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…)

The abysmal Cloverfield pretty much broke me of any desire to see another “found footage” flick, but Chronicle (Fox, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) manages to be an unaffected pic about a trio of teens who suddenly find themselves with superpowers – And react as you would expect from teens. Just check it out. Bonus materials include a deleted scene, pre-viz, and camera test.

If you’ve been champing at the bit to determine whether you’ll be sorted into Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin, you can find out whether you’ll be a hero or a zero with your very own Harry Potter Sorting Hat ($24.99). It’s not an exact replica of the screen prop, but it’s a close enough representation for the price to be a lot of fun. Just don’t expect to be pulling any swords from it.

I shouldn’t have to tell you that Reggie Watts is brilliant, but I suppose I just did. And since I did, I may as well tell you that his latest special/album, Reggie Watts: A Live At Central Park (Comedy Central, $12.41 SRP) is also brilliant. And a must-see/hear. So go do it already.

Really, the first one, starring Joe Don Baker, is the only one really worth watching, but if you’ve wanted to own the lot in high definition, you can now pick up Walking Tall: The Trilogy (Shout Factory, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$34.93 SRP), and follow the big-stick- justice of southern Sheriff Buford Pusser. Bonus materials include a brand new documentary, a vintage featurette, TV spots, and trailers.

Like Tommy Boy before it, we’re probably to a time, with its high definition release, that someone, somewhere probably considers the raunchy college kids Road Trip (Paramount, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$22.98 SRP) to be a classic. Honestly, someone probably does. All of the bonus materials carry over from the DVD release, including featurettes and deleted scenes. Note: This title is a Best Buy exclusive.

It’s almost summer, which means it’s time to start thinking about how you’ll be spending all of those sunshiny days. One thing I’ll certainly be doing is penciling some NERF battles with my nephews, and I’m sure it comes as no surprise that there’s a clutch of new toys hitting shelves. So this summer, arm yourself with the water blasting NERF Super Soaker Electrostorm ($9.99 SRP), which fires a battery-powered stream of H2O. Ah, but it doesn’t end when the sun goes down with the NERF N-Strike Rayven ($29.99, which fires 18 rounds of glow-in-the-dark darts. Or how about the glow-in-the-dark disc-launching NERF Vortex Lumitron ($29.99 SRP)? Or just get them all, and let the battles begin!

It’s a position fraught with peril, but now you can name yourself Hand Of The King with your very own reproduction Game Of Thrones: Hand Of The King pin (Dark Horse, $12.99 SRP). It’s an exact replica of the prop used in the HBO series, though you should probably avoid asking too many questions, if you value your head.

The excellent series of Music On Film books taking an in-depth look at remarkable aural cinema takes on Dr. Frankenfurter in the enjoyable Music On Film: The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Limelight Editions, $9.99 SRP). Find out all about the long, strange journey the film took from stage to screen.

How about a clutch of new TV on DVD titles for you? How about the Robert Urich in the first volume from the 3rd season of Vegas (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$36.98 SRP)? Or Mike Connors as street tough PI Joe Mannix in the complete 6th season of Mannix (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$49.99 SRP)? Finally, you’ve got the high pressure situations handled by the Strategic Response Unit in the fourth season of Flashpoint (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$42.99 SRP), which is the only set to feature bonus materials – a trio of featurettes.

How do you compress 13.7 million years of Earth’s existence into one concise special? Seems like a tall task, but it’s one History Of the World In Two Hours (History Channel, Not Rated, 3D BluRay-$29.95 SRP) attempts to do, from the stellar formation of the planet all the way up to today – and all presented in high definition 3D.

After a pair of alien seed pods buried in the Antarctic permafrost are found, the 4th Doctor must fight to stop the voracious plantlife Krynoid. Complicating matters, one of the men who make off with a pod gets infected and becomes a monstrous Krynoid which, along with Tom Baker’s Doctor, are featured in the Doctor Who: The Seeds Of Doom Collectors’ Set (Underground Toys, $49.99 SRP).

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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