Winter is Coming.

It's been getting colder outdoors, and I've come to peace with it.

I've been finding enough things to pass the time with, here's some things I've recently heard, seen, experienced and some things I'm looking forward to that I think anyone I know should take note of.

MOVIES (In Theaters): I've seen Moneyball twice now, it's a great movie.  I think anyone would enjoy this movie.  Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill star in it, it's about the business side of baseball.  It's the story of the 2002 (correct me if I'm wrong on that) Oakland Athletics and their small bankroll competing with teams spending WAY more money than they did.  It doesn't focus so much on baseball as the business.  It also has a good enough and broad enough story to appeal to anyone, in my opinion, so check it out.





I also just saw 50/50 last night.  It's the story of a 27-year-old guy getting cancer, and how he deals with it with some humor.  It's funny, emotional and well done.  It was loosely based on the writers actual experiences.  Seth Rogen was a friend of the writer (they worked together on The Ali G Show) and produced it and played his friend in the movie.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt took the lead role.  It also featured Anna Kendrick (Up In The Air) and Angelica Huston (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou) as his grief counselor and mother.  Bryce Dallas Howard is also in it, I hadn't seen her in anything expect Spider-man 3; she's more attractive as a redhead.  The acting was great, the story was great.  Solid film.  It is sad and emotional, but also funny and enjoyable.  I recommend this one, too.  There is a lot of adult language and sexual reference, it's rated R, so not for the whole family, though.






MOVIES [and a TV Show] (On DVD/Blu-Ray):  I wrote a blog about The Beaver with Mel Gibson.  Go read it if you want to know more about it.  I bought it on Blu-Ray.  I love this movie.

Almost Famous: The Bootleg Cut will be released on Blu-Ray on October 4.  It's a great movie, I haven't seen the bootleg version, but plan on owning this eventually.  I own the DVD of the original version, so I'm not in a super hurry for it, but I do want it.  The Bootleg Cut was previously released on DVD, and still goes for just under $50.

Community: Season 2 was recently released, as well.  It's great, my favorite show on television.

MUSIC:  If you haven't heard Watch The Throne by Kanye West and Jay-Z, I urge you to.  It's a great album by two of the biggest names in music.  Great all the way through.

Childish Gambino's new album, Camp, will be released on November 15.  It was originally supposed to come out at the end of September, but he got put on a label (Glassnote, the same label as Mumford & Sons and Phoenix) so it got pushed back so they could do their stuff to it.  The first single "Bonfire" is out and it's awesome.



Cole World by J. Cole just came out.  I haven't listened to it yet, but he's a great up and coming rapper, so if you're into it, check him out.

The next album I will for sure be purchasing will be Ryan Adams' Ashes And Fire, which is steaming at NPR.com (http://www.npr.org/2011/09/25/140640429/first-listen-ryan-adams-ashes-and-fire).

Also, She & Him are putting out a Christmas Album, which I will probably buy, I'll have to give it a listen first, though.  Great band featuring M. Ward and actress Zooey Deschanel, if you've never heard of them.

RANDOM:  Someone finally made a mask of Sloth, from the Goonies.  This is something I've wanted for years, and plan on buying one eventually, but I don't want to drop sixty bones on it right now.  Here's a link if you want to check it out.  http://www.80stees.com/products/Goonies-Sloth-Mask.asp

My Halloween costume has been chosen.  The Macho Man Randy Savage! Oh Yeah!

Oh...and for all the 90s VH1 Fans....

POP UP VIDEO IS RETURNING, SUCKAS!

Stay Fresh and Keep Calm,
KK

The Beaver with Mel Gibson.

Many of you who know me know I enjoy weird movies.  My favorites are movies with strange stories, most likely some mental illness, with comedy mixed in.  Laughing during bad times is something we should all be able to do.  If you take yourself too seriously you'll never be happy.  Movies like The Weather Man and Lars and the Real Girl.  I have a new film to add to this list of beautifully crazy movies.  The Beaver starring Mel Gibson, Anton Yelchin (Star Trek and Charlie Bartlett) and Jodie Foster (who also directed).

The movie is about a man (Gibson) who is depressed and burnt out on his life.  He came to his job by being his fathers son; a job he was under-qualified for and overwhelmed by.  He stops talking to anyone, and tries to kill himself, but then starts communicating to the world through a beaver puppet that he never takes off his hand, not even to shower.

This film has a great story, great acting and was well put together.  This was meant to be Mel Gibson's comeback after the drama with his ex (leaked phone messages, a battery lawsuit, etc) and alcohol ("sugar***s", rants against Jews).  It didn't work out, as no one saw the movie.  It didn't play in many theaters, and didn't make much money in the few it was in.

Anton Yelchin has quickly become one of my favorite actors.  I loved Charlie Bartlett and this movie is another amazing one.  His only big blockbuster so far was Star Trek but I urge you to check out some of his other work.

It's one of those movies, like The Weather Man and Lars and the Real Girl, that teach us that life isn't perfect, and we all have to deal with our share of things in life.  Some people probably don't like these movies.  They may even think these movies make people depressed.  This may be true for some, but these movies invigorate me.  I feel they teach us about life and a little of how to deal with it.  They teach us to be there for one another and to respect each other.  They have heart, humor and are realistic and artistic.

I know I have weird taste in things.  All of you may not feel the same about this type of film.  I hope you at least check them out, though.

Stay fresh and keep calm.






Also, if you haven't seen these, check them out.