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…)
Let’s kick things off this week with a very special video feature – an episode of COOKERY! hosted by me, Ken Plume. Like many others before me, I’ve become addicted to partaking of both Pineapple and Orange-flavored Dole Whips whilst enjoying a day… or a week (whatever!)… in either Disneyland or Walt Disney World. Thanks to a bit of sleuthing and the fine folks at Precision Foods and Cuisinart’s ICE-45 soft-serve ice cream machine, I managed to make my very own batch of Dole Soft Serve in my very own home, and you can, too. Watch…
When I first saw the prototype shots for the latest in Sideshow’s line of 1/6-scale DC Comics figures, I was overjoyed to see that its styling was evocative of my favorite comic artist, John Byrne. So yes, that made their Superman ($199.99) even more appealing than it already was just by dint of being the next in their line of iconic characters. It’s also one of their more versatile figures, coming with a total of three different head sculpts, ranging from happy (take that, Snyder) to determined to heat vision intense. All three are great, but the gong goes to the brilliant heat vision sculpt. There are two capes packed in – one free flowing, the other with hidden wire for poseability, plus a handful of hands for accenting that perfect pose. Niftiest of all, though, is the Sideshow-exclusive hand that comes clutching Metallo’s head. Boy oh boy, this figure is just great. See for yourself…
Oh, Shout Factory. I’ve long since come to have an unconditional belief in your ability to clear even the gnarliest of rights tangles, and you’ve proven your miraculous powers once again in Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XXXII (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$59.97 SRP) and its inclusion of Space Travelers (aka Marooned), which was once thought to be unclearable. And then you did it. The set rounds out with Hercules, Radar Secret Service, and San Francisco International, making for a nice mix of Joel and Mike episodes, plus a clutch of bonus featurettes and introductions from Frank Conniff.
Their brand new seasons are returning soon to deliver us from the doldrums of Girls, but in the meantime you can rewatch the stellar debut season of Silicon Valley (HBO, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$49.99 SRP) and the equally brilliant third season of Veep (HBO, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$49.99 SRP). As for bonus materials, Silicon Valley has audio commentaries and a trio of featurettes, while Veep has a quartet of audio commentaries and a clutch of deleted scenes.
In an era of CG, it’s refreshing to see a beautifully realized animated film like Song Of The Sea (Universal, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$34.98 SRP) done in hand-drawn 2D by the same folks who created the also-gorgeous Secret Of The Kells. Based on the Irish legend of the Selkies, it’s like getting a feature film mash-up between The Legend Of Zelda and The Black Cauldron. And did I mention how wonderful it looks? Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, and animation tests.
I’d like to say that the final installment of Peter Jackson’s 3-part adaptation of pulls together all of the threads into a gloriously satisfying finish, but The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, 3D Blu-Ray-$49.95 SRP) instead feels like a lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing. There are some grand moments, and a fair number of characters we’ve come to, if not love, at least be fond of, but poor Bilbo feels like an afterthought in his own story, as the focus remains squarely on Thorin and its associated sturm & drang. A shame, really. And we all know we’re merely marking time until the release of the expanded edition at the end of the year, so this theatrical cut gets only the barest of bonus features, with about an hour’s worth of featurettes.
Chris Rock is a funny, funny man. And his writing and directorial debut, Top Five (Paramount, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) is a funny, funny film, starring Rock as a stand-up forced to take a long, hard look at himself after an encounter with a journalist (Rosario Dawson). Bonus materials include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, and outtakes.
As both a documentary film and a powerful indictment of justice mishandled, Errol Morris’s The Thin Blue Line (Criterion, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.95 SRP) remains just as effective today, particularly in light of recent events. And now the film looks and sounds better than ever, thanks to a high definition upgrade from Criterion. Bonus materials include new interviews with Morris and The Act Of Killing director Joshua Oppenheimer, an NBC news report from 1989, and an essay by film scholar Charles Musser.
It seems hard to believe, but it’s only now that the Marlon Brando classic The Wild One (Mill Creek, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$14.98 SRP) is making its high definition debut. Joining it on Blu-Ray is the lesser Orson Welles classic The Lady From Shanghai (Mill Creek, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$14.98 SRP). Both are a long time in coming, but finally here.
Much like the overly-ballyhooed Gravity before it, Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar (Paramount, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) tries to trade on a ham-fisted approach to real science before devolving into mealy-mouth spiritual gobbledygook in a saccharine finale. Which is a shame, because it could have been so much more, rather than a half-baked Kubrick. Bonus materials include a clutch of behind-the-scenes featurettes.
A beautifully shot documentary about an incredibly nifty animal narrated by Morgan Freeman? In 3D? Yes, please. Because that’s exactly what IMAX Island Of Lemurs: Madagascar (Warner Bros., Rated G, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP) delivers. plus a passel of additional featurettes.
If you’re not willing or able to dive into the complete season sets but just want to dip your toe, CBS has released a trio of sampler collections for just that purpose. Star Trek: Captain Kirk’s Boldest Missions (CBS, Not Rated, DVD-$16.99 SRP) contains the episodes “The Corbomite Maneuver”, “The Doomsday Machine”, “The City On The Edge Of Forever”, “The Conscience Of The King”, “Balance Of Terror”, “Space Seed”, “Mirror Mirror”, and “Return To Tomorrow”. Matlock: Greatest Cases (CBS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP) is a 3-disc affair sporting a dozen episodes spanning the run of the show. Finally, Petticoat Junction: Family Favorite Episodes (CBS, Not Rated, DVD-$12.98 SRP) sports 8 episodes, fully restored, from across its black & white and color run.
Exercise your dormant creativity with Drawing Is Magic: Discovering Yourself In A Sketchbook (Melanie Falick, $17.95 SRP), as artist John Hendrix presents scores of brilliant creative prompts and lessons that make drawing fun and interactive.
Another week, and the fine folks at Olive Films surprise with another solid clutch of new-to-high-def catalogue releases. This week brings Brian Dennehy & James Woods in Best Seller (Olive, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP), Bill Pullman & Gabriel Byrne in Wim Wenders’ The End Of Violence (Olive, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP), Robert Duvall & James Earl Jones in Convicts (Olive, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP), Gary Oldman & Dennis Hopper in Chattahoochee (Olive, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP), Tim Roth & Paul Rhys in Vincent & Theo (Olive, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP), and the brilliant documentary John Ford: Dreaming The Quiet Man (Olive, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.95 SRP), about the director’s 20 year journey to realize his film.
It came and went at the box office, but the modern re-make of Annie (Sony, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$38.99 SRP) is a nice little charmer, even if it will never reach the iconic status of the flawed John Huston take on the musical. Bonus materials include featurettes, an audio commentary, a deleted song, bloopers, a music video, and more.
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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Further proving that everything is awesome, the awesome 
Seth MacFarlane relaunches Carl Sagan’s groundbreaking science program for a modern audience? The Family Guy guy? And it is great? Yes, the brand new 
More often than not, I find I’m left cold by the overly-precious affectations of Wes Anderson’s films, but there is much to love in the rather straightforward fable presented in 
There’s brilliant and there’s bizarre, and then there’s the brilliantly bizarre 
There’s something instantly enjoyable about the travel documentaries fronted by Monty Python’s Michael Palin. As the Python troupe frequently exploited, there’s a lovely everyman quality to Palin that makes him intrinsically endearing. It also doesn’t hurt that the folks capturing his travels make it all look so gosh darn beautiful, as it most certainly does in his latest, 
The most I can say about 
Long after his original series, Raymond Burr’s Perry Mason returned for a run of guest-star filled TV movies which found the world’s foremost crime-solving lawyer getting many a client out of a right pickle. The run of these can be had in the 3-volume Perry Mason Movie Collection – 
While it’s not nearly as good as the original 80s G1 animated series, 
If you’re younger than 30, you probably don’t recall that Sinbad was once a very funny stand-up comedian. Well, now you can find out just how he exists in my memory via his quite funny new stand-up special, 
There’s nothing like a monster teaching manners, except when those monsters are the ones teaching manners in 
The fine folks at Mill Creek have opened the floodgates of their classic Sony TV catalogue program, re-releasing a veritable ton of TV, including 
Plenty of shirts are discarded with prejudice in 
Howzabout a soundtrack round-up for this week? Now available for your listening pressure are Rolfe Kent’s score for 
Well, it’d be foolish to watch 
It’s been a long time coming, but my brilliant buddy Craig Shemin has compiled the ultimate guide to Jim Henson’s Muppety legacy with 
Sometimes the true stories are the most fascinating, and that’s particularly the case with 
If The Lego Movie left as much of an impression on you as it did me, you’ll probably want to pick up 
They say write what you know, and that’s certainly what actress and voice actor Lake Bell has done in her feature 
Insight Editions puts out some truly wonderful art books, and they’ve turned their magical eye towards a property long-deserving of a proper celebration with 
While I still have my reservations for the film, 
Little Clint Howard and a bear having adventures in the Florida Everglades? That should be the only reason you need to watch the second season of 
There’s a 3D feature film extravaganza on the way, but if you want to divorce the real history from the drama, The History Channel is releasing 
Twomorrows Publishing continues their tradition of wonderful artist spotlights with 
Edie Falco is still offering a cure for what ails you in the fifth season of 
Produced by Gene Autry and featuring plenty of familiar faces from oaters of the day, the western series 
This year, the Easter Bunny can load up his basket with a clutch of seasonal springtime DVD releases from Nickelodeon – 
Yes, I know I’m a little close to the material – but you know what? I’d still recommend you pick up a copy of 
The miniaturization of video cameras is beginning to frighten me. This terror is completely overridden by the geek delight in holding a digital memory camera that’s only slightly larger than a chapstick tube. The camera I speak of is the 
Sadly, we’ve now reached the limit of the currently produced episodes of 
I’ve seen the episodes a half-dozen times each (I often replayed them while working), but it’s the mark of a classic show that I’m looking forward to digging into the 3rd season set of 
Yes, it really has been 100 episodes since the squarepanted sponge of Bikini Bottom first made his way onto our TV screens. How do I know this? Because there’s now an uber-deluxe box set titled 
They’ve been released what seems like a half-dozen times by at least three different companies, but this is the first time that 
Abrams is fast becoming a real juggernaut with their incredible Abrams ComicArts imprint, as they’ve been releasing some absolutely top-notch tomes that belong on your shelf. Like, now. First up is a loving, in-depth tribute to 
Much like Pineapple Express, those going into 
Have I mentioned before just how much I’m enjoying Warner Bros.’ On-Demand DVD service at WarnerArchive.com? I have – numerous times – because it’s great to see a company find a way to make smaller catalogue titles available to fans when economic realities prevent a full-fledged commercial release. Case in point are a trio of new titles that have been added to the site – King Vidor’s 
Does anyone still watch 
Serial womanizer Connor Mead (Matthew McConaughey finds his plans to bed a bridesmaid at his brother’s wedding is derailed by the supernatural guidance of his departed uncle (Michael Douglas), who originally instructed him on his boorish ways, to mend his ways and find true love (in the form of Jennifer Garner) in the tolerable rom-com 
Comedy Central may have killed their much-missed show, but at least there’s still live performances to keep The State alumni David Wain, Michael Showalter, & Michael Ian Black together, as you’ll see on 
Despite further muddying already cloudy waters with divergent continuity, the biggest drawback of the axed 
When his wife and child are murdered by a serial killer, a celebrity psychic renounces his conning past and devotes himself to using his observation and analysis skills to bring killers to justice in 
It may not be the best sitcom that ever came down the pike, but I still love me some 
It pretty much sums itself up in the title – 
When a killer begins copying the murders found in novelist Rick Castle’s stories, the author is enlisted by the NYPD to help bring the murderer to justice in 
Really, the only purpose that 
It seems Warners believes that audiences were simply dying for an origin prequel to their middling live action Scooby-Doo franchise, which means we know have 
I can’t have been the only one not surprised that 
Oh, Disney Channel – why are your tween/teen comedies just so unrelentingly bland? It’s no wonder iCarly is kicking your ass in the ratings – one has only has to look at the episodes featured on the inaugural DVD release of the new Jonas Brothers sitcom 
I remember getting a screener for the Elton John documentary 
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 
There’s nothing I can say about 
Paramount has unplugged the taps and released a flood of new-to-Blu-Ray titles this week. Special features-wise, they’re direct ports from the standard DVD versions, but you know you just want them for that high-definition fix you so desperately crave. Those titles making their debut are 
There’ve been releases cobbled together from the episodes in the public domain, but you can now get the “official” first season of 
If you think The Hills should be sent into the wilderness and Gossip Girl‘s twenty-something teens don’t represent the reality you faced in high school, you’ll probably find more familiar territory in the documentary American Teen (Paramount, Rated PG-13, DVD-$29.99 SRP), which follows a group of Indiana teenagers as they try and navigate the pitfalls of senior year. Bonus materials include cast interviews, blogs, deleted scenes, and trailers. The DVD is currently a Target exclusive.
Years in the making and hours in the watching, the remake of 
For all of the on screen sturm and drang of 
It may not be the smartest show, but there is a goofy energy and fun to be found in the first 2 seasons of 
When holiday season is over, if you’re lucky, you’ve got a few extra bucks filling up your pocket. With that in mind, Paramount has unveiled another clutch of new-to-Blu-Ray catalogue releases in order to get you to impulse buy some favorites. The 5 titles they’re tossing into the fray are 
If you want to spend the holiday season with a costume drama that brings a little spice, then you’ll probably be happy with 
One of the more disturbing things I’ve seen in a long time would have to be the 
There’s no doubt that 
Mindless popcorn films are all well and good, but it’s nice to pop in a flick like writer/director Alan Ball’s 
Long since jumped the shark, 
