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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It’s been a few years since the wonderful Tom & Jerry collections were released, so it’s a pleasant surprise that there’s a new “greatest hits” set – 
Like most of the items they offer, you really don’t know you need a borescope until you get one, and then you wonder what you ever did without one. Thinkgeek’s literally named 
Just in time for the M. Knight thing, the original 
The Roger Corman “classics” continue to pour out in fully restored, better than they’ve ever looked form with the release of 
The gimmick of 
When it comes to high definition restorations of their classic library, few companies are doing work as magnificent to behold as Warners. Case in point is their new special edition of the Judy Garland/James Mason 
We’re now 6 seasons into 
Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren grab hold of the screen in 
A creepy horror film about a magician, an accident, a murder, and an inheritance starring Cesar Romero, Dean Jones, and Connie Stevens? Sure, I’m there. The Warner Archive Collection pulls another overlooked catalogue title from the vaults with the remastered 
If films like Psycho and Jaws proved anything, it was that horror that’s plausible is much more resonant in an audience. Though it’s got rough edges, 
If Robert Pattinson ever wakes up and remembers he’s supposed to be acting in a film – and maybe choose his projects a bit better – he might actually be worth watching. Otherwise, he’ll keep doing yawners like 
Sadly, you don’t get the 3-D experience of their recent theatrical re-release, but the high definition versions of 
There have been diecast replicas made in the past, and while I miss the replacement of the stainless steel body for plastic, it is pretty damn cool to have a 
It’s Christmas at Easter as those nifty chaps at Rifftrax bring you a DVD release of their holiday 
When Mr. Fox (George Clooney) takes his thieving ways a bit too far, the wrath of the local human farmers is brought down around the heads of his friends in family in We Anderson’s delight, stop-motion animated 
I think a comedic take on sword & sorcery epics has been a long-time coming, and I just wish that Comedy Central’s take on it – 
The 3rd season of 
It’s not nearly the mess that some have made it out to be, but as satirical films about the illogic of war and the military go, 
It never quite lived up to the fun and adventure of its predecessor, but by the end of 
For all those (including myself) who have accused Steven Spielberg of being an emotional button-pushing, saccharine filmmaker, watch 
I think the quicker we can forget that the AMC remake of the brilliant 60’s series ever happened, the better, because this take on 
Fans of low-budget, direct-to-video horror will want to pick up the “8 Films To Die For” comprising the 4th edition of the After Dark Horrorfest – 
Overshadowed by the arrival of Mike Tyson, Robert Townsend’s 
If you’d like to partake of a brilliant, fascinating documentary snapshot of what seems like a distant age – even though it’s only 40 years ago – take a look at 
The 3rd volume of 
Celebrate Easter with a pair of new-to-DVD specials, the first of which is 
Remember Ken Wahl? Remember Wiseguy, the show in which he starred as the FBI deep cover agent Vincent Terranova, out to take down the mob from within. Now you can get all 4 seasons in one handy set. 
Well, now we know that while Jeff Bridges was filming the role that would earn him an Oscar, his brother Beau was co-starring in a direct-to-video sequel with Bindi Irwin – 
