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…)
While they’ve been concentrating on plenty of stellar releases featuring characters from the original trilogy, plus more Storm Troopers than you can shake a bushel of sticks at, Hot Toys has turned their sights back on Star Wars: The Force Awakens with a trio of figures that actually comprise only a pair of releases, as two of the figures are bundled in an exclusive two-pack. First up is a character that became legend for her visuals long before anyone saw the film, Captain Phasma (Sideshow/Hot Toys, $249.99). Despite whatever happened with her character in the film, the figure is an imposing realization of her instantly-iconic design, from the chrome armor to the mighty match of actress Gwendolyn Christie’s mighty height. Of course, what would Phasma be without her failed former cadet, FN-2187, who is available in the aforementioned two-pack of Finn and First Order Riot Control Stormtrooper (Sideshow/Hot Toys, $359.99). And really, how could you not get Finn, replete with lightsaber, together with his Stormtrooper sparring partner of the memorable exclamatory “TRAITOR!”, with his unique energized riot control club? That’s right, you simply must, or else be branded a fanboy TRAITOR!
Even if you’re louse at catching Pokemon, you can at least learn to sketch ’em all with the Pokémon How to Draw Kit (Thinkgeek, $16.99). Not only does it come with the how-to book with detailed instructions, but also the paper, pencils, erasers, and pencil sharpener to sketch with. It’s your all-in-one poke-sketching pokestop.
If Batman V Superman was the absolute nadir of this year’s superhero films, then the pinnacle is Captain America: Civil War (Walt Disney, Rated PG-13, 3D Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), a film which managed to juggle a massive cast in a well-established cinematic universe without any of the participants seeming superfluous, in a story that cranks along. Oh, and Spider-Man. It gave us a right and proper Spider-Man. Did I mention Spider-Man? I probably should. Spider-Man. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, featurettes, a peek at Doctor Strange, a gag reel, and a making-of documentary.
The 5th volume of Fantagraphics’ brilliant Uncle Scrooge And Donald Duck: The Don Rosa Library (Fantagraphics, $29.99 SRP) brings to a conclusion his epic “Life And Times Of Scrooge McDuck” storyline in a suitably beautiful presentation, fully loaded with supporting materials and insights, plus a pair of stories that fit within Rosa’s output chronology, “Guardians Of The Lost Library” and “From Duckburg To Lillehammer”. The next volume can not come fast enough.
After years of being overlooked and underappreciated by the studio going all the way back to its unceremonious theatrical release, Warner Bros. has finally treated The Iron Giant (Warner Bros., Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$14.97 SRP) as the classic it is, releasing it for the first time in high definition, fully restored, including an alliterate expanded cut. It also includes an audio commentary, deleted scenes, featurettes, and a brand new documentary charting the journey of the film.
If you’re looking for a definitive document of the cultural phenomenon that is the Back To The Future trilogy, featuring interviews with Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale, Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, and more, look no further than Back In Time (MVD, Not Rated, DVD-$19.95 SRP), a great documentary that does just that.
Tilda Swinton is a rock star vacationing in the Mediterranean whose quiet vacation with her lover is disrupted by the arrival of a former flame (Ralph Fiennes) and his seductive daughter in the potboiler A Bigger Splash (Fox, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP). Seeing Swinton and Fiennes together onscreen is more than enough reason to give this a spin. Bonus materials include featurettes and the theatrical trailer.
Olive’s deep dive into the MGM catalogue brings up the high definition debut of Cecil B. DeMille’s thought-to-be-lost 1915 silent film The Captive (Olive, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.95 SRP), while their stroll through Paramount’s catacombs brings up the pre-Brady Bunch tale of a massive blended family, Yours, Mine And Ours (Olive, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.95 SRP), starring Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda as widowers who bring together their combined 18 kids.
If you’re watching the 13 specials featured within the 6-disc Thanks For The Memories: The Bob Hope Specials (Time Life, Not Rated, DVD-$59.95 SRP) looking to laugh, you’re going to find genuinely funny jokes and performances few and far between. No, the brilliance of this set is in their time capsule nature, capturing a bygone era of vaudeville relics and old school celebrity, spread across very much of their time spotlights. The best example of this is the painfully unfunny special Joys, which gathers together dozens of celebrities, from Don Knotts to Phil Silvers and Groucho Marx to Charo, for a whodunit that is somehow also a parody of recent hit Jaws, but really isn’t, but is instead a stunning collection of an entire generation’s worth of entertainers. In addition to the specials, the set also contains the gold documentary Shanks For The Memories.
I love jigsaw puzzles. I love The Legend Of Zelda. So, how could I not love Legend of Zelda 550pc Puzzles (Thinkgeek, $9.99), which combines both of those in a single box? The quartet of images currently available include Majora’s Mask, Link on horseback, and a pair of stained glass pictures from Windwaker.
The adult coloring book craze will one day consume all pop culture properties, which means you can now color your way through the Seven Kingdoms and beyond in the Game Of Thrones Coloring Book (Chronicle Books, $15.95 SRP). Be sure to crack out the white crayons, because winter is here.
Having grown up on that base, even seeing the name Quantico (ABC Studios, Not Rated, DVD-$29.99 SRP) piques my interest, and this series, about an FBI recruit framed for a terrorist attack who must try and clear her name while exposing the true traitor within their ranks, is a wild, engaging ride that delivers on that pique. Bonus materials include video commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes, and outtakes.
For those curious about where to find deeper scholarship of every nook and cranny of comics history, the best place to turn is two the always unique output of Twomorrows Publishing. Case in point? Their latest tome is The MLJ Companion (Twomorrows, $34.95 SRP), which explores the complete history of the Archie Comics superheroes from the Golden Age up to the present day. Never heard of The Mighty Crusaders? Read on!
Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson return as paranormal investigators Lorraine and Ed Warren in The Conjuring 2 (Warner Bros., Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.98 SRP), a genuinely scary sequel that finds them engaged with the malicious spirits of the Enfield Haunting, known as England’s Amityville. Bonus materials include featurettes and deleted scenes.
While a standalone version has been previously released, the legendary anniversary special Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever (Time Life, Not Rated, DVD-$79.95 SRP) has been expanded for a brand new collector’s box set that includes an extended version of the concert, over 14 hours of bonus materials across 3 additional discs beyond the original release, and a 48-page collector’s book. With reunions by the Miracles, Supremes, and Jackson 5 to host Richard Pryor, it remains an incredible evening.
The first Michael Bay-produced film was disappointing in myriad ways, but its sequel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows (Paramount, Rated PG-13, 3D Blu-Ray-$45.99 SRP) manages to eke out even more disappointment just by dint of being, well, boring. Well and truly so. Which is sad, because it manages to bring Bebop & Rocksteady in, and fix some of the first film’s Shredder problems. The turtles themselves still look like steroidal monstrosities, but nothing is unfixable, but it remains unfixed here. Bonus materials include featurettes and deleted scenes.
The folks at Mill Creek continue to make catalogue content available at ridiculously low prices, which means you can now get the first and second seasons of the beloved shows Coach (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$14.95 SRP) and Friday Night Lights (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP each) for far less than their original DVD releases.
This weekend, dive into a clutch of documentaries from the public broadcasting purveyors of premiere programming, PBS, with 9/11: Inside The Pentagon (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP), Nazi Mega Weapons: Season Three (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP), and Frontline: Policing The Police (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP).
I think we all knew it was inevitable that even the 80s direct-to-VHS filler from Vestron Video would eventually be seen through enough nostalgia that we’d get high definition releases of those titles (collector’s editions, even!), and the first batch includes the gore fests Chopping Mall and Blood Diner (Lionsgate, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.97 SRP each). Bonus features include audio commentaries, featurettes, and archival interviews and trailers.
It’s been many, many years since the death of the much-missed Palisades line of Muppets action figures. Just when fans feared we may never see its like again, the whatnots at Diamond Select made a rainbow connection and gifted us with a brand new line of Muppets Action Figures (Diamond Select, $23 SRP each). The scale is smaller than the Palisades line, but the massive size of those figures is part of what made the line untenable. So, here we get what should hopefully be a more sustainable run, which kicks off with Kermit (with Robin & Bean Bunny), Gonzo (with Camilla), Fozzie & Scooter, Beaker & Bunsen, Statler & Waldorf (with their elaborate theatre box), and Animal (with his drum kit). I can’t wait to see how deep this line will go.
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 long-established that HBO’s 
Another month brings another sterling entry in Disney’s remastered and expanded Legacy Collection of soundtrack re-releases, with the latest being the 1955 animated classic 
J.B. Kaufman’s epic 
As a child of the 80s, and a comic book fan, I was well and truly steeped in the Venn alignment of Larry Hama’s now-legendary run on Marvel’s GI Joe comic. That’s probably why I find IDW’s first class treatment of that run via their still-ongoing 
If you’re keen on seeing Will Smith be all suave as a master con artist who gets involved with a young novice who then reenters his life years later as a master manipulator, upsetting both his game and his heart, then 
While they’ve offered his iconic question mark sweater and scarf in the past, now you can finally complete his ensemble with the 
The fine folks at Olive have delivered another batch of deep catalogue high definition debuts with the release of Terry Jones’s 
While 
Fantagraphics lovingly presented 7th volume of Floyd Gottfredson’s run on the Mickey Mouse newspaper strip, 
The modern Turtles recently made their triumphant comeback to the Big Apple, but you can flashback to their 3-part battle with the Shredder in the 2003 series with 
While many today know him for his design work, that the legendary Alex Toth produced a barely-seen comic book about a dashing pilot that could exist in the same universe as The Rocketeer will come as a giddy surprise. And it should, because 
Hoping to cut the legs out from under all of those awful-looking public domain releases floating out there, CBS has released another complete season of beautifully remastered Cartwright adventures on the Ponderosa with 
Catch up with a pair of post-apocalyptic TNT originals with the complete fourth season of 
We’re entering the home stretch of the long-running British staple with the release of 
This week’s soundtrack round-up kicks off with Murray Gold’s score to 
While I have a cultural awareness, I do not have an emotional attachment to the late 90s/early-aughts era of wrestling dubbed by the WWE 
If your kids have been pleading for the return of Dreamworks Animation’s racing snail, their calls have been answered with the small screen return collected in 
Not even a guilty pleasure, I am utterly delighted that Brian de Palma’s quirky glam rock epic 
It is with remarkable speed and wondrous diligence that the fine folks at Shout Factory have continued their clockwork releases of classic MST3K on DVD, which means we’re already to 
Considering they had to deal with two major cast departures, a major new addition to the cast, plus re-piloting the premise all while bringing show creator Dan Harmon back to the fold for a truncated half-season, it’s no terrible surprise that the fifth season of 
Some elements of the film haven’t aged quite so well, but the directorial debut of screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, 
The fine folks over at Warner Bros. have put together another of their fantastic themed film collections, this time providing a nice 6-film overview to an Academy Award-winning legend with the 
Like cars? Like cars going really fast? Like Aaron Paul? Don’t need much else from a film? Then 
Off most people’s radar thanks to the overwhelming nature of Pixar and Dreamworks, Fox’s 
As disaster porn goes, Darren Aronofsky’s ponderous biblical ballyhoo 
Their cleverness varies, but there is a basic level of fun to be had in 
Jude Law as a short-fused safecracker out to collect on a debt after a stint in prison is what makes 
Mark the 100th anniversary of the Great War with the 5-disc 
Yes, it feels more like a series of sketches than the more unified narratives of Holy Grail and Life Of Brian, but I still enjoy Monty Python’s swan song, 
It wasn’t until I popped in the first disc of the Carol Burnett Show spin-off 
The title doesn’t lie – 
And speaking of true tales of creative people told with remarkable candor, 
While not as impressive as seeing it in its IMAX presentation, the 3D remastering and its accompanying restoration for the 75th anniversary edition of 
Perhaps the best praise I can give 
If there’s anything that 
Packed with 20 episodes, audio commentaries, featurettes, deleted sequences, and more, the 6th season of 
The new deluxe edition of 
This year’s classic Who-palooza continues with another pair of releases, including the DVD debut of the 4th Doctor Tom Baker story 
Eight seasons on, 
As bonkers as the first season was, 
A tale of adventure and revenge set in German East Africa pre-WWI and starring Lee Marvin, Roger Moore, and Ian Holm? Yes, I do believe I will give 
Kudos to 
It’s certainly nor Pixar or even Dreamworks quality, but there’s enough charm to 
If you’ve ever wanted to binge view Hollywood’s “classic” horror series about a children’s doll inhabited by the spirit of a killer, look no further than 
Con man Neal Caffrey’s alliance with FBI Agent Peter Burke is already on shaky ground when he ditches his tracking anklet and disappears as we delve into the fourth season of 
Keen on a proper British ghost story? Give a spin to 
I’m a comic fan. Despite what I think of the emaciated, dying industry as it exists today, I’ll forever hold fond memories of my comic book reading childhood.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from 
Thinkgeek time! Googly eyes are fun. You know it. I know it. And you know what’s even more gun than googly eyes? 
It doesn’t have the flash bang of a Harry Potter, but the Diary Of A Wimpy Kid series continues to get soplidly entertaining adaptations with its aging cast, the latest being the summer-themed 
Mike Birbiglia’s 
I find Seth MacFarlane’s humor to be hot & cold, but for the most part, the be-careful-what-you-wish-for comedy 
Even after watching the entire first season, I’m still not sure if I like Lena Dunham’s celebration of privileged naval-gazing, 
As a kid watching the early days of The Disney Channel, I must have seen 
I’m all for Jeremy Renner, but I think he got the short end of the stick in trying to follow up an absent Matt Damon in 
If you’ve only ever seen Gordon Ramsay being all shouty and sweary in his various programs, you should try seeing him in a more relaxed mood, just doing what he loves, and does well. And hey, you can see exactly that on 
It’s a messy failure, but Warren Beatty certainly seemed to be genuinely interested in trying to bring 
Though I still find Robert Pattinson to be a cipher as an actor, that works for his role in David Cronenberg’s 
You’ve got to hand it to director Gordon Liu – if you want a non-stop adrenaline rush of martial arts fury, look no further than the bombastically-titled 
So what happens if you combine the adrenaline rush of Run Lola Run with the dangerous world of New York City bike messengers by giving a messenger a delivery that results in deadly chase through the streets? You get the surprisingly enjoyable thriller 
Also making their high definition debut this week are the catalogue titles 
Forget every memory you’ve etched in your brain about the Schwarzenegger flick, because the new 
This week also brings a pair of Showtime series to DVD, including the first season of the Don Cheadle vehicle 
After his awkward piece of performance art at the Republican National Convention, it’s a shame that the next time we saw Clint Eastwood on film it’s in the turgid 
Various elements are certainly dated, but there are some genuine scares to be found in the classic UK television anthology 
It’s not the recent 25th anniversary concert that brought the house down at the O2, but 
US Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness) is back in the saddle for 
Serious baseball nuts with disposable cash will probably want to pick up the official Major League Baseball 
They’ve become as regular as the seasons, but 
Not nearly as polarizing as his son, it’s easy to watch the documentary about George Herbert Walker Bush, 
It can be very Lifetime Movie “Up With People”, but at least the History Channel’s miniseries 
Get a whole new clutch of short attention span comedy with the complete second season of 
In 1964, James Whitmore starred in a powerful adaptation of John Howard Griffin’s 
As its original run was airing, I would rarely miss a new episode of 
With the 
The gap between releases is an endurance test, but when a new Cinematic Titanic Live DVD arrives, the beautiful little comedy gem makes you forget just how long it’s been since the last one. And oh, does 
Another month, another pair of classic Doctor Who releases bringing us that much closer to having all of the almost 30 years of stories on DVD. And this month brings a pair of corkers – Patrick Troughton’s 2nd Doctor in 
Yes, 
I’ve said it before, and I shall continue to say it as long as he continues to write them – If you’ve not yet read John Swartzwelder’s series of brilliantly comic novels starring dim detective Frank Burly, than you do not deserve to be literate. So yes, do catch up, and also pick up the latest – 
The fine folks at Fantagraphics continue to do more to keep classic Disney characters in front of audiences than Disney does, with the release of both the 3rd volume collecting Floyd’s Gottfredson’s classic Mickey Mouse comic strip, 
And speaking of a company doing fine work for those who truly love comics, the folks at Twomorrows have released a pair of books which are both worth picking up – 
While the US remake has me worried, the must-see feature film is getting it’s US debut soon and the original UK series has finally been released in the US. So what does that mean? That means you should get 
The show may be running out of steam, but there’s still a lot of fun to be had in the 4th season of 
Warners has brought a pair of much-requested sci-fi titles to high definition with the arrival of Peter Hyams’ 
Been waiting for another UCB movie? I have. Is there another UCB movie, written and helmed by Matt Besser and starring his brilliant partners? Yes, there is. Does it have dance? Not only does it have dance, it has 
Still one of the greatest concert movies ever put to film, 
Seeing as how every season since the third has gotten a concurrent high-definition releases, Warners has gone back to fill in the blanks with high-definition releases of 
Yeah, I don’t know if I really wanted to catch up with the characters of American Pie almost 15 years later, and seeing them coming to terms with adulthood and families and maturity and stagnation in 
What a world we live in when Mel Gibson has so damaged his reputation that his new film essentially goes direct-to-video, as is the case with the action flick 
Many years ago, the book 
There’s nothing altogether wrong about 
Hans Zimmer’s score to 
For a unique view of history, look no further than 
Warners, MGM, and Sony have all jumped into the MOD catalogue business, but one of the studios with the biggest libraries has finally arrived on the scene with the 20th Century Fox Cinema Archives, dropping 15 never-before-released titles that cinema fans are sure to want to snap up. That initial batch is comprised of 
MGM’s MOD Limited Edition Collection has dropped a new clutch of titles from the vault, the highlights of which are Dave Thomas and Sally Kellerman in the 
Disney continues to fulfill their promise to unleash a slew of catalogue titles on Blu-Ray this year, with this week bringing a new release, including Robert Redford in 
The 
If you’ve got kids, Scholastic’s ever-expanding library of animated adaptations of children’s books is worth picking up, the latest of which is 
In this week’s reality dump, we get another pseudo-nailbiting season of 
Slowly but surely we’re creeping towards catching up as Roy Clarke’s long-running 
After Tim Burton’s abysmal take, I was quite leery of any new attempts to return to the Planet Of The Apes franchise. Well, I was pleasantly surprised that 
Still looking for the perfect stand for your smartphone? Try the 
Remember when we were all mourning the cancellation of Futurama? Such a long time ago! And here we are two seasons into its revival with the release of 
A sequel was inevitable, so it should come as little surprise to you that Jack Black returns in 
There are plenty of companies diving into their deep catalogues for Blu-Ray release, but the only studio that is consistently ace with every restoration project they undertake is Warner Bros. The latest to benefit from their incredible acumen is the Judy Garland romance 
I didn’t know what to expect from the remake of 
There’s something about 
Shame it’s gone direct-to-DVD (not even Blu-Ray) here in the US, because 
The main reason to check out 
Now that we’ve moved beyond the still-wonderful episodes into the seasons I don’t really care about, the release of something like 
I don’t understand its appeal, but I know there are plenty of fans out there eager to pick up their very own copy of 
If you’re in the mood for a heartwarming tale of a dolphin with a prosthetic tail that just so happens to star Morgan Freeman in a role that isn’t the dolphin, then you might want to check out 
While I don’t think it was one of their better seasons, there was still much to enjoy in 
If you’re in to DIY and want to extend it to your electronic devices, you might have been stumped by the often proprietary screws they have. Well, be stifled no more with the 
DA Pennebaker’s seminal documentary 
Long before John Travolta became an alien joke, he starred as a sound effects man who believes he’s accidentally recorded a political assassination in Brian De Palma’s gripping if in consistent thriller 
In a change of pace from their recent nature documentaries, the BBC turns their high definition cameras on people for the series 
If you’re at all interested in the nuts and bolts that built the Hollywood Dream Factory, look no further than TCM’s excellent documentary series 
It’s hard to believe Sid & Marty Krofft’s iconic 
If you haven’t been buying them individually, catch up on one of the most beautifully executed astronomical documentary series ever aired with 
Years after the release of its debut season, the Seaver family gets their sophomore run out of the gate with 
If you have a youngster in your family, Scholastic’s Storybook Treasures line of book adaptations are lovely gifts to give. The latest is a collection celebrating Asian Heritage, featuring the story 
Before Earth’s mightiest heroes hit the big screen, Marvel has primed audiences with an animated series – and you can now get the first 13 episodes of the inaugural season via 
I wish I had half the energy that Stan Lee has. The man’s got more projects going than Spielberg. One of them is a reality show for The History Channel, 
They were originally released a few years back, but with leaner times and decreasing shelf-space, A&E has re-released 
Earth day may have just passed, but you can still explore the origins of the Earth and the potential consequences of our actions upon it in 
While it attempts to capture the charm and update a classic, the BBC’s new take on 
If you’ve ever wondered what special information the President of the United States might be privy to, you might get a kick out of the documentary 
Take one last look at the brutal members of some of the country’s toughest gangs in