What Won TV? – August 7-August 13, 2016

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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.

mr_robot_sitcom

Sunday – Last Week Tonight with John Oliver #Investifarted
Monday – UnREAL
Tuesday – Not Safe with Nikki Glaser
Wednesday – I have no trouble imagining a world gone insane with Mr. Robot
Thursday – Olympics: the Simones have it
Friday – Olympics: all 800m of Katie Ledecky
Saturday – Olympics, particularly Monica Puig for Puerto Rico

katie ledecky 800m freestyle

Billboard Hot Rock Songs – Week of August 20, 2016

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Each week, I check out the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart, and then I rearrange that top 25 based on my estimation of their quality.

Original Version
1. twenty one pilots – “Ride”
2. twenty one pilots – “Heathens”
3. twenty one pilots – “Stressed Out”
4. Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, & Imagine Dragons with Logic, Ty Dolla $ign, & X Ambassadors – “Sucker for Pain”
5. Coldplay – “Hymn for the Weekend”
6. X Ambassadors – “Unsteady”
7. Ben Rector – “Brand New”
8. Disturbed – “The Sound of Silence”
9. The Lumineers – “Ophelia”
10. Fitz and the Tantrums – “HandClap”
11. Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Dark Necessities”
12. blink-182 – “Bored to Death”
13. Kaleo – “Way Down We Go”
14. Bishop Briggs – “River”
15. AURORA – “I Went Too Far”
16. The 1975 – “The Sound”
17. Bastille – “Good Grief”
18. Beck – “Wow”
19. Skillet – “Feel Invincible”
20. Cage the Elephant – “Trouble”
21. Panic! at the Disco – “Don’t Threaten Me with a Good Time”
22. The 1975 – “Somebody Else”
23. The Head and the Heart – “All We Ever Knew”
24. Phantogram – “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore”
25. Volbeat – “The Devil’s Bleeding Crown”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. You Don’t Get Me High Anymore
2. River
3. Wow
4. Way Down We Go
5. The Sound
6. Unsteady
7. Dark Necessities
8. Somebody Else
9. Ride
10. Trouble
11. Don’t Threaten Me with a Good Time
12. Good Grief
13. Ophelia
14. Stressed Out
15. The Devil’s Bleeding Crown
16. All We Ever Knew
17. Hymn for the Weekend
18. Heathens
19. I Went Too Far
20. Feel Invincible
21. Sucker for Pain
22. The Sound of Silence
23. HandClap
24. Brand New
25. Bored to Death

Billboard Hot 20 – Week of August 20, 2016

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Each week, I check out the Billboard Hot 100, and then I rearrange the top 20 based on my estimation of their quality.

Original Version
1. Sia ft. Sean Paul – “Cheap Thrills”
2. Drake ft. WizKid and Kyla – “One Dance”
3. Calvin Harris ft. Rihanna – “This Is What You Came For”
4. Justin Timberlake – “Can’t Stop the Feeling!”
5. Major Lazer ft. Justin Bieber and MØ – “Cold Water”
6. The Chainsmokers ft. Daya – “Don’t Let Me Down”
7. twenty one pilots – “Ride”
8. Rihanna – “Needed Me”
9. The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey – “Closer”
10. Adele – “Send My Love (to Your New Lover)”
11. twenty one pilots – “Heathens”
12. Desiigner – “Panda”
13. DJ Khaled ft. Drake – “For Free”
14. Meghan Trainor – “Me Too”
15. Kent Jones – “Don’t Mind”
16. Fifth Harmony ft. Ty Dolla $ign – “Work From Home”
17. P!nk – “Just Like Fire”
18. Shawn Mendes – “Treat You Better”
19. Charlie Puth ft. Selena Gomez – “We Don’t Talk Anymore”
20. Drake ft. Rihanna – “Too Good”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Cheap Thrills
2. Work From Home
3. Needed Me
4. Ride
5. Closer
6. Cold Water
7. Send My Love (to Your New Lover)
8. Don’t Let Me Down
9. Can’t Stop the Feeling!
10. Too Good
11. One Dance
12. We Don’t Talk Anymore
13. This Is What You Came For
14. Me Too
15. Heathens
16. Panda
17. For Free
18. Treat You Better
19. Just Like Fire
20. Don’t Mind

What Won TV? – July 31-August 6, 2016

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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.

eric-andre-show-ti

Sunday – The Night Of
Monday – Angie Tribeca
Tuesday – Whose Line is it Anyway?
Wednesday – Mr. Robot, because Elliot and Angela finally had a chance this season to say that they miss each other
Thursday – Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions Encore Presentation
Friday – The Eric Andre Show
Saturday – Olympics: Katinka Hosszu is my favorite champ so far.

This Is a Movie Review: Nerve

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Nerve-movie

So many reviews of Nerve have compared the titular online reality game to Pokémon GO, and rightly so. Rarely does such a perfect real-world analogue serendipitously appear, and with such uncanny timing to boot. Obviously, the team behind Nerve could not have been unaware of the latest augmented reality sensation during production, but they end up so close to it because they are thoroughly attuned to the aesthetics of all the modern major online channels.

As a sort of mixed media collage, Nerve is somehow both disorienting and natural, which is how the adoption of new technology goes. The players of Nerve must film themselves performing their dares on their cell phones, which is both awkward (often dangerously so) and second nature.

The film zips along with just enough believability until its conclusion, when everyone suddenly develops superpowers. But while it falters plot-wise, it remains thematically strong (a sly moment of mass implication hits hard). This is an exaggerated world, but it feels unnervingly plausible. While Nerve goes down easy, it does not really let anyone off the hook.

I give Nerve $50,000, plus a $1,000 bonus for not bailing when it probably should have.

Watch And/Or Listen to This: Phantogram’s “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore”

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This is why I follow the Billboard charts.

Watch And/Or Listen to This: Reggie’s Hobbies: Exotic Animals

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It really felt like James Corden didn’t know what was going to happen.

Billboard Hot Rock Songs – Week of August 13, 2016

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Each week, I check out the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart, and then I rearrange that top 25 based on my estimation of their quality.

Original Version
1. twenty one pilots – “Ride”
2. twenty one pilots – “Heathens”
3. twenty one pilots – “Stressed Out”
4. James Bay – “Let It Go”
5. Coldplay – “Hymn for the Weekend”
6. X Ambassadors – “Unsteady”
7. Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, & Imagine Dragons with Logic, Ty Dolla $ign, & X Ambassadors – “Sucker for Pain”
8. Disturbed – “The Sound of Silence”
9. Ben Rector – “Brand New”
10. The Lumineers – “Ophelia”
11. Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Dark Necessities”
12. blink-182 – “Bored to Death”
13. Fitz and the Tantrums – “HandClap”
14. Kaleo – “Way Down We Go”
15. Bastille – “Good Grief”
16. Bishop Briggs – “River”
17. AURORA – “I Went Too Far”
18. The 1975 – “The Sound”
19. Cage the Elephant – “Trouble”
20. Korn – “Rotting in Vain”
21. Skillet – “Feel Invincible”
22. Beck – “Wow”
23. Panic! at the Disco – “Don’t Threaten Me with a Good Time”
24. Phantogram – “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore”
25. NEEDTOBREATHE – “Happiness”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. You Don’t Get Me High Anymore
2. River
3. Wow
4. Way Down We Go
5. The Sound
6. Unsteady
7. Dark Necessities
8. Ride
8. Trouble
9. Don’t Threaten Me With a Good Time
11. Good Grief
12. Ophelia
13. Stressed Out
14. Hymn for the Weekend
15. Heathens
16. I Went Too Far
17. Feel Invincible
18. Sucker for Pain
19. The Sound of Silence
20. Happiness
21. HandClap
22. Rotting in Vain
23. Let It Go
24. Brand New
25. Bored to Death

Billboard Hot 20 – Week of August 13, 2016

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Each week, I check out the Billboard Hot 100, and then I rearrange the top 20 based on my estimation of their quality.

Original Version
1. Sia ft. Sean Paul – “Cheap Thrills”
2. Major Lazer ft. Justin Bieber and MØ – “Cold Water”
3. Drake ft. WizKid and Kyla – “One Dance”
4. Calvin Harris ft. Rihanna – “This Is What You Came For”
5. Justin Timberlake – “Can’t Stop the Feeling!”
6. The Chainsmokers ft. Daya – “Don’t Let Me Down”
7. twenty one pilots – “Ride”
8. Rihanna – “Needed Me”
9. Adele – “Send My Love (to Your New Lover)”
10. Desiigner – “Panda”
11. Kent Jones – “Don’t Mind”
12. P!nk – “Just Like Fire”
13. Meghan Trainor – “Me Too”
14. DJ Khaled ft. Drake – “For Free”
15. twenty one pilots – “Heathens”
16. Shawn Mendes – “Treat You Better”
17. Fifth Harmony ft. Ty Dolla $ign – “Work From Home”
18. Drake – “Controlla”
19. Florida Georgia Line – “H.O.L.Y.”
20. Drake ft. Rihanna – “Too Good”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Cheap Thrills
2. Work From Home
3. Needed Me
4. Ride
5. Cold Water
6. Send My Love (to Your New Lover)
7. Don’t Let Me Down
8. Can’t Stop the Feeling!
9. Too Good
10. One Dance
11. This Is What You Came For
12. Me Too
13. Heathens
14. Panda
15. For Free
16. Controlla
17. Treat You Better
18. Just Like Fire
19. H.O.L.Y.
20. Don’t Mind

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