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…)
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 Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (Fox, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) manages to present an enjoyable take on the material as an origin story, bringing us back to the initial uprising of the apes led by a newly-intelligent (medical experiment!) chimp names Caesar (the always mo-cap impressive Andy Serkis). Bonus materials include audio commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, and more.
Still looking for the perfect stand for your smartphone? Try the Milo Micro-suction Stand ($14.99). As you can probably guess, the curved stand keeps your phone (or mp3 player) in place via the awesome power of suction. Miraculous!
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 Futurama: Volume 6 (Fox, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), featuring 13 brand new episodes, audio commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, and more.
A sequel was inevitable, so it should come as little surprise to you that Jack Black returns in Kung Fu Panda 2 (Dreamworks, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$49.99 SRP), which finds Po and the Furious Five up against an all new villain. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes, and more.
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 Meet Me In St. Louis (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP), which is absolutely stunning. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, an introduction from Liza Minnelli, the Lux Radio Theater broadcast, and a music-only track.
I didn’t know what to expect from the remake of Fright Night (Touchstone, Rated R, 3D Blu-Ray-$49.99 SRP), but I was pretty sure I would enjoy the performance of David Tennant as reluctant vampire hunter Peter Vincent. And you know what? I did enjoy his performance, and I enjoyed the movie as well, as perfect late-night weekend viewing, with plenty of dimensional scares to justify picking up the 3D version. Bonus materials include featurettes, outtakes, deleted scenes, and more.
There’s something about Velvet Goldmine (Lionsgate, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$19.99 SRP) that very much feels like a late-90’s indie film, which it is, and a fine one at that. If you’ve not seen it, it’s a fictionalized look at the personalities and excesses of the glam era – not to name names, of course – starring Ewan McGregor, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and Christian Bale. Bonus materials on this new Blu-Ray include an audio commentary and the theatrical trailer.
Shame it’s gone direct-to-DVD (not even Blu-Ray) here in the US, because Burke & Hare (IFC, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP) is a lovely little black comedy from director John Landis, starring Simon Pegg & Andy Serkis as the infamous pair who murdered to profit in the black market of medical cadavers in 19th century Edinburgh. Bonus materials include interviews, outtakes, and a featurette.
The main reason to check out Warrior (Lionsgate, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), about a haunted ex-Marine who attempts to pull the fragments of his life together and win an MMA tournament, is for the lead performance of Tom Hardy, who could make just about anything watchable. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel.
Now that we’ve moved beyond the still-wonderful episodes into the seasons I don’t really care about, the release of something like The Simpsons: The Fourteenth Season (Fox, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$59.99 SRP) don’t exactly have me excited. Still, even if the shows themselves are largely duds, there’s no denying that the team behind the show know how to load up a release, including entertaining audio commentaries on every episode, featurettes, deleted scenes, sketches, and more.
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 Archer: Season Two (Fox, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP). The 2-disc set sports all 13 episodes, plus featurettes.
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 Dolphin Tale (Warner Bros., Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP), which is all of those things. Bonus materials include featurettes, an additional scene, and a gag reel.
It didn’t arrive in time to mention it in the holiday shopping guide, but now that you’re burdened with all of that holiday cash, now’s the time to pick up the latest in Hot Toys’ line of stunningly-accurate Marvel 12″-scale figures from the fine folks at Sideshow Collectibles. The latest is Steve Rogers himself – Captain America ($169.99) – as played by Chris Evans in the recent feature. I’d hazard to say you never seen a scale outfit recreation as detailed, accurate, and impressive as this, as every little texture and stitch, buckle and belt is perfect. And you know you need him standing next to your Iron Man and Thor, as you march towards a full line of Avengers.
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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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 
Ignore all of the pale-wannabes and unfortunate attempts to adapt it for other markets, and stick with the original UK edition of Top Gear, hosted by the madman trinity of Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond. If you don’t like cars, don’t worry – I could care less about cars, but love this show something fierce, and it all comes down to the energy, likeability, and humor of the presenters. Don’t believe me? Check out the newly-released 
Tongs? Who wants use tongs when you’re cooking hot food! Heck, if you use tongs, you probably use oven mitts, too! Well, join the future and start on your journey to become more machine than man by getting a pair of 
Jumping ahead of about 7 unreleased seasons, Springfield’s first family celebrates two decades on the air with the release of 
I don’t know how much work he actually did on it besides lending it his name (or if he’s even read it), but 
If you’re not yet aware of the work being done by the fine folks at La-La Land Records, let this be your wake-up call. They’ve been quietly releasing a whole slew of limited edition, much-requested soundtracks to classic flicks, and the latest to get their treatment is 
I’m always game when someone shakes up the chat show format with a unique take – made all the better when it’s hosted by someone that you actually want to spend time with. Such is the case with Elvis Costello’s 
Combine an anniversary of an evergreen title with rather unfortunate recent events, and you get a 10th anniversary special edition of the Shakespeare in high school 
In the late 80’s when it made its debut, 
It’s often overlooked as the odd period between Cheers and his recent renaissance on Damages and Bored To Death, but 
From the editors of McSweeney’s comes 
You can feel the creak beginning to set in as we enter the 12th season of 
Bring the classic run of the series to a close before the lackluster post-movie, set-in-the-future episodes with the release of 
Don’t let the often cornball series keep you from seeing the original feature 
They’ve become cable classics over the years, despite their last-gasp, 80’s style over-the-top action cheese, but my do 
Lionsgate is releasing handful of their music & musician-centric feature films in a series their calling “Music Makers”, all of which come packed with a sampler CD featuring a track each from the musicians highlighted in the films (with an additional cut from Bobby Darin). The films in question are the Darin biopic 
Maybe it’s in films like 
I never really cottoned to the BBC’s recent slick & shiny take on 
Yeah, so, one of my absolute favorite Disney films I their live-action/animated hybrid musical 
This week’s Thinkgeek recommendation is a piece of cool kit that always seems to be out of stock. It’s just that popular. However long it lasts, it’s now back in stock, so run and pick up your very own 
Seeing as how my nephews are addicted to Nickelodeon (particularly the yellow crack that is Spongebob), it’s inevitable that I’d have to see the programming on offer. One of the shows that I actually enjoy quite a bit – and believe is just as well-scripted as the sitcoms on network TV, better even – is a favorite of my 5-year-old nephew, 
I can’t be the only one who was completely blindsided by the announcement that the 4th season of 
If you’ve ever watched the UK series Skins and thought to yourself “My teenage years were nothing like that sex party bacchanal,” then 
Well, now that we’ve reached the 12th season of 
It’s double-crosses, mysteries, and intrigue in 
Like most modern horror remakes, the new 
I know there are devotees who think it’s the second coming of Undeclared, but I have yet to find the appeal of 
So, in short, 
After an awkward, sometimes rudderless second season, things were largely back on track in the 3rd season of 
The second season of 
It’s not exactly intellectually stimulating, but using the beautiful high-definition of Blu-Ray to take aerial journeys around the world is certainly worth a look see to me, and that’s exactly what you get with both 
After her ridiculously self-confident appearance on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, I was at least curious about 
As much as I loved the first season of 
I’ve described in the past my utter delight in gadgets that magnify things – going all the way back to childhood – and the ultimate high-end version of that is the 
For criminy’s sake – it’s taken forever, but we in the US have FINALLY gotten a box set containing all of the various travel documentaries hosted by Python Michael Palin in the uber-wonderful 
I can’t even begin to express just how delighted I am with the 50th anniversary edition of Orson Welles’ classic venture into film noir, 
It’s hard to believe that we’re already up to the fourth volume of 
This makes the thirteenth or fourteenth time they’ve been released on DVD, but a trio of Alfred Hitchcock’s certifiable classics have been given remastered 2-disc special editions – 
Get all of your festive holiday specials with the 
Another of the classic – well, mostly classic – stop motion Rankin/Bass holiday specials makes its way to DVD with 
I can’t even begin to tell you how disappointed I am that – despite brilliant, newly remastered sound and picture – the new edition of Tim Burton’s 
Although the story is rather flat and doesn’t hold up to much scrutiny, 
It seems like there’s no end to the classic Doctor Who adventures still in the vaults, as we get not only a Tom Baker adventure with 
Of a more recent vintage, there’s the animated 
Although launched as a Doctor Who spin-off aimed at the teen market, I find 
As beautiful and memorable as it is, do not show 
Well, we’ve finally hit the wall. The eleventh season of 
Though I’m getting a bit tired of all of the South Park best-ofs that are coming down the pike, at least the 2-disc 
From years of watching it during my frequent Nick at Nite binges when the block first began all those years ago, I have the theme tune to 
There’s nothing like sparkling fresh Ray Harryhausen, and that’s exactly what you’ll see with the new 50th anniversary edition of 
Fill up your pre-Halloween viewing with the new Blu-Ray edition of 
Peyo’s little blue mushroom-dwelling creations are back in 
Not only does 
There have been dozens of releases featuring the numerous episodes that have moved into the public domain, but Paramount has finally put out the official second season set of 
Certainly on the “to give to my nephews” list this holiday season is 
Even over 20 years later, there’s no denying that Kathleen Turner’s performance in 
Most don’t think of the man in black when they think of the holiday season, but the 
Set in 1945 on a navy cargo ship far from battles in the Pacific theater, 
You know when a band puts out a lackluster EP of material that’s been sitting around, as a stop-gap instead of releasing a new album? That’s exactly what Michael Moore’s 
Has it really been that long since the last 
The ragtag band of global crimefighters led by Jim Phelps returns in the complete fifth season of 
A must-have from the vaults, be sure to pick up and give a spin to the 1945 adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s 
Even the kiddies with their eyes normally glued to Nickelodeon can begin celebrating the holidays with 
I must admit, I was surprised that 
The only reaction that I got from M. Night Shyamalan’s