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?
February 20, 2004
Book of the Week:
by James Henke. Packaged in a nice slipcase comes this book which is more a collection of reproductions of
artifacts from Lennon's life than it is a biography. You get forty facsimiles of such bits as a ticket for the Ed Sullivan
Show when the Beatles were to appear, handwritten lyrics, a business card for the Quarry Men (an early band that included
Lennon), and so forth. This Chronicle release has got plenty to make the Beatles/Lennon fanatic salivate.
Graphic Novel of the Week:
by Judd Winick, Mike McKone & Jim Calafiore. With word that Tony Bedard (who writes Negation for
Ultimate Valiant) is coming to save us from Chuck Austen hell--we rejoiced! And we decided to celebrate by telling you to
catch the second collection of this book so you can be ready for when Tony gets here! An X-Combination of Sliders and
What If?, it rocks balls...in the right writer's hands. Like we said, rejoice!
Comic Book of the Week: Armageddon Patrol: Life
and Death by John A. Short & various artists. The latest one-shot from Alchemy Texts brings you some of the early
adventures of the Armageddon Patrol. And of course this book asks the question: what if America had some enlisted metahumans
on hand during the war in Vietnam? Short goes back and forth from humor to serious wartime mayhem, so if war comics are your
bag, then this slight injection of spandex will be easily palatable. Get it now, since a new mini-series is impending.
Music DVD of the Week:
. Oh sure, it's not a music DVD in the purest sense of the word, but hey--it's Dylan. Dylan playing
essentially...Dylan. And his band is with him. And...a whole bunch of big name actors who are just there to basically be on screen
with Dylan--well, wouldn't you? Anyway, this whacked out alternate reality flick, brought to you by Columbia-Tristar, is a hoot if you look at it right.
TV DVD of the Week:
. Fans of the series will be pleased to note that Artisan has released the entire series on this three-disc
set--that's the entire series, including seven episodes that never aired, at least here in the U.S., possibly
anywhere. You also get four featurettes that cover the mini-series that spawned this more than the one-season series, but
if you enjoyed the original mini, you'll want to pick this up to see where the adventure went. I mean, besides
cancellation.
DVD of the Week: . Fans of Jeremy Irons or just of big, everything-and-the-kitchen-sink epics will rejoice with the release by Paramount of Claude LeLouch's tale of thieves, brain tumors and music. It's all over the map (literally, a lot of the time), sure, but sometimes that's what you're looking for in a film. Fans of singer Patricia Kaas will enjoy her first cinematic turn as well.
Anime DVD of the Week:
. Geneon provides the next four episodes in this series, about a young girl in an alternate Tokyo learning the
ropes of being a mage. Here we get some more focus on the other characters besides protagonist Yume, and the further
building of friendships. Fans of the Japanese voice talent will be placed to see a short interview with the actress who
provides the voice of Yume, and there are also some Japanese commercials included as well.
Adverse Video of the Week:
. This Elite Entertainment release gives the right impression from jump when you consider its title. Yes, that's
right: a giant fecal monster goes on a rampage and you'll be declaring "I Can't Believe It's Not Troma!" When a serial
killer named Jack Schmitt (yes, you read that right) runs into some toxic slop and next thing you know...well, you can guess
the rest. It also comes with a commentary track, trailer and behind-the-scenes featurette.
Docu of the Week:
. Narrated by Oscar nominee Shohreh Aghdashloo (for House of Sand and Fog), this relatively short docu
from Wellspring makes with the serious visual action to give a glimpse of what the inside of Iranian culture looks like.
Iranian-born documentarian Aryana Farshad gets access to a lot of places that those of us in the West might not have
glimpsed, but for most this is a primer--albeit a good one.
Boxed Set of the Week:
. Fans of Poitier have good reason to rejoice, as MGM has made available this five-title boxed set with some
of the man's best performances. Not only do you get the entire Virgil Tibbs trilogy, but there's also For Love of Ivy
and Lillies of the Field as well. And, as a bonus, the In the Heat of the Night disc comes with a commentary
from director Norman Jewison and cinematographer Haskell Wexler, as well as actors Lee Grant and the late, great Rod
Steiger. Thank all the gods MGM got Steiger on a commentary track before we lost him.
Artist of the Week: Ben Arthur. Arthur's new album,
Edible Darling,
is a delightfully and disarmingly cheeky. It's apt, too, as the line "All this dry humping must lead to something"
will have people nodding exhaustingly at their CD players. Not out till March, though, so in the meantime you can console
yourself with visiting his website and maybe slapping down some coin
for his previous release, Curses & Rapture. Get to know him now and avoid the rush.
CD of the Week:
by Ween. There's something just so gloriously out of control in a Ween album. For one thing, it's like buying
a compilation of various different groups. One song they appear to be channelling XTC; next song, Elliott Smith; next
song...we have no freaking idea. We just know it's at times clever, at times sophomoric and always brilliant. If you doubt
us, check out the pop pleasure of "Transdermal Celebration," the rock party of "It's Gonna Be a Long Night" and the
Mother of All You Done Me Wrong Songs, "If You Could Save Yourself (You'd Save Us All)." Big fun from Sanctuary Records,
you must check it out.