Jeff "Jmunney" Malone's Self-Styled "Expert" Thoughts on Movies, TV, Music, and the Rest of Pop Culture
April 11, 2021
Podcasts, That's Auntertainment Oscars, Podcasts, That's Auntertainment Leave a comment
Credit: @ohhoe/Twitter
Have you ever found yourself saying, “Why didn’t (X Movie) Win (Y Oscar)?!” Well, Jeff, Aunt Beth, and Jeff’s brother Rob sure have, which is why they’re talking about various movies and performances that didn’t win Academy Awards, even though they really should have. Their selections include loungewear, sunglasses, farmer overalls, a really hot summer day, an iconic dog, and a naughty word on a hitman’s forehead.
April 9, 2021
Entertainment To-Do List, Television BAFTAs, Dad Stop Embarrassing Me, David Alan Grier, Jamie Foxx, Kyla-Drew Leave a comment
Dad Stop Embarrassing Me! (CREDIT: Saeed Adyani/Netflix)
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
TV
-74th BAFTAs (April 11 on BBC America)
–Dad Stop Embarrassing Me! Season 1 (April 14 on Netflix) – Jamie Foxx plays a dad! David Alan Grier plays his dad!
April 7, 2021
Cinema, Movie Reviews Bart Johnson, Chris Lofing, Held, Jill Awbrey, Travis Cluff Leave a comment
Held (CREDIT: Magnet Releasing)
Starring: Jill Awbrey, Bart Johnson
Directors: Chris Lofing and Travis Cluff
Running Time: 93 Minutes
Rating: Unrated, But This is R Territory for Bloody Bodies and Bloody Profanity
Release Date: April 9, 2021 (Theaters and On Demand)
The two main characters of Held are held captive, and I daresay this movie would like our attention to be held as well. So was my attention indeed held for an hour and a half? I’m going to have to be honest with everyone here… it was! It helps that everything starts out simply enough: husband and wife Henry and Emma (Bart Johnson and Jill Awbrey, the latter of whom also wrote the script) haven’t been feeling too romantic lately, so they decide to spend a few days away at a rental house. Now, this premise doesn’t necessarily have me jumping out of my seat, as it’s a little more angsty than I’m typically in the mood for. But I’m happy to be on board, if for no other reason than Awbrey’s striking resemblance to Liz Cackowski. That latter name may not mean a lot to too many people, but if you’re like me and you love shows such as Community and Speechless, you’ll find yourself going, “Hey, that lead character looks a lot like someone who’s guest-starred on some of my favorite sitcoms!”
Co-directors Chris Lofing and Travis Cluff wisely upend any sense of stability almost immediately, as we soon discover that some all-seeing mastermind with a voice modulator has hacked into the house’s smart devices and is keeping Emma and Henry all locked up until they complete a gauntlet of psychological manipulation. The unseen villain is so outrageously evil that it’s a little hard to believe that this couple could in any way be deserving of this torture. But that’s part of the fun of a nasty little genre piece like this one. The commitment to the bit (the bit here being “false imprisonment”) is so thorough that I just cannot help but be impressed by all the metaphorical mustache-twirling.
Eventually there is an explanation for why Emma and Henry are being targeted, and I won’t reveal that here, because the social contract of reviews of mysterious movies assures us that twists are to remain unspoken. But suffice it to say that the revelation gives way to some satisfyingly sizzling takes about what’s going in our world today and how married men and women have related to each other over the years. As a tease, let me just say that there’s nothing quite like a genre pic leaning hard into awful stereotypes. Weirdly enough, Held is kind of like the gender politics version of what Antebellum was trying to be, and that’s something to be excited about.
Held is Recommended If You Like: Funny Games, The Dharma Initiative tapes on Lost, Mad Men
Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Commands
April 4, 2021
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television Daniel Kaluuya, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 46, SNL, SNL Season 46, St. Vincent 1 Comment
SNL: St. Vincent, Daniel Kaluuya, Aidy Bryant (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)
Holy moly, this is a review of an SNL episode hosted by Daniel Kaluuya with musical guest St. Vincent! Kaluuya was great in Get Out, and he’s great in everything else I’ve seen him in as well, and while most of those credits aren’t terribly similar to sketch comedy, I had a feeling he had it in him to deliver the funny in front of a live audience. And as for Ms. Vincent, aka Annie Clark, she always brings it without fail.
So this is an episode airing on Easter Weekend, I ran 8 miles on Saturday morning, the spring sun’s blazing in the mid-Atlantic, and I’m still freaking out over that Final Four buzzer-beater. This is all to say, a bunch of dopamine is swirling around my system, which is a perfect formula for me to laugh aplenty. Did the sketches also give me reasons to laugh? Let’s find out!
First off, we’ll check in with Britney Spears (Chloe Fineman’s impression version) with another edition of Oops, You Did It Again (Grade: 3/5 Easter Bunnies). A few guests stop by, including Pete Davidson as Congressman Matt Gaetz, who looks just like his Andrew Cuomo impression except for a more colorful tie.
April 4, 2021
Podcasts, That's Auntertainment Beck, karaoke, Podcasts, That's Auntertainment, Warren Zevon, Ween Leave a comment
Tim from the Dead Times podcast is putting Jeff in an alternative mood with the Karaoke Korner lineup of Beck, Ween, and Mr. Warren Zevon.
April 2, 2021
Cinema, Entertainment To-Do List, Music, Podcasts, Television Chad, Dana Carvey, Dancing with the Devil the Art of Starting Over, Demi Lovato, Fantastic with Dana Carvey, Godzilla vs. Kong, Home Economics, Podcasts, Screen Actors Guild Awards, Sketchy, tune-yards Leave a comment
Chad (CREDIT: TBS/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
–Godzilla vs. Kong (Theaters and Streaming on HBO Max)
TV
-27th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (April 4 on TBS and TNT)
–Chad (April 6 on TBS) – A “sneak peek” (i.e., a full episode) actually already aired about a week ago, though.
–Home Economics Series Premiere (April 7 on ABC) – A new sitcom about three adult siblings.
Music
-tUnE-yArDs, sketchy – This came out last week and I had no idea how much it would be up my alley!
-Demi Lovato, Dancing with the Devil … the Art of Starting Over
Podcasts
–Fantastic! With Dana Carvey – A very funny guy doing very funny voices. (Launched back in January)
March 28, 2021
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television Jack Harlow, Maya Rudolph, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 46, SNL, SNL Season 46 Leave a comment
SNL: Jack Harlow, Maya Rudolph, Chris Redd (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)
When Maya Rudolph was announced as the host of the March 27, 2021 episode of Saturday Night Live, I mentioned to my dad that this was only her second time returning to host. Then I guessed that in addition to all that, she’s also probably made approximately another dozen guest appearances. But it turned out the actual total is about double that! Musical guest Jack Harlow, meanwhile, is here for the first time. As for me and the number of times I’ve watched this show, that’s gotta be in the thousands.
If someone told you that an SNL episode would start with a pretend game show, would you believe it? Well, you’d better believe it, because that’s exactly what happened in this episode! It’s called Snatched, Vaxed, or Waxed (Grade: 2.5/5 Marches), and I laughed at the name “Cece Vuvuzela.”
March 28, 2021
Podcasts, That's Auntertainment Jessica Walter, Podcasts, That's Auntertainment, The Lady and the Dale Leave a comment
The Lady and the Dale (CREDIT: HBO/YouTube Screenshot)
Aunt Beth has decreed that it’s time for Jeff to watch the multifaceted HBO docuseries The Lady and the Dale. What does he think? Let’s find out!
Also, Jessica Walter (1941-2021) is memorialized.
March 26, 2021
Cinema, Entertainment To-Do List, Music, Television Bad Trip, Eric Andre, Evanescence, Lil Rel Howery, Pooch Perfect, Rebel Wilson, Solar Opposites, The Bitter Truth, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, Tiffany Haddish Leave a comment
Pooch Perfect (CREDIT: Christopher Willard/ABC)
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–Bad Trip (Streaming on Netflix) – Eric Andre strings Lil Rel and Tiffany Haddish along for his shenanigans.
TV
–The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers Series Premiere (March 26 on Disney+) – Ducks never say die.
–Solar Opposites Season 2 (March 26 on Hulu)
–Pooch Perfect Series Premiere (March 30 on ABC) – Rebel Wilson hosts a dog grooming competish!
Music
-Evanescence, The Bitter Truth
March 26, 2021
Cinema, Movie Reviews Bad Trip, Dan Curry, Eric Andre, Kitao Sakurai, Lil Rel Howery, Michaela Conlin, Tiffany Haddish 3 Comments
Bad Trip (CREDIT: Dimitry Elyashkevich/Netflix)
Starring: Eric Andre, Lil Rel Howery, Tiffany Haddish, Michaela Conlin
Director: Kitao Sakurai
Running Time: 84 Minutes
Rating: R for Thoroughly Shameless Crudity, Nudity, and Psychoactive Drug Indulgence
Release Date: March 26, 2021 (Netflix)
I sure wish I had been able to experience Bad Trip in a packed theater, but at least my hearty laughs in my solo viewing experience were enough to fill my living room. This delightfully demented piece of guerilla filmmaking is basically a feature-length version of the man-on-the-street bits from Eric Andre’s anarchic eponymous Adult Swim talk show. Starring alongside Andre are a couple of famous funny people as well as dozens of unsuspecting members of the public. There’s a bit of a story (with the screenplay credited to Andre, Dan Curry, and director Kitao Sakurai), in which Florida Man Chris (Andre) has a chance meeting with his old school crush Maria (Michaela Conlin), who invites him to come check out her art gallery in New York City. He then invites his best pal Bud (Lil Rel Howery) on a road trip to the Big Apple, and they abscond in a car that belongs to Bud’s incarcerated sister Trina (Tiffany Haddish), who busts out and tracks down the boys with deadly intentions. The narrative actually hangs together a lot more nicely than I would expect in a prank film, but ultimately it’s just an excuse for a bunch of outrageous shenanigans.
Practical jokes can be hilarious, but ethically speaking, if you’re going to be a professional hooligan, you ought to be careful about who you select as the butts of your jokes. I approve of Andre’s mischief because he is consistently the target of his own pranks. He renders himself into every possible version of a fool, while the unsuspecting public provides another layer of humor by serving as witnesses struggling to make sense of the chaos unfolding around them. In Bad Trip, that chaos includes fake blood splatter, fake projectile vomit splatter, and fake semen splatter. (Shame is a foreign concept to Eric Andre.) The crowd might get hit by some shrapnel, but Andre’s the only one who’s truly suffering for his art.
Bad Trip unsurprisingly holds up when considered on a scene-by-scene basis. But it’s tough to sustain a narrative when utilizing a sketch-comedy sensibility. But shocker of shockers, it turns out that the script delivers some satisfying emotional payoffs to all of its characters. It helps that everyone involved takes a decidedly askew approach to the tropes of buddy flicks. For example, there’s a runner about the notorious 2004 Wayans Brothers cross-dressing comedy White Chicks that improbably gets its own little mini-arc and cathartic conclusion. We all need a space for our ids to run free every once in a while, and I’m so glad that Eric Andre and his cohorts have put theirs on display for all the world to see.
Bad Trip is Recommended If You Like: The Eric Andre Show, Jackass, Borat
Grade: 4 out of 5 Stolen Cars
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