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?

October 3, 2003

Book of the Week:

by Graham Caveney. Working in scads of photos and quotes from the man himself, this book is exactly what the title purports it to be--a fascinating look at the man we around here lovingly call "Uncle Bill". It not only looks at his life and writing, but what exactly Burroughs meant to America as a whole. Great read. We still miss him.

Graphic Novel of the Week:

by Mark Waid, Barbara Kesel, Scot Eaton, Paul Pelletier and Eduardo Barreto. This sci-fi epic continues to be well worth the cover price as the arch-villain you thought you had has been completely out-arched, if you follow me. And things start to get even crazier--though not as crazy as the next volume--so don't get any further behind. Waid and Kesel are laying down some incredibly cool stories and you need to read them.

Comic Book of The Week: Astro City: Local Heroes #4 by Kurt Busiek & Brent Anderson. This book is always an interesting read--Busiek does a good job of doing some very subtle twists on the superhero archetype--however this first part of a two-issue arc is a great read. A lawyer gets the case you don't want: a member of a mob family who murdered a young woman in front of fifty-nine witnesses. Faced with this dilemma, what he pulls out to defend his guilty as hell client is just...flat...brilliant. One of those ideas that's so good, you wish you had thought of it. Especially me, Law and Order that I am. Pick it up.

DVD Boxed Set of the Week:

. Rik Mayall you recognize instantly--you'll probably have some difficulty realizing that Ade Edmondson was Vyvyan on the The Young Ones. I still have trouble seeing it. Regardless, after The Young Ones they brought you this show, and BBC Home Video brings you all three series in one set. Not only do you the show--which is pretty much hucking fysterial--but you also get outtakes, biographies and some stand-up appearances by Mayall and Edmondson. What a deal.

DVD of the Week:

. Do I really need to explain myself here? It's Animal House, for Christ's sake--the movie that defined the college experience for more than one generation. Not only do you get a subtitled fact track during the film, but you also get a documentary "reunion" and a new "Alumni Update" where some of the actors come back--in character--to relate the answer to the question "Where are they now?" It's a novel approach and quite amusing--there's enough extras on this thing to make a weekend of viewing worthwhile--and it's not like anyone could ever watch it too many times.

CD of the Week:

by Tuck & Patti. Their latest album--and does it live up to the levels of excellence we've come to expect from this duo? What do you think? Patti's voice is just as sweet and smooth as ever and--drizzled over the guitar stylings of Tuck--the album delivers on the promise of its title. Check out "Love Flows Like a River" and see if it doesn't make you want to grab the love of your life and just hug them till next spring. The only thing better than listening to this album is seeing them live...so do both.