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…)
Strike that godawful Fantastic Four film from your mind with a piece from the brill folks at Sideshow, who have managed to capture perfectly the might and majesty of the one true ruler of Latveria with their Doctor Doom Premium Format Figure ($389.99). This 1/4-scale mixed media monarch stands atop his high-tech battlements, surveying lording over his domain. Thankfully, this piece captures the classic styling of Doom, right down to his sidearm, and features a fully-poseable cape and hood (wire-lined) so you can adjust for your desired dynamic look. And, for the true comic book nerds, the exclusive contains a swappable head featuring his old-school facemask design.
Wow. The Complete Peanuts: 1997 to 1998 (Fantagraphics, $29.99 SRP) represents the 24th, and penultimate, volume collecting the entire 50-year run of Charles Schulz’s brilliant comic strip. No longer groundbreaking, by this point the strip was a warm blanket, comfortable in its humor and still very much able to bring a smile and a laugh. This volume also sports an introduction by Paul Feig, producer of the new Peanuts Movie.
While I’m still wary, I admit that my position on the upcoming Peanuts movie has softened considerably, to the point that I’m now actually looking forward to seeing it. A large part of the impetus for that change of heart can be found in the pages of The Art & Making Of The Peanuts Movie (Titan Books, $34.95 SRP), which does an excellent job of detailing just how much reverence the filmmakers had for adapting Charles Schulz’s style and tone.
The folks controlling the mighty Carson archive have dipped back into the vaults for the next batch of The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson: Featured Guest Series (Carson Entertainment, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP each), each volume of which devotes an entire disc just to episodes featuring a specific luminary. The second three volumes in the series spotlight Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld, and Burt Reynolds. These releases include the full, uncut shows, along with commercials. They continue to be truly wonderful time capsules. And once again, I repeat my request – Can we please, please, PLEASE get a Jim Henson-centric volume? PLEASE?
It’s been a crime of Biffian proportions that we’ve been without a proper book celebrating the making of the Back To The Future Trilogy, but now we’ve been gifted with two must-have volumes. First is the unauthorized, wholly candid We Don’t Need Roads, and the second is the officially sanctioned Back To The Future: The Ultimate Visual Guide (HarperDesign, $50 SRP), which is one of those keen making-of books that also incorporates reproductions of props and ephemera from the film, from the “Save The Clock Tower” flyer to the letter Marty wrote Doc Brown to warn him about the Libyans.
I think we’re all in agreement that NERF has pretty much gotten their whole NERF dart thing pretty well sorted when it comes to their various NERF guns. So how do they put a new variation on their delivery system? Howzabout a slingshot? With a pullstring release, the single-fire Nerf N-Strike Elite SlingStrike Slingshot (NERF, $10.99 SRP) is a pretty fun piece of kit. While it certainly isn’t a rapid-fire weapon, it has remarkable range and accuracy.
The key to measurement is accuracy, so the eTape16 (Thinkgeek, $34.99) is just what the anal-retentive DIY nerd ordered, because it makes accuracy easy. Accurate to 1/16″, or 1mm, it’s one of those great gadgets you’d never thought you’d need until you use it for the first time and can’t imagine what you’d do without it. Probably just sit in a sad stupor, probably.
It’s raining Rickles, as Time Life has gone and delivered The Ultimate Don Rickles Box Set (Time Life, Not Rated, DVD-$49.99 SRP), featuring both volumes of The Don Rickles TV Specials and the complete two-season run of his 70s sitcom CPO Sharkey. Bonus materials include new introductions, outtakes, rarities, and more.
Featuring all 107 episodes completely unedited, My Favorite Martian: The Complete Series (MPI, Not Rated, DVD-$99.98 SRP) is exactly the kind of high-concept, loveably goofball show that somehow made it on to the small screen in the 60s, whose appeal lies squarely on the shoulders of the endearing chemistry of Bill Bixby and Ray Walston, as his Martian “uncle” Martin. Bonus materials include home movies, cast commercials, interviews, animation & effects reels, pilots, and more.
Based on the WWI memoir of Vera Brittain and starring Alicia Vikander and Kit Harrington, Testament Of Youth (Sony, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$34.99 SRP) paints a portrait of that conflict from a unique perspective not often seen in accounts of that period, namely a female perspective. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, and a featurette.
Have you ever wanted to see the three films of the original trilogy summed up in a dozen words with a dozen vignettes, all constructed out of felt? OF COURSE YOU DO. And that’s just what Star Wars: Epic Yarns delivers in the most delightful way in its trio of books, for A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return Of The Jedi (Chronicle Books, $9.95 SRP each).
And if that weren’t enough unbelievably cute Star Wars for you, then there’s also the special edition boxed release of Jeffrey’s Brown’s Darth Vader and Son & Vader’s Little Princess (Chronicle Books, $35 SRP), which also contains a pair of exclusive art prints.
You know, if it weren’t for Adam Sandler’s half-hearted performance, Pixels (Sony, Rated PG-13, 3D Blu-Ray-$45.99 SRP) would probably have been a big, goofy, totally fun popcorn flick. However, with Sandler barely managing to show up, any scene he’s in sucks the life from this high concept film about aliens attacking earth while in the form of old school video game characters. But Peter Dinklage is great. And the effects do look spiffy in 3D. Bonus materials include featurettes and a music video.
Combining comedy, drama, short films, commentary, music, animation, and a highbrow sensibility, PBS’s Great American Dream Machine (S’More, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) was experimental television both ahead-of-its-time and yet could never be done today. See for yourself, with this release of over 12 hours of material from its 1971-1973 run, with pieces from Charles Grodin, Chevy Chase, Kurt Vonegut, Albert Brooks, Martin Mull, Henry Winkler, Andy Rooney, and many more.
Few shows in recent memory have been as visually and artistically creative as Pen Wards Adventure Time, so it’s only right that fans can snag Adventure Time: The Original Cartoon Title Cards Volume 2 (Titan Books, $19.95 SRP), which collects together the memorable title card artwork featured at the front of every episode in seasons 3 & 4.
And speaking of the current renaissance on Cartoon Network, you should also definitely pick up The Art Of Regular Show (Titan Books, $29.95 SRP), which is jam-packed with designs, sketches, backgrounds, and more from Shannon O’Leary’s oddball series.
When a trained military dog is sent from Afghanistan to the U.S. and the family of his killed-in-action handler, the titular canine, Max (Warner Bros., Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP) forms a bond with his handler’s younger brother. And then they solve a mystery. Really. It’s like an old-school live action Disney film. Bonus materials include a pair of featurettes.
As his latest big screen adventure hits and the current actor portraying him has voiced his desire to move on, now’s the prefect time for Bond Vs. Bond: The Many Faces Of 007 (RacePoint, $28.00 SRP), author Paul Simpson’s unofficial guide to the actors who have played Britain’s number one spy, and their interpretations of the character, through the years.
Time and distance have done little to make 1999’s television fantasy miniseries event The 10th Kingdom (Mill Creek, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.98 SRP) any less of an odd duck, as the technology simply wasn’t there at the time to do such an ambitious fairy tale of magical lands meeting our world. Finally having it presented in high definition widescreen improves the experience, though. And it does have John Larroquette. And John Larroquette makes everything better. Bonus materials include a making-of featurette and an isolated score track.
I find her music disarmingly infectious and her live shows ridiculously energetic, and that’s all on display in her massive arena shows, captured on Katy Perry: The Prismatic Tour (Eagle Vision, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$19.98 SRP), which also contains bonus behind-the-scenes featurettes.
We’ll probably never get a Pirates Of The Caribbean TV series, so the closest we’ll come is the pirates a-plenty series Black Sails (Anchor Bay, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$59.99 SRP), whose second series arrives with a chest of featurettes.
Because the success of The Fault In Our Stars means that every thing that author John Green wrote will get a green light, his Paper Towns (Fox, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) arrives, starring Nat Wolff and Cara Delevingne as a pair of childhood neighbors whose burgeoning romance leads to an unexpected cross-country mystery that proves something or another in an utterly charming way. Bonus materials include deleted scenes, featurettes, and a gag reel.
If you’d expect George Miller’s visually memorable Mad Max: Fury Road to have an equally eye-popping book packed with the film’s visual development artwork, your expectations would be met with The Art Of Mad Max: Fury Road (Titan Books, $39.95 SRP).
While the film may have been DOA at the box office, there’s no denying that there’s enough Guillermo del Toro visual flair and attention to detail there to justify Crimson Peak: The Art Of Darkness (Insight Editions, $50 SRP), a full-on making-of book featuring loads of artwork and tons of interviews with everyone involved in the production.
From their turn-of-the-20th century rise in power to their height of control in the 50s, The Making Of The Mob (Anchor Bay, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$49.99 SRP) charts the history of organized crime in the Big Apple, using archive footage, interviews, dramatic re-creations, and visual effects. Bonus materials include additional scenes and featurettes.
In 1946, Salvador Dali and Walt Disney began collaborating on an animated film. Postwar difficulties at the Disney studio eventually derailed the project and it was shelved, but it was revived decades later by Walt’s nephew Roy. The story of its origins, development, and revival are detailed in Dali And Disney: Destino (Disney Editions, $40 SRP), a lavish book filled with Dali’s production paintings, development artwork for the film, and more.
A streamlined relaunch of the venerable franchise, Transformers: Robots In Disguise – A New Autobot Mission (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$14.43 SRP) features the first 5 episodes of Bumblebee leading a team of Autobots tasked with rounding up Decpticons let loose on earth after the crash of their prison ship. The disc also contains a bonus behind-the-scenes featurette.
Frank Zappa was bizarre. His music was bizarre. But both were eminently compelling. See for yourself in the newly-recovered Roxy: The Movie (Eagle Vision, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$25.98 SRP), a document of 4 shows Zappa gave in 1973 which was thought lost to the ages due to massive technical problems with the sound, but now miraculously restored for your enjoyment.
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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Beyond the broad strokes, the man that was Abraham Lincoln has largely been replaced by the myth, which has overshadowed the nuts and bolts politicking needed to govern during a time of immense turmoil. The human accomplishment is fully illuminated by Steven Spielberg’s most engaging film in years, as Daniel Day-Lewis brings 
In an age where the original Star Wars and Raiders Of The Lost Ark can look like brand new films, it’s odd to see just how much grain is present in the high definition release of 
There probably hasn’t been enough time to put the events in their proper context, but there’s no denying the power behind the methodology presented in the hunt for the world’s most wanted man in 
By today’s standards, 
It’s always wonderful to see classic noir films hit Blu-Ray, as the high definition really drives home the beautiful cinematography to be found in many, and that includes the new edition of Elia Kazan’s harrowing 
While not as sparklingly brilliant as Armando Iannucci’s The Thick Of It, his team’s take on the US political machine, 
Very few things in life are completely dependable, but danged if Shout Factory hasn’t proven just that with their continued (and regular) releases of the original riff-fest via 
Looking to increase your knowledge about a given pop culture topic? Then you’ll probably want to snap up a trio of titles newly releases by Applause books which provide a myriad of answers to frequently asked (and even infrequently asked) pop culture topics. First out of the gate in what I can only hope is an ongoing series are the 
It’s hard to top the 2003 editions of his films, but Criterion has been doing just that with another film from the Charlie Chaplin library, the latest being his controversial black comedy 
If you’ve yet to experience the quirky joy of the cases of country solicitor Peter Kingdom (Stephen Fry), rectify that oversight with the complete collection of 
Beloved and much-missed, the late legend Levon Helm was remembered with the appropriately powerful 
Howzabout a bit of a UK TV-on-DVD round-up for all of you Anglophiles out there? What’s odd is that our first UK release is actually the American version of a UK show, which makes its home video debut in the UK – MTV’s remake of 
Lego irreverence returns to a galaxy far, far away with 
The cases of Detective Chief Inspector Christopher Foyle make their way to DVD in 
The fundamental problem with 
The problem with 
The fine folks at Mill Creek continue to release a broad mix of titles and beyond reasonable prices, with new releases including TV titles like 
If for no other reason, watch the second season of 
Sure, it came in the wake of Pokemon madness, but every children’s series has a fanbase, and that includes one that will be thoroughly excited by the release of 
Based on the novels by Kerry Greenwood about a thoroughly modern Melbourne woman in the 1920’s who happens to be a lady detective, 
For your modern TV choices this week, how about the complete first season of 
Alan Silvestri supplied some of the most memorable scores of the 80’s – including those for the Back To The Future films – and he returns to score Dreamworks Animation’s new animation hit 
And speaking of soundtracks, this week’s soundtrack round-up includes Alex Heffes’ score for 
I’ve known of Russell Brand – his stand-up and celebrity in the UK – for years, so it was with great delight that I greeted his first US stand-up special, which is now available on DVD in an expanded form. 
As someone who’s stressed himself inordinately trying to reach around corners and through tiny crevices to get to unreachable screws – wither putting them in or taking them out – the 
While Cars, Ratatouille, and Wall-E have all been available on Blu-Ray, 
For all of the drama that surrounded its filming and reception, 
Oh, 
Another pair of classic Bond flicks make their way into spiffy high-definition with the release of both the Moore-era 
Paramount’s prestige Centennial Collection continues with another pair of 2-disc, fully restored special editions – 
Warner Bros. has an immense catalogue of titles. Thousands and thousands of them. And even with their aggressive DVD release schedule, there’s no way they can get to all of them – and, economically, some of the titles have such a small appeal that it’s just not viable to do a wide release on them. Those who thought their chances of picking up some of those obscure titles were nil can rejoice in the continuation of Warner’s Archive Collection – www.warnerarchive.com. Essentially, it’s DVDs on demand, allowing you to purchase either a physical DVD-R copy (for a flat $19.95) or an instantly downloadable digital copy (for $14.95) of an ever-increasingly library of titles from the Warner vaults. I’ve had a chance to look at a pair of new additions – Sidney Lumet’s 
You know how, every once in awhile, you want a simple comedy whose only goal is to give you a chuckle and a smile? 
Paramount kicks out another clutch of brand-new-to-Blu-Ray catalogue titles, leaving other studios in the dust after a slow start (backing HD-DVD). With some very nice high definition transfers and bonus features identical to their standard edition cousins, the new titles are 
Neither rain, nor sleet, nor diversions ordered by a court of law would keep Jack Bauer from eventually getting 
A legendary album gets a fantastic live performance in 
Fox has dropped a pair of catalogue transfers to high definition, bringing both 
Almost 300 years after his reign of terror ended with his capture and beheading, a group of marine archeologists have recovered the remains of Blackbeard’s flagship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge, in 
Ridiculously over-the-top, 
I don’t know about you, but any movie with a title like 
Anyone familiar with Mystery Science Theater 3000 will remember with glee the cringe-inducing Hercules Against The Moon Men. Well, now you can get that flick – plus 4 other muscle-y kitsch classics – in the 
Schwarzenegger fans hoping to pass the weekend on the cheap should pick up the 
I’m sure the makers of 
If Twilight seemed too tween for you and the Buffyverse was too nerd – and you like your soap drama – then HBO’s 
It’s difficult to sell the 3-D gimmick with the limitations of home theaters, when you’re stuck using rinky-dink red-green glasses. That’s what makes seeing 
A fair share of the comedy is familiar to anyone who’s seen his three UK stand-up DVDs – Animals, Politics, & Fame – but 
I’m a sucker for anything with the word “magic” in the product description, and I have to admit that the 
Since they started coming out on Blu-Ray last year, I’ve been patiently awaiting the high definition arrival of my favorite Bond flick, and it’s finally come with the 
Watching 
The second season of 
Although the laughs sometimes get a bit sparse, I always enjoy a comedian like Jim Gaffigan – who exists in a world all his own, and takes the audience down to his own speed. You can see what I mean in the document of his 2008 tour, 
Ever since descending into a bizarre pit of arch-conservatism, it’s been difficult to remember that Dennis Miller was once quite a funny comedian. If you’re having trouble remembering, too, pick up a copy of 
Say what you will about the quality of the films themselves, eye candy like 
As rom coms though, 
I don’t know if it’s all of the Scientology gobbledygook swishing around in his brain, but Will Smith has been off his game for a few movies now. A once-surefire sign of at least a good watch, Smith is now starring in middling, pretentious, often baffling fare like 
It’s pithy and disposable, and now 
Disney has released a pair of new discs for kids, the first of which is 
It’s not only the picture frame that’s expanded in the third season of 
OK, there is something blatantly geeky about keeping your change in a bank that’s also an exact replica of the 
Much like Freaks & Geeks and Arrested Development before it, another brilliant but short-lived series comes to DVD, where it will hopefully be discovered by those who didn’t get to experience it during its first go-round. So what series am I celebrating this time? 
For years now, I’ve been reiterating that you should buy, post-haste, the comedic sci-fi novels of Simpsons writer John Swartzwelder. Every one so far has been the delightfully quirky literary equivalent of a fine gem, and the greatness keeps on coming with his latest tale of slow-witted detective Frank Burly, 
As much as I love RiffTrax, it’s with Cinematic Titanic that I feel like I’ve come home to the Mystery Science Theater experience that I fell in love with lo’ those many years ago. Awful movie? Check. Brilliantly, hilariously eviscerating comedy at said film’s expense? Check. An endearingly goofy conceit prompting the experience? Check. The folks behind MST? Check. So what’s their latest target? A cheesy vampire flick called 
For years it’s been available in a sub-par 4×3 version, but finally the first (and best) Sesame Street feature film gets so much-deserved respect with the newly-remastered, widescreen edition of 
When a comedian decides – at the age of 32 – to write his autobiography, it’s understandable to be a bit wary. But when that comedian is Russell Brand – and the tome deals in large part with his years of heroin and sex addiction – my curiosity is piqued. The book itself – whimsically titled 
Picking up where Casino Royale left off, 
What many people consider to be the worst Bond film – even though it’s technically not in the Bond canon proper – is Sean Connery’s last turn, 
Add another must-have title to the list of those that have finally made it to Blu-Ray with the arrival of 
Letterman, Leno, Conan, and Kimmel may get all of the attention, but the brilliant dark horse of late night TV is Craig Ferguson. Most don’t know that the lost of The Late Late Show was also a stand-up, but you can easily rectify that lack of knowledge by picking up his brand new stand-up DVD, 
Knowing its tortured production history, I had pretty low expectations for the Disney (non-Pixar) CG animated film 
While most catalogue high-def releases have focused on comedies and action flicks, the drama side of things gets serviced with a trio of new releases to Blu-Ray – 
If you walked out of Watchmen wanting to recreate the aural experience, there’s a pair of discs that fit the bill. For the songs featured in the flick, you’ll want 
Of the more recent crop of Disney animated flicks, one of the few I’d say is a classic on par with their golden age is 
It was occasionally a bit rocky, but I wound up enjoying 
Filmed in 1993, Rod Stewart’s stint on Unplugged was a rousing, rollicking jaunt through his back catalogue, with Ronnie Wood by his side. The CD has been re-released with a pair of bonus tracks as 
I’m delighted that Paramount has decided to stick with their remastered, 2-disc special editions they’ve branded as the “Centennial Collection”. The latest releases are Alfred Hitchcock’s 
I am not a teenage girl or an emotionally needy woman, so the 
Many nerds noted the absence of the comic book story 
If you want a bit of the great outdoors this weekend, you might want to check out a pair of new releases from Animal Planet. 
Originally available as an exclusive pack in with Kung Fu Panda, the animated follow-up 
See just how fun, frolicsome, and positively risqué pre-Code Tinseltown was in the 
I’m not a terribly big fan, so the less I say about the CG animated Star Wars series the better. Suffice it to say, the first episode collection, 