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?
November 7, 2003
Book of the Week:
by Francis Davis. An attempt, and a fascinating one, to rewrite the scholarship on this particular musical
genre from the ground up. This Da Capo Press title has Davis not content to accept what's been written before, so he
goes back to the origins of the blues and re-examinines everything--quite nice to have a different perspective.
The book would be worthwhile alone just for the fairly massive timeline included in the back. Excellent stuff.
Art Book of the Week:
by Mark Cotta Vaz. Chances are, you've already snagged the DVD. If you have any sense, that is.
So consider this tome from Chronicle Books a nice companion piece. Clocking in at over a hundred and fifty pages, it
logs hundreds of bits of concept art, along with storyboard panels and input from the creators. A must have for the Pixar
fans among you.
Audiobook of the Week:
by A.A. Milne, read by Jim Broadbent. Like anybody can resist Milne's Winnie the Pooh. There are other audio
performances of the piece, but this unabridged one from HarperAudio features Needcoffee fave Jim Broadbent doing the reading
honors. With Broadbent's absolutely charming delivery, it's a good three hours of listening to stories about Pooh, because,
of course, he's "that sort of bear."
Graphic Novel of the Week:
by Judd Winick & Mike McKone. As Winick prepares to depart this series for perhaps forever and turn it over to
the Anti-Winick, Chuck Austen, it's now time to pause and reflect upon what once was. If you haven't checked out the book,
you really should make a point to. Part What If?, part Sliders, it's basically a cornucopia of cool story
ideas in the hands of an appropriate ringmaster geek. Alternate reality X-Men team up to go right wrongs in even more
alternate dimensions. Couple it with McKone's solid artwork and it's a helluva nice ride.
Comic Book of The Week:
Supreme Power #4
by J. Michael Straczynski & Gary Frank. Never let it be said I didn't forgive. Yes, the same man who once publicly
accused me of being a heroin addict is now on our Recommendations page. But what can I say? His writing has definitely
improved, at least when he's dealing with characters he can remake from the ground up. The backstory for Hyperion's
family is bloody fascinating. And Frank's new costumes for these
guys are definitely worth a look. The original mini-series still has a warm place in my heart, but this one is so far
turning out better than Rising Stars. Of course, that series' slide began about two issues in, but you know, c'est
la guerre.
Twisted DVD of the Week:
Kaiju Big Battel: Terebi Sento. Ever see something so
brilliant, you wish you had thought of it first? Well, this is five of those things. Kaiju Big Battel positively
bitch slaps anything the WWE has ever done. Why? Because the WWE doesn't have psychotic soup cans doing battle with enormous sandwiches
in a ring littered with the rubble of cities, that's why! This DVD is hands down the funniest thing we've seen in months.
For the full story, check out their website here.
DVD Boxed Set of the Week: . Granted, if you have any sense in your head, there's no real reason for me to talk anymore about this six-disc set from Paramount. I mean, all the full-length episodes from this series alone on DVD is something to be pleased about and something to snag and to spend a weekend with--but as a bonus, you also get the anniversary special and the original openings and closings from the series. A nice rarity for an excellent boxed set.
DVD of the Week:
. Ah, anything with Philip Seymour Hoffman instantly gets points before we even crack open the case. But here
you've got a Columbia Tristar flick based on a true story about the biggest bank fraud case in Canadian history which was pulled off by a
single individual. Why did he rogue millions of bucks? To feed his gambling addition. John Hurt and Minnie Driver are
along for the ride as well.
Anime of the Week:
. It's one thing to drive some giant piece of mecha and save the world, but when you're fighting a battle inside
your own head? That's an entirely different kind of flying--altogether. Director Yuyama takes a spin away from the
original series of 'GoShogun,' and it's a bit of a different take on it. It's worth giving this time period-jumping
release from Central Park Media a try.
CD of the Week:
by P.O.D. A blend of hard rock and at times rap--something that sounds like Incubus if you had taken that band
out and beaten them all with a two-by-four until they got really, really pissed--P.O.D. delivers a wide array of hard
riffs and requisite hollering that will
please anyone who feels like they need music to break things by. If you enjoyed their track off the second Matrix
flick's soundtrack, then you should invest in this Atlantic release and ingest some more. And hey, comes with a PS2
game to boot--bonus!
Magazine of the Week:
. Check out the November issue of Harper's, if for nothing else because it's a great sampler platter of
writings, artwork and photography of all shapes and sizes. Among the bits are all the submissions received for the replacement
slogan for the U.S. Air Force Academy, for example. Also, an interesting article on the "post-literate election," as well
as the world-famous index (for a
sample of that, check it out here).