July 9, 2021
jmunney
Awards Shows, Emmys, Television
American Utopia, Conan, Earth to Ned, Emmys, Eric Andre: Legalize Everything, Holey Moley, How to with John Wilson, Last Week Tonight, Match Game, Nate, RuPaul's Drag Race, Sherman's Showcase, The Chase, The Hustler, The Masked Singer, To Tell the Truth, What the Constitution Means to Me, Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, Whose Line is it Anyway?, Wilmore
CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot
It’s that time again! The 2021 Emmy nominations will be announced on July 13, which means I’ve got a Wish List for the nommy noms I’d most like to see! In case you’re wondering, I haven’t held myself to any minimum or maximum number of entrants per category, nor do I strictly adhere to official Emmy rules. (I’ve included explanations for my deviations.) And of course, I must mention that I haven’t seen everything, so there are probably some worthy considerations I may have missed. Finally, on Day 4, we wrap things up with Variety and Reality.
Did you know that there’s a talk show hosted by an alien puppet on Disney+? If you didn’t before, you do now. And you’re going to want to watch all of it as soon as possible before you die. It’s called Earth to Ned, and it’s hilarious and boasts a lineup of fantastic guests. It’s got vibes of Jiminy Glick, but it’s much more kind-hearted. It’s a celebration of talk shows as an art form and general phenomenon, and that’s why I believe that it should win the Emmy for Variety Talk Series.
Variety Sketch Series is where the oddballs that don’t slot easily into any other category end up, and thus that’s where the inimitable How to with John Wilson deserves our love.
And as for Reality, my enthusiasm is much the same as it was last year, when I was demanding praise for the first season of mini-golf extravaganza Holey Moley while the second season was airing. And now this year, I’m demanding praise for Season 2 while we’re in the midst of Season 3.
KEY:
Bold=My winner
Variety Talk Series
Conan
Earth to Ned
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
WILMORE
More
July 8, 2021
jmunney
Awards Shows, Emmys, Television
2021 Emmys, Emmys, Fargo, The Good Lord Bird, WandaVision
CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot
It’s that time again! The 2021 Emmy nominations will be announced on July 13, which means I’ve got a Wish List for the nommy noms I’d most like to see! In case you’re wondering, I haven’t held myself to any minimum or maximum number of entrants per category, nor do I strictly adhere to official Emmy rules. (I’ve included explanations for my deviations.) And of course, I must mention that I haven’t seen everything, so there are probably some worthy considerations I may have missed. For Day 3, Limited Series are on the docket.
Some years, I watch plenty of Limited Series (or “miniseries,” in the now-archaic parlance), and I have an abundance of requests on my Wish List. Last year was one of those years. This year, however, was very much not one of those years. Apparently, I watched two Limited Series in their entirety in the past 12 months (or at least, only two really worthwhile Limited Series). Luckily, those two shows are both richly deserving. One is among my favorite shows of 2021 thus far, while the other acquitted itself quite handsomely on my Best of 2020 coverage.
Elsewhere, Jessie Buckley manages to be my lone entrant from a different show.
KEY:
Bold=My winner
*=I have placed this nominee in a different category than the Emmy ballot.
Limited or Anthology Series
The Good Lord Bird
WandaVision
More
July 7, 2021
jmunney
Awards Shows, Emmys, Television
2021 Emmys, Big Shot, Emmys, His Dark Materials, Lovecraft Country, Perry Mason, Pose, RIverdale, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, The Handmaid's Tale, The Mandalorian, Utopia
CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot
It’s that time again! The 2021 Emmy nominations will be announced on July 13, which means I’ve got a Wish List for the nommy noms I’d most like to see! In case you’re wondering, I haven’t held myself to any minimum or maximum number of entrants per category, nor do I strictly adhere to official Emmy rules. (I’ve included explanations for my deviations.) And of course, I must mention that I haven’t seen everything, so there are probably some worthy considerations I may have missed. Today, it’s Drama’s turn.
My Drama Wish List this year is a tale of two shows whose two most recent seasons were nearly two years apart. But weirdly enough, they were both eligible last year, and they’re both once again eligible this year. One is resurgent, while the other is just as excellent as ever. I’m of course talking about The Handmaid’s Tale and Pose. The former was nowhere to be seen on my 2020 Wish List, while the latter was one of my favorites last time and is even more so this time, as it’s my top choice in Drama Series and ALL the main acting categories. (It’s also striking up plenty of heat in the Guest fields.)
I’d also like to send some love to Disney+’s winning basketball series Big Shot. Who knew that John Stamos coaching high school girls would be the cure for what ails us?! The more you know…
KEY:
Bold=My winner
Drama Series
Big Shot
The Handmaid’s Tale
The Mandalorian
Pose
More
July 6, 2021
jmunney
Awards Shows, Emmys, Television
2021 Emmys, A.P. Bio, American Dad!, Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun, B Positive, Big Mouth, black-ish, Chad, Dickinson, Emmys, mixed-ish, Mr. Mayor, PEN15, Resident Alien, Rutherford Falls, Saved by the Bell, Search Party, Solar Opposites, Staged, Ted Lasso, That Damn Michael Che, The Conners, The Eric Andre Show, The Unicorn, Young Sheldon
CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot
It’s that time again! The 2021 Emmy nominations will be announced on July 13, which means I’ve got a Wish List for the nommy noms I’d most like to see! In case you’re wondering, I haven’t held myself to any minimum or maximum number of entrants per category, nor do I strictly adhere to official Emmy rules. (I’ve included explanations for my deviations.) And of course, I must mention that I haven’t seen everything, so there are probably some worthy considerations I may have missed. First up: Comedy and Animation.
Almost every single one of my Comedy Series preferences from last year is not eligible this year, whether because of series finales or longer-than-average breaks in between successive seasons. Luckily we have a plethora of streaming services to fill the gaps, and plenty of them are represented here. We’ve got Hulu! We’ve got Peacock! We’ve got Apple TV+! We’ve even got that dang HBO Max. There’s also some room for basic cable in the form of Syfy’s Resident Alien. And it looks like for the first time since I’ve been making Emmy Wish Lists, there is no broadcast network series making my cut (although one of my choices began as an NBC show and another is a reboot of an NBC show).
In the acting categories, it’s an absolute embarrassment of riches in the Lead Actress category, with every one of the ladies I’ve selected giving the performances they were born to play. That’s also true of Alan Tudyk, who’s my easy winner in the Lead Actor field. (He’s an alien … pretending to be a human! Can you imagine?!) Over in Supporting, it’s a mix of newbies and usual suspects, with plenty of sitcoms really making full use of their deep ensembles these days.
KEY:
Bold=My winner
*=I have placed this nominee in a different category than the Emmy ballot.
Comedy Series
A.P. Bio
Dickinson
Pen15
Resident Alien
Saved by the Bell
Search Party
More
July 2, 2021
jmunney
Cinema, Entertainment To-Do List, Music, Television
Gossip Girl, grown-ish, I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson, Summer of Soul, Summer of Soul Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised, The Forever Purge, The Good the Bart and the Loki, Zola
Still gossipin’ after all these years… (CREDIT: HBO Max/YouTube 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
–The Forever Purge (Theaters) – ABP: Always Be Purging
–Summer of Soul (Theaters and Hulu)
–Zola (Theaters)
TV
–I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson Season 2 (July 6 on Netflix) – We’re all trying to find the guy who made this show!
–The Good, the Bart, and the Loki (July 7 on Disney+) – Crossover short.
–Gossip Girl Reboot Premiere (July 8 on HBO Max)
–grown-ish Season 4 Premiere (July 8 on Freeform)
Music
-Lana Del Rey, Blue Banisters
July 1, 2021
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Betty Gilpin, Chris McKay, Chris Pratt, Edwin Hodge, J.K. Simmons, Jasmine Mathews, Keith Powers, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Mike Mitchell, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Sam Richardson, The Tomorrow War, Yvonne Strahovski
The Tomorrow War (CREDIT: Amazon Studios)
Starring: Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski, J.K. Simmons, Betty Gilpin, Sam Richardson, Edwin Hodge, Jasmine Mathews, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Keith Powers, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Mike Mitchell
Director: Chris McKay
Running Time: 140 Minutes
Rating: PG-13 for Alien Scum
Release Date: July 2, 2021 (Amazon Prime Video)
The Tomorrow War stars Chris Pratt as the leader of a fight between Earth and invading aliens in which he must be sent 30 years in the future. He teams up with a ragtag crew, including a future version of his young daughter (Yvonne Strahovski). But I’m not here to talk about them. Instead, this review is all about Mike Mitchell, who’s about 12th on the call sheet, but he’s pretty much the only reason I wanted to watch this movie. Mitchell is primarily known as a podcaster and a member of the Birthday Boys sketch comedy group, the latter of which featured him as a friendly alien who sings a jingle at birthday parties. His podcasting duties include co-hosting Doughboys, in which he reviews chain restaurants. The Tomorrow War, meanwhile, does not feature him chowing down on any good grub, which feels like a missed opportunity.
I’m guessing that Mitchell was cast to be the comic relief character, or one of the comic relief characters. And there needed to be multiple ones! Because, you see, the best part involving Mitch happens when Chris Pratt asks Mary Lynn Rajskub’s character what her name is, and she says “Norah,” which is indeed her character’s name. And then he immediately asks Mitch’s character what his name is, and he also says “Norah.” It’s really well-timed, I promise!
If you’re like me and watching The Tomorrow War only for the Mike Mitchell, you’ll have to be patient, because he’s only in a small percentage of it. But luckily today’s technology allows you to fast-forward and rewind as you please.And there’s also perhaps a consolation prize, as Sam Richardson (of Veep and Detroiters fame) has much more screen time, a good portion of which is meant to be funny. There’s one moment in particular when he continuously shouts a certain four-letter word over and over about a couple dozen times in a row. So I guess this review wasn’t entirely focused on Mike Mitchell. I hope you can forgive me.
The Tomorrow War is Recommended If You Like: Fast-forwarding through Amazon Prime Video’s viewing experience
Grade: 2 out of 5 Doughboys
June 30, 2021
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Ana de la Reguera, Josh Lucas, The Purge, Will Patton, The Forever Purge, Evarardo Gout, Tenoch Huerta, Cassidy Freeman, Leven Rabin, Alejandro Edda
The Forever Purge (CREDIT: Universal Pictures/YouTube Screenshot)
Starring: Ana de la Reguera, Tenoch Huerta, Josh Lucas, Cassidy Freeman, Leven Rabin, Alejandro Edda, Will Patton
Director: Evarardo Gout
Running Time: 103 Minutes
Rating: R for Sniveling, Racist, Terroristic Violence
Release Date: July 2, 2021 (Theaters)
I thought we were done with The Purge. With the 2016 release of The Purge: Election Year, a new administration ascended and officially ended the annual night of state-sanctioned lawlessness. But horror franchises never say die, so this one went the prequel route with 2018’s The First Purge. There was also a two-season TV series that debuted that same year, which I watched one episode of. As far as I know, it has little, if any, bearing on the movies. Now all the legal crime’s been reinstated in The Forever Purge, and as the title indicates, there’s a contingent intent on it never ending. But after such a satisfying conclusion in Election Year, that’s such a depressing prospect to me. So pretty much the only way I can find The Forever Purge palatable is by pretending that it’s essentially a standalone entry, so that’s what I’ll do.
It’s not too hard to pull off this mental trick, as Forever carries over no characters from any previous entries (save for the ever-present specter of the “New Founding Fathers of America” regime that conceived of The Purge in the first place). This time around we’re in Texas, with a white ranch-owning family and a Mexican family that works on the ranch as our requisite set of people who would prefer to barricade themselves up during this here Purge, thank you very much. (Josh Lucas’s Dylan Tucker, the biggest jackass of these clans, has the most selfish reason for opposing this ritual, as he declares, “I hate the damn Purge. It’s just hard to be social on that night.”) Then there are the truly demented forever purgers, among the most thoroughly evil caricatures of any good grindhouse flick.
After living through a pandemic and its attendant heightened anxiety, I’m not exactly in the mood for the 24/7 terror promised by The Forever Purge. Hell, I’m not usually ever in the mood for that, but at least when the earlier Purge editions came out, they felt much further removed from reality than they do now. But insurrectionists demanding that the government make their already-extreme policies even more extreme is very much a part of recent American history. At least The Forever Purge allows for some catharsis by making it very clear that it is on the side of the systemically downtrodden. This has always been an “eat the rich” franchise, and this time that’s clearer than ever, what with the villains aiming to essentially start a race war. In conclusion, I can’t remember any other mainstream film in my lifetime basically saying “Maybe Mexico is a better place to live than America right now,” so I have to applaud The Forever Purge‘s gumption and conviction.
The Forever Purge is Recommended If You Like: Revisiting a nightmare world
Grade: 3 out of 5 Purges
June 29, 2021
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Black Woodstock, documentary, Harlem Cultural Festival, Questlove, Summer of Soul, Summer of Soul Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised
Summer of Soul: Sly Stone (CREDIT: Searchlight Pictures)
Starring: The Performers and Attendees of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival
Director: Questlove
Running Time: 117 Minutes
Rating: PG-13 for Rock ‘n’ Roll
Release Date: June 25, 2021 (New York and Los Angeles)/July 2, 2021 (Expanding Theatrically/Hulu)
The 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival is widely known as “Black Woodstock,” and if you watch the Questlove-directed concert documentary Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), it’s pretty obvious why. Two landmark music festivals, held in the same summer, in the same state, only about 100 miles apart. One of them has enjoyed one of the biggest footprints in American cultural history. The other was permanently relegated to the dustbin … until now.
More
June 28, 2021
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Ari'el Stachel, Colman Domingo, Janicza Bravo, Jason Mitchell, Nicholas Braun, Riley Keough, Taylour Paige, Zola
Zola (CREDIT: A24)
Starring: Taylour Paige, Riley Keough, Colman Domingo, Nicholas Braun, Ari’el Stachel, Jason Mitchell
Director: Janicza Bravo
Running Time: 90 Minutes
Rating: R for The Full Array of Language, Nudity, and Violence
Release Date: June 30, 2021 (Theaters)
There’s a lot of balls to Zola, both in the sense of chutzpah and exposed private parts. Check your pulse at the door, this one is not for the faint of heart. It has the verve and vibe of a no-holds-barred good time, but it’s all in the name of pandemonium. The ostensible attraction of this story for moviegoers is that while it’s terrifying for the people it happened to, it’s exhilarating to witness from the comfort and safety of your local multiplex or couch. But by the end, the only thought I was left with was, “I’m glad that didn’t happen to me.” And I suspect that’s exactly the sort of trick that director/co-writer Janicza Bravo was attempting to pull off.
This is definitely a story of something happening to someone, as opposed to that someone taking charge. Aziah “Zola” King (Taylour Paige) would probably like to think of herself as a person who’s in control of her own life, at least as much as anyone can be while getting by in a capitalist society. But when ripped outside your comfort zone, you might suddenly find yourself at the mercy of powerful forces.
Based on a viral tweet thread by the real Zola and a Rolling Stone article inspired by that thread, the movie tracks the quick rise and fall of her friendship with the alluring Stefani (Riley Keough). One day, Zola is Stefani’s waitress; the next, they’re best buds driving hundreds of miles to make it rain at some Florida strip clubs. But what Zola hadn’t bargained for is the annoying presence of Stefani’s hangdog boyfriend Derrek (Nicholas Braun). And what she REALLY hadn’t bargained for was Stefani’s pimp X (Colman Domingo) advertising her adult services without her consent.
Zola presents Stefani as a perpetrator of instant betrayal and someone she never should have trusted with in the first place. One of the most telling moments happens when the movie suddenly switches perspectives, with Stefani offering a much shorter, cleaner, and more unbelievable version of the entire journey. That section might seem to be the closing argument of Stefani as a dangerous siren, but it’s also further evidence to me about how much she is being manipulated by X or anyone else in a position to destroy her whole life. There’s no way out for Stefani, and no indication that she’s even considered the possibility of how to escape. For Zola and the rest of us, it’s a relief that this was just a temporary scrape with the underworld.
Zola is Recommended If You Like: Watching a great time turn into an awful time
Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Backpage Ads
June 25, 2021
jmunney
Cinema, Entertainment To-Do List, Music, Television
Call Me If You Get Lost, Central Park, Doja Cat, F9, Home Video, Lucy Dacus, Modest Mouse, No Sudden Move, Planet Her, Steven Soderbergh, The Golden Casket, Tyler the Creator, Werewolves Within
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–F9 (Theaters) – Getting everyone back together.
–Werewolves Within (Theaters)
–No Sudden Move (July 1 on HBO Max) – Soderbergh on HBO Max again.
TV
–Central Park Season 2 Premiere (June 25 on Apple TV+) – Still catching up on Season 1, though.
Music
-Lucy Dacus, Home Video
-Doja Cat, Planet Her
-Modest Mouse, The Golden Casket
-Tyler, the Creator, Call Me If You Get Lost
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