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?

May 7, 2004

Book of the Week:

. For fans of the man--or for those who only ran across him thanks to Philip Seymour Hoffman's portrayal in Almost Famous--this book will be a must-read. Bangs is arguably the greatest rock critic of all time, and his passion for the genre is unmatched. Here, Anchor Books gives you fifty-four pieces by Bangs, some of which have only recently been unearthed. From incessant wailing about the death of rock, to bits that are autobiographical to ah...praise for Anne Murray--it's all here. Good stuff.

Collection of the Week:

by Charles M. Schulz. Ah, so much of my youth was spent relating to Charlie Brown. And wondering why he didn't just go postal and take up firearms against the travails of his world, but that's something I only talk about in therapy. Fantagraphics has taken on a tremendous undertaking that we salute them for: they're collecting the strips. All of them. From the beginning all the way through to the end. Granted, that will take them twelve and a half years to cover the fifty years of the series (two books a year), but damn, folks. That's huge. You also get these early strips in which you can see Schulz' evolution as a writer/artist and the characters change as he goes. Necessary stuff.

TV DVD of the Week:

. The second round of seven episodes hits DVD, courtesy of BFS Entertainment. The man is Peter Chapman and his codename is "Piglet," lest you think this is some kind of CSI: Hundred Acre Wood thing. Playing across two discs, you get seven episodes of Chapman wanting to be a superspy--but being a tech geek and being mired in bureaucracy is no way to get there. This hilarious and sadly commonly overlooked Brit series also comes with cast profiles and "A Brief History of MI5".

DVD of the Week:

. Before Mel Brooks, there was Charlton Heston. Cecil B. DeMille's remake of his own 1920s film version brings the necessary cast of thousands to the screen, along with Heston, Yul Brynner, Vincent Price, John Carradine and Edward G. Robinson. Paramount spices up this special edition with a commentary by film historian Katherine Orrison, a new docu on the film, photo gallery and trailers.

Anime DVD of the Week:

. ADV releases the latest (and definitive, possibly) version of Hideaki Anno's series in this final volume. Whether you love it or it pisses you off, either way, it's here. Containing the last three episodes, it also sports some bits of added footage, it comes with both director's and original cuts, clean opening and closing animations, and a sneak at the live action film.

Adverse Video of the Week:

. Because one or two people demanded it (one of them being star Olivier Grunier, no doubt), a sequel was made. Gruner is a world champion underground fighter who goes into a prison to expose the underground fighting network from the inside. So is there asskicking? Yes, a bit. There's also hilarious inconsistences, plot crevasses, and a plot device masquerading as a girlfriend. Go for it if you need a chuckle.

Docu Video of the Week:

. Docurama brings you what's ostensibly a two-disc set. It's not every docu that provides an entirely separate film to answer the question of, "Where are they now?". Best Boy was released in 1979 and won the Academy Award. It's the story of the filmmaker, and the filmmaker's cousin, Philly, who's mentally retarded and still living with his parents. The parents are growing older, though, and plans need to be made for when they're gone. As I said, it also contains Best Man, the follow-up docu that catches up with Philly twenty years later.

Animation DVD of the Week:

. Proving that cel animation is only as dead as the minds and imaginations who wield it, this French film got nommed twice at the Academy Awards. Totally wild and almost entirely without spoken words, director Sylvain Chomet has created an amazing film. Thanks go out to Columbia Tristar for shooting it to DVD, this tale of a grandmother out to find her kidnapped cyclist grandson. You get three behind-the-scenes featurettes with scene commmentaries, along with a making-of featurette.

Music CD/DVD of the Week:

by Afro Celt Sound System. Remix albums can either rock ass or suck ass. Thankfully, Afro Celt's latest release from Real World does the former. Featuring reworkings of stuff from all albums--including one previously available through their website--it not only makes everything fresh but makes you want to move. Some key tracks to check out are the opening version of "Rise Above" remixed by Simon Emmerson, James McNally and Mass and their version of "Whirly 3." Also quite cool is "When You're Falling" worked over by Wren and Morley. DVD gives you three music videos and some live footage from WOMAD. Nice.

CD Boxed Set of the Week:

by Various. Okay, so yes: this Hip-O three-disc set is more of an appetizer plate than a full course, granted. How can you call it an entree when it's missing major representation by The Beatles is an obvious question. But even if it had a few more choice tracks from them than it does ("Ain't She Sweet" is an okay song, but come on), three discs is hardly enough to deal with the event comprehensively. But if you want a scattershot revue of the whole thing, you do get some classics on here, like Dusty Springfield's "I Only Want to Be With You," The Who's "My Generation," and Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale."