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…)

It’s been a few years since the wonderful Tom & Jerry collections were released, so it’s a pleasant surprise that there’s a new “greatest hits” set – Tom & Jerry: Deluxe Anniversary Collection (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$26.98 SRP) – which contains 30 shorts spanning their entire film career, plus a retrospective featurette. Now we can only hope that a complete Blu-Ray release is in the cards.

Like most of the items they offer, you really don’t know you need a borescope until you get one, and then you wonder what you ever did without one. Thinkgeek’s literally named Handheld Video Inspection Camera ($99.99) is both useful and fun, with a 3ft length of flexible cord featuring a wide-view camera and led light, optional magnet and hook tools, and even the ability to do video out.

Just in time for the M. Knight thing, the original Avatar Book 1 Collection (Paramount, Not Rated DVD-$55.98 SRP) is being re-released via a 6-disc, feature-laden box set that adds a brand-new bonus disc with retrospective featurettes and a preview of the Art Of Avatar: The Last Airbender book from Dark Horse Comics. For those unfamiliar with the show, it’s a layered, action-adventure-mysticism-based mythology that’s a beautifully designed, engaging series worth checking out, regardless of your age. The original bonus features include a behind-the-scenes featurette with the cast & crew, commentary on the pilot, and two making-of featurettes focusing on the sound and the Korean animation studios.

The Roger Corman “classics” continue to pour out in fully restored, better than they’ve ever looked form with the release of Death Race 2000 (Shout Factory, Rated R, DVD-$19.98 SRP), starring David Carradine & Sylvester Stallone as participants in a brutal 3-dat transcontinental race where points are gained by killing spectators and pedestrians. The disc is loaded with bonus materials, including featurettes, interviews, an audio commentary, interviews, and more.

The gimmick of Hung (HBO, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) is that Thomas Jane is a down-on-his luck high school gym teacher and single father, who’s physical endowment opens up the door to a new life as a service technician for the local ladies. The 2-disc first season set contains a trio of audio commentaries, a pair of featurettes, and the character’s personal ads.

When it comes to high definition restorations of their classic library, few companies are doing work as magnificent to behold as Warners. Case in point is their new special edition of the Judy Garland/James Mason A Star Is Born (Warner Bros., Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$34.99 SRP), which looks and sounds stunning. As far as bonus materials, you get rare recordi9ng session music, alternate versions of musical numbers, deleted scenes, the Hollywood premiere telecast, a newsreel, the 1954 Studio Exhibitor reel, pot-premiere party footage, trailers, and more.

We’re now 6 seasons into Entourage (HBO, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP), and I still find it to be a smug, tedious, unwatchable collection of cameos and characters I really don’t want to spend time with. For those that do like it, the 3-disc set contains audio commentaries, featurettes, and a mock PSA directed by Matt Damon.

Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren grab hold of the screen in The Last Station (Sony, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$34.95 SRP), starring as an elderly Leo Tolstoy and his wife, who becomes enraged after he plans to leave his immense royalties to the Russian people. There’s also a love story with James McAvoy, but it’s really Plummer and Mirren who you’ll watch. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, deleted scenes, outtakes, and more.

A creepy horror film about a magician, an accident, a murder, and an inheritance starring Cesar Romero, Dean Jones, and Connie Stevens? Sure, I’m there. The Warner Archive Collection pulls another overlooked catalogue title from the vaults with the remastered Two On A Guillotine (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$24.95).

If films like Psycho and Jaws proved anything, it was that horror that’s plausible is much more resonant in an audience. Though it’s got rough edges, Thirst (First Look Studios, Rated R, DVD-$24.98 SRP) certainly falls into that category, as it tells the tale of a pair of couples who find themselves stranded in the desert and exposed to the elements.

If Robert Pattinson ever wakes up and remembers he’s supposed to be acting in a film – and maybe choose his projects a bit better – he might actually be worth watching. Otherwise, he’ll keep doing yawners like Remember Me (Summit, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$34.99 SRP) about an emotionally damaged college student who discovers something or another through love. Bonus materials include audio commentaries and a behind-the-scenes featurette.

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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