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 Quick Stop Weekend Shopping Guide – your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…

While it’s wonderful that – long after the original Image-licensed DVD release of the film went out-of-print – we finally get a new, anamorphic edition of Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (Universal, Rated PG-13, DVD-$19.98 SRP), it’s regrettable that Universal couldn’t go the extra step and put the deleted scenes and alternate ending (notably the “Storm Shelter” sequence) onto the disc, along with the EPK interviews. It’s found material, and should have been on there. What the hell, people? This is easy!!!

What better way to celebrate Jack “King” Kirby’s 50-year comic book career than with the 50th issue of the massive and magnificent Jack Kirby Collector, Kirby Five-Oh! (Twomorrows, $19.95 SRP). This oversized special issue contains “Kirby’s 50 Best Of Everything”, a star-studded appreciation of just about everything you’d want to celebrate. Grab a copy of this book. Now.

This week, I’m dedicating this mention of Avatar Book 3: Fire – Volume 3 (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$16.99 SRP) to Paul Sabourin of the musical duo Paul & Storm, who is a huge fan of the Nickelodeon series. And I mean a HUGE fan. Like, a giddily obsessive fan. Honestly. He’ll probably be all goofy over the audio commentaries featured on the disc.

Honestly, it’s through my friendship with the intellectually and artistically intimidating Doc Hammer that I’ve taken an interest in painting – more specifically, the artists behind the paintings. With that in mind, an absolutely fascinating series that I’ve become addicted to is The Private Life Of A Masterpiece (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$99.98 SRP), which examines not only the creation of history’s most revered works of art, but their creators and their post-creation afterlife. The tales are riveting and the series is brilliantly put together. The 7-disc set features 21 profiles, and in honor of Doc, I recommend you start with James McNeill Whistler and the story behind his mother’s portrait.

Most Oscar years, I’ve seen maybe one or two of the various animated and live action short subjects that come up for nomination. That’s why the enormously titled A Collection Of 2007 Academy Award Nominated Short Films (Magnolia, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP) is so great, as they’re all collected in one place (save for the major studio pieces – I’m looking at you, Disney).

Does anyone remember that The 4400 (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) is still around? Much of its already limited thunder was stolen when Heroes came on the scene with an unfortunately similar premise. Well, now that the complete 4th season is on DVD, you can catch up with the neglected show. The 4-disc set features all 13 episodes, plus audio commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, and a blooper reel.

Certainly the concept of I’m Not There (Genius, Rated R, DVD-$29.99 SRP) is a unique one – namely, the idea of using different actors (and one actress) to portray the various periods of Bob Dylan’s career. With anything that’s episodic – which, by nature, this must be – there are going to be segments (or iterations of Dylan) that are more interesting than others. Cate Blanchett’s turn is most definitely a standout, but so is Heath Ledger’s. Really, at the end of the day, you’ll just have to give it a spin and see what you think. The 2-disc set features an introduction to the film, audio commentary, deleted/alternate/extended scenes, auditions, interviews, featurettes, outtakes, and more.

Just imagine the social satire and female empowerment you’d get out of rather graphic tale of a young woman who discovers she has the vagina dentata. Yes, you read that right. That film would be Teeth (Genius, Rated R, DVD-$24.95 SRP), and it sometimes lives up to its potential as social satire, and sometimes just falls flat. Bonus features include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, a behind-the-scenes featurette, a TV spot, and the theatrical trailer.

It’s not one of the shows on my must-watch list, but I’m sure that some people will care that the inaugural season of Crossing Jordan (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP) is now out, featuring Jill Hennesy as obsessive forensic pathologist Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh. The 5-disc set sports all 23 episodes, including the pilot, plus audio commentaries, interviews, and deleted scenes.

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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