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 10, 2003
Book of the Week:
by Jasper Fforde. The next chapter in the story of Thursday Next, this follow-up to The Eyre Affair
is just as wild as the last. Pairing Next with Miss Haversham, the two have to deal with the works of Shakespeare,
Kafka, Austen and Carroll in their crazed adventures. Any fan of literature will be drooling and raving. Go now.
Audiobook of the Week:
by John Grisham, performed by Michael Beck. Movie's coming, but if you can't wait to check out Hackman, Cusack,
Weisz and Hoffman kicking it on screen, go ahead and get on the ground floor. You can even do it in the comfort of your
car in transit, thanks to reader Beck, who takes to Grisham's writing like you wouldn't believe. Basically, it's Big
Tobacco in the courtroom and you've got two parties endeavoring to push the jury one way or another. Wheels develop within
wheels and the suspense builds nicely. Good five disc set from Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio.
Graphic Novel of the Week:
by Bill Willingham & Mark Buckingham. The latest trade of tales from one of my two favorite Vertigo titles out
there and this time it takes some nice literary references and spins them into a whacked out tale of revolution. You see,
there are plenty of Fables living in our world that aren't anthropomorphic, so they live in a locale called "The Farm".
Doesn't mean they're happy about it, though, and when Snow White and her sister go to check out the place, they get in
deep over their heads. Great damn storyline.
Comic Book of The Week:
Tom Strong #22
by Alan Moore & Jerry Ordway. Some good books out this week, but Moore's finale to the alternate reality tale of Tom
Stone wins the kewpie doll as far as I'm concerned. In Tom Stone's story, he finally discovers his soulmate--and it's not
his wife. This...means some very bad things and threatens to tear his entire world asunder. Ballsy storytelling, especially
since the titular character is just basically an audience for the tale the strange woman from another reality is relating.
Awesome stuff, and Ordway's art is as sharp as you could hope for.
DVD Boxed Set of the Week:
. Here is where the show begins to truly come into its own and leave the shadow (kinda) of its parent show,
Buffy. Spanning dimensions and working through a mess of different characters, it's interesting, you've got to at least
give it that. And Fox gave it this: commentaries on two episodes, two scripts, four featurettes and more. An entire
season of a show can take just about a weekend to get through--perfect fit.
This Side of the Pond DVD of the Week:
. Victor is a teenage boy. Naturally, that means he's discovered the fact that girls might not be such a bad
thing after all. Living with his grandmother (who's convinced Victor's going to become a total prevert--that is, a pervert
who can't spell) doesn't make things easier, God bless the woman, and romancing a young woman has problems enough of its
own. Relatively simple and rather funny, it's a nice change of pace for your weekend viewing schedule.
Other Side of the Pond DVD of the Week:
. Okay, so it's another television comedy from the country that's forgotten more good television comedy than
we Americans, sadly, have seen. But it's not just funny it's almost hard to watch it's so dead-on in its portrait of the
absurdity of the modern workplace. Funny--because it's true, hard to watch because...well, it's true. And it probably
feels waaaaay too familiar. This two-disc set from BBC Home Video comes complete with a documentary, deleted scenes, news
and personnel files and a glossary for those who need some help with the verbiage.
CD of the Week:
. Tarantino's latest soundtrack is as twisted and wild as his latest film. From the chilling context of Nancy
Sinatra's "Bang Bang" to the kickass trailer music of Tomoyasu Hotei's "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" to the wild
cover of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" by Santa Esmeralda, it's totally out of control. Comes complete with key musical
stings like the excerpt of "Ironside" and also sound FX bits. Remix your own film...or not.