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?
July 18, 2003
Book of the Week: For Fucks Sake by Robert
Lasner. Well, it's like Hunter S. Thompson writing Catcher in the Rye, except with more
swearing and alcohol than the original--kinda like that, but totally different. Join Lasner on his adventure, which manages
to pull from my mind such comments as "depressingly compelling," "weirdly humorous" and "oddly and disturbingly
entertaining." A nice way to confound your weekend.
Audiobook of the Week:
. My familiarity with Cheever's work was lacking before we got this title in, but I'm glad to have gotten to
know his stuff. Interesting and fantastical, it does something that I like fiction to do: deal with the humanity of the
situation, whether the story takes place in Toledo or on Mars. The fact that, in "The Enormous Radio," a couple has chanced
into owning a radio that enables them to "tune in" to different apartments in their building and eavesdrop on others' lives
is really incidental. It's more their reactions to being faced with such undiluted humanity that really drives the
piece home. That and the fact that it's read by Meryl Streep, who is so good it's positively criminal. Other readers
include George Plimpton, Blythe Danner and Edward Herrmann. Well worth it.
Graphic Novel of the Week: Proposition Player
by Bill Willingham & Paul Guinan. Before Fables came this interesting Vertigo mini from the mind of Bill
Willingham. A poker player takes vouchers for people's souls on a lark in a bar, only to have ambassadors of Heaven and
Hell show up--and they're not too pleased to have the competition. Damn good, it made me respect Willingham instantly.
Has the best response you'll ever read to a girl querying why they can't find a nice guy. Memorize it and love it.
Comic Book of the Week:
Global Frequency #9
by Warren Ellis & Lee Bermejo. Meet Takeshi. He's not on the Global Frequency. No. Really. But regardless, they're
calling him in again, because a medical facility in Japan has just gone offline in a very dangerous way. And whatever he
thinks he's in for, it's a lot worse. Ellis doesn't provide bad issues of this title. Just doesn't happen. But some are
indeed better than others, and this one just rocks the house...and your neighbor's house too. Was not familiar with Bermejo's
work before this, but want to know more. Twelve more issues after this series ends? Yes, please. And Christ, check out
Brian Wood's cover. Brilliant.
DVD Boxed Set of the Week:
. Fan of the show? Then check out this six-disc monstrosity, comprising the entire first season. As TV shows
on DVD go, this sucker's loaded. You get commentary on the pilot and final episode of the season, as well as deleted
scenes (with commentary) and a featurette. You also receive healthy doses of suspense and action and...well, Peta Wilson.
Is there anything really left to say after that?
DVD of the Week:
. There's nothing like the sigh of relief you experience when you see a film you've wanted on DVD for some
time finally arrive. Peter Sellers was a god, there's no denying that. But although Pink Panther and
Strangelove get more play, this flick is ridiculously funny as well. When the European nation of Grand Fenwick,
which is small ($.85 in a cab small), decides to better itself by declaring war on America and then losing--thus reaping
the benefits of another Marshall Planesque deal--it seems like a good idea on the surface...but of course, it all goes
utterly wrong. Sellers plays three roles, including a duchess. Watch it immediately.
Magazine of the Week: Smithsonian.
Beautiful, intelligent, and highly engaging. The articles this month range in topic from why it makes evolutionary sense
for animals to be sneaky little bastards to the latest on figuring out the mystery of the Anasazi--and are much more in-depth than you find in most magazines. And to top it all off, the photography is
spectacular. Not a magazine to simply peruse, but to really read.