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…)
Much like the Pixar of yore, Laika has, through a succession of endearingly quirky films, made me anticipate whatever project they’re cooking up, and their winning streak continues with The Boxtrolls (Universal, Rated PG, 3D Blu-Ray-$49.98 SRP). Not only have they continued to refine and innovate in the age-old technique of stop-motion animation, but the tales they tell are offbeat charmers, which this story of the titular box-wearing creatures and the human boy they raise – and the threat they face – most certainly is. So just see it, and enjoy. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, and animatics.
Yes, everything you’ve heard about the 12-year narrative journey of Richard Linklater’s Boyhood (Paramount, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) is absolutely true – it is unique, impressive, and just as enthralling as you’d expect a novelty to be, backed up by a solid, low-key story and a cast game to go with the flow of time. So the best I can say is watch it for yourself. Bonus materials include a featurette and a Q&A with Linklater and the cast.
As the 6th season hits screens, refresh your memories of where we left the down & out ISIS crew in the 5th season of Archer (Fox, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), which lives up to its “Vice” name as the team tries and fails and tries again to move a mountain of cocaine. Bonus materials include Charlene Tunt’s Wake Up Country interview, her music video for “Midnight Blues”, and Old Pam Poovey Had A Farm: The Musical.
Every bit as memorably iconic as its 80s contemporaries, Craig Safan’s score for the sci-fi classic The Last Starfighter (Intrada, $19.99 SRP) has been given the restored, remastered, and expanded edition it so richly deserves, and is the perfect excuse to go watch the film again.
Even when the story flags, there’s no denying the mesmerizing stylistic filmmaking that David Fincher brings to his adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl (Fox, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), about the unraveling of the lies behind a seemingly blissful marriage after the wife of Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) goes missing on their 5th anniversary, leaving a mystery and a media frenzy. Bonus materials are limited a an audio commentary from Fincher.
Abandoned fans fearful of never completing their personal collection of Reinhold Weege’s brilliant 80s sitcom Night Court have been saved from despair by the angels of mercy at the Warner Archive, who have made the complete Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth seasons (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$35.99 SRP each) available. That wraps up the complete run of the show for fans, and is the perfect excuse for those unaware of the show to dive in and mainline it.
The Warner Archive has also rooted through the vaults for another batch of never-thought-you’d-get-a-chance-to-own-this-but-here-it-is animation titles, including The Completely Mental Misadventures Of Ed Grimley (Warner Bros., Not Rated, MOD DVD-$29.99 SRP), Snorks: The Complete First Season (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$21.99 SRP), the complete Charlie Brown And Snoopy Show (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$35.99 SRP), Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends: Season 3 (Warner Bros., Not Rated, MOD DVD-$29.99 SRP), and Beware The Batman: Season One Part Two (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$21.99 SRP).
Oh, and if that weren’t enough Warner Archive surprises – THERE ARE NEVER ENOUGH WARNER ARCHIVE SURPRISES – they’ve also given us beautiful high definition transfers of Michael Caine & Christopher Reeve in Deathtrap (Warner Bros., Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$21.99 SRP) and the James Cagney classic Yankee Doodle Dandy (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$21.99 SRP).
While he may have gotten a big screen CG makeover, that uncanny valley contraption will never match the simple charm and beauty in the original stop-motion Paddington Bear (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98), the complete classic adventures of which you can get in one handy set with all 56 episodes, plus 3 bonus half hour specials and 13 episodes of the animated series The Adventures Of Paddington Bear.
Nickelodeon’s bizarre but addictively fun Cat Dog (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$39.99 SRP) finally gets a complete series set all its own, collecting all 68 episodes together in one place. Who can deny revisiting the adventures of everyone’s favorite conjoined cat and dog brothers?
Aaron Sorkin’s current endearing soapbox returns with the second season of The Newsroom (HBO, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$79.98 SRP), as the Atlantis Cable News team faces an internal crisis brought on by a lawsuit from a fired producer as election coverage looms. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, deleted scenes, and featurettes.
If Taken series has proven anything, it’s that just about anything with Liam Neeson is worth watching for Liam Neeson, and that certainly applies to A Walk Among The Tombstones (Universal, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$24.98 SRP), in which Liam Neeson stars as Liam Neeson playing an ex-cop turned PI who helps a heroin trafficker hunt down his wife’s killers. Bonus materials include a pair of featurettes.
After five seasons, Boardwalk Empire (HBO, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$79.98 SRP) comes to an end 6 years after the events of season 4, as Prohibition winds down, the Great Depression is in full swing, and Steve Buscemi’s Nucky is looking for a legal angle to stay afloat. Bonus materials include audio commentaries and a featurette on the show’s location scouting.
There’s a quiet desperation to all of the series that have popped up as of late, hoping in some way to cash on to the genre action success being enjoyed by the likes of Game Of Thrones and Walking Dead, so it’s no surprise that executive producer Michael Bay has thrown in with his pirate tale Black Sails (Anchor Bay, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$59.99 SRP), about a fierce pirate captain who finds himself at odds with the British Navy over the control of the lawless New Providence Island. Bonus materials include a bounty of featurettes.
I can’t even really say I’m hate-watching Girls (HBO, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$49.99 SRP), as it engenders more of a dumbfounded reaction to the antics of its wacky nonsensical characters. It was in the third season that it really went deliriously off the rails, which you can now watch in one sitting in full HD glory. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, deleted/extended scenes, featurettes, and a gag reel.
Absorb some classic Bikini Bottom hijinx before the big screen sequel hits theaters with Spongebob Squarepants: The Pilot , A Mini-Movie And The Square Shorts (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, DVD-$9.98 SRP), which features a mini-movie, 42 shorts, and the original pilot presentation, plus the 3-DVD Spongebob Squarepants: Triple Pack (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP), which collects the single-disc catalogue titles Heroes Of Bikini Bottom, 10 Happiest Moments, and Legends Of Bikini Bottom.
Team up Luc Besson with Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman? Say no more. I’m in. It’s just an added benefit that Lucy (Universal, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$34.98 SRP) is an enjoyably brisk sci-fi tale that turns Johansson into an accidentally genetically-enhanced warrior capable of using 100% of her brain capacity, who turns the tables on her captors. Bonus materials include a pair of featurettes.
There are plenty of companies out there picking up the catalogue slack and releasing deep cut films from a lot of major studios, but one of the best of the lot in terms of quality are the folks at Olive, who just dropped a batch of high def remasters from the Paramount archives – the Cold War film noir World For Ransom (Olive, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP), the Civil War drama Woman They Almost Lynched (Olive, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP), crime drama Track The Man Down (Olive, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP), and the noir mystery The Weapon (Olive, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP).
Best known for appearances on Chelsea Lately, Heather McDonald gets her first solo special with Heather McDonald: I Don’t Mean To Brag (Inception, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP). So if you’re keen on a laugh this weekend, here you go.
The ridiculously creepy doll from The Conjuring gets her own solo horror prequel in Annabelle (Warner Bros., Rated R, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP), as the absolute worst gift a husband could give to his vintage doll collecting wife. Bonus features include a clutch of featurettes and deleted scenes.
Mill Creek continues their fine tradition of providing catalogue titles to fill your free time at an exceptionally astounding value price. The latest batch from them include a 13-film At Death’s Door (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$9.98 SRP) horror collection, the 13-film Scared Silly (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$9.98 SRP) horror Comedy collection, and a sci-fi double feature of Krull/Spacehunter: Adventures In The Forbidden Zone (Mill Creek, Rated PG, DVD-$9.98 SRP). On the TV side, they’ve got re-releases of The Cosby Show: Season 5 & 6 (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), Party Of Five: Season 2 (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), and Married With Children: Season 7 & 8 (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP). And to round things off, they’ve got hi-def releases of Chris Columbus’s Heartbreak Hotel (Mill Creek, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$9.98 SRP) and the 7-part documentary Emancipation Road (Mill Creek, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$9.98 SRP).
Take an economical journey under the sea in Dora’s Mermaid Adventures Collection (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, DVD-$22.98 SRP), a two-disc compilation of Dora The Explorer’s previously available aquatic exploits Dora Saves The Mermaids and Dora’s Rescue In Mermaid Kingdom.
Somehow, the adaptation of Ayn Rand’s ridiculous farce gets a final cinematic installment with Atlas Shrugged Part III: Who Is John Galt? (Fox, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$29.99SRP), as audiences shrugged and responded, “Who cares?”. Bonus materials include featurettes and cast interviews.
Let’s wrap up the week with a solid tweak of your pop culture sweet spot with a bit of throwback wonderment, as Diamond Select Toys releases your friendly neighborhood wallcrawler as part of its deluxe Legendary Marvel Super-Heroes (Diamond Select Toys, $80) line. Not only do you get a retro-tastic re-creation of the original Mego Amazing Spider-Man figure in its rare costume variant, but you also get an updated costume and head, a Peter Parker head & costume, and a ton of accessories, from webshooters to a camera 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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