Weekly Recommendations...from Needcoffee.com

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?

March 7, 2003

Book of the Week:

by J.R. Porter. Now, if you've already done some digging around--reading The Five Gospels and delving into the Gospel of Q and whatnot, this might not be your bag. However, if you want an introduction/overview of the "deleted scenes" of the Bible, this is probably just what you're looking for. You probably didn't know that, according to some stories, Jesus was a bit of a little hellion...and in other stories, he goes down to Hades to convert the god that gives that place its name. Crazy stuff. If we only had a director's commentary to go along with it.

Audiobook of the Week:

, performed by John Glover. Yes, it's Smallville's Lionel Luthor in a performance from 1994, where, in this conglom of three separate audiobooks, he reads the majority of King's Night Shift. Sure, why some of the stories were left out ("I Am The Doorway" and "Trucks" are two of my favorites that are AWOL) is a bit of mystery, but the ones that are represented are given a decent treatment.

Comic Book of the Week: The Courtyard #2 by Alan Moore & Jacen Burrows. Had a couple cool titles to choose from this week--but this one left us so damn cold afte reading it, that we had to go with the Moore. The ongoing investigation of what could be a strange cult, a strange new drug, and a series of murders...or it could be something completely and utterly different. Bet on the latter.

Graphic Novel of the Week:

by Grant Morrison, Steve Yeowell & Jill Thompson. Both Doc and I were stunned that we hadn't recommended this one earlier. Arguably Morrison's finest hour, this series is a strange blend of H.P. Lovecraft, Robert Anton Wilson, John Woo and, of course, the Marquis de Sade. They exist in secret, and they're here to save us all: King Mob, Ragged Robin, Lord Fanny, Boy...and finally, the reluctant Buddha, Jack Frost. Trust me, it won't make any sense in the end.

DVD Boxed Set of the Week:

. A very interesting two-disc set, this comprises both versions of I Am Curious from Swedish director/writer Vilgot Sjöman. Hey, anything that gets seized by customs is worth at least checking out--and here you have the two films that use the same crew and characters and a slightly different approach to each one, making for a very strange look at sex, life and politics. You also get the Criterion treatment of commentary from the director, video interviews, a look at the controversy about the films, and more.

DVD of the Week:

. Ah, congrats to MGM for following up the non-special edition with an edition that is truly worthy. Commentary by Gary Sinise heads up the feature list, along with a featurette for both Sinise and scribe Horton Foote. A featurette and deleted scenes (with more commentary by Sinise) make this a serious choice for fans of the play and this kickass rendition.

CD of the Week:

by Various Artists. Tribute/cover albums can be a mixed bag. Rather than a lot of bad covers, normally what you get are people who are a little too true to the original. I mean, let's face it, the whole point of these things is to get a new interp on an old favorite, right? Well, this Koch Records release has some interesting spins on Harrison's work. Personal favorites include Todd Rundgren on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and especially Leslie West jamming on "Old Brown Shoe."