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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