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, in the US, the UK and Canada.
Hey, come on, we can't be totally selfless in this, can we?
January 28, 2005
Book of the Week:
by Ian Falconer. Okay, so it's not exactly a book, but we'll place it here because we can. It's a pop-out
book/playset, where the entire thing turns into a paper doll proscenium theatre, complete with versions of the piglets Olivia
and Ian you can place in productions of Turandot, Swan Lake and Romeo & Juliet. There's also an Olivia-penned
Playbill for this season at the Teatro Olivia. Too cool.
(UK)
(CAN)
Audiobook of the Week:
by Bryan Burrough, performed by Campbell Scott. It was the 1930s and crime was beginning to take off and camp
out on America's front pages. You had Dillinger, you had Bonnie & Clyde, you had the Barkers, and others. This inspired
and fueled J. Edgar Hoover to give birth to the FBI as a reaction to this seeming anarchy. Burrough brings these figures
to life in this Simon & Schuster Audio release and keeps from falling into the tired tropes of "true crime" stories to make this a nice little slice of history.
Campbell Scott helps us by letting us "read" while we drive.
(CAN)
Comic Book of the Week: Planetary #22 by Warren Ellis & John Cassaday. Snow has William Leather, one of the
Four, under wraps, helpless and blabbing about his family history. The only thing more engaging than how Ellis has woven
comic archetypes into the backstory of the Four is the really vicious bit that comes with what this cover promises. Cassaday's
artwork does not fail to impress.
Graphic Novel of the Week:
by Doug TenNapel. This Top Shelf release is by the guy who brought you Earthworm Jim, and it's so insane, you'd
wish you could have a series of this, or at least a sequel. Dr. Ong worked hard to get out and stay out of his hometown...now
he's back and basically in charge of a miniature version of the warehouse from the end of Raiders. However, once
the Shroud of Turin shows up, there are resurrections, demon cats, crazed giant insects and space eels to be dealt with.
Granted, there's a really baffling sidebar into the Christian mythos, but it's easily overlooked. The most fun we've had
since somebody threw Sky Ape at us.
(UK)
(CAN)
TV DVD of the Week:
. Ah, nobody does sci-fi cheese quite like Irwin Allen. We prefer his big, over the top disaster flicks, but hey,
we'll chew on some of this. With fourteen episodes spread across four discs here on this Fox release, there's plenty to
try and deal with. There is one feature: radio interviews from 1966 with Harris, June Lockhart, and Guy Williams.
(UK)
(CAN)
DVD of the Week:
. If you missed this on the big screen, well, fie upon you. Bribe your buddy with the home cinema to let you
watch this over at his place. It's so refreshing to see Jet Li in something decent...we wish he'd stick with this director
and just leave Luc Besson alone. Anyway, for bonus-ness on this Miramax release, you get a convo with Jet Li and Quentin Tarantino, Miramax's
resident fuologist, storyboards, plus a making-of featurette.
(UK)
(CAN)
Family DVD of the Week: . This show claims to be for kids, though it seems to have a bit of a Looney Tunes vibe going: you wonder how much of the humor actually sails right over the kiddies' heads. This Paramount release provides six episodes from the series, including a time travel trip back to the Middle Ages and another where Timmy wishes for everything to be quiet...a little too quiet. Get this for the kids and then hang around to watch a bit yourself. Trust us. (CAN)
Anime DVD of the Week:
. The final four episodes of the series are here for the taking, especially if you want to watch the conclusion
to what happens when video game fantasy and the real world blur into a dangerous liminal state. Xenon is about to get its
collective ass handed to it by a volcano, and only The Dream Team of gamers can stop the inevitable. This ADV release
enchants you to check it out with all that plus clean opening and closing animation.
(UK)
(CAN)
Comedy DVD of the Week:
. For those that enjoy watching Black take himself to within inches of a massive coronary, we advise checking
out this HBO release, featuring an hour of his stand-up from his recent "Rules of Enragement" tour. In fact, a lot of the
material is taken from that CD, so if you haven't given it a listen, or are just a fan that wants to see the funny as well
as hear it, check it out.
(UK)
(CAN)
Music CD of the Week:
. From the beginning warble of "Figment," part of the audio homage to Romero that runs throughout the film,
you know you're in for something classic. The CD has everything on here, from The Specials' "Ghost Town" which opens the
film proper to the "Gonk" that closes out the credits. Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" will have you grabbing a pool cue and
laying waste while "White Lines" is a given to be included. Most excellent soundtrack.
(UK)
(CAN)