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 31, 2003

(For straight up Halloween goodness, we poured all of that into our Shopping Guide section. So if you want some purist Halloween stuff, go there...)

Book of the Week:

by George Khoury & friends. An incredibly useful book from TwoMorrows--not just for fans of Moore (and who isn't?), but I thought it was fascinating just from the standpoint of being a writer reading about another (highly more popular and successful) writer. Moore's Five Tips for Would-Be Comics Writers in the back is worth the price of admission alone, but the extensive interviews, the frighteningly complete bibliography, and the tributes just add to the book's necessity. Sadly, though, it doesn't contain Big Numbers #3. Sigh.

Audiobook of the Week:

by The Pythons, with some help by Bob McCabe. The book is a must have, but this entry from Audio Renaissance is a necessary addendum. Sure, the book gives you a slew of information and interviews regarding the Pythons, so how in the world do you work an audiobook of that? Well, McCabe is basically presenting an edited conglom of the interview tapes he has, so you get everything in their own words. As long as you can stand by to adjust for the changes in the environments the Pythons were individually recorded in (Cleese, for example, sounds like he was being interviewed in a gym), you've got a solid purchase here for posterity's sake.

Graphic Anthology of the Week:

. Okay, yes, it's got a cover price of $25--but you can read on this thing for days without getting bored or hitting the back cover. Truly a variety act, Top Shelf's uber-anthology features everything from interviews to a Charles Schulz tribute to the banned Cobweb story by Alan Moore that would have appeared in Tomorrow Stories. Seriously, if you really want the ultimate indie comic sampler platter, this is your bag.

Graphic Novel of the Week:

by David Brin & Scott Hampton. It's World War II. Trouble is, it's also 1962 when our story starts. Why is it still going on? Well, because the Nazis worked some mojo and brought the Norse Gods into play. D-Day really sucks when you wind up facing down Thor, for example. Brin's original story gets reworked by the man himself into this Wildstorm edition, and it's a damn good piece of alternate history that's more a story of humanity than it is one of war. Good enough to buy in hardcover, and that's saying something.

Comic Book of The Week: Queen and Country #19 by Greg Rucka & Carla Speed McNeil. We continue to enjoy this book just as inside the book the shit continues to hit the fan. Tara's stuck in hostile territory, her minder companion's got his brains all over the inside of their car, and things back at the home office have gone a bit south as well. Damn, Rucka just makes our day--and McNeil's so good we hate to see her leaving the title, but you know, Finder will keep us sated in that department. Pick up this Oni book to learn an important lesson in muzzle control.

Animated Set of the Week:

. People have been whining and moaning about this short or that short not being included--and granted WB should have put some more thought into how they were packaging these things--but, you know, shut the hell up. The shorts we get on here look absolutely incredible--they are almost different cartoons from what we saw growing up. The features are almost unbearably sweet, although we could have done with some more from Uncle Chuck. Still, we're happy as hell this series has started to get some DVD action. Can't wait for the next round in 2004. To hell with this for a weekend--own it.

Music DVD of the Week:

. Hmm, tasty Floyd. So tasty, in fact, you get not only the original but an anamorphic widescreen "director's cut" which is a mixed bag, sure, but we appreciate the effort. The versions of songs on here are classic (personal favorites being "Echoes" and "One of These Days"), so the Floyd fan among you won't mind checking out the goodness from Universal Music.

DVD Boxed Set of the Week:

. Well, when the feature film gets you down, you can always fall back on this series, which for all its faults, was a lot better than Ang Lee's vision. You've got Bixby, you've got Ferrigno (who hasn't aged a day, which is eerie as hell), and you've got eighteen of the best fan-rated episodes in this Universal boxed set. So it's cheesy 70s/80s amusement.

DVD of the Week:

. When you get down to the discs themselves, this edition of Holy Grail from Columbia Tristar looks a lot like the non collector's edition--because, well, it is. However, the Pythons continue to come out with new and different packaging for the same old stuff--and Python fans, because they are gullible and ravenous fanboys, buy them. There is a bonus to be had, however: not only do you get the full screenplay, but you also get a film cel senitype. If nothing else, it's fun to sit down and watch the thing again--but again, the fanboys will want to own it.

CD of the Week:

by Marvin Gaye. The first thing to say about this is that it sounds amazing--and this is coming from someone who's half deaf. How it sounds to the rest of you I can't even imagine. You get the original album plus two b-sides as bonus tracks. This Motown remastered reissue is definitely some sweet soul for your weekend.