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02.05.06 by Widge @ 11:51 pm Here's yer DVD goodness...    DVD of the Week: Broken Flowers. Jim Jarmusch's latest stars Chazzie-award winner Bill Murray as a single guy who's been through a number of different relationships in his life. However, things come to a screeching halt when it's revealed that he has a son--something he was unaware of previously. Thus, a quest begins for him to try and find out about this mystery child. Great performances from everyone involved, and also stars Tilda Swinton, Jessica Lange, Sharon Stone and Jeffrey Wright. This is out from Universal. (Buy it) TV DVD of the Week: Jackass: The Boxed Set. Paramount finally brings you a big box of Jackass, and if Tobias digs it, you know it's got to be worth watching. In addition to the three volumes, you get a bonus disc, meaning that the thing is stacked: commentaries with the Jackass crew, unreleased footage by the truckload, a docu where we find out what the crew is up to these days, and much more. (Buy it) Categorized as: Recommendations
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02.05.06 by Widge @ 11:29 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. Hey, come on, we can't be totally selfless in this, can we?    Audiobook of the Week: Cell by Stephen King, performed by Campbell Scott. All of these studies about, well, is it safe or not to have a cell phone up to your head...they've left out one important question: will it or won't it turn me into a raging mindless zombie-like creature that wants to stomp ass? Well, where science leaves off, King picks up the slack, thankfully. For sheer pulp horror-thriller mayhem, you can't go wrong. And really, after his ballsy end to Dark Tower, he's earned the right, I would think. This fresh off the audio presses from Simon & Schuster. (Buy it) Book of the Week: The World of Kong : A Natural History of Skull Island by WETA Workshop. If you're like me...well, if you're like me, God help you. But let's put that aside for a moment. If you're like me solely in the respect that you dug the Skull Island sequences of Kong but before and after that part your ass fell asleep, this Pocket Book release is right up your ravine. It's chock full of details and killer art about the island, including sweet bits like a 50-foot aquatic killer called a Piranhadon. And did I mention the art? Dinosaur fans will inhale this readily. (Buy it) Graphic Novel of the Week: Owly, Vol. 3: Flying Lessons by Andy Runton. This Top Shelf release contains the further adventures of Owly, Wormy, and amigos as they run into another flying critter and learn valuable lessons about friendship. Because the story is told almost 95% in pictures--even the word and thought balloons are filled with graphics and symbols rather than words--it truly is an all-ages book. And, well, if the story and character were any cuter, it would be illegal. (Buy it)    CD of the Week: Nina Simone Sings the Blues. Sorry, but this album has the sincere potential to blow your hat off. From the opening of "Do I Move You?" ("The answer better be...yes!") to the barn-smoldering rendition she gives of "The House of the Rising Sun" and the finishing salvo of "Whatever I Am (You Made Me)," it's stacked from end to end. Look for this one from RCA. (Buy it) Soundtrack of the Week: Sweeney Todd. The Len Cariou/Angela Lansbury original production is obviously a big favorite--big ginormous blood-spattered spectacle that it is. This revival goes in different directions: the ten-person cast is also the orchestra. Patti LuPone's Mrs. Lovett is less brash and Cerveris' Todd is much more insular and less bahhhh-in-your-face. That makes it a very interesting listen and, in many ways, a helluva lot creepier. This hits from Nonesuch. (Buy it) Postcards of the Week: The Art of Pixar. The biggest problem with this release from Chronicle Books is that you're not going to want to send any of the damn things...because let's face it: for those of us who couldn't make it up to the MOMA for the Pixar exhibit, this is at least something to make us feel better. So buy two of the damn things and have one to keep for yourself and one to send to people through the regular post...assuming you still use the regular post. (Buy it) Categorized as: Recommendations
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01.29.06 by Widge @ 11:46 pm Here's yer DVD goodness...     DVD of the Week: The Constant Gardener. Ralph Fiennes takes the lead in this John Le Carre adaptation, hitting DVD from Universal. His activist wife, played by Rachel Weisz, is found dead in Kenya--murdered. He goes to try and solve the crime himself but winds up stumbling upon a vast conspiracy. This release comes with deleted and extended scenes, a featurette on shooting in Kenya, behind-the-scenes bits and a featurette on Le Carre. (Buy it) TV DVD of the Week: America's Funniest Home Videos: The Best of Kids and Animals. Is it just me, or does that kid at the bottom of the cover look like he's eyeing that flying dog because he's hungry? I think of the strangest things. So does most of America, though, and here's the video evidence. If you like watching the titular subjects falling over and whatnot, then you've come to the right place with this Shout Factory release. You get two bonus prize-awarding episodes plus a two-hour "Battle of the Best" on disc three. (Buy it) Categorized as: Recommendations
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01.24.06 by Widge @ 3:12 am    Audiobook of the Week: Mirrormask by Neil Gaiman, performed by Stephanie Leonidas. The DVD hits soon, and you should definitely catch it because the movie is sweet. In the meantime, this fantasy movie about the girl raised in a circus who's fed the hell up with a fantasy life gets novelized for kids, then gets read by the lead actress as her character Helena. This hits from Harper Audio. (Buy it) Book of the Week: Aussiewood: Australia's Leading Actors and Directors Tell How They Conquered Hollywood by Michaela Boland and Michael Bodey. If you like your actors from down under--and seriously, with names like Geoffrey Rush, Nicole Kidman, Frances O'Connor and Heath Ledger on the bill, not sure how you can't appreciate that goodness--then this is the book for you. Released from Allen & Unwin, it features the stories behind how they made it to where they are today. Interesting cinema reading. (Buy it) Categorized as: Recommendations
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01.15.06 by Widge @ 11:42 pm Here's yer DVD goodness...    DVD of the Week: Cinderella Man. Russell Crowe heads up this boxing flick along with Renee Zellweger and Paul Giamatti, which is the based-on-a-true-story story of James Braddock whupping ass and taking names to the delight of the downtrodden during the Depression. Ron Howard directs it (which hits DVD thanks to Universal), and it comes with a nice array of features: commentaries, deleted scenes with optional commentary and a slew of featurettes. We'll see if Crowe's Oscar chances survive that phone incident, huh? (Buy it) TV DVD of the Week: The Dukes of Hazzard: The Complete Fifth Season. This season is the "infamous" Coy and Vance season, as Bo and Luke fled Hazzard County temporarily due to contract issues. But they came back, and you got four Dukes in one episode. And fans like the show so much, they're willing to forgive a lot. Still, notice how Daisy's the only one to get the cover treatment this time around? Yeah. Twenty-two episodes are here from Warner Brothers, including a stunt team reunion featurette, and a visit to Cooter's Place. For more info, check out the official site here. (Buy it) Categorized as: Recommendations
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01.08.06 by Widge @ 11:33 pm Here's yer DVD goodness...    DVD of the Week: The Frighteners. Long before Peter Jackson had a blank check in Hollywood, he was making films like this: a horror-comedy quirkfest starring Michael J. Fox as the guy who works with some ghosts to further his own career as a ghostbuster. While investigating a mystery, he comes face to face with lots of death and evil on a large scale. So hijinks ensue. This Universal release sports the "director's cut" of the film, plus a Peter Jackson commentary, a making-of bit and storyboards. (Buy it) TV DVD of the Week: Three's Company: Season Five. Come on knock on their door. Why? So you can watch John Ritter pratfall, that's why. It's amazing how this series worked off of basically one script for its entire run...and somehow we never got tired of it. Because of Ritter, of course. This season sees Suzanne Somers fall to the wayside in favor of "cousin" (read: less expensive to cast) Jenilee Harrison. Here you get twenty-two episodes from Anchor Bay across four discs, plus an interview with Harrison and some other members of the crew. (Buy it) Categorized as: Recommendations
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01.08.06 by Widge @ 10:30 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. Hey, come on, we can't be totally selfless in this, can we?      Audiobook of the Week: The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. When the Oxford English Dictionary was being compiled, correspondents from all over responded...including a Dr. Minor, who provided a crapload of input for the work. Of course, it was revealed later that Minor was a murderer confined to an asylum at the time. Winchester reads his own tale of Minor and the dictionary that he assisted with, and it's fascinating stuff that seems stranger than fiction. This hits from Harper Audio. (Buy it) Book of the Week: The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Extreme Edition by Joshua Piven & David Borgenicht. Well, if your life is still in danger, then you can get the even crazier latest title from this line, published by Chronicle Books. Within these pages are everything you need to know for escaping from a giant octopus, biking down a rock face, taking a bullet, driving on four blown tires, and surviving being stranded on a iceberg. Amazingly, these are all things that happen from time to time working for Needcoffee. So this book is a godsend. (Buy it) Graphic Novel of the Week: The Freebooters by Barry Windsor-Smith. Axus the Great used to be the hero of legend. Now he's used his legend as collateral to buy a tavern and has basically grown...larger, shall we say. This could be an issue, since his arch-nemesis, Ammon-Gra, may have returned after decades. Can Axus get it together enough to go out and win the day one last time? All of the content Windsor-Smith created for this story via his Storyteller title is available in this Fantagraphics book, and it's just as good as you might hope. There's nothing quite like the man's art. (Buy it) CD of the Week: Night Beat by Sam Cooke. Cooke has one of the smoothest voices ever. I grew up listening to the classic tracks of his that everybody's heard: "Cupid" and "Chain Gang" and the like. But I was bereft of the rest of his stuff, which is, in my opinion, better than his radio hits. "Lost and Lookin'" all by itself would make this remastered RCA release worth picking up. But it's one good track after another, with "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" and "You Gotta Move" along with others. Highly recommended. (Buy it) Boxed Set of the Week: The Moody Blues Chronicles. The great thing about these Chronicles sets from Universal Music is that--bang--a hole in your music collection is filled just like that. For ten bucks a shot, you get three albums: Days of Future Passed, In Search of the Lost Chord, and On the Threshold of a Dream. Granted, that's all you get--so if you were looking for a mondo edition, keep looking. But if you just need the songs, go for it. (Buy it) Categorized as: Recommendations
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01.02.06 by Widge @ 9:18 pm Here's yer DVD goodness...we're a day late. It was New Year's. You'll get over it.    DVD of the Week: Mr. & Mrs. Smith. A film that looks like War of the Roses mixed with C-4 and automatic weapons can't be all bad, can it? It's entertainment, pure and simple, featuring two Beautiful People armed to the teeth. That's what you can say for this Fox release, although the DVD is pretty well stocked as well: deleted scenes and commentaries are here to bolster it up. For a silly good time with bullets, sure, turn your brain off and go. (Buy it) TV DVD of the Week: A Different World: Season One. While you're waiting for the next boxed set of Cosby Show to smack into shelves, fans should be reminded of this spinoff, the first season of which is released thanks to Urban Works. Lisa Bonet's Cosby daughter Denise goes off to college, where she would eventually leave the show to more memorable performances by Kadeem Hardison and Jasmine Guy. This set comes with twenty-two episodes across four discs, a lost episode, bloopers, and more. (Buy it) Categorized as: Recommendations
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12.25.05 by Widge @ 11:07 pm Here's yer DVD goodness...    DVD of the Week: Titanic. A kickass film that caved under the weight of its own insane popularity, it's still as good as it was when it hit cinemas. This is especially evident on this Paramount release, which fans will freak out over. It comes with three commentaries, deleted scenes with optional commentary, an alternate ending, a slew of background info, featurettes, and effects goodness as well. We'll just ignore that Celine Dion video, shall we? (Buy it) TV DVD of the Week: 3rd Rock From the Sun: Season 2. The twenty-six episodes are here on DVD from Anchor Bay and fans should rejoice--because they come with 3-D glasses for viewing the 3-D scenes in the season closer. If that wasn't enough sickness, you also get an alternate ending for that episode, a new interview with Lithgow, bloopers, behind-the-scenes fun, and more. Plus the fact that the box comes with a voicechip featuring a bit from Harry. (Buy it) Categorized as: Recommendations
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12.25.05 by Widge @ 9:15 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. Hey, come on, we can't be totally selfless in this, can we?   Book of the Week: How to be Pope: What to Do and Where to Go Once You're in the Vatican by Piers Marchant. This Chronicle Books release could easily have been penned by our very own Hieronymous I. This amusing little tome is exactly what it purports to be, with everything you need to know about the job, the staff, the responsibilities, and more. H will be with us for some time, but if you want to know what he'll be doing when he finally takes his rightful place in Vatican City, then check this out. (Buy it) Categorized as: Recommendations
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