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…)
Bad is irrevocably broken in the 5th and final season of Breaking Bad (Sony, Not Rated, DVD-$55.99 SRP), which manages to wrap things up in that all-to-rare occurrence – a satisfying ending, bringing the tragic tale of Walter White to a most fitting conclusion. Bonus features include audio commentaries, deleted/extended scenes, an alternate ending, featurettes, and a gag reel.
Try a touch of blacker than black comedy with a Ben Wheatley double feature of both Sightseers (IFC, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP) and A Field In England (Channel 4, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-£9.75 SRP), both of which are quirky little independent films that lose a bit of their impact if I try to explain them, so let’s just skip that and you go ahead and watch them.
Let the legendary singing cowboy croon you back to a simpler, singier time with the complete run of The Gene Autry Show (Flying A Pictures, Not Rated, DVD-$79.99 SRP). The 15-disc set contains all 91 episodes of Autry’s 1950-1955 series, plus a bonus disc containing 10 episodes from Autry’s Flying A Pictures Westerns.
The fine folks at Fox have opened up the vaults and released a clutch of much-requested titles in their high definition debut – John Wayne & Rock Hudson in The Undefeated (Fox, Rated G, Blu-Ray-$24.99 SRP), Spencer Tracy & Katharine Hepburn in The Desk Set (Fox, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.99 SRP), Tyone Power & Henry Fonda in Jesse James (Fox, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.99 SRP), Gene Tierney & Rex Harrison in The Ghost And Mrs. Muir (Fox, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.99 SRP), Dorothy Dandridge in Carmen Jones (Fox, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.99 SRP), Clark Gable in Call Of The Wild (Fox, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.99 SRP), John Wayne in North To Alaska (Fox, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.99 SRP), and Tyrone Power & Maureen O’Hara in The Black Swan (Fox, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.99 SRP). Bonus features 8include audio commentaries, trailers, and vintage newsreels.
The sequel is hitting theaters, so it should come as little surprise that a special edition of the original Anchorman (Paramount, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$26.98 SRP) is now available, featuring all of the bonus materials from the original DVD special edition – including commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes, and bloopers – but also the alternate Wake Up, Ron Burgundy version of the film.
In the mood for a thriller this weekend? How about one starring Hugh Jackman as a father whose daughter goes missing – and the only suspect of an investigation by a local detective (Jake Gyllenhaal) is released due to lack of evidence, leaving the distraught father with few options. That’s exactly the thriller you get with Prisoners (Warner Bros., Rated R, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP). Bonus materials include a pair of featurettes.
And speaking of Hugh Jackman, you can also fill your weekend with his latest turn as Marvel’s feral mutant in The Wolverine (Fox, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), which manages the incredible easy feat of being a far sight better than the first Wolverine solo film even if it’s still on shaky ground. Bonus materials include featurettes and an alternate ending.
It’s sad to see the seventh and final season of Burn Notice (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$49.98 SRP), if only because it means we’ve now entered another period when Bruce Campbell is off our TV screens. Here’s hoping that’s rectified. Quickly. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurette, and a gag reel.
Still rolling along, though, is the animated misadventures of the Griffin clan with Family Guy: Volume Twelve (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP), featuring 22 uncensored episodes plus audio commentaries, deleted scenes, featurettes, and a table read for the included 200th episode.
If Jackass were given a point system, you’d get Impractical Jokers (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP) – a reality series about a group of friends who challenge each other to do incredibly foolish things in public. Really, really foolish things. Bonus features include audio commentaries and more.
If you watched the latest entry in the Fast & Furious franchise and walked away wishing it contained even more cars and action and cars and stuff, then you’ll want to snap up the Fast & Furious 6: Extended Edition (Universal, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$34.98 SRP), which lengthens the film with just that. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes, and more.
I’m really not sure what to make of Gore Verbinski’s big screen take on The Lone Ranger (Walt Disney, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), and I’m not terribly sure Gore Verbinski knew, either, as it’s a very erratic affair that goes from high adventure to bafflingly somber tragedy in often incomprehensible ways. Which is a shame, because Armie Hammer has the makings of a great Lone Ranger, and Johnny Depp… Well, Johnny Depp, as usual, is in a film all his own. Bonus materials include featurettes, a deleted scene, and bloopers.
As I was with the first film, I am shocked to say that I found The Smurfs 2 (Sony, Rated PG, 3D Blu-Ray-$55.99 SRP) an entirely watchable film. And as with the first outing, the least watchable parts of it were any time it was mired in the real world, with Neil Patrick Harris (no slight to him). I still would much rather have seen a film entirely in the medieval world around Smurf village, with Hank Azaria’s Gargamel. Truly. Bonus materials include featurettes and deleted scenes.
An Angry Birds cartoon? Sure. Why not. And honestly, the 90+ minutes of Angry Birds Toons (Sony, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$26.99 SRP) found on their debut release are actually pretty enjoyable, and will certainly appeal to fans of the franchise. And they look gorgeous… Bu8t that’s what having a ton of money to spend will get you.
It’s no Tango & Cash, but what Pain & Gain (Paramount, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) – starring Dwayne Johnson, Mark Wahlberg, & Anthony Mackie as a trio of personal trainers get caught up on the wrong side of the law – manages to remind viewers is that director Michael Bay used to know how to make fun, funny action films that weren’t senseless bastardizations of licensed properties. The new Special Collector’s Edition adds nearly an hour of bonus features.
It’s the sheer ridiculousness that makes the celebration of The History of WWE: 50 Years Of Sports Entertainment (WWE, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.95 SRP) such a fun and fascinating journey down memory lane, from its earliest regional origins to the current global phenomena, and all of the larger-than-life personalities that made the explosion possible.
It seems like forever since the last season was released, but the holidays bring the arrival of The Simpsons: The Sixteenth Season (Fox, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$59.99 SRP). No matter what you think of the quality of the 21 episodes contained in the set compared to the show’s golden age, the real draw of these sets continues to be the excellent, often freewheeling audio commentaries. Bonus materials also include featurettes, bonus episodes, sketches, and more.
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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It’s not hard to believe that the folks behind the golden age of Rhino Records are behind Shout Factory, as their releases in the last year have further cemented them as the company bringing out the most brilliant catalogue celebrations that absolutely must be added to any right-thinking fan of pop culture’s collection. The latest? 
If you’re life is as full of gadgets, computers, and doodads as mine, then chances are you use a lot of compressed air cans. Probably a ridiculous amount, really. So how about a solution that still provides a powerful burst of air but in a reusable fashion? That’s exactly what you get from the 
Growing up, our family had an RCA Select-A-Vision videodisc player. One of the massive videodiscs my father owned, and I remember watching, was the Paul McCartney & Wings concert film 
This month’s classic Doctor Who releases feature a pair of stories from the Jon Pertwee’s years as the 3rd Doctor – a special edition of 
It doesn’t hold a candle to Warner’s legendary Wizard Of Oz (which gets a restored 3D upgrade and theatrical release this fall), but Sam Raimi’s prequel-ish 
Yes, 
Former CIA operative Michael Westen is in hot pursuit of his old nemesis Anson Fullerton in the 6th season of 
Aaron Sorkin’s latest walk-and-talker, 
This week also brings a new clutch of TV releases from the CBS vaults, including the first volume of the 9th and final season of 
Picking up where Spielberg’s biopic ends, the historical reenactment of 
Jon Pertwee’s 3rd Doctor finally escapes his banishment to Earth and travels into space in the new-to-DVD adventure 
When I was a kid, so very long ago, hand-propelled paper airplanes were perfectly fine. For today’s kids, something more is needed – such as 
I love how the DVD revolution has made it possible for just about every TV show you can imagine to wriggle out of the woodwork and get a release. Case in point – the complete run of 
I think the announcement of its arrival in a definitive high definition collection was both a surprise and a delight to diehard fans, but I’m sure the latter outweighs the former now that they can lay their grubby little paws on their very own copy of 
One of the most iconic movie musicals ever produced makes its high definition debut in grand style, as 
It’s flawed in many ways and suffers from an inadequate budget for its lofty concept, but there’s quite a bit of charm that makes Neil Gaiman’s 
It was brilliant seeing League Of Gentlemen’s Steve Pemberton in the grim and gritty crime drama 
Celebrate its 25th anniversary with a brand new special edition of Sam Raimi’s classic schlock horror film 
If you’re a history buff, you’ll probably be as fascinated and gripped by the remarkable color footage you’ll find, presented for the first time in high definition, found within the 
For the kids in your life, this week brings 
MGM has dipped into their library for a trio of titles to get the high definition treatment, including the original, much much better version of 
And speaking of MGM dipping into their library, they’ve also unleashed a new clutch of titles from their MOD Limited Edition Collection, including the Morey Amsterdam comedy 
It doesn’t hold a candle to the original UK series, but the first season of the American 
Underappreciated in its day and largely overlooked today, if you’ve yet to see the short-lived Michael Mann series 
It was only a matter of time before History Channel fond a way to make a spin-off from their popular Pawn Stars, and the one they chose was to focus on the gent that show had doing restorations on the antiques brought to the show. So with 
Instead of nice comprehensive sets, Nickelodeon continues to parcel out their new iCarly releases as single disc clutches of episodes, the latest of which is 
Hey, so you know how much you love the original Star Trek, and all of its wonderfully stylish props? And how you always wanted some of them for your very ownself, preferably at a reasonably low price? Well, you can get your very own light-up and sound-effect capable 
After a disappointing, featureless jump ahead to release the 20th anniversary season over a year ago, the proper, feature-laden thirteenth season of 
Doctor Grumpy McSourWooster returns in the compete 6th season of 
Chronicling a turbulent, deadly decade in Yorkshire England, the 3 films that comprise the 
When it comes to ABC’s new comedies last year, the one I liked the most was Modern Family. The one that left the least impression on me was 
In what must the 50th home video edition, Sam Raimi’s gory, goofy low-budget indie horror flick 
Its failure really isn’t surprising, as 
It was during the 4th season of 
Michael Caine returns to his touch as nails roots in 
It’s fine as it exits now, but watching the first season of 
With all of the undead glut of late, you might have forgotten that there’s another show about vampires that’s coming to DVD – the first season of 
Just yesterday (well, last year), it seemed that RiffTrax was just a web concern, with nary a physical DVD release to their name. Now, the DVD releases are coming fast and furious, the latest being another two volumes of short subjects featuring riffsters (and MST3K alum) Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, & Bill Corbett – 
Want a little extra monitor space without all of the fuss and massive footprint? Look no further than the 
Hot on the heels of their inaugural release comes 
Halloween is rapidly approaching, so Universal is using the holiday as an excuse to drop a few much-desired titles on Blu-Ray that make for perfect holiday viewing – 
Speaking of Simon Pegg & Nick Frost, their epic cop action/comedy 
If I had to name my favorite instrument, hands down (pun intended, sadly) it would be a piano. So much so that I was completely captivated by the documentary 
Leonard & Sheldon both find a girl in the second season of 
The fourth season of 
I’m a bit disappointed that they’ve decided to break them up, but you can now get the most recent animated incarnation of 
Where Torchwood fails in its belief that it’s more than it really is, 
Fans have been waiting a long time for an official, snazzy-looking edition of the Boris Karloff-presented anthology series 
The long public domain nightmare is over – Bonanza has finally arrived on DVD in a beautifully remastered, fully official form. They really want people to know, so they’ve named the premiere releases 
It doesn’t hold a candle to the feature film, but at least at the start, the TV spin-off of 
While not as successful as her dip into fairy tales, 
Fox and MGM have dipped into their catalogues to put together a slate of high-def releases perfect for your October/Halloween viewing list – 
Hot on the heels of the first two volumes, 
Its title led many to believe that Russell Davies might be pulling the trigger on the 10th Doctor’s regeneration a bit early, but last year’s Christmas special, 
My sister loves 
Amanda Tapping stars as Dr. Helen Magnus in 
Miramax has opened up the high-def floodgates with a quartet of Asian flicks sure to delight fans of Asian cinema – 
Essentially a PG-13, network version of Showtime’s Masters Of Horror (meaning no nudity, no gore), 
While it’s not the Blu-Ray editions that everyone (me included) was hoping for, the new special editions of the Back To The Future trilogy are worth a look see. The original 
I’ve got hundreds and hundreds of slides and negatives from years of pre-digital photo archives. That being the case, I’m always keen on new and easier ways to try and digitize this wealth of images – including a nifty slide/negative scanner that Thinkgeek offered, and I featured a few months back. Well, now they’ve gone and begun offering a newer, spiffier 
Another catalogue classic making its way to high definition is the director’s cut of 
Also hitting Blu-Ray is David Cronenberg’s surprisingly accessible 
Uber-curmudgeon Victor Meldrew returns in the 
It’s not quite as incisive as it could be, but Oliver Stone’s 
When all hell breaks loose in a small town, are you going to call the police? No. The FBI? No. The military? Of course not! Ninjas? THEY DON’T HAVE PHONES!! No, the person you’re going to call to sort it all out is B-movie legend Bruce Campbell – and that’s just what the small town of Gold Lick does in the fun little goof 
It’s certainly not their finest hour, but I sort of kind of dig the better aspects of 
It’s by no means a disaster, but it certainly would have been nice if Bernie Mac’s final film were better. 
The Blu-Ray catalogue express pulls up to the station with another carload full of titles, this time straight from Fox. Getting the high definition treatment are the much-requested 
It’s no Pixar, but there’s a simple pleasure to 
There’s nothing especially upsetting or horrific or even interesting about 
It’s not the best looking CGI animated flick, but my nephew certainly likes the off-kilter tale of 
Long before the lackluster Masters Of Horror, another anthology series sought out horror masters for a slightly better clutch of stories – 
It’s a saccharine, fluffy mess, but I’m sure there will be plenty of sales for the newly-arrived-in-high-definition 
It can be plodding, but Spike Lee’s 
No longer a full season set, fans will have to make do with only the first 19 episodes in 
If you want a crash course in pretentious cinema, look no further than the world-struck-blind-by-a-plague-and-devolves-into-chaos-but-Julianne-Moore-isn’t-blind 
They may be on the simple side, but that’s exactly what you’d hope when putting on one of the 4 DVDs (comprising 32 episodes) in the 
Shout Factory picks up the ball after Universal walked away following the release of the first season with 
We still don’t have the original 60’s series (I want it more than a hula hoop), but we get another Alvin & The Chipmunks themed episode collection, 
Yeah, I tried. Still don’t like