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…)
To get even one show to premiere in any given season that proves an instant favorite is a sad rarity. That there were two shows last season which swept me away is unprecedented, and should be seen as a sign of something. What, I have no idea. One of those shows is Community (Sony, Not Rated, DVD-$39.95 SRP), which has introduced a level of meta-surrealism and true ensemble storytelling not seen since the heyday of Newsradio. The first season set contains audio commentaries on ever episode, nearly an hour of outtakes, featurettes, and more. If you’ve yet to see this series, what in the hell are you waiting for?
Yeah yeah yeah, I know what you’re thinking. “What am I thinking?”, you say… Well, I knew that you’d say that, too. You’re thinking, “Why would I ever need a flashlight that looks like The Doctor’s sonic screwdriver?” Well, you don’t really. But still, it is kinda nifty to have a Doctor Who Sonic Screwdriver LED Flashlight ($12.99). It just is.
The other show that grabbed me by the collar is Modern Family (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP) – Which I will state, in no uncertain terms, is the finest family sitcom ever produced. Hyperbolic? A little bit, but it really has managed to walk a tightrope of being grounded enough to be relatable but far enough out there to be exciting. And it’s brought Ed O’Neill back to comedy. We must celebrate that. The box set includes deleted scenes, featurettes, and a gag reel. A Blu-Ray edition ($69.99 SRP) is also available, with identical bonus materials.
While some fell out of love with the 3rd season of 30 Rock (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$49.98 SRP), I’m still firmly in love with it, though. The 3-disc set contains extended versions of a pair of episodes, plus audio commentaries, deleted scenes, featurettes, and a photo gallery.
There have been a few attempts in the past to collect his incredible body of work in book form, but the one to finally make it out of the gates is The Art Of Drew Struzan (Titan Books, $34.95 SRP). Sadly, it’s not as comprehensive as some of the prior efforts, but it’s still a large, lovely overview of one of the most recognizable film poster illustrators…well, ever… whose work can be seen on everything from Raiders of the Lost Ark and Blade Runner to Back To The Future and An American Tail. The book is narrated by Struzan, who takes you on a guided tour of the pieces and the process behind them.
HBO’s Jonathan Ames created/inspired sitcom Bored To Death (HBO, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) is just as precious and cute as you would expect a project borne of Brooklyn hipster intellectualism to be, equal parts entertaining and painfully cooler than thou. The 2-disc set contains all 8 first season episodes, plus audio commentaries and featurettes. A Blu-Ray edition ($49.99 SRP) is also available, with identical bonus features.
I can’t watch the ludicrously over-the-top Spartacus: Blood And Sand (Anchor Bay, Not Rated, DVD-$59.97 SRP) without immediately thinking of Charlie Brooker’s brilliant take down of it, and illumination of its aforementioned ludicrous over-the-top nature. I mean, the blood isn’t just blood – it’s BLOOD. And lots of it. And maimings, and mutilations, and copious amounts of awkward nudity. Bonus features include audio commentaries and a clutch of featurettes. A Blu-Ray edition ($79.97 SRP) is also available, with identical bonus materials.
I think I may be tiring of How I Met Your Mother (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$38.98 SRP) and its increasingly off-putting avoidance of the its titular quest. For the first few seasons it was a cute mystery, but now we can’t invest on anything because there’s always a sense of an impending bait and switch. The 5th season set contains all 24 episodes, plus featurettes, music videos, and gag reel.
Taking an in-depth study of middle America – Munice, Indiana, to be exact – in 1982, the 6-part documentary series Middletown (Icarus, Not Rated, DVD-$44.98 SRP) is a brilliant snapshot of the culture, values, prejudices, hopes, and fears of an average American town. Give it a spin.
Taking a fictionalized look at the events that brought the infamous alien autopsy footage to the public eye in 1995, Alien Autopsy (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, DVD-$14.98 SRP) is best when its two leads – Britain’s presenting duo Ant & Dec – are onscreen as the pals that found the “footage). Bonus features include an audio commentary, alternate opening, deleted scenes, and outtakes.
It’s quite a daunting – some would say foolish – idea to jump in and attempt to do an overview and analysis of the history of film comedy, but Saul Austerlitz’s Another Fine Mess: A History Of Film Comedy (Chicago Review Press, $24.95 SRP) is an admirable, enjoyable stab at doing just that. Fans of film comedy will enjoy it as a refresher course, as well as an introduction to some pieces they may have overlooked.
Joseph Campbell’s influential PBS series The Power Of Myth (Acorn, Not Rated, DVD-$49.99 SRP) gets a new 2-disc special edition upgrade, featuring a conversation with Campbell, selections from host Bill Moyers’ interview with George Lucas, galleries, and a viewer’s guide.
In viewing it again after a quite a few years, the best way I can sum up how American Beauty (Dreamworks, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.98 SRP) feels is by saying it all feels so precious. I think it’s a kinder way of pointing how pretentiously artificial its middle class suburban drama feels, from Kevin Spacey’s midlife crisis to the high school kids’ fumbling flirting… Really, just all of it. The new Blu-Ray features an audio commentary, a featurette, a storyboard presentation, and a pair of theatrical trailers.
How many of you remember that the first live action film ever released by Dreamworks was the George Clooney & Nicole Kidman action thriller The Peacemaker (Dreamworks, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$24.99 SRP), in which the pair had to track do0wn a clutch of stolen Russian nukes before the thieves can do something really nasty with them. Newly on Blu-Ray, bonus features include deleted scenes, stunt footage, and the theatrical trailer.
I was shocked – SHOCKED – when Drea de Matteo arrived on Wisteria Lane harboring secrets. Secrets? On Wisteria Lane? Unheard of! And then a plane crashed on the lane, which is probably the most normal thing that’s happened there the entire series. Desperate Housewives: Season 6 (ABC Studios, Not Rated, DVD-$45.99 SRP) contains featurettes, deleted scenes, bloopers, and a poorly-written set of interviews featuring the current Miss Piggy.
The folks at the Warner Archive dip into the vault for a pair of rarely seen George Pal productions sure to make completionists happy – Atlantis: The Lost Continent & The Power (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$19.95 each). The condition of the prints isn’t the greatest, but at least they’re available.
It should come as no surprise that the main draw of Castle (ABC Studios, Not Rated, DVD-$45.99 SRP) is star Nathan Fillion, whose charisma managed to make even the mediocre Firefly almost watchable. The complete 2nd season set contains all 24 episodes, plus featurettes, deleted scenes, outtakes, and more.
A vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost walks into a second season. You know, that sounded a lot better in my head. No, really, it did sound a lot better there. Seriously. Anyway, the second season of Being Human (BBC, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$59.98 SRP) is out, and it finds our three supernatural roomies are being hunted by a group of religious nuts bent on their destruction. Bonus features include a whole clutch of behind-the-scenes featurettes.
Explore the first family of NASCAR racing via the documentary Petty Blue (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP), which looks at the four generations of racing Pettys – from Lee to Richard to Kyle to Adam – as they helped define a national pastime. Bonus features include featurettes, bonus interviews, and deleted scenes.
Their owner still won’t license them for the Mystery Science Theater 3000 DVDs, but the restored Gamera films continue to roll out with a new pair of double feature releases – Gamera vs Guiron/Gamera vs Jiger and Gamera vs Gyaos/Gamera vs Viras (Shout Factory, Not Rated. DVD-$19.93 SRP).
Witness a little bit of your soul die if you dare to partake of Disney’s latest awkward exploitation of their catalogue characters with Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue (Walt Disney, Rated G, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), which is basically Peter Pan by way of Spice World – or Tink In The City. Bonus materials include deleted scenes, featurettes, and a music video.
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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