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…)
Even though it comes before the other recently discovered 2nd Doctor adventure The Web Of Fear, Doctor Who: The Enemy Of The World (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP) is the only one of the two to have had all of the episodes fully recovered, and it’s a nifty little tale featuring Patrick Troughton in a dual role as The Doctor and the evil dictator Salamander. Unfortunately, this release is just as featureless as The Web Of Fear, but again, at least we have it.
Another week and another wonderful 1/6-scale figure from the fine folks at Sideshow Collectibles, who expand their burgeoning DC Comics line with another addition to the Batman rogues gallery (following the release of The Joker and Harley Quinn). So which dastardly criminal is it? Why, it’s that felonious feline, Catwoman (Sideshow, $189.99). Based on her modern comic appearance, the figure is decked out in the requisite catsuit, and comes with her trademark whip (two versions – one coiled), plenty of hands, a gem, her goggles, and a swappable head (fierce!). All of these villains just serve to make the wait for the upcoming 1/6-scale comics Batman that much harder.
My nephew has a birthday coming up, and his choice of party theme for this year is “Doctor Who”. But how best to properly theme a timelord-centered affair? Well, Thinkgeek has you covered when it comes to the treats, as you can make anything from ice to candy to cupcakes with their Doctor Who TARDIS Gelatin Mold Set (Thinkgeek, $12.99). Made of silicone, the set features the front and back half of the Doctor’s ship, perfect for making Gallifreyan nibbles.
Far from the studio and theme parks that bear his name, The Walt Disney Family Museum – located at San Francisco’s Presidio – has been quietly celebrating the artistic legacy of that pioneering visionary through exhibits that span the breath of his life and accomplishments. While it may be a healthy trek to visit the museum in person, they’ve released a clutch of incredible books that any fan of animation, Disney, or just art in general should have on their shelf. Taken in tandem, two of the tomes – Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs: The Art & Creation Of Walt Disney’s Classic Animated Film (Walt Disney Family Foundation Press, $35 SRP) and The Fairest One Of All: The Making Of Walt Disney’s Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (Walt Disney Family Foundation Press, $65 SRP) – offer a definitive history of the landmark film, beautifully illustrated and researched, featuring hundreds of pieces of rare design and production artwork. And speaking of beautiful design, they’ve also released the companion book to their Mary Blair exhibit, Magic Color Flair: The World Of Mary Blair (Walt Disney Family Foundation Press, $40 SRP), presented by animation historian John Canemaker. One of Walt’s most iconic artists, her work is instantly familiar to anyone who’s taken a boat ride on “It’s A Small World”. Here’s hoping the Museum continues to release these kinds of glorious collections for years to come.
Now that it exists, it seems only natural that Hayley Campbell’s The Art Of Neil Gaiman (Harper Design, $39.99 SRP) should always have existed, for surely such a celebration of such a talented gent as Gaiman should always just… be. And now that reality has finally caught up with where it should be, the reality of this book is that it’s a delightful celebratory stroll down the long and winding path of a modern creative marvel. So do go on, and be sure to wear comfortable shoes.
Fully remastered in high definition from the original film elements, John Wayne stars as the titular cattle baron in McLintock (Paramount, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$22.98 SRP), whose reunion with his collegiate daughter (Stephanie Powers) is overshadowed by the arrival of the headstrong wife who left him two years prior, the always wonderful Maureen O’Hara. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, featurettes, and an introduction from Leonard Maltin.
The best documentaries are the ones that present a topic you never knew you wanted to know more about until they present that topic to you and you think, “Gee, I really wanted to know more about this.” Case in point? The new documentary about the original queen of comedy, Moms Mabley (HBO, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP). Directed and presented by Whoopi Goldberg, it’s a fascinating look at the comedy pioneer who rose from African-American vaudeville to the national stage, breaking both racial and gender barriers.
I would have loved a straightforward historical epic about the tragic volcanic end of Pompeii (Sony, Rated PG-13, 3D Blu-Ray-$45.99 SRP) instead of the middling soap opera that tries shoehorning a Spartacus-lite tale of gladiators and forbidden, ultimately doomed love that we get here. Still, at least we get some gorgeous eye candy in 3D of the actual eruption and its aftermath, so there’s that. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, and deleted scenes.
For more years than I can recall, the amiable scholars at Twomorrows have been publishing a wide range of magazine and books chronicling every nook and cranny of the comics, creators, characters, and companies fans know and love. They’ve taken that love and scholarly approach to the next logical step, having launched a must-have document of four-color history in the American Comic Book Chronicles (Twomorrows, $41.95 SRP), which will eventually chart from 1940 to today. The latest volume, The 1960’s: 1965-1969, looks at the full bloom of the Silver Age, as the fledgling upstart Marvel Comics firmly established itself amongst a burgeoning counterculture alongside the likes of MAD Magazine. Get this book, then star setting aside shelf space for the rest – which can’t come fast enough.
With the fifth season of Happy Days (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP), we reach an infamous landmark – the legendary jumping of a shark by a swimsuit and leather jacketed Fonz. Yes – the demarcation of a creative downward spiral that would spawn an equally legendary trope. It almost makes you forget that this was also the season that introduced Mork from Ork. Bonus materials include the 4th Anniversary special.
Dig into a pair of historical documentaries from the Smithsonian Channel with Civil War 360 (Smithsonian Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP), which looks at the great war from a trio of viewpoints (Union, Confederacy, and the slaves), and Secrets Of The Third Reich (Smithsonian Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP), which looks at some of the least-told tales of Hitler’s war machine.
Get your DDB drama fix with a trio of new releases, including the ninth seasons of both the long-running cold case procedural Waking The Dead (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) and police detectives Dalziel & Pascoe (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP), plus the supernatural thriller Afterlife (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP), starring Andrew Lincoln as a skeptic confronted with what appears to be a genuine psychic (Lesley Sharp) who tries to help him with a tragedy in his own life.
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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Universal continues to impress with their high definition100th anniversary celebration, leading off this week with a lovely restoration of 
Here’s a fun one for the kiddies. Help them spruce up otherwise pedestrian LEGO creations with the LEGO-compatible 
The biggest crime perpetrated by 
Want to see a show properly blow itself up without going off the rails? Look no further than the brilliant fourth season of 
Available for the first time in widescreen and in high definition, as well, 
See what Sookie and her sultry & sallow supernatural pals have been up to in balmy Bon Temps in the complete 4th season of 
Even though he said it was over, Larry David returned with an 8th season of 
You certainly couldn’t do the show today short of an all-CG affair, but I always enjoyed the offbeat Mod fun of the all-simian 60’s spy comedy 
Sometimes you need a nicely goofball series like 
The fine folks at Mill Creek continue to roll out the Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures high definition catalogue releases with another clutch of mid-range titles for very low prices – this time including Eddie Murphy in 
Fun and games for the kiddie set abound in 
If you want a clear example of how to start a big concept series with a resounding thud, look no further than the stillborn 
This really is a golden age for Doctor Who fans, as the DVD releases of classic storylines are coming fast & furious, with another quartet now available – the Peter Davison stories 
I’m a sucker for a specific task kitchen widget that also taps into childhood nostalgia, so you can imagine my delight at being able to put a homemade spin on corn dogs with the 
With the fourth volume of 
Prepare for Father’s Day with a pair of new-to-Blu-Ray catalogue classics from Fox – John Wayne in 
If you’re a big fan of Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett’s post-MST3K endeavor Rifftrax, you owe it to yourself to partake of the heightened energy of a pair of new live show releases, that were originally beamed to theaters around the country – 
I can’t remember the last time I was surprised by the end of a romantic comedy, as the resolution of the couple-to-be is pretty well set in storytelling cliché by now, so my enjoyment of a romantic comedy comes largely from the journey. 
In the 4th season of 
I wish it weren’t the case, but the eighth season of 
I am not the audience for 
While we’re still not to the season that contains my absolute favorite episode, if you’ve yet to pick up the stellar high definition sets of Rod Serling’s classic anthology series, you can at least start with the newly-released 
While Trading Places and 48 Hours remain the greatest of Eddie Murphy movies in my estimation, it’s a welcome addition to the high definition library to get 
While many studios have been dumping sub-par catalogue releases in massive Blu-Ray waves, MGM has decided to release a wave of many films buffs consider must-haves – 
More insidious than wartime physical injuries, the effects of what has been termed everything from shell shock to post-traumatic stress disorder in soldiers is explored in the documentary 
Did you know that Jackie Gleason and Steve McQueen did a film together in the 60’s? Co-written by Blake Edwards? No? Neither did I, until the Warner Archive Collection made 
It’s always nice just to have a disc that you can put in and show off your fancy a/v setup at home – One that looks and sounds pretty darn spiffy. The high definition IMAX documentaries 
Now that we’ve got the full run of the Six Million Dollar Man on DVD, it’s left to 
MGM continues to drop almost a literal ton of catalogue titles via their new MOD (Manufacture On Demand) Limited Edition Collection program, including the David Niven sex romp comedy 
If the big screen live action outing of the Norse god of thunder has whet your appetite for more adventures look no further than the animated feature 
Universal drops a pair of newer TV shows on DVD this week, including the debut season of the Piper Perabo-starring CIA procedural 
The Warner Archive Collection continues to roll out long-forgotten animated oddities from the Hanna-Barbera library with the release of 
If 
It may just be the Atheist in me, but I’m tired of films about priests regaining their faith in the face of demonic presences. It’s like demons are God’s hitmen. So yeah, I was less than interested in 
I know there are many people I love and respect who love 
Hey! Doctor Who fans of both Tom Baker’s 4th Doctor and the Daleks can pick up a pair of action figure sets spotlighting the classic Baker stories 
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 
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 
Ever since seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark as a wee child, Indy’s iconic headwear has held a special fascination for me. Even going back 15 years, I contemplated trying to get a fedora of my own – but the price was quite prohibitive (or, at least, relative to my finances today). Still, the dream persisted, and on a trip to Disneyland a few years back I picked up one of their $35 officially licensed fedoras – and I was happy. It looked close enough to the real thing for me to feel like I finally got what I’d always wanted. Ah, but then 
We’ve now officially reached – and passed – the middle of 
With all that attention being paid to the man with the hat, let’s turn our eye towards the original Lucasian franchise that was driven into the ground with an unfortunate return, Star Wars. Before the release of the prequels – even before the release of the special editions – there was an incredible behind-the-scenes tome that was released. Though out of print for years, it was brought back into print a few years back, and it’s celebration of an unsullied Star Wars universe warms my frosted heart. Packed with hundreds of behind-the-scenes photos and detailed information, get your own copy of 
Although still largely unknown in the US, I’m quite the fan of mentalist/magician/illusionist/creepy guy Derren Brown. I heartily recommend you pick up the DVD documenting his live tour 
It’s been so long since their airing that I barely remember the episodes features in the 5th season set of 
Although his smarmy, opportunistic, and ultimately destructive behavior became cartoonish in his last years as prime minister, it’s a film like writer Peter Morgan and director Stephen Frears’ 
Long before her turn as Carrie Bradshaw, Sarah Jessica Parker was teamed with Amy Linker in the 80’s prototype for My So-Called Life, 
Longtime readers of this column will know I’m a sucker for historical documentaries, so keep that in mind when I say I watched 
If you’re an armchair adventurer, you might want to pick up a copy of 
If you’ve not yet seen 
Often – and unfairly – overshadowed by the much showier Platoon, 
After four seasons of Jim Nabors bumbling around as the titular 
You’ve got to love BBC period dramas – and I do. They’re lush, they’re dependable, and they’re usually packed with top-flight actors. Such is the case with 
I was an avid Saturday morning cartoon watcher during the 70’s and 80’s, and even I don’t remember that there was such a beast as the 
Not one to let the dead rest even a moment, George Romero returns with another installment in his seemingly never-ending zombie saga, 
If watching war flicks over the labor day weekend seems kind of old hat, you might want to try taking a look at the veritable wagonload of westerns making their way out of the vaults. First out the gate is Fox, which has dropped 
For sheer volume, though, MGM has opened up the floodgates with 
If you’re in the mood for a great drama that features Eddie Izzard (and really, who isn’t?), try the Region 2 release 
Surely I can’t be the only one that had zero interest in National Treasure, and even less interest in its sequel, 
Take Party Animal, mix in The Hills, and add a bit of the envelope pushing of Queer As Folk – oh, and set it all in the UK – and you’ve got the basic formula for 
The be-uniformed crusaders of the Judge Advocate General’s office return in the sixth season of 
I still believe the film is an unwanted return to a franchise whose potential was dashed upon the rocks of a mediocre first outing, but there is something to be said for Harry Gregson-Williams’ score to 
Hoping to fill the void left by Jeff Foxworthy’s departure from the sitcom scene, redneck compatriot Bill Engvall received the eponymous 
Broadway-philes can give a spin to the new revival cast recording from Rodgers & Hammerstein’s 
