Each Thursday (or Friday, since some weeks we seem to be running behind on everything), 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?
January 16, 2003
Book of the Week:
by John Adams & Dougal Dixon. Imagine if Barlowe's Expedition had been set on Earth instead of the
distant world of Darwin IV. Oh, and there's an ongoing series on Animal Planet that goes along with the idea: what will
life on Earth look like after man has left the planet behind him? Well, in a word: life will look pretty damn cool.
Gigantic eight-ton squids walk the land, tortoises larger than the largest of the dinosaurs, and a worm that looks like a
cross between an enormous earthworm and a fern.
Audiobook of the Week:
by Thomas Harris, read by Chris Sarandon. Re-issued with a cover to match the recent movie adaptation, this
book is still damn creepy--and especially so when performed by Sarandon. A lot of readers are doing the police in different
voices, as it were, but--it still sounds like them. Each character almost sounds like somebody else besides Sarandon is
reading them--talk about creepy.
Comic Book of The Week:The Ultimates #8 by
Mark Millar & Bryan Hitch. "Welcome to the Ultimates, Hawkeye and Black Widow. Hope you survive the experience." Yeah,
right. Talk about a couple of badasses. Especially Widow, who's ostensibly a red-headed female Midnighter with a better
disposition. Then you've got the truth about the aliens on Earth, World War II, and oh, yeah, Hank Pym's about to get his
arse handed to him by Captain America. Oh, we like it. More, please.
Graphic Novel of the Week:
by Garth Ennis, Greg Staples & Gary Erskine. Not only do you get some good 2000 AD eating--but this also
contains five stories by Ennis from the mag that are previously uncollected. Not only do you get the requisite amounts of
violence and property damage, but you also get very, very angry women, a judge from the Emerald Isle, and massive amounts
of people taking their own lives. What else do you need in a comic book trade, I ask you?
DVD Boxed Set of the Week:
. Hosted by Simon Schama, a European historian who's got a few books under his belt, this sprawling five-disc
fifteen-hour series covers Britain from top to bottom--and does so in a way that's irresistible to even those who find
the subject of history boring.
DVD of the Week:
. What's better than a single dose of Sir Ian Holm? Why, a double dose, of course! In this very small,
almost forgotten 2002 flick, the question of what really happened to Napoleon is answered. Napoleon, played by
Holm, is in exile and must get back to France. Therefore, a double, also played by Holm, is brought in to take his place
while the emperor can stealthily make his way back to his country. And of course, nothing works out the way it was planned
to.
CD of the Week:Blue
Bell Knoll by Cocteau Twins. Musical wonder as the background for the ethereal non-sensical vocal stylings of
Elizabeth Fraser (heard most recently on the soundtracks to the Lord
of the Rings flicks. Probably my favorite of their albums with Treasure a close second. "Carolyn's Fingers"
is a standout track--listen to it and decide for yourself.
Book of the Week:
by John Adams & Dougal Dixon. Imagine if Barlowe's Expedition had been set on Earth instead of the
distant world of Darwin IV. Oh, and there's an ongoing series on Animal Planet that goes along with the idea: what will
life on Earth look like after man has left the planet behind him? Well, in a word: life will look pretty damn cool.
Gigantic eight-ton squids walk the land, tortoises larger than the largest of the dinosaurs, and a worm that looks like a
cross between an enormous earthworm and a fern.
Comic Book of The Week:
The Ultimates #8 by
Mark Millar & Bryan Hitch. "Welcome to the Ultimates, Hawkeye and Black Widow. Hope you survive the experience." Yeah,
right. Talk about a couple of badasses. Especially Widow, who's ostensibly a red-headed female Midnighter with a better
disposition. Then you've got the truth about the aliens on Earth, World War II, and oh, yeah, Hank Pym's about to get his
arse handed to him by Captain America. Oh, we like it. More, please.
