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03.15.08 by Widge @ 12:18 am  Top Gear, everyone's favorite show about cars--not to mention stunts involving cars, explosions involving cars, and nearly illegal crazy shit involving cars--is going on tour and will hit fifteen countries before it's done. The tour will take place over the next eighteen months. But not so fast--the three original presenters who are near and dear to everyone's hearts--James May, Richard Hammond, and Jeremy "This is rubbish, let's blow it to pieces" Clarkson--are expected to do the British dates. But no word on them taking it on the international roads. Which makes sense. Since there's an American version in the works, do they really want to tease those of us on this side of the pond with the real deal when we're already filled with fear as to what a dumbed down U.S. version will be like? (Which begs the question--if you could pick the U.S. presenters and couldn't use the original three, who would you be happy with?) Of course, there's not even an American stop ont he tour scheduled yet, so...who knows? Categorized as: Headsup
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03.13.08 by Widge @ 9:43 pm  In announcement that surprised no one but the completely uninformed, Warner Brothers announced today that the movie version of the Chazzie-nominated Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be split into two films. Director David Yates, who did the helming duties on Order of the Phoenix and is working Half-Blood Prince currently, will be back to do films 7 and 7.5. Expect Film #7 in time for the holidays, 2010, and Film #7.5 will hit summer 2011. Jeff Robinov, President of Warner Bros. Pictures Group had this to say: "In concluding the film franchise, we recognized that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is packed with vital plot points that complete the story arcs of all of its beloved characters. That said, we feel that the best way to do the book, and its many fans, justice is to expand the screen adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and release the film in two parts." Categorized as: Headsup
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03.11.08 by Widge @ 2:07 am  In a desperate attempt to get somebody like me to pay attention to them, DKNY has allied themselves with the ridiculously talented Paul Pope. Pope, for the uninitiated among you, has done a ton of comic and illustration work, including two most excellent Vertigo limited series, Heavy Liquid and 100%. The new line is to be called 2089. From the press release: The scene is New York City, circa 2089, 100 years from the date of DKNY's creation. The story, like much of Pope's influential work, sets a futuristic love story against the collision of nature and industry. The prints are updated camouflage, and the graphics on tees, jackets and hoodies melds sci-fi with the prehistoric. Prepare for pop art clothing alchemy, in other words. I'll see if I can wrestle some images from somewhere when they become available--because this I gotta see. Well played, DKNY. Full press release after the jump. Full image here. Paul's blog here. Categorized as: Headsup
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03.10.08 by Widge @ 12:55 pm  As everyone knows, Gygax passed away last week. We gave our own remembrance in the last Weekend Justice. Adam Rogers, senior editor from Wired, published a piece in the New York Times that makes the following argument: Mr. Gygax co-created the game Dungeons & Dragons, and on that foundation of role-playing and polyhedral dice he constructed the social and intellectual structure of our world. And I think he makes an excellent case. Read the whole thing here. Thanks to Zac for the headsup. Categorized as: Headsup
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03.09.08 by Widge @ 2:38 am  I know I've said this in some of the reviews I've done of Bollywood films, but Bollywood films are awesome. For the most part, they follow certain patterns. They're all around three hours long. They all have comic relief characters. They all have love triangles. They all...are musicals. It doesn't matter what the genre: they're all musicals. Oh, and they also have some of the most erotic sequences you've ever seen...where no one kisses. No joke. Now you too can learn the Bollywood style of acting, thanks to the offshoot of Mumbai's Actor Prepares academy, which will be located in Ealing in the UK. You can read the full story here. But there is one thing you should know that might sell you on the notion of enrolling. Categorized as: Headsup
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03.05.08 by Widge @ 1:56 am An ongoing attempt to make sense of the onslaught of new swag that people want you to buy. Should you? I'll try and help.
TwoMorrows has rolled out another Modern Masters volume, Number 15 covers artist Mark Schultz. Now if you can see the artwork that's on there, I think you can see why Schultz pleases us and should please you too: dinosaurs, unspeakable creatures, dudes with swords, plus rather attractive women toting wicked looking weaponry. Who could ask for anything more? But all seriousness aside, Schultz is the man who brought you Xenozoic Tales (and thusly Cadillacs & Dinosaurs). He's also done a crapload of work for DC and Dark Horse. This book has the usual scads-o-artwork approach that you love from TwoMorrows, not to mention a ginormous interview with the man himself. If you're a fan, you want this. (Click here to buy it from TwoMorrows.) Categorized as: Headsup
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03.04.08 by Widge @ 9:34 pm  The good news is that Spaced, the series that gave us all kinds of cool stuff, like Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright, Nick Frost, Jessica Stevenson and scads more, is finally making its way to Region 1 DVD. MTV reports that Edgar Wright told them that July 23rd is the date. Not available for pre-order on Amazon yet, but we'll let you know, in the vain hope you'll buy it through here so we can keep ourselves in espresso. But all isn't the best of news: there's going to be a U.S. version of Spaced. Fox is doing it and while the creators not being involved is one thing (because as Simon explained they signed away their rights), I'm just sort of pissed that Stevenson (now Hynes) was left out of it, because she was one of the creators. Just another example of something really simple pissing a bunch of people off. Personally, I don't have a dog in this fight because I don't watch American television anyway. And if Wright, Pegg and Hynes stood to make some coin off of it, then I would root for the show's success. But at this point, I just figure the DVD of the original is the safest. And damn, it's funny. (Don't believe me? Watch the first episode.) Categorized as: Headsup
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03.03.08 by ScottC @ 10:33 pm Again Threadless presents a couple of gems that please us no end. If you are familiar with our tastes, you love we love the steampunk. Also, we here at Needcoffee are of a certain age where we look at the 1980s with nostalgia. So when I saw this, you know I had to bring it to everyone's attention.  Is there a harpsichord version of 'In Your Eyes'? Categorized as: Headsup
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02.24.08 by Widge @ 9:16 pm An ongoing attempt to make sense of the onslaught of new swag that people want you to buy. Should you? I'll try and help.
The book is Dr. Johnson's Doorknob and Other Significant Parts of Great Men's Houses by Liz Workman. And on first glance, it looks like something that somebody might have started a blog about: going around and taking pictures of personal items that ordinarily one wouldn't think about. If not a blog, at least a Flickr group. Anyway, it's because of this book, out from Rizzoli, that I can say I've seen Edgar Allan Poe's doorknob (quiet, Scott), Victor Hugo's soup tureen and Darwin's mantelpiece. Fascinating catalogue of stuff you wouldn't normally think about being important--and that's just the point. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.) Categorized as: Headsup
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02.24.08 by Widge @ 4:49 am  Red Bull, kickin' ass--your ass if you're not careful A fifteen-year-old kid in the UK drank eight Red Bulls and had to go to hospital. Our friends at Energy Fiend break that down for you: Eight cans is about 640mg of caffeine - which - to be honest is not a huge amount. Red Bull also contains 1000mg of Taurine, 60mg Glucuronolactone, and 27 grams of sugar per can. So to get things straight - the overdosing teenager consumed 216 grams of sugar (that’s about 54 teaspoons) along with 8 grams of Taurine. They also go on to point out that it's funny how every time some stupid-ass kid (like this one) overdoses on energy drinks it makes front page news. But the same kid getting ripped on alcohol, nobody bats an eye. Funny, huh? Also, as the BBC report states: "Norway, France, Uruguay and Iceland have all banned the energy drink because of concerns over high levels of caffeine." Sounds familiar. Anyway, when you translate that, it means, "These four countries don't trust their citizens to know how to handle themselves." It also can be translated to mean that you can get Red Bull in those countries all day long, it's just expensive to do so. More effective government intervention! Categorized as: Headsup
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