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 animation could be a bit better, but there’s no denying that a lot of attention to detail and faithfulness went in to The Adventures of Tintin (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$19.93 SRP), the final season of which is being released, adapting the stories The Red Sea Sharks, The Seven Crystal Balls, Prisoners Of The Sun, The Castafiore Emerald, Destination Moon, Explorers On The Moon, and Tintin In America.

As your portable devices desperately in need of a charge stack up, it’s handy to have something like the Powerline Dual Hi-Power Adapter ($29.99), which allows you to charge two USB devices at once – even two iPads, which are traditionally too much of a power draw for many multi-port USB chargers. As an added bonus, it even comes with a high quality 6′ dock cable, so you can keep charging your device even when you want to muck around with it far from the wall socket. How’s them apples?

After sticking mainly to their big guns, Disney has decided to release a torrent of their second tier animated films for the first time in high definition, many as two-packs featuring the original film and their sequel. Getting this treatment are The Aristocats (Walt Disney, Rated G, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), The Rescuers/The Rescuers Down Under (Walt Disney, Rated G, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), Pocahontas/Pocahontas II (Walt Disney, Rated G, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), The Tigger Movie (Walt Disney, Rated G, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), and Lady And The Tramp II: Scamp’s Adventure (Walt Disney, Rated G, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP). Each of the releases also feature standard DVDs, and carry over the bonus features from the original DVD releases – many over a decade old and long out of print. Here’s looking forward to what titles make their way out in the coming months.

It’s the first non-mockumentary offering from Sacha Baron Cohen, but The Dictator (Paramount, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$44.99 SRP) is a mixed bag. Its tale of a North African dictator of the fictitious Wadiya who finds himself stripped of power and replaced by a doppelganger in a coup attempt while in New York is full of the outrageous shock comedy Cohen has been known for, and sometimes it hits. And sometimes it doesn’t. Worth a viewing? Probably, but just don’t expect Borat. Bonus materials include deleted and extended scenes.

With Guillermo Del Toro’s efforts abandoned, the animated The Color Out Of Space (Brink, Rated R, DVD-$19.95 SRP) is the closest we’ll come to getting a lovingly-crafted adaptation of an H.P. Lovecraft story. And it is a lovingly-crafted adaptation of the titular short story, perfectly capturing Lovecraft’s unsettling tale of a mystery deep in the woods. Bonus materials include featurettes, a lost scene, and the trailer.

So, Will Ferrell and the folks at Gary Sanchez decide to make a Spanish-language send-up up the telenovella form, and they call it Casa de mi Padre (Lionsgate, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$24.99 SRP). So, is it any good? Mostly, yes, it works as a nice parody, though it never elevates itself much beyond a rote one – which is a shame, because it could have been a classic. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, featurettes, commercials, and a music video.

A pair old faithful Brit procedurals get another round of releases with Dalziel & Pascoe: Season 6 (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP) and Judge John Deed: Season 6 (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP), which means you can get your fill of odd couple detectives and an unrelenting idealistic judge.

After eight seasons of crochetiness and open condescension, House (Universal, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$74.98 SRP) comes to an end as we find the good doctor released from prison and thrown back into his old job, but with a far different set of circumstances. Bonus materials include a trio of featurettes.

In addition to all of the information it imparts, the latest DisneyNature documentary, Chimpanzee (Walt Disney, Rated G, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), is just beautifully shot and utterly engaging, much like their previous releases in the line. Watch it with the kids. Bonus materials include a clutch of featurettes and a music video.

Yes, an entire generation has gone by since the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$19.93 SRP) were first repurposed onto our screens, which means nostalgia has kicked in and those now-adult fans will snap up the first volume of 30 episodes from the show’s original debut season. Yes, they most surely will.

Sadly, a soap that never really took off was ABC’s Revenge (ABC Studios, Not Rated, DVD-$45.99 SRP), about a young woman out to make the wealthy elite of The Hamptons pay for what they did to her father (they ruined his life, natch). Bonus materials include a pilot commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes, music videos, and bloopers.

I’m not a horror fan, but I’m sure those who are will have at least a passing interest in the high definition release of both Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers & Halloween 5: The Revenge Of Michael Myers (Shout Factory, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$24.99 SRP each). Both sport audio commentaries, featurettes, and trailers.

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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