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07.10.05 by Widge @ 11:54 pm Here's yer DVD goodness...  TV DVD of the Week: In Living Color: Season 3. Fox brings you the spawn of The Wayans Army in this three-disc set, containing all twenty-eight third season episodes. Here you get to see Jim Carrey, before he became a huge actor, doing Fire Marshall Bill. You also get to see Jamie Foxx join the cast, before he became a Serious Actor TM, in full glory as Ugly Wanda. Skits and performances have been cut, mostly to avoid paying royalties on the music involved, but there's no real way around that...fans will be happy to grab what they can, and if enough people shell out for the sets, maybe Fox will come back later and fill in the gaps. Regardless, it brings the funny for your weekend viewing. (US)(UK)(CAN)  DVD of the Week: The Sea Inside. Even more relevant these days is this story of trying to win the right to die when and how you choose. In this film, which won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film, Javier Bardem plays a Spanish poet who, because of severe paralysis, fights for three decades to be able to end his own life. This New Line Cinema release comes with deleted scenes, a docu, an audio commentary with director Alejandro Amenábar, storyboards, photo galleries, set design galleries, and the trailer. (US)(UK)(CAN)  Animation DVD of the Week: Classic Cartoon Favorites, Vol. 6: Extreme Music Fun. Eight classic shorts are what you get here, all dealing with music. Amazing, huh? You get some classics like the Goofy instructional "How to Dance" and "Donald's Dilemma" which has everyone's favorite incomprehensible duck getting smacked with a flower pot, which, since this is a cartoon, of course causes a personality change. Odd that "The Band Concert," perhaps the most famous Disney music-related short, isn't on here, but oh well. The kiddies will appreciate this if you haven't already bought the Walt Disney Treasures titles that have these. (US)(UK)(CAN)  Adverse Video of the Week: The Suckling. Wow, this one's a...wow. Okay, so there's been a massacre at an illegal abortion clinic leaving only one survivor. The perpetrator of this vile deed is an aborted fetus that returns from the sewer after having run into some toxic waste and decides to exact revenge. Wow. It's got all the tastelessness of a Troma film but without the funny ha-ha stuff to take the edge off. Filled with bad actors, bad dialogue and a crazy looking giant ex-fetus for an antagonist, you've got your work cut out for you if you venture down this path. So just be careful, okay? (US)(UK)(CAN)  Docu DVD of the Week: The Presidents. An excellent overview of all forty-three leaders we've had (so far) over here in the U.S. It would have to be an overview to cover only three discs, but it's a good one nonetheless, chocked full of photos, footage, and high profile talking heads (like Bob Dole, Jimmy Carter, Walter Cronkite and David Brinkley). Narrated by Edward Herrmann, it also comes with a bonus program that covers the First Ladies and a timeline for the Presidents. This set hits from those knowledgeable folks over at the History Channel. (US)(UK)(CAN)  Anime DVD of the Week: Full Metal Panic FUMOFFU, Vol. 1: Full Metal Pandemonium. For the otaku among you this weekend (I said "otakus" earlier and I thought Dindrane was going to blow a gasket), we offer up this second series of the Full Metal Panic title from ADV. This way you can appreciate the hijinks that result from a soldier protecting a high school student from danger. This action comedy release comes with three episodes, a featurette, clean opening and closing animation, the original TV spots from Japan, a character artwork gallery and even a board game. Tasty. (US)(UK)(CAN) Family DVD of the Week:The Adventures of Pete & Pete: Season 1. We didn't watch this ourselves...somehow we missed the whole Nickelodeon thing. I hail from Alabama, where the arrival of Robotech was like a religious experience. So. But many people love this quirkfest and for those folks, we recommend this Paramount release. There's the first eight episodes, four specials, and some of the shorts that spawned the eventual series. Two episodes and a special come with commentary, and there's a "music station" where you can hear seven of the songs that appeared on the series. (US)(UK)(CAN)  DVD Boxed Set of the Week: Marlon Brando Collection. Again, we like the bargain DVD sets. We're suckers for a bargain. Granted, three of the four films here--Ugly American, Countess in Hong Kong, and Night of the Following Day--are already out on their own DVD sets, but they didn't have features either. The Appaloosa is the only one new to DVD (at least Region 1-wise), but hey, we'll let you complain if you feel like it. We're just going to point the people who want a multiple Brando fix in one shot to this Universal release and be done with it. (US)(UK)(CAN) Categorized as: Recommendations
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07.10.05 by Widge @ 12:41 am Each weekend, Needcoffee.com's staff of whackos will wrack our brains to give you interesting and new things to do over the weekend. Books, movies, whatever. We'll throw them out, you do with them what you will. And hey...if you have something you want to recommend--whatever it is--drop us a line. Hey, come on, we can't be totally selfless in this, can we? Okay, books and music first...  Book of the Week: Bad Girls: Film Fatales, Sirens and Molls by Tony Turtu. Collectors Press puts out a slew of books that are deliciously retro, and this one is no exception. Here you get lobby cards, posters, stills and various write-ups of such films as The Queen of Babylon, Sin and Desire ("The Story of a Girl Who Couldn't Control Her Emotions!!") and Naked Warriors ("Let the Games Begin!") as the book revels in B-movie heaven. Angie Dickinson provides an interview, she who is probably one of the baddest Hollywood girls in history. (Buy it from Amazon.)  Audiobook of the Week: The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain, read by Stanley Tucci. Welcome to proto-noir. This is Sin City's great-granddaddy. A drifter falls for the wife of a diner's owner, who in turn falls for him. The owner is an asshole, making it easy and justifiable (in their minds anyway) to screw surreptitiously and plot said owner's demise. This Harper Audio release is read by Needcoffee fave Tucci, which is reason enough to pick it up as if you needed another one besides fun with literary amorality. (Buy it from Amazon.) Categorized as: Recommendations
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07.03.05 by Widge @ 11:51 pm Here's yer DVD goodness... TV DVD of the Week: The Carol Burnett Show: Let's Bump Up the Lights. It's so refreshing when people who had it still has it...you know what I mean? Carol most definitely still has it, whether we're talking about her ability to kick ass onstage or to just rule in front of an audience--and the latter is in evidence here. We get Carol and the cast of her old show back on stage to both handle question from the audience and also show some classic clips. This Paramount release is a must for any fan. (US)(UK)(CAN)  DVD of the Week: The Merchant of Venice. Al Pacino loves him some Shakespeare. If you haven't seen Looking for Richard, you're really doing yourself a disservice. However, here he's playing Shylock with Jeremy Irons and Joseph Fiennes along for the ride, and really...do you need to know anything else? Oh, and Michael Radford, the helmer behind Il Postino, is directing the thing. Yes, we have your attention now. This Columbia-Tristar release comes with a director's commentary (along with actress Lynn Collins) and a behind-the-scenes featurette. Mmmmmmm. Bard. (US)(UK)(CAN)  Animation DVD of the Week: Batman: The Animated Series, Vol. 3. Paul Dini and Bruce Timm provided the best dark knight we've seen on any screen, small or large, for years upon years. I'm still trying to figure out where the new movie, excellent as it is, fits into this schema. But regardless, this series is what kept fans from succumbing to the weight of campy Adam West (though we love Adam, don't get us wrong) and WTF-y Joel Schumacher (...). This Warner Brothers release comes with the series' final twenty-eight episodes, (three of which come with creator commentaries) across four discs. You also get a featurette on Batgirl.  Adverse Video of the Week: License to Drive. Oh my stars and garters, who in the world would put out a special edition of...oh, hello, Anchor Bay! That's right, it's Team Corey at their zenith (um...) in a tale of two things that all guys their age could relate to: hormones and cars. This comes with an audio commentary by the director and the scribe, interviews with the Brothers Corey, and if the feature itself wasn't enough...bonus footage! And because the DVD-ROM feature includes the screenplay, you can follow along at home. And hey, one last thing: Heather Graham, you've come a long way, baby. (US)(UK)(CAN)  Docu DVD of the Week: Kinsey. Curious about the man that the feature film was based on but you didn't actually see the flick? Well, you're like most people in that regard. Why curious? Because the guy was interested in sex and documenting its many facets and how people interact with it--and face it, everybody's interested in sex whether they like to admit it or not. This PBS docu goes into some corners that the feature film didn't have time to (or mayhap just didn't want to get into) and features interviews with his surviving family members. (US)(UK)(CAN)  Music DVD of the Week: Paul McCartney in Red Square. This A&E Home Video release is quite stacked and will sure to please any fan of Sir Paul's. Not only do you get the titular concert in director's cut form (i.e. longer), featuring Beatles tunes like "Getting Better" and "Hey Jude" but also solo bits like "Band on the Run" and "Let Em In," but you get a complete bonus concert from Sir Paul at St. Petersburg too. Nice. If that wasn't enough there's featurettes--one from the History Channel on the Beatles--to boot. (US)(UK)(CAN)  Anime DVD of the Week: Appleseed. Geneon brings this sucker to DVD. The military wants the technology known as Appleseed. So, for that matter, does the government. And so do our heroes, a badass soldier chick and her cyborg boyfriend. Much mayhem and hijinks ensue, but all you need to know is that much in the way of guns and mecha get involved. This sweet bit of sci-fi/anime gumbo comes with an audio commentary from the director, Shinji Aramaki, and the producer as well. There's also staff profiles and music and scene cues. (US)(UK)(CAN)  Noir DVD of the Week: Nightmare Alley. Fox continues to rock the house with these myriad noir releases on DVD, hitting you with films and doing so with really respectful treatment. This 1947 flick starring Tyrone Power playing against type as a slimeball who masters the art of "mind reading" on a small scale and then tries to take his act to bigger and greedier heights. This comes with an audio commentary by a pair of film historians: James Ursini and Alain Silver. (US)(UK)(CAN)  Family DVD of the Week:Pocahontas. Let's face it: the movie doesn't work. But give Disney some credit for trying to escape the trap they laid for themselves by doing something different. You didn't have singing cute animals (well, there were animals, but they didn't talk or sing) and you actually had dramatic moments like you would have in an actual live action drama. They get some credit, yes. This tenth anniversary edition of the film will work for kids, though, since kids like cute animals and singing (by animated humans in this case). You also get an audio commentary, a new song, featurettes, deleted scenes, and more. (US)(UK)(CAN) Categorized as: Recommendations
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07.03.05 by Widge @ 10:24 pm Each weekend, Needcoffee.com's staff of whackos will wrack our brains to give you interesting and new things to do over the weekend. Books, movies, whatever. We'll throw them out, you do with them what you will. And hey...if you have something you want to recommend--whatever it is--drop us a line. Incidentally, we've provided links where we can for you to buy the stuff or find out more if you're interested, courtesy of those Amazon types, in the US, the UK and Canada. Hey, come on, we can't be totally selfless in this, can we? Okay, books and music first...  Book of the Week: Extraordinary Exhibitions by Ricky Jay. Ricky Jay is many things: magician, actor, author and guy you definitely do not want to face in a game of poker. This release from Quantuck Lane Press is absolutely fascinating: it's a tour of Jay's own collection of broadsides, dating back to the early 17th Century C.E. These advertise performances and exhibitions including "The Wonderful Remains of an Enormous Head," a rabbi mnemonist, a "Hottentot Venus" (that had incredible back), and very smart pigs and horses. Best coffee table book I've seen in a while now. (US)(UK)(CAN)  Audiobook of the Week: Sideways by Rex Pickett, read by Scott Brick. I was curious about this simply because I thought the movie was quite good, with some excellent performances, but I didn't find it to be the Second Coming of Indie Movie Christ like a lot of critics did. So this release from Blackstone Audio is a nice (and unabridged) way of checking out the source material to see what the score is. This comes on nine CDs and is capably read by Scott Brick. Perfect for a long weekend drive. Whether or not wine is involved. (US)(CAN)  Graphic Novel of the Week: Why Are You Doing This? by Jason. After losing his girlfriend, a young man (well, dog-man) is depressed and doesn't like leaving his apartment. However, a favor asked by his best friend ends up with him framed for the murder of that aforementioned best friend. And things just get wilder from there. All in forty-eight pages. Egad. This short comic story from Fantagraphics is a perfect shot glass of graphic wonder for your weekend enjoyment. Now I just need to go back and grab his earlier books... (US)(UK)(CAN)  Comic Book of the Week: Planetary #23 by Warren Ellis & John Cassaday. One of the coolest books out, when it comes out, our story lumbers onward with the semi-origin story of The Drummer as Elijah Snow is off doing his own thing and not telling anyone what the hell is up. There is plenty of badassery to be had here, but I will say this: just when you thought you've seen every possible application of ice powers, The Warren goes and one ups it. And ouch, by the way. Maybe with his run on Astonishing whimpering to an end, Cassaday can pick up the pace a little. Well, we can pray, anyway.  Music CD of the Week: The Best of Poi Dog Pondering. My God, has it really been fifteen years since Wishing Like a Mountain and Thinking Like the Sea? I am so freaking old, I just need to go crawl under my desk and weep for a while. But before I can do that, let me tell you about this Sony release: it's the best of their first three albums, including such songs as "Everybody's Trying," "Thanksgiving," and "The Watermelon Song." Sadly, some of my favorites from Wishing aren't here, but what is here is quite good. If you've already gotten the three albums, no need to grab this one, as the two unreleased tracks are a single edit and "Bury Me Deep," which was actually released on a compilation disc I grabbed years ago. (US)(UK)(CAN)  Comedy CD of the Week: When I Was a Kid by Bill Cosby. Recorded live in 1971 at the Westbury Music Fair, this is Cosby at his most classic. Starting right off with his tale of his hernia (which he expected to a present and then turned out to be the equivalent of a party trick--long story), it's filled with funny tales of his old neighborhood starring Fat Albert and the gang. While my favorite stand-up of his is still the dentist story, this stuff is gold as well. This re-release is from Geffen Records. (US)(UK)(CAN) Categorized as: Recommendations
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06.26.05 by Widge @ 11:48 pm Here's yer DVD goodness...  TV DVD of the Week: ER: The Complete Third Season. Rather than wince along with me for each "very special episode of ER," which is just like every other "very special episode of ER," abandon the status of the latest season and go back towards the beginning, before it started to suck. Warner Brothers hits all of the third season's twenty-two episodes onto six discs in this set. It comes with plenty of bonus bits as well, including deleted scenes, a gag reel, a nurse-ocentric featurette, a featurette on the episode "Fear of Flying," and more. Be sure and check out the official site here. (US)(UK)(CAN) DVD of the Week: The Longest Yard. As I've stated elsewhere on the site, I'm not a big fan of sports, but I do appreciate sports movies. And football is probably one of the sports I appreciate the least, but man, are there some good football flicks. Wildcats probably comes in at #2, but this is the top one by a mile. Shame about the remake. Anyway, this football/prison film features Burt "Does Burt Reynolds have to slap a reporter?" Reynolds as a former pro player who, now in the big house, needs to put together a team of inmates to get their asses kicked. Right. Remakes sometimes mean tasty special editions, which is the case with this Paramount release. You get an audio commentary by Burt Reynolds and scribe Albert S. Ruddy, two featurettes and a look at the aforementioned remake. (US)(UK)(CAN)  Animation DVD of the Week: Classic Cartoon Adventures, Vol. 7: Extreme Adventure Fun. For the kiddies, Disney takes time off from plundering their vaults to release these hour-long collections of classic animated shorts. We are grateful for the reprieve. This time around, the theme is apparent in the name, as eight cartoons are presented around this adventuring idea. Some of those included are 1938's classic "Good Scouts" featuring Donald bumbling his way through a camping outing and 1938's "Mickey's Trailer," which is the one where Goofy abandons the driver's seat to come back into the trailer and hijinks ensue. Give your rugrats some cel animated culture, why don't you? (US)(UK)(CAN)  Adverse Video of the Week: Leonard Part 6. We like Bill Cosby a lot. But anytime he gets near the big screen, we shudder in fear. Partly because he hasn't had a really kickass film, in our humble opinion, since 1978's California Suite, for God's sake. But for those people who are completists, masochists, or those who just don't know how bad a film can get--Columbia-Tristar has graciously put this super-spy flick gone bad out on DVD for all to see. No features, but really, are you surprised? Dindrane might like it, though, as it features the animals of the world turning on us. Wait, what do I mean "might"? (US)(CAN)  Docu DVD of the Week: The American Revolution. Around here, we have a great appreciation for bigass documentaries. And nobody consistently churns out bigass docus like The History Channel. Here, just in time for digestion before July 4th (for our American readers and those elsewhere curious about such things, natch) is eight hours of goodness spread across five discs. The entire story is played out here, with plenty of talking heads, not to mention bits read by the likes of Charles Durning, Kelsey Grammer, Cliff Robertson, Rick Schroder, David Warner and William Daniels. No bonus features, but this is plenty to have to take in. (US)(CAN)  Music DVD of the Week: A Song's Best Friend: John Denver Remembered. Say what you want about John Denver. Most people, at least most people that frequent a site like this one, probably remember him best for his work with the Muppets, since we're all Old School Henson Freaks around here. But beyond that, I remember him for how he was a constant companion of my father's while we were out snow skiing. Of course "Rocky Mountain High" is a natural soundtrack for snow skiing. Of course it is. With this Sony Legacy/BMG release, you get a docu on the man himself, plus four bonus live performances. Any fan will want to check this out. (US)(UK)(CAN)  Anime DVD of the Week: Shadow Star Narutaru, Vol. 2. The next three episodes of this series hit from Central Park Media. Based on a manga title, it concerns our heroine, Shiina, and the star-shaped creature she finds while out swimming. Now, in our experience, when you encounter a cute alien, one of two things happen: you either wind up accosted by government-types in hazmat suits and fly away on a bicycle or you find yourself in the midst of a plot to take over the world. Guess which one this series deals with? New characters show up to do their thing and Shinna's pilot father runs into some serious situations. Bonus bits include storyboards and art galleries, plus bios of the Japanese vocal cast. (US)(UK)(CAN)  DVD Boxed Set of the Week: Gary Cooper Collection. Bargain DVD sets consisting of lots of films of a particular actor for a reasonable price--those are our friends. Rather than bitch and moan that there isn't a buffer of special features, some films just make people happy to be in the format. That's the case with this Universal release, which will please Cooper fans to no end. For $26 ($20 on Amazon), you get five flicks on two discs: Beau Geste, Design for Living, The General Died at Dawn, The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, and Peter Ibbetson. Three of the films come with theatrical trailers and from what I can tell, none of these were previously available on DVD--or if they were, they're out of print now. (US)(UK)(CAN)  Comedy DVD of the Week: Graham Chapman: Looks Like a Brown Trouser Job. If there's one thing we love the DVD format for, it's the fact that every now and then, stuff pops up on radar that we didn't even freaking now existed. Like this, which is essentially home movies of Python's Chapman going on a tour of U.S. colleges and giving lectures on his life and recollections. This was the last speaking tour he gave before his death, so this stuff is priceless. Not only do you get the lectures themselves, but there are video outtakes, audio interviews, a "Chapmanography," and more. God bless Rykodisc for throwing this bone to Python fans everywhere. (US)(UK)(CAN) Categorized as: Recommendations
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