Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Friday, November 26, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving, Start Your Shopping

For those of you buying into this Black Friday nonsense, here are a couple of hints for what to get your loved one.




The limited edition 2 disc set of the Krull soundtrack
http://www.lalalandrecords.com/Krull.html





But seriously, now that we've got the jokes out of the way:
http://www.amazon.com/MP3-Music-Download/b/ref=sa_menu_dmusic1?ie=UTF8&node=163856011

Today they have the new Arcade Fire album, new Weezer and Big Boi all for $1.99 digital MP3. Stop stealing music, because at 2 bucks, these albums are a steal. Please to enjoy.

Happy Holidays!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

She Said Yes


Krull Nugget would like to welcome their new temporary sister website:

Emilee and Jeff

All made possible because she said "yes"!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Harry Potter 7.1



Seen the other six movies?
Remember when the guy from Twilight got killed in Goblet of Fire?
Is it still for kids? Not really. Young adults and people like me.
It's good. If you haven't seen the others, don't go. If you have, why are you even on K.Nugs? GOGOGO!


Did you enjoy it?
Yeppers.

Would you see it in theaters again?
Probably will. Possibly IMAX.

Would you buy it?
Waiting for all of them to be released in a blu-ray box set.

Would you rent it?
Eh.

Would you watch it if you saw it was on TV?
Sure.

One Thumb Up for 127 Hours


There are two ways this can turn out (and no, I am not talking about Aron Rolston getting out of his mess, I mean the movie itself). When you have one person on screen for the majority of the time, it can bore you to death, or it can captivate you. Luckily, Danny Boyle does a great job of keeping us interested, sympathetic and hopeful.

Now, even though this story is real and from seven years ago, I'm not going to spoil it. I can say that it is really good. There are some neat camera angles that go from claustrophobic to desolate and lonely. There are some neat shots. James Franco does an amazing job. Of course the movie rests on his shoulders and he bares the burden with ease.

Seeing the trailers and already knowing the story, I was curious, but not necessarily going to run out and see it opening weekend. If I hadn't gotten into the screening, I'm not sure what would have eventually gotten my butt into a seat. Hopefully I can convince you to not make the mistake I almost made. It's better than anything else that is out right now and probably will be out until around Christmas. You definitely need to have a somewhat strong stomach, but isn't as graphic as you may have heard. There are rampant rumours of fainting in screenings. You should be fine, but be warned.

Did you enjoy it?
Yes.

Would you see it in theaters again?
Maybe.

Would you buy it?
No. Not one to go on repeat DVD play.

Would you rent it?
Sure. Maybe see the behind the scene prosthetics.

Would you watch it if you saw it was on TV?
Possibly.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

(insert Oasis lyrics) Morning Glory


I guess I should start off by saying I need to stop being surprised by things. I should stop thinking that trailers are nothing more than marketing tools to get butts in seats. I should stop thinking I am going to see something new plotwise. I should stop being surprised that Rachel McAdams has a terrific fanny.

That being said, I was surprised to see Harrison Ford in this cast list. He picks bad scripts, so why should this movie be any different? Because it was produced by the man who wrote Regarding Henry? Maybe.

So, in a nutshell, the first two acts of this movie have some refreshing ideas on the career woman genre. Then we get to the last act and things get messy. We have quick cuts in time that take a moment for the audience to follow (at least my audience of two). It's pretty funny. Phil from Modern Family gets a piece to change gears back to his old days of sleazy characters. Harrison Ford likes to growl his lines now. Diane Keaton has a thankless role that gets pretty much ignored in the back half of the movie. Very flawed film overall, but the entertainment value outweighs its lack of originality and focus.

Did you enjoy it?
Yes.

Would you see it in theaters again?
Probably not.

Would you buy it? As a gift for someone else, maybe.

Would you rent it?
Is it a rainy Saturday?

Would you watch it if you saw it was on TV?
Sure.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Unstoppable (?) a.k.a. Speed 3:Express Train


I had two different people reply "You mean Speed on a train" when I told them I was going to see Unstoppable. They're not wrong. But you add the "Inspired by Real Events" and you have added another layer. None of which make this that much more watchable.

On another site, I posted some of my initial thoughts when the trailer came out. You can read them here: http://videogum.com/209481/raising-the-stakes-on-the-unstoppable-train/movies/trailer/#comment-7672692

None of my original speculation turned out to be true. This isn't "Man against Man". This is "Man against Machine / idiot conductor". My viewing partner was nerve wracked during the movie. I was just waiting for it to be over. Do you remember the Will Smith movie Enemy of the State? It is directed by the same guy. Since the movie doesn't really inspire me to write an actual review, let's compare Unstoppable and Enemy of the State, shall we?

Our Heroes
Enemy of the State - Will Smith and Gene Hackman
Unstoppable - Denzel Washington and Chris Pine

Do They Like Each Other at First? (rhetorical):
Enemy of the State - No.
Unstoppable - No.

Do They Come to Respect Each Other?
Enemy of the State - Shockingly, yes.
Unstoppable - Yeppers.

Is one of our heroes having marital troubles?
Enemy of the State - Will Smith, accused of banging some other broad (Denise from Cosby Show)
Unstoppable - Pine is jealous and made his wife flinch when asking her who she was texting (swear to God)


Actor from Mallrats:
Enemy of the State - Jason Lee
Unstoppable - Ethan Suplee


Does the movie have that slick Tony Scott color scheme?
Enemy of the State - Yes. A lot of muted tones.
Unstoppable - Except for the red truck and train board, but yeah it has the same visual look he always uses.

Who is the old guy full of sass?
Enemy of the State - The white guy (Hackman)
Unstoppable - The black guy (Washington)

What made them so sassy?
Enemy of the State - He used to develop spy tech, then got paranoid (justified).
Unstoppable - Forced retirement so he doesn't get full pension.


The movie is full of ridiculous characters (ponytail train welder) and even more outlandish dialog ("We're talking about a missle the size of the Chrysler Building"). Good stuff. My last prediction is that just like Enemy of the State, this movie will play on cable but will be one that you will forget about until someone at a party says "hey, remember that train movie with Denzel Washington, what was that called?". Until that day comes, keep on trucking.


Did you enjoy it?
Not really.

Would you see it in theaters again?
Not likely.

Would you buy it?
Not nearly.

Would you rent it?
Not conceivably.

Would you watch it if you saw it was on TV?
Not possible.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Finally saw "The Town"




Ben Affleck's second directorial effort came out this year. The focus is again on his favorite town, Boston. It's another crime drama. But where Gone Baby Gone was a character study that got Amy Ryan an Oscar nomination, this one has lots of gunfighting. That's not a slight on Ben, but makes me think he has bigger aspirations than to just tell gripping yarns.

And you know what, as long as he doesn't follow in the increasingly crappy foot steps of his buddy Kevin Smith, that's fine with me. You can tell that Affleck has got some good people working behind the camera to help him tell his tales. This one is a tale of the good folks who populate Charleston area of Boston. They rob banks. They give some money to a florist (aka mob dude in their neighborhood).

But this is a movie with two tales to tell. The first trailer for the movie mentioned that it came from "The Acclaimed Director of Gone Baby Gone but never actually mentioned Ben Affleck by name. It also focused on the tale of the Bank Manager. But that's not entirely true. Although she does play a big part of the movie, I feel that she's not necessarily the main story, moreso she's the catalyst that drives the story.

But overall, it's a good crime drama with more action.

Did you enjoy it?
Yes.

Would you see it in theaters again?
Nah.

Would you buy it?
I should pralle ditch this question, since its unlikely that I will be increasing my collection anymore with this thing called the internet.

Would you rent it?
Sure. Netflix Instant?

Would you watch it if you saw it was on TV?
Yes. Yes, I would.