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 30, 2003
Book of the Week:
by Edward Gorey. If you want a light bit of sickness (wafer-thin sickness, perhaps?), then you can't get much
better than one of Gorey's illustrated mini-books. Take this one, for example, which concerns the adventures of Embley
and Yewbert on a previously untenanted bicycle. They encounter a large bird, an alligator, and no turnips. Very surreal
and oddly hilarious, it's a nice little bit of weirdness to get the taste of the week out of your mouth.
Audiobook of the Week:
by William Shakespeare, performed by the Renaissance Theatre Company. It's abridged, but this audio performance
of the play has Branagh, Gielgud, Jacobi and Emma Thompson among its cast, so it's no slouch. Done in 1992 under the
direction of Branagh and Glyn Dearman for BBC Radio, it relies on the actors to deliver the punch, since you've got
voices and nothing else. So prepare to get punched.
Art Book of the Week:
. For the fan of the film, it's a no-brainer. You get scads of concept art, designwork, production art,
storyboards and stills from the film. And--the hardback collector's edition from Newmarket Press comes with the complete
screenplay of the flick, plus some bonus art from the first film and a slew of Nightcrawler poster art. Over 260 pages of
goodness that will be sure to please.
Graphic Novel of the Week:
by Tony Bedard & Karl Moline. Miss horror comics? So do we. Or at least--we did, until this quirky little
monstrosity came along. Meet Cassie Starkweather. She's a student at WSU and, after a horrible accident which costs a
friend's life, she's gripped with guilt. Then the friend's ghost shows up--and all hell breaks lose. Well, literally.
We're not sure exactly where it's all leading, but Bedard's the man who makes Negation rock ass, so we trust him to
do right by us. Moline's art as well is sufficiently freaky as Cassie meets up with some increasingly weird beasties.
Read it for a good dose of the macabre.
Comic Book of the Week: Global Frequency #8
by Warren Ellis & Chris Sprouse. Miranda Zero, head of GF, has gone missing. For ten minutes. This wouldn't be a big
deal except, well, this is Miranda Zero we're talking about. She doesn't get lost. The entire GF crew must mobilize to
try and find her before it's too late. More chaotic fun from the mind of The Warren while Chris Sprouse (Tom Strong)
is this month's artist. The book continues to knee four color mediocrity in the balls.
DVD Boxed Set of the Week:
. Some people actually enjoyed this two season show from James Cameron. Most people just enjoyed star Jessica
Alba looking downright lethal in her black catsuit. Now everybody can be happy as Fox has released the complete first
season on DVD. Fans will enjoy the commentaries provided for a few episodes, as well as featurettes, a blooper reel and
audition tapes, while people who are just there to leer will appreciate Alba's bod gracing the cover. Everybody happy.
DVD of the Week:
. Oh come on. You loved it. It was the 80s, dammit, there was nothing else on! But regardless,
nostalgia wells up for these first two mini-series that started it all. Everything's there--the bad dialogue, the cheese,
the camp, your crush on Scarlet--face up to it. From Rhino, it comes complete with an exclusive Snake Eyes figure and his wolf. 80s
goodness. Grip it and deal.
CD of the Week:
by Marilyn Manson. Manson's latest doesn't quite reach the satanic majesty of Antichrist Superstar, but
hey, when you need music to break things by, it will do quite nicely. His latest Interscope release has a couple of weak
points, sure, but when you've got the Faith No More homage of "mOBSCENE" and the crazed stompfest of "Doll-Dagga Buzz-Buzz
Ziggety-Zag," it works.