Jeff "Jmunney" Malone's Self-Styled "Expert" Thoughts on Movies, TV, Music, and the Rest of Pop Culture
April 26, 2015
Television, What Won TV? Leave a comment
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 – Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Monday – RuPaul’s Drag Race
Tuesday – Around the corner, Inside Amy Schumer
Wednesday – Arrow
Thursday – Louie
Friday – Umm, some help please … (childrens hospital) Childrens Hospital!
Saturday – Orphan Black
April 25, 2015
Music, Television, VH1 Top 20 Countdown 1 Comment
Each week, I check out VH1′s Top 20 countdown, and then I rearrange the songs based on my estimation of their quality.
Original Version
1. Ellie Goulding – “Love Me Like You Do”
2. Maroon 5 – “Sugar”
3. Nick Jonas – “Chains”
4. Taylor Swift – “Style”
5. Zedd ft. Selena Gomez – “I Want You to Know”
6. Tori Kelly – “Nobody Love”
7. Jason Derulo – “Want to Want Me”
8. Walk the Moon – “Shut Up and Dance”
9. Tove Lo – “Talking Body”
10. Sam Smith – “Lay Me Down”
11. Calvin Harris ft. Ellie Goulding – “Outside”
12. Echosmith – “Bright”
13. Rihanna and Kanye West and Paul McCartney – “FourFiveSeconds”
14. Meghan Trainor – “Dear Future Husband”
15. George Ezra – “Budapest”
16. Ed Sheeran – “Thinking Out Loud”
17. Andy Grammer – “Honey, I’m Good.”
18. Nate Ruess – “Nothing Without Love”
19. Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth – “See You Again”
20. Kelly Clarkson – “Heartbeat Song”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. Style
2. Outside
3. Talking Body
4. I Want You to Know
5. Nobody Love
6. Want to Want Me
7. Chains
8. FourFiveSeconds
9. See You Again
10. Lay Me Down
11. Shut Up and Dance
12. Love Me Like You Do
13. Nothing Without Love
14. Budapest
15. Sugar
16. Heartbeat
17. Dear Future Husband
18. Honey, I’m Good.
19. Thinking Out Loud
20. Bright
April 23, 2015
Television, The Middle, The Middle Episode Reviews The Middle, The Middle 621, The Middle Season 6, Two of a Kind Leave a comment
The Donohues taught Sue how to ride a bike. http://www.starpulse.com/news/Jeffrey_Malone/2015/04/23/the-middle-season-6-episode-21-recap-t
April 23, 2015
Community, Community Episode Reviews, Television Advanced Safety Features, Community, Community 607, Community Season 6 Leave a comment
Community, “Advanced Safety Features” (CREDIT: Yahoo! Screen)
This review was originally posted on Starpulse in April 2015.
Just one episode ago saw the Greendale crew at its nastiest. That conflict was not resolved so much as brushed aside. So it was quite the contrast to have the very next episode focused so strongly about everyone working to like each other. But maybe that need to be liked explained why everyone was so upset about the airing of the hurtful secrets. Or maybe everyone just learned a lesson about vulnerability really quickly. Either way, “Advanced Safety Features” showed these people more convinced than ever about the value of vulnerability.
April 19, 2015
Television, What Won TV? Leave a comment
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 – Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Monday – RuPaul’s Drag Race
Tuesday – Justified
Wednesday – Jeopardy!
Thursday – Louie
Friday – Comedy Bang! Bang!
Saturday – Orphan Black
April 18, 2015
Music, Television, VH1 Top 20 Countdown Leave a comment
Each week, I check out VH1′s Top 20 countdown, and then I rearrange the songs based on my estimation of their quality.
Original Version
1. Ellie Goulding – “Love Me Like You Do”
2. Maroon 5 – “Sugar”
3. Nick Jonas – “Chains”
4. Taylor Swift – “Style”
5. Tori Kelly – “Nobody Love”
6. Zedd ft. Selena Gomez – “I Want You to Know”
7. Calvin Harris ft. Ellie Goulding – “Outside”
8. Tove Lo – “Talking Body”
9. Rihanna and Kanye West and Paul McCartney – “FourFiveSeconds”
10. Jason Derulo – “Want to Want Me”
11. Sam Smith – “Lay Me Down”
12. Walk the Moon – “Shup Up and Dance”
13. Ed Sheeran – “Thinking Out Loud”
14. Echosmith – “Bright”
15. Pitbull & Ne-Yo – “Time of Our Lives”
16. Kelly Clarkson – “Heartbeat Song”
17. Meghan Trainor – “Dear Future Husband”
18. George Ezra – “Budapest”
19. Andy Grammer – “Honey, I’m Good.”
20. Nate Ruess – “Nothing Without Love”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. Style
2. Outside
3. Talking Body
4. I Want You to Know
5. Nobody Love
6. Want to Want Me
7. Chains
8. FourFiveSeconds
9. Shut Up and Dance
10. Love Me Like You Do
11. Lay Me Down
12. Nothing Without Love
13. Budapest
14. Time of Our Lives
15. Sugar
16. Heartbeat Song
17. Dear Future Husband
18. Honey, I’m Good.
19. Thinking Out Loud
20. Bright
April 16, 2015
Television, The Middle, The Middle Episode Reviews Food Courting, The Middle, The Middle 620, The Middle Season 6 Leave a comment
Just a minute ago, Mike was in Axl’s seat. http://www.starpulse.com/news/Jeffrey_Malone/2015/04/16/the-middle-season-6-episode-20-recap-f
April 15, 2015
Community, Community Episode Reviews, Television Basic Email Security, Community, Community 606, Community Season 6 Leave a comment
Community, “Basic Email Security” (CREDIT: Yahoo! Screen)
This review was originally posted on Starpulse in April 2015.
“Community” does not usually take too much inspiration from real world headlines in the vein of a “Law & Order”-style procedural. It instead tends to ape and play around with pop culture. But recent hacking scandals have converged with media such that for “Community” it is right at home, almost a little too close to home. This is a show produced by Sony, the victim of one of the largest-scale hacks ever. A community college does not have the same reach as a worldwide media conglomerate, but it still has a significant virtual ecosystem that can be exploited, and so it was with Greendale.
April 12, 2015
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television Cookie, Good Burger 7, Mumford & Sons, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 40, SNL, SNL Season 40, Taraji P. Henson Leave a comment
SNL: Kenan Thompson, Taraji P. Henson, Mumford & Sons (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)
This review was originally posted on Starpulse in April 2015.
With her breakout role as Cookie on “Empire,” Taraji P. Henson has been showcasing her commitment, confidence, and charisma to her biggest audience yet. These are the qualities that great “SNL” hosts are made of, and in her first appearance at Studio 8H, she had to show them off, both because she was given plenty of roles that required a strong presence and because many of the sketches were running low on premise and thus necessitated strong performances across the board.
Hillary Clinton (BEST OF THE NIGHT) – It has been a delight watching Kate McKinnon develop her Hillary Clinton impression from “promising” to “ready for the big leagues.” With the real Clinton finally on the verge of announcing her long-presumed 2016 presidential candidacy, her current “SNL” counterpart has made it clear that she will be as much a force to be reckoned with as Ana Gasteyer and Amy Poehler were before her. This edition wisely went with a domestic setting, as this is a public figure we all know so well that a glimpse into her private sphere is in no way jarring. Darrell Hammond’s cameo felt a little dated, as there is not as much of a sense of Bill butting in on his wife’s moment as there used to be, but it did effectively inform McKinnon’s wound-up performance. B+
April 12, 2015
Television, What Won TV? Leave a comment
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 – Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, proving quite the point
Monday – Better Call Saul
Tuesday – Justified
Wednesday – The Middle
Thursday – Louie
Friday – A: This show was just as delightful as Jeopardy! on Friday, April 10. Q: What is Childrens Hospital?
Saturday – The Hillary cold open on SNL.
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