This Is a Movie Review: ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ Keeps It Cool for the Summer

July 6, 2018

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CREDIT: Disney/Marvel Films

This review was originally posted on News Cult in July 2018.

Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michael Peña, Walton Goggins, Abby Ryder Fortson, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, Hannah John-Kamen, Laurence Fishburne, Tip “T.I.” Harris, David Dastmalchian, Michelle Pfeiffer, Randall Park

Director: Peyton Reed

Running Time: 118 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for Large-Scale and Small-Scale Action Movie Destruction

Release Date: July 6, 2018

Ant-Man and the Wasp has left me feeling a lot more peaceful than other recent Marvel movies. I would it put about on the same quality level as Black Panther and Thor: Ragnarok, but those blockbusters left me with nagging bits of emptiness, whereas Paul Rudd and company just give off good vibes. That is partly a function of my own expectations, but it is also a matter of how this franchise and its sub-franchises are promoted. The excursions to Wakanda and the garbage planet promised that they would be unprecedented game-changers. Whether or not they lived up to that hype, it is hard to match the buoyancy of their ad campaigns, and it takes effort for audiences to avoid every commercial. But with the original Ant-Man and now with The Wasp, you can just come in, be chill, and not have to worry about it being the best movie ever.

Director Peyton Reed and his team of five credited screenwriters (including Rudd) maintain those good vibes by allowing for some conflict, but avoiding true evil, and establishing that those who are at odds are ultimately really on the same team as each other. The main story thrust is the recovery of Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) from the “Quantum Realm,” a subatomic space where the normal laws of space and time do not apply. Her husband Hank (Michael Douglas) and daughter Janet, aka the Wasp (Evangeline Lilly), have the science skills to track her down, but they need the help of Ant-Man Scott Lang, as his previous venture into and escape from the Quantum Realm has allowed Janet to establish him as a point of contact. Standing in their way is a black market dealer (Walton Goggins), who sniffs out a big potential profit, but he does not have the killer instinct to tear them down. More serious are those who represent the skeletons in Hank’s closet, but their threat is neutralized by the ultimate realization that they can solve each other’s problems together.

A-M and the W has genuine, successful humor to match its laid-back style. The comedy in Marvel movies often has the cadence of a joke without actually being funny, but here there is a cast that is trained to find the laughter. Rudd obviously has more of a comedy background than any other Marvel headliner. Michael Peña delivers another round of his motor-mouthed, very detail-oriented storytelling. And the most delightful subplot features Fresh Off the Boat‘s Randall Park as a fastidious FBI agent hounding Scott while he remains under house arrest. If their jobs did not require them to be enemies, they would be friends for the ages.

It is certainly odd that Ant-Man and the Wasp arrives in the apocalyptic wake of Infinity War, but die-hard MCU fans will be happy to discover that the connective tissue is clear and satisfying. And those who are tired of every superhero movie being about the end of the world will be happy that that connectivity does not get in the way of everyone just having a good time.

Ant-Man and the Wasp is Recommended If You Like: The Marvel Cinematic Universe but with lower stakes

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Quantum Realms

This Is a Movie Review: The First Purge

July 6, 2018

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CREDIT: Universal Pictures

I give The First Purge 3 out of 5 New Founding Fathers: https://uinterview.com/reviews/movies/the-first-purge-movie-review-themes-have-never-been-clearer-but-storytelling-has-rarely-been-weaker/

This Is a Movie Review: Sorry to Bother You

July 6, 2018

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CREDIT: Annapurna Pictures

I give Sorry to Bother You 5 out of 5 Hybrids: https://uinterview.com/reviews/movies/sorry-to-bother-you-movie-review-boots-rileys-mind-blowingly-original-debut-is-one-of-2018s-best-films/

Billboard Hot Rock Songs – Week of June 30, 2018

July 1, 2018

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Each week, I check out the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart, and then I rearrange the top 25 based on my estimation of their quality. I used to rank all of the top 25, now I just rank the cream of the crop.

Original Version
1. Imagine Dragons – “Whatever It Takes”
2. Imagine Dragons – “Thunder”
3. Imagine Dragons – “Believer”
4. Portugal. The Man – “Feel It Still”
5. Foster the People – “Sit Next to Me”
6. Bad Wolves – “Zombie”
7. Panic! at the Disco – “Say Amen (Saturday Night)”
8. lonelytheband – “Broken”
9. John Mayer – “New Light”
10. Panic! at the Disco – “High Hopes”
11. Weezer – “Africa”
12. Godsmack – “Bulletproof”
13. Two Feet – “I Feel Like I’m Drowning”
14. Gorillaz ft. George Benson – “Humility”
15. Marilyn Manson – “Cry Little Sister”
16. Florence + the Machine – “Hunger”
17. Sir Sly – “&Run”
18. Shinedown – “Devil”
19. Vance Joy – “Saturday Sun”
20. Panic! at the Disco – “King of the Clouds”
21. Bastille – “Quarter Past Midnight”
22. Five Finger Death Punch – “Sham Pain”
23. Death Cab for Cutie – “Gold Rush”
24. Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats – “You Worry Me”
25. Muse – “Thought Contagion”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Feel It Still
2. You Worry Me
3. I Feel Like I’m Drowning
4. &Run
5. New Light
6. Hunger
7. Humility
8. Africa
9. Thought Contagion

Billboard Hot 20 – Week of June 30, 2018

July 1, 2018

jmunney Billboard Charts, Billboard Hot 100, Music , , , Leave a comment

Each week, I check out the Billboard Hot 100, and then I rearrange the top 20 based on my estimation of their quality. I used to rank all 20, now I just rank the cream of the crop.

Original Version
1. XXXTentacion – “Sad!”
2. Cardi B, Bad Bunny, and J Balvin – “I Like It”
3. Drake – “Nice for What”
4. Juice WRLD – “Lucid Dreams”
5. Maroon 5 ft. Cardi B – “Girls Like You”
6. Post Malone ft. Ty Dolla $ign – “Psycho”
7. Ella Mai – “Boo’d Up”
8. Drake – “God’s Plan”
9. Ariana Grande – “No Tears Left to Cry”
10. Zedd, Maren Morris, and Grey – “The Middle”
11. Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line – “Meant to Be”
12. Lil Baby and Drake – “Yes Indeed”
13. The Carters – “Apeshit”
14. Marshmello and Anne-Marie – “Friends”
15. Drake – “I’m Upset”
16. XXXTentacion – “Moonlight”
17. Childish Gambino – “This Is America”
18. XXXTentacion – “Changes”
19. XXXTentacion – “Jocelyn Flores”
20. Bazzi – “Mine”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. No Tears Left to Cry
2. This Is America
3. Boo’d Up
4. Apeshit

This Is a Movie Review: Leave No Trace

June 29, 2018

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , 1 Comment

CREDIT: Bleecker Street

I give Leave No Trace 3.5 out of 5 Trails: https://uinterview.com/reviews/movies/leave-no-trace-movie-review-director-of-winters-bone-returns-with-another-story-of-life-on-the-edge/

This Is a Movie Review: Three Identical Strangers

June 29, 2018

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CREDIT: NEON

I give Three Identical Strangers 4 out of 5 Long-Lost Siblings: https://uinterview.com/reviews/movies/three-identical-strangers-movie-review-stranger-than-fiction-documentary-shows-story-of-lost-siblings-with-dark-truth-lurking/

This Is a Movie Review: ‘Uncle Drew’ Shows the Youngbloods How It’s Done

June 28, 2018

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CREDIT: Quantrell D. Colbert/Lionsgate.

This review was originally posted on News Cult in June 2018.

Starring: Kyrie Irving, Lil Rel Howery, Erica Ash, Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Webber, Reggie Miller, Nate Robinson, Lisa Leslie, Nick Kroll, Tiffany Haddish, JB Smoove, Mike Epps

Director: Charles Stone III

Running Time: 103 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for General Shenanigans and a 7-Foot-Tall Man’s Bare Behind

Release Date: June 29, 2018

One of the joys of growing up in the 1990s was savoring the plethora of sports movies and athletes moonlighting as movie stars. It was something of a golden age, or at least that’s how it appeared to my impressionable mind. There were the minor, but era-defining hits like Rookie of the Year, Shaq was basically allowed to do whatever he wanted, even Dennis Rodman teamed up with Jean-Claude van Damme before he became buddies with Kim Jong Un. And of course there was the landmark success of Space Jam. This is all to say, movies like Uncle Drew, which stars NBA star Kyrie Irving as a character he originated for Pepsi Max, don’t really get made anymore. And while it certainly does not reinvent the sports flick or old-people-drag genres, it is heartening to know that something like this can still exist.

The title character, a Harlem streetball legend spoken about in mythical terms, certainly plays into a desire to return to past glories, as he chastises and schools young ballers on the right way to play the game. He is also prone to decry the “rappity-hippity-hop” music of today’s “youngbloods,” instead preferring to listen to hours-long funk jams on the eight-track player in his vintage van. But the film manages to avoid unhealthy nostalgia, as Drew’s version of the past is too goofy and demented to tempt anyone away from dismissing reality. The humor of this team of old farts, while certainly broadly drawn, is based on actual characterization instead of shallow punch lines. Actual NBA and WNBA stars like Reggie Miller, Nate Robinson, and Lisa Leslie have plenty of natural charisma. And there is just something inherently satisfying about dressing Shaq up like Wolverine’s grandfather and continuing to rib Chris Webber for one of the biggest mental lapses in basketball history.

What will make Uncle Drew a great choice over the coming years to watch for the hundredth time with friends is its fundamental niceness. We come to meet Drew via Dax (Lil Rel Howery), a streetball manager dedicated to the game but who gave up playing it years ago after a mortifying middle school defeat. Recently homeless, he is desperate to win the $100,000 grand prize at a high-profile Harlem tournament, thus why he turns to Drew and his band of old coots despite their clashing personalities and body temperatures. When the team finds out about Dax’s financial troubles, they feel a little betrayed upon discovering his true motivations, but they mostly encourage him to get back in touch with his love of the game. That ethos of bonhomie is matched by Uncle Drew‘s fundamentally welcome silliness and lovingly shot footage of between-the-legs dribbling, lights-out three pointers, and slam dunks.

Uncle Drew is Recommended If You Like: Space Jam, Coming to America, ESPN 30 for 30 documentaries

Grade: 3 out of 5 Boom Boom Rooms

This Is a Movie Review: Sicario: Day of the Soldado

June 28, 2018

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CREDIT: Richard Foreman, Jr./SMPSP

I give Sicario: Day of the Soldado 2.5 out of 5 False Flags: https://uinterview.com/reviews/movies/sicario-day-of-the-soldado-movie-review-cia-vs-drug-cartel-sequel-is-tense-and-well-crafted-but-shallow/

Billboard Hot Rock Songs – Week of June 23, 2018

June 24, 2018

jmunney Billboard Charts, Billboard Hot Rock Songs, Music , , , Leave a comment

Each week, I check out the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart, and then I rearrange the top 25 based on my estimation of their quality. I used to rank all of the top 25, now I just rank the cream of the crop.

Original Version
1. Imagine Dragons – “Whatever It Takes”
2. Imagine Dragons – “Thunder”
3. Imagine Dragons – “Believer”
4. Portugal. The Man – “Feel It Still”
5. Foster the People – “Sit Next to Me”
6. Bad Wolves – “Zombie”
7. Panic! at the Disco – “Say Amen (Saturday Night)”
8. John Mayer – “New Light”
9. lovelytheband – “Broken”
10. Weezer – “Africa”
11. Gorillaz ft. George Benson – “Humility”
12. Godsmack – “Bulletproof”
13. Panic! at the Disco – “High Hopes”
14. Two Feet – “I Feel Like I’m Drowning”
15. As I Lay Dying – “My Own Grave”
16. Vance Joy – “Saturday Sun”
17. Sir Sly – “&Run”
18. Dave Matthews Band – “Samurai Cop (Oh Joy Begin)”
19. Florence + the Machine – “Hunger”
20. Shinedown – “Devil”
21. Muse – “Thought Contagion”
22. The 1975 – “Give Yourself a Try”
23. 30 Seconds to Mars – “Dangerous Night”
24. Five Finger Death Punch – “Sham Pain”
25. Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats – “You Worry Me”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Feel It Still
2. You Worry Me
3. I Feel Like I’m Drowning
4. &Run
5. New Light
6. Hunger
7. Humility
8. Africa
9. Thought Contagion

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