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…)
Jon Pertwee’s 3rd Doctor finally escapes his banishment to Earth and travels into space in the new-to-DVD adventure Doctor Who: Colony In Space (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP). Okay, so he doesn’t really escape – more like the Time Lords who banished him there in the first place decide they need his help to stop The Master from getting his hands on a master weapon, so they send the TARDIS (with The Doctor and companion Jo Grant) to a bleak planet in the 25th century to stop him. Bonus materials are plentiful, including an audio commentary, featurettes, deleted footage, and more.
When I was a kid, so very long ago, hand-propelled paper airplanes were perfectly fine. For today’s kids, something more is needed – such as Power Up ($19.99), which provides a battery-powered propeller to those simple paper planes. How great is that? GREAT.
I love how the DVD revolution has made it possible for just about every TV show you can imagine to wriggle out of the woodwork and get a release. Case in point – the complete run of It Takes A Thief (E1, Not Rated, DVD-$199.98 SRP), a late 60’s show about a suave cat burglar-turned-spy (Robert Wagner), who travels the globe playing his trade in service of the US government. Bonus materials include an extended version of the pilot, interviews, coasters, a repro 35mm film cell, and a collectible booklet.
I think the announcement of its arrival in a definitive high definition collection was both a surprise and a delight to diehard fans, but I’m sure the latter outweighs the former now that they can lay their grubby little paws on their very own copy of Farscape: The Complete Series (A&E, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$199.95 SRP). As if all 88 episodes in high-def weren’t enough, the 20-disc set ports over all of the commentaries, deleted scenes, profiles, featurettes, and promos of the original Starburst editions, PLUS adds a brand-new retrospective documentary and the much-desired Farscape Unleashed special. Are you a fan? You want this set, and you want it now.
One of the most iconic movie musicals ever produced makes its high definition debut in grand style, as West Side Story (MGM, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP) looks and sounds absolutely pristine. As if the restoration weren’t enough, this new edition ports over all of the great bonus features found on the DVD collector’s set from a few years back.
It’s flawed in many ways and suffers from an inadequate budget for its lofty concept, but there’s quite a bit of charm that makes Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP) worth watching in this new 15th anniversary edition, which features a new audio commentary and introduction in addition to the bonus features from the original DVD release.
It was brilliant seeing League Of Gentlemen’s Steve Pemberton in the grim and gritty crime drama Whitechapel: The Ripper Returns (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP), which finds a copycat killer stalking London’s East End in the 21st century.
Celebrate its 25th anniversary with a brand new special edition of Sam Raimi’s classic schlock horror film Evil Dead 2 (Lionsgate, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$14.99 SRP), newly available in high definition and packing in a clutch of new featurettes and an audio commentary.
If you’re a history buff, you’ll probably be as fascinated and gripped by the remarkable color footage you’ll find, presented for the first time in high definition, found within the WWII In HD Collector’s Edition (History Channel, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$69.95 SRP). The 4-disc set contains a view of the second World War that few have seen. Bonus materials include a pair of feature-length specials, featurettes, and character profiles.
For the kids in your life, this week brings Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Space Adventure (Walt Disney, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP), which finds Mickey & friends blasting off and exploring outer space. What’s better than Donald Duck in space? Not much, my friends. The disc also includes a never-before-seen bonus episode.
MGM has dipped into their library for a trio of titles to get the high definition treatment, including the original, much much better version of The Taking Of Pelham One Two Three (MGM, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$19.99 SRP), Tom Selleck in Quigley Down Under (MGM, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$19.99 SRP), and Gregory Peck & Charlton Heston in Big Country (MGM, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$19.99 SRP).
And speaking of MGM dipping into their library, they’ve also unleashed a new clutch of titles from their MOD Limited Edition Collection, including the Morey Amsterdam comedy Don’t Worry, We’ll Think Of A Title (MGM, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98), Joe Don Baker & Burgess Meredith in the suspense thriller Golden Needles (MGM, Rated PG, DVD-$19.98), Charles Durning in Where The River Runs Black (MGM, Rated PG, DVD-$19.98), and Barbara Eden in the biker flick Return Of The Rebels (MGM, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP).
It doesn’t hold a candle to the original UK series, but the first season of the American Being Human (E1, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$49.98 SRP) is enough if a quirky, fun adaptation to at least warrant a look. Beyond that, it’s up to you. Bonus materials interviews, featurettes, and the San Diego Comic-Con panel.
Underappreciated in its day and largely overlooked today, if you’ve yet to see the short-lived Michael Mann series Crime Story (Image, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP), this complete series box set is the perfect way to dive into this gritty world of the Chicago Police Major Crime Unit in 1963, starring Dennis Farina as the hardened lieutenant Mike Torello. The set also contains the 2-hour pilot episode.
It was only a matter of time before History Channel fond a way to make a spin-off from their popular Pawn Stars, and the one they chose was to focus on the gent that show had doing restorations on the antiques brought to the show. So with American Restoration (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$19.95 SRP), you get to see Rick Dale and his crew cleaning up the rust and rot on many an item.
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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Instead of nice comprehensive sets, Nickelodeon continues to parcel out their new iCarly releases as single disc clutches of episodes, the latest of which is 
Hey, so you know how much you love the original Star Trek, and all of its wonderfully stylish props? And how you always wanted some of them for your very ownself, preferably at a reasonably low price? Well, you can get your very own light-up and sound-effect capable 
After a disappointing, featureless jump ahead to release the 20th anniversary season over a year ago, the proper, feature-laden thirteenth season of 
Doctor Grumpy McSourWooster returns in the compete 6th season of 
Chronicling a turbulent, deadly decade in Yorkshire England, the 3 films that comprise the 
When it comes to ABC’s new comedies last year, the one I liked the most was Modern Family. The one that left the least impression on me was 
In what must the 50th home video edition, Sam Raimi’s gory, goofy low-budget indie horror flick 
Its failure really isn’t surprising, as 
It was during the 4th season of 
Michael Caine returns to his touch as nails roots in 
It’s fine as it exits now, but watching the first season of 
With all of the undead glut of late, you might have forgotten that there’s another show about vampires that’s coming to DVD – the first season of 
Those fans that have only experience the butchered editions of weird and wonderful The Mighty Boosh that have been running on Adult Swim need to run – not walk – to their favorite DVD emporium and snag copies of the new-to-the-US unexpurgated editions of The Mighty Boosh seasons 1-3 that have now been collected into the massive 
During my mother’s recent cancer battle, she spent her final week at home. While at home, I set up a pair of 
After 10 years spent off the air, wandering the wilderness of feature film development, the crew of the mining ship Red Dwarf return for a brand new adventure in 
The most brilliant parodies always come from a place of deep understanding – and often affection – for the particular thing being parodied. Such is clearly the case with Peter Kay’s brilliant send-up of reality talent competitions whose full title – deep breath – is 
The Warner Bros. Archive Collection does it again, this time releasing 
Really, the nifty on-demand catalogue service The Warner Archive Collection is the only way we’ll get the short-lived and rather mediocre but fascinating sci-fi series 
I was one of the Disney fans who marveled at the clarity that the restored Platinum Edition of Snow White revealed, making the film look like it was made in the last 10 years – not 70 years ago. Well, the new high definition Diamond Edition of 
You can have your fancy, expensive, often bizarre, more faithful, Tim Burton-directed version of Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, but I will always, always love and prefer 
I’ve gotta say – I really & truly love the amazing, unique, and altogether nifty pop art books that Abrams Comicarts have been putting out – their entire selection of which is worth a look see. Case in point is the new 
Oh, and also from Abrams, have a look-see at 
Originally created for IMAX theaters, 
After a lapse in copyright that allowed it to move from Warner Bros. to Paramount, 
Slowly but surely, we’re catching up on the releases of Gordon Ramsay’s excellent cooking show, 
You know, I’m not entirely sure it hasn’t been forever since the last season release of the still-classic, still-hilarious 
I have nothing against the Shannon Doherty years of the low-rent “reality” candid camera frightfest 
Even though I find the show the dramatic equivalent of beige paint drying, I still find Patricia Arquette watchable in 
Reflect on an incredible body of work by a much-missed actor with the new 
It’s quite rare when I actually enjoy a romantic comedy, only because the plot developments are as obvious as a truck on the side of your ear, so it really comes down to a decent enough script and a good clutch of actors to pull the whole thing off. With 
Does anyone actually enjoy 
As you might expect, the soundtrack to Drew Barrymore’s roller derby flick 
I really have no other ammunition with which to recommend the CG-animated special 
At the end, the show was a shadow of its heyday high, but the cast of 
Sam Raimi decided to abandon the tepid Spider-Man movies and return to form with the schlock-happy horror of 
Will Ferrell’s big screen take on the schlocky Sid & Marty Krofft Saturday morning classic 
I can’t tell you just how much I really, really don’t like the live action 
I think the final product has been a mixed bag, with none shining too terribly brightly, but if you’re keen on buying the recent animated direct-to-video movies starring your favorite Marvel Comics superheroes, you can now get the whole lot in the 
It’s frustrating that 
I’ve never been a fan of Oliver Stone’s violent social commentary 
Before you gawp at the live action flick, take in the classic animated version of Maurice Sendak’s 
Do people still watch 
If you’re not able to drop the cash for the more expensive Spotlight collections, or just want a nice sampler, then you’ll want to check out 
I tried desperately to avoid obvious swimming metaphors to talk about this title, but in the end, I lacked enough willpower to refrain from saying you should dive right in to the 
Sensing it had been far too long since a new release and that brand awareness might be slipping, MTV has dug through the hall closet to scrape up enough material to fill 
I certainly tried, but I could never find enough of a toe-hold to get interested in 
DR. WHO? 
DRAG ME TO HELL – REVIEW