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 30, 2004
Book of the Week:
. Well, we're still in April, so it's still National Poetry Month, and what better poet to throw in your face
than Pound--Doc Ezra's namesake and mentor to T.S. Eliot. Pound is a scary dude, folks. Sometimes found intoning his
poems while smacking a little drum, his performances have to be heard to be believed. But for the time being, delve into
these verses: solid stuff is here, such as bits from his Cantos, "In a Station of the Metro," and "The Seafarer."
Audiobook of the Week:
by Andrew Taylor, performed by Simon Vance. Hmmm, let's see. Murder mystery period thriller that evokes 19th
Century London like nobody's business and features a young Edgar Allan Poe as a character and explains some mysteries about
him? Sold. Taylor nails the
atmosphere one would expect from just such an undertaking, and Vance's performance of the piece is capably done. This
unabridged Blackstone Audio release takes up thirteen CDs.
Comic Book of the Week: The Walking Dead #6 by Robert Kirkman & Tony Moore. At first we were a little
afraid of this book--not the interior, mind you, but at the thought that "Oh hell, here's somebody else who thinks they
can do a zombie book." But here's the good news: these folks get it. In fact, in this issue you don't even see
any zombies. You see people and the drama interacting between them, and some amazingly powerful moments. Kirkman understands
what the zombie genre is really about--and Tony Moore's artwork captures it all perfectly. Highly recommended.
TV DVD of the Week:
. Fans of this series were easily spotted when it met its untimely cancellation: they were the ones gnashing
their teeth and rending their garments in the middle of the street. Shout Factory feels your pain, folks. And they have
tried to help the festering wound with this stacked collection of the entire eighteen episode run. Played out across six
discs, you get the director's cut of the pilot, and more audio commentaries than you would know what to do with. Twenty-nine,
folks, with everyone from writers and directors down to parents of the cast members and fans of hte show. Holy crap,
we're impressed.
DVD of the Week:
. Anchor Bay is teasing us with this, trying to get us setup for the Uber Mongo edition that's supposed to come
out later this year. And you know what? We fall for it gladly, Romero freaks that we are. You get the U.S. theatrical
version of the flick, along with a commentary by Mr. and Mrs. Romero and Tom Savini, trailers, TV and radio spots (which
are actually pretty hilarious), and some easter egg interviews. Not bad. But bring the other soon. Soon.
Anime DVD of the Week:
. You say Harlock, I say Herlock, let's call the whole thing off. Yup, same character, just different translation
of the name. So no worries. Geneon brings you this second volume of the new series, containing three episodes. The
universe is going batshit with fear and somebody seems to have misplaced the planet Earth. Typical Monday, right? Anyway,
comes with a clean opening so you can enjoy the animation without distraction.
Adverse Video of the Week:
. Unfortunate Australian slasher flick about a killer terrorizing a boarding school. Terror how? Why, by
strangling the little teen beauties with a bit of barbed wire. Subplots are meant to distract from the lackluster nature
of the flick, so are respectable doses of exposed flesh, but ultimately it's not enough to save it. If you need your horror
flicks to cause a good deal of laughter, then this should do the trick.
Docu DVD of the Week:
. While we're waiting for Cameron to direct another feature film, we can forgive him a bit for returning to the Titanic
in this IMAX outing brought to DVD by Buena Vista. Talked into going along is Bill Paxton, who provides a nice counterpoint
to all of the been there, done that going on. In this two-disc set, you get both the version shown in cinemas along with
an expanded version, a making-of feature and multiple camera angles for the dives.
Musical DVD of the Week:
. This 1953 musical (with music by Irving Berlin) is here, thanks to Fox, starring Ethel Merman, Donald
O'Connor and George Sanders. Merman originated the role of the new U.S. ambassador to Lichtenburg on Broadway and got a Tony for her efforts. Trying to give due
consideration to their catalog titles (and most times succeeding), the folks at Fox bring in Miles Kreuger, he of the
musical film scholarly bit, to provide insight.
DVD Audio of the Week: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John. Man, if only every album would get this
kind of treatment. First up, there's the classic album sounding better than it ever has. Then there's four bonus tracks,
including an acoustic version of "Candle in the Wind" and "Screw You (Young Man's Blues)." Then there's the second disc,
which is a video making-of featurette on the album, previously released under the DVD line "Classic Albums." Like I said,
I've got a whole list of albums that need a release like this one from Universal, which is basically what would happen if Criterion started
a music label.
Music CD of the Week:
by Various. Narada gets points for putting together music from around the world that was designed and executed
strictly to make your ass move. A rich blend of rock, ska, reggae, jazz, dance, fusion, gypsy...hell, pretty much everything
but opera and country...it features tracks from such artists as Los de Abajo, Karsh Kale, and Manuel Malou. Nice
musical appetizer sampler plate.