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, in the US, the UK and Canada.

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

October 22, 2004

Book of the Week:

. If you're unfamiliar with the work of Alton Brown, either on his Food Network show Good Eats or in his books, check out this, the second of his three currently out. Alton is an excellent teacher because not only does he tell you what to do to cook well, but he explains why it's done the way he's telling you to and how, scientifically, it all works. Here, he's going to take you through exactly what the title reflects, the gear that fills your kitchen. This Stewart, Tabori and Chang release is a must for anybody who spends any amount of time in the kitchen. (UK) (CAN)

Audiobook of the Week:

by Linda Palmer, read by Celeste Lawson. The writer of a soap opera finds her life looking a lot like her work when she gets involved with a homicide detective, only to have her boss get killed...and she's the only heir to the man's estate. It kinda sucks when your boyfriend has to consider you a prime suspect in a case. This unabridged recording comes from the folks at Blackstone Audio, and is capably read by Celeste Lawson. Good drive-time listening for your weekend. (CAN)

Comic Book of the Week: Ocean #1 by Warren Ellis & Chris Sprouse. Europa is not exactly what you'd call a popular tourist destination--I'm speaking of the moon orbiting Jupiter, of course. It's here that Warren Ellis is taking us to screw with our already addled minds, and we couldn't be happier about the whole ordeal. As is usually the case with such sci-fi stories, there's something down there. Yup. And it's drawn by Sprouse, whose work on Tom Strong we dig muchly.

Graphic Novel of the Week:

by Jeffrey Brown. How the hell can I describe this Top Shelf release to you? I think it's what you get if you imagine Ben Edlund and Bob Burden taking a lot of lithium and then creating a new superhero. It's just flat out weird, as our hero Bighead takes on an ongoing series of villainy, including his nemesis, Smallhead, the smooth-talking Brit, and even the pissed off Crabby. It's...ah...some truly weird shit. (UK) (CAN)

TV DVD of the Week:

. This Brit comedy hit these shores thanks to BBC America, but now it hits DVD thanks to the fine folks at Acorn Media. It's the tale of Alison Braithwaite...who wins 38 million in the lottery on her fortieth birthday. She tries to keep it a secret from her family lest it bring out the worst in them all, but there's plenty of bad in there anyway that will eventually be revealed. This two disc set of amusement comes with a photo gallery and filmographies. (UK) (CAN)

DVD of the Week:

. Columbia-Tristar replaces the previous bare bones release with this much more special edition. This comedy about coming of age which doesn't fall into the same rut as so many of that subgenre gets a very decent treatment here: audio commentary from the writers and director, along with a few cast members and the original short film that they based this feature-length film along with a featurette on that short film. (UK) (CAN)

Docu DVD of the Week:

. We enjoy artists who do things differently. We're not talking sticking a chair in a room and calling it an installation, we're talking stuff like Andy Goldsworthy. He uses found objects such as ice, feathers, stones, wood, what have you--and creates sculpture to be photographed. Docurama releases this look at Goldsworthy trotting across the world and doing his thing, and comes with seven bonus short films, a photo gallery, and bios of Goldsworthy and the filmmaker. (UK) (CAN)

Adverse Video of the Week:

. It came, it saw, it ate lasagna, got crucified by critics and almost broke $200 million worldwide. But that's about all you can say. As a fully realized CG character, Garfield just looks...wrong. Kind of like the CG Scooby. Unnatural and a threat to God and man, you might say. But hey, if you want to support Bill Murray making a quick buck, check it out. It comes with an audio commentary with the director and producer. (UK) (CAN)

Animation DVD of the Week:

. Following in the footsteps of their Looney Tunes release, here's two discs worth of restored, remastered Tom and Jerry shorts from Warner Brothers. Granted, a chronological set would have been nice, but we'll take these forty and says thanks. The set also comes with two docus, audio commentary on three of the cartoons by historian Jerry Beck, and bonus bits of the characters interacting with Gene Kelly and Esther Williams. Check out the official site! (UK) (CAN)

Anime DVD of the Week:

. Definition of a bad day: a nearby star going supernova and bathing the Earth in electromagnetic radiation, basically kicking mankind in the collective groin. Definition of a worse day: two centuries later, when the second wave of destruction is due to hit. Stellvia is the place where a new generation is going to be trained to try and save humanity. This Geneon release comes with clean openings as its only feature. (UK) (CAN)

DVD Boxed Set of the Week:

. Another box of twisted goodness from the show that brought bad cinema to a whole new generation. Here you get another four classics (enhanced by wise-cracking silhouettes, of course): Attack of the Giant Leeches, Roger Corman's Gunslinger, the short festival Mr. B's Lost Shorts, and Teenagers From Outer Space. If you need help mocking bad films, check out this Rhino release. (CAN)

Yakuza DVD of the Week:

. Recent cinema types will know him best as the director of Battle Royale and its sequel. But Kinji Fukasaku was around for a while, giving us stuff like this: a member of the yakuza, somewhat low on the totem pole, get sent up the river...and let's put it this way: his gang never calls anymore. Once he gets out, he decides to get even with them for letting him sit and rot. Things get a bit hairy. This Home Vision release comes with a very cool feature: interviews with former yakuza. (UK) (CAN)

Music CD/DVD of the Week:

by Jimi Hendrix. Universal Music's new Sound + Vision combines the best of both worlds: thus, you get this two CD and one DVD set. Now, granted, in this case this is only for those who have not already purchased the Blue Wild Angel DVD and two-CD set separately...because that's what this is in one convenient package. You get all eighteen music tracks, plus fifteen on the DVD, plus four songs with multiple camera angles, interview with the director and a look at rare memorabilia. So if you've been holding out, the package as a whole is quite worthy. (UK) (CAN)

Music CD of the Week:

by Tom Waits. Tom's latest has hit and the faithful shall rejoice. Continuing along the lines of his last two releases and yet not turning his back on his classic ones (something few performers seem to be able to balance), he delivers dark carnival goodness yet again. Check out "How's It Gonna End," "Hoist That Rag," and "Don't Go Into That Barn" if you need to take a sip before you buy. (UK) (CAN)

Magazine of the Week: Backissue! #6. It's the Halloween issue with plenty of goodness: there's a discussion with Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson about Swamp Thing (and the story you never saw), an in-depth look at Marvel's Tomb of Dracula, the question of which came first, Man-Thing or Swamp Thing, Dracula stuff from Roy Thomas and more. This is the best magazine about comics that's for sale today, no contest.