SNL Recap March 7, 2015: Chris Hemsworth/Zac Brown Band

March 9, 2015

jmunney Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

SNL: Chris Hemsworth March 2015 Monologue (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)

This review was originally posted on Starpulse in March 2015.

It might just be pointlessly quixotic to ascribe a thesis statement to an episode of “SNL.”  Any detectable patterns may have just been accidental.  When the host and musical guest do not bring in a whole lot of baggage, that truth becomes emphasized.  Chris Hemsworth was host two months before the release of the next “Avengers” movie.  Zac Brown Band have new music, but they are not dominating the mainstream conversation.  This was certainly an episode that happened.  There were highlights, there were lowlights, and it will lead to a multiplicity of opinions.  Here’s one: it was cray-cray.

A Message From Hillary Clinton – Kate McKinnon made it clear that should Hillary Clinton run for president, she will not back down from the challenge of taking on this legendary impression.  This sketch was essentially a character piece, when it could have focused on sharper satire about whether or not Clinton’s e-mail correspondence is a legitimate controversy.  But as a character piece, it was encouraging, managing to imbue the tired “old person e-mail gag” with specific personality. B

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What Won TV? – March 1-March 7, 2015

March 8, 2015

jmunney Television, What Won TV? Leave a comment

In this feature, I look back at each day of the past week and determine what shows “won TV” for the night. That is, I consider every episode of television I watched that aired on a particular day and declare which was the best.

Sunday – The pilot of The Last Man on Earth is an episode of television that actually exists.
Monday – Better Call Saul
Tuesday – Kroll Show
Wednesday – The Goldbergs
Thursday – Watching an episode of Portlandia is an unspoken competition.
Friday – Comedy Bang! Bang!
Saturday – SNL, specifically the part when Kyle Mooney said, “Dude!”

VH1 Top 20 Countdown – 3/7/15

March 7, 2015

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

Each week, I check out VH1′s Top 20 countdown, and then I rearrange the songs based on my estimation of their quality.

Original Version
1. Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars – “Uptown Funk”
2. Ed Sheeran – “Thinking Out Loud”
3. Pitbull & Ne-Yo – “Time of Our Lives”
4. Lily Wood & Robin Schulz – “Prayer in C (Robin Schulz Remix)”
5. Meghan Trainor – “Lips Are Movin”
6. Taylor Swift – “Style”
7. Rihanna and Kanye West and Paul McCartney – “FourFiveSeconds”
8. Maroon 5 – “Sugar”
9. Hozier – “Take Me to Church”
10. Ella Henderson – “Ghost”
11. Fall Out Boy – “Centuries”
12. Ellie Goulding – “Love Me Like You Do”
13. Nick Jonas – “Chains”
14. Calvin Harris ft. Ellie Goulding – “Outside”
15. Kelly Clarkson – “Heartbeat Song”
16. Sam Smith – “Lay Me Down”
17. Tove Lo – “Talking Body”
18. Imagine Dragons – “I Bet My Life”
19. George Ezra – “Budapest”
20. Tori Kelly – “Nobody Love”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Outside
2. Style
3. Take Me to Church
4. Talking Body
5. Prayer in C (Robin Schulz Remix)
6. Ghost
7. Love Me Like You Do
8. FourFiveSeconds
9. Chains
10. Lay Me Down
11. I Bet My Life
12. Centuries
13. Time of Our Lives
14. Uptown Funk
15. Budapest
16. Heartbeat Song
17. Nobody Love
18. Sugar
19. Lips Are Movin
20. Thinking Out Loud

The Middle 6.16 – “Flirting with Disaster”

March 5, 2015

jmunney Television, The Middle, The Middle Episode Reviews Leave a comment

It’s a real Nowhere convention: http://www.starpulse.com/news/Jeffrey_Malone/2015/03/05/the-middle-season-6-episode-16-recap-f

New Girl 4.18 – “Walk of Shame”

March 4, 2015

jmunney New Girl, New Girl Episode Reviews, Television Leave a comment

“’The man, the legend’? Wouldn’t that mean he has no penis at all?” http://www.starpulse.com/news/Jeffrey_Malone/2015/03/04/new-girl-season-4-episode-18-recap-wal

Fuse Top 20 Countdown – 3/3/15

March 4, 2015

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

Each week, I check out FUSE’s Top 20 countdown, and then I rearrange the songs based on my estimation of their quality.

Original Version
1. Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars – “Uptown Funk”
2. Ed Sheeran – “Thinking Out Loud”
3. Sam Smith – “I’m Not the Only One”
4. Hozier – “Take Me to Church”
5. Meghan Trainor – “Lips Are Movin”
6. Taylor Swift – “Blank Space”
7. Pitbull & Ne-Yo – “Time of Our Lives”
8. Nick Jonas – “Jealous”
9. Kelly Clarkson – “Heartbeat Song”
10. Ella Henderson – “Ghost”
11. Ariana Grande ft. The Weeknd – “Love Me Harder”
12. Fall Out Boy – “Centuries”
13. Selena Gomez – “The Heart Wants What It Wants”
14. Big Sean ft. E40 – “IDFWU”
15. Beyoncé – “7/11”
16. I LOVE MAKONNEN ft. Drake – “Tuesday (Remix)”
17. One Direction – “Night Changes”
18. Prince Royce ft. Snoop Dogg – “Stuck on a Feeling”
19. Nicki Minaj ft. Lil Wayne, Drake, & Chris Brown – “Only”
20. Calvin Harris ft. Ellie Goulding – “Outside”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Love Me Harder
2. Outside
3. Blank Space
4. Take Me to Church
5. Jealous
6. Ghost
7. IDFWU
8. Centuries
9. Time of Our Lives
10. Uptown Funk
11. I’m Not the Only One
12. Only
13. Stuck on a Feeling
14. The Heart Wants What It Wants
15. Heartbeat Song
16. 7/11
17. Night Changes
18. Tuesday (Remix)
19. Lips Are Movin
20. Thinking Out Loud

Bob’s Burgers 5.13 – “The Gayle Tales”

March 2, 2015

jmunney Bob's Burgers, Bob's Burgers Episode Reviews, Television Leave a comment

Gene needs his eyes for eye exams. http://www.starpulse.com/news/Jeffrey_Malone/2015/03/02/bobs-burgers-season-5-episode-13-recap

Film Editing Appreciation/Analysis: The Room’s Surprise Birthday Party

March 2, 2015

jmunney Academic Papers, Cinema , , , , , Leave a comment

The Movie: The Room
The Scene: Birthday Party
The Editor: Eric Chase

This essay was originally written as by final paper for my Aesthetics of Editing class, taught by Rafael Parra, in Fall 2014 at The New School.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92QgQt2QOn4

The Room is a masterwork of surrealism in film. This may not have been intentional; director Tommy Wiseau, is known for his inscrutability and has given confounding explanations for what he was trying to accomplish with this movie. But the purest form of surrealism is accidental, which is why it works as well as it does in this case. The Room’s strange editing strategies underscore this sense. In this vein, the birthday party scene features a particularly fascinating mix of continuity and discontinuity elements. The film is made competently, both narratively and technically, but there are certain odd aspects that call attention to themselves and create a surreal ethos.

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SNL Recap February 28, 2015: Dakota Johnson/Alabama Shakes

March 1, 2015

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

SNL: Dakota Johnson, Alabama Shakes, Kenan Thompson (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)

This review was originally posted on Starpulse in March 2015.

“SNL” returned to its regularly scheduled time slot after its 40th anniversary and … this episode did not feel like the comedown show after a big special so much as it felt like the type of episode that follow the ones that preceded it.  Fresh off the record-breaking box-office of “Fifty Shades of Grey,” Dakota Johnson stopped by to host for the first time, on a series that is still strongly favoring original material, and at its best when that material gets weird (which usually happens with the pre-recorded shorts).  Johnson brought a surprising and surprisingly effective mellow charm that made her disappear into a lot of her roles, making an impression in how much she did not make an impression.  Meanwhile, Alabama Shakes made their case for why they should be the musical guest every week.

Giuliani, or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance – What started as a fairly standard current affairs cold opening surprised and delighted by turning into a pastiche of this year’s Best Picture Oscar winner.  Portraying Rudy Giuliani’s comments about the president as a hubristic comeback attempt a la Riggan Thomson in “Birdman” was not a comparison that a lot of people have been making.  Taran Killam really bit into the opportunity (quite literally, what with all that jowl movement) to do the double impression of Giuliani-as-Michael Keaton.  There were not really any laugh-out-loud moments, but this bit still absolutely killed, as it captured the energy and original spirit of the source material. B+

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What Won TV? – February 22-February 28, 2015

March 1, 2015

jmunney Television, What Won TV? Leave a comment

In this feature, I look back at each day of the past week and determine what shows “won TV” for the night. That is, I consider every episode of television I watched that aired on a particular day and declare which was the best.

Sunday – Marion Cotillard introducing “Everything is Awesome”
Monday – Better Call Saul
Tuesday – Whoa, whoa, New Girl‘s not mad at anybody, let’s stop and spit.
Wednesday – Broad City
Thursday – Portlandia is in escrow, though no can explain precisely why.
Friday – Comedy Bang! Bang!
Saturday – SNL

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