Billboard Hot Rock Songs – Week of February 3, 2018

January 30, 2018

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 – “Thunder”
2. Portugal. The Man – “Feel It Still”
3. Imagine Dragons – “Believer”
4. Walk the Moon – “One Foot”
5. Imagine Dragons – “Whatever It Takes”
6. Alice Merton – “No Roots”
7. Fall Out Boy – “Hold Me Tight or Don’t”
8. The Cranberries – “Zombie”
9. Theory of a Deadman – “(Rx) Medicate”
10. 30 Seconds to Mars – “Walk on Water”
11. Foster the People – “Sit Next to Me”
12. Def Leppard – “Pour Some Sugar on Me”
13. The Cranberries – “Linger”
14. The Cranberries – “Dreams”
15. Fall Out Boy – “Church”
16. Fall Out Boy – “The Last of the Real Ones”
17. Beck – “Up All Night”
18. Fall Out Boy – “Wilson (Expensive Mistakes)”
19. Fall Out Boy – “Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea”
20. Portugal. The Man – “Live in the Moment”
21. Five Finger Death Punch – “Gone Away”
22. Fall Out Boy – “Young and Menace”
23. Bastille – “World Gone Mad”
24. Def Leppard – “Photograph”
25. Bad Wolves – “Zombie”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Zombie (The Cranberries)
2. Dreams
3. No Roots
4. Up All Night
5. Feel It Still
6. Photograph
7. Linger
8. Church
9. Pour Some Sugar on Me
10. Live in the Moment
11. World Gone Mad

Billboard Hot 20 – Week of February 3, 2018

January 30, 2018

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. Drake – “God’s Plan”
2. Ed Sheeran – “Perfect”
3. Camila Cabello ft. Young Thug – “Havana”
4. Post Malone ft. 21 Savage – “Rockstar”
5. Bruno Mars and Cardi B – “Finesse”
6. Halsey – “Bad at Love”
7. Drake – “Diplomatic Immunity”
8. Dua Lipa – “New Rules”
9. Imagine Dragons – “Thunder”
10. G-Eazy ft. A$AP Rocky and Cardi B – “No Limit”
11. Migos, Nicki Minaj, and Cardi B – “MotorSport”
12. Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line – “Meant to Be”
13. Sam Smith – “Too Good at Goodbyes”
14. NF – “Let You Down”
15. Kendrick Lamar ft. Zacari – “Love.”
16. G-Eazy and Halsey – “Him & I”
17. Lil Pump – “Gucci Gang”
18. 6ix9ine – “Gummo”
19. Post Malone – “I Fall Apart”
20. Cardi B ft. 21 Savage – “Bartier Cardi”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. New Rules
2. Havana
3. Love.
4. Diplomatic Immunity

This Is a Movie Review: ‘A Fantastic Woman’ Finds a Trans Woman Making Her Defiant Case That She Deserves to Be Treated Like a Human Being

January 30, 2018

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , Leave a comment

CREDIT: Sony Pictures Classics

This review was originally posted on News Cult in January 2018.

Starring: Daniela Vega, Francisco Reyes, Luis Gnecco, Aline Küppenheim, Amparo Noguera, Nicolás Saavedra

Director: Sebastián Lelio

Running Time: 104 Minutes

Rating: R for Nudity Borne of Passion and Invasive Procedure, and Prejudicial Assault/Harassment

Release Date: February 2, 2018 (Limited)

A lot of the discussion around films and TV shows about underrepresented communities focuses on the value of those people being given a voice. And while that discussion is important, I fear that it has given subpar storytelling a pass or promoted the merely decent to excellence. But A Fantastic Woman (an Oscar nominee for Foreign Language Film), about Marina (Daniela Vega), a trans Chilean woman, and the prejudice she faces in her daily life, is the rare example in which the act of giving the voiceless a voice is baked so seamlessly into the narrative. It is possible that it resonates so much with me because its experience is so far outside my purview (I do not have many close trans friends, I do not know Chile or its people very well) that it feels so revelatory where for others it might seem matter-of-fact. But regardless of familiarity or lack thereof, Fantastic Woman registers as successfully as it does because Marina’s story is so intrinsically about her fight to live and love as she pleases.

A Fantastic Woman begins as almost a fantasy of what life could be if trans people were fully accepted, and embraced, for whom they truly are. This is not it portrays anything physically impossible but rather it presents what is socially improbable. But it is possible, because even for those who are most oppressed, there are slivers of perfection, and this is indeed a sliver, but it is awash in sensuousness, romance, and tranquility. Orlando (Francisco Reyes) strolls into the club where Marina, his girlfriend, is singing, via an inviting tracking shot. It is her birthday, and they conclude the evening with a night of passion at their shared apartment. She may be trans, and he might be 30 years older than her, but this is the life they have carved out for each other, so none of that other stuff matters.

But alas, this is all a prelude to Orlando suddenly falling ill and dying at the hospital. Immediately, Marina is now alone, even before Orlando’s family arrives to shut her out. Her evasive reaction might be what makes her appear suspicious to the authorities, but the truth is that she was never going to have a fair chance to mourn Orlando. His son Bruno (Nicolás Saavedra) openly disdains her and is not against using abuse and harassment to show it. His ex-wife, Sonia (Aline Küppenheim) is more civil, though she makes it clear enough that she would like to erase Marina from existence. She has a bit of an ally in his brother Gabo (Luis Gnecco), but he is too ineffectual to make a difference. Then there is the female detective (Amparo Noguera) who has worked cases involving trans women before and tries to present herself as a friend, but in her assumptions of foul play, she proves to be among the most invasive.

As Marina walks around adrift in her distressing new normal, there are some flashes of actual fantasy. A visit to a nightclub results in a music video interlude that lifts her up in the style of Björk’s “It’s Oh So Quiet.” A moment of walking along the sideway turns into a fight against the elements as she stands diagonally, pushing against a sudden sustained gust of intransigent wind. This shot, encapsulating willpower vs. status quo, embodies the whole of A Fantastic Woman. Despite how much someone is constantly knocked back, no matter how systematically, there are still opportunities for transcendent, ineffable bursts of humanity.

A Fantastic Woman is Recommended If You Like: Brokeback Mountain, The Florida Project, Foreign Films Set in Countries You’ve Never Visited

Grade: 4 out of 5 Resilient Decisions

SNL Review January 27, 2018: Will Ferrell/Chris Stapleton

January 28, 2018

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

CREDIT: Alison Hale/NBC

This review was originally posted on News Cult in January 2018.

NewsCult Entertainment Editor Jeffrey Malone watches every new episode of Saturday Night Live and then organizes the sketches into the following categories: “Love It” (potentially Best of the Season-worthy), “Keep It” (perfectly adequate), or “Leave It” (in need of a rewrite, to say the least). Then he concludes with assessments of the host and musical guest.

Love It

A Message From the Former President – This is one of the most masterful impressions of all time because it is just bursting with ideas. “The ‘W’ stands “wassup?!,” “Washington, Lincoln, and I want to say, Kensington,” “Shoe me once once, shoe’s on you. Shoe me twice, I’m keeping those shoes” … I could go on forever! And amidst all the goofy bonhomie, there is also a strong clearheadedness about what points are being made, most prominently being: the main reason liberals are now romanticizing the George W. Bush presidency is because at least his disasters were a lot sillier.

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This Is a Movie Review: ‘Like Me’ Captures the Beautifully Disgusting Travails of an Underground Internet-Famous Renegade

January 26, 2018

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CREDIT: Kino Lorber

This review was originally posted on News Cult in January 2018.

Starring: Addison Timlin, Larry Fessenden, Ian Nelson, Jeremy Gardner

Director: Robert Mockler

Running Time: 80 Minutes

Rating: Not Rated, But It Could Be R for Its Disturbing Food-Based and Psychedelic Imagery

Release Date: January 26, 2018 (Limited Theatrically)/February 20, 2018 (On Demand)

Is social media breeding new forms of sociopathy, or is it the other way around insofar as those who are already sociopaths are naturally drawn to social media? Or maybe people just use whatever media they have available to them to deliver their messages, whether sociopathic, benign, or somewhere in between. Robert Mockler’s indie horror (or horror-adjacent, but horrific, nonetheless) Like Me does not provide any straightforward answers to any of these questions, but it is vividly drawn enough for viewers to draw their own conclusions.

A sort of 21st Century Taxi Driver with flashes of A Clockwork Orange, Like Me is primarily the portrait of a loner, burning for an outlet for her twisted proclivities. We never got much of a sense what Kiya’s (Addison Timlin) living or familial situation is, but we learn enough to know that she’s able to handle herself, despite her small, seemingly unimposing physicality. It is perhaps that unpredictability that allows her to pull off her … “schemes,” let’s call them. She harasses a convenience store employee into whimpering submission and then she lures a hotel worker with sexual promises into a force-feeding session that concludes with him vomiting milk (with the latter encounter leading into a bizarre buddy flick), broadcasting the most extreme moments for all her social followers to behold. Kiya definitely takes notice of the online reaction she engenders, but it appears to be the thrill of the moment itself that motivates her most.

If you’re like me, you’ll wonder why anyone could behave as Kiya does. Director Robert Mockler is not particularly interested in answering that conundrum, nor do I really want him to. Instead, he is more committed to crafting a sumptuous feast that overwhelms the senses. Kiya’s world is filled with dimly lit overwhelming colors. Gummy worms, a rotating camera, an ominous score heavily indebted to Goblin but with its own edge of urban dysfunction, and psychedelic light streams combine for a toxic blend of anti-satisfying sustenance. Several reaction videos to Kiya’s escapades are presented in Internet windows, captured in their full crappy webcam glory, clashing with the crisp digital photography of the main action. I can imagine this whole thing is a daydream that Mockler had one day, and it is probably healthy that he has now let it all out on the screen.

Like Me is Recommended If You Like: A Clockwork Orange, Taxi Driver, The Shining, Mixed Media Presentations

Grade: 3 out of 5 Forced Feedings

Great News Season 2 Review

January 26, 2018

jmunney Great News, Television , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

CREDIT: Art Streiber/NBC

I give Great News Season 2 4.2 out of 5 Hit Songs by Carol & the Liars: http://newscult.com/great-news-season-2-review-just-another-nbc-thursday-show-reaches-the-top-tier-of-sitcoms/

This Is a Movie Review: ‘Please Stand By’ as Dakota Fanning Tries on Autism and ‘Star Trek’ Fandom

January 25, 2018

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

CREDIT: Magnolia Pictures

This review was originally published on News Cult in January 2018.

Starring: Dakota Fanning, Toni Collette, Alice Eve, River Alexander, Jessica Rothe, Michael Stahl-David, Patton Oswalt

Director: Ben Lewin

Running Time: 93 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for A Few Frank Mentions About Bodily Functions and an Emotional Breakdown or Two

Release Date: January 26, 2018 (Limited Theatrically and On Demand)

Early on in Please Stand By, Wendy’s (Dakota Fanning) Cinnabon co-worker Nemo (Tony Revolori) gifts her with a mix CD, which has me thinking, “Do people even make mix CD’s anymore?” As someone who believes in the virtue of simultaneously embracing both new and outdated forms of technology, I do not object to the presence of music on physical media (my own CD collection is still hefty and its recent slowdown in growth is due mostly to a dwindling in space and not a newfound preference for digital), but it does stick out as odd in a film that I am firmly certain is supposed to be taking place in the present day. In general, there are few, if any, clear markers indicating when Please Stand By is set. The best we have to go on is the fact that Wendy has an iPod, which tells us that the time must be no earlier than 2001.

It is fitting that Wendy’s story has a somewhat out-of-time quality to it. She is autistic and accordingly sticks to a strict routine, one that she has probably spent years firmly establishing. (That still doesn’t explain why her friend from work is still into CD’s, but whatever.) I believe that autistic characters have been well-represented enough in film and television that any single character does not have to bear the burden of representing ALL autistic people. And that is helpful, because while Wendy’s autism does play a major part in her story, it is specific in ways that go beyond that.

Ultimately from a certain angle this is a pretty simple road trip movie starring a girl and her chihuahua. They are heading out to California so that Wendy can hand-deliver her 500-page Star Trek script to Paramount Studios for a fan contest. She missed the mailing deadline due to stress involving family, and now her sister (Alice Eve) and caretaker (Toni Collette) are tracking her down to make sure she’s okay, seeing as she’s never been on her own before. This is a story of fandom, focused around a fan with an unfathomably deep interior life.

There is not all that much unique about Please Stand By. There are plenty of stories about obsessive fans, as well as ones about autistic people who struggle to connect with those around them. And it is no surprise that when you combine those two elements, you get someone who identifies deeply with Mr. Spock, as we have seen that plenty of times already as well. My Star Trek knowledge is sporadic (I’ve only seen the reboot films and the first episode of Discovery), but I believe I know enough about the major themes to say that Please Stand By does right by its inspirations. This is the sort of film that gives what is mostly a cameo outsize billing, but it feels justified: Patton Oswalt plays a police officer who speaks Klingon and makes the sort of day-to-day connection that Wendy has always been looking for. It is not instantly transformative, but it is the crux that represents the film’s easily digestible, reaffirming, humanistic message.

Please Stand By is Recommended If You Like: Star Trek (especially if you identify with Spock), Little Miss Sunshine, Patton Oswalt Cameos

Grade: 3 out of 5 Mix CD’s

Billboard Hot Rock Songs – Week of January 27, 2018

January 23, 2018

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 – “Thunder”
2. Portugal. The Man – “Feel It Still”
3. Imagine Dragons – “Believer”
4. Walk the Moon – “One Foot”
5. The Cranberries – “Zombie”
6. The Cranberries – “Linger”
7. The Cranberries – “Dreams”
8. Imagine Dragons – “Whatever It Takes”
9. Alice Merton – “No Roots”
10. Theory of a Deadman – “Rx (Medicate)”
11. 30 Seconds to Mars – “Walk on Water”
12. Foster the People – “Sit Next to Me”
13. Blue October – “I Hope You’re Happy”
14. Beck – “Up All Night”
15. Portugal. The Man – “Live in the Moment”
16. Five Finger Death Punch – “Gone Away”
17. The Cranberries – “Ode to My Family”
18. Bastille – “World Gone Mad”
19. Imagine Dragons & Khalid – “Thunder”/”Young Dumb & Broke” (Medley)
20. Fall Out Boy – “Hold Me Tight or Don’t”
21. Foo Fighters – “The Sky is a Neighborhood”
22. Fall Out Boy – “Wilson (Expensive Mistakes)”
23. Breaking Benjamin – “Red Cold River”
24. Noah Kahan and Julia Michaels – “Hurt Somebody”
25. The Cranberries – “When You’re Gone”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Zombie
2. Dreams
3. No Roots
4. Up All Night
5. Feel It Still
6. The Sky is a Neighborhood
7. Linger
8. Live in the Moment
9. World Gone Mad

Billboard Hot 20 – Week of January 27, 2018

January 23, 2018

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. Camila Cabello ft. Young Thug – “Havana”
2. Ed Sheeran – “Perfect”
3. Post Malone ft. 21 Savage – “Rockstar”
4. Bruno Mars and Cardi B – “Finesse”
5. Halsey – “Bad at Love”
6. Imagine Dragons – “Thunder”
7. G-Eazy ft. A$AP Rocky and Cardi B – “No Limit”
8. Dua Lipa – “New Rules”
9. Sam Smith – “Too Good at Goodbyes”
10. Migos, Nicki Minaj, and Cardi B – “MotorSport”
11. Lil Pump – “Gucci Gang”
12. Kendrick Lamar ft. Zacari – “Love.”
13. 6ix9ine – “Gummo”
14. NF – “Let You Down”
15. G-Eazy and Halsey – “Him & I”
16. Cardi B ft. 21 Savage – “Bartier Cardi”
17. Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line – “Meant to Be”
18. Taylor Swift ft. Ed Sheeran and Future – “End Game”
19. Cardi B – “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)”
20. Post Malone – “I Fall Apart”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. New Rules
2. Havana
3. Love.
4. End Game

This Is a Movie Review: ‘The Death Cure’ Wraps Up the ‘Maze Runner’ Trilogy with High-Octane Action and Personal Battles of Class Warfare

January 23, 2018

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CREDIT: Joe Alblas/Twentieth Century Fox

This review was originally posted on News Cult in January 2018.

Starring: Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Dexter Darden, Rosa Salazar, Giancarlo Esposito, Aidan Gillen, Ki Hong Lee, Will Poulter, Patricia Clarkson, Walton Goggins, Barry Pepper

Director: Wes Ball

Running Time: 142 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for Zombie Makeup, a Few Puncture Wounds, and Some Explosions

Release Date: January 26, 2018

Readers, I must be upfront with you: The Death Cure is the only Maze Runner movie I have seen. I was not yet on a regular reviewing beat when the first two came out, but as the trilogy comes to its conclusion, the assignment has fallen to me. Now, I suppose I could have made time to get caught up on the first two, but I often contend that viewers can watch multi-chapter entertainment properties in whatever order they feel like. The Maze Runner franchise is probably not the best choice for doing so, as it is the type of film series that doesn’t waste any time playing catch-up for newbies. But I decided to experiment a bit and see if any enjoyment could be had amidst the confusion.

The good news is that The Death Cure’s spectacle is exciting and well-crafted enough to be enjoyed devoid of context. The opening action chase sequence of vehicles barreling towards a cliff plays like a postapocalyptic cross between the opening of Fast Five and the tank chase from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It is not as death-defying or as instantly iconic as its predecessors, but it sets itself apart enough to not be overly derivative. Director Wes Ball’s only three feature films thus far are the Maze Runner trilogy, but he has proven himself technically capable to fill in any openings that may exist in the action genre.

As for the story, I was generally able to fill in what must have happened in the first two enough to follow along, and it is not exactly what I was expecting. Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) and his crew are dealing with the aftereffects of a virus that has infected most of the world’s population, leaving many zombified while those who are well-off wall themselves in the Last City. Thomas is one of a few who are immune, and he could be instrumental in developing a cure, but he does not exactly agree with the methods of those dedicating themselves to finding one. There is plenty to be gleaned here about the struggle between the 99% and the 1%, and I appreciate that that point is not underlined too hard.

It is also welcome that this series (or the conclusion of it anyway) is not too beholden to the stereotypical “chosen one” YA narrative. Sure, Thomas holds the key to saving humanity, but that fact is accidental, and it does not really have anything to do with what makes him a good leader. As for a (good) quality of this genre that The Death Cure does play into, there is its surplus of quality adult actors (Giancarlo Esposito, Patricia Clarkson, Walton Goggins, Barry Pepper) popping up in supporting roles.

Ultimately, The Death Cure is a bit too long. There is no need to flirt with two and a half hours when much of the last act involves one group chasing after another, and then that second group chasing after the first, moving along in a constant struggle to get to the last stand. But while it is a bit thick with narrative, it never lags. This is not particularly groundbreaking cinema, but it is also no cheap knockoff. It is unique enough and content enough to explore its own little world to make it worth a visit.

Maze Runner: The Death Cure is Recommended If You Like: The Hunger Games, I Am Legend, The Action Sequences of the Indiana Jones and Fast and Furious series

Grade: 3 out of 5 Infection Checks

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