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…)
Prepare yourself for the long delayed third installment by picking up the new high-definition releases of the wonderful Men In Black and the lesser Men In Black II (Columbia Pictures, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$19.99 SRP each). Bonus materials include audio commentaries, deleted/extended scenes, featurettes, music videos, blooper reels, and more.
If you’re like me (and of course, you are), you’ve probably been swept up in the dangerously addictive game of DrawSomething. And if you’re still like me (YOU ARE), you find having to use your finger to draw an incredibly frustrating experience. Well, throw frustration aside with the Jot Capacitive Touch Stylus ($29.99), a beautiful, easy-on-the-hand pen stylus that’s perfect for your smartphone or tablet.
This month brings a pair of long-awaited stories from Sylvester McCoy’s 7th Doctor, even if one of those is pretty close to the nadir of the series. First, the good news is that Doctor Who: Dragonfire (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP) features the departure of the incredibly annoying Mel and the arrival of the much better Ace as the Doctor’s new companion. Ah, but the bad news is that Doctor Who: Happiness Patrol (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP) has to be one of the most awful examples of the show at its late-80’s worst, from poor design and production to a dull script and the godawful villain Kandy Man. Oh, and we also get another late-period Tom Baker story, Doctor Who: Nightmare Of Eden (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP), in which the Doctor and Romana gets caught up in the beastly aftermath of an interstellar car crash. At least the bonus materials are great, as they always are, including commentaries, documentaries, and more.
As far as sequels go, few are more delightfully meta than the underappreciated (particularly at release) Gremlins 2: The New Batch (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$19.98 SRP), which makes its high definition debut in an edition that ports all of the bonus features over from the previous DVD special edition. If you haven’t given this film the time of day, now’s the time to do so, as it’s a brilliant riff on it’s predecessor and sequels in general.
Before he made a few clunkers (and quiet, you – I love Popeye), Robin Williams starred in a pair of gems that finally make their debut in high definition – Dead Poets Society & Good Morning Vietnam (Touchstone, Rated PG/R, Blu-Ray-$20.00 SRP each). While I admire the former, the latter is the one I really spark to, as Williams’ performance as Army DJ Adrian Cronauer is still electric even a quarter-century after its release. Bonus materials are all ported over from the previous DVD release, including featurettes and an audio commentary.
Hey! Guess what? The loveable Rifftrax Trio returns with the DVD release of another of their recent live performances with Rifftrax Live: Jack The Giant Killer (Legend, Not Rated, DVD-$14.95). Not only do you get the film, but you also get the performance material and shorts around it, plus behind-the-scenes material and slide shows. Get this. Get it now.
Remember when we didn’t know who Alicia Silverstone and Paul Rudd were? And then a film called Clueless (Paramount, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$22.98 SRP) came a long and made them household names? Well, relive those memories in high definition! You can’t resist it. Bonus materials include featurettes and trailers.
It has all of the bizarre excess that’s always proved off-putting to me in their TV work, but fans will probably love Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie (Magnolia, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$34.98 SRP), in which the Adult Swim pair run afoul of their backer when they squander their billion dollar film budget and must try to make the money back rehabilitating a dying shopping mall before their backer exacts his revenge. And yes, that’s what it’s about. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, interviews, and more.
Continue the Universal 100th anniversary celebrations with a lovingly restored presentation of the swinging 60’s Rock Hudson/Doris Day classic Pillow Talk (Universal, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.98 SRP). Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, and more.
As if Valentine’s Day weren’t enough, director Garry Marshall returns with another kitchen sink cast romantic something or other based around New Year’s Eve (New Line, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP), like an American Richard Curtis. Bonus materials include featurettes, deleted scenes, a gag reel, and more.
After years of waiting, fans of Mr. Rourke & Tattoo can finally partake of Fantasy Island: The Complete Second Season (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$39.97 SRP). The 6-disc set is packed with guest stars galore, all clawing their way onto the titular island.
One of the better monsters from the 4th Doctor’s run of Doctor Who gets the spotlight in the Image Of The Fendahl Collectors’ Set (Underground Toys, $49.99 SRP), featuring the massive, fully grown Fendahleen, a much smaller infant Fendahleen, a Fendahl skull, and the Doctor’s then-current companion, the fetching barbarian Leela.
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 been a long, long, LONG wait, but the fine folks at Cinematic Titanic make a strong return with their road-tested riff of the awkward merging of both Kung-Fu AND Blaxsploitation, all wrapped in a model of poor filmmaking and worse acting… I give you 
I’ve never owned a good cooking knife in my life. Usually, I’ll hack meat and vegetables with a steak knife, ’cause that’s all I’ve got. Every time I’ve tried to buy a better knife, I’ve always chosen poorly, and wound up with a quick-dulling instrument that just sends me right back to my trusty serrated hacksaws. Well, now I’ve seen the light – and it’s not metal. No, it’s 
It’s not a kiddie movie, but I certainly saw it as a kid, and I still love the anarchic blackness that permeates one of the most offbeat holiday flicks to ever hit screens, 
No one rants with quite the same vigor – and accessibility – as Charlie Brooker. Like a cross between Mark Twain and a riled wasps nest, Brooker’s regular column in the Guardian is an ongoing social commentary that inspires equal parts knowing laughter and sympathetic bile. Don’t believe me? Pick up the latest collection – 
How sweet is it that we’re actually a dozen volumes in to the The Complete Peanuts? What seemed like it would take forever to accomplish – the presentation of the entire run of Charles Schulz’s classic strip – now seems to be flying by, as we can all dive into 
If their continued collections of Peanuts weren’t enough to earn Fantagraphics the love and adoration of comics fans the world over, then their beautiful collections of the EC Segar strips starring his cantankerous, shambling sailor should secure that place within their hearts. The 4th collection – 
It’s refreshing to upend the traditional romantic comedy formula and look at how unpredictable love can actually be with 
While Office Space has become an instant classic and even the marginalized Idiocracy has become a cult flick, Mike Judges latest, 
What do you do when you’re a network with a surprise hit on your hands? You don’t wait around for your debut season to wrap before you rush out a DVD collection featuring the first half of said season – and that’s what we’ve got with 
Catch up on your TV viewing over the holiday break with both the 3rd and final season of the sci-fi show 
It came and went from theaters with only the slightest of notice – a disappointment, considering it was the theatrical follow-up to Juno from screenwriter Diablo Cody. Which is a shame, as 
Check another series off your running list, as we’ve come to the release of the 7th and final season of 
Oh, what I wouldn’t do to put a bullet through the sadly long-lived American Pie franchise, which has now moved into 
What was just about the last season of the show turned out to be just another one after it was picked up, so now you can rest easy as you partake of 
It’s the second volume of 
The regular episodes are often painful scattershot, but the focus of their Star Wars episodes seems to bring out the best in Seth MacFarlane & company, as you can see for yourself with 
Go all the way back to the days of Wendy, Marvin, & Wonder Dog with the first volume from the premiere season of the original 
I remember when 
I’d like to say that Mel Brooks’ 
Christmas is dead and buried, so that means we start getting releases like a special edition of 
It’s all hit the fan in the third season of 
Wrap up the season that brought in Rob Estes, Alyssa Milano, and Lisa Rinna (and showed the door to Grant Show, Marcia Cross, & Laura Leighton) with 
It’s not good cinema, but the flicks contained in 
It never fails to bring a warm feeling when one of those Sunday afternoon flicks that used to permeate my youth gets all cleaned and gussied up and finds its way into high-definition. Certainly those warm feelings come from 
It doesn’t happen often enough, but 
David Tennant’s era as The Doctor has just come to a close, but there’s still plenty of classic Doctor adventures still in the pipeline. The newest releases to keep you warm (if the scarf isn’t enough) is the William Hartnell era 
It’s not for your younger kiddies, but there’s enough inventiveness and beauty of execution to make 
With the resurgence of 3-D, particularly in horror films, it was only a matter of time before the Final Destination franchise decided to go all cine-poky with 
You can feel the end coming on as the 9th season of 
