Jeff "Jmunney" Malone's Self-Styled "Expert" Thoughts on Movies, TV, Music, and the Rest of Pop Culture
October 9, 2022
Podcasts, That's Auntertainment Barbarian, Celebrity Jeopardy, Community, Don't Worry Darling, Podcasts, That's Auntertainment, What's Jeff Watching? Leave a comment
Who is Reggie Watts? (CREDIT: Tyler Golden/ABC)
In a brand new Mini-Episode series, Jeff is talking about the movies and shows he’s been watching lately that he and Aunt Beth haven’t covered on the full-length episodes (yet?). On this edition, We get into Barbarian, Don’t Worry Darling, Celebrity Jeopardy!, and the recent announcement about the Community movie.
October 8, 2022
Cinema, Movie Reviews Billy Eichner, Bros, Dot-Marie Jones, Eve Lindley, Guillermo Díaz, Guy Branum, Jim Rash, Luke Macfarlane, Miss Lawrence, Monica Raymund, Nicholas Stoller, Ts Madison Leave a comment
Bros in the Wild (CREDIT: Nicole Rivelli/Universal Pictures)
Starring: Billy Eichner, Luke Macfarlane, Guy Branum, Ts Madison, Jim Rash, Eve Lindley, Miss Lawrence, Dot-Marie Jones, Monica Raymund, Guillermo Díaz
Director: Nicholas Stoller
Running Time: 115 Minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: September 30, 2022 (Theaters)
The air conditioning wasn’t working properly in the theater when I went to see Bros, so I had to fan myself with the menu a fair bit. I was able to get through mostly unscathed, but there were definitely some sweat spots. Nevertheless, the movie still resonated in my slightly agitated state.
I believe Billy Eichner has talked about how he would like Bros to be relatable to audiences beyond the queer community. And he certainly doesn’t have to convince me, because ever since I stumbled upon his comedy a little over a decade ago, I’ve recognized him as a kindred spirit. And that connection is now only deeper thanks to Bros, particularly one scene when Billy’s character Bobby explains why he’s so outwardly confident despite the world constantly telling him that he’s not quite the right person to do what he wants to do. I’m no stranger to inner certainty being met with a skeptical “Are you sure?” Billy’s remedy for this feeling was to write and star in an aggressively self-aware rom-com, and that looks like a healthy decision to me.
Grade: LBGQTIAmen
October 7, 2022
Cinema, Entertainment To-Do List, Music, Television Amsterdam, Big Shot, Bush, Ice Death Planets Lungs Mushrooms and Lava, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, TÁR, The Art of Survival, The Cult, The Midnight Sun, The Problem with Jon Stewart, Triangle of Sadness, Under the Midnight Sun, Werewolf by Night Leave a comment
I guess it’s not night yet (CREDIT: Marvel Studios)
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–Amsterdam (Theaters)
–TÁR (Theaters)
–Triangle of Sadness (Theaters)
TV
–The Midnight Club Season 1 (October 7 on Netflix) – Mike Flanagan’s latest horror series, and Heather Langenkamp’s in it this time, and also “Possum Kingdom” is in the trailer.
–The Problem with Jon Stewart Season 2 Premiere (October 7 on Apple TV+)
-Marvel Studios’ Special Presentation: Werewolf By Night (October 7 on Disney+)
–Big Shot Season 2 Premiere (October 12 on Disney+)
Music
-Bush, The Art of Survival
-The Cult, Under the Midnight Sun
-King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava
October 6, 2022
Cinema, Movie Reviews Allan Corduner, Cate Blanchett, Julian Glover, Mark Strong, Mila Bogojevic, Nina Hoss, Noémie Merlant, Sophie Kauer, TÁR, Todd Field 1 Comment
Covered in TÁR (CREDIT: Courtesy of Focus Features)
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Noémie Merlant, Nina Hoss, Sophie Kauer, Julian Glover, Allan Corduner, Mila Bogojevic, Mark Strong
Director: Todd Field
Running Time: 157 Minutes
Rating: R for A Few Swears and Some Weird Incidental Nudity
Release Date: October 7, 2022 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: Lydia Tár is one of the greatest living conductors. Does that sound like a role that Cate Blanchett was born to play? Todd Field apparently thought so, to the point that TÁR is the first movie he’s directed in sixteen years. Anyway, we’re introduced to Lydia at a live New Yorker interview, and it looks like it’s mostly going to be about her preparing for her next great orchestra performance. You know, one of those “process of genius” chronicles. But a messy personal life, and an even messier series of scandals, lurk barely underneath the surface. If you’re getting a sense that Lydia’s about to alienate all of her colleagues, friends, and family members, then you might be onto something.
What Made an Impression?: I’ve lately been reading Classical Music for Dummies, so I was all primed for TÁR to be more viscerally thrilling for me than it would have been, say, a year ago. But as it turns out, the classical setting is more or less incidental. Oh sure, there’s plenty for aficionados to dig here, as it’s likely to inspire passionate debates about the relative merits of Mahler and Bach, or someone more contemporary like Anna Thorvaldsdottir. But this is a story of the ego destroying everything else, which can happen in any high-powered artistic pursuit.
Lydia’s downfall could be read as a portrait of cancel culture, but that term is a bit too charged and complicated to be the most accurate description. For a good chunk of the movie, I found myself thinking, “She’s not guilty of exactly what she’s being accused of. Although, she is guilty of a lot.” Her instincts are to retreat, hide, get back to work, and in the process fail to acknowledge the humanity of pretty much everyone around her. What happens after that alienation? As TÁR posits, your whole world becomes warped beyond recognition, resulting in a wild fish-out-of-water conclusion and one of the most unexpectedly goofy final shots I’ve ever seen.
TÁR is Recommended If You Like: Geniuses losing it all, Finger dexterity, EGOT discussions
Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Symphonies
October 5, 2022
Cinema, Movie Reviews Ari'el Satchel, Asif Ali, Chris Pine, Don't Worry Darling, Douglas Smith, Florence Pugh, Gemma Chan, Harry Styles, Kate Berland, KiKi Layne, Nick Kroll, Olivia Wilde, Sydney Chandler, Timothy Simons Leave a comment
How WORRIED are they?! (CREDIT: Warner Bros. Pictures/Screenshot)
Starring: Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Chris Pine, Olivia Wilde, Gemma Chan, Kiki Layne, Nick Kroll, Kate Berland, Timothy Simons, Douglas Smith, Sydney Chandler, Asif Ali, Ari’el Satchel
Director: Olivia Wilde
Running Time: 123 Minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: September 23, 2022 (Theaters)
The behind-the-scenes drama of Don’t Worry Darling has been so messy. And on screen, it’s not much cleaner. The seams are clear right away in this mid-century-style suburban fantasy world! But that messiness makes sense to me. The backwards-tomorrow that these men are trying to create would be pretty difficult to perfect. There were many scenes that had me going “Does this undercut the central metaphor?” And they did, but pointedly so. The pandemonium is a feature, not a bug.
Grade: I Wasn’t Worried, I Was Excited!
October 3, 2022
Cinema, Movie Reviews Barbarian, Bill Skarsgård, Georgina Campbell, Justin Long, Matthew Patrick Davis, Richard Brake, Zach Cregger 5 Comments
So Barbaric (CREDIT: 20th Century Studios/Screenshot)
Starring: Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgård, Justin Long, Matthew Patrick Davis, Richard Brake
Director: Zach Cregger
Running Time: 107 Minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: September 9, 2022 (Theaters)
Right before seeing Barbarian, I got some fried ice cream for the first time at a place I’d been meaning to try for a while. And it was as delicious as I’d hoped for! So I took that as a wonderful portent that Barbarian would also be able to meet my sky-high expectations. So let me assure everyone quickly: it was a wonderful evening all around.
Barbarian is one of those movies where you don’t want to talk to folks who haven’t seen it in too much detail, because all the twisty surprises are so much fun to discover unspoiled. But unlike a lot of other movies of that ilk, there’s plenty to talk about without spoiling the monster. Like, I could mention that Justin Long is in it, and that he’s got a pretty significant part, despite not being in the trailer at all. And that spoils nothing! Well, it spoils Justin’s sudden, previously unannounced introduction. But that only amounts to about 1% spoilage. Anyway, how are there not more basement-based horror movies?
Grade: 476/500
October 2, 2022
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television Kendrick Lamar, Miles Teller, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 48, SNL, SNL Season 48 2 Comments
The combined ages of these people is 48 (CREDIT: NBC/Screenshot)
Last season I kept my SNL review routine fresh by mixing up the order of the sketches. This season, I’m going even deeper by experimenting with how I review each particular sketch. For this here Season 48 premiere (host Miles Teller and musical guest Kendrick Lamar), I’m using only ONE WORD per sketch. Check it out:
October 2, 2022
Podcasts, That's Auntertainment Podcasts, Schitt's Creek, That's Auntertainment Leave a comment
(CREDIT: CBC/Screenshot)
Well, fold in that cheese! A while back, Aunt Beth told Jeff to watch Schitt’s Creek, and he gave his initial thoughts at the time, but did he then keep watching? It’s time to find out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
September 30, 2022
Cinema, Entertainment To-Do List, Music, Television Bjӧrk, Bros, Chucky, Cool It Down, Fossora, Reginald the Vampire, Saturday Night Live, Smile, SNL, Solar Opposites, The Greatest Beer Run Ever, Yeah Yeah Yeahs Leave a comment
Hey, Reg. (CREDIT: SYFY/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
–Bros (Theaters)
–The Greatest Beer Run Ever (Theaters and Apple TV+)
–Smile (Theaters)
TV
–Saturday Night Live Season 48 Premiere (October 1 on NBC) – Don’t Miles Teller Mom the Babysitter’s Dead, because the Babysitter’s NOT dead, but do Miles Teller Mom that Miles Teller is Hosting the SNL season premiere (Kendrick Lamar musical guest).
-“A Sinister Halloween Scary Opposites Solar Special” (October 3 on Hulu)
–Chucky Season 2 Premiere (October 5 on Syfy and USA)
–Reginald the Vampire Series Premiere (October 5 on Syfy) – Starring one of Peter Parker’s best friends.
Music
-Björk, Fossora
-Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Cool It Down
September 27, 2022
Cinema, Movie Reviews Caitlin Stasey, Dora Kiss, Gillian Zinser, Jessie T. Usher, Judy Reyes, Kal Penn, Kyle Gallner, Nick Arapoglou, Parker Finn, Rob Morgan, Robin Weigert, Smile, Sosie Bacon 4 Comments
Smile!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (CREDIT: Paramount Pictures)
Starring: Sosie Bacon, Kyle Gallner, Jessie T. Usher, Kal Penn, Gillian Zinser, Robin Weigert, Caitlin Stasey, Nick Arapoglou, Rob Morgan, Dora Kiss, Judy Reyes
Director: Parker Finn
Running Time: 115 Minutes
Rating: R for Brutal Bloody Ends
Release Date: September 30, 2022
What’s It About?: Demons sure love their chain letters, don’t they? And they’re pretty fastidious about keeping up with today’s technology, so they don’t need to come in the form of an actual piece of paper anymore. A videotape certainly sufficed in the VHS era. Or a roll in the hay is an evergreen opportunity to pass the curse along, since people are always having sex. And certainly, that there chain letter needn’t even take physical form, as it can spread through a series of premonitions, or in the case of Smile, via the creepiest facial expressions imaginable. That’s the conundrum that psychiatrist Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) finds herself in, after she witnesses a patient take her own life while sporting the most disturbing grin she’s ever seen. Rose then ends up haunted by the same evil entity, and she’s got about a week to figure it all out before it consumes her completely.
What Made an Impression?: One word immediately comes to mind to describe the viewing experience of Smile: frustrating. But I suspect that that may be by design. This evil has a knack for finding overworked, traumatized individuals. Rose is regularly putting in 80-hour workweeks in a job that takes a heavy emotional toll, and on top of that, much of her life has been shaped by an abusive childhood during which her mother overdosed right in front of her. And the patient (Caitlin Stasey) whose death she witnessed was a PhD student, so I imagine she wasn’t getting a whole lot of sleep either. This all makes for a messy formula where Rose doesn’t have the wherewithal to explain what’s happening to her, and everyone in her life either doesn’t have the patience to understand, or if they do have the patience, it doesn’t really matter because it’s too far beyond anything they themselves have ever experienced anyway.
Contrast that setup to Smile‘s closest analogue, The Ring, in which Naomi Watts plays a take-charge investigative reporter who does everything she can to avoid being a curse’s next victim. Rose, meanwhile, is in no shape to be able to pull anything like that off. Although, to be fair to her and all the other victims, the implication is that there truly is no escape from this deadly fate. (There may be a possible exception reminiscent of the rules of the Final Destination, but that option doesn’t exactly come off as particularly appealing either.) Smile would certainly be a lot more fun if we had a more well-rested, defiant protagonist. But I don’t want to dismiss it completely, because it strikes me as a telling portrait of the fog of living through mental illness and post-trauma. It’s painful to witness, but worth digesting.
Smile is Recommended If You Like: The Ring, It Follows, The Grudge, Final Destination (Spoiler Alert?)
Grade: 3 out of 5 Smiles
