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…)
Universal continues to impress with their high definition100th anniversary celebration, leading off this week with a lovely restoration of The Sting (Universal, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$39.98 SRP), reuniting Robert Redford and Paul Newman as a pair of 1930’s conmen who plot revenge against the mob after their friend is killed. Also available is a pair of catalogue releases – Erin Brockovich (Universal, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$19.98 SRP) and the long-awaited Smokey And The Bandit (Universal, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$19.98 SRP).
Here’s a fun one for the kiddies. Help them spruce up otherwise pedestrian LEGO creations with the LEGO-compatible Brick Brites ($9.99 SRP). Each package features a pair of standard-size bricks that are jam-packed with flashy LEDs. How’s that for a little punch?
The biggest crime perpetrated by John Carter (Walt Disney, Rated PG-13, 3D Blu-Ray-$49.99 SRP) is that it forgot its pulp roots (as evidenced by the last-minute axing of the “Of Mars” in the title) and largely forgot to wrap up a fair share of the plot threads it starts. It’s a shame, really, because there was so much potential in Edgar Rice Burroughs’ tale of a war-weary Civil War captain who finds himself transported into the middle of a conflict on Mars. Even flawed, it’s still worth a watch, particularly in 3D. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes, bloopers, and more.
Want to see a show properly blow itself up without going off the rails? Look no further than the brilliant fourth season of Breaking Bad (Sony, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$65.99 SRP), which does just that. In fact, I won’t even spoil it, suffice to say you should see it. Immediately. Bonus materials include uncensored episodes, audio commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, a gag reel, and more.
Available for the first time in widescreen and in high definition, as well, Hondo (Paramount, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.99 SRP) stars John Wayne as cavalry rider Hondo Lane, who is designated to protect a homesteader and her young son against warring Native American tribes while her brutish husband is away. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, and more.
See what Sookie and her sultry & sallow supernatural pals have been up to in balmy Bon Temps in the complete 4th season of True Blood (HBO, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$79.98 SRP). It’s basically fangs, butts, and boobs. But you probably knew that. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, featurettes, and more.
Even though he said it was over, Larry David returned with an 8th season of Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP), which found Larry living it up as a bachelor and living in New York City – and suffering from every possible faux pas you can imagine. Bonus materials include a roundtable discussion with the cast and a featurette.
You certainly couldn’t do the show today short of an all-CG affair, but I always enjoyed the offbeat Mod fun of the all-simian 60’s spy comedy Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp (Film Chest, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP), which is getting a 3-disc release of all 17 episodes, plus bonus materials including interviews and even a documentary. It’s a fun romp.
Sometimes you need a nicely goofball series like Workaholics (Comedy Central, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP), about a trio of friends fresh out of college who share both a house and a workplace – a workplace in which they perform that most awful job, telemarketing. This set contains both seasons 1 & 2, plus commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, a gag reel, and more.
The fine folks at Mill Creek continue to roll out the Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures high definition catalogue releases with another clutch of mid-range titles for very low prices – this time including Eddie Murphy in Holy Man (Touchstone, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$9.99 SRP), Gwyneth Paltrow & Huey Lewis in Duets (Hollywood Pictures, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$9.99 SRP), Meryl Streep & Liam Neeson in Before And After (Hollywood Pictures, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$9.99 SRP), Ellen Degeneres & Bill Pullman in Mr. Wrong (Touchstone, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$9.99 SRP), and finally the immortal teaming of Danny Glover & Joe Pesci in Gone Fishin’ (Hollywood Pictures, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$9.99 SRP).
Fun and games for the kiddie set abound in Team Umizoomi: Umigames (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98SRP), the latest DVD release from the Nickelodeon series, which features an additional trio of bonus episodes.
If you want a clear example of how to start a big concept series with a resounding thud, look no further than the stillborn Falling Skies (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$49.99 SRP), which never managed to muster much enthusiasm for its should have been interesting concept of a crippled Earth trying to pull itself back together after an alien attack. Sad, really. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, featurettes, and more.
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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As his big epics have left me largely cold in recent years, I think I prefer the quieter sophistication of the Spielberg we find in Bridge Of Spies (Dreamworks, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), a true tale of a Cold War spy exchange starring the perfect pairing of Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance, as a Brooklyn lawyer and the Russian spy he’s tasked with delivering to Moscow. Bonus materials include a clutch of featurettes on both the history and the production.
It feels like there’ve been dozens of releases of Walt Disney’s first animated feature film, from VHS to laserdisc to DVD to Blu-Ray, but the latest Blu-Ray edition of Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (Walt Disney, Rated G, Blu-Ray-$36.99 SRP), the “Walt Disney Signature Collection” edition, manages to find even more bonus materials from the company’s archives, including an interview with Walt about the film, a never-before-seen alternate sequence of Snow White meeting the Prince, and more.
Leave it to Robert Redford to make a potent and powerful modern ode to journalism with Truth (Sony, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$34.99 SRP), which is based on the true story of the CBS News controversy that cost Dan Rather his position as the face of that organization’s news division. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, and deleted scenes.
The latest DC Comics direct-to-home-video animated feature adapting J.M. DeMatteis’ Batman: Bad Blood (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$24.98 SRP), as a hellish evening leaves Batman missing and the extended Bat-family of Nightwing, Robin, Batwoman and the mysterious Batwing to pick up the pieces. Bonus materials include featurettes and a sneak peek at Justice League vs. Teen Titans.
The blood continues to flow freely as supernatural shenanigans persist in the second season of From Dusk Till Dawn (E1, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$49.98 SRP), as relationships are changed up amidst complications aplenty. The 3-disc set is loaded with bonus features, including audio commentaries, featurettes, con panels, and more.
This week’s deep dive into the many wonderful releases from PBS can be split into nonfiction and fiction. So let’s start off with a pair of prestige drams – the 6th and final season of Downton Abbey (PBS, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$59.99 SRP) and the Ridley Scott-produced Civil War miniseries Mercy Street (PBS, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$44.99 SRP). Bonus features on Downton include a trio of featurettes, while Mercy Street gets featurettes and deleted scenes.
On the nonfiction front, we’ve got the beautiful photography of the BBC’s Earth’s Natural Wonders: Living On The Edge (PBS, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP) and The Best Of Big Blue Live (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP), filmmaker Stanley Nelson’s examination of The Black Panthers (PBS, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP), an exploration of the assassination of James Garfield in American Experience: Murder Of A President (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP), the remarkable tale of America’s forgotten labor struggle in American Experience: The Mine Wars (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP), and the Nova special Making North America (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP), about the elemental forces which shaped our continent.