This Is a Movie Review: Transgender Rights and Family Drama Fuel the Ho-Hum ‘3 Generations’

May 3, 2017

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This review was originally published on News Cult in May 2017.

Starring: Elle Fanning, Naomi Watts, Susan Sarandon, Tate Donovan

Director: Gaby Dellal

Running Time: 92 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for The Facts of Life

Release Date: May 5, 2017 (Limited)

It is great when the stories of minority and discriminated groups are portrayed on the big screen, as they are granted greater visibility via the transportive power of cinema. But it is not so great when those stories are boring, because then the experience is less transportive. Teenage Ray (Elle Fanning) is a transgender male hoping to quickly start his gender reassignment treatment, and the reason this film is entitled “3 Generations” as opposed to something like “Ray’s Story” is because it is really about his relationship with his single mother Maggie (Naomi Watts) and grandmother Dolly (Susan Sarandon), whom he lives with together inManhattan. These are three talented ladies, and none of them phone it in, but ultimately 3 Generations feels like little more than spending a couple of hours with a family other than your own.

Teenage transgender transition stories offer the reliable dramatic hook of attempting to secure parental permission. Ray’s decision must be approved by both his mother and long-absentee father Craig (Tate Donovan). And therein lies the rub, as Maggie and Craig are not exactly on good terms, to put it mildly. It is enough to make you scream. Ray certainly does. Donovan is a captivating screen presence, and he has the necessary anti-chemistry with Watts, but again this mostly boils down to: families of transgender people can be just as dysfunctional as everyone else’s.

A constant source of tension for Ray is his grandmother’s difficulty accepting his identity. Dolly is far from conservative. She is a lesbian, but just because your sexuality is not mainstream does not mean you cannot also be closed-minded. There is an edge to Ray and Dolly’s interactions that is unavoidable, but also fascinating. A version of 3 Generations pared down to grandmother/grandson buddy comedy could be a winning formula. The obligations of familial love can be in a constant battle with the plague of misunderstanding/ I think that is the valiant thesis of this film, but it struggles to put its own spin on that age-old conundrum.

3 Generations is Recommended If You Like: The Kids Are All Right, Being an Elle Fanning Completist

Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Fire Escapes

Billboard Hot Rock Songs – Week of May 13, 2017

May 2, 2017

jmunney Billboard Charts, Billboard Hot Rock Songs, Music , , , Leave a comment

Each week, I check out the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart, and then I rearrange the top 25 based on my estimation of their quality. I used to rank all 25, now I just rank the cream of the crop.

Original Version
1. Imagine Dragons – “Believer”
2. Linkin Park ft. Kiiara – “Heavy”
3. twenty one pilots – “Heathens”
4. Lana Del Rey ft. The Weeknd – “Lust for Life”
5. Lord Huron – “The Night We Met”
6. Paramore – “Hard Times”
7. Rag’n’Bone Man – “Human”
8. Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, & Imagine Dragons with Logic, Ty Dolla $ign ft. X Ambassadors – “Sucker for Pain”
9. The Revivalists – “Wish I Knew You”
10. Bob Pressner – “American Dream”
11. Portugal. The Man – “Feel It Still”
12. Ocean Park Standoff – “Good News”
13. Gorillaz ft. Popcaan – “Saturnz Barz”
14. Lana Del Rey – “Love”
15. NEEDTOBREATHE – “Testify”
16. John Mayer – “In the Blood”
17. Cold War Kids – “Love is Mystical”
18. Gorillaz ft. D.R.A.M. – “Andromeda”
19. MISSIO – “Middle Fingers”
20. Papa Roach – “Help”
21. Fall Out Boy – “Young and Menace”
22. Cage the Elephant – “Cold Cold Cold”
23. Gorillaz ft. Mavis Staples and Pusha T – “Let Me Out”
24. The Lumineers – “Angela”
25. Sir Sly – “High”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Human
2. Let Me Out
3. Young and Menace
4. Feel It Still
5. Saturnz Barz
6. High
7. Cold Cold Cold
8. Love is Mystical
9. Love
10. Andromeda
11. Hard Times
12. Lust for Life

Billboard Hot 20 – Week of May 13, 2017

May 2, 2017

jmunney Billboard Charts, Billboard Hot 100, Music , , , , Leave a comment

Each week, I check out the Billboard Hot 100, and then I rearrange the top 20 based on my estimation of their quality. I used to rank all 20, now I just rank the cream of the crop.

Original Version
1. Bruno Mars – “That’s What I Like”
2. Ed Sheeran – “Shape of You”
3. Kendrick Lamar – “Humble.”
4. Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber – “Despacito”
5. Future – “Mask Off”
6. The Chainsmokers and Coldplay – “Something Just Like This”
7. Kendrick Lamar – “DNA.”
8. KYLE ft. Lil Yachty – “iSpy”
9. Lil Uzi Vert – “XO TOUR Llif3”
10. Kygo x Selena Gomez – “It Ain’t Me”
11. Zedd ft. Alessia Cara – “Stay”
12. Sam Hunt – “Body Like a Back Road”
13. James Arthur – “Say You Won’t Let Go”
14. Julia Michaels – “Issues”
15. Post Malone ft. Quavo – “Congratulations”
16. Khalid – “Location”
17. Clean Bandit ft. Sean Paul and Anne-Marie – “Rockabye”
18. Drake – “Passionfruit”
19. The Chainsmokers – “Paris”
20. Kodak Black – “Tunnel Vision”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Stay
2. Tunnel Vision
3. Location
4. Humble.
5. Rockabye
6. DNA.

The Simpsons 28.20 Review: “Looking for Mr. Goodbart”

May 1, 2017

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

“I wanted to make sure you remember that I think your job is stupid.” https://www.bubbleblabber.com/review-the-simpsons-looking-for-mr-goodbart/

Bob’s Burgers 7.19 Review: “Thelma & Louise Except Thelma is Linda”

May 1, 2017

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

“Are you joyless, Phillip?” https://www.bubbleblabber.com/review-bobs-burgers-thelma-louise-except-thelma-is-linda/

This Is a Movie Review: ‘Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2’ Fulfills Its Blockbuster Duty

May 1, 2017

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This review was originally published on News Cult in May 2017.

Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Elizabeth Debicki, Kurt Russell

Director: James Gunn

Running Time: 136 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for Space Opera Whiz Bang and Discussions About the Facts of Life

Release Date: May 5, 2017

As fun as this era of Marvel-ous moviemaking can be, a corporate agenda gets in the way of originality. But it is not necessarily the blueprint of interconnected universes that mandates that every superhero movie must end with a fight for the survival of the planet. That is simply this genre’s instinct. If you want to avoid it, you have to fight it. And expanding the setting to multiple galaxies is not the way to do so. That just raises the stakes. Instead of just Earth, it is the fate of the entire universe that hangs in the balance. Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 cannot help but be a part of this exhausting pattern, but it does what it can by rendering this gigantic fight as personal as possible.

When Peter Quill’s (Chris Pratt) long-lost papa Ego (Kurt Russell) shows up, Quill suspects that the reunion is a little too perfect. Gamora (Zoe Saldana) convinces him to give his dad a chance, assuring him that if treachery is afoot, killing him is always an option. So they, alongside Drax (Dave Bautista) and Ego’s empathic companion Mantis (Pom Klementieff) head off to Ego’s home planet. It looks like an idyllic utopia, but eventually it is revealed that Ego is the planet, and his intentions with his son may not be so aboveboard. The threat of universal apocalypse thereby feels intimate because it depends upon how Quill will or will not be manipulated.

Meanwhile, Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and Baby Groot (Vin Diesel) are holding down the fort elsewhere and forming unlikely, but satisfying, alliances with Yondu (Michael Rooker) and Nebula (Karen Gillan). They must deal with an onslaught from a new race of aliens that I do not feel like getting into. They are probably here because they will factor significantly into future Marvel Cinematic Universe installments, but for now, they are a distraction from the main conflict. I am not opposed in principle to splitting up the main crew. Rocket and Groot, after all, have a delightful C-3PO/R2-D2-style repartee wherever they go. They can do their own thing, it just does not need to be so extensive when the main thrust is already so all-encompassing.

While vol. 2 does fall prey to sequel bloat, the Guardians crew is reliable enough for their adventures to have a pretty high floor. The banter is top-notch, fueled as it is by intergalactic culture clash. Gamora attempts to comfort Quill by referencing his attachment to a certain beloved-by-Germans celebrity, but she totally botches the details. Quill later fires back with a Cheers analogy of their relationship that is adorably confused. Drax demonstrates how his race is quite open about discussing sexual matters with a colorful description of his parents’ experiences. This is all helped along by Mantis’ empathic abilities, in which she can feel others’ emotions and thus open up the dams holding back honesty. The pinnacle of all this sharing is Baby Groot’s opinion on hats (which does not even need Mantis’ prompting).

Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 is Recommended If You Like: “I am Groot.” “I am Groot?” “I AMMM GROOOOOOOT!”

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Sweet Sounds of the Seventies

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