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 the first volume could be a bit rough going, as the strip was still finding its footing and voice, Bloom County: The Complete Library Volume 2 (IDW, $39.99 SRP) is Berke Breathed really hitting his stride and crafting the comic that a generation (including me) fell in love with. Combining gut-level comedy with brilliant satire, its absence from the landscape is still a loss, but I encourage everyone to pick this up and re-live the good times.
It may seem a bit pricey, but considering what a real pain it can be to keep monitors and TV screen clean and dust-free, finding a solid product that quickly and effectively does that cleaning with no fuss certainly makes the cost worthwhile. So what is this great product? The TV Clean Electronics Duster ($59.99). Essentially, it’s a spiffy lint roller for your gear.
Forged in the fire of the Writers Strike of 2008, released on the internet to rabid fan acclaim, and long available on that selfsame net, you can now get Joss Whedon’s online musical, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (New Video, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$19.95 SRP) in high definition. Bonus features include a musical studio commentary, a standard commentary, making-of featurettes, and Evil League Of Evil application videos.
It’s an uneven affair, but Mystery Team (Lionsgate, Rated R, DVD-$27.98 SRP) – about a trio of high school seniors still lodged in their childhood fantasy as white bread investigators suddenly in the deep end of a murder mystery – is still smart enough to be a worthwhile watch. It certainly makes me interested to see what else Derrick Comedy – the troupe behind the flick – have to offer in the future. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, a comedy short, and a gag reel.
New to Blu-Ray from the fine folks at Criterion is By Brakhage: An Anthology – Volumes One and Two (Criterion, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$79.95 SRP), whose 3 discs contain a collection of the often bizarre, but always fascinating, experimental short films by Stan Brakhage. By tinkering with exposure, painting, editing, and more, Brakhage presaged much of what we see in advertising (and even MTV) today. Bonus materials include video encounters with Brakhage, audio remarks, a video interview, a short film by his wife, footage from his Sunday salons at the University of Colorado, audio recordings of his lectures, and an essay-filled booklet.
It’s nice to see that IDW is continuing to give love to John Byrne’s creator-owned venture all these years later with the 2nd volume of their Next Men Premiere Edition (IDW, $50.00 SRP) – a deluxe, oversized, hardcover presentation of issues 11-20, including the Mark IV back-up features. Definitely a must have addition to any true comics fan’s library.
It’s big 50’s filmmaking at its finest, it contains one of the most memorable sequences ever set to film, and I’m delighted that Spartacus (Universal, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$26.98 SRP) has made its way to high definition that ports over all of the special features of the standard special edition from a few years back – including featurettes, archival interviews, newsreels, deleted scenes, and galleries.
Admittedly, it’s squirm-inducing car wreck TV, but I can’t help but be riveted by Hoarders (A&E, Not Rated, DVD-$19.95 SRP), which looks at – and ostensibly helps – those who compulsively, and detrimentally, retain everything from magazines to trash. The 2-disc 1st season set also contains additional footage.
Long one of those classic shows that has been absent on DVD, the complete first season of The Virginian (Timeless Media Group, Not Rated, DVD-$79.98 SRP) is now available in full color, fully restored. With a guest list that includes the likes of Bette Davis, Lee Marvin, George C. Scott, Robert Duvall, Ricardo Montalban, and more, TV’s very first western is worth a look-see. The 10-disc set contains all 3 episodes, plus a bonus disc with exclusive cast interviews.
If you’ve been ensnared by the bayou vampire drama True Blood (HBO, Not Rated, DVD-$59.99 SRP), then you’ll probably be snapping up the complete second season, as a new threat to the sleepy southern town of Bon temps rears its ugly head. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, featurettes, and a special edition of the Vampire News.
The modern day Robin Hoods of Leverage (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) return in a second season that finds them without a base of operations and within even bigger greedy prey in the offing – everything from Ponzi schemers to a rival crew of thieves. The 4-disc set contains all 15 episodes, plus audio commentaries, featurettes, a spoof video, and a gag reel.
Made for the UK’s ITV, both The Glory Boys & The Contract – available together in a box set (Acorn, Not Rated, DVD-$39.99 SRP) – are true relics of the cold war era, with a cast list that includes the likes of Rod Steiger, Joanna Lumley, and Anthony Perkins. They’re both worth a spin.
Oh yes. It’s that time again. Are you ready for it? Are you sure? Because you have to make sure you’re ready for a new David Cross comedy special, and David Cross: Bigger And Blackerer (SubPop, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP) is a fitting follow-up to his two previous releases. To describe the material is to ruin the surprise. Just get it.
Wil Wheaton brings his evil, evil presence to the 3rd season of The Guild (New Video, Not Rated, DVD-$14.95 SRP) as the leader of a rival group of gamers know as the Axis Of Anarchy, which face off against a Guild left in tatters after the party that ended season 2. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, music videos, featurettes, interviews, gag reels, and more.
For anyone interested in exploring the origins of the amateur literary jam session that is The Bible, take a look at the impressively researched documentary series Testament (Acorn, Not Rated, DVD-$59.99 SRP), which explores the writing, revisions, translations, and misinterpretations of the tome.
The History Channel packages profiles of history’s most naughty rulers in the 2-disc Ancients Behaving Badly (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$24.95 SRP), featuring Caligula, Alexander The Great, Julius Caesar, Attila The Hun, Hannibal, Cleopatra, Ghengis Khan, and Nero.
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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Recalling the good old days of Paramount’s rapid, clockwork release of the Trek series on standard DVD, the remastered high-def edition of 
Ever since they first came on the market, I’ve been ridiculously entranced by digital picture frames. Just the space-age idea that you could have shifting photos within a traditional-looking picture frame makes the 7-year-old me go “Cool.” Sad? Maybe – but the 
A few years back, Warner Bros. released a positively revelatory special edition of The Wizard Of Oz on DVD. The picture had never – ever, even in its theatrical release – looked and sounded better. Well, with the release in high-def of 
For all of the comedy and loopy fun that Dreamworks puts into the films CG-animated they release, they really can’t make a visually appealing flick to save their lives. Look no further than 
It’s nice that, every once in awhile, a comedy will come down the pike that remembers how enjoyable humor based on character can be – and such is the case with 
The playing field is littered with the bodies of many serials that attempted to make a go of it on the net, but one of the few actual success stories gets a DVD release with 
Ah, but that’s not the only History Channel program that benefits from a bump up to high-def – also add the complete 3rd season of 
Color me stunned that we’re celebrating the 20th anniversary of the original UK miniseries 
Making holiday viewing that much easier this year, Disney has put together a standalone release of the still-great 
Of all of the direct-to-video animated DC Universe titles to come down the pike, the one that’s gotten the most right – in tone, character, and execution – is 
I love when companies finally remember that they’ve left us dangling with abandoned classic TV releases and restart the process, as Paramount has done in giving us the penultimate 4th season of 
Hugh Jackman – I understand that the success of the first abysmal film gave you a Hollywood career, and the second and third abysmal films cemented the studio’s belief that you were the key to their success, but do you think you could get, oh, I don’t know, a second reader to tell you what a crap script your solo foray as 
With the rather blunt title of 
Compiled to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the first show, 
We finally – FINALLY – get a production with the Muppets playing themselves, and it turns out to be a dull, misguided affair that forgets that the Muppets are supposed to be funny and interesting. Sadly, 
It’s a shame that TV executives felt it was necessary to re-do the UK’s brilliant version for the American 
I could have done without the re-enactments, but the disturbing history repackaged in the documentary 
The only thing remarkable about the seventh season of 
