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…)

HBO is dropping a trio of historical titles in high definition, all three of which are worth picking up – the biopic The Josephine Baker Story, (HBO, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$14.98 SRP), Laurence Fishburne’s powerful one-man show on the first African-American to serve on the Supreme Court, Thurgood (HBO, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.99 SRP), and a return of Mr. Fishburne as one of the titular Tuskegee Airmen (HBO, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$14.98 SRP).

For anyone feeling the temptation of slipping from a diets, it’s rather fitting that you can have your very own Darth Vader Cookie Jar ($99.99) seducing you to the sugary, chocolately dark side. It’s sure to bring plenty of moments standing before it, searching your feelings and knowing it to be true… That you’re going to be eating a cookie very soon.

It’s still not my cup of tea, but for those that do enjoy it, the complete 3rd season of The Adventures Of Merlin (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$49.98 SRP), as the battle for Camelot heats up, leaving Arthur and Merlin on the receiving end of a whole lot of trouble. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, a featurette, deleted scenes, and outtakes.

If you want to see cold case investigations with a decidedly British flavor, dip into the 6th season of the BBC’s Waking The Dead (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP), which finds Chief Inspector Boyd and his team as they reopen cases involving everything from Travelers to a presumed serial killer.

While the film can be shaky going, I can’t help loving the onscreen chemistry of Anna Faris & Chris Evans in What’s Your Number (Fox, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), where Faris digs through her exes in hopes that she had somehow passed up the man of her dreams. Bonus materials include deleted scenes and a gag reel.

Shout factory also continues to roll out the classic Nickelodeon series, releasing the live action comedy Hey Dude: Season 1 & Hey Dude: Season 2 (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$19.93 SRP each), So, that’s sure to delight fans. DELIGHT.

Every once in awhile an under-the-radar comedy comes along and pleasantly surprises, and Dirty Girl (Anchor Bay, Rated R, DVD-$29.98 SRP) is one of those films, about the titular small-town dirty girl who decides to run off with her closeted parenting project partner on a road trip to find her biological father. Bonus materials include an audio commentary and deleted scenes.

To say that the latest DX figure from Sideshow and Hot Toys is 1/6th-scale beauty is an understatement and a bit redundant at this point, as I’ve yet to be disappointed in any of the truly remarkable work they’ve done. And here I am, about to tell you about the latest little wonder – Pirates Of The Caribbean‘s Captain Jack Sparrow ($239.99), as featured in the latest film, On Stranger Tides. The sculpting on the two heads (both with Hot Toys adjustable eyes system) is exquisite, perfectly capturing Johnny Depp’s likeness. In the usual creepily realistic way. Add to that the layered, perfectly replicated at-scale costuming and props – including knickknacks, guns, and more – plus the massive captain’s wheel display stand, and you’ve got a must-have collectible and a perfect centerpiece for any display.

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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