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’re only familiar with Craig Ferguson from the Late Late Show, you’ll probably want to check out just what a stellar stand-up comic he is, as well, via his newest special Craig Ferguson: Does This Need To Be Said? (Comedy Central, Not Rated, DVD-$16.99 SRP). Originally aired on Epix, the DVD also includes a pair of featurettes.
As much as I’ve loved all of the laptops I’ve had over the years, my one major disappointment has been just how pitiful the sound quality is from the internal speakers. After trying numerous external speaker solutions and never being happy with the results, I’ve finally found one that fills the room with nice quality, high volume sound – the Logitech Laptop Speaker ($59.99), which is a USB soundbar that simply hooks on the top of your screen. And, considering the single USB provides both the audio and the power, it’s the perfect portable solution.
There’s so much to like about Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (Walt Disney, Rated PG-13, 3D Blu-Ray-$49.99 SRP), including the still swaggering performances of Johnny Depp & Geoffrey Rush. Sadly, the film overall is an uneven affair, swinging from a well-cast Ian McShane as Blackbeard, searching for the Fountain of Youth, to a useless romantic subplot about a pious young man and a mermaid. The home 3D effects are quite nice, as there’s plenty of depth in the many fight scenes and establishing shots. I just wish the movie were sharper. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, featurettes, bloopers, a LEGO animated short, and more.
As much as Tim Burton wished it otherwise, his more faithful treatment of Roald Dahl’s Charlie & The Chocolate Factory can’t hold a candle to the simple charm and overwhelming chemistry of Gene Wilder in Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (Warner Bros., Rated G, Blu-Ray-$64.98 SRP), which gets a deluxe 40th anniversary edition box set sure to make the perfect holiday gift for fans. In addition to a new bonus disc filled with interviews and a newly uncovered archival featurette, a packet with archival correspondence replicas, the 144-page Pure Imagination behind-the-scenes book from director Mel Stuart, a pencil tin shaped like a Wonka Bar, and scratch-n-sniff pencils and an eraser.
It’s a bit awkward to feature products that feature my boss, one of which I was actually the producer on. So let me simply say you should most definitely pick up the extended cut, 2-disc special edition of the stand-up special Kevin Smith: Too Fat For 40 (Shout Factory, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$26.97 SRP) and the complete first season of SModimations: The SModcast Cartoon Show (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$19.93 SRP). I produced the latter, which features animated vignettes of SModcast stories from Canadian artist Steve Stark. So, yeah… Get them both.
Though ostensibly a film about all of the actors who have held the rank of captain over the long life of the Star Trek franchise, William Shatner’s The Captains (E1, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP) really, like most things Shatner does, is about himself. And I’m fine with that because, well, that’s just Shatner. And the conversations with Patrick Stewart, Avery Brooks, Kate Mulgrew, Scott Bakula, and even Chris Pine are interesting. A making-of featurette is also included.
Strike another title from the list of movies we’re waiting to make their high def debut with the arrival of Martin Scorsese’s 1991 remake of Cape Fear (Universal, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$19.98 SRP), starring Robert DeNiro as a really bad man with a really bad accent who really likes going to the movies. Bonus materials include behind-the-scenes featurettes and deleted scenes.
Raro Video has decided to make one of Federico Fellini’s final masterpieces, The Clowns (Raro Video, Rated G, Blu-Ray-$39.98 SRP) its first high definition release, with a restored edition featuring an exclusive Fellini short film, a video essay, and a booklet packed with drawings. You’ll certainly never look at clowns in quite the same way again.
I remember the original Robotech DVD releases from years (and years!) ago, which at the time were the best presentation of the series fans could hope for. Well, the new Robotech: The Complete Series box set (A&E, Not Rated, DVD-$99.95 SRP) is fully remastered, looks better than ever, and carries over all of the copious amount of bonus materials from the original releases plus a clutch of new-to-DVD materials.
Why hello, MGM Limited Edition Collection. What new MOD treats do you have from deep, deep in your catalogue for us? How about the Phil Silvers film Top Banana (MGM, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98)? Or the sci-fi flick The Quatermass Xperiment? (MGM, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98)? How about the comedies Beer and Consuming Passions (MGM, Rated R, DVD-$19.98 each), featuring the likes of Jonathan Pryce, Rip Torn, Vanessa Redgrave, and Loretta Swit. Yes – All of those.
As a LEGO product, it retains much of the wonderful humor they’ve brought to the various established licenses they’ve touched, but the fact that LEGO Star Wars: The Padawan Menace (Fox, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$22.99 SRP) features the character of Young Han Solo is enough to make me sick to my stomach. Ruin Anakin all you want, but please – leave Han Solo alone. To add insult to injury, they even include an exclusive minifigure of him. Lucas, you sly bastard.
It’s not wall-to-wall laughs, but there’s enough wit and strong enough performances that I did enjoy watching Bad Teacher (Sony, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$40.99 SRP), which stars Cameron Diaz as a golddigging teacher who gets tossed on the curb by her suddenly self-aware rich fiancé, sending her back to teaching in order to get by… And try and find a way to scheme and scam enough money to pay for a boob job. With a supporting cast that includes Justin Timberlake, Jason Segal, iCarly‘s Noah Munck, Dave Gruber Allen, and even a cameo from Josh Weinstein, it’s the cast that’ll keep you watching. Bonus materials include deleted scenes, featurettes, outtakes, and a gag reel.
The days of any real history programming airing on The History Channel seem almost a fever dream by this point, as The House That Chumley Built delivers a trio of new reality series seasons – Pawn Stars: Volume 3 (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$24.95 SRP), American Pickers: Volume 2 (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$29.95 SRP) and Top Shot: Reloaded Season 2 (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$34.95 SRP). Both Pawn and Pickers are featureless, while Top Shot gets a couple of featurettes.
The fine folks at Shout Factory continue to bring out-of-print episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 back into print for desperate fans with the release of two new discs – The Atomic Brain and The Touch Of Satan (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$14.99 each). Both discs are barebones, but at least they’re available again.
As titles go, The Rise And Fall Of Margaret Thatcher (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP) pretty much sums up this trio of productions which chronicle the ambitious rise of a young Margaret Roberts to Parliament, her long and controversial turn as Prime Minster, and the events which led to her removal from power.
The classic Nickelodeon animated catalogue is coming fast and furious from the fine folks at Shout Factory, with the latest being Cat Dog: Season 1 Part 1 (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$19.93 SRP). The 2-disc set contains the first 10 episodes of the series.
Color me shocked that the ho-hum relaunch of V (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$49.99 SRP) made it to a second season, but it did, and here it is. For fans (there must be fans, because it did make it to this 2nd season), there’s a clutch of deleted scenes, featurettes, and a blooper reel.
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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Trust me, you’ll never know just how much you want a fully-remastered high definition collector’s edition of Pee-wee’s Playhouse (Shout Factory, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$149.99 SRP) until you feast your eyes and nostalgia upon that very wonder. By going back to the original 16mm elements and doing a modern digital reassembly and compositing, the show has literally never looked better. To say it’s incredible is an understatement. And if that weren’t enough, there are hours of brand new bonus documentaries featuring all of the on-camera and behind-the-scenes talent – except, glaring by his absence, Paul Reubens himself. But regardless of his lack of on-camera presence, his influence and attention to detail is evident throughout this must-have set.
If the first half of the final season of Mad Men (Lionsgate, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.97 SRP) consisted solely of Robert Morse’s parting scene, it would already be a success in my book, but that was once of many fine moments weaving through the set up to the show’s swan song in a catch-22 of it can’t come fast enough and is all-too-soon. Bonus materials include audio commentaries and a clutch of featurettes.
The fine folks at Criterion have once again worked their sacred cinephile magic to conjure up a pair of truly fantastic special editions making their high definition debut. First up is Federico Fellini’s legendary La Dolce Vita (Criterion, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.95 SRP), featuring a new 4k digital restoration, numerous interviews, and a visual essay. Second is Orson Welles’ “documentary” F For Fake (Criterion, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.95 SRP), which sports the documentary One Man Band, an audio commentary, additional documentaries, interviews, and much more. To say that both are must-haves is an understatement.
In this age of miracles, Shout Factory has pulled off another of their patented wonders by somehow managing to untangle and license nearly all of the music found in the feared-to-be-unreleasable-in-a-manner-it-deserves WKRP In Cincinnati (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$139.99 SRP). So here we have the best possible set we’ll ever get, and it’s finally worth shelling out your hard earned money for. Bonus materials include the Paley Center cast reunion and a trio of featurettes.
Monty Python’s absolutely final run of reunion performances as captured in Monty Python Live: One Down Five To Go (Eagle Vision, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.98 SRP) is everything one would expect from a concert of septuagenarians put together by Eric – a massive musical spectacle that occasionally involves the Pythons proper and their greatest hits. But because it’s what we expected, and because the five remaining members were together, and because this is probably the last time that will ever happen on stage, nostalgia and warm fuzzies carry the day even when the performances don’t. Bonus materials include featurettes and exclusive footage.
Cartoon Network brings together a handful of its heavy hitters for a Cartoon Network Holiday Collection (Cartoon Network, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), featuring yuletide editions of Adventure Time, Regular Show, and The Amazing World Of Gumball, plus bonus episodes of Clarence and Steven Universe.
It’s been a while since we last checked in with the fine folks at the Warner Archive Collection, and in the interim they’ve been busy digging up even more hidden gems and guilty pleasures from the deepest recesses of their vaults for our viewing pleasure. Fresh from the depths come the Jack Benny features The Horn Blows At Midnight (Warner Bros., Not Rated, MOD DVD-$21.99 SRP) & George Washington Slept Here (Warner Bros., Not Rated, MOD DVD-$21.99 SRP), Charles Laughton as the titular spirit in The Canterville Ghost (Warner Bros., Not Rated, MOD DVD-$19.99 SRP), the 80s HBO rotation staples Feds (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, MOD DVD-$17.99 SRP) & Second Sight (Warner Bros., Rated PG, MOD DVD-$17.99 SRP), and the forgotten Buck Henry presidential comedy First Family (Warner Bros., Rated R, MOD DVD-$21.99 SRP). For kids, they’ve bolstered their animated offerings with the complete collection of Hanna-Barbera’s French Canadian wolf Loopy DeLoop (Warner Bros., Not Rated, MOD DVD-$29.99 SRP), the full Shirt Tales (Warner Bros., Not Rated, MOD DVD-$35.99 SRP), the first volume of the 60s made-for-TV Popeye The Sailor (Warner Bros., Not Rated, MOD DVD-$35.99 SRP), and the must-have release of the whole lot, the complete run of Gilligan’s Planet (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$29.99 SRP).
And while we’re on the subject of the Warner Archive Collection, they’ve also been releasing a handful of their niche titles in high definition, the latest being Blake Edwards’ madcap The Great Race (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$21.99 SRP), the big screen take on the Broadway classic Gypsy (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$21.99 SRP), Greystoke: The Legend Of Tarzan, Lord Of The Apes (Warner Bros., Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$21.99 SRP), and the complete second season of the animated Batman: The Brave And The Bold (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP). More, please!
Long before the man behind ALF created that wacky alien, Paul Fusco produced a series of puppet-based holiday specials, the first of which – Santa’s Magic Toy Bag (Legend, Not Rated, DVD-$14.99 SRP) – makes its home video debut just in time for seasonal viewing.
I’d say “amiable” is a better word than “funny” to describe the one-man autobiographical show Billy Crystal: 700 Sundays (HBO, Not Rated, DVD-$19.97 SRP), which finds the venerable comic reflecting on the first few decades of his life and the influences that helped shape him as a performer.
I wasn’t expecting much from Earth To Echo (Fox, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), so it was with genuine surprise that I found it to be a charming little film evocative of kid-centric under-the-radar 80s flicks like Explorers and Flight Of The Navigator in its simple tale of a trio of kids who discover a small alien who just wants to get home. Sounds familiar, right? Give it a go, ya jaded mooks. Bonus materials include featurettes and deleted scenes.
Rewind back to the very beginning of the long-running Brit crime drama, back when forensic pathologist Dr. Samantha Ryan was solving murder cases in Silent Witness: Season One (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP), then fast-forward to the modern run and the team headed up by Nikki Alexander in Silent Witness: Season Seventeen (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP).
Regardless of all the brouhaha over the band’s recent free album, there’s no denying U2’s place in the musical firmament, and that’s why it’s surprising it’s taken this long for the Irish quartet to get a fitting illustrated history like U2: Revolution (Race Point Publishing, $35), which charts the history and evolution of the band as they rock into their fourth decade.
It’s a kinder, gentler, often goofily amiable kind of comedy that you’ll find in The Red Skelton Show: The Early Years (Timeless, Not Rated, DVD-$59.97 SRP), an 11-DVD set that collects 90 episodes of Skelton’s variety show spanning from 1951 to 1955 and featuring guest appearances from the likes of Jackie Gleason to John Wayne. The set also includes a bonus disc with a documentary, a dress rehearsal, and bonus episodes.