This Is a Movie Review: ‘The Final Year’ Looks Back at the Now-Under Threat Dignity and Idealism of the Obama Administration

January 17, 2018

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , Leave a comment

CREDIT: Magnolia Pictures

This post was originally published on News Cult in January 2018.

Starring: John Kerry, Ben Rhodes, Samantha Power, Barack Obama

Director: Greg Barker

Running Time: 89 Minutes

Rating: Unrated – Any Objectionable Material is Typical (Pre-2017) Politics

Release Date: January 19, 2017 (Limited)

It is difficult for documentaries about recent political history to make a truly salient argument about what is going on in society, as that requires the wisdom of hindsight. So traditionally the best they can offer is a more intimate look at the inner machinations of government, or peeks into the stories that do not get much traction in the daily news cycle. Greg Barker’s The Final Year successfully meets those criteria. The title refers to the last 12 months of the Barack Obama administration, with a particular focus on the foreign policy team. The main figures are Secretary of State John Kerry, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes, and Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power. Obama is a supporting player in this presentation, but he is also the center of orbit. Barker’s approach pulls you into this group’s engagement with the rest of the globe, briskly carrying us along as they strive to make the world a genuinely better place.

Any good character-based film, whether fictional or nonfictional, no matter what its thesis, simply must do an adequate job at explicating its characters, and Barker pulls off this task with quiet aplomb. For Kerry, so much of his decades-long political career has been driven by the fight to set the national foreign policy aright following the lies that he and his fellow Vietnam veterans were sold. Though his outer disposition may appear stolid, his inner fire clearly burns within. Rhodes, the youngest of the group, naturally fills the slot of the one who eagerly jumped in when he sensed that a new politics was finally happening. He is the most prone to gaffes, but he still holds onto his idealism. Power, who emigrated from Ireland at the age of 8, is the strongest listener, naturally drawing in every perspective in the room. With a truly worldly brain, she is a natural ambassador. Like many others, they were eager to work for Obama because of his magnetic personality and hopeful rhetoric. He remains an eternally compelling figure on camera. The film avoids hagiography, but it is clear what side it’s on.

As conflicts around the world – Korea, Iran, Syria, etc. – continue to rise to a boil in 2016, this team grapples with the right way to approach each problem. There are differing levels of tendencies towards pacifism or willingness to use force, but a constant theme is an unerring emphasis on diplomatic engagement. If anything, The Final Year glorifies that ideal much more than it celebrates any one individual. As the final act comes to where the political tide is turning, it necessarily becomes a memorial on what is (at least for now) the old way of doing things. I like to hope the American Democrat/Republican divide is not simply one of harmony versus division. I think there are conservatives out there who value getting along with their countrymen and fellow world citizens, and I hope that they and everyone else can find sentiments worth appreciating in The Final Year.

The Final Year is Recommended If You Like: The War Room, Idealism, A Dignified Politics

Grade: 3.75 out of 5 Inspirational Speeches

 

SNL Review January 13, 2018: Sam Rockwell/Halsey

January 15, 2018

jmunney Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television , , , , , Leave a comment

CREDIT: Saturday Night Live via YouTube

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

NewsCult Entertainment Editor Jeffrey Malone watches every new episode of Saturday Night Live and then organizes the sketches into the following categories: “Love It” (potentially Best of the Season-worthy), “Keep It” (perfectly adequate), or “Leave It” (in need of a rewrite, to say the least). Then he concludes with assessments of the host and musical guest.

Love It

The Science Room – The theme of reckoning with inappropriateness is heavy throughout this episode, even in this seemingly innocuous educational show. But mostly “The Science Room” is about the intellectual lapses borne out by nervousness and the frustration they cause. This is no mold-breaker, but it is so well-timed and the details are bizarrely unique (“The oil is…” “False?”). Also, Sam Rockwell drops an F-bomb … whoops!

The Look represents sensitivity run amok, but in a charmingly confused fashion instead of worrisome backlash…Michael and Colin are at the top of their games, with the hottest of their burning asides and the swerving of expected topics into unexpected directions…Okay, so the “dog person” concept at the Next Gene Labs is obviously very silly, but the commitment is just so delightful. Somehow hearing that this good boy is ready to start wearing shoes is the greatest news ever.

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This Is a Movie Review: The Fundamentally Implausible ‘The Commuter’ Speeds Towards the Upper Tier of Entertainingly Ridiculous Action Thrillers

January 11, 2018

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CREDIT: Jay Maidment/Lionsgate

This post was originally published on News Cult in January 2018.

Starring: Liam Neeson, Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Jonathan Banks, Elizabeth McGovern, Sam Neill, Florence Pugh, Clara Lago, Ella-Rae Smith, Andy Nyman, Rolland Møller, Colin McFarlane, Adam Nagaitis

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra

Running Time: 105 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for All the Ways That Liam Neeson Can Improvise on a Train to Dispatch His Opponents

Release Date: January 12, 2018

Much of Liam Neeson’s post-Taken filmography has been readily reduced to “Taken on a [blank]” or “Taken, but this time they steal his [blank].” This is especially true in his collaborations with director Jaume Collet-Serra. 2011’s Unknown checked in as “Taken, but this time they steal his identity,” while 2014’s Non-Stop was essentially “Taken on a plane.” Their latest teamup, The Commuter, may at first glance be their “Taken on a train,” but a more accurate pitch would be: “take the government and law enforcement corruption elements of something like Chinatown, compress them into the hijacked train scene of The French Connection, and stretch out to feature length.”

Insurance salesman and former cop Michael McCauley (Neeson) has just been laid off, only a few years before retirement, when a mysterious woman (Vera Farmiga) offers him a proposition during his ride home along the Hudson on the Metro-North train: would he be willing to do one little thing that would affect someone he doesn’t know and receive a significant reward in return? This is presented as a hypothetical, but it soon becomes very real when he discovers a hidden bag filled with tens of thousands of dollars in cash. This is an effectively simple premise insofar as it immediately kicks the narrative into high gear, but it is simultaneously confounding with how many details it leaves under wraps.

Ultimately, that is to the audience’s benefit, as we are strung along with just enough info to want to sniff out what is going on. All Michael has to go on is the stop that this person is getting off and the fact that he or she does not normally ride this train. Collet-Serra specializes in populating his cast with a full crew of conceivably suspicious characters. Could it be that this mystery person is the tattooed girl with a bag full of fake IDs? That certainly raises alarms. But for all we and Michael know, the nurse stuck in an emotional texting session is just as much of a suspect.

The Commuter sort of fits in the vein of the “decent man fights back against a rigged system” genre, but really, that is only the narrative that has been forced upon Michael. Yes, he has been unfairly fired. True, he did lose all his savings thanks to the recent market crash (and he makes sure to flip off the vain Goldman Sachs broker on the train). But the reward dangled in front of him appeals to his selfish motives and does not actually give him an opportunity to stick up for the little guy. Besides, he is driven more by the threats against his wife and son and his own law enforcement instincts for uncovering the truth. It is implied that this criminal enterprise is so insidious and far-reaching that they could set up any patsies they want and frame them for any motivation

As the vast conspiracy begins to be revealed, we are left to confront the question of plausibility. But in a thriller like this, verisimilitude matters less than following the own theoretical rules of this extreme situation. That is to say, The Commuter needs to be at least as relentlessly entertaining as it is ridiculous. And on that score, given the director, star, and location, it is unsurprisingly adroit. The film’s logical internal consistency, though, may be worth investigating a little more deeply, as the passengers at the mercy of Michael’s mission may come to trust him –  a man who has been getting into fights and throwing people out windows – more quickly than is conceivable. A late-stage Spartacus homage is quite amusing, though indicative of that questionable trust. But in a profoundly puzzling situation with life-or-death stakes like this one, it only makes sense to go along for the ride.

The Commuter is Recommended If You Like: Non-Stop, Face/Off, The French Connection

Grade: 4 out of 5 Train Defenestrations

 

This Is a Movie Review: ‘Paddington 2’ Sends Our Very Special Bear to Prison, But Truth, Common Decency, and Marmalade Prevail

January 10, 2018

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

CREDIT: Warner Bros.

This review was originally published on News Cult in January 2018.

Starring: Ben Whishaw, Sally Hawkins, Hugh Bonneville, Hugh Grant, Brendan Gleeson, Jim Broadbent, Julie Walters, Peter Capaldi

Director: Paul King

Running Time: 103 Minutes

Rating: PG for Cheeky Humor and Threats of Violence Appeased by Marmalade

Release Date: January 12, 2018

The first Paddington film was a clear refugee allegory, with the titular “very special bear” (voiced then and now by Ben Whishaw) looking for a new home in England after his home in Peru is destroyed. The coded language about what happens to neighborhoods when bears move in was an obvious stand-in for how some actual Londoners (and other native residents around the globe) feel about the arrival of immigrants. Paddington 2 – in which the raincoat-sporting, marmalade-loving bear is imprisoned for grand theft despite his innocence – is not quite so stark in its messaging. It may have something to say about profiling, though Paddington’s wrongful arrest has more to do with misleading circumstantial evidence moreso than ungenerous assumptions about bearfolk. Still, for a family-friendly flick that distinguishes itself with a gentle touch, it is notable how much it does not hold back from some genuinely unsettling moments.

It all starts out pleasantly enough. Paddington, now living with the Brown family in London, wants to get his Aunt Lucy, the bear who raised him, a truly special present for her 100th birthday. He comes across a rare pop-up book in an antique shop, but it is a bit out of his price range, which is to say, he has no money (unless the Browns have been giving him an allowance). So he sets out to join the workforce, which begins with an abortive stint as a barbershop assistant (make sure to keep what appear to be narrative detours in mind, as these adventures are all intricately and carefully plotted) but then ultimately leads to an entrepreneurial effort as a window-washer. This segment is most memorable for Paddington’s improvising by rubbing the soap against the glass with his bum, which explains why this is rated PG and not G.

It gets a little scary from here on out, though. Considering the genre, there’s no need to worry that it will all descend into a bloodbath, but in the course of the narrative playing out, the danger does feel real, and fitfully intense. The main baddie is Phoenix Buchanan (Hugh Grant), a washed-up actor who is now best known for appearing in hacky dog food commercials. He’s the real thief behind the crime Paddington has been charged with, a villain in the Scooby-Doo mold, though a tad more competent: awfully silly but a master of disguise and escape. Grant has a blast with all the dress-up and smoke-and-mirrors.

But the most worrisome threats come during Paddington’s prison stint. He runs afoul of Nuckles (Brendan Gleeson), the inmate assigned to cooking duties, who is legendary for dispensing with those who question his culinary decisions. It really does feel like Paddington is just one false move away from Nuckles beating him to a pulp. This is the neat trick that P2 pulls off. We really do believe that Paddington’s fellow inmates are capable of the crimes they are guilty of (though we would surely never see them happen in a film this), while simultaneously we believe that they would indeed befriend a fundamentally decent, very special bear.

Aesthetically, attention must also be paid to Paddington 2’s artful compositions. Director Paul King was no slouch in the first Paddington, with a whimsical architectural style indebted to Wes Anderson. This time around, he grows even more confident, assembling artfully arranged close-ups: single characters take up the ideal frame space and there is still an impressive amount of background information. London can be harsh, but the care apparent in Paddington 2 makes it much easier to bear.

Paddington 2 is Recommended If You Like: The first Paddington, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Family films that don’t hold back

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Marmalade Sandwiches

 

Billboard Hot Rock Songs – Week of January 13, 2018

January 9, 2018

jmunney Billboard Charts, Billboard Hot Rock Songs, Music , , , 1 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 25, now I just rank the cream of the crop.

Original Version
1. Imagine Dragons – “Thunder”
2. Portugal. The Man – “Feel It Still”
3. Imagine Dragons – “Believer”
4. Walk the Moon – “One Foot”
5. Imagine Dragons – “Whatever It Takes”
6. 30 Seconds to Mars – “Walk on Water”
7. Alice Merton – “No Roots”
8. Theory of a Deadman – “(Rx) Medicate”
9. Imagine Dragons & Khalid – “Thunder”/”Young Drumb & Broke” (Medley)
10. Beck – “Up All Night”
11. Bastille – “World Gone Mad”
12. Portugal. The Man – “Live in the Moment”
13. Foster the People – “Sit Next to Me”
14. Five Finger Death Punch – “Gone Away”
15. Foo Fighters – “The Sky is a Neighborhood”
16. Vance Joy – “Lay It on Me”
17. U2 – “You’re the Best Thing About Me”
18. Linkin Park – “One More Light”
19. Royal Blood – “I Only Lie When I Love You”
20. Weezer – “Happy Hour”
21. Greta van Fleet – “Highway Tune”
22. Skillet – “The Resistance”
23. Fall Out Boy – “Hold Me Tight or Don’t”
24. Gary Clark Jr. – “Come Together”
25. Nothing More – “Go to War”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. No Roots
2. Up All Night
3. Feel It Still
4. Highway Tune
5. The Sky is a Neighborhood
6. Live in the Moment
7. I Only Lie When I Love You
8. World Gone Mad
9. You’re the Best Thing About Me
10. Come Together
11. Happy Hour
12. Lay It on Me

Billboard Hot 20 – Week of January 13, 2018

January 9, 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. Ed Sheeran and Beyoncé – “Perfect”
2. Camila Cabello ft. Young Thug – “Havana”
3. Post Malone ft. 21 Savage – “Rockstar”
4. Imagine Dragons – “Thunder”
5. G-Eazy ft. A$AP Rocky and Cardi B – “No Limit”
6. Halsey – “Bad at Love”
7. Sam Smith – “Too Good at Goodbyes”
8. Migos, Nicki Minaj, and Cardi B – “MotorSport”
9. Lil Pump – “Gucci Gang”
10. Cardi B – “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)”
11. Dua Lipa – “New Rules”
12. Portugal. The Man – “Feel It Still”
13. Ed Sheeran – “Shape of You”
14. Kendrick Lamar ft. Zacari – “Love.”
15. Demi Lovato – “Sorry Not Sorry”
16. Imagine Dragons – “Believer”
17. G-Eazy and Halsey – “Him & I”
18. NF – “Let You Down”
19. Cardi B ft. 21 Savage – “Bartier Cardi”
20. 6ix9ine – “Gummo”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. New Rules
2. Feel It Still
3. Havana
4. Love.

This Is a Movie Review: Insidious: The Last Key

January 4, 2018

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

CREDIT: Justin Lubin/Universal Pictures

This post was originally published on News Cult in January 2018.

Starring: Lin Shaye, Leigh Whannell, Angus Sampson, Josh Stewart, Caitlin Gerard, Spencer Locke, Kirk Acevedo, Bruce Davison, Javier Botet

Director: Adam Robitel

Running Time: 103 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for Physical and Supernatural Abuse

Release Date: January 5, 2018

It’s taken four tries, but the Insidious franchise has finally figured out to focus an entire film on its best character. Before 2011, Lin Shaye was perhaps best known for her appearances in Farrelly brothers comedies (especially There’s Something About Mary), though she did have significant horror experience, with small but memorable roles in the likes of A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven’s New Nightmare. But then at the age of 67, she sauntered in as demonologist Elise Rainier, so sweet and loving but also so tapped into the darkness of the world – simply put, the role of a lifetime.

Alas, the first Insidious film ends with Elise’s death. Thankfully, however, this is the rare horror franchise resurrects its hero instead of its villain for the sequels. The series’ supernatural time-bending elements allowed her for her appearance in part 2, while the third and fourth entries have gone the prequel route. Chapter 3 introduced a new family into the series and allowed Shaye to take over as the lead about halfway through, while The Last Key wisely opts to put her front and center right from the start. I went into this film expecting to once again be in awe of Shaye, and that is exactly what happened.

The Last Key does in fact once again introduce a new family, but this time it is Elise’s own. She is called to investigate disturbances occurring in the house she grew up in Five Keys, New Mexico. The town name matches up with the m.o. of the film’s main demon in a manner that is a bit on-the-nose, but weird enough to be forgivable. Elise has been trying to forget this place ever since the horrible abuse her father laid upon her for violently disapproving of her supernatural skill set. It turns out that this house has been the locus of a cycle of abuse at the nexus of evil spirits and evil men. Could it be that the worst of humanity are just minions of the most insidious demons? Or is that already terrible people are the most susceptible to devilish manipulation? Or somewhere in between?

The Last Key employs several clever feints about what is ghostly and what is corporeal, playing around with our perceptions and those of Elise. At one point, our favorite demonologist explicitly states, “There are plenty of demons in this world who are very much alive.” Elise in many ways is psychologically equipped to deal with the most banal as well as the most fantastical forms of evil. I imagine there is a theoretical version of an Insidious film devoid of any ghosts or demons. It is perfectly fine that The Last Key is not that, but it is disappointing that it is ultimately about a rescue mission in The Further (the series’ supernatural realm), just like any other Insidious film.

The Last Key does not come anywhere close to establishing a new horror paradigm the way the first one did, but there are several small pleasures spread throughout in addition to Shaye’s expected excellence. The character design continues to be strikingly unique, with the main baddie having keys for fingers that he uses to bodily penetrate his human marks. He is played by Javier Botet, who has Marfan syndrome, giving him long and fine fingers that he has utilized for a fruitful career as supernatural creatures. The audio mix is just as memorable, though more discomforting. A whistle is frequently employed to indicate impending doom, which is a fun trick, but it is frequently so high-pitched that those with sensitive ears would be wise to wear muffs.

And of course I cannot conclude without mentioning Elise’s wacky assistants, who also get their most screen time yet in the series and successfully avoid being too much of a good thing: the nerdy, adorably awkward Specs (Leigh Whannell, who has written all four films and directed the third) and the deep-voiced, intense but harmless tinkerer Tucker (Angus Sampson). Ultimately, each Insidious film is about the power of family, and sometimes that family takes the form of the business partnership/close friendship between a seventysomething psychic and her two young male associates.

Insidious: The Last Key is Recommended If You Like: Septuagenarian Scream Queens, Horror Movies That Are More Heartwarming Than Scary

Grade: 2.75 out of 5 Psychics and Sidekicks

 

Billboard Hot Rock Songs – Week of January 6, 2018

January 3, 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 25, now I just rank the cream of the crop.

Original Version
1. Imagine Dragons – “Thunder”
2. Portugal. The Man – “Feel It Still”
3. Imagine Dragons – “Believer”
4. Imagine Dragons & Khalid – “Thunder”/”Young Drumb & Broke” (Medley)
5. Walk the Moon – “One Foot”
6. 30 Seconds to Mars – “Walk on Water”
7. Imagine Dragons – “Whatever It Takes”
8. Theory of a Deadman – “(Rx) Medicate”
9. Alice Merton – “No Roots”
10. Five Finger Death Punch – “Gone Away”
11. Bastille – “World Gone Mad”
12. Beck – “Up All Night”
13. Foo Fighters – “The Sky is a Neighborhood”
14. Foster the People – “Sit Next to Me”
15. Portugal. The Man – “Live in the Moment”
16. Vance Joy – “Lay It on Me”
17. Linkin Park – “One More Light”
18. U2 – “You’re the Best Thing About Me”
19. Skillet – “The Resistance”
20. Fall Out Boy – “Hold Me Tight or Don’t”
21. Asking Alexandria – “Into the Fire”
22. Gary Clark Jr. – “Come Together”
23. Royal Blood – “I Only Lie When I Love You”
24. Greta van Fleet – “Highway Tune”
25. Weezer – “Happy Hour”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. No Roots
2. Up All Night
3. Feel It Still
4. Highway Tune
5. The Sky is a Neighborhood
6. Live in the Moment
7. I Only Lie When I Love You
8. World Gone Mad
9. You’re the Best Thing About Me
10. Come Together
11. Happy Hour
12. Lay It on Me

Billboard Hot 20 – Week of January 6, 2018

January 3, 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. Ed Sheeran and Beyoncé – “Perfect”
2. Post Malone ft. 21 Savage – “Rockstar”
3. Camila Cabello ft. Young Thug – “Havana”
4. G-Eazy ft. A$AP Rocky and Cardi B – “No Limit”
5. Imagine Dragons – “Thunder”
6. Lil Pump – “Gucci Gang”
7. Migos, Nicki Minaj, and Cardi B – “MotorSport”
8. Sam Smith – “Too Good at Goodbyes”
9. Halsey – “Bad at Love”
10. Cardi B – “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)”
11. Kendrick Lamar ft. Zacari – “Love.”
12. Dua Lipa – “New Rules”
13. Mariah Carey – “All I Want for Christmas is You”
14. Cardi B ft. 21 Savage – “Cartier Bardi”
15. 6ix9ine – “Gummo”
16. Post Malone – “I Fall Apart”
17. NF – “Let You Down”
18. Khalid – “Young Dumb & Broke”
19. Ed Sheeran – “Shape of You”
20. Demi Lovato – “Sorry Not Sorry”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. New Rules
2. Havana
3. Young Dumb & Broke
4. Love.

2017: A Year at the Movies

January 1, 2018

jmunney A Year at the Movies, Cinema , , Leave a comment

2017 movies had me like… (Photo Credit: Kaity Malone)

(Included with the list of titles are grades, dates, showtimes, theatre locations, and folks I saw the movies with.)

Now that I see movies as part of my job, I was easily able to break my yearly moviegoing record by September. I hope to break it again in 2018, as I hope to go more often when it is not work-related.

1. Tower – B+ (1/4, 7:00 PM, Greenwich Lane Screening Room, New York, NY; myself)
2. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – B (1/5, 6:45 PM, Regal E-Walk, New York, NY; myself)
3. Monster Trucks – C+ (1/7, 10:00 AM, E-Walk, New York, NY; Kaity Malone)
4. Bitter Harvest – C- (1/11, 4:00 PM, Park Avenue Screening Room, New York, NY; myself)
5. The Bye Bye Man – B- (1/11, 7:30 PM, AMC Empire, New York, NY; myself)
6. I Am Not Your Negro – B (1/12, 6:00 PM, Magno Screening Room, New York, NY; myself)
7. Silence – B+ (1/13, 6:50 PM, Regal Union Square, New York, NY; myself)
8. The Salesman – B (1/17, 3:00 PM, Cohen Media Group Screening Room, New York, NY; myself)
9. Split – B+ (1/20, 7:55 PM, Regal Oxford Valley, Langhorne, PA; myself)
10. A Dog’s Purpose – C (1/23, 6:30 PM, E-Walk; myself)
11. The Space Between Us – C (1/25, 6:00 PM, Magno Screening Room; myself)
12. Resident Evil: The Final Chapter in RPX 3D – C (1/26, 7:00 PM, Regal United Artists Court Street, Brooklyn, NY; myself)
13. Fences – B+ (1/27, 9:15 PM, Court Street; myself)
14. Lion – B+ (1/28, 8:15 PM, Angelika Film Center, New York, NY; Kaity Malone)
15. John Wick: Chapter 2 – B (2/6, 6:00 PM, Magno Screening Room; myself)
16. A Cure for Wellness – B- (2/8, 2:00 PM, Dolby 88 Screening Room, New York, NY; myself)
17. The Great Wall – C+ (2/15, 6:30 PM, E-Walk; myself)
18. Logan – B+ (2/16, 5:00 PM, E-Walk; Rob Malone)
19. Get Out – B+ (2/24, 7:45 PM, Regal Battery Park, New York, NY; myself)
20. Before I Fall – B- (2/27, 6:00 PM, Magno Screening Room; myself)
21. The Sense of an Ending – C- (3/1, 7:00 PM, AMC Lincoln Square, New York, NY; myself)
22. Wilson – B (3/2, 6:00 PM, Fox Screening Room, New York, NY; myself)
23. Cézanne et Moi – C (3/6, 6:00 PM, Dolby 24 Screening Room, New York, NY; myself)
24. Dean – B (3/9, 10:00 AM, Dolby 88 Screening Room; myself)
25. T2 Trainspotting – B (3/13, 7:00 PM, AMC Lincoln Square; myself)
26. Their Finest – B (3/15, 6:00 PM, Magno Screening Room; myself)
27. 3 Generations – C (3/16, 4:00 PM, Magno Screening; myself)
28. Life (2017) – C+ (3/22, 7:00 PM, AMC Empire; myself)
29. Free Fire – C+ (3/27, 6:00 PM, Park Avenue Screening Room; myself)
30. Raw – B (3/30, 8:45 PM, Alamo Drafthouse, Brooklyn, NY; myself)
31. Born in China – C- (4/5, 4:00 PM, AMC Empire; myself)
32. Going in Style – C (4/5, 7:00 PM, AMC Lincoln Square; myself)
33. The Lost City of Z – B (4/6, 10:00 AM, Magno Screening Room; myself)
34. The Dinner – C (4/6, 6:00 PM, Magno Screening Room; myself)
35. Rifftrax Live: Samurai Cop (4/13, 8:00 PM, Union Square; myself)
36. Beauty and the Beast (2017) – B- (4/14, 7:45 PM, AMC Neshaminy, Bensalem, PA; Bob and Sue Malone)
37. The Fate of the Furious – B- (4/15, 7:45 PM, Oxford Valley; myself)
38. The Promise – B- (4/17, 3:00 PM, Magno Screening Room; myself)
39. The Little Hours – B (4/19, 10:00 AM, Magno Screening Room; myself)
40. Unforgettable – B- (4/19, 7:00 PM, AMC Lincoln Square; myself)
41. 2017 Tribeca Film Festival: Psychopaths – B- (4/21, 1:15 PM, Cinépolis Chelsea, New York, NY; myself)
42. 2017 Tribeca Film Festival: “Last Exit” Shorts (4/23, 1:45 PM, Cinépolis Chelsea; myself)
42a. Oh Damn – B
42b. Don’t Mess with Julie Whitfield – B-
42c. Cul-De-Sac – B-
42d. Retouch – B
42e. Buckets – B
42f. Baraka – B
43. Sleight – B- (4/24, 7:00 PM, Dolby 88 Screening Room; myself)
44. 2017 Tribeca Film Festival: The Clapper – C+ (4/26, 3:00 PM, Cinépolis Chelsea; Marissa Sblendorio)
45. Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 – B (4/26, 6:00 PM, AMC Empire; myself)
46. 2017 Tribeca Film Festival: The Circle – B- (4/27, 10:00 AM, Cinépolis Chelsea; Marissa Sblendorio)
47. 2017 Tribeca Film Festival: Take Me – B+ (4/28, 12:15 PM, Cinépolis Chelsea; myself)
48. 2017 Tribeca Film Festival: Copwatch – B- (4/29, 1:15 PM, Cinépolis Chelsea; myself)
49. The Hero – B (5/3, 6:00 PM, Dolby 24 Screening Room; myself)
50. Lowriders – C+ (5/3, 8:00 PM, Magno Screening Room; myself)
51. The Wall (2017) – B- (5/4, 10:00 AM, Park Avenue Screening Room; myself)
52. Alien: Covenant – B+ (5/5, 5:30 PM, AMC Lincoln Square; myself)
53. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword – C+ (5/8, 11:00 AM, WB Screening Room, New York, NY; myself)
54. Snatched – C (5/8, 7:00 PM, AMC Lincoln Square; Marissa Sblendorio)
55. Everything, Everything – C+ (5/17, 7:00 PM, AMC Empire; myself)
56. Baywatch – C- (5/22, 6:00 PM, AMC Lincoln Square; myself)
57. Beatriz at Dinner – B (5/24, 10:00 AM, Park Avenue Screening Room; myself)
58. It Comes at Night – B+ (5/31, 10:00 AM, Park Avenue Screening Room; myself)
59. 3 Idiotas – B (5/31, 7:30 PM, AMC Loews 34th Street, New York, NY; myself)
60. Megan Leavey – B- (6/5, 6:00 PM, Magno Screening Room; myself)
61. The Mummy (2017)- C- (6/6, 6:00 PM, Regal E-Walk; myself)
62. The Bad Batch – B+ (6/7, 6:00 PM, Magno Screening Room; myself)
63. The Big Sick – A (6/12, 7:00 PM, Union Square; myself)
64. Lady Macbeth – A- (6/14, 4:00 PM, Magno Screening Room; myself)
65. 47 Meters Down – B- (6/14, 6:00 PM, E-Walk; Kaity Malone)
66. Brigsby Bear – B+ (6/14, 5:00 PM, Sony Screening Room, New York, NY; myself)
67. Rifftrax Live: Summer Shorts Beach Party (6/15, 8:00 PM, Union Square; myself)
68. Okja – B+ (6/19, 6:00 PM, Park Avenue Screening Room; myself)
69. The Beguiled (2017) – B+ (6/20, 10:00 AM, Bryant Park Screening Room, New York, NY; myself)
70. War for the Planet of the Apes – B+ (6/21, 6:30 PM, AMC Lincoln Square; Rob Malone)
71. Baby Driver – B+ (6/22, 7:00 PM, AMC Empire; myself)
72. Despicable Me 3 – B- (6/26, 6:30 PM, E-Walk; myself)
73. A Ghost Story – C+ (6/28, 10:00 AM; Dolby 88 Screening Room; myself)
74. Spider-Man: Homecoming – B (6/28, 6:00 PM, AMC Kips Bay, New York, NY; Kaity Malone and Marissa Sblendorio)
75. The Book of Henry – C (6/29, 7:10 PM, Landmark Sunshine, New York, NY; myself)
76. Wonder Woman – A- (7/7, 7:00 PM, Union Square; myself)
77. Wish Upon – C (7/10, 7:00 PM, AMC Empire; myself)
78. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets – B+ (7/11, 10:00 AM, AMC Empire; myself)
79. Detroit – B+ (7/19, 4:00 PM, Light Iron, New York, NY; myself)
80. Dunkirk in IMAX 70MM – B+ (7/19, 7:00 PM, AMC Lincoln Square; myself)
81. Whose Streets? – B (7/20, 6:00 PM, Magno Screening Room; myself)
82. Atomic Blonde – B (7/24, 6:30 PM, AMC Empire; Rob Malone)
83. Wind River – B (7/25, 10:00 AM, Dolby 24 Screening Room; myself)
84. An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power – B- (7/25, 4:00 PM, Paramount Screening Room, New York, NY; myself)
85. Ingrid Goes West – B (7/26, 6:00 PM, AMC Lincoln Square; myself)
86. Good Time – B (7/31, 4:00 PM, Digital Arts, New York, NY; myself)
87. The Dark Tower – D+ (8/2, 7:00 PM, AMC Lincoln Square; myself)
88. Patti Cake$ – B- (8/3, 10:00 AM, Fox Screening Room; myself)
89. Birth of the Dragon – C- (8/3, 6:00 PM, Magno Screening Room; myself)
90. Annabelle: Creation – B- (8/12, 8:15 PM, Oxford Valley; Walt Wojcik)
91. Logan Lucky – B+ (8/14, 6:00 PM, Park Avenue Screening Room; myself)
92. Leap! – C (8/15, 10:00 AM, Magno Screening Room; myself)
93. The Tiger Hunter – C- (8/16, 6:00 PM, Magno Screening Room; myself)
94. Rifftrax Live: Doctor Who – The Five Doctors (8/17, 8:00 PM, AMC Empire; myself)
95. Close Encounters of the Third Kind – B+/A- (9/2, 9:40 PM, Oxford Valley; Walt Wojcik and Karl
96. Stronger – B (9/7, 10:00 AM, Dolby 88 Screening Room; myself)
97. Winning (2017) – C (9/7, 5:00 PM, Cinépolis Chelsea; myself)
98. Tulip Fever – C (9/8, 7:40 PM, Angelika Film Center; myself)
99. Brad’s Status – B (9/10, 10:00 AM, Magno Screening Room; myself)
100. Woodshock – D+ (9/12, 10:00 AM, Park Avenue Screening Room; myself)
101. Battle of the Sexes – B (9/13, 10:00 AM, Magno Screening Room; myself)
102. Victoria & Abdul – A- (9/13, 6:00 PM, Bryant Park Screening Room; myself)
103. Kingsman: The Golden Circle – B- (9/14, 6:30 PM, AMC Empire; Marissa Sblendorio)
104. mother! – A- (9/16, 8:00 PM, Cinépolis Chelsea; Kaity Malone)
105. Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House – C- (9/18, 6:00 PM, Magno Screening Room; myself)
106. The LEGO Ninjago Movie – B (9/19, 4:00 PM, WB Screening Room; myself)
107. Friend Request – C- (9/20, 7:00 PM, AMC Empire; myself)
108. Human Flow – B- (9/21, 6:00 PM, Magno Screening Room; myself)
109. Zardoz – ??? (9/24, 9:30 PM, Alamo Drafthouse Brooklyn; Rob Malone and Chadd Harbold; myself)
110. American Made – B+ (9/25, 6:30 PM, AMC Empire; myself)
111. Professor Marston and the Wonder Women – B+ (9/28, 10:00 AM, Dolby 24 Screening Room; myself)
112. Wonderstruck – B+ (9/28, 6:00 PM, Magno Screening Room; myself)
113. My Little Pony: The Movie – C+ (10/1, 11:00 AM, AMC Empire; myself)
114. The Florida Project – B+ (10/2, 2:00 PM, Dolby 88 Screening Room; myself)
115. Marshall – B (10/4, 6:00 PM, Magno Screening Room; myself)
116. The Killing of a Sacred Deer – B- (10/5, 7:00 PM, Soho House, New York, NY; myself)
117. Blade Runner 2049 – B+ (10/8, 1:30 PM, BAM Rose Cinemas, Brooklyn, NY; Rob Malone)
118. Breathe – C (10/9, 10:00 AM, Park Avenue Screening Room; myself)
119. The Foreigner – B- (10/9, 6:00 PM, Park Avenue Screening Room; myself)
120. The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) – B+ (10/10, 10:00 AM, Park Avenue Screening Room; myself)
121. Happy Death Day – B+ (10/10, 6:30 PM, AMC Empire; myself)
122. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – A- (10/11, 4:00 PM, Magno Screening Room; myself)
123. Only the Brave – C+ (10/16, 7:30 PM, AMC Empire; myself)
124. Novitiate – B+ (10/17, 6:00 PM, Sony Screening Room; myself)
125. All I See is You – C+ (10/18, 10:00 AM, Park Avenue Screening Room; myself)
126. The Snowman – D+ (10/18, 6:30 PM, AMC Loews 19th Street East, New York, NY; myself)
127. The Square – B (10/19, 6:00 PM, Magno Screening Room; myself)
128. Thank You for Your Service – B- (10/23, 6:30 PM, AMC Lincoln Square; myself)
129. Suburbicon – C (10/24, 6:30 PM, Paramount Screening Room; myself)
130. Thelma – B+ (10/25, 10:00 AM, Soho House; myself)
131. Last Flag Flying – B (10/25, 6:00 PM, Digital Arts; myself)
132. Thor: Ragnarok – B (10/26, 6:00 PM, AMC Loews 34th Street; myself)
133. Blade of the Immortal – B (10/31, 10:00 AM, Magno Screening Room; myself)
134. Lady Bird – A- (11/1, 10:00 AM, Park Avenue Screening Room; myself)
135. The Man Who Invented Christmas – C+ (11/2, 6:00 PM, Dolby 24 Screening Room; myself)
136. I Love You, Daddy (11/6, 3:00 PM, Dolby 88 Screening Room; myself)
137. Murder on the Orient Express (2017) – C+ (11/6, 6:30 PM, AMC Lincoln Square; Mike Stewart)
138. Daddy’s Home 2 – B- (11/7, 6:30 PM, AMC Lincoln Square; myself)
139. Darkest Hour – C+ (11/8, 10:00 AM, Bryant Park Screening Room; myself)
140. Call Me by Your Name – B (11/8, 8:00 PM, Magno Screening Room; myself)
141. Wonder – B (11/14, 10:00 AM, Magno Screening Room; myself)
142. IT (2017) – B+ (11/14, 7:15 PM, Union Square; myself)
143. I, Tonya – A- (11/15, 10:00 AM, Park Avenue Screening Room; myself)
144. Justice League – C (11/15, 7:00 PM, AMC Lincoln Square; myself)
145. The Shape of Water – B+ (11/21, 6:00 PM, Magno Screening Room; myself)
146. Wonder Wheel – C- (11/27, 10:30 AM, Park Avenue Screening Room; myself)
147. The Disaster Artist – A- (11/28, 7:00 PM, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Marissa Sblendorio)
148. Molly’s Game – B- (12/5, 2:00 PM, Magno Screening Room; myself)
149. Hostiles – C+ (12/6, 10:00 AM, Crosby Street Hotel Screening Room, New York, NY; myself)
150. The Post – B (12/6, 6:00 PM, Dolby 88 Screening Room; myself)
151. Happy End – C+ (12/7, 2:00 PM, Sony Screening Room; myself)
152. Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool – B (12/7, 5:00 PM, Sony Screening Room; myself)
153. Please Stand By – B (12/12, 10:00 AM, Dolby 88 Screening Room; myself)
154. Star Wars: The Last Jedi – A- (12/15, 3:45 PM, Alamo Drafthouse Brooklyn; Rob Malone, Kaity Malone, and Erin McGill)
155. Phantom Thread – B (12/18, 6:00 PM, AMC Lincoln Square; myself)
156. Downsizing – B (12/19, 4:00 PM, Paramount Screening Room; myself)
157. All the Money in the World – B (12/20, 6:00 PM, Park Avenue Screening Room; myself)
158. Coco – B (12/27, 6:40 PM, Oxford Valley; myself while my family went to Darkest Hour)

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