.E.M. (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), featuring 6 educational playdates with Dora, Bubble Guppies, Team Umizoomi, and more.

For the Hal Lublins of the world, who would kindly be characterized as rabid wrestling fans, the WWE Ultimate Superstar Guide (DK, $16.99 SRP) is a fully illustrated handbook of wrestlers past and present, with full bios, trivia, stats, and more.

Sometimes, you’re just hankering for a mindless action flick, and that’s exactly the sort of popcorn cleanser you’ll get from The Marine 4: Moving Target (Fox, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP), starring WWE superstar Mike “The Miz” Mizanin as the titular Marine, Jake Carter, whose private sector gig is to protect a high-value whistleblower against a team of mercs. Bonus materials include a trio of featurettes.

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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May 1, 2015
Weekend Shopping Guide 8/10/12: The Cause Of All Our Pain

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…)

If you’d asked a fan a few years back if they’d ever see the notorious Sandy Frank episodes – episodes which Frank supposedly loathed – on DVD, they probably would have sighed and said “No. Probably not.” Well, never say never, because the Sandy Frank films begin their roll out in Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XXIV (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$59.97 SRP), which features Fugitive Alien, Fugitive Alien II, The Sword And The Dragon, and Samson Vs The Vampire Women, plus a clutch of featurettes… Including an interview with Sandy Frank himself.

How can you not like the simple, straightforward Air Strike Catapult ($14.99)? I mean, it’s a catapult. It flings little spongy spiky balls (it comes with six). It even flings them up to 40 feet. What more do you want from a little desktop catapult? WHAT MORE?!?

It’s not a great film, but the thing I love so much about Clue (Paramount, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$22.99 SRP) is that it’s just a fun film. And a large part of that is that the brilliant cast – Tim Curry, Christopher Lloyd, Martin Mull, Eileen Brennan, Madeline Kahn, Michael McKean, and Lesley Ann Warren – all came to play. And now it’s finally available in high definition.

As it’s Olympics time, it should come as no surprise that Warners has chosen this moment to release the long-awaited high definition debut of Chariots Of Fire (Warner Bros., Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP) which, as you’ll remember, dealt with the story of two British Runners at the 1924 Paris Olympics. Bonus materials include a quartet of documentaries, an audio commentary, deleted scenes, screen tests, featurettes, and a soundtrack CD sampler.

While the 80’s were loaded with high school comedies, the 90’s seemed to roll out the high school reunion comedies, and while it’s no classic, I remember enjoying the straightforward fun of Romy And Michelle’s High School Reunion (Touchstone, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$20.00 SRP), which finds the titular oddballs (Lisa Kudrow & Mira Sorvino) desperate to prove themselves successful at their own 10yr gathering. Bonus features are limited to a vintage production featurette.

Journey back to a much simpler time when the late Whitney Houston could star in a wholesome flick like The Preacher’s Wife (Touchstone, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$20.00 SRP) opposite Denzel Washington – who plays an angel sent to repair Houston’s fractured marriage to her preacher husband. Bonus features are limited to a vintage production featurette.

And leapfrogging ahead, the BBC recently produced a story from the 1948 London games in Going For Gold (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$19.97 SRP), which costars Doctor Who‘s Matt Smith as one-half of a sculling team thrown together during the first games post-World War II.

When five juvenile delinquents doing community service are caught in a freak electrical storm and develop superpowers, you get Misfits (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP) – a snarky cross between Skins and Buffy that delivers a much more enjoyable take on troubled teens with powers than the recent big screen Chronicle. Bonus materials include featurettes and cast interviews.

There’s definitely some Whedonverse DNA evident in Grimm (Universal, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$69.98 SRP) – enough so that the dark little series about a Slayer… sorry… Grimm descendent tasked with keeping the balance between the world and creatures of myth is a an enjoyably familiar watch. The first season set sports featurettes, deleted/extended scenes, audition tapes, and more.

The Schwarzenegger Total Recall (Lionsgate, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$14.99 SRP) really is a schlocky mess of a sci-fi flick only the demise of the 80’s could have cobbled. Still, it’s nice to see all of that cheese in high definition, and the ported commentary from Arnie is still a nonsensical gem.

Even more so than the godawful live action Cat In The Hat, you can’t get a more wrong-headed take on the brilliance of Dr. Seuss than the crass adaptation of The Lorax (Universal, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$34.98 SRP), which takes Seuss’s powerful tale of greed and the need for environmental consciousness and turns it into a cloying comedy full of mediocre songs a slapstick Lorax. Bonus materials include shorts, featurettes, a deleted scene, and more.

It’s been a few years, so it should come as no surprise that another new edition of Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs (MGM, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$19.99 SRP) is getting a release – the second time in high definition, but the first time in a 25th anniversary edition. Bonus features are carried over from the previous release, including an audio commentary, featurettes, galleries, and a lovely tribute to John Candy.

While HBO is loaded with classy shows like Game Of Thrones and Veep, Cinemax gets to have a knock-down, dragout action series like Strike Back (Cinemax, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$59.96 SRP), where a duo of elite agents for a top secret intelligence agency travel the globe to track down an international terrorist and basically kick a lot of ass. Yeah. Bonus materials include audio commentaries on five episodes.

I never knew I wanted a figure of Britain’s legendary Prime Minister Winston Churchill, but if he were to be combined with a Dalek figure serving tea? Sold. And that’s exactly what you get with the Doctor Who: Victory Of The Daleks Collector’s Set (Underground Toys, $39.99 SRP), featuring the “Teatime” Ironside Dalek and Churchill (with swappable head, glasses, and crisis phones). You know you want this, too.

As a lifelong comics fan, I still have trouble buying Samuel L. Jackson as the character of Nick Fury – he’s certainly not my childhood Nick Fury – but it is cool seeing Samuel L. Jackson doing his thing in the Marvel superhero films. And you know what’s just as cool? Having an incredibly lifelike 12″ figure from the fine folks at Hot Toys of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury ($189.99), as seen in The Avengers. Yes, the head sculpt is the dead-on brilliance we’ve come to expect from Hot Toys, and the costume is exquisitely tailored. It’s also loaded with accessories – everything from his wristwatch and bluetooth earpiece to the briefcase containing the cosmic cube.

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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August 10, 2012
Opinion In A Haystack: THE AVENGERS Review

THE AVENGERS ““ Review ***SPOILER FREE***

In the western world, in the culture of Hollywood, we have made films the apex of a property’s existence. When any creative, artistic or entertaining endeavor reaches a certain level of popularity, respect, profits or prestige we turn it into a film, or possibly threaten to turn it into a film, if its isn’t already a film itself. So we’ve grown up salivating for certain things to come to fruition. Impossible things. For better or worse many of those things in my generation, due to new technology powered by James Cameron’s ego, have come into being as live action romps of varying degrees of success.

Well as far as “things” go, The Avengers is most certainly one of those “things” for me. The good news being that I went completely ape-“fecal matter” for the movie. I sang the praises of Sir Joss Whedon in my Cabin In The Woods review not long ago, and here I’m not even sure that singing is going to do him justice. The man is having a good year, so good in fact that his career is probably going to take a different path from now on. Avengers most certainly has the potential to skyrocket him into the big leagues of Hollywood Event Filmmakers like Michael Bay or Stephen Sommers, but the good news for us is that, unlike those guys, Whedon makes sure to take care of character and story first. However, once those are locked he will let loose on the action spectacle with the best of them. He has the potential to be, and I apologize for saying this, a “thinking man’s Michael Bay.” If you remove all the storied history of the characters involved with the Avengers that is what it boils down to: a Bay film where you actually care what happens amidst all the silliness and explosions. Joss Whedon: Man of Emotional Explosions.

Unlike Cabin though, Avengers is “A Joss Whedon Film,” written and directed in full. I’ve been yapping to everyone who would listen that my main satisfaction with this movie is that it truly feels like a comic book script, as in, a script written with the intention of being drawn, inked and printed for Marvel to distribute. It’s very comic-book-like. What exactly do I mean by that? Well, I don’t know really. I suppose if my hand is forced to explain I would say that is has that ever so sacred balance of comic book reality, physics, logic, and tone without ever delving into being stupid or silly. It’s not cynical of its own source material, this movie is proud to be sopping wet with comic book mythology and atmosphere. At no point does it shy away from the exaggerated world of comicdom. It’s as big, awesome, and faithful to the source art form as Joss Whedon is a fan of that art form himself.

The reason Avengers fires on all cylinders is balance. Whedon is no stranger to the group dynamic in his writing and it most certainly shows here. Thor, Banner, Cap, Stark, Hawkeye and Black Widow all share the screen with things only slightly tipping towards Iron Man. However, that isn’t a problem, this is Iron Man’s film and it makes perfect sense. Cap is still reeling from his 70 years under the ice, his rise to leadership is not cemented especially considering this is an “origin” story of a team. Not to mention, that as far as the public is concerned Tony Stark and John Favreau’s triumphant first Iron Man film is responsible for this whole gargantuan undertaking in the first place. It’s impossible to deny Downey’s presence as well, with a character as “large” as his version of Stark on screen it’s going to take at least two films for the cream, or in this case the Captain, to rise to the top.

It’s an impressive achievement on Whedon’s part as well that Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye and Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow not only have presence in the film but actually prove themselves useful and interesting in the face of being over shadowed by a super soldier, a demi-god, a genius billionaire, and the ultimate engine of destruction. Tom Hiddleston proves once again that he was perfectly cast as Loki, at every turn, even when he’s losing he is deep in character without flinching. Chris Evans gives a convincing take on a recently unfrozen and confused Captain America. Chris Hemsworth probably has the most unsung hardship of the entire group as he succeeds in playing Thor with an undercurrent of shame and disappointment in his adopted brother Loki and the horrors he is bringing about on earth. Fans might complain that Thor doesn’t get as much time to strut his powers this time around, but he is mentally focused on his brother and the plot unfolds as such. I think once we get a Loki-free Avengers flick we will truly see Thor cut loose. (Also, I still say that Hemsworth is quite possibly the best casted superhero role ever. The guy just exudes Thor at every turn. Just my opinion.)

Oh, and Sam Jackson knocks it out of the park playing Nick Fury as”¦well”¦Sam Jackson.

There were two huge standouts of the film for me. First is Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson. His screen time isn’t long but the little he gets he sells hard, going so far as to give his character a lot of heart and a lot of balls. Second is Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk. Now, I admit right here and now that I am a lifelong Hulk fan. The comics, the TV show, the movies, I love the Hulk in all his forms, always have. As a credit to Whedon and Ruffalo I would go as far as saying that with the exception of Bill Bixby, Rufalo might be might favorite live action Banner ever. This is the first time in this new era of cinema tech we get to see the green guy “smash” as a hero instead of a menace and it is incredible (sorry.) That is especially a compliment considering Ruffalo did all the motion capture himself. When Hulk is unleased in this film, especially in the last third of the movie, it takes the “awesome” to a whole new level of incredible (sorry again.) However it isn’t just the smashing that wins me over, it’s Ruffalo as Banner. Much like Bixby, Ruffalo is playing a Banner who was been to hell and back and has begun to live with the curse instead of trying to fight it, this movie particularly furthers that very narrative. Of course all the buzz Hulk is getting from audiences and critics for Avengers is due to the smashing, I’m just saying for the rest of us who love the character this movie has other things to offer as well. Hats off to the design team too, the green guy has NEVER looked more accurate, and just plain perfect, to the source material than he does here.

Thanks for reading and for the love of Thor: STAY AFTER THE CREDITS!!!

May 4, 2012