This Is a Movie Review: In ‘Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot,’ Joaquin Phoenix is a Recovering Alcoholic Quadriplegic, And Jonah Hill is There to Help Him Out

July 12, 2018

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CREDIT: Scott Patrick Green, Courtesy of Amazon Studios

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

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Jonah Hill, Rooney Mara, Jack Black, Mark Webber, Udo Kier, Kim Gordon, Beth Ditto, Carrie Brownstein

Director: Gus van Sant

Running Time: 113 Minutes

Rating: R for General Alcoholic Behavior, And Maintaining a Sexual Appetite Even When Your Body Can’t Move Freely

Release Date: July 13, 2018 (Limited)

Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot, based on John Callahan’s memoir of the same name, stars Joaquin Phoenix as Callahan, a recently paralyzed recovering alcoholic who discovers a passion for and makes a career out of wry, off-color cartoons. His moment of rock bottom could not be more dramatic, as an all-night session of non-stop partying ends in a terrible car crash that renders him a quadriplegic. There is plenty to Callahan’s story, but for my money, Don’t Worry is really about Jonah Hill’s weirdly transfixing performance as Donnie, John’s AA sponsor.

Hill was on hand for an interview after the screening I went to, where it was noted that Donnie’s homosexuality was probably the least interesting thing about him, and not even all that noticeable. While Donnie is certainly well-rounded enough to not be defined by his sexual orientation, that orientation is in fact clear eno9ugh. Although, the possibility that a straight man could be as fey and as much of an aesthete as Hill plays Donnie is plenty intriguing. He is an inspiration for everyone to be themselves. It is a lesson that John takes to heart. Extreme trauma is a roadblock that is always lurking; if you survive it, you shouldn’t let it stop you from discovering who you are.

Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot is Recommended If You Like: 50/50, ’70s Style and Interior Decorating

Grade: 3 out of 5 Motorized Wheelchairs

This Is a Movie Review: ‘Eighth Grade’ is a Rewarding Portrayal of Adolescent Anxiety

July 12, 2018

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , 1 Comment

CREDIT: A24

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

Starring: Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton

Director: Bo Burnham

Running Time: 94 Minutes

Rating: R, Because The MPAA is Worried the Target Audience Can’t Handle a Frank Portrayal of Teen Sexuality

Release Date: July 13, 2018 (Limited)

I tend to be careful about recommending any movie that effectively showcases anxiety, because if it is well-made, it will all but guarantee an unpleasant experience for viewers who are prone to anxiety. In the case of Eighth Grade, which unflinchingly portrays the age that is for many the height of discomfort, it would seem to be the peak of a risky proposition. As 13-year-old Kayla, Elsie Fisher thoroughly embodies a state of constant uncertainty. If you have any empathy at all, it is a big ask on the part of the film to watch her story. But the end result is not a transfer of Kayla’s anxiety, but rather invigoration. It is quite the emotional wringer, but I am grateful for the experience, and I imagine you will be, too.

Writer/director Bo Burnham has talked about his own experiences with anxiety in his comedy performances, and he has found that teenage girls related to that side of himself more than any other group. Thus why he made a film about a middle school girl instead of what could have easily been something autobiographical. His understanding of permanent unease is clearly fundamental, which is abundantly clear in his sensory decisions. Kayla’s arrivals at various locations – school, the mall, a pool party – are accompanied by her own internal soundtrack. It tends to be exuberant party music, but overly busy with a staccato rhythm that gives it a jagged edge.

Kayla attempts to lift up herself (as well as anyone who might be out there listening) with YouTube videos offering advice about how to be more confident and adventurous in day-to-day life. Alas, we see her in a seemingly unending struggle to reap the benefits of following her own words. But by the end, she is genuinely excited for high school and in a much warmer place with her doting single father (Josh Hamilton). It seems like there really is a light at the end of the anxiety tunnel, and against all odds, Eighth Grade manages to leave me more hopeful than most movies. I hope that is not due to the randomness of my own shifting emotions, but rather genuine inspiration.

Eighth Grade is Recommended If You Like: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Inside Out, Emotional nakedness

Grade: 4.5 out of 5 Guccis

This Is a Movie Review: ‘Skyscraper’ is at Its Best When It Keeps It Simple

July 12, 2018

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CREDIT: Kimberley French/Universal Studios

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

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Neve Campbell, Chin Han, Richard Møller, Pablo Schreiber, Noah Taylor, Hannah Quinlivan, Matt O’Leary, Byron Mann, McKenna Roberts, Noah Cottrell

Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber

Running Time: 102 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for A Tall Building on Fire, But Mostly the Gunfire

Release Date: July 13, 2018

One of the many revolutionary joys of Die Hard was the motivation of the villains. They presented themselves as terrorists, but they were really just simple thieves. There are several reasons why Skyscraper, which is basically “Die Hard, but in the tallest building in the world,” is not as entertaining as John McClane’s original exploits. The premise is now far from unique, obviously. Plus, any character played by Dwayne Johnson, even an amputee in this case, is already too larger-than-life for any of his heroics to be surprising. But the most fundamental mistake is that the villains’ purpose is never clear. I’m pretty sure they’re not after money, but if they are terrorizing, it is never clear what point they are trying to make, if any. It is possible this was all explained at some point while I was momentarily distracted, but if it was that hard to miss, then that’s a problem.

Thus, then, just about the only reason to check out Skyscraper is to see Johnson pull off some gravity-defying stunts. If you suffer from acrophobia or vertigo, you will definitely want to stay away, whereas if your favorite action scene ever is Ethan Hunt on the Burj Khalifa, then you will find some thrills. Johnson does not quite reach Tom Cruise’s poetic heights, but he is not far off from them. It would just be nice if the whole affair were undergirded by more of a purpose.

But there is one piece of Skyscraper that I can endorse wholeheartedly, and that is its use of the old “turn it off and turn it back on again” trick. Seriously, that is the solution that solves the day, and it is actually quite satisfying. Bringing it back to Die Hard: brilliant in its simplicity.

Skyscraper is Recommended If You Like: Die Hard “on a whatever” (minus the memorable villains), Death-Defying Stunts

Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Prosthetic Legs

Billboard Hot Rock Songs – Week of July 7, 2018

July 6, 2018

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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 of the top 25, now I just rank the cream of the crop.

Original Version
1. Imagine Dragons – “Whatever It Takes”
2. Imagine Dragons – “Thunder”
3. Imagine Dragons – “Believer”
4. Portugal. The Man – “Feel It Still”
5. Foster the People – “Sit Next to Me”
6. Panic! at the Disco – “Say Amen (Saturday Night)”
7. Panic! at the Disco – “High Hopes”
8. Bad Wolves – “Zombie”
9. lovelytheband – “Broken”
10. Panic! at the Disco – “Hey Look Ma, I Made It”
11. Panic! at the Disco – “King of the Clouds”
12. Panic! at the Disco – “(Fuck a) Silver Lining”
13. John Mayer – “New Light”
14. Panic! at the Disco – “Roaring 20s”
15. Weezer – “Africa”
16. Panic! at the Disco – “Dancing’s Not a Crime”
17. Panic! at the Disco – “Dying in LA”
18. The Beatles – “Let It Be”
19. Panic! at the Disco – “One of the Drunks”
20. Two Feet – “I Feel Like I’m Drowning”
21. Godsmack – “Bulletproof”
22. Panic! at the Disco – “Old Fashioned”
23. Panic! at the Disco – “The Overpass”
24. Paul McCartney – “Come On to Me”
25. Florence + the Machine – “Hunger”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Let It Be
2. Feel It Still
3. I Feel Like I’m Drowning
4. Come on to Me
5. New Light
6. Hunger
7. Africa

Billboard Hot 20 – Week of July 7, 2018

July 6, 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. Cardi B, Bad Bunny, and J Balvin – “I Like It”
2. XXXTentacion – “Sad!”
3. Juice WRLD – “Lucid Dreams”
4. Maroon 5 ft. Cardi B – “Girls Like You”
5. Post Malone ft. Ty Dolla $ign – “Psycho”
6. Drake – “Nice for What”
7. Ella Mai – “Boo’d Up”
8. Ariana Grande – “No Tears Left to Cry”
9. Drake – “God’s Plan”
10. Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line – “Meant to Be”
11. Lil Baby and Drake – “Yes Indeed”
12. Zedd, Maren Morris, and Grey – “The Middle”
13. XXXTentacion – “Moonlight”
14. Post Malone – “Better Now”
15. Rich the Kid – “Plug Walk”
16. Bazzi – “Mine”
17. Ed Sheeran – “Perfect”
18. XXXTentacion – “Changes”
19. The Carters – “Apeshit”
20. Taylor Swift – “Delicate”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. No Tears Left to Cry
2. This Is America
3. Boo’d Up
4. Apeshit

This Is a Movie Review: ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ Keeps It Cool for the Summer

July 6, 2018

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CREDIT: Disney/Marvel Films

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

Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michael Peña, Walton Goggins, Abby Ryder Fortson, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, Hannah John-Kamen, Laurence Fishburne, Tip “T.I.” Harris, David Dastmalchian, Michelle Pfeiffer, Randall Park

Director: Peyton Reed

Running Time: 118 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for Large-Scale and Small-Scale Action Movie Destruction

Release Date: July 6, 2018

Ant-Man and the Wasp has left me feeling a lot more peaceful than other recent Marvel movies. I would it put about on the same quality level as Black Panther and Thor: Ragnarok, but those blockbusters left me with nagging bits of emptiness, whereas Paul Rudd and company just give off good vibes. That is partly a function of my own expectations, but it is also a matter of how this franchise and its sub-franchises are promoted. The excursions to Wakanda and the garbage planet promised that they would be unprecedented game-changers. Whether or not they lived up to that hype, it is hard to match the buoyancy of their ad campaigns, and it takes effort for audiences to avoid every commercial. But with the original Ant-Man and now with The Wasp, you can just come in, be chill, and not have to worry about it being the best movie ever.

Director Peyton Reed and his team of five credited screenwriters (including Rudd) maintain those good vibes by allowing for some conflict, but avoiding true evil, and establishing that those who are at odds are ultimately really on the same team as each other. The main story thrust is the recovery of Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) from the “Quantum Realm,” a subatomic space where the normal laws of space and time do not apply. Her husband Hank (Michael Douglas) and daughter Janet, aka the Wasp (Evangeline Lilly), have the science skills to track her down, but they need the help of Ant-Man Scott Lang, as his previous venture into and escape from the Quantum Realm has allowed Janet to establish him as a point of contact. Standing in their way is a black market dealer (Walton Goggins), who sniffs out a big potential profit, but he does not have the killer instinct to tear them down. More serious are those who represent the skeletons in Hank’s closet, but their threat is neutralized by the ultimate realization that they can solve each other’s problems together.

A-M and the W has genuine, successful humor to match its laid-back style. The comedy in Marvel movies often has the cadence of a joke without actually being funny, but here there is a cast that is trained to find the laughter. Rudd obviously has more of a comedy background than any other Marvel headliner. Michael Peña delivers another round of his motor-mouthed, very detail-oriented storytelling. And the most delightful subplot features Fresh Off the Boat‘s Randall Park as a fastidious FBI agent hounding Scott while he remains under house arrest. If their jobs did not require them to be enemies, they would be friends for the ages.

It is certainly odd that Ant-Man and the Wasp arrives in the apocalyptic wake of Infinity War, but die-hard MCU fans will be happy to discover that the connective tissue is clear and satisfying. And those who are tired of every superhero movie being about the end of the world will be happy that that connectivity does not get in the way of everyone just having a good time.

Ant-Man and the Wasp is Recommended If You Like: The Marvel Cinematic Universe but with lower stakes

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Quantum Realms

This Is a Movie Review: The First Purge

July 6, 2018

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CREDIT: Universal Pictures

I give The First Purge 3 out of 5 New Founding Fathers: https://uinterview.com/reviews/movies/the-first-purge-movie-review-themes-have-never-been-clearer-but-storytelling-has-rarely-been-weaker/

This Is a Movie Review: Sorry to Bother You

July 6, 2018

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

CREDIT: Annapurna Pictures

I give Sorry to Bother You 5 out of 5 Hybrids: https://uinterview.com/reviews/movies/sorry-to-bother-you-movie-review-boots-rileys-mind-blowingly-original-debut-is-one-of-2018s-best-films/

Billboard Hot Rock Songs – Week of June 30, 2018

July 1, 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 of the top 25, now I just rank the cream of the crop.

Original Version
1. Imagine Dragons – “Whatever It Takes”
2. Imagine Dragons – “Thunder”
3. Imagine Dragons – “Believer”
4. Portugal. The Man – “Feel It Still”
5. Foster the People – “Sit Next to Me”
6. Bad Wolves – “Zombie”
7. Panic! at the Disco – “Say Amen (Saturday Night)”
8. lonelytheband – “Broken”
9. John Mayer – “New Light”
10. Panic! at the Disco – “High Hopes”
11. Weezer – “Africa”
12. Godsmack – “Bulletproof”
13. Two Feet – “I Feel Like I’m Drowning”
14. Gorillaz ft. George Benson – “Humility”
15. Marilyn Manson – “Cry Little Sister”
16. Florence + the Machine – “Hunger”
17. Sir Sly – “&Run”
18. Shinedown – “Devil”
19. Vance Joy – “Saturday Sun”
20. Panic! at the Disco – “King of the Clouds”
21. Bastille – “Quarter Past Midnight”
22. Five Finger Death Punch – “Sham Pain”
23. Death Cab for Cutie – “Gold Rush”
24. Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats – “You Worry Me”
25. Muse – “Thought Contagion”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Feel It Still
2. You Worry Me
3. I Feel Like I’m Drowning
4. &Run
5. New Light
6. Hunger
7. Humility
8. Africa
9. Thought Contagion

Billboard Hot 20 – Week of June 30, 2018

July 1, 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. XXXTentacion – “Sad!”
2. Cardi B, Bad Bunny, and J Balvin – “I Like It”
3. Drake – “Nice for What”
4. Juice WRLD – “Lucid Dreams”
5. Maroon 5 ft. Cardi B – “Girls Like You”
6. Post Malone ft. Ty Dolla $ign – “Psycho”
7. Ella Mai – “Boo’d Up”
8. Drake – “God’s Plan”
9. Ariana Grande – “No Tears Left to Cry”
10. Zedd, Maren Morris, and Grey – “The Middle”
11. Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line – “Meant to Be”
12. Lil Baby and Drake – “Yes Indeed”
13. The Carters – “Apeshit”
14. Marshmello and Anne-Marie – “Friends”
15. Drake – “I’m Upset”
16. XXXTentacion – “Moonlight”
17. Childish Gambino – “This Is America”
18. XXXTentacion – “Changes”
19. XXXTentacion – “Jocelyn Flores”
20. Bazzi – “Mine”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. No Tears Left to Cry
2. This Is America
3. Boo’d Up
4. Apeshit

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