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…)

As part of their 100th anniversary celebration, Universal has cleaned up and presented a pretty-damn definitive high definition edition of To Kill A Mockingbird (Universal, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.98 SRP), looking and sounding truly spiffy. The stunning quality of the film itself remains intact as an unassailable classic. Bonus materials include a feature-length making-of documentary, an audio commentary, interviews, featurettes, a look at Universal’s restoration process, and more.

Do you like magnets? I like magnets. Do you like tops? Heck, who doesn’t love tops! Well, now you can chocolate and peanut butter them to get the Magnet Powered Spinning Top ($9.99), which is the perfect little desk novelty to keep you giddy during those long work days.

If Monty Python defined British comedy for the 70’s, it was Channel 4’s inaugural comedy show The Comic Strip Presents that set the tone for the strident comedy of the 1980’s. Featuring the likes of Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Rik Mayall, Ade Edmondson, Alexei Sayle, and Robbie Coltrane, the short comedic films are absolute gems and required viewing for anyone who considers themselves a comedy lover. The Complete Comic Strip Presents Collection (E1, Not Rated, DVD-$89.98 SRP) contains all 5 seasons, plus a hefty clutch of bonus materials.

I’m a massive fan of the legendary Marvel Comics series Fantastic Four, which means I dove into the exquisite history of the book’s creation and golden age – Lee & Kirby: The Wonder Years (Twomorrows, $19.95) – with gusto. Well-researched and well-presented, author Mark Alexander makes the brilliant creative alchemy and circumstance between Stan Lee & Jack Kirby come alive.

While I applaud Paramount for dipping into the coffers to take the time and considerable cost necessary to high definition upgrade (via original film negative and effects materials) the whole series, I wish the Star Trek: The Next Generation – The Next Level (Paramount, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$22.99 SRP) sampler disc did not feature a trio of regrettable episodes to showcase all of the incredible work being done. I certainly would not have picked “Encounter At Farpoint”, “Sins Of The Father”, and “The Inner Light”, though I can understand wanting to take the worst and most dated – the pilot – and show off the new process, but it also is a reminder of just how plodding and awkward that pilot was… Even if it does look and sound better than you can possible believe now.

As far as thought-provoking science fiction flicks go, In Time (Fox, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) is an interesting enough watch, with a concept that finds humanity immortal from the age of 25 – but with all currency in the form of time from their lives. The rich can live forever. The poor die when they’ve spent all of their time. And when a poor person (Justin Timberlake) upsets the system? You get this movie. Bonus materials include deleted/extended scenes and a featurette.

The Blu-Ray pact between Miramax and Lionsgate brings another pair of catalogue releases to tick off your waitlist – the Academy Award sweeper The English Patient (Lionsgate, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$19.99 SRP) & the Civil War epic Cold Mountain (Lionsgate, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$19.99 SRP), Bonus materials include audio commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, and more.

If you’re going to revisit a beloved horror film, you should probably at least try to be up to the challenge. Sadly, the new “prequel” to John Carpenter’s The Thing (Universal, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$34.98 SRP) doesn’t quite realize the subtlety and realism that made the horror really pack a punch, instead opting for unconvincing CGI and too much bluster. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, featurettes, and more.

You know me – I simply adore Doctor Who. And because I’m a geek, that means I also love the action figures based on the almost 50 years of the series being produced by Underground Toys. I’ll be featuring some pretty damned spiffy sets in the near future, but consider this one a celebration of all of the figures they’ve been producing recently from the more recent Matt Smith 11th Doctor era of the show. All figures retail for around $15-$20, depending on where you find them. You’ve got the Corroded Cyberman with Chest Damage, Corroded Cyberman with Face Damage, & a clutch of Cybermats from “Closing Time”. Or go even creepier with a Silent with Closed Mouth or a creepier Silent with Open Mouth. Okay, maybe creepiest of all is the Peg Soldier from “Night Terrors”. Ah, but that’s enough baddies. Let’s move on to River Song, and her mind-controlled assassin mode as The Astronaut. Or how about darling little Amelia Pond. There’s the TARDIS personified as Idris from “The Doctor’s Wife” And how about we wrap things up with a whole bunch of 11th Doctor variants – the Flesh Doctor, the 11th Doctor with Beard, the 11th Doctor with Cowboy Hat, AND FINALLY The 11th Doctor with a brand new (and much more accurate the Matt Smith) head sculpt. Aren’t they all great?

The brilliance of Sideshow’s Premium Format Gollum ($299) is that, considering what a small figure our ring-obsessed degenerate Hobbit would be in the 1/4-scale, they’ve decided to give us the ability to display to complete versions – the ring-clutching and glowering Gollum and the triumphant Smeagol, both of which are perched atop a tall rock. Ah, but even when you’re not displaying a version in its full figure glory, they’ve provided a separate base which allows you to display the alternate version as a bust, complete with its own swappable nameplate. How cool is that?

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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