Jeff "Jmunney" Malone's Self-Styled "Expert" Thoughts on Movies, TV, Music, and the Rest of Pop Culture
February 19, 2025
Cinema, Movie Reviews Adrien Brody, Alessandro Nivola, Antonio Saboia, Barbara Luz, Brady Corbet, Clarence Maclin, Colman Domingo, Cora Mora, Emma Laird, Felicity Jones, Fernanda Montenegro, Fernanda Torres, Flow, Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha, Gints Zilbalodis, Greg Kwedar, Guilherme Silveira, Guy Pearce, I'm Still Here, Isaach de Bankolé, Joe Alwyn, Luiza Kosovski, Maria Manoella, Marjorie Estiano, Michael Epp, Olívia Torres, Paul Raci, Raffey Cassidy, Sean San José, Selton Mello, Sing Sing, Stacy Martin, The Brutalist, Valentina Herszage, Walter Salles Leave a comment
CREDIT (Clockwise from Top Left): A24; Janus Films/Screenshot; Sony Pictures Classics/Screenshot; A24)
I did some awards season catch-up at the cinema in the past few weeks, and I’m going to digest all of that right now. Each of the movies in this roundup is nominated for multiple Oscars; a couple of them are even up for Best Picture. So here are some quick-hit reactions in which I answer the question: Am I glad I watched this movie during awards season?
February 18, 2025
Cinema, Movie Reviews Becoming Led Zeppelin, Bernard MacMahon, Jimmy Page, John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant 1 Comment
CREDIT: Sony Pictures Classics/Screenshot
Starring: John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Archival Footage of John Bonham
Director: Bernard MacMahon
Running Time: 121 Minutes
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: February 7, 2024 (Theaters)
True to its title, the documentary Becoming Led Zeppelin did a pretty fine job revealing how Misters Page, Jones, Plant, and Bonham in fact became a four-piece band named Led Zeppelin. So much so that I would like to one day be able to say about myself that I also became Led Zeppelin. But you know, metaphorically. That is to say, I hope that my personal transformation will prove to be sufficiently cinematic. Maybe it already has been! I don’t need there to be an actual movie made about my life story, but if there is, I hope it’s as cool and as edifying as Becoming Led Zeppelin.
In conclusion, Zeppelin is still one of my favorite bands. I could tell by how much I was tapping my toes in rhythm.
Grade: Still a Whole Lotta Love After All These Years
February 13, 2025
Cinema, Movie Reviews Antonio Banderas, Ben Whishaw, Carla Tous, Dougal Wilson, Emily Mortimer, Hayley Atwell, Hughe Bonneville, Imelda Staunton, Jim Broadbent, Julie Walters, Madeleine Harris, Olivia Colman, Paddington, Paddington in Peru, Samuel Joslin 1 Comment
Guess who! And where! (CREDIT: StudioCanal/Columbia Pictures)
Starring: Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer, Hughe Bonneville, Madeleine Harris, Samuel Joslin, Julie Walters, Olivia Colman, Antonio Banderas, Jim Broadbent, Carla Tous, Imelda Staunton, Hayley Atwell
Director: Dougal Wilson
Running Time: 106 Minutes
Rating: PG for Lethal Dangers Faced with Politeness and the Occasional Hard Stare
Release Date: February 14, 2025 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: Paddington (voiced once again by Ben Whishaw) finally has a British passport! And just in time, as there’s something terribly off with his Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton). So our adorable marmalade-loving hero treks off to the Home for Retired Bears in his native Peru along with Mrs. Bird (Julie Waters) and his adopted Brown family (Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer [subbing in for Sally Hawkins], Madeleine Harris, and Samuel Joslin). But when they arrive, it turns out that Aunt Lucy has vanished without a trace, apparently to seek some treasure deep in the jungle, possibly even the golden lost city of El Dorado. That catches the attention of riverboat captain Hunter Cabot (Antonio Banderas) and his daughter Gina (Carla Tous) – he’s compelled to lead them the way, while she worries about how talk of treasure affects his mental health. Meanwhile, the Reverend Mother (Olivia Colman) at the retired bear home offers several clues to guide the Browns along the way, while also acting a little suspiciously.
What Made an Impression?: Always Room for Growth: If you can’t get enough of cave- and jungle-filled adventures like Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Goonies, then you’ve probably been hoping for Paddington to finally head in this direction since the very beginning of this franchise. There’s plenty of death-defying action to satiate that desire, but I found myself most pleased by the consistent pleasures we’ve come to expect from the Browns. The pattern is well-established: Paddington’s narration zeroes right in on the opportunities for growth that each of his family members faces at the beginning of this latest adventure. If you’ve seen the previous films, then there aren’t really any surprises this time about each of the Browns’ journeys. But one of this series’ great insights is that the development into richer, fuller versions of ourselves never ends, and it’s lovely to see these folks recognize exactly how they’re supposed to answer that calling. And to get specific about one particular detail, Brown patriarch Henry triple laminates his latest risk manual, and that makes all the difference.
Dress-Up Time: The Cult of Marmalade is real and wide-ranging. When Nicolas Cage and Pedro Pascal bonded over their love of Paddington 2 in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, it was a strikingly accurate microcosm that captured how the wider cinephile world feels about this very special bear. With talent like Banderas and Colman populating the latest supporting cast, it’s abundantly clear just how inviting it is to play in this sandbox. Hugh Grant’s turn in #2 as actor-turned-thief Phoenix Buchanan was a career-capping performance, and I bet that approximately 99% of his peers hope to one day don a similarly silly series of costumes and make a just-as-indelible impression on the Paddington-going public. Hunter Cabot and the Reverend Mother don’t quite manage to be as iconic as Phoenix, but their gameness still goes a long way in maintaining such a pleasant little corner of the multiplex.
Paddington in Peru is Recommended If You Like: Movies Where It Feels Like Someone Really Could Die Even Though You Know Nobody Will Since It’s Just Rated PG
Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Llamas
February 7, 2025
Cinema, Movie Reviews Andy Zuchero, Kristen Stewart, Love Me, Sam and Andy Zuchero, Sam Zuchero, Steven Yeun Leave a comment
CREDIT: Bleecker Street/Screenshot
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Steven Yeun
Directors: Sam and Andy Zuchero
Running Time: 92 Minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: January 31, 2025 (Theaters)
Love Me convinced me that maybe I should only follow Instagram accounts run by smart tech devices. There’s a scene early on where the weather buoy voiced by Kristen Stewart and the satellite voiced by Steven Yeun fill up their pages, and their posts offer the sort of hallucinatory wisdom that only machines-that-are-kinda-like humans can provide.
The second half of the movie isn’t quite as delightful, though I did come out of the theater loving myself, so I guess it did its job. Although I guess it’s worth noting I already had a positive relationship with myself before the movie began, so maybe on second thought, it doesn’t really earn that praise. Also, the buoy calls itself “Me,” so maybe the “Me” in the title doesn’t refer to a pronoun.
Grade: 50.77778194 Iams out of 78.50178 Mes
February 6, 2025
Cinema, Movie Reviews André Eriksen, Ariana DeBose, Cam Gigandet, Daniel Wu, Jonathan Eusebio, Ke Huy Quan, Lio Tipton, Love Hurts, Marshawn Lynch, Mustafa Shakir, Rhys Darby, Sean Astin Leave a comment
Which one of these people makes love hurt more? (CREDIT: Allen Fraser/Universal Pictures)
Starring: Ke Huy Quan, Ariana DeBose, Daniel Wu, Marshawn Lynch, Mustafa Shakir, Lio Tipton, Rhys Darby, André Eriksen, Sean Astin, Cam Gigandet
Director: Jonathan Eusebio
Running Time: 83 Minutes
Rating: R for Blood Shooting Out From Every Nook and Cranny of the Human Body
Release Date: February 7, 2025 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: Marvin Gable (Ke Huy Quan) is a pillar of his community, a successful realtor entrusted with making people’s dreams come true. But he also has a very dark past, don’t you know. And it’s starting to catch up with him just in time for Valentine’s Day! Years ago, he ducked out of the criminal operation run by his brother Knuckles (Daniel Wu), who isn’t exactly willing to let go of what was. So some goons start showing up at Marv’s office and his houses, as does his old partner Rose (Ariana DeBose), who also believes that Marv still owes her plenty after the way he left things between the two of them.
What Made an Impression?: Who Did What Where When to Whom?: Action flicks about hidden backstories tend to be as convoluted as a labyrinth, and Love Hurts is no exception. There’s usually no point in trying to decipher them, but these flicks can still be enjoyed to perfection if the charm is there. And with Ke Huy Quan in the lead role, you might think that charm would in fact be there. After he re-emerged a few years ago in Everything Everywhere All at Once, I realized that he might just be one of my favorite entertainers of all time. And he’s still likable here, just not enough to get me to care about whatever the hell happens in this movie. The same is true to varying degrees about the supporting cast, especially Lio Tipton as Marv’s secretary Ashley. I haven’t seen Tipton very much since their early-2010s breakout in the likes of Crazy, Stupid, Love. and Warm Bodies, and that’s a darn shame, because Ashley’s romantic subplot with one of the goons is a satisfying enough side quest.
Bloody Disgusting: Maybe Love Hurts never really wanted to be charming. At least that’s what I started to suspect when the decent fellow played by Sean Astin gets fatally stabbed in the eye. This is an astoundingly gory movie, not in an over-the-top way that could generate guffaws, though I wouldn’t exactly call it realistic either. Although maybe sometimes blood does gush and squirt all over the place and I’ve just never been in the situations where I would have experienced that. It’s impressively rendered, but not exactly pleasant in any conceivable way.
I Ain’t Mad, Bro: I didn’t expect to be writing this sentence in 2025 (or any year, for that matter), but: thank god for Drew Scott! Yes indeed, one of the Property Brothers has a small part in Love Hurts as Marv’s real estate rival (although his twin is nowhere to be seen). And even weirder: I actually enjoyed his presence! I’ve never particularly cared for real estate reality shows, often instead finding them surreally soulless. But maybe that explains how Scott is so delightfully out of place in this blood-splattered world. Anyway, the rest of the movie sure could have used more of that “How the hell is this working?” energy.
If You’re Anything Like Me, Love Hurts is Recommended If You Like: Argylle, because it’s another recent action comedy featuring Ariana DeBose that had me feeling exactly the same way
Grade: 2 out of 5 Closing Sales
February 6, 2025
Cinema, Movie Reviews Alfonso Santagata, Biagio Izzo, Celeste Della Porta, Cristiano Scotto di Galletta, Daniele Rienzo, Dario Aita, Gary Oldman, Isabella Ferrari, Lorenzo Gleijeses, Luisa Ranieri, Marlon Joubert, Nello Mascia, Paola Calliari, Paolo Sorrentino, Parthenope, Peppe Lanzetta, Silvia Degrandi, Silvio Orlando, Stefania Sandrelli Leave a comment
Parthenope being Parthenope (CREDIT: Gianni Fiorito/A24)
Starring: Celeste Della Porta, Stefania Sandrelli, Silvio Orlando, Gary Oldman, Luisa Ranieri, Peppe Lanzetta, Isabella Ferrari, Lorenzo Gleijeses, Daniele Rienzo, Dario Aita, Marlon Joubert, Alfonso Santagata, Biagio Izzo, Paola Calliari, Nello Mascia, Silvia Degrandi, Cristiano Scotto di Galletta
Director: Paolo Sorrentino
Running Time: 136 Minutes
Rating: R for Some Awkward But Intense Sex and a Little Bit of Saucy Language
Release Date: February 7, 2025 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: A baby girl is born in the waters outside a huge villa in 1950s Naples,. An old friend of the family declares that she shall be named Parthenope. You almost get the sense that a new religion is about to form with all the fanfare her arrival attracts. It doesn’t quite work out that way, though her life story does prove to be a bit of a spiritual odyssey. In her young adulthood, everyone is knocked out by her sun-dappled beauty, as she hangs out a bit with a famous drunken American novelist and kind of stumbles into an academic career track in anthropology. That leads her to a beguiling bishop as she investigates the nature of miracles, among other grand adventures in 20th century Italy. As the decades roll along, will the people ever be able to stop talking about Parthenope?
What Made an Impression?: A Life Lived Lavishly: If you’re in the world of Paolo Sorrentino, you can at least expect everything to be beautiful. I was spellbound by his Silvio Berlusconi-inspired film Loro, as well as his transgressive TV work on The Young Pope and The New Pope. He reunites with his Hand of God cinematographer Daria D’Antonio for Parthenope, which is just as much of a visual feast as the rest of the Sorrentino-verse. And I kind of think that this latest release should have been a silent film. The dialogue isn’t terrible or anything like that. On the contrary, it’s occasionally quite witty. But the primary appeal is all those looks that Celeste Della Porta serves (in every sense of that phrase) as the title character. What I’m trying to say is: I wish this movie had been a little more abstract, and a little less literal.
What is Anthropology?: If this movie inspires scores of viewers to become anthropologists themselves, I’ll be a little more than surprised, honestly. Now, I’m no anthropologist, so maybe an expert in the field will have a different take. I did, however, take an introductory anthropology course my freshman year of college, and it didn’t seem anything like what’s on display in Parthenope. Perhaps the field changed significantly in the decades in between, or maybe Europeans (or just Italians) have their own unique methods. Anyway, this is just a preamble to my conclusion that I’m pretty sure that this is supposed to be Paolo Sorrentino’s Anthropology Film. Whatever that means. Because after watching Parthenope, I don’t know what that means.
Parthenope is Recommended If You Like: Italian Anthropology?
Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Anthropology Grades
February 5, 2025
Cinema, Movie Reviews Devon Sawa, Gigi Zumbado, Heart Eyes, Jordana Brewster, Josh Ruben, Mason Gooding, Michaela Watkins, Olivia Holt 1 Comment
This is what happens when Eyes are Hearts (CREDIT: Christopher Moss/Spyglass Media Group)
Starring: Olivia Holt, Mason Gooding, Gigi Zumbado, Devon Sawa, Jordana Brewster, Michaela Watkins
Director: Josh Ruben
Running Time: 97 Minutes
Rating: R for Bloody Messes Not Limited to Disembowelment and Beheading
Release Date: February 7, 2025 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: A masked serial killer has been targeting couples in major American cities the past few St. Valentine’s Days. His (Her? Their?) ocular organs are covered by a classic symbol, so they call this villain – what else! – the Heart Eyes Killer. Meanwhile, a busy young lady named Ally (Olivia Holt) doesn’t need to worry about any of that, as she and her longtime boyfriend recently ended things. Alas, she does have to worry about her vulnerable emotional state and the fact that she might lose her advertising job after a major blunder. That’s when she meets Jay (Mason Gooding), a sexy superstar consultant who she gets paired up with for a major campaign. When circumstances force them to pretend to be an item, it catches the attention of Heart Eyes, who picks up on some serious electricity flying through the air. Could this be just the sort of stressful ordeal that Ally needs to forge an unkillable bond?
What Made an Impression?: It Feels Like That Sometimes, Doesn’t It?: Heart Eyes is being promoted primarily as a slasher, but this genre mashup more closely follows the beats and resolution of a classic rom-com. After all, sometimes the pressure of desperately seeking the right mate is akin to being stalked by a merciless murderer. The metaphor is unmistakable, and mostly welcome. Director Josh Ruben has mixed laughs and scares before in the likes of Werewolves Within and Scare Me. But the tone is actually most similar to the Happy Death Day series, which makes sense when you realize that one of the three credited screenwriters is HDD director Christopher Landon. Heart Eyes perhaps drifts a bit too far into cloudcuckooland, where just about everyone is a bit too blasé about the probability of having their guts ripped out, but the exaggeration certainly matches Ally’s heightened emotions.
A Different Kind of Laughter: Bookending the mayhem is a wonderfully silly workplace comedy boldly featuring Michaela Watkins as Ally’s boss. She sports a white streak in her hair like Rogue from X-Men and an accent as thick as the New Orleans bayou (even though the movie is set in Seattle). This is far from the first time that an eminently reliable funny person like Watkins has killed it in a supporting horror role. But this is a unique example insofar as she’s providing comedic relief to the other comic relief – and both flavors are pretty funny. An expected treat hidden within the overall feast is certainly one way to keep the passion alive.
Heart Eyes is Recommended If You Like: Man Seeking Woman, Screwball rom-coms, Scream, Shamelessly imitating Scream
Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Cupids
February 4, 2025
Cinema, Movie Reviews Companion, Drew Hancock, Harvey Guillén, Jack Quaid, Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, Rupert Friend, Sophie Thatcher 2 Comments
The Face of Companionship (CREDIT: Warner Bros. Pictures/Screenshot)
Starring: Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, Harvey Guillén, Rupert Friend
Director: Drew Hancock
Running Time: 97 Minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: January 31, 2025 (Theaters)
We all need a companion (or several), but what if our real-life companions were like the companions in the 2025 movie Companion? Alternatively, what if we were the companions? I suspect the world would have a lot more empathy if everybody had to spend at least a year working a companion job. (I’m playing a little coy in this review in an effort to avoid spoilers.) Anyway, now that I’ve seen Companion, I promise to follow best practices in how I treat my companions. I hope I was doing this adequately already, but now I’ll make sure to audit myself.
Grade: 12 Mods out of 15 Warranties
February 2, 2025
Cinema, Movie Reviews Eddy Lee, Eden Harker, Eileen Stevens, Hinano Kuzukawa, Kylie McNeill, Lani Minella, Libby Rue, Maxine Wanderer, Naoko Yamada, The Colors Within Leave a comment
It looks like the Colors Within are popping out, I must say (CREDIT: GKIDS Films/Screenshot)
Starring: English Dubbed Cast: Kylie McNeill, Libby Rue, Eddy Lee, Eileen Stevens, Hinano Kuzukawa, Eden Harker, Maxine Wanderer, Lani Minella
Director: Naoko Yamada
Running Time: 100 Minutes
Rating: PG
Release Date: January 24, 2025 (Theaters)
About ten minutes into watching The Colors Within, I could feel myself getting very sleepy. But please rest assured that that had nothing to do with the movie. It was just one of those days! Fortunately I managed to recover back into full consciousness in time for the concert scene in the last act. If having synesthesia-style aura detection means being able to rock out like that, then please send those colors within to me!
Grade: 8 Colors Within and 4 Colors Without out of 12 Colors on the Color Wheel
January 29, 2025
Cinema, Movie Reviews Billy Boyd, Cheri Oteri, Dog Man, Isla Fisher, Kate Micucci, Laraine Newman, Lil Rel Howery, Lucas Hopkins Calderon, Maggie Wheeler, Max Koch, Melissa Villasenor, Pearce Bunting, Pete Davidson, Peter Hastings, Poppy Liu, Rahnuma Panthaky, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Root 1 Comment
What’s up, Dog (Man)? (CREDIT: Universal Pictures/DreamWorks Animation)
Starring: Peter Hastings, Pete Davidson, Lil Rel Howery, Lucas Hopkins Calderon, Isla Fisher, Ricky Gervais, Cheri Oteri, Billy Boyd, Stephen Root, Poppy Liu, Laraine Newman, Melissa Villaseñor, Kate Micucci, Maggie Wheeler, Pearce Bunting, Max Koch, Rahnuma Panthaky
Director: Peter Hastings
Running Time: 89 Minutes
Rating: PG for The Typical Animated Mayhem
Release Date: January 31, 2025 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: Officer Knight and his canine companion Greg are one of the best crime-fighting duos in the city. That is, until a major accident renders Knight’s head and Greg’s body unusable. So their doctors decide to make lemonade and fuse the two of them together to form the titular Dog Man (barks and whines provided by writer-director Peter Hastings)! That would seemingly make him the perfect foil for the incorrigible feline criminal Petey (Pete Davidson), but alas, Dog Man gets off on the wrong foot with his Chief (Lil Rel Howery) and the Mayor (Cheri Oteri) and ends up having to stay on desk duty. Meanwhile, Petey obtains a clone of himself named Lil’ Petey (Lucas Hopkins Calderon), who may just soften his heart and convince him to become a doting father instead of a criminal mastermind.
What Made an Impression?: You Got to Be Silly: Dog Man is based on the graphic novel series of the same name by Dav Pilkey, who’s probably best known for Captain Underpants, which got its own big-screen adaptation back in 2017. I’m familiar with Pilkey’s output via pop culture osmosis, but this is my first time actually diving into what he has on offer. And now that I’ve been exposed, I must say: I hope I have kids soon so that we can fully explore the Pilkey-verse together. Simply put, this is silly sophomoric humor done cleverly and colorfully. Dopey wordplay and visual gags abound, befitting a world in which a canine-human hybrid is the hero.
Family Matters: Considering all the unabashed silliness on display, you might be surprised to learn that Dog Man also isn’t afraid to get heavy. To be clear, it’s not like it’s an unrelenting tearjerker about cancer and/or addiction. Nevertheless, you might find yourself shedding a tear or two. For example, after Officer Knight and Greg become Dog Man, they’re unceremoniously abandoned by Greg’s wife, who apparently couldn’t bear to ever see her husband and fur baby fused together. Meanwhile, Petey’s villainy seems to be entirely fueled by his abandonment issues with his own deadbeat dad (Stephen Root). These themes don’t weigh down the wackiness, but they certainly make themselves known. So if you want a steady stream of ultra-silly laughs with a side of genuine family therapy, Dog Man has you covered.
Dog Man is Recommended If You Like: Weird Al, Looney Tunes, “Cat’s in the Cradle”
Grade: 3 out of 5 Copz
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