Best in Film 2011 Tracker, Part 5

January 16, 2012

jmunney Best in Film 2011, Cinema, Oscars Leave a comment

I wanted to post one more update on my tracker before I put the finishing touches on my year-end wrap-ups.  Since the last post (12/22/11), I have seen The Adventures of Tintin, War Horse, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows in the theatre and I’ve seen Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Tabloid, Beginners, and Margin Call on DVD.

(Note: I forgot to include Mel in Lead Actor on the last tracker.)

Best Film
Bridesmaids
Moneyball
Crazy, Stupid, Love.
The Muppets
The Descendants
Hugo
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Midnight in Paris
Margin Call
Young Adult

Director
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorcese, Hugo
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
Rupert Wyatt, Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Paul Feig, Bridesmaids
Bennett Miller, Moneyball
Glen Ficarra and John Requa, Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Lead Actor
Tom Hardy, Warrior
Brad Pitt, Moneyball
George Clooney, The Descendants
Mel Gibson, The Beaver
Brad Pitt, The Tree of Life
James McAvoy, X-Men: First Class
Michael Fassbender, X-Men: First Class

Lead Actress
Charlize Theron, Young Adult
Viola Davis, The Help
Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids
Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia
Emma Stone, The Help
Saoirse Ronan, Hanna

Supporting Actor
One of my favorite actors – Spacey – manages to make a plot point that could be ruinously cloying (a dead dog) into something instead that adds an extra layer of meaning to his performance.
Corey Stoll, Midnight in Paris
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Ryan Gosling, Crazy, Stupid, Love.
Patton Oswalt, Young Adult
Kevin Spacey, Margin Call
Kevin Bacon, X-Men: First Class
Bruno Ganz, Unknown
Nick Nolte, Warrior
Peter Sarsgaard, Green Lantern

Supporting Actress
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Octavia Spencer, The Help
Judy Greer, The Descendants
Mélanie Laurent, Beginners
Analeigh Tipton, Crazy, Stupid, Love.
Bryce Dallas Howard, The Help
Jessica Chastain, The Tree of Life
Lin Shaye, Insidious

Adapted Screenplay
Stan Chervin, Aaron Sorkin, and Steven Zaillian, Moneyball
Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller, The Muppets
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash, The Descendants
John Logan, Hugo

Original Screenplay
Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, Bridesmaids
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Dan Fogelman, Crazy, Stupid, Love.
Diablo Cody, Young Adult
J.C. Chandor, Margin Call
Mike Mills, Beginners

Editing
Christopher Tellefsen, Moneyball

Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki, The Tree of Life
Manuel Alberto Claro, Melancholia
Robert Richardson, Hugo
Brendan Galvin, Immortals
Janusz Kaminski, War Horse

Animated Film
Arthur Christmas
The Adventures of Tintin

Documentary
Tabloid
Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Score
Cliff Martinez, Drive
Michael Andrews, Bad Teacher
The Chemical Brothers, Hanna
Cliff Martinez, Contagion
Roger Neill, David Palmer, and Brian Reitzell, Beginners
John Williams, The Adventures of Tintin

Original Song
“Man or Muppet,” written by Bret McKenzie, The Muppets

Visual Effects
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Hugo

SNL Recap January 14, 2011: Daniel Radcliffe/Lana Del Rey

January 15, 2012

jmunney Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television , , , , , Leave a comment

Cold Opening – A Message from Mitt Romney
SNL seems to have decided that the main idea of Sudeikis’s Romney is that he is emotionless and doesn’t know how to talk like a normal person, which isn’t much, but when it leads to lines like “slinging the pigskin around” and “my five human sons,” then it is something, at least. B

Daniel Radcliffe’s Monologue
This wasn’t so much comedy (i.e., joke-telling) as much as it was an expression of a philosophy.  Dan brought up some reasonable points, even though we all knew he was just jerking us around a little bit.  Still, it was a good idea to temper expectations. B

Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais makes fun of celebrities because they are a group of people who perhaps ought to be taken down a notch.  It’s not like dogs and flowers have that in common with celebrities.  Hiring Ricky to make fun of those groups would just be pointless, and this sketch had a corresponding lack of spirit. C

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VH1 Top 20 Countdown – 1/14/12

January 14, 2012

jmunney Music, Television, VH1 Top 20 Countdown Leave a comment

“What curve is there to be ahead of or behind anyway!”

Original Version
1. Bruno Mars – “It Will Rain”
2. Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris – “We Found Love”
3. Katy Perry – “The One That Got Away”
4. Daughtry – “Crawling Back to You”
5. The Fray – “Heartbeat”
6. Kelly Clarkson – “What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)”
7. Jessie J – “Domino”
8. Foster the People – “Don’t Stop (Color on the Walls)”
9. Coldplay – “Paradise”
10. Adele – “Set Fire to the Rain”
11. Pitbull ft. Chris Brown – “International Love”
12. Kid Rock ft. Angaleena Presley and T.I. – “Care”
13. Mary J. Blige ft. Drake – “Mr. Wrong”
14. Outasight – “Tonight is the Night”
15. Avril Lavigne – “Wish You Were Here”
16. The Black Keys – “Lonely Boy”
17. Gym Class Heroes ft. Neon Hitch – “Ass Back Home”
18. Fitz and the Tantrums – “Don’t Gotta Work It Out”
19. Florence + the Machine – “Shake It Out”
20. Scars on 45 – “Heart on Fire”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Shake It Out
2. Paradise
3. We Found Love
4. Lonely Boy
5. Tonight is the Night
6. The One That Got Away
7. Don’t Stop (Color on the Walls)
8. Set Fire to the Rain
9. Don’t Gotta Work It Out
10. It Will Rain
11. What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)
12. Domino
13. Ass Back Home
14. Heart on Fire
15. Wish You Were Here
16. International Love
17. Heartbeat
18. Care
19. Mr. Wrong
20. Crawling Back to You

SNL 2/4 and 2/11 Guest Announcements: Reactions

January 12, 2012

jmunney Saturday Night Live, SNL Guest Announcements Reactions, Television Leave a comment

I will henceforth be posting reactions to NBC’s press releases regarding upcoming hosts and musical guests on SNL.  My thoughts will have to do with my expectations of the quality of these guests and whether or not I included these choices on my guest prediction list at the beginning of the season.  The lineups for the first two shows in February were the most recently annouced.

2/4/12: Channing Tatum/Bon Iver: I know a lot of ladies like Channing for his face (I guess) and his abs, but I’ve never known him to have much charisma.  He made an interesting face during one part of the Haywire trailer, so hopefully he can capitalize on that.
I am familiar with Bon Iver, but I am not that familiar with their songs.  Justin Vernon’s band seems like just the sort of indie act that ought to be on SNL, and I correctly thought that that might happen this year.

2/11/12: Zooey Deschanel/Karmin: I almost included Zooey on my predictions, but she was the one of the last to miss the cut.  I figured that stars of hit TV shows don’t host SNL until at least the second season of their shows.  The last TV star to host during the first season of his/her hit show was Julia Louis-Dreyfus in 2006 during the first year of The New Adventures of Old Christine, and that could be considered an exception since she was a returning cast member.  Anyway, Zooey’s unmistakably singular quirkiness could lead to a good show, or it could be like Abby Elliott’s impression of Zooey, which makes the mistake of announcing how awesome it is.
And I’m still trying to figure out what to say about Karmin.  Their one “hit” song is the middle-school anti-hater anthem “Crash Your Party.”  They are an engaged couple who seem to actually be musically talented and somewhat intelligent, but are using their musical ability for the purpose of issues that are exclusively the concerns of people much younger than them.  It’s like Michael Jackson singing the songs of Aaron Carter or Willow Smith.

Fuse Top 20 Countdown – 1/10/12

January 12, 2012

jmunney Fuse Top 20 Countdown, Music, Television Leave a comment

VH1’s Top 20 Countdown tends to inexplicably leave out some popular songs, but there is at least one other video countdown show in the game that also sets out to include mainly Top 40 videos.  So I have decided to also start posting revisions to Fuse’s Top 20 Countdown.  Fuse doesn’t seem to have any of those mild up-and-coming acts that VH1 seems to love, while they do have some silly hip-hop and alternative tunes that VH1 would most likely not go so far to include. With this first week, we start off with a number one that has sorely been missing from VH1 for months.

Original Version
1. LMFAO – “Sexy and I Know It”
2. Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris – “We Found Love”
3. Bruno Mars – “It Will Rain”
4. Flo Rida – “Good Feeling”
5. Katy Perry – “The One That Got Away”
6. Adele – “Someone Like You”
7. Gym Class Heroes ft. Adam Levine – “Stereo Hearts”
8. Foster the People – “Don’t Stop (Color on the Walls)”
9. T-Pain ft. Wiz Khalifa and Lily Allen – “5 O’Clock”
10. Wiz Khalifa & Snoop Dogg ft. Bruno Mars – “Young, Wild & Free”
11. blink-182 – “After Midnight”
12. Maroon 5 ft. Christina Aguilera – “Moves Like Jagger”
13. David Guetta ft. Usher – “Without You”
14. Big Sean ft. Nicki Minaj – “Dance (A$$)”
15. J. Cole – “Work Out”
16. fun. ft. Janelle Monáe – “We Are Young”
17. Coldplay – “Paradise”
18. Gym Class Heroes ft. Neon Hitch – “Ass Back Home”
19. Hot Chelle Rae – “I Like It Like That”
20. Lady GaGa – “Marry the Night”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Someone Like You
2. Paradise
3. We Found Love
4. Good Feeling
5. Sexy and I Know It
6. The One That Got Away
7. Don’t Stop (Color on the Walls)
8. We Are Young
9. Marry the Night
10. Without You
11. It Will Rain
12. Young, Wild, & Free
13. Moves Like Jagger
14. After Midnight
15. 5 O’Clock
16. Dance (A$$)
17. Ass Back Home
18. I Like It Like That
19. Work Out
20. Stereo Hearts

SNL Video Recap January 7, 2012 Charles Barkley/Kelly Clarkson

January 10, 2012

jmunney Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television Leave a comment

SNL Recap January 7, 2012: Charles Barkley/Kelly Clarkson

January 8, 2012

jmunney Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television , , , , , Leave a comment

Is there pomegranate in this soy milk?

Cold Opening – A Message from Rick Santorum
SNL seems to have decided that there is no need for a real impression of Rick Santorum, probably because – well, how many people know about Santorum?  Apparently, though, he might make some noise in the primary, so Andy might have to do a bit of work eventually.  For now, though, this opening proves that there is enough material to overcome that lack of an impression, namely, Santorum’s relentless campaigning and how that may go up against his personality, particularly with that money line about San Francisco. B-

Charles Barkley’s Monologue
Not so much a monologue as much as it was Sir Charles saying a few funny things and hoping to be done with it relatively quickly.  The (admittedly dated) Muggsy Bogues line got a chuckle out of me and reminded me of his cameo during Barkley’s first hosting appearance in ’93. B-

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VH1 Top 20 Countdown – 1/7/12

January 7, 2012

jmunney Music, Television, VH1 Top 20 Countdown Leave a comment

VH1 … where is LMFAO?

Original Version
1. Katy Perry – “The One That Got Away”
2. Daughtry – “Crawling Back to You”
3. Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris – “We Found Love”
4. Bruno Mars – “It Will Rain”
5. Adele – “Someone Like You”
6. Coldplay – “Paradise”
7. David Guetta ft. Usher – “Without You”
8. The Fray – “Heartbeat”
9. Jessie J – “Domino”
10. Pitbull ft. Chris Brown – “International Love”
11. Kid Rock ft. Angaleena Presley and T.I. – “Care”
12. Outasight – “Tonight is the Night”
13. Avril Lavigne – “Wish You Were Here”
14. Foster the People – “Don’t Stop (Color on the Walls)”
15. Kelly Clarkson – “What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)”
16. Florence + the Machine – “Shake It Out”
17. Mary J. Blige ft. Drake – “Mr. Wrong”
18. The Black Keys – “Lonely Boy”
19. Fitz and the Tantrums – “Don’t Gotta Work It Out”
20. Kina Grannis – “In Your Arms”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Someone Like You
2. Shake It Out
3. Paradise
4. We Found Love
5. Lonely Boy
6. Tonight is the Night
7. The One That Got Away
8. Without You
9. Don’t Stop (Color on the Walls)
10. Don’t Gotta Work It Out
11. It Will Rain
12. What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)
13. Domino
14. In Your Arms
15. Wish You Were Here
16. International Love
17. Heartbeat
18. Care
19. Mr. Wrong
20. Crawling Back to You

2011: A Year at the Movies

January 2, 2012

jmunney A Year at the Movies, Cinema Leave a comment

My moviegoing continued smashingly in 2011, as I took in a personal record-75 films at the theatre this past year, besting 2010’s then-record 66.  Here is the complete list of all that I saw in ’11, along with the original grades I granted, dates, showtimes, theatre locations, and fellow moviegoers for each movie.

1. How Do You Know? – B (1/2, 4:10 PM – Regal United Artists Oxford Valley, Langhorne, PA; Rob Malone, Kaity Malone, Dan Dickerson)
2. Season of the Witch – B- (1/7, 7:30 PM – Oxford Valley; Walt Wojcik and Dave Coyle)
3. The King’s Speech – A- (1/13, 9:50 PM – Oxford Valley; Walt Wojcik and Dave Coyle)
4. The Green Hornet in 3D – B (1/14, 10:20 PM – Oxford Valley; Walt Wojcik and Dave Coyle)
5. Blue Valentine – A- (1/19, 1:45 PM – AMC Neshaminy, Bensalem, PA; myself)
6. The Way Back – B (1/22, 10:25 PM – Oxford Valley; Jason Tkach)
7. Tangled – B+ (1/24, 1:45 PM – Oxford Valley; myself)
8. The Mechanic – B (1/29, 7:50 PM – Oxford Valley; Walt Wojcik, Jeff Smith, Dave Coyle)
9. The Roommate – D+ (2/13, 8:00 PM – Oxford Valley; Walt Wojcik and Dave Coyle)
10. Unknown – B+ (2/21, 2:20 PM – Oxford Valley; Peg Howe and Claire Dansbury)
11. Drive Angry in 3D – B- (2/25, 8:00 PM – Oxford Valley; Walt Wojcik and Dave Coyle)
12. Cedar Rapids – B (3/4, 8:50 PM – Neshaminy; Walt Wojcik and Dave Coyle)
13. Battle: Los Angeles – C- (3/11, 9:50 PM – Oxford Valley; Walt Wojcik)
14. Take Me Home Tonight – B (3/14, 10:30 PM – Oxford Valley; myself)
15. Paul – B (3/18, 10:10 PM – Oxford Valley; Walt Wojcik)
16. Limitless – B+ (3/25, 8:00 PM – Oxford Valley; Jason Tkach)
17. Hall Pass – B- (3/27, 7:45 PM – Oxford Valley; Rob Malone)
18. The Adjustment Bureau – B+ (4/6, 7:35 PM – Oxford Valley; Walt Wojcik and Dave Coyle)
19. Your Highness – C (4/9, 10:30 PM – Oxford Valley; Rob Malone)
20. Source Code – B+ (4/10, 2:10 PM – Oxford Valley; Rob Malone)
21. Rango – B (4/12, 1:30 PM – Oxford Valley; myself)
22. Scream 4 – B+ (4/20, 8:10 PM – Oxford Valley; Walt Wojcik and Dave Coyle)
23. Insidious – B (4/20, 10:30 PM – Oxford Valley; Walt Wojcik and Dave Coyle)
24. Hanna – B (4/27, 7:40 PM – Oxford Valley; myself)
25. Fast Five – B- (4/29, 10:30 PM – Oxford Valley; Walt Wojcik and Dave Coyle)
26. Thor – B (5/7, 7:30 PM – Oxford Valley; Bob Malone and Walt Wojcik)
27. Bridesmaids – A (5/14, 7:20 PM – Oxford Valley; Kaity Malone)
28. X-Men: First Class – A- (6/3, 7:30 PM – Oxford Valley; Walt Wojcik)
29. The Hangover Part II – C+ (6/3, 10:30 PM – Oxford Valley; Walt Wojcik)
30. Super 8 – C+ (6/10, 12:01 AM – Oxford Valley; Rob Malone and Dan Dickerson)
31. Midnight in Paris – A- (6/11, 4:30 PM – AMC Hamilton, Hamilton, NJ; Pat Dansbury and Claire Dansbury)
32. Green Lantern – B- (6/20, 7:30 PM – Oxford Valley; Bob Malone and Sue Malone)
33. Bad Teacher – B- (7/6, 8:00 PM – Oxford Valley; Jeff Smith and Greg Smith)
34. Horrible Bosses – B (7/9, 7:50 PM – Oxford Valley; Bob Malone, Sue Malone, Kaity Malone, Larisa Mariani)
35. Transformers: Dark of the Moon in 3D – C- (7/15, 6:40 PM – Oxford Valley; Jeff Smith)
36. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 – B+ (7/21, 1:10 PM – Oxford Valley; Kylie Howe, Wesley Woods, Riley Woods)
37. Captain America: The First Avenger – B (7/22, 10:00 PM – Oxford Valley; Walt Wojcik)
38. The Tree of Life – B+ (7/26, 1:15 PM – Neshaminy; Kaity Malone, Beth Woods, Wesley Woods, Riley Woods)
39. Friends with Benefits – C+ (7/27,7:50 PM – Oxford Valley; Jeff Smith)
40. Cowboys and Aliens – C- (7/29, 10:40 PM – Oxford Valley; Rob Malone and Dan Dickerson)
41. The Change-Up – C (8/5, 10:30 PM – Oxford Valley; Jeff Smith)
42. The Help – B+ (8/10, 10:10 PM – Oxford Valley; Kaity Malone)
43. Rifftrax Live: Jack the Giant Killer – no grade (8/17, 8:00 PM – Neshaminy; myself)
44. Final Destination 5 in 3D – B (8/19, 8: 10 PM – Oxford Valley; Jeff Smith)
45. The Debt – B (9/2, 7:10 PM – Oxford Valley; Bob Malone and Sue Malone)
46. Colombiana – C (9/5, 7:50 PM – Oxford Valley; Rob Malone)
47. Warrior – B+ (9/9, 10:20 PM – Oxford Valley; Jason Tkach and Jason’s friend Ali)
48. Crazy, Stupid, Love. – A (9/13, 1:55 PM – Neshaminy; myself)
49. Our Idiot Brother – C+ (9/20, 1:35 PM – Oxford Valley; myself)
50. Rise of the Planet of the Apes – A- (9/26, 2:50 PM – Oxford Valley; myself)
51. Drive – B+ (9/29, 7:25 PM – Oxford Valley; Jason Tkach)
52. Moneyball – A (10/1, 7:00 PM – Oxford Valley; Pat Dansbury)
53. Straw Dogs – C (10/3, 9:40 PM – Oxford Valley; myself)
54. Contagion – B (10/5, 1:35 PM – Oxford Valley; myself)
55. The Ides of March – B+ (10/13, 2:30 PM – Oxford Valley; Peg Howe, Claire Dansbury, and Grace Stanford)
56. 50/50 – B+ (10/18, 2:40 PM – Oxford Valley; myself)
57. Ghostbusters – A- (10/20, 7:00 PM – Oxford Valley; myself)
58. Real Steel – B- (10/22, 9:45 PM – Regal Plymouth Meeting, Conshohocken, PA; Jason Tkach and Jason’s friend Sean [a.k.a Xiang-Yu Fu])
59. Paranormal Activity 3 – B+ (10/25, 1:00 PM – Oxford Valley; myself)
60. Tower Heist – B- (11/4, 10:00 PM – Oxford Valley; Jason Tkach)
61. Martha Marcy May Marlene – B+ (11/15, 12:45 PM – Neshaminy; myself)
62. In Time – B (11/16, 1:25 PM – Oxford Valley; myself)
63. Footloose – B (11/17, 1:00 PM – Oxford Valley; Peg Howe and Claire Dansbury)
64. Like Crazy – B+ (11/29, 12:55 PM – Neshaminy; myself)
65. My Week with Marilyn – B- (12/1, 1:20 PM – Oxford Valley; myself)
66. The Muppets – A- (12/4, 2:00 PM – Oxford Valley; Bob Malone)
67. Immortals in 3D – C+ (12/6, 2:40 PM – Oxford Valley; myself)
68. J. Edgar – B- (12/7, 1:00 PM – Oxford Valley; myself)
69. The Descendants –  A- (12/9, 2:00 PM – Oxford Valley; Claire Dansbury and Grace Stanford)
70. Hugo in 3D – A- (12/9, 10:05 PM – Oxford Valley; Jason Tkach)
71. Arthur Christmas – B+ (12/13, 1:05 PM – Oxford Valley; myself)
72. Young Adult – A- (12/19, 7:50 PM – Oxford Valley; Kaity Malone and Hannah Plumridge)
73. Melancholia – B- (12/21, 9:30 PM – Princeton Garden Theatre, Princeton, NJ; Kaity Malone)
74. The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn in 3D – B (12/26, 10:20 PM – Oxford Valley; Kaity Malone)
75. War Horse – B+ (12/31, 12:40 PM – Oxford Valley; Peg Howe and Claire Dansbury)

Why My Top 10 Movie List Wasn’t Ready by the End of the Year

January 2, 2012

jmunney Cinema Leave a comment

I flirted with the idea of finalizing by December 31 my top ten movies of the year of the list.  It at times seemed like a real possibility.  My evermore conscientious moviegoing habit has led to a new personal record for movies seen in the theatre every year, with 2011 no exception.  Granted, I never expected to see every film released in 2011, or even 100% of all those that appeared to have top ten potential.  Smaller releases always fall by the wayside, only to be discovered later and lead to reevaluations of past lists.  I never expected a list ready by the end of the year to be perfect, but I did fantasize that it could be good enough.  But the truth is that you can make a good enough top ten list only if you are a critic (and are thus invited to pre-release screenings) or if you live in New York or Los Angeles.  Annually, there are too many movies “released” at the end of the year that won’t reach a wide audience until January or February (if at all).  So, dear readers, to get the Jmunney Top 10 list that you deserve, you’ll just have to be used to expecting it by the end of January.  I must say that I have a year-round appetite for best of the year coverage, and I hope you feel the same way.

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