From The Fly to The Doctor to Galaxy Quest, The Geek has your nerd gift covered
The first cold snap has come and gone which means the pumpkins are all rotted by now and the lines at the mall have gotten out of control. So take a load off and put your feet up, I’ve come to deliver the good news of pop culture consumerism. Heed my call, friends and neighbors, and don’t be left out in the cold, so to speak.
Galaxy Quest 20th Anniversary edition — You know when I started the Geek’s Guides I was recommending anniversary editions of movies from the ’70s and ’80s, and now I’m sitting here drinking coffee while two children sleep in their cribs just down the hall telling you about these motion pictures that came out when I was in high school. Shit’s rough all over I guess. Anyways, often called the second best “Star Trek” ever put to celluloid, this parody turned beloved cult favorite has certainly earned a proper home video release. Unlike the bare bones releases before it, this edition contains several behind the scenes documentaries on the makeup by Stan Winston, as well as the lore in creating the “Galaxy Quest” show, deleted scenes, and a Thermian language audio track for anyone out there who is definitely not an alien from space.
The Fly Collection — Now this is a weird one. It’s not often originals are packaged with the remakes or even sequels to the remakes, but these are confusing times. This box set collects the original 1958 “The Fly,” “The Return of the Fly,” “Curse of the Fly,” the David Cronenberg remake titled “The Fly” and the sequel to that film, the cleverly named “The Fly II.” Now I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that “Return” is any good or that I’ve even seen “Curse of,” but I will tell you this, three out of five ain’t bad. It’s just flat out not bad, which is how I would describe both of the remaining movies that don’t star Jeff Goldblum, because, as we all know, that film is pure gold. Am I rambling? I feel like I’m rambling.
Red Dwarf Series XII — Hitting store shelves and digital warehouses everywhere, it’s the newest season of the longest running sci-fi comedy on the BBC and perhaps anywhere, honestly. I mean I don’t know if Japan has a sci-fi comedy series that’s been running for longer than 31 years, I know we don’t … where was I? Right. “Red Dwarf.” Look I don’t really have the space available in this publication to explain a show about the last human in the universe and his holographic dead roommate and a creature that evolved from their cat millions of years ago and an android they picked up on a ship full of dead people that he falsely assumed where alive. I just don’t. I only have time to tell you that there are no less than eight behind the scenes documentaries on this Blu-Ray. There’s also deleted scenes and alternate takes. It’s a full two hours of extra features plus the actual season itself. Madness.
Good Omens — Based on the novel by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, this Amazon Prime series starring David Tenant and Michael Sheen is, at its heart, a very pure and true tale about friendship. Speaking of Michael Sheen, have you guys been watching “Prodigal Son?” If you haven’t you need to check it out because Sheen is giving the performance of a lifetime in this show. And that’s not to take away from the other incredible actors, namely Tom Payne and of course Bellamy Young who is just putting on a clinic as far as playing a sympathetically manipulative heavy. It’s without a doubt the most compelling procedural crime show on television right now and it’s a damn shame more people aren’t talking about it. But back to my earlier point — “Good Omens” is great.
Doctor Who starring John Pertwee Season Four — Much like how everyone agrees that your favorite “Saturday Night Live” cast is the one that was on when you were in high school, there’s no one that’s going to replace your first Doctor, and for me that was Jon Pertwee. When I discovered “Doctor Who” on PBS in my youth I had no idea about the lore or the history of the show, but I did know the Doctor got into all sorts of adventures involving aliens trying and failing to invade our planet, and at the age of 10 that’s pretty much all you needed to grab my attention. Hell even now you don’t need a hell of a lot more. These seasons have always been difficult to come by but lately the BBC has been releasing seasons of the classic Doctors, so if you have any Whovians on your list this will make a perfect edition to their library.
I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt — Compiled over the course of four years of interviews, Charles Brandt painstakingly details the life of Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran, a man so well connected and so good at his job he just might be the only person on the planet who is 100 percent sure about what exactly happened to the late Jimmy Hoffa. Sheeran was an enforcer for, shall we say, undesirable parties that operated in the criminal underworld of New York and Philadelphia during the height of the mob’s stranglehold on the teamsters union. It was known all across the East Coast that if Frank showed up at your door, chances weren’t too great you would live to see tomorrow, and if you did you’d be looking over your shoulder for the rest of your days. I’ve been devouring this book for weeks now and I can tell you it’s one of the best true crime books I’ve ever read. Buy it for your friend that understands why “Goodfellas” is a better gangster movie than “The Godfather.” Yeah I said it.
The Institute by Stephen King — I remember a few years ago when King announced he was going into semi-retirement and the literary world had a nervous breakdown. But in the years since he’s consistently turned out some of his best work since the ’80s so it’s kind of turned into a Jay-Z type of retirement where it’s just a slow down of work rather than actual stoppage. His latest release draws inspiration from his early novels “Firestarter” and “Carrie,” as well as the X-Men comic books, and centers around a government compound where children with enhanced abilities are put through rigorous tests for unknown but surely nefarious reasons.
Our Pathetic Age by DJ Shadow — This 23-track odyssey features guest appearances by Nas, De La Soul, Inspectah Deck, Raekwon the Chef, Gift of Gab, Run the Jewels and many more pillars of the hip hop community. 90 minutes of music, y’all. I shouldn’t have to sell you on this, I really shouldn’t. I can honestly say if none of that got you even the least bit hyped then maybe it’s time to reevaluate what you look for in a hip hop record. Maybe it’s time to look in the mirror and ask yourself what you’re even listening to these days.
High Road by Kesha — OK, so technically the fourth studio album from Kesha doesn’t drop until Jan. 10, but if you preorder it for someone digitally they’ll get a code that will download the lead single “Raising Hell” automatically. By the way that new single is fire, and if it’s any indication of what to look for in the album as a whole it looks to be a return to her roots for Kesha, and a fusion of the desperately fun and whimsically wasted pop sounds of her first two albums and the more soulful introspective tones of her last release. And I am here for it. Out of literally everything on this list I can safely and unabashedly say that I am the most excited for this. Happy New Year indeed.
And so another year gone and another Geek’s Guide complete. I hope this all made sense. Between the recent arrival of my daughter and the continued overwhelming presence of my son it’s hard to tell if any of this is real or some half remembered dream. For all I know I’m standing in the kitchen right now warming a bottle of milk at 4 in the morning. But on the off chance this is real, I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Mahalo!
Commentary by Jeff Dixon, who is pretty sure we’re spiraling toward the dystopian future of “Robocop.” At least he hopes so. “Handmaid’s Tale” seems like a bummer.