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…)
I had no expectations for Small Apartments (Sony, Rated R, DVD-$22.99 SRP), which is good, because it wound up being a quirky, heartfelt little film that delighted me no end with its simple humanity led by a winning performance from Matt Lucas as a man with big dreams in a small place surrounded by the similarly disillusioned. Bonus materials include a pair of featurettes.
Rejoice, fans of wit and sequential art, for the great Michael Kupperman has given us a second volume of Tales Designed To Thrizzle (Fantagraphics, $24.99 SRP), filled with the adventures of magicians, Mark Twain & Albert Einstein, jungle princesses, ghosts, and Cowboy Oscar Wilde. Go. Get. Now.
What more needs to be said about the absolutely stunning visuals and insight contained in the BBC’s breathtaking nature documentaries? All of those superlatives and more apply to their latest, Africa (BBC, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$34.98 SRP), which focuses on the disparate ecosystems of that massive continent, all of which are presented by the eminently affable Sir David Attenborough. Bonus materials include a making-of featurette for each episode, interviews, outtakes, and deleted scenes.
It may not be the same kind of highbrow fare as one might get from Pixar, but Hotel Transylvania (Sony, Rated PG, 3D Blu-Ray-$55.99SRP) is one of those flicks that exists many to string together a lot of fun gags and characters at a quick pace with enough heart to not make it all seem crass, and that’s fine. That fact that it’s directed by the legendary Genndy Tartakovsky (Dexter’s Lab, Samurai Jack) certainly helps matters. Bonus features include an animated short, deleted scenes, and audio commentary, music videos, and more.
Surprisingly, Nickelodeon’s relaunch of the franchise is actually pretty snazzy, as you’ll find in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rise Of The Turtles (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, DVD-$14.99 SRP), which includes the double-length pilot introduction to the updated heroes on the halfshell, plus an additional four episodes and animatics.
Watching the documentary Bully (Anchor Bay, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP), it’s both shocking and depressing to see the verbal and emotional brutality that exists amongst today’s youth, that I don’t recall being nearly so vicious when I was a kid, compounded by today’s prevalence of social media interaction and dissemination. Very depressing. Very sobering. Very much worth your time to see. Bonus materials include deleted scenes, featurettes, and a special version of the film edited for younger audiences.
Above all else, The Master (Anchor Bay, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) is a sly, sometimes unsubtle, but eminently watchable portrait and ultimate condemnation of the cult and its ability to sway under the guise of assistance – No matter the specific organization or charismatic master in question. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is, as usual, gripping in his role of the aforementioned charismatic, Lancaster Dodd, while the audience is drawn into his world via Joaquin Phoenix’s PTSD-suffering WWII vet. Bonus materials include outtakes, featurettes, and John Huston’s 1946 documentary on WWII vets, “Let There Be Light”.
When a pair of engaged young lovers (Gael Garcia Bernal & Hani Furstenberg) venture into the Georgian wilderness on a backpacking holiday with a local guide, an incident creates a rift between them that threatens to undo both their vacation and their life together in The Loneliest Planet (MPI, Rated R, DVD-$29.98 SRP). Bonus materials include a behind-the-scenes documentary, mountaineering photos, and a trailer.
This week’s soundtrack selections? Brian Tyler’s limited edition score to John Dies At The End (La-La Land Records, $24.25 SRP) and Marco Beltrami’s score to A Good Day To Die Hard (Sony Classical, $11.99 SRP).
In The Client List (Sony, Not Rated, DVD-$45.99 SRP), Jennifer Love Hewitt stars as a struggling single mom who finds she can earn a lot more from her job at a local spa by offering extra “services” on the side. Yes. Those kind of services. The 3-disc set contains all 10 episodes, plus outtakes and deleted scenes.
An unexpected and terribly fraught May-November romance develops between a respected older journalist and a young journalism student in Madrid 1987 (Breaking Glass, Not Rated, DVD-$21.99 SRP), after a they find themselves both locked in a bathroom, naked and at odds.
Every so often, it’s lovely to see a straightforward look at a pair of people who need each other in unexpected ways, such as in A Simple Life (Well Go USA, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.98 SRP), which finds a young filmmaker having to care for his family’s multigenerational caretaker after she suffers a stroke.
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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I’m still not sold on the exaggerated realistic character design they chose for Herge’s famous characters, but there’s enough verve and energy to make Spielberg & Jackson’s 
If you want a nice and easy geek-friendly LEGO set for kids who might not have the skill or patience to tackle the larger sets, the 
Arrested development and the delusion that goes with it is front and center in 
It seems every month is a holiday for fans of the Doctor’s classic adventures as we get not only a special edition of the 10th anniversary special with 
Ah, but that’s not all of the new classic Who you’re getting this week! Oh no, no, no! There’s also a newly restored special edition of Patrick Troughton’s tin-plated tussle with cyberdoom in 
Anyone who has had a loss that is at the same time sudden yet lingering will understand the power of a film like 
It was only a matter of time before Martin Scorsese’s 
It’s always a delight to get new Wallace & Gromit material, even if it’s in the form of interstitial around a spotlight on r3eal life gadgets and contraptions in 
The fine folks at Rifftrax have released a brand new pair of cinematic bombs made wonderfully hilarious – the dime store creature feature 
You know another installment of a film franchise is in the offing when the back-catalogue is dusted off for release, so it should come as little surprise that the forthcoming American Reunion brings the Blu-Ray debut of 
They’re certainly not up to the quality of the original, but there’s enough charm and storytelling competence to make both 
The Warner Archive Collection has dug up a pair of Jim Brown rarities from the 70’s for your viewing pleasure. 
Yeah, I’m not entirely sure anyone is supposed to understand what’s going on in Tarsem’s big Greek mythology epic 
Director Ralph Bakshi’s animated films are an acquired taste, and one I never have acquired. I can certainly see his passion, but the movies don’t speak to me. But there are plenty of people who have a special place in their heart for his fantasy film 
As this year marks the 100th anniversary of the legendary maritime disaster, it’s perfectly understandable that the History Channel is collecting together a trio of their best documentaries on the subject into 
Michelle Williams certainly deserved her Oscar nomination for her turn as Marilyn Monroe in 
I’m not exactly sure what they were thinking with the overly-slick, utterly baffling new take on 
Do you like penguins? Do you like them dancing? Do you like them talking with the voices of Elijah Wood and Robin Williams while they’re dancing? Did you like all of this when it was in an animated movie called Happy Feet? Then you’ll like the equally ingratiating 
For 
How do you compress 13.7 million years of Earth’s existence into one concise special? Seems like a tall task, but it’s one 
It’s still not my bag, but for those that enjoy Adult Swim’s 
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 – 
Many have wondered why some of the flicks being tackled by the folks at Cinematic Titanic weren’t addressed during their Mystery Science Theater run. Personally, I’m glad they weren’t – because it would deprive us of the top notch, stellar writing that a fully engaged and broken in Cinematic Titanic is now giving viewers, which comes from years of additional experience. It’s as if movie riffing has gone Bionic, and they’ve got full kung-fu grip, to boot. If you don’t believe me, check out their latest offering – a wretched waste of celluloid called 
Kick off the new year in a classy way with a pair of new special editions featuring Audrey Hepburn’s legendary star turns in 
With all of the stuff that comes in for feature in the shopping guide, being able to take good photos of said collectibles is definitely a plus. The best way to get a good photo is to construct a light box… But who has the time for that? That’s right – none of us. So your best bet is to pick up the handy 
The UK Channel 4 series 
As with most of these documentaries, there’s much to find fault with in so sweeping a project as 
Never ones to let a re-release go un-re-released, The Weinstein Company dusts off Jackie Chan’s 
Relive all of the absurdity found in each in every episode of 
You know that Blu-Ray has finally arrived as a format when you can purchase a snazzy, high definition copy of a cinema classic like 
I had high hopes for 
There’s a turgidness to director (and co-writer) Ed Harris’s western 
The residents of the Springfield Retirement Castle will be delighted with the arrival of the complete second season of Andy Griffith’s top flight southern lawyer, 
Mysterious abound as we plow through the quartet of episodes features in the second volume of 
The third installment is on the way, which means you can now partake of both of the previous installments of Kate Beckisndale doing something or another in both 
The classic tale of love & power gets a pretty decent update in 
Brad Garrett’s middling sitcom ‘
In the era of elevated morons like Joe the Plumber, a film like 
They still insist on releasing the 80’s Alvin & The Chipmunks series in unsatisfying single-disc collections, the latest of which focuses on the boys female counterparts,