Jeff "Jmunney" Malone's Self-Styled "Expert" Thoughts on Movies, TV, Music, and the Rest of Pop Culture
September 17, 2017
Television, What Won TV? Broad City, Difficult People, Halt and Catch Fire, Jeopardy!, People of Earth, The Chris Gethard Show, Tim and Eric's Bedtime Stories Leave a comment
In this feature, I look back at each day of the past week and determine what shows “won TV” for the night. That is, I consider every episode of television I watched that aired on a particular day and declare which was the best.
Sunday – We really need Tim and Eric’s Bedtime Stories right now.
Monday – People of Earth
Tuesday – Difficult People wins this Billy Eichner Tuesday.
Wednesday – Broad City
Thursday – The Chris Gethard Show
Friday – Jeopardy!
Saturday – Halt and Catch Fire
September 17, 2017
Cinema, Movie Reviews Brian Gleeson, Darren Aronofsky, Domhnall Gleeson, Ed Harris, Javier Bardem, Jennifer Lawrence, Kristen Wiig, Michelle Pfeiffer, mother! Leave a comment
I don’t want to get into too many specifics, or really any specifics at all about mother!, even though I could just include a spoiler alert, and I imagine plenty of people reading this review have already seen it anyway. The plain truth is, this movie benefits particularly from going into it with as few preconceived notions as possible, perhaps more so than any other movie ever (give or take a Cabin in the Woods). The marketing has been so vague that anyone who feels like they’ve been misled really shouldn’t feel that way. For those who knew that they were getting into something unpredictable, there have been some criticisms that it is too heavy-handed, too unsubtle, and/or too cacophonous to effectively work as metaphor. And that may well be, but the whole thing is too deliriously energetic to not be enjoyable. This is… cinema.
One more note: if she weren’t already famous with her SNL persona, Kristen Wiig could easily establish a reputation as a character actress specializing in publicist/agent/manager roles.
I give mother! my acknowledgement that it exists.
September 13, 2017
Cinema, Movie Reviews Austin Abrams, Ben Stiller, Brad's Status, Jemaine Clement, Jenna Fischer, Luke Wilson, Michael Sheen, Mike White, Shazi Raja Leave a comment
CREDIT: Jonathan Wenk/Amazon Studios
This review was originally posted on News Cult in September 2017.
Starring: Ben Stiller, Austin Abrams, Jenna Fischer, Michael Sheen, Shazi Raja, Jemaine Clement, Luke Wilson
Director: Mike White
Running Time: 101 Minutes
Rating: R for A Few Disconcertingly Random F-Bombs
Release Date: September 15, 2017 (Limited)
Generally when writing a review, I avoid discussing issues of representation. That is not to say that that topic should not be avoided entirely, just that a review is not the ideal place for it. I believe that all stories are worth telling and need to be accepted on their own terms to truly understand them. But occasionally, representation is a focal theme in the stories that make it to the big screen, and in those cases, it would be imprudent to ignore it. Brad’s Status is one such movie.
In the most compelling possible interpretation, Brad’s Status is a horror film about extreme middle class neurosis. The score is filled with foreboding strings and heavy piano that contrast but also simultaneously complement the reliably blue skies. Brad Sloan’s (Ben Stiller) life probably should not be as intensely overwhelming as it is, but the status-conscious brain is a universe unto itself.
Brad’s existential crisis coincides with a college tour for his son Troy (Austin Abrams), who is smart enough to potentially get into Harvard but is uncertain enough about his future such that he doesn’t remember the correct date for his admissions interview. Staying on top of your kids during the college search is stressful enough, but on top of all that, Brad is deeply burdened by questions of how his success measures up with the rest of the world. When he thinks of his own college buddies he has lost touch with, he inevitably frets over how they have all exceeded him in terms of material wealth and influence. He remembers his own young adult idealism, and how his plans to change the world have not really borne fruit, even though he now runs his own nonprofit.
If this all sounds like White Straight Cisgender Male First World Problems: The Movie to you, it is worth noting that Brad’s privilege to complain as much as he does is called out quite searingly and clear-headedly by a female POC character. This is crucial, and effective. Those who are looking for more diverse representation in their films might reasonably say, “Sure, Brad’s Status takes white male bullshit to task, but it’s still about the white male bullshitter.” To which I would respond, I’m pretty sure this movie agrees with your sentiment and might in a weird way want you to dismiss it.
Regardless of how it works in terms of representation, Brad’s Status is an enlightening dramatization of the dangers of assumption, especially when you assume the best AND the worst. Chances are that your successful friends’ lives are not as picture-perfect as they seem. And chances are that they are not completely the opposite either. But you’ll never know either way unless you reach out and listen. Unfortunately for Brad, even when he does reach out, living inside his own head remains impossible to escape.
Brad’s Status is Recommended If You Like: Mad Men, Enlightened, White Male Navel Gazing, Criticism of White Male Navel Gazing
Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Silver Flyer Cards
September 12, 2017
Billboard Charts, Billboard Hot Rock Songs, Music Billboard, Billboard Hot Rock Songs, Greta van Fleet, Highway Tune 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 – “Believer”
2. Portugal. The Man – “Feel It Still”
3. Imagine Dragons – “Thunder”
4. The Revivalists – “Wish I Knew You”
5. 30 Seconds to Mars – “Walk on Water”
6. Lord Huron – “The Night We Met”
7. Zach Williams – “Old Church Choir”
8. Judah & the Lion – “Take It All Back”
9. The Killers – “The Man”
10. Theory of a Deadman – “Rx”
11. U2 – “You’re the Best Thing About Me”
12. NEEDTOBREATHE – “Hard Love”
13. Weezer – “Feels Like Summer”
14. Imagine Dragons – “Whatever It Takes”
15. The Lumineers – “Angela”
16. My Silent Bravery – “Got It Going On”
17. Judah & the Lion – “Suit and Jacket”
18. Linkin Park – “One More Light”
19. Vance Joy – “Lay It on Me”
20. Queens of the Stone Age – “The Way You Used to Do”
21. Highly Suspect – “Little One”
22. Foo Fighters – “The Sky is a Neighborhood”
23. Greta van Fleet – “Highway Tune”
24. LANY – “Super Far”
25. I Prevail – “Alone”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. Highway Tune
2. The Man
3. The Way You Used to Do
4. Feel It Still
5. The Sky is a Neighborhood
6. Little One
7. You’re the Best Thing About Me
8. Hard Love
9. Feels Like Summer
10. Super Far
11. Lay It On Me
September 12, 2017
Billboard Charts, Billboard Hot 100, Music Billboard, Billboard Hot 100, Feel It Still, Portugal. The Man 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. Taylor Swift – “Look What You Made Me Do”
2. Cardi B – “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)”
3. Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber – “Despacito”
4. Taylor Swift – “…Ready for It?”
5. Logic ft. Alessia Cara and Khalid – “1-800-273-8255”
6. DJ Khaled ft. Rihanna and Bryson Tiller – “Wild Thoughts”
7. Charlie Puth – “Attention”
8. Imagine Dragons – “Believer”
9. French Montana ft. Swae Lee – “Unforgettable”
10. Shawn Mendes – “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back”
11. Yo Gotti ft. Nicki Minaj – “Rake It Up”
12. 21 Savage – “Bank Account”
13. Demi Lovato – “Sorry Not Sorry”
14. Liam Payne ft. Quavo – “Strip That Down”
15. Niall Horan – “Slow Hands”
16. Ed Sheeran – “Shape of You”
17. Bruno Mars – “That’s What I Like”
18. Portugal. The Man – “Feel It Still”
19. Lil Uzi Vert – “XO Tour Llif3”
20. Sam Hunt – “Body Like a Back Road”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. Feel It Still
2. Unforgettable
3. Wild Thoughts
4. Sorry Not Sorry
September 10, 2017
Television, What Won TV? American Dad!, American Horror Story, American Horror Story: Cult, Bojack Horseman, Halt and Catch Fire, The Gong Show, Twin Peaks, You're the Worst Leave a comment
In this feature, I look back at each day of the past week and determine what shows “won TV” for the night. That is, I consider every episode of television I watched that aired on a particular day and declare which was the best.
Sunday – What Twin Peaks is this?
Monday – American Dad!
Tuesday – American Horror Story: Cult … of Consequences of Voting for Jill Stein?
Wednesday – You’re the Worst
Thursday – The Gong Show
Friday – BoJack Horseman Season 4 (at least the first third – I’m still watching!)
Saturday – Halt and Catch Fire
September 9, 2017
Cinema, Movie Reviews Alicia Vikander, Cara Delevingne, Christoph Waltz, Dane DeHaan, Holliday Grainger, Jack O'Connell, Judi Dench, Justin Chadwick, Tom Hollander, Tulip Fever, Zach Galifianakis 1 Comment
At the end of Tulip Fever, I thought, “Oh, that’s what that was all about.” It ultimately becomes clear that there is an incredible amount of kindness inherent to the main characters. They struggle because they find themselves in situations that are far from ideal and beyond their control, but they ultimately find a way out. That is a fine bit of satisfaction. But for the first 95%, the floral mania is totally confounding and there is little in the way of enjoyability beyond the (not-that-out-of-place) comedic relief from Zach Galifianakis and Christoph Waltz’s nicknames for his penis.
I give Tulip Fever 1 Bulb Just Barely in Bloom.
September 8, 2017
Cinema, Movie Reviews Edwin Moses, Esther Vergeer, Jack Nicklaus, Jacqueline Joseph, Martina Navratilova, Nadia Comăneci, Winning, Winning Documentary Leave a comment
This review was originally posted on News Cult in September 2017.
Documentary
Starring: Nadia Comăneci, Jack Nicklaus, Martina Navratilova, Edwin Moses, Esther Vergeer
Director: Jacqueline Joseph
Running Time: 78 Minutes
Rating: Unrated, But It Could Easily Be G
Release Date: September 8, 2017 at Cinepolis Chelsea in New York City
For anyone expecting a chronicle of Charlie Sheen’s post-Two and a Half Men media blitz based on the title, you’re out of luck. Jacqueline Joseph’s documentary takes a much more straightforward approach to the concept of Winning, which is probably best for our insanity, but does it manage to be top-notch entertainment?
Joseph’s purpose is to identify what separates the all-time greatest athletes from the mere occasional champions. Ergo, Winning profiles five such folks who achieved some of the greatest winning streaks of all time: gymnast Nadia Comăneci, winner of nine Olympic medals and the first in her sport to earn a perfect 10.0 score; tennis player Martina Navratilova, owner of the longest winning streak (74 matches) in the open era; golfer Jack Nicklaus, winner of a record 18 major championships; track and field star Edwin Moses, winner of 122 consecutive races and former world record holder in the 400 meter hurdles; and wheelchair tennis player Esther Vergeer, who had a lifetime match record of 700-25.
While Winning does offer a few theses about the identity of a champion, none of them are particularly groundbreaking. All five athletes worked hard in their careers, leaps and bounds harder than not only the average person, but also that much more than even many of their rivals. This is common sense, but it is occasionally amusingly stated, as when Comăneci suggests that if that intensity is not for you, then just go be a spectator.
Winning also runs into the problem of how to devote enough space in less than an hour and a half to multiple figures who are all worthy of their own feature length docs. There is an effort made to demonstrate how each of them transcended their sports, but the meaningfulness therein is not on the same level for each of them. There is also some attempted connective tissue between the struggles that each of them faced when growing up, but again the magnitudes of those struggles do not quite match (Moses being teased for having “Kermit legs” is not exactly Navratilova defecting from communist Czechoslovakia at age 18).
Ultimately, Winning is enjoyable enough thanks to the winning personalities of its subjects. Comăneci is disarmingly blunt, Navratilova is naturally low-key charming, Nicklaus and Moses are genuinely folksy, and Vergeer is unfailingly sunny. If you train your camera on people who know better than anyone else how to perform under pressure, you’re going to get something at least somewhat worthwhile.
Winning is Recommended If You Like: Sports! Sports! All Kinds of Sports!
Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Trophies
September 6, 2017
Billboard Charts, Billboard Hot Rock Songs, Music Billboard, Billboard Hot Rock Songs, Get Together, The Youngbloods 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 – “Believer”
2. Portugal. The Man – “Feel It Still”
3. Imagine Dragons – “Thunder”
4. The Revivalists – “Wish I Knew You”
5. 30 Seconds to Mars – “Walk on Water”
6. Judah & the Lion – “Take It All Back”
7. Lord Huron – “The Night We Met”
8. Linkin Park ft. Kiiara – “Heavy”
9. The Killers – “The Man”
10. Zach Williams – “Old Church Choir”
11. Imagine Dragons – “Whatever It Takes”
12. NEEDTOBREATHE – “Hard Love”
13. My Silent Bravery – “Got It Going On”
14. Weezer – “Feels Like Summer”
15. Queens of the Stone Age – “The Way You Used to Do”
16. Theory of a Deadman – “Rx”
17. Foo Fighters – “The Sky is a Neighborhood”
18. The Lumineers – “Angela”
19. Linkin Park – “One More Light”
20. The Youngbloods – “Get Together”
21. Judah & the Lion – “Suit and Jacket”
22. Beck – “Dear Life”
23. Highly Suspect – “Little One”
24. Vance Joy – “Lay It on Me”
25. Fall Out Boy – “Champion”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. Get Together
2. The Man
3. The Way You Used to Do
4. Feel It Still
5. The Sky is a Neighborhood
6. Dear Life
7. Little One
8. Hard Love
9. Feels Like Summer
10. Lay It On Me
September 6, 2017
Billboard Charts, Billboard Hot 100, Music Billboard, Billboard Hot 100, Feel It Still, Portugal. The Man 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. Taylor Swift – “Look What You Made Me Do”
2. Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber – “Despacito”
3. Cardi B – “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)”
4. DJ Khaled ft. Rihanna and Bryson Tiller – “Wild Thoughts”
5. Charlie Puth – “Attention”
6. Imagine Dragons – “Believer”
7. French Montana ft. Swae Lee – “Unforgettable”
8. Shawn Mendes – “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back”
9. Logic ft. Alessia Cara and Khalid – “1-800-273-8255”
10. Liam Payne ft. Quavo – “Strip That Down”
11. Ed Sheeran – “Shape of You”
12. 21 Savage – “Bank Account”
13. Yo Gotti ft. Nicki Minaj – “Rake It Up”
14. Kendrick Lamar – “Humble.”
15. Niall Horan – “Slow Hands”
16. Lil Uzi Vert – “XO Tour Llif3”
17. Bruno Mars – “That’s What I Like”
18. Demi Lovato – “Sorry Not Sorry”
19. Sam Hunt – “Body Like a Back Road”
20. Portugal. The Man – “Feel It Still”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. Feel It Still
2. Unforgettable
3. Humble.
4. Wild Thoughts
5. Sorry Not Sorry
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