Bazinga! I Ranked Every Episode of ‘Community’

December 31, 2022

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They still haven’t faded away! (CREDIT: Screenshot)

Six seasons, a movie, and an infinite amount of time spent thinking about every single episode.

Community is famously my favorite show of all time, which is to say I spend a lot of mental energy on the folks at Greendale. And specifically, right now, I’m thinking a lot about ranking the episodes. I’ve thought about that in the past, and here I continue to do so today.

Some podcasts dedicated to rewatching Community have recently finished their runs and presented their episode rankings, and it is the end of another year, so why not reveal my own personal rankings as well at this very moment? Why not indeed.

I may update this list at some point in the future. In fact, I probably will. (Indeed, I’ve already done it before.)

I’ve divided this list into sections called “tiers.” Let me know if you’d like any further explanation about this feature. (Thank you for the idea, Tiermaker.com!)

What’s wonderful about this show is that every single episode has at least one moment (usually more than one, in fact) that makes me laugh and warms my heart.

And finally I say to you, my fellow Human Beings, please let me know any thoughts you may have. Maybe you can share YOUR rankings with me and the rest of the Community Community.

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‘Wakanda Forever’ and Ever, Amen

December 30, 2022

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Forever? Forever Ever? (Credit:
Marvel Entertainment/Screenshot)

Starring: Letitia Wright, Angela Bassett, Tenoch Huerta Mejía, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Winston Duke, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Florence Kasumba, Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Divine Love Konadu-Son

Director: Ryan Coogler

Running Time: 161 Minutes

Rating: PG-13]

Release Date:] November 11, 2022 (Theaters)

Upon seeing the first Black Panther back in 2018, my expectations were sky-high, and there was pretty much no way to meet them. For Wakanda Forever, however, I arrived with significantly subdued enthusiasm. I doubted that it could fully process the grief of Chadwick Boseman’s passing or that it could be another Landmark Cultural Event. So I ended up seeing it more than a month after its release with a much more chillaxed approach. And you know that? That may just have made all the difference. Also, the conflict with Namor was plenty satisfying and I totally didn’t see it coming.

Grade: No Love Lost (No Amor Perdido)

Entertainment To-Do List: Week of 12/30/22

December 30, 2022

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CREDIT: Selfie

 

Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.

TV
–The Twilight Zone Marathon (December 31-January 3 on SYFY) – A New Year’s Eve/Day tradition!
–Fantasy Island Season 2 Premiere (January 2 on FOX)
–Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 2 Premiere (January 4 on Disney+)

I Chose ‘The Way of Water,’ and That Made All the Difference (In Terms of No Longer Being Parched)

December 28, 2022

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Water?! No, ‘Way’!
Way!
Excellent.
(CREDIT: Screenshot)

Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Edie Falco, Brendan Cowell, Jemaine Clement, Jamie Flatters, Britain Dalton, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, Jack Champion

Director: James Cameron

Running Time: 192 Minutes

Rating: PG-13

Release Date: December 16, 2022 (Theaters)

It’s another December in Pandora. Just as in 2009, I spent this day in 2022 at the very same theater, in the very same auditorium, along with one of my very same moviegoing companions, with the very same restaurant (albeit with a new name) for the pre-movie meal, and both times buffeted in between by some suspiciously similar extreme weather. Which is to say, it all felt like home.

I wasn’t as thrilled that Col. Quaritch was back, though. Didn’t we already take care of this guy? Villains gonna villain, I guess. The whaling expeditions were new and fascinating, at least, so thank you for that, Jimmy C. and company. Ultimately, it just felt right to be flying, running, and swimming in Pandora once again.

Grade: A Whale of a Time

That’s Auntertainment! Episode 38 2022 ReRelease: Our Favorite Christmas Movies of All Time

December 25, 2022

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CREDIT: Screenshot

Santa Claus has made a lot of Christmas movies over the years, and Aunt Beth and Jeff finally revealed their favorites in 2021.

Enjoy this encore episode under the mistletoe!

That’s Auntertainment! Episode 24 2022 ReRelease: Favorite Christmas Songs of All Time

December 24, 2022

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CREDIT: Run-DMC/Screenshot

Merry Happy (again [again])! Jeff and Aunt Beth reveal(ed in 2020) their favorite Christmas songs of all time. And maybe someone else did too? (Yes.)

Now featuring a(nother) brand-spankin’ new intro from Jeff!

Entertainment To-Do List: Week of 12/23/22

December 23, 2022

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Kennedy Center for Make Benefit (CREDIT: CBS/Screenshot)

Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.

Movies
–Corsage (Theaters) – Looks irreverent.
–Living (Theaters) – A remake of the Japanese movie Ikiru.
–Women Talking

TV
-45th Annual Kennedy Center Honors (December 28 on CBS)

Music
-Weezer, SZNZ: Winter

‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody’ is Straightforward But Powerful

December 21, 2022

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Singing about dancing (CREDIT: Emily Aragones/TriStar Pictures)

Starring: Naomi Ackie, Stanley Tucci, Nafessa Williams, Ashton Sanders, Tamara Tunie, Clarke Peters

Director: Kasi Lemmons

Running Time: 146 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for Dramatized Real-Life Drug Addiction

Release Date: December 23, 2022 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: She’s been called the greatest voice of her generation. To make it even more elemental, her nickname was simply “The Voice.” Maybe this movie about her should have been called The Voice. Sure, there’s also a popular reality competition show by that name, but wouldn’t it have been the most aptly brazen decision? Instead, I Wanna Dance with Somebody opted for the typical musical biopic convention of using one of the artist’s most popular songs as the title.

I’m talking about Whitney Houston, of course. And if you’ve been paying attention at all to popular music for the last 40 years, then you surely already know the whole story. I Wanna Dance with Somebody covers the whole shebang, with every triumph and tragedy on full widescreen display.

What Made an Impression?: I Wanna Dance with Somebody has absolutely no intention of reinventing the biopic playbook. It starts with Houston’s origin story and ends with her untimely passing, covering every career highlight in between. With all the drama inherent to her story, this box-checking approach is certainly hard to resist. But also, her story has already been told plenty of times in high-profile formats, so a biopic is hardly necessary. Nevertheless, I Wanna Dance with Somebody manages to distinguish itself in a couple of ways.

First of all, Kasi Lemmons is a wonderful director of emotions. She corrals every feeling, whether big or subtle, exactly where they’re supposed to be. And there’s plenty to corral here! It certainly helps that she’s assembled a cast who know exactly where to find the moment. Naomi Ackie summons Whitney’s spirit as fervently as possible, while Stanley Tucci is basically the second coming of her mentor-producer Clive Davis. As Cissy and John Houston, Tamara Tunie and Clarke Peters bring mythological heft to parenting, while Ashton Sanders is an absolute scoundrel as Bobby Brown.

The film’s other distinguishing figure is serving as a corrective to the historical record regarding Houston’s sexuality. Before her marriage to Brown, Whitney shacked up with her longtime assistant and creative director Robyn Crawford, here played with steely loyalty by Nafessa Williams. The real Crawford detailed their relationship in her memoir, but that’s not something you’re likely to have heard in the most mainstream tellings. But for I Wanna Dance with Somebody, there was clearly no way around it, and I for one am grateful for that.

I Wanna Dance with Somebody is Recommended If You Like: Behind the Music, Juicy tell-alls, Scrolling through YouTube for classic live performances

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 #1 Hits

‘Women Talking,’ Audience Listening

December 20, 2022

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

Women Talking, ooh, Women Talking! (Credit: Michael Gibson/©2022 Orion Releasing LLC. All Rights Reserved.)

Starring: Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Judith Ivey, Ben Whishaw, Frances McDormand, Sheila McCarthy

Director: Sarah Polley

Running Time: 104 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for Discussions of Abuse and Assault

Release Date: December 23, 2022 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: Women Talking is indeed about a group of women who are talking. What are they talking about? Let’s dig into it.

These women are members of a Mennonite colony, which means that they’re rather insular and isolated by nature. And with their current set of circumstances, they’re even more isolated than usual. The men in their community have been severely abusing them, and it’s time to decide what to do about that. Their options are: do nothing, stay and fight, or leave and start anew. None of those choices are perfect, but they’ve reached a breaking point and something must be done. So these very opinionated women hash it out for as long as necessary until they can come to a solution that enough of them can go along with, while Ben Whishaw plays the one kindly man who stays behind to take the minutes.

What Made an Impression?: One of the first things you’ll notice about Women Talking – unless you’re too drowsy to notice – is how hypnotically desaturated the color palette is. It’s liable to lull you to sleep; I’ll leave it up to you all to decide whether or not that’s a positive. I will say that I felt transported, which is one of the best (if not THE best) ways to feel sleepy at a movie theater. I was whisked away into a mysterious land, where the secrets flowed forth like a geyser.

The other major element of Women Talking that is impossible to ignore is Hildur Guðnadóttir’s rustic score that I would label “thriller lite.” It captures the sense of needing to run away while you’re sitting still. There’s also a vibe to those plucking strings that can best be described as The Temptation of Comfort. Stillness and chaos, bound together.

And as a final note, I will register my surprise at how much of a peek we get at the outside world, particularly in the form of a census worker driving by and calling out for the members of the community to come and be counted for the 2010 population. These Mennonites mostly eschew modern amenities, so even knowing what year it is feels like a betrayal of their trust. But that beckoning, that frisson, is what this conflict is all about. The times they are a-changin’, no matter what year you decide to live in.

Women Talking is Recommended If You Like: 12 Angry Men, but if it were set in a barn

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Votes

‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’ Shoots for the Stars!

December 19, 2022

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When You Wish Upon a Puss in Boots… (CREDIT: Dreamworks Animation)

Starring: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Harvey Guillén, John Mulaney, Florence Pugh, Olivia Colman, Ray Winstone, Samson Kayo, Wagner Moura, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Anthony Mendez, Kevin McCann, Betsy Sodaro

Director: Joel Crawford

Running Time: 102 Minutes

Rating: PG for Cartoon Kitty Catastrophes

Release Date: December 21, 2022 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: A talking cat? A talking, swashbuckling cat?! Well, yes indeed. We’ve known this debonair furball for years at this point. Decades even. He lives in a fairy tale world where plenty of the animals are anthropomorphized, after all. Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) has had no trouble making a name for himself. But alas, he seems to be losing a bit of his mojo lately. And when you’re a feline, that means having only one of your reputed nine lives left to spare. But this being a fairy tale world and all, there exist methods for magical restoration. So when Puss hears about the existence of a Wishing Star, he naturally wants to get his claws on it. But he’s not the only one, as Jack Horner (John Mulaney), Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and the three bears (Olivia Colman, Ray Winstone, Samson Kayo), and Puss’ old flame Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) all have their own plans to procure the star’s powers. Also, Harvey Guillén voices a dog.

What Made an Impression?: If the only Shrek film you’ve seen previously was the first one, you could be forgiven for not realizing that Puss in Boots: The Last Wish takes place in the same universe. Sure, both of them are populated by fairy tale characters, but their modus operandi are totally different. Where the green ogre was irreverent, his feline colleague is more purely adventurous. The likes of Jack Horner, Goldi, and Pinocchio are thein window dressing in a sense, with their cultural histories mostly beside the point. The Last Wish‘s spacey climax on the Wishing Star feels like something out of an LSD trip, or a Super Mario video game, which is to say: not at all what I was expecting.

In that vein, The Last Wish actually reminded me of Halloween Ends, insofar as they’re both latter-day franchise entries with confoundingly unpredictable narrative left turns. In both cases, it’s plenty fascinating, and I suspect it will be easier to get away with this time around, since Puss doesn’t have to bear the weight of expectations that Michael Myers does. If his creators want to make his latest adventure more fantastical than any corner of the Shrek universe has ever been, then there’s really no reason not to. It certainly gives the voice cast something new to bite into, to the point that John Mulaney appears to be experiencing Heath Ledger-as-Joker-level glee in his revolution of a classic character. There’s room to color outside the lines here, and I can’t complain about that.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is Recommended If You Like: Super Smash Bros., Mario Kart, John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch

Grade: 3 out of 5 Swords

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