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…)
It’s always a worry when Pixar revisits their past films for a sequel. Will this be the time it all falls apart and the bloom is finally off the rose? Happily, that’s not the case with Monsters University (Walt Disney, Rated G, 3D Blu-Ray-$49.99 SRP), which takes is back to their genesis of Mike and Sully’s friendship at the titular alma mater, and manages to be a snappy college comedy that evokes genre classics like Animal House and Back To School to enjoyable effect. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, a clutch of featurettes, deleted scenes, and the theatrical short The Blue Umbrella.
Slowly but surely, Disney/Pixar has been revisiting their catalogue titles with snazzy new 3D versions, and the latest to get the treatment is the original Cars (Walt Disney, Rated G, 3D Blu-Ray-$49.99 SRP). It’s certainly a film that benefits from the upgrade, particularly the various race scenes. This new edition ports over all of the bonus features from the previous Blu-Ray release, including an audio commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes, and the short subjects One Man Band and Mater And The Ghostlight.
Invite the legendary Carol Burnett over for the holidays via The Carol Burnett Show: Christmas With Carol (Time Life, Not Rated, DVD-$12.95 SRP), which collects a handful of episodes and holiday sketches together into a cornucopia of comedy delights.
In the mood for a clever little romantic comedy? You know, the type perfected by the Brits? Then give a spin to I Give It A Year (Magnolia, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.98 SRP), about a young couple in a marriage no one thinks will last. Bonus materials include featurettes, deleted scenes, interviews, and a gag reel.
The prehistoric beasties of the UK’s Primeval make their way to American shores in the US version Primeval: New World (E1, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.98 SRP), and you can now watch all 13 episodes of the short-lived series at your leisure. Bonus materials include a clutch of featurettes.
Despite the unfortunate participation of Zack Snyder, I was pleasantly surprised by the documentary Necessary Evil: Super-Villains Of DC Comics (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$19.98 SRP), which takes an in-depth look at the baddies that define the DC superheroes. And it’s narrated by the great Christopher Lee, so it’s got that going for it, too.
America’s favorite fat cat returns in The Garfield Show: A Purr-fect Life (Vivendi, Not Rated, DVD-$14.93 SRP), which collects 6 episodes from the orange tabby’s new show, plus additional shorts. Now, if it only came with lasagna…
I love how The Conjuring (Warner Bros., Rated R, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP) touts its tale of a pair of ghosthunters helping a family terrorized by a poltergeist as being “based on true events”, because… ghosts? Really? Besides that nonsense, the film itself is a snappy little thriller in the vein of, well, Poltergeist. Bonus materials include a trio of featurettes.
Are you a fan of rare archive films? And an Anglophile? If so, dig into the historical films collected in London’s East End: 1900s – 1970s, London’s War: During WWII, London Life In The 1930s, 50s, & 60s, and The Golden Age Of British Railways (BFS, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP each). Plenty of nifty sights to behold.
Every once in awhile, The History Channel puts out a few releases to remind people their programming used to be about more than garbage pickers and pawn shops. The JFK Collection (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP) brings together 8 documentaries on all aspects of Kennedy, including his family members. Meanwhile, the high definition WWII Collection (History Channel, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP) contains a trio of documentaries – WWII In HD, WWII In HD: The Air War, and WWII From Space.
Considering it’s a Christopher Guest project in his improvisational style and it stars the eminently affable Chris O’Dowd, I had high hopes for Family Tree (HBO, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP). Sadly, the resultant journey of O’Dowd’s character through his family’s unexpected history is a dull, draggy affair that never manages to find the transcendently sublime riffs that usually carry Guest’s humor along. A shame. Bonus materials include featurettes and additional scenes.
Honestly, I can see why RIPD (Universal, Rated PG-13, 3D Blu-Ray-$49.98 SRP) was a bit of a dud at the box office – It plays much better as a schlocky sci-fi flick to be watched on a cold winter night in the comfort of your own home. With Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds as a pair of deceased lawmen back on the mortal plane to defend it against destructive spirits who discover a scheme that could mean the end of all existence, it’s just the right kind of cheese. Bonus materials include alternate openings, featurettes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel.
Another week, and other roundup of brand new soundtracks releases! This week, we’ve got selections of Richard Marvin’s scores from the first two seasons of Grimm (La-La Land Records, $15.98), Steven Price’s score for Gravity (Watertower Music, $9.98 SRP), the 2-disc collector’s edition of Bear McCreary’s music for Da Vinci’s Demons (Sparks & Shadows, $8.99 SRP), the soundtrack album to the Paul Potts biopic One Chance (Sony, $10.99 SRP), Oscar Navarro’s score to La Mula (Moviescore Media, $7.99 SRP), and finally, we’ve got David Schwartz’s music and songs from Arrested Development (Varese Records, $11.88 SRP).
The fine folks at Film Chest have released the first of their Roger Corman’s Horror Classics Volume 1 (Film Chest, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP), featuring A Bucket Of Blood, Dementia 13 & The Terror, all of which have been restored from 35mm film elements.
The fine folks at the Beeb present their own take on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP), as a young woman must make a perilous journey deep into the domain of the titular queen to rescue a penniless urchin she had befriended before he was spirited away. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, a featurette, and a Blue Peter program on Hans Christian Andersen.
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 months, so that means another much-anticipated addition to the MSTie library with 
Sure, they’re a bit of a novelty, but for goofball geeks and kids, the 
I still don’t think we’ve gotten enough perspective on the events and repercussions of 9/11 to make a truly remarkable film about it, but 
While James Cameron’s film has the edge in the effects and actual mechanics of the sinking, the far more accurate portrayal of the real people and events leading up to the disaster – and the exclusion of saccharine fiction – makes 
I would have hoped it would have been better timed to be released alongside the big screen adventures, but at least we still get the second and final volume of the animated 
I’m a big fan of the various documentaries that Top Gear co-presenter James May has done over the years, all of which contain an almost boyish enthusiasm for the various subjects at hand. He goes enjoyably DIY with the first series of 
Fifteen seasons of 
Packed with the Hollywood luminaries that received their career start from him and chronicling his profitable existence as the King of the Quickie, 
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t the least bit worried that George RR. Martin might be unable to keep all of the plates of his sprawling Song Of Ice & Fire series spinning with the arrival of the long-awaited 5th installment, 
If you’re not comfortable with the whole touch-activated thing and desire a measure of accuracy, then you might want to try the 
You know, it says it’s from Nickelodeon studios, but I find it hard to believe that 
I usually find Robot Chicken an uneven affair, but they always seem to bring their A-game to their Star Wars specials. While 
Oh, great that these classic Doctor Who releases are coming so fast, as we get the terribly unappreciated William Hartnell old west adventure 
As the cinematic Harry Potter-verse draws to a close, there’s a lot of products both official and unofficial that are being released to capitalize on all of the wizardry hubbub, but one of the most fun unofficial items has to be 
It doesn’t seem that long since the last series, but the spooks at 
After 15 seasons, 
Oh, Russell Brand. I really do like you as a performer, and was a fan long before the rest of the US even knew who you were, but this remake of 
A consummate lawyer who works out of the back seat of his car, Matthew McConaughey finds himself in a violent predicament when he takes on the defense of a young man accused of rape and murder in the entirely watchable thriller 
The third season of 
Shout Factory has cranked up their high definition genre releases with a pair of must-have cheese flicks – Roger Corman’s Star Wars pastiche 
Regardless of which side you fall on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the film 
If you’ve got a big, beautiful high definition television, there’s nothing like kicking back and just drinking in the beauty of the IMAX films 
Are you behind on picking up the DVD releases of Nickelodeon’s most popular preschool shows? Well, now you can catch up with 
I know there are plenty of fans, but I’ve never been able to make it through an episode of 
I didn’t think I would like the new TRON film. The original was a childhood favorite, even though it’s not a terribly good flick, and everything I’d seen and heard about the sequel gave me a massive feeling of “meh”. Well, the sequel, while flawed, is entirely watchable, at times even good, even if it suffers the same kind of story malaise that affected its predecessor. You can get both films via the 5-disc 
We’re entering into the rainy season as spring begins to dawn, and what better way to pass the time than constructing a pair of Harry Potter LEGO sets – the wonderful 
You know what doesn’t hold up? The original 
While it’s not the complete season sets fans have been hoping for, at least 
While I still prefer its more oddball sequel, there’s still much charm in the original 
If you’re still breaking in your 3-D TV or computer and desperate for content with which to do so, a pair of films made for 3-D IMAX theaters are available for your exhibition pleasure – 
Another of those “must-have” classic musicals has made its way into the high definition realm with the arrival of the 40th anniversary edition of 
The massive Roger Corman collection coming out of Shout Factory gets a pair of new releases that amount to 5 more films, the first of which is the triple feature 
If you thought you had the complete run of Abbott & Costello’s theatrical flicks after getting that big Universal set a few years back, best think again, as the Warner Archive Collection has released a clutch of films the boys made for them, including 
The most I can say about 
I really could have done without the over-the-top violence, because I actually found the story behind 
In these dark, depressing, overheated days, there’s one thing that can still manage to bring a smile to even the most jaded countenance. I bet you’re wondering what I’m talking about. Why, I’m talking about 
It’s not often that you find a smart, funny kiddie comedy that’s just as enjoyable for the adults, and 
While The Nightmare Before Christmas gets all of the attention, director Henry Selick’s stop-motion follow-up adaptation of Roald Dahl’s 
Very rapidly, now, studios are cranking up their catalogue high definition conversions, which leads us to this week’s trio of releases from MGM – 
He made a lot of movies, but the most memorable ones are includes in the high definition 
It’s slight and really doesn’t maintain itself very well, but 
It’s not the films you generally think of when you hear his name, but there’s a nice look at the kind of films that sustained his career in the TCM Spotlight 
Want to know a lot about a certain subject in a fast, easy, and entertaining way? Well, the folks at The History Channel have marshaled their massive library into a new initiative of single-disc “Instant Expert” releases, each of which focuses on a single topic. The first batch to come down the pike include 
David Starkey dives deep into the history of Britain’s ruling class in the documentary series 
Film criticism has been condensed down to its purest form in the collected release of 
Having recently acquired the rights to release Roy Budd’s scores, Silva Screen launches right in with a sparkling release of Budd’s score to the original 
Long a favorite of tape-trading fans, the very lovely, little-seen 1984 documentary 
It seems awfully soon after the Brit-centric, Frank Oz-helmed remake of just a few years ago, but the American audience got its own version of 
So two volumes simply weren’t enough? Well, perhaps you’ll finally get your fill with 
It’s schlock of the utmost caliber, as Joe Dante rips off Jaws in the Roger Corman produced 
Did you know that Hawaii Five-O ran for 12 seasons? I mean, by the time you get to 
Thanks to Charlie Brooker’s brilliant deconstruction of this soap opera dramatization on the loves and lives of the 19th century painters in question, I can’t really take 
While it makes me feel achingly old to see it’s the 25th anniversary edition, it is nice that John Hughes’ 
Watch a once-promising show completely collapse under its own mismanagement and limp to a perfunctory demise via the 4th and final season of 
Proving that Sesame Street is all about following trends instead of setting them nowadays, their latest DVD release features Abby Cadabby in 
Oh, The 80’s. You gifted us with so much pop culture detritus that clogs every nook and cranny of the brains that lived through you. Included in that clutter is the short-lived TV series 
Calling back to the likes of Voltron, Robotech, and Battle Of The Planets, Adult Swim’s 
Children of the 70’s and 80’s remember well the overly-earnest, deadly-dry, unintentionally laughable educational films and programs that were a regular staple of the classroom. Well, the brilliant Peter Serafinowicz & Robert Popper have taken that fertile ground and crafted a magnificently bent parody in 
Time to upgrade your trusty old lunchbox? Why not go with the 
If you’re only knowledge of the character is the equally underrated film, do yourself a favor and pick up the beautifully presented 
If you go into 
The term “classic” gets thrown about with abandon nowadays, and I’d certainly question its application I the “Roger Corman’s Cult Classics” line of catalogue releases, but there’s no doubt that “cult” is more than applicable. The latest pair of additions to the line are 
What do you get one a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost shack up together? The supernatural Three’s Company dramedy that is the BBC’s 
It’s gut level humor and certainly not high-brow, but its base nature is probably why my nephews got such a kick out of 
The residents of the Springfield Retirement Castle will be delighted at the release of 
You know, I kind of dug 
Get all goofy with Batman, Superman, and all the rest down at the Hall of Justice with the second volume of 
Fear for the future of civilization after viewing even one minute of 
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