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?
April 17, 2003
Book of the Week:
by T.S Eliot with annotations by Ezra Pound; edited by Valerie Eliot. Okay, so, you know, it's that National
Poetry Month thing. And we can't let the month go by without giving due respect to The Man. Oh sure, you can read your
Gary Snyder and your Pablo Neruda and your Wallace Stevens--in fact, do lots of that. But--and here's something you'll
only hear on Needcoffee.com--Thomas Stearns Eliot is the shiznit. Here you get a facsimile of Eliot's manuscript for the
poem, complete with Pound's markups on the thing. Fascinating stuff that got cut out of that piece.
Audiobook of the Week:
by Dan Brown, read by Colin Stinton. Don't be misled. The book makes a big deal about why exactly Mona Lisa
is smiling. But that's just the tip of the suspenseful iceberg. Throw a murder in the Louvre, some stuff about the
progeny of Christ, the Knights Templar, the Grail, cryptology and an albino monk--then shake briskly. Congrats, you've got
this page-turner (or in this case, disc-changer, I guess is what you would call it), admirably written by Brown and
performed by Stinton. A nice thriller that's a great way to take your mind off traffic.
Comic Book of the Week:Powers #30 by
Brian Michael Bendis & Michael Avon Oeming. The mad genius that is Bendis is kicking super hero books right in the balls.
The conclusion of this latest story arc shows what happens when a cross between Superman and Doc Manhattan goes completely
batshit crazy. What happens? Bad things; but the good thing is--like the end of most of this book's story arcs--we have no idea what
the hell he's going to do next. But we can't wait to find out.
Graphic Novel of the Week:
by Barbara Kesel & Scot Eaton. The further awesome sci-fi adventures of Sam Rey, who's been given a nifty
sigil that allows him to fark around with inorganic matter. Coupled with a very strange guy with orange eyes (long
story), a royal princess turned spy turned Sam's girlfriend (longer story) and a holographic image of his former partner
(um...you get the idea), he's trying to stop a bunch of aliens that make the antagonists in V look like the geckos
in those dumbass Geico commercials. Got all that? Good. Now read.
DVD Boxed Set of the Week:
. One of the first couples to go out and do that mystery-unraveling thing, the Beresfords (i.e. the titular
characters) are here represented with five episodes across two discs, one of them being a two-hour introductory affair.
Sure, these characters (brought to life by James Warwick & Francesca Annis) are a bit lighter than other Christie fare, but when you need to take a break from Poirot or Marple, then this
set from Acorn Media is right up your alley.
DVD of the Week:
. One of the best Vista Series sets to come out. Not only does it break itself up into full-screen and
widescreen discs, labelled "Family Friendly" and "Enthusiast" (although why any friend of any family would show somebody
this flick in pan and scan is beyond me), but it has commentary, all the Roger shorts, documentaries, pop-up trivia mode
and some very appropriate menus. Thank you, Buena Vista, for giving us a kickass version of this on DVD at last. Forget
renting this for the weekend, own it.
CD of the Week:
by Soulwax. I was trying to explain this band to Doc the other day and I came up with this: "They're like
Ween, except civilized." Not entirely accurate, I fear, but good enough. Nice beats, nice guitar licks, nice percussion--and
sweet lyrics and vocals. Two brothers from Belgium bring along some friends and kick much arse. Sample "Too Many DJs"
and "Proverbial Pants," if you want a taste.
Book of the Week:
by T.S Eliot with annotations by Ezra Pound; edited by Valerie Eliot. Okay, so, you know, it's that National
Poetry Month thing. And we can't let the month go by without giving due respect to The Man. Oh sure, you can read your
Gary Snyder and your Pablo Neruda and your Wallace Stevens--in fact, do lots of that. But--and here's something you'll
only hear on Needcoffee.com--Thomas Stearns Eliot is the shiznit. Here you get a facsimile of Eliot's manuscript for the
poem, complete with Pound's markups on the thing. Fascinating stuff that got cut out of that piece.
