This Is a Movie Review: Going in Style

April 7, 2017

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

Starring: Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Alan Arkin

Director: Zach Braff

Running Time: 96 Minutes

Rating: April 7, 2017

Release Date: PG-13 for Shooting Blanks in One Way and Not Shooting Blanks in Another

There is a cottage industry of our finest living octogenarian thespians behaving badly, whether living it up in Vegas or spending spring break with their grandkids fishing for tail. Going in Style at first glance appears the next entry in this genre, what with its premise of retirees making their last big mark by pulling off a bank robbery. As these old coots throw on their Rat Pack masks, are we supposed to be thinking, “Somebody’s watched Point Break one too many times”? Not exactly. This is not a tale of wish fulfillment debauchery. Instead, Going in Style takes its opening cue from much more Oscar-friendly territory (as well as the 1979 original of the same name starring George Burns, Art Carney, and Lee Strasberg).

Longtime friends and factory co-workers Joe (Michael Caine), Willie (Morgan Freeman), and Al (Alan Arkin) are facing a variety of ills: foreclosure for Joe, kidney failure for Willie, and disappearing pensions for all three. They do not vocalize a sense of economic betrayal from their country, but the subtext is clear. This is the same message as last year’s neo-Western Hell or High Water: when even the local banks are strictly aligned with the global monied class, robbery is all that those left behind can turn to. Going in Style mostly avoids that bleakness, though not at first. The first 15 minutes or so are all about underscoring the piling up of debt and very real threat of homelessness for decent folks who have put in decades of honest employment.

But with the codgers at its center, a depressing consistency would be truly beyond the pale. The dialogue acknowledges that safety net, as these intrepid thieves figure that even if they do get caught, they will at least be guaranteed a bed, three meals a day, and better health care than they are used to. There is a deep well of fantastic realism, or realistic fantasy, as it were, at play. We know Joe, Willie, and Al will get away with it, and it is essentially a victimless crime. Their temptation into a solution of crime is presented less as a trip to the dark side and more as open-mindedness and ingenuity. But surely the loss of millions cannot be so easily brushed off.

It is probably not necessary to take too harsh a moral stance against Going in Style, as I imagine that its target audience understands that stealing is wrong and heists are not so easily pulled off in real life. But it would be preferable if the film had a more clearly discernible message. Is it advocating for getting what you’re owed by any means necessary, becoming a Robin Hood of sorts, or actually just prescribing robbery in extreme circumstances? As it stands, it is a whimsical wisp propelled along by plenty of capable people that tiptoes around some explosive territory.

Going in Style is Recommended If You Like: Hell or High Water but thought it was missing a dance scene set to “Single Ladies”

Grade: 2.5 out of 5 “Young Men”

This Is a Movie Review: Their Finest

April 5, 2017

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

Starring: Gemma Arterton, Sam Claflin, Bill Nighy, Jack Huston

Director: Lone Scherfig

Running Time: 110 Minutes

Rating: R Because the Ratings Board is Prudish About a Little B(r)it of Sex

Release Date: April 7, 2017 (Limited)

A primary national trait of Great Britain is a solidly backwards chronological orientation. I do not mean that as a criticism, at least not completely. Sure, an obsession with the glory of the past can be problematic, but the comfort that Britons have with bygone eras has its uses. For example, the roster of reliable British actors populating the cast of the World War II-era film Their Finest makes for a cinematic effort rousingly (instead of hopelessly) old-fashioned. Gemma Arterton has deserved a breakthrough role, and while Their Finest does not break any molds (by design), it does confirm that she is a star.

Arterton is Catrin Cole, hired by the British ministry as a scriptwriter to lend that essential feminine voice to their propaganda films. This could be a formula for taking down sexism, and there are some efforts in that direction, but Their Finest’s ultimate attitude is that women will always suffer indignities, so they might as well hope that they at least like the people end up working with. Because if that works out, we can get a nice love story out of it. And indeed, there is a heartwarming one here: Catrin’s husband (Jack Huston) is classically disapproving, while her partner and lead scriptwriter (Sam Claflin) is such an obvious match. The only conflict between them is just being a little too blunt with their feelings.

As Catrin sorts out her feelings, she works alongside a bunch of irrepressible characters as they put together a masterpiece about the Dunkirk rescue. They all have a spot of fun, and a spot of tea (metaphorically). There is Bill Nighy as the former big star whose ego is still huge, but not so huge that he cannot also be a fine mentor. Jeremy Irons is the Secretary of War, because the governmental figure is meant to convey confidence and gravitas. And Jake Lacy is the token awkward goofball, because only the American is allowed to make old-fashioned look silly. Their Finest is not the greatest of most of its creators, but it might just be their finest.

Their Finest is Recommended If You Like: Allied, Casablanca, Valkyrie

Grade: 3 out of 5 Old-Timey Typewriters

Billboard Hot Rock Songs – Week of April 15, 2017

April 4, 2017

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

Original Version
1. Imagine Dragons – “Believer”
2. twenty one pilots – “Heathens”
3. Linkin Park ft. Kiiara – “Heavy”
4. twenty one pilots – “Ride”
5. Gorillaz ft. Popcaan – “Saturnz Barz”
6. Rag’n’Bone Man – “Human”
7. Kaleo – “Way Down We Go”
8. Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, & Imagine Dragons with Logic, Ty Dolla $ign ft. X Ambassadors – “Sucker for Pain”
9. Gorillaz ft. D.R.A.M. – “Andromeda”
10. twenty one pilots – “Heavydirtysoul”
11. Gorillaz ft. Vince Staples – “Ascension”
12. The Revivalists – “Wish I Knew You”
13. Gorillaz ft. Jehnny Beth – “We Got the Power”
14. Lana Del Rey – “Love”
15. NEEDTOBREATHE – “Testify”
16. Portugal. The Man – “Feel It Still”
17. Papa Roach – “Help”
18. Ocean Park Standoff – “Good News”
19. MISSIO – “Middle Fingers”
20. Cold War Kids – “Love is Mystical”
21. The Lumineers – “Angela”
22. Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness – “Fire Escape”
23. Chuck Berry – “Johnny B. Goode”
24. Shinedown – “How Did You Love”
25. Kaleo – “All the Pretty Girls”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Johnny B. Goode
2. Human
3. Way Down We Go
4. Heavydirtysoul
5. Feel It Still
6. Andromeda
7. Love is Mystical
8. Love
9. Saturnz Barz

Billboard Hot 20 – Week of April 15, 2017

April 4, 2017

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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. I used to rank all 20, now I just rank the cream of the crop.

Original Version
1. Ed Sheeran – “Shape of You”
2. Bruno Mars – “That’s What I Like”
3. The Chainsmokers and Coldplay – “Something Just Like This”
4. The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk – “I Feel It Coming”
5. KYLE ft. Lil Yachty – “iSpy”
6. Migos ft. Lil Uzi Vert – “Bad and Boujee”
7. Zayn and Taylor Swift – “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker)”
8. Kodak Black – “Tunnel Vision”
9. The Chainsmokers – “Paris”
10. Drake – “Passionfruit”
11. Clean Bandit ft. Sean Paul and Anne-Marie – “Rockabye”
12. Sam Hunt – “Body Like a Back Road”
13. Katy Perry – “Chained to the Rhythm”
14. Rihanna – “Love on the Brain”
15. Kygo x Selena Gomez – “It Ain’t Me”
16. Big Sean – “Bounce Back”
17. Zedd and Alessia Cara – “Stay”
18. Future – “Mask Off”
19. James Arthur – “Say You Won’t Let Go”
20. The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey – “Closer”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Chained to the Rhythm
2. Tunnel Vision
3. I Feel It Coming
4. Love on the Brain
5. Stay
6. Rockabye
7. Closer
8. Bad and Boujee

The Simpsons 28.19 Review: “The Caper Chase”

April 3, 2017

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I had a bit of a computer mishap this Sunday, so there was a fill-in reviewer on Bubbleblabber: http://www.bubbleblabber.com/review-the-simpsons-the-caper-chase/

So now here are my thoughts:
I’ve commented multiple times this season how modern Simpsons has an annoying knack for stuffing into a single episode multiple plots that could easily stand on their own. “The Caper Chase” seemingly had a formula to avoid that problem, as it remained focused on Burns’ for-profit college – and college in general – throughout. But alas, it stuffed too many threads (liberal campus excesses, inspirational teacher homage, Ex Machina parody) within that main idea.
And now for some memorable quotes and other observations:
-Jason Alexander has a knack for playing paragons of pomposity like Bourbon Verlander, despite being miles away from George Costanza.
-I loved the one New Yorker randomly yelling “Verrazano Bridge!”
-“I’ll buy you a new library if you have them killed.”
-“Former Bonesman.” “Living or dead?”
-“University of Phoenix, Oklahoma, in Washington State”
-Somehow I was more charmed than offended by the TV recapper dig. Maybe it had something to do with not having to fully review this ep.
-“Well I, you know, the button stuff.”
-“Hey, you’re not the cop around here! I am!”
-Yale is not a Division III school.

What Won TV? – March 26-April 1, 2017

April 3, 2017

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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.

Sunday – A Bob’s Burgers twofer – the debate on top
Monday – Jane the Virgin
Tuesday – New Girl floored me: (SPOILER) Schmidt?! (SPOILER) still loves (SPOILER)?!
Wednesday – Full Frontal reveals that Government Works!
Thursday – Review stopped, but Forrest MacNeil didn’t.
Friday – RuPaul’s Drag Race
Saturday – Rick and Morty delivered a delightful April Fools surprise, but the Final Four showcased offensive rebounding like all get out.

This Is a Movie Review: Raw

April 1, 2017

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , 3 Comments

Raw is ostensibly about the horrors of discovering that you’re a cannibal … and LOVING it. But for me, the bigger scares come from the endless hazing. “Initiation rites” and their ilk are one of the most disturbing aspects of insular groups, and Raw makes it only more so by setting itself in a veterinary school. Shouldn’t folks training to care for animals have more empathy than most? If this is based on a real institution, then you gotta be freaking kidding me. So, yeah, Raw is effectively horrifying, and not because it is as vomit-inducing as its reputation would suggest. It has multiple gross and gory moments, but you’re liable to lose your lunch only if you haven’t seen many fright flicks.

I give Raw 17 Hairs out of 20 Severed Limbs.

This Is a Movie Review: Cézanne et moi

March 30, 2017

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

Starring: Guillaume Canet, Guillaume Gallienne, Alice Pol, Déborah Farnçois, Sabine Azéma

Director: Danièle Thompson

Running Time: 116 Minutes

Rating: R for Artistic Nudity and Best Friends Yelling at Each Other

Release Date: March 31, 2017 (Limited)

Paul Cézanne caresses his wife/model Hortense’s naked chest to more thoroughly know his subject. This could be played as intense intimacy, or it could be discomforting invasiveness. Instead it is an illustration of how the Post-Impressionist painter is dead inside, lost to his art at the expense of his family. That is not to say he lacks passion. Oh no, he has passion to spare for a million still lives and portraits. It is just too untamed to be anything other than destructive.

Cézanne et moi dramatizes the friendship between Cézanne (Guillaume Gallienne) and novelist Émile Zola (Guillaume Canet), but friendship in this context feels like a bit of a misnomer, considering the amount of screen time they spend verbally tearing into each other. It is de rigueur, in life but especially in cinema, that artists’ lives must be tortured. That can be fascinating, but this is just unpleasant. That is a shame, because Gallienne and Canet are both laser-focused in their performances. The shouting matches themselves are not the problem so much as their endlessness. It is essentially the same fight over and over. It is not emotionally draining, just tiresome.

At least the cinematography is splendid. As befitting a film about an artist, the landscapes are beautiful. The French countryside is lush and inviting, but alas, it does not really illuminate anything about Cézanne or Zola’s psyches. The decoration is there to be admired, while the story trudges on. I root for these friends to work through their issues, but I also wish it would all just happen off screen.

Cézanne et moi is Recommended If You Like: Colorful Landscapes

Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Picnics

Billboard Hot Rock Songs – Week of April 8, 2017

March 28, 2017

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

Original Version
1. Imagine Dragons – “Believer”
2. twenty one pilots – “Heathens”
3. Linkin Park ft. Kiiara – “Heavy”
4. twenty one pilots – “Ride”
5. Rag’n’Bone Man – “Human”
6. Fitz and the Tantrums – “HandClap”
7. Kaleo – “Way Down We Go”
8. Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, & Imagine Dragons with Logic, Ty Dolla $ign ft. X Ambassadors – “Sucker for Pain”
9. Chuck Berry – “Johnny B. Goode”
10. twenty one pilots – “Heavydirtysoul”
11. Linkin Park – “Battle Symphony”
12. The Revivalists – “Wish I Knew You”
13. Lana Del Rey – “Love”
14. Zach Williams – “Chain Breaker”
15. Green Day – “Still Breathing”
16. NEEDTOBREATHE – “Testify”
17. Weezer – “Feels Like Summer”
18. Portugal. The Man – “Feel It Still”
19. MISSIO – “Middle Fingers”
20. Papa Roach – “Help”
21. Spoon – “Hot Thoughts”
22. Ocean Park Standoff – “Good News”
23. Chuck Berry – “You Never Can Tell”
24. Chuck Berry – “Maybellene”
25. Cold War Kids – “Love is Mystical”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Johnny B. Goode
2. Human
3. Way Down We Go
4. You Never Can Tell
5. Heavydirtysoul
6. Feel It Still
7. Maybellene
8. Love is Mystical
9. Love
10. Hot Thoughts

Billboard Hot 20 – Week of April 8, 2017

March 28, 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. Ed Sheeran – “Shape of You”
2. Bruno Mars – “That’s What I Like”
3. Zayn and Taylor Swift – “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker)”
4. Migos ft. Lil Uzi Vert – “Bad and Boujee”
5. The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk – “I Feel It Coming”
6. Kodak Black – “Tunnel Vision”
7. The Chainsmokers and Coldplay – “Something Just Like This”
8. Drake – “Passionfruit”
9. Drake ft. Quavo and Travis Scott – “Portland”
10. The Chainsmokers – “Paris”
11. Rihanna – “Love on the Brain”
12. KYLE ft. Lil Yachty – “iSpy”
13. Clean Bandit ft. Sean Paul and Anne-Marie – “Rockabye”
14. Big Sean – “Bounce Back”
15. Drake – “Fake Love”
16. Sam Hunt – “Body Like a Back Road”
17. The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey – “Closer”
18. Drake – “Free Smoke”
19. Katy Perry ft. Skip Marley – “Chained to the Rhythm”
20. Kygo x Selena Gomez – “It Ain’t Me”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Chained to the Rhythm
2. Tunnel Vision
3. I Feel It Coming
4. Love on the Brain
5. Rockabye
6. Closer
7. Bad and Boujee

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