Have you ever found yourself at a Christmas karaoke party and just had absolutely no idea what songs to select?! Well luckily for you, Karaoke Korner Expert Jeff Malone is here to assuage those Christmas karaoke-related fears.
That’s Auntertainment! Karaoke Korner 12: Christmas Edition
December 20, 2020
Podcasts, That's Auntertainment Christmas, Christmas music, karaoke, Podcasts, That's Auntertainment Leave a comment
Entertainment To-Do List: Week of 12/18/20
December 18, 2020
Cinema, Entertainment To-Do List, Music, Television Alex Trebek, American Dad!, Ariana Grande, Chadwick Boseman, Evermore, I Love You Daddy, Jeopardy!, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, McCartney III, Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift, Viola Davis Leave a comment
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (December 18 on Netflix) – Viola Davis plays the title role alongside Chadwick in his final role.
TV
–American Dad! Holiday Episode (December 21 on TBS)
–Jeopardy!: “Around the World with Alex” (December 21-January 1, check local listings) – 2 weeks of classic episodes of Alex presenting clues from across the globe.
Music
-Paul McCartney, McCartney III – Macca making more music.
-Taylor Swift, Evermore – This came out last week. Taylor keeps sneaking up on us with surprise releases.
Music Documentary
–Excuse Me, I Love You (December 21 on Netflix) – Ariana Grande in concert, hurray!
‘Sister of the Groom’ Cranks Up the Angst Way Past 11
December 15, 2020
Cinema, Movie Reviews Alicia Silverstone, Amy Miller Gross, Charlie Bewley, Jake Hoffman, Mark Blum, Mathilde Ollivier, Sister of the Groom, Tom Everett Scott Leave a comment
Sister of the Groom (CREDIT: Saban Films/YouTube Screenshot)
Starring: Alicia Silverstone, Tom Everett Scott, Jake Hoffman, Mathilde Ollivier, Mark Blum, Charlie Bewley
Director: Amy Miller Gross
Running Time: 92 Minutes
Rating: R for Language, Casual Nudity, and Molly in the Wedding Cake
Release Date: December 18, 2020 (Theaters/Digital/On Demand)
Alicia Silverstone is an immensely charming person, and yet somehow Sister of the Groom has the temerity to ask her to be immensely un-charming. She plays Audrey, the titular sister of the groom, and that’s not an individual who should be commanding attention on the wedding day. But typically a movie’s main character does indeed command the most attention, so we find ourselves at an impasse immediately. That’s not a place I like to find myself with Silverstone, but actors should certainly be allowed to stretch themselves beyond where they’ve been pegged. In this case, that stretch is quite the challenge, and the end result lays bare the difficulty of delivering on it.
Audrey has a lot of stressors in her life, perhaps more than most people do, but she also has a way of behaving, particularly during her brother’s matrimonial weekend, that mainly serves to amplify all that stress. She’s trying to get back into the swing of her architecture career, so she doesn’t appreciate that her bro Liam (Jake Hoffman) has hired her ex-boyfriend for a job she assumed was hers. She also is no big fan of his significantly younger French fiance Clemence (Mathilde Ollivier), but you kind of get the sense that she might not approve of any potential sisters-in-law. On top of all that, she’s viscerally insecure about her pregnancy-altered belly. At least she seems to be affectionate with her husband Ethan (Tom Everett Scott), although it’s not much of a surprise when it becomes clear that there’s actually a lot of strife bubbling barely beneath the surface there.
If you’re a fan of angsty cinematic family gatherings like The Family Stone or Home for the Holidays or (to keep it wedding-themed) Rachel Getting Married, Sister of the Groom might offer something to entertain you. But from my vantage point, it leans too hard into the unpleasantness and struggles to tease out any profundity. I’ve got to at least give Silverstone credit for so thoroughly stripping herself of any emotional vanity. Alas, though, she didn’t convince me that that was a good idea.
Sister of the Groom is Recommended If You Like: Unrelenting angst
Grade: 2 out of 5 Chuppahs
‘Promising Young Woman’ Fulfills Its Promise, and Then Some
December 14, 2020
Cinema, Movie Reviews Adam Brody, Alfred Molina, Alison Brie, Bo Burnham, Carey Mulligan, Chris Lowell, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Clancy Brown, Connie Britton, Emerald Fennell, Jennifer Coolidge, Laverne Cox, Max Greenfield, Molly Shannon, Promising Young Woman, Sam Richardson 4 Comments
Promising Young Woman (CREDIT: Focus Features)
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Laverne Cox, Clancy Brown, Jennifer Coolidge, Alison Brie, Connie Britton, Alfred Molina, Chris Lowell, Max Greenfield, Adam Brody, Sam Richardson, Molly Shannon, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Director: Emerald Fennell
Running Time: 113 Minutes
Rating: R for Twisted Jokes, Drug Spikings, Discussions of Sexual Violence, and Some Up-Close Acute Violence
Release Date: December 25, 2020
Promising Young Woman hooked me immediately with its trailer, seemingly telling me everything I needed to know. When I finally saw the actual movie, it somehow still had plenty of opportunities to surprise me. It fits one of my favorite formulas for all-time great movies: simultaneously exactly what I was hoping for and so different from what I was expecting. Carey Mulligan is a knockout, in every way you can imagine. She plays med school dropout Cassie Thomas, a black widow who lures entitled men into this intoxicating trap she’s cooked up. She pretends to be blackout drunk at bars so that someone will not-so-gallantly bring her home to take advantage of her, at which point she drops the charade and spooks like them like a zombie popping out of the grave. She has her own history with assault, but she’s also an avenging angel taking on the entirety of rape culture.
Jeff’s Wacky SNL Review: Timothée Chalamet/Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
December 13, 2020
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television Bruce Springsteen, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 46, SNL, SNL Season 46, Timothée Chalamet 2 Comments
SNL: Timothée Chalamet, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Cecily Strong (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)
The eighth episode of the 46th season of Saturday Night Live (now concluded [the episode, not the season]) was hosted by Timothée Chalamet, who at 24 years, 11 months, and 15 days is the youngest host of the season thus far. Here’s another Timothée Chalamet factoid: on last week’s Card Sharks, there was a question in which a group of 100 women were asked if they thought “Timothée Chalamet” was an actor or a fancy wine, and more than half said wine!
The musical guest was Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. Everybody loves it when The Boss, Patti, Little Stevie, Max Weinberg, The Professor, and The Big Man’s nephew come to town, don’t they? I sure do!
I had cereal for breakfast while watching, but this time, my Honey Nut Cheerios were Medley Crunch.
The very first sketch headed to the Situation Room (Grade: 2 and a Half Coors Light Cold Activated Cans), as Drs. Fauci and Birx discuss the Covid vaccine rollout. And no, your eyes don’t deceive you, Brad Pitt hasn’t suddenly started looking like Kate McKinnon, but rather Kate is playing Fauci now, instead of Brad when he zoomed in back in the spring.
That’s Auntertainment! Mini-Episode: Aunt Beth Tells Jeff to Listen to ‘The Jethro Tull Christmas Album’
December 13, 2020
Podcasts, That's Auntertainment A Christmas Carol, Christmas, Christmas music, flute, Jethro Tull, Podcasts, That's Auntertainment, The Jethro Tull Christmas Album Leave a comment
Is Ian Anderson’s flute the perfect soundtrack for the holiday season? Let’s find out!
Entertainment To-Do List: Week of 12/11/20
December 11, 2020
Cinema, Entertainment To-Do List, Television A Recipe for Seduction, Colonel Sanders, Mario Lopez, Wild Mountain Thyme Leave a comment
A Recipe for Seduction (CREDIT: Lifetime/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
–Wild Mountain Thyme (Theaters and On Demand) – Overwrought romance in Ireland.
TV
–A Recipe for Seduction (December 13 on Lifetime) – Mario Lopez plays Colonel Sanders on Lifetime.
Watch And/Or Listen to This: Lily & Madeleine’s “Can’t Help The Way I Feel”
December 10, 2020
Music, Music Videos, Watch And/Or Listen to This Can't Help the Way I Feel, Lily & Madeleine Leave a comment
“Can’t Help the Way I Feel” (CREDIT: Lily & Madeleine/YouTube Screenshot)
I heard this on the Promising Young Woman soundtrack. It reminds me of Diana Ross and those dang Supremes.
John Patrick Shanley Turns Back on the Classic Romantic Charm in ‘Wild Mountain Thyme’
December 9, 2020
Cinema, Movie Reviews Christopher Walken, Danielle Ryan, Dearbhla Molloy, Emily Blunt, Ireland, Jamie Dornan, John Patrick Shanley, Jon Hamm, Wild Mountain Thyme 1 Comment
Wild Mountain Thyme (Credit: Kerry Brown/Bleecker Street)
Starring: Emily Blunt, Jamie Dornan, Jon Hamm, Christopher Walken, Dearbhla Molloy, Danielle Ryan
Director: John Patrick Shanley
Running Time: 102 Minutes
Rating: PG-13 for Mild Adult-ness
Release Date: December 11, 2020 (Theaters and On Demand)
Do you despair at the lack of nakedly emotional romantic movies nowadays? Have you spent the past 33 years wondering when the next Moonstruck is going to finally come along? Do you believe it’s time to send Jon Hamm to Ireland? Well has John Patrick Shanley got just what you asked for! The screenwriter behind “Snap out of it!” and “Why do men chase women?” has taken his talents to the Emerald Isle for Wild Mountain Thyme, a windswept tale about two people who sure appear to be very much in love, though it takes them quite a while to fully consummate their passion. As with Moonstruck, the fun is less about wondering whether or not they end up together and more about how emotionally discombobulated they become by resisting where their passions obviously lie.
As the film begins, Christopher Walken intones, “Welcome to Ireland,” and I’m thinking, “I’m pretty sure Mr. More Cowbell is definitely not Irish, but I nevertheless feel as welcome as possible.” Walken plays Tony Reilly, father of Jamie Dornan’s Anthony (the “h” is silent and everyone hits that “t” as hard as they possibly can). The elder Tony is in a financial bind, so he’s set to sell the family farm to his American nephew Adam (Jon Hamm). That puts a damper on Anthony’s seemingly inevitable marriage to Rosemary Muldoon (Emily Blunt), who had envisioned the two of them enjoying wedded bliss in the countryside. Anthony and Rosemary have basically been in love ever since they were kids, and everyone knows this. But for some reason Anthony cannot bring himself to pop the question, and honestly I’m not sure what his problem is. But I suspect that’s kind of the point. The best explanation the movie offers us is that he’s suffering from the vaguely defined familial strain of “Kelly madness” (Kelly being the surname of his grandfather).
Anthony’s dithering is so extreme that anyone watching is liable to wonder why Rosemary doesn’t just move on. And she’s not lacking for options, as there’s a scene that begins with her announcing “Today’s the day,” which leads to her making an impromptu trip to New York City (to the tune of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake score, no less) where she meets up with Adam and develops a quick natural repartee with her beloved’s cousin. And when she returns to Ireland, Anthony even attempts to push her in that direction. But somehow I am ultimately convinced by Shanley’s machinations and Blunt’s sheer force of will that Anthony and Rosemary really are going to make it work somehow. The way he digs in his heels should be disqualifying, but the situation only gets sillier and sillier, and thus more and more charming. Maybe we could all use a little bit of Kelly Madness in our lives.
Wild Mountain Thyme is Recommended If You Like: Moonstruck, Taking a while to snap out of it, Ireland, Jon Hamm-centric subplots
Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Farms
Jeff’s Wacky SNL Review: Jason Bateman/Morgan Wallen
December 6, 2020
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television Jason Bateman, Morgan Wallen, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 46, SNL, SNL Season 46 1 Comment
SNL: Morgan Wallen, Jason Bateman, Heidi Gardner (CREDIT: Saturday Night Live/YouTube Screenshot)
Hello December, Saturday Night Live would like to return to airing new episodes. I imagine that is similar to the conversation that Morgan Wallen had with NBC executives after his initial booking for this season’s second episode was cancelled due to maskless partying. Something along the lines of, “Hello Lorne, I would like to be booked again.” And maybe Jason Bateman also had a conversation like that about hosting. “Hello 2006, I would like to host SNL a second time.” “Hello 2007, I would like to host SNL a second time.” Et cetera. It took a while, but 2020 finally said yes. As for me, I said, “Hello morning of December 6, 2020, it’s time for me to review an episode of SNL once more.” So I sliced up some banana onto my cereal and got to work!
If you were on Twitter a few days ago, you may have noticed that “Cecily Strong” was trending, as voter fraud testimony witness Melissa Carone sounded exactly like the Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation With at a Party. The joke was already there, so did SNL actually need to make it? For an answer, I would note that not every SNL viewer watches the news 24/7 (good for them), so Ms. Carone was new to them when Cecily actually did play her. Thus, the Michigan State Senate Hearing cold open (Grade: 5 “After Davids”) was kind of like the Sarah Palin sketches way back when in which Tina Fey just repeated some of the things that the actual Palin said, and it was pretty much gold. There were other conspiracy purveyors on hand to say some kooky things, but this was the “Witness You Wish You Hadn’t Started Testimony at a Hearing” Show.
