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, both in the US, the UK and Canada.

Hey, come on, we can't be totally selfless in this, can we?

September 17, 2004

Book of the Week:

by Durwin S. Talon. What effect are comics having on media in general? This book from TwoMorrows seeks to address that, talking with pros like Greg Rucka, Bruce Timm, and Bernie Wrightson, among others, to get an overview of the medium as it tries desperately to grow up before it withers. Chocked full of artwork and interviews, any comic fan will be interested to give this a read. (UK) (CAN)

Audiobook of the Week:

by Orson Scott Card, read by Stefan Rudnicki. Having just moved to a small town and having to adjust to new surroundings, it's no surprise that eight-year-old Stevie will develop some imaginary friends. Trouble is...how imaginary are they? Their names happen to match a list of kids who have disappeared from the town previously...and Stevie may be next on whatever diabolical shopping list they were on. Blackstone's ginormous unabridged recording is capably handled by Rudnicki and clocking in enough to where it'll take you through the weekend and then some. (CAN)

Comic Book of the Week: Wanted #5 by Mark Millar & J.G. Jones. Well, let's just hope this thing can wrap itself up as nice as it's started. Wesley's father was The Killer, the uber-assassin of a metahuman world that's been forgotten. But Wesley's dad is taking the dirt nap, and Wes is the new Killer. However, is that going to be enough to keep his own ass above ground? Mark Millar is having way too much fun to get paid for this shit.

Graphic Novel of the Week:

by Adi Tantimedh & Diego Olmos. This Moonstone release is a bit of fun: Richard Jerrill is ex-SAS and he's turned his experiences into some best-selling thrillers. Not content with being on the New York Times bestseller list, he also prowls the streets at night breaking and entering past expensive security systems--just for the hell of it. But a strange woman named Vox is onto him, and she wants to blackmail him into doing some good for society. Nope, it's not going where you think it is--not completely. Definitely an interesting title. (UK) (CAN)

TV DVD of the Week:

. All twenty-four episodes of the third season of Norman Lear's TV classic are what we're serving up in this category this week. No bonus features, but Archie Bunker is a force to be reckoned with--and if you've never caught the reruns, you owe it to yourself as an acolyte of the idiot box to check this out. This three-disc set is available from Columbia-Tristar. (UK) (CAN)

DVD of the Week:

. Well, the remake from Warner Brothers is a nice brainless homage to the cop shows of the 70s, and it doesn't hurt that Stiller and Wilson are having a blast in the title roles. Riding shotgun in this particular DVD (man, I'm tired), you've got a director's commentary, a spoof featurette, a fashion featurette with Snoop Dogg, deleted scenes and outtakes. (UK) (CAN)

Docu DVD of the Week:

. The folks at Inecom submit this set for the Civil War enthusiast's approval. The third in its series, it gets downright granular in the look it takes at both Gettysburg and numerous historical nuggets. Adding fuel to the fire is a full-length commentary both both the program's scribes and director, as well as an interview with the aforementioned scribes that also contains deleted scenes. (UK) (CAN)

Musical DVD of the Week:

. Universal's desire to cash in on the wake of Gibson's Passion is your gain if you're a fan of this film. And hey, so it's dated. Who cares? The roles of Jesus and Judas are still cool to sing. This special edition comes with commentary by director Norman Jewison and actor Ted Neeley (he was Jesus). It also comes with a photo gallery and an interview with lyricist Tim Rice. (UK) (CAN)

Adverse Video of the Week:

. What's the obvious thing to do when you've got one monstrous character and you want a franchise? Well, get him a mate. And then let them have lots of hideous kids. And then let the cops take the children and...wait, hell, this isn't obvious at all. Never mind. It's full screen and no features, but if you laughed your way through the first two, you're already doing your time in purgatory, so go for the trifecta. (UK) (CAN)

Comedy DVD of the Week:

. I just realized this is the second Christ-related item this week. Coincidence? Yes, actually. Weird, though. Anyway, Paramount and Comedy Central release this lovely parody/skewering of the most popular snuff film in cinema history. Cartman digs the real Passion movie, Kyle wants to get his fellow Jews to apologize for killing Jesus, and Stan and Kenny go looking for Gibson to get their money back. While you get no features to go along with the episode itself, there are two bonus episodes. (UK) (CAN)

Family DVD of the Week:

. Disney's cel animation has gone the way of all flesh. Or since we're talking Disney, maybe we should say the way of all Muppets. But I digress. Mickey, Donald and Goofy must take up swords to defend Her Majesty, Queen Minnie, against Pete, the corrupt head Musketeer. You get a "Build Your Own Opera" interactive sing-along bit, a featurette regarding Mickey's film career, a making-of featurette, deleted scenes and commentary from the three stars plus Pete. (UK) (CAN)

Music CD of the Week:

by Bjork. I had my doubts when I heard that this was going to be all voices and no other instruments. Bjork hasn't exactly cranked my tractor with her last couple of releases, but it's worth listening once through just to appreciate the balls it takes to put this album out. But personally, I dig it. Mike Patton's work on "Where is the Line?" is inspired madness, and the opening track, "Pleasure is All Mine" is fairly sweet indeed. (UK) (CAN)