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…)
For all its desperation to make itself a loving homage to Spielberg, Super 8 is a crass wannabe next to Nick Frost & Simon Pegg’s alien road trip Paul (Universal, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$34.98 SRP), as it evokes all of the loving geek warmth the former wanted to evoke without the effort and with the added bonus of being funny. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, galleries, bloopers, and more.
Adding to the mystery presented to viewers all those years ago, the introduction of River Song in the episode “Silence In The Library” found the enigmatic Dr. Song in possession of her very own Sonic Screwdriver, given to her by The Doctor in the future and an advanced version, no less. Now you can own your very own Doctor Who: Future Sonic Screwdriver ($19.99) featuring both a blue AND red setting.
If you tend to think of Mickey Mouse as nothing more than a bland corporate spokesman, prepare to be both fascinated and delighted by the incredible comic strip adventures of the 30’s by Floyd Gottfredson, collected for the first time in Mickey Mouse: Race To Death Valley (Fantagraphics, $29.99 SRP), the first volume of hopefully the entire run. Get it! Now!
Oh, they’re coming fast & furious now. What, you ask? More classic Doctor Who adventures – this time the Tom Baker story The Sun Makers and the Sylvester McCoy story Paradise Towers (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP each). Both are loaded with the usual complement of commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, and more. We’re so close to having all of the extant classic Who stories on DVD that you can almost taste it.
Let’s all forget about the American abomination and just re-watch the from-front-to-back enjoyable 16th season of the original UK Top Gear (BBC, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP), which finds Jeremy, James, & Richard crossing the US, and then find themselves in Albania later in the season. Bonus materials include chats, behind-the-scenes footage, a studio tour, outtakes, and more.
Although only one of them was made as a period piece, enough time has passed that both Fast Times At Ridgemont High and Dazed & Confused (Universal, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$ 26.98 SRP each) are now both snapshots of their respective eras, and both making their high definition debut. Fast Times features a documentary, an audio commentary, and in-film behind-the-scenes materials, while Dazed has featurettes, deleted scenes, and retro PSAs.
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 recent live show releases that were originally beamed to theaters around the country – Rifftrax Live: House On Haunted Hill Riffed Live From Nashville 2010 & Rifftrax Live: Reefer Madness Riffed Live From San Diego 2010 (Legend Films, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$17.95 each), both of which are now available in high definition. Heck, the Nashville show even has a special set from special guest Paul F. Tompkins.
With the recent resurgence in popularity of Nickelodeon’s 90’s line-up – or, at least Nickelodeon’s acknowledgement that there is a fanbase out there – it should come as no surprise that those fans will now be able to pick up the complete first season of Hey Arnold! (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$29.93 SRP). The 4-disc set contains all 20 episodes.
I’ve made no secret of my intense hatred – borne of even more intense disappointment – in Torchwood (BBC, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$129.98 SRP). Still, I know that there are wrongheaded fans of the ongoing mess who will probably want to snap up the complete series box set, featuring seasons 1 & 2 and the Children Of Earth miniseries, plus all of the bonus features from the original releases. So for you fans – have at it.
If Pineapple Express was a stoner action flick, than the rather obviously named Your Highness (Universal, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.98 SRP), you’ll not be surprised to learn, is a stoner swords & sorcery flick, which finds Danny McBride’s pampered prince forced to join his brother James Franco’s quest to find the bride stolen by an evil wizard. It’s got Toby Jones, Charles Dance, and a mechanical bird, so it’s at least worth a spin. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes, and outtakes.
While Pixar and Dreamworks get most of the attention, let’s not overlook the equally enjoyable films from other studios that don’t get the attention, like Blu Sky Studios fun, funny tale of a domesticated macaw intent on returning to his roots in South America in Rio (Fox, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP). Bonus materials include featurettes, deleted scenes, music videos, and more.
I admit, there’s a fondness in my heart for The Fox And The Hound (Walt Disney, Rated G, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), as it was one of the first Disney films I saw as a kid. Now, don’t mistake that fondness for any belief that it’s one of the studio’s best animated films, as it’s often a plodding affair, but it does have some flashes of charm and I’m happy whenever a classic Disney flick makes its way to high definition. They also very rightly are packaging this with the high-def release of the forgettable sequel The Fox And The Hound II, as that’s the only way anyone would buy it. The 3-disc set also carries over all of the bonus features found on the original DVD release.
Get your fix of manly-man movies in high definition with the release of both The Magnificent Seven & The Return Of The Magnificent Seven (MGM, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$16.99 SRP each), as well as Sergio Leone’s Clint Eastwood classics Fistful Of Dollars & For A Few Dollars More (MGM, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$16.99 SRP each). You know you want them all.
I’m a big fan of Berkely Breathed’s children’s book Mars Needs Moms (Walt Disney, Rated PG, 3D Blu-Ray-$49.99 SRP), in which a young boy’s mother was kidnapped to the red planet. The movie version would have been a fun flick if not for producer Robert Zemeckis’s godawful motion capture animation, which despite his mighty protests to the contrary STILL have dead eyes and dwell firmly in the uncanny valley. The 3-D effects in the home theater are impressive, which is a shame, because they really deserve a better design style. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, and deleted scenes.
During that period when Hanna-Barbera was just crankin’ out feature-length specials of just about all of their characters, George & Jane Jetson’s eldest daughter got her own, featuring a witch, a teen idol, aliens, and even Elroy. And the folks at the Warner Archive Collection have made Rockin’ With Judy Jetson (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$19.95) available.
Oh, the 80’s was just packed full of mediocre animated series that inspired dedicated fans who’ve grown up to have disposable cash and a desire to relive their rose-tinted memories – Which is why we have MASK: The Complete Series (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$99.99 SRP), which features guys in masks who drove cars and trucks. And the good guys had a robot that looked like an ambulatory egg. So, yeah. Bonus materials include retrospective featurettes.
It’s still not The Hudsucker Proxy, but I’m still happy about the high definition arrival of The Big Lebowski (Universal, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.98 SRP). The real key is the improved presentation of the film itself, as the bonus features are carried over from the last DVD special edition. So, yes – The Dude still abides.
Get your literary drama on with a pair of releases from A&E sure to delight the higher-brows amongst you. The first is the Thomas Hardy Collection (A&E, Not Rated, DVD-$19.95 SRP), featuring adaptations of both Tess Of The D’Ubervilles & The Mayor Of Casterbridge. If adventure is more your speed, there’s Horatio Hornblower: The Further Adventures (A&E, Not Rated, DVD-$14.95 SRP), which contains the feature-length films The Duchess And The Devil & The Wrong War.
Curious how timing works out such that the 5th season of Spin City (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$29.93 SRP) gets its release during the year of Charlie Sheen’s flameout, as the 5th season is when Sheen was brought in to take over the lead from the ailing Michael J. Fox, carrying it on for a few more years.
See Brits survive a post-apocalyptic wasteland and make the journey to a distant planet to make a new start in Outcasts (BBC, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$34.99 SRP). Suffice to say, life on the new world isn’t a cake walk, as events both natural and interpersonal threaten to destroy humanity’s future. Bonus materials incl7ude interviews and a featurette.
My nephews will be delighted to see another volume of the Frosty Freezy Freeze fans and crime-fighting duo back for another batch of episodes in Fanboy & Chumchum: Brain Freeze (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), which contains 7 episodes plus an animatic.
Some are fascinating, but I’m not one for re-living that horrible day, but from a historical perspective the documentaries collected in the September 11th Memorial Edition (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$24.95 SRP) are pretty comprehensive and are thankfully free of editorial or agenda.
If I were to choose the giant robot cartoon that left the biggest mark on my childhood psyche (after Transformers), it would have to be Voltron. Watching the 7 remastered episodes contained in Voltron: The Legend Begins (Vivendi, Not Rated, DVD-$12.99 SRP), the show still holds up as a fun adventure romp, supported on this new disc by a clutch of retrospective featurettes.
For the most part, I loathe the Spider-Man feature film franchise, but I will give them credit on one detail they nailed – the Spider-Man costume itself. One just has to watch previous attempts at making a real-world version of the costume in other productions to see just how poorly things can go, and see just how right they went in this instance (as opposed to the horrid redesign being employed in the upcoming cinematic reset of the franchise). Well, the costume I love has now been made into a Spider-Man 12″ Figure ($149.99) from the fine folks at Hot Toys and Sideshow Collectibles. Packed with a clutch of alternate hands (ranging from swinging to web-firing), a pedestal, and numerous web lines – and outfitted in a pretty snazzy small-scale version of the film’s costume – it’s a welcome addition to the collection of any diehard webhead.
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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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 – 
As dense as a diamond and just as exquisite, the second volume of world knowledge written by the world’s FOREMOST EXPERT on ALL THAT IS KNOWABLE (if not factual) and the possessor of soft hands and a baby’s face (the former per our handshake, the latter per Ricky Gervais), John Hodgman, is now available for purchase from your favorite book emporium IN SOFTCOVER. 
I admit it – I was skeptical of 
It’s been a long wait, but another classic Pixar flick makes it into the realm of high-definition with the arrival of 
I was a fan of the Timm/Dini animated adventures of Batman, Superman, and even Batman Beyond, and while it doesn’t have the brilliant noir of the Dark Knight’s series or the rah-rah of the Man of Steel, I greatly enjoyed Timm’s take on the Justice League. What could have been a mess of too many characters, evolved into a brilliantly executed multi-season arc that puts shows like Lost and Heroes to shame. If you haven’t seen it, you can partake of the entire run via 
It’s the holiday season, and what that means in the UK (and for comedy fans around the globe) is that comics are dropping their stand-up DVDs just in time to help audiences pass the long winter with a bit of a laugh. First up is the latest from Russell Brand, 
The folks at Rifftrax have stepped in – just when we all feared there would be a comedy lull – with a new pair of ace DVD releases that are as equally must-have as all of the previous ones (which SHOULD all be on your shelf). So what should you be picking up? Well, there’s the baffling astronauts on pathetic dinosaur planet named, appropriately, 
If you haven’t been able to find your way there in four decades, you might want to refresh your memory with the celebratory 
And while you’re at it, pick up 
Warner’s wonderful Archive Collection strikes again, delivering unto comedy fans the long-requested 
I love a premise that is instantly brilliant and then brilliantly realized, and such is the case with Charlie Brooker’s 
Time marches on, which means a brand new release starring everyone’s favorite sqaurepanted sponge, 
What started off as a gimmicky show has evolved into one of the few procedurals I’ll actually watch, and I attribute it almost entirely to the onscreen chemistry of David Krumholtz, Rob Morrow, and the always wonderful Judd Hirsch (oh, and Peter MacNicol). See for yourself in the 5th season of 
Ah, Peep Show. If you’re a fan of The Office – or just offbeat British comedy in general (you know, the smart people) – you’ll probably dig 
Warner has opened up the vaults to release a trio of high-def catalogue releases – two if which are decent flicks, but the third of which is a genre classic. The first two are 
Long before Spenser could be hired, Robert Urich starred as private eye Dan Tanna in the TV series 
Gah! Has it really been 20 years since Cameron Crowe’s now legendary tale of awkward teenage love and proper boombox woo-ery? Well, it must be, since there’s now a 20th anniversary edition of 
Timed to capitalize on the release of Say Anything in that kind of “Do we have anything else vaguely similar we can drop on the same date?” kind of way comes a pair of Fox catalogue releases new-to-Blu-Ray – James Toback’s 
Can’t get enough of Pierce Brosnan’s golden throat? Or ABBA? Know someone who can’t get enough of either? Well, perhaps the 
Oh, 
Have an 80’s flashback (kind of like an ice cream headache) with a pair of releases from old school MTV staples Duran Duran. First up is a deluxe special edition of their hit album 
Mike Conners is back in the 3rd cooler-than-cool season of 
Yeah, 
Just yesterday (well, last year), it seemed that RiffTrax was just a web concern, with nary a physical DVD release to their name. Now, the DVD releases are coming fast and furious, the latest being another two volumes of short subjects featuring riffsters (and MST3K alum) Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, & Bill Corbett – 
Want a little extra monitor space without all of the fuss and massive footprint? Look no further than the 
Hot on the heels of their inaugural release comes 
Halloween is rapidly approaching, so Universal is using the holiday as an excuse to drop a few much-desired titles on Blu-Ray that make for perfect holiday viewing – 
Speaking of Simon Pegg & Nick Frost, their epic cop action/comedy 
If I had to name my favorite instrument, hands down (pun intended, sadly) it would be a piano. So much so that I was completely captivated by the documentary 
Leonard & Sheldon both find a girl in the second season of 
The fourth season of 
I’m a bit disappointed that they’ve decided to break them up, but you can now get the most recent animated incarnation of 
Where Torchwood fails in its belief that it’s more than it really is, 
Fans have been waiting a long time for an official, snazzy-looking edition of the Boris Karloff-presented anthology series 
The long public domain nightmare is over – Bonanza has finally arrived on DVD in a beautifully remastered, fully official form. They really want people to know, so they’ve named the premiere releases 
It doesn’t hold a candle to the feature film, but at least at the start, the TV spin-off of 
While not as successful as her dip into fairy tales, 
Fox and MGM have dipped into their catalogues to put together a slate of high-def releases perfect for your October/Halloween viewing list – 
Hot on the heels of the first two volumes, 
Its title led many to believe that Russell Davies might be pulling the trigger on the 10th Doctor’s regeneration a bit early, but last year’s Christmas special, 
My sister loves 
Amanda Tapping stars as Dr. Helen Magnus in 
Miramax has opened up the high-def floodgates with a quartet of Asian flicks sure to delight fans of Asian cinema – 
Essentially a PG-13, network version of Showtime’s Masters Of Horror (meaning no nudity, no gore), 
Summer days are long. And often hot. Sometimes stormy. Who wants to venture out onto the surface of the sun when you can kick back with some cool lemonade in even cooler air conditioning with a big ol’ batch of DVDs from RiffTrax. If you’re not familiar with RiffTrax, here’s the nutshell version – they’re downloadable Mystery Science Theater 3000-esque audio riffs of movies that you sync up to your DVD, with the comedy provided by MST3K alum Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, & Bill Corbett. Ah, but there’s a clutch of films now hitting stores (and available on RiffTrax.com) where you can buy the DVD with the RiffTrax commentary track included – no syncing, just easy comedy for those sweltering days. The RiffTrax edition films currently on offer are 
The first time I ever encountered a Lite Brite – you know, the light-bulb, black paper, and colored peg wonder of childhood – it was during play time in kindergarten. Like most kids, I was fascinated, and soon moved on from the structured pattern paper to just sticking the pegs in wherever the hell the whim dictated. Like most things nowadays, the Lite Brite has gone 3-D with 
Ever since seeing the original trailers long, long ago, I’ve been eager to lay my hands on the video game derived from one of my favorite childhood films, Ghostbusters. Well, after laying hands upon it (and then playing it), I found myself enjoying the experience of this video game iteration of 
However, if you’re a casual gamer, a fine game is the Nintendo Wii version of 
I continue to delight that Sony seems intent on finishing their chronological release of the Three Stooges shorts with the release of 
Erase memories of Michael Bay’s sound & the fury approach to your 80’s childhood by revisiting the original epic battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons with the new special edition of 
Producer Michael Bay does what he does best with his reimagining of 
The title of the album says it all – Spinal Tap is 
Season 3 & 4 have been available on Blu-Ray already, but fans can now backfill with the release of 
The laughs are more strained and are more often than not merely groans elicited by “they did what” moments, but fans are sure to snap up 
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, 
Commemorating the 25th anniversary of his death, 
Not quite as fun as the first season, the sophomore outing of 
We all saw it in school, but 
I think we’re just now starting to get the distance necessary to effectively dramatize the ground events of the Iraq War, and the first project that feels like it’s accomplished the task is HBO’s 
I think Disney may be trying to give us a hint that perhaps we should all venture outside and do something this summer, as they’ve dropped a trio of their aspirational sports flicks on Blu-Ray – Shia LaBeouf in 
On the heels of the DVD release of Michael Bay’s new Friday The 13th, Paramount drops another batch of special editions from the original “run”. First up is the standard def deluxe editions of 
The pilot itself was anticlimactic, but I can’t fault the score by Bear McGreary. You can give a listen to the score to 
