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 Captain America: Civil War is bring up theaters (and burning out the awful memories of Batman vs. Superman, the fine folks at Hot Toys are still releasing figures from the last major outing of Earth’s mightiest heroes, Avengers 2: Age Of Ultron Making their debut in that film (and returning in Civil War), you can now get the Age Of Ultron 1/6-scale The Vision (Sideshow, $219.99) & Wanda Maximoff, aka Scarlet Witch (Sideshow, $229.99). We’ve come to expect miracles on these figures, and neither of these disappoint, as the likenesses and costuming are spot-on. And even though he didn’t make it out of Age Of Ultron alive, you’ll also want to make sure you complete your set of Maximoff twins with Pietro himself, Quicksilver (Sideshow, $209.99). Really, there’s something wonderfully precious about a figure wearing a perfect set of 1/6-scale running shoes. Truly, we live in an age of miracles.
A half-century ago, film legend Vincent Price and his wife Mary released what they termed A Treasury Of Great Recipes (Calla Editions, $50 SRP) which, in what may very well be the first celebrity cookbook, collected together recipes gathered from the couple’s globetrotting. From European cuisine to American hot dogs, the recipes run the gamut of tastes, all presented with introductory context of their travels. This new 50th anniversary edition features a retrospective preface from Vincent Price and a brand new foreword from Wolfgang Puck.
It’s brilliant that Abrams is genuinely committed to seeing that all 3 films will eventually get a book celebrating the iconic trading cards of our youth, as evidenced by the release of their second Star Wars volume, The Empire Strikes Back: The Original Topps Trading Card Series (Abrams Comicarts, $24.95 SRP), which reproduces all of the images, and also includes a clutch of brand new cards exclusive to the book.
I dearly miss the Batman: The Animated Series maquette series that the Warner Bros. Store released years and years ago. But thankfully, that fine tradition has been carried on by Diamond Select with their stellar Mad Love Harley Quinn Resin Statue (Diamond Select, $150), which fits into that classic scale and perfectly captures Bruce Timm’s artwork from that Paul Dini/Bruce Timm masterpiece. And do yourself a favor and also keep an eye on their Batman: TAS bust releases, including their Almost Got ‘im Harley Quinn and Laughing Fish Joker (Diamond Select, $60 each). More!
While it’s a bit of cognitive dissonance to see Jennifer Lawrence playing a middle-aged woman, she’s just such an ace performer that she carries Joy (Fox, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) on her shoulders, as the titular real-life creator of the Miracle Mop, Joy Mangano, who faces nearly-insurmountable obstacles before establishing her personal and professional legacy. Bonus materials include a pair of featurettes and a gallery.
As a prelude to giving her the legendary variety show that would cement her place in comedy history, CBS gave Carol Burnett a prime time special in 1966. Now you can watch the Carol +2: The Original Queens Of Comedy (Time Life, Not Rated, DVD-$12.95 SRP) special, in which Carol reached out and secured an equal legendary guest star in Lucille Ball. Also included on the disc is the 1972 television movie version of Once Upon A Mattress, in which Carol reprised her original Broadway role, and a Burnett-introduced sketch from the 1963 special Carol & Company featuring the 1st appearance of her “charwoman” character.
The thing that I love most about Thinkgeek is that so many of the products that they develop in-house fall into the category of “Well, that’s pretty nifty and I think I want one”. Case in point? Their Star Wars Death Star Waffle Maker (Thinkgeek, $39.99). It’s exactly what it says it is – a waffle maker that makes Death Star waffles. Because who doesn’t love waffles? Thinkgeek knows you do. And they love you.
Roger Corman’s low-budget cult classic ghost story The Terror (Film Detective, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$14.99 SRP) benefits from stars Boris Karloff and Jack Nicholson, plus five uncredited directors, including Francis Coppola and Nicholson himself. It also benefits from a brand new high definition restoration.
It’s been 30 years since Maverick took the highway to the danger zone, so that means it’s the perfect time to release a brand new 30th anniversary edition of Top Gun (Paramount, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$22.98 SRP), the film that launched Tom Cruise into the stratosphere. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, multi-angle storyboards with optional commentary, music videos, TV spots, and interviews.
Spanning two decades of travels and containing a trio of specials, Bob Hope: Entertaining The Troops (Time Life, Not Rated, DVD-$12.95 SRP) find the legendary comic traveling the globe and bringing his show packed with comedy and special guests to servicemen.
It’s been quite a few years since Michael Moore’s last documentary, but his latest, Where To Invade Next (Anchor Bay, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP) is one of his most positive, as it takes a tongue-in-cheek but sincere look around the world for how other countries have tackled some of America’s greatest problem and could help re-inspire the American dream.
The co-creator of Supergirl, Brainiac, and The Legion Of Super-Heroes, Al Plastino was a golden age artist who worked on characters including Superman, Nancy, Joe Palooka, and Batman, and is now the subject of the illustrated biography Al Plastino: Last Superman Standing (Twomorrows, $17.95 SRP). Packed with art, author Eddy Zeno’s tome is a fine celebration of a great artist.
Cut off from the world, the stranded residents of Haven (E1, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$49.98 SRP) face challenges across time and space as a cataclysm looms in the show’s final season. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, featurettes, interviews, and more.
It’s a fair trick for a comedian to be able to bring his well-established stage persona to a sitcom and be able to build a viable show around it, but Jim Gaffigan manages to pull it off with the affable first season of The Jim Gaffigan Show (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$26.98 SRP).
One of the greatest Blaxploitation films of all time gets a truly wonderful high definition restoration with the release of Dolemite (Vinegar Syndrome, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.98 SRP), which has been mastered in 2k from a newly-discovered 35mm print. Bonus features include an audio commentary, a making-of documentary, featurettes, and more.
The Criterion high definition mastering for David Lean’s powerfully moving adaptation of Noel Coward’s play about doomed romance, Brief Encounter (Criterion, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.95 SRP) is as beautiful to behold as it is to experience again. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, documentaries, an interview with Coward scholar Barry Day, and a trailer.
Betty White, Wendie Malick, Jane Leaves, & Valerie Bertinelli return for the 6th and final season of TV Land’s surprise hit Hot In Cleveland (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP), featuring an impressive roster of guest stars including Craig Ferguson, Bob Newhart, Carol Burnett, Robert Wagner, and Huey Lewis.
Dakota Johnson doesn’t deserve the awfulness of 50 Shades Of Grey. If you’d like a much better vehicle for a charming actor, check out How To Be Single (Warner Bros., Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.98 SRP), which teams her up with Rebel Wilson, Alison Brie, and Leslie Mann in a comedy about lonely hearts in New York City. Bonus materials include featurettes, deleted scenes, and outtakes.
In order to prevent the destruction of the Earth, our heroes on the half shell journey into the farthest reaches of space in the 12 episodes found on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Beyond The Known Universe (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP). And best of all? Their guide is a robot voiced by The 10th Doctor himself, David Tennant. Oh, and we also get a full-fledged crossover with the old school animated turtles. Pretty nifty.
Mash up Sons of Anarchy and Deliverance and you pretty much have the show Outsiders (Sony, Not Rated, DVD-$45.99 SRP), about an isolated clan in the mountains of Kentucky that live an insular, pagan lifestyle that becomes threatened by the outside world. Bonus materials include deleted scenes and featurettes.
If you’ve ever wondered about the ludicrously complex mechanisms that control how we remember, dive into the Nova special Memory Hackers (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP), in which neuroscientists attempt to determine the mechanisms that make it all work.
Olive Films continues to drop “thank goodness someone finally released them” catalogue titles in HD, with this month’s pair being Russell Crowe in The Sum Of Us (Olive, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP) and John Lithgow in the Robert Altman-produced Rich Kids (Olive Films, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP).
Your toddler picks for this week are a pair of new Nickelodeon releases – Bubble Guppies: Fun On The Farm (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP) and preschool education friendly Let’s Learn STEM: Volume 2 (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), containing episodes from Team Umizoomi, Blaze And The Monster Machines, PAW Patrol, and Dora And Friends.
Those catalogue mavens at Mill Creek have mined the vaults for another batch of reasonably-priced releases, including complete series sets of the shows Dog House (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$9.98 SRP), and 10 Items Or Less (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), the multi-film Hammer Films Collection (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$8.99 SRP) & The Randolph Scott Round-up (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), and Doomsday (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), which collects a trio of apocalyptic miniseries (Blackout, Meteor, Pandemic).
It’s no Pixar production, but there’s more plenty of charm in Norm Of The North (Lionsgate, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$34.99 SRP), an animated feature about a polar bear who heads to New York City in order to save his arctic home. Bonus materials include featurettes, and deleted scenes.
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 a true loss that Nat Hiken’s 
Even if you’re not steampunky, it’s hard to resist the charm of the positively beautiful 
I would say that 
The best way to describe the brilliant new stand-up special from the brilliant Paul F. Tompkins is that it’s an oral history of the career of comedian Paul F. Tompkins. Suffice to say, you would regret it for the rest of your days if you do not purchase 
The dandy scribe behind Downton Abbey, Julian Fellowes, explores another slice of class warfare – this time historic – with the 4-part miniseries 
Have a little Jackie Gleason-thon in high definition this weekend with the Blu-Ray arrival of the guilty pleasure comedy 
Fox has released another of their star-specific DVD collections, this time bringing together 10 films for the 
The fine folks at Mill Creek continue to re-release seasons of a handful of TV classics for staggeringly rock-bottom prices you’d be foolish not to take advantage of. Included this time around are 
A movie lover who devoured old films, my grandmother would have loved if I had gifted her the dirt cheap, 12-disc genre sets Mill Creek has been releasing, mainly because each of those 12-disc sets – flicks of the 1950’s in 
I didn’t think Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of the tale about a WWI cavalry 
What a brilliant geek alchemy the fine folks at LEGO unleash every time they release another their vehicle sets based on the classic Star Wars films, and all of the buttons are duly pushed with their new 
One of the biggest surprises of last year was Chris Elliott’s triumphant return to television with the Adult Swim take on Walker, Texas Ranger, 
It doesn’t really address some of the stories I’ve heard about how ambitious he was in his rise to the top of the Sesame Street food chain, but 
Short-lived and forgotten, who couldn’t love Bob Newhart as a superhero comic artist in the sitcom 
It’s always a delight when a classic piece of cinema makes its way to high definition, and so we have Roman Polanski & Robert Towne’s still brilliant 
Very few sitcoms have gotten the high definition treatment, and particularly not one that goes back over 10 years, but 
Shout Factory continues their noble mission of re-releasing Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes that have gone out of print with a pair of returns – 
Cartoon Network’s decidedly indie kiddie cartoon gets it’s first DVD release with 
When he puts his mind to it, Cameron Crowe certainly knows how to make an affable – overly-so – film, and that’s exactly what he does with 
As much as I thought Torchwood was a misguided, often frustrating, and even more often boring series (and regrettable spin-off from Doctor Who), it wasn’t until the recent 
Wil Wheaton fans eager to complete their collections of his cinematic output will want to thank MGM’s MOD Limited Edition Collection for the release of 
Watch as a franchise already on thin ice gets in trouble in the tropics with 
They rebuilt him… Better… Stronger… Faster… And now, after an interminably long wait, 
As a child in the early 80’s I remember the magical joy of coloring pieces of thin plastic that, when cut out and put in the oven, would shrink and thicken into tiny little 2-D plastic figurines. Yes, I’m speaking of 
In the mid-60’s, a trio of producers named Bob Rafelson, Bert Schneider, and Steve Blauner stepped from the surging counterculture and into the mainstream conservative milieu of Hollywood and crafted a definitive TV property with the manufactured pop band/TV show The Monkees. Seeking to move into films, they developed a decidedly unorthodox film for The Monkees written by good friend and Corman regular Jack Nicholson. After it bombed miserably, they hit paydirt with an era-defining film – Easy Rider. High definition version of both those films – plus the rest of their output (Five Easy Pieces, Drive, He Said, A Safe Place, The Last Picture Show, & The King Of Marvin Gardens) – in the box set 
For decades, Fritz Lang’s silent masterpiece – a visual and conceptual feast that his inspired scores of filmmakers – has been a fractured film, with whole chunks of footage and sequences that were in the debut cut deemed lost forever. Well, never say never, as recent discoveries have allowed the fine folks at Kino to assemble the complete 
Earlier this year, Kino also began releasing its extensive Buster Keaton collection in high definition, with the result being a trio of must-have releases for any aficionado of cinematic comedy – 
When HBO’s brilliantly dark western Deadwood began its first season, the time period within the series was only a few weeks following the massacre of Custer’s troops in 1876. Into the lawless South Dakotan town rode two men – one a bitter ex-lawman, and the other a man looking to start a new life – and both ran afoul of the local heavy who owns half the town. What followed was an epic drama of operatic heights, and one you can watch in its entirety in high definition with 
Your perennial holiday viewing just got a high definition upgrade with the Blu-Ray release of 
Killing time between now and when the globe-trotting Cars 2 comes out next summer? Well, you can dip into brand new adventures featuring everyone’s favorite hillbilly tow truck in 
The complete runs of both the classic Batman and Superman animated series have already made their debut as box sets, as well as Justice League, so the last to get the treatment arrives with 
It’s not really a brilliant series, but Gerry Anderson’s 
It’s certainly not as well-known or well-loved as shows like Space: 1999 or Thunderbirds, but completionists are sure to rejoice at the arrival of Gerry Anderson’s 
As the little Fockers will be making their way to the big screen shortly, it makes sense that Blu-Rays of 
We’re now into the second season, and I’ve pretty much written off 
Most people think of Romeo + Juliet or Moulin Rouge when they think of Baz Luhrmann and over look the dance-happy 
It’s been a long string of single-disc releases leading up to the release of 
Beginning after his emigration to the Big Apple in 1971, 
The Warner Archive has decided to celebrate the holidays be bringing together the holiday episodes of everything from The Courtship Of Eddie’s Father and Alice to Mama’s Family and Dr. Kildare in the 
The Warner Archive Collection continues to release titles no sane fan would ever think they’d eventually get their hands on, and I’d say the complete animated spin-off of The Dukes Of Hazzard – 
In an attempt to further turn themselves into Spike, the History Channel’s 
I’ve become less and less interested in seeing Tom Cruise on screen in recent years, and was hoping that the True Lies-esque bit of a blast thrill ride 
After Santa and his canine BFF travel to New York and the big man loses his memory, it’s up to the doggie to make sure Christmas is achieved in the saccharine sweet 
You know how long it’s been since 
For every surprisingly enjoyable bad idea like Pirates of the Caribbean comes a misfire dud like 
Real-life lovers Drew Barrymore and Justin Long have gone down the path of many actor couples by immortalizing their relationship as an onscreen duo, with their particular vehicle being 
Rob Reiner shoots straight down the middle with his amiable adaptation of young love novel 
It’s no Ben 10, but Cartoon Network’s 
Part of me cringes to say this, but I’ve begun to think that YouTube sensation Fred Figglehorn is this young generation’s Pee Wee Herman, particularly after seeing the feature-length 
As always, it’s rather pointless to criticize the Twilight movies, as the rabid, massive audience care’s not what anyone has to say about their beloved pap-fest, and the same rule applies to 
Remember those deluxe, ultra-desirable, completely definitive Twilight Zone DVD releases from a few years back? Well, turns out they weren’t nearly as definitive as we thought, because Rod Serling’s classic series arrives in high definition with a ridiculously heightened amount of bonus features. In addition to all 36 episodes plus all of the original bonus content of the old sets, 
There are some things that are instant triggers for geeks to rip out their wallets and plunk down the cash necessary to own. It’s safe to say that the newly released 
Another landmark cinema classic makes its way into high definition with the arrival of Milos Forman’s iconic 
After running under the radar for its first two years, it was during the 3rd season of 
It’s not quite the old Criterion Blu-Ray release, but Lionsgate has done a fine job assembling their own high definition special edition of Carol Reed’s classic 
It’s a hoary metaphor to compare the analysis of comedy to the dissection of a frog, but I’d like you to ignore that metaphor (which I won’t even bother to complete) and recommend you read Stewart Lee’s brilliant 
It’s certainly not the Blu-Ray restoration I would have hoped for, but seeing as how it still retains its red-headed step child status within the Disney catalogue, I suppose I should be happy that the 25th anniversary re-release of 
Did you know that a feature film version of 
It’s decidedly diminishing returns as you go along until the most recent flick pulls things out of the cess pit they’d gotten into, but at least the high definition presentation of all 6 films in 
If you’re looking for a sprawling, one-stop primer on the history of the United States, look no further than The History Channel’s 
I always thought it was a beautifully designed and executed show, so to be able to peruse those designs via the handsome 
Explore the majestic 
School is back in session, so hunker down with the release of a trio of classic film adaptations of literary masterpieces – John Steinbeck’s 
Long derided as one of the most z-grade laughable of the many Star Wars rip-offs that littered cinemas in the late 70’s, Roger Corman’s Italian-produced mess 
I still, to this day – despite friends who have fallen fully under its sway – remain unmoved by 
Everyone’s favorite sponge drops a greatest hits disc featuring… Well, the title pretty much sums it up – 
I love Patrick Warburton and I generally like sitcom-based David Spade, and I really have tried to like 
It’s not the recent lackluster live action fare, so fans of the Mystery Inc. gang will probably like the new feature-length animated movie 
It’s not the Kevin McCarthy original, but the remake of 
I think 
The original cast is gone, but the 3rd season of 
They’ve come out in about a half-dozen different iterations over the years, but the latest batch of Saturday Night Live best-of releases adds over 20 minutes of additional sketches and outtakes, with the latest to get the treatment being 
I’m as surprised as anyone that 
Speaking of stillborn, that’s the best way to describe the still pointless 
Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, John Romita, Curt Swan, Fred Hembeck… Yes, Fred Hembeck. Destroyer of universes, gentle mocker, ooner of lamps, and master of four-color mirth, our very own Fred Hembeck has been honored with 
Although my interest was certainly piqued, I in no way expected to be as swept up as I became in HBO’s miniseries on the political life of our 2nd president, 
Going in, I had my reservations about 
As far as classic seasons go, I’d have to include the 4th season of 
I’ll never escape a jungle prison with nothing more than bubblegum and a fire ant, but I admit to feeling just a little bit MacGyver-ish when wielding the 
Not realizing just want kind of legs the series would wind up having, Fox originally released the first season of 24 as a borderline bare-bones DVD set. Eager to rectify that mistake (and get fans to purchase a second version), we’ve now got 
Rest assured that not only is Steve McGarrett back in the fourth season of 
After losing themselves in the wilderness of HD-DVD for a year, Paramount has come in from the cold with a full embrace of the high-def victor, Blu-Ray, with a clutch of releases to get up to speed. They all sport the same bonus features as the standard definition discs (save for Bee Movie, which does have some exclusive materials), but fancy-pants cinephiles can now pick up 
There’s always something mildly off-putting about reunion movies featuring the aged cast of beloved TV shows. Maybe that’s because they’re usually frozen in our memories looking and acting like they did when we last saw them, regardless of how time has since treated the actors. Such is the case with the pair of flicks contained on the 
If you made up the story of Raymond Burr’s life, you would call it a an outrageous soap opera fabrication – but the truth is just as outrageous as fiction, as you’ll discover in the biography 
Since everyone and their brother seems to be releasing westerns from their catalogues these past few months, it makes sense that Lionsgate would want to revisit 
I think I’m going to coin a new term for 
If you never got around to picking up either 
Not one, but two more actresses get the featured collection treatment – Sophia Loren and Catherine Deneuve. The 
The one-armed man is still on the loose in the first volume of 
When a TV show is successful, there’s always the a certain amount of curiosity as to whether the characters would transfer to the big screen. Sadly, Don Adams’s Maxwell Smart did not do too well in the transition, which meant the sublime genius that was Get Smart became the tepid disappointment of 
It’s a bit of a grab bag, but 
All good things must come to an end, and so must things that lived a few years beyond their shelf life – the eighth and final season of 
Having long ago given up on watching it since being disappointed when after its first few outings on Adult Swim and the first season DVD, I was curious to see if my opinion would be changed by the second season of 