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…)
The Disney restoration team do another incredible job with one of their animated classics, making the new high definition release of Bambi (Walt Disney, Rated G, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) look like it was produced last year instead of 70 years ago. Bonus materials include all of the original DVD’s bonus materials, plus a new intro from Diane Disney Miller, deleted scenes, a deleted song, featurettes, and galleries. The release also includes Disney’s now-standard bonus DVD version.
I’m a big fan and longtime user of Zoom’s portable audio recorders, often using them while I’m the road to record live events and podcasts. Well, with the Zoom H1 Audio Recorder ($99.99), you get Stereo X/Y mic configuration, microSD memory (2GB card included), a ton of functionality and recording options, and all in a small case that’s half the size of older Zoom recorders.
It’s always a delight when another Mystery Science Theater box set comes down the pike, but even more delightful when it contains a bonus feature I produced and am actually in – Which is the case with Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XX (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$59.97 SRP), which contains not only Fugitive Alien I, Fugitive Alien II, The Magic Voyage Of Sinbad, & Project Moonbase, but also the Servo vs Servo panel that I hosted at last year’s DragonCon. If that weren’t enough MST3K, the fine folks at Shout are also re-releasing a pair of out-of-print releases as standalone discs – Beginning Of The End & The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living And Became Mixed-Up Zombies (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 each).
I’m beginning to think that the supply of classic Doctor Who adventures is inexhaustible, as we get another pair of old school releases in the form of the William Hartnell serial The Ark (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP) and Tom Baker’s The Seeds Of Doom (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP). It should surprise no one that these bear a TARDIS-load of extras, including documentaries, featurettes, commentaries, and much more.
Just when you think the zombie genre has finally been exhausted, along comes something like The Walking Dead (Anchor Bay, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$49.99 SRP), which manages to translate it all to an ongoing TV narrative, playing like an undead version of The Wire. The series 1 set contains making-of featurettes and deleted footage.
Let’s set aside his smug, off-putting hosting gig at the Oscars and concentrate on the rather remarkable performance James Franco gives in 127 Hours (Fox, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), which is perhaps better known as the “guy cuts off his arm” film. Franco stars as the real life Aaron Ralston, whose adventuring in a remote Utah canyon comes to tragedy when a boulder pins his arm and prevents his escape. He has no ability to communicate, no one knows he’s down there, and he can’t extricate himself. Or can he? Errr… yes, he can. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, and deleted scenes.
Miss the good ol’ days of Whose Line Is It Anyway? Well, two of the show’s strongest improvisers – Colin Mochrie & Brad Sherwood – have banded together into a touring partnership featuring an evening of those improv games, which has now been immortalized on DVD via Colin & Brad: Two Man Group – Live And Dangerous Comedy (Image, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP). It’s funny from start to finish, and makes me miss WLIIA even more. Bonus materials include an interview and a featurette on improve DOs and DON’Ts
The kids are covered this weekend as well, with a brand new Spongebob release, Spongebob Squarepants: The Great Patty Caper (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, DVD-$16.99 SRP) – featuring 7 episodes and a clutch of animated shorts – plus The Backyardigans: We Arrrr Pirates (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, DVD-$16.99 SRP).
What do the fine folks at the Warner Archive have for us now? How about Humphrey Bogart and Barbara Stanwyck in The Two Mrs. Carrolls (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$19.95)? Or William Holden, Ryan O’Neal, & Karl Malden in the western Wild Rovers (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$19.95).
Yeah, I know it’s lowbrow, but so help me, I do enjoy the Jackass feature films, and the winning streak continues with Jackass 3 (Paramount, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), which features the return of Johnny Knoxville and the gang in full mental form, with stunts and a joie de vivre that manages to top the previous two entries. Bring on more, I say! Bonus features include deleted scenes, outtakes, and a making-of special.
The designs have been slightly updated, but the spirit of the classic series remains in Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated Season One Volume 1 (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), featuring 4 adventures with the gang going up against beasts, creatures, ghosts, and monsters.
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 was with some trepidation that fans entered the 5th season of 
If you’re keen on the environment but also really, really like to make a lot of noise, why not try the reusable 
Another could-have-been-a-disaster moment turned out to be gold with Steven Moffat & Mark Gatiss’s modern take on Sherlock Holmes, 
It’s a been a few months, and you know what that means – a new Mystery Science Theater 3000 set! Continuing their yearly tradition, this holiday period box set comes packed with another bot action figure, and this times it’s the absolutely massive (and wonderfully accurate) Gypsy. If that weren’t enough, the movies contained in the 
No one but Edgar Wright could have made a film quite as eccentrically experimental yet firmly rooted in pop culture geekery as 
They’re absolute classics and seasonal must-haves, and now the 
A few months has gone by, which means that the BBC vault has opened and another pair of classic Doctor Who releases have made their way out – specifically the Tom Baker years 
Push Clooney & Pitt out of your mind for a moment and revel in the HD glory of The Rat Pack’s grand heist, as the 50th anniversary edition of 
It’s the holiday season, and Warners has added to their set of deluxe holiday Ultimate Collections (previous entries include A Christmas Story & Christmas Vacation) with the 
Fans of the recent direct-to-DVD DC animated fare will no that many of those came with bonus shorts starring other characters within the DC universe. Well, extended versions of those shorts have been collected with a brand new one – that new one being the titular 
It’s a shame that 
As a film, it’s a big mess, but there’s plenty of fun still to be had in 
They might not be as popular or prevalent as they once were, but there’s still something alluring to life under the big top – a life which is explored in the documentary 
Economize your high definition kiddie-slick purchase with the 
Where the US version of the UK’s middle-age male crisis dramedy Manchild never got past pilot, the similarly themed 
The big screen version may be moving in fits and spurts, but the BBC’s live action adaptation of 
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – I’m not a fan, but I know may out there will have been champing at the bit for 
Remember those deluxe, ultra-desirable, completely definitive Twilight Zone DVD releases from a few years back? Well, turns out they weren’t nearly as definitive as we thought, because Rod Serling’s classic series arrives in high definition with a ridiculously heightened amount of bonus features. In addition to all 36 episodes plus all of the original bonus content of the old sets, 
There are some things that are instant triggers for geeks to rip out their wallets and plunk down the cash necessary to own. It’s safe to say that the newly released 
Another landmark cinema classic makes its way into high definition with the arrival of Milos Forman’s iconic 
After running under the radar for its first two years, it was during the 3rd season of 
It’s not quite the old Criterion Blu-Ray release, but Lionsgate has done a fine job assembling their own high definition special edition of Carol Reed’s classic 
It’s a hoary metaphor to compare the analysis of comedy to the dissection of a frog, but I’d like you to ignore that metaphor (which I won’t even bother to complete) and recommend you read Stewart Lee’s brilliant 
It’s certainly not the Blu-Ray restoration I would have hoped for, but seeing as how it still retains its red-headed step child status within the Disney catalogue, I suppose I should be happy that the 25th anniversary re-release of 
Did you know that a feature film version of 
It’s decidedly diminishing returns as you go along until the most recent flick pulls things out of the cess pit they’d gotten into, but at least the high definition presentation of all 6 films in 
If you’re looking for a sprawling, one-stop primer on the history of the United States, look no further than The History Channel’s 
I always thought it was a beautifully designed and executed show, so to be able to peruse those designs via the handsome 
Explore the majestic 
School is back in session, so hunker down with the release of a trio of classic film adaptations of literary masterpieces – John Steinbeck’s 
Long derided as one of the most z-grade laughable of the many Star Wars rip-offs that littered cinemas in the late 70’s, Roger Corman’s Italian-produced mess 
I still, to this day – despite friends who have fallen fully under its sway – remain unmoved by 
Everyone’s favorite sponge drops a greatest hits disc featuring… Well, the title pretty much sums it up – 
I love Patrick Warburton and I generally like sitcom-based David Spade, and I really have tried to like 
It’s not the recent lackluster live action fare, so fans of the Mystery Inc. gang will probably like the new feature-length animated movie 
It’s not the Kevin McCarthy original, but the remake of 
I think 
The original cast is gone, but the 3rd season of 
They’ve come out in about a half-dozen different iterations over the years, but the latest batch of Saturday Night Live best-of releases adds over 20 minutes of additional sketches and outtakes, with the latest to get the treatment being 
I’m as surprised as anyone that 
Speaking of stillborn, that’s the best way to describe the still pointless 
I have nothing against the Coen Brothers’ remake, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the original Ealing version of 
Do you have a bunch of old albums lying around that no one’s bothered to release either on CD or digitally? I do. A ton of ’em. I’ve tried different digitizing solutions, but all have been rather awkward or delivered poor sound quality. With the 
There are some films that I can watch again and again – not by choice, but if I stumble upon them, I’m instantly drawn back in. 
It’s been attempted before, but it’s taken 
Also arriving in high-def is Akira Kurosawa’s take on King Lear, 
I do believe the packaging for the second half of the second season of 
Stephen Fry returns in the 3rd and final series of 
Exploring exactly how Adolf Hitler was able to survive over 40 assassination attempts, 
What’s the sign of a good documentary? It’s one that makes you interested in a subject you never fathomed that you would ever find interesting. Chris Rock accomplishes this feat with 
The final Bourne film arrives in high-definition as the latest of Universal’s new line of flipper single-disc Blu-Ray/DVD combos. I loathe flipper discs with a passion, so even though I understand the cost-cutting thought behind it, I can’t get behind the concept. Looking at the Blu-Ray side, 
Over here! The big wheel keeps on turning out more direct-to-video Scooby-Doo movies, the latest of which is 
Abby Cadabby and Elmo travel down the rabbit hole in the newest Sesame Street release, 
As some series wrap their release on DVD, there are still plenty of others waiting in the wings, which is why we’ve got the complete first season of 
I didn’t think I would, but I actually found the female-centric comedy 
With a cast that includes Gary Coleman, Ron Jeremy, Jason Mewes, and Scottie Pippen, it’s not without a small amount of embarrassment that one watches the sensationally titled documentary 
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 
