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?
June 27, 2003
Book of the Week:
by Geoffrey C. Ward with Ric Burns & Ken Burns. From the same people who brought you the
mini-series comes this illustrated history, which is quite the
worthy companion to the show. It's one of those coffee table tomes, and it happens to be densely populated by photos of
all manners and description. It's simply a terrific overview of the time.
Audiobook of the Week:
by J.K. Rowling, read by Jim Dale. Speaking of tomes, the almost nine hundred pages of this particular novel
(maybe you've heard of it) translate into twenty-three (count them) compact discs, performed by the exceptional Jim Dale.
Harry's fifth year of school has finally arrived and it is a helluva ride. If you're going to spend your weekend with this
book, best start now lest you fall behind. We're talking twenty-seven hours of Potter goodness. So if you've already
devoured the book, then grab this and go--because Dale's one of the best readers in the business.
Graphic Novel of the Week:
by Mark Waid, Scott Beatty & Butch Guice. As we wrap up the Waid days of the title, our heroes Archard and
Emma are running headlong towards an inevitable clash with Archard's own ex-partner and personal Moriarty--so whatever's
going to happen, it can't be good. For those playing along at home, it's of great importance that you snag this one--seeing
as how the ramifications of this storyline are still reverberating in the monthly series. That and Guice's artwork
is as choice as ever. Snag, I tell you.
Comic Book of the Week:
Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth
by Warren Ellis & John Cassaday. Planetary heads for Gotham, chasing after a guy with an annoying tendency to wink out of
reality and take people with him. Now, Wildstorm's version of Gotham has no Batman--but plenty of others do. Ellis is at
his winking, bitter best with this and Cassaday's artwork is amazing. He can mimic Jim Aparo so well that I thought I
had suddenly found myself holding a copy of Brave and the Bold. Wild and amusing.
DVD Boxed Set of the Week:
. This set, hosted and narrated by Abba Eban, provides a perfect coda to his series,
Heritage: Civilization and the Jews. With a greater
focus on the creation of Israel and the history since--all of this punctuated by the fact that Eban should know, he was
there for the entire thing, being the former Israeli ambassador to America--it's packed full of information, interviews
and archival footage. Essential viewing from Home Vision for anyone interested in learning about how that area of the world has been
shaped.
DVD of the Week:
. Ah, we've always loved this film. Redford being Redford, Aykroyd before his career ended, and Sidney Poitier!
What a great cast! And we love it even more now that Universal has cranked out this special edition.
So what bang do you get for your buck? Well, you get a solid commentary from director Phil Alden Robinson as well as his
writer/producers and a forty-minute making of featurette. Treat yourself to the latest version of the DVD--you will be
will pleased.
CD of the Week:
by Harry Nilsson. Ah, more imported goodness from Camden. Gotta love how they just double your pleasure and
your fun with these two-albums-on-a-disc bits. Here we've got two classic albums from Nilsson--and if you don't know
Nilsson yet, you really should get to know him. Otherwise, Tobias might kill you. Regardless, check these out and see
if you don't agree it's eminently worthy. If you need some starting points, check out "Nobody Cares About the Railroad
Anymore" or his cover of Randy Newman's "Living Without You." Hey, and bonus tracks too--rock.
Magazine of the Week: Harper's. Harper's is such a
unique beast. First of all, we love it for their Index, which contains factoids that previously you never knew you needed.
Then you've got snippets of all manner of things, from postal guidelines for what can leave the country and head where to
strange poetry to excerpts of transcripts of odd court cases. And the articles, lengthy and in-depth, are your friend.
This month, amongst other things, reports on Iraq post-war and a look at new spirituality based on Earth science.