“Wait, you saw Caligula?” “You saw Caligula? Wait, what’s Caligula?” https://www.bubbleblabber.com/review-bobs-burgers-mom-lies-and-videotape/
Bob’s Burgers 7.20 Review: “Mom, Lies, and Videotape”
May 9, 2017
Bob's Burgers, Bob's Burgers Episode Reviews, Television Bob's Burgers, Bob's Burgers 720, Bob's Burgers Season 7, Mom Lies and Videotape Leave a comment
SNL Review May 6, 2017: Chris Pine/LCD Soundsystem
May 9, 2017
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television Chris Pine, LCD Soundsystem, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live 4219, Saturday Night Live Season 42, SNL, SNL Season 42, Song for Peace, Where in the World is Kellyanne Conway? Leave a comment
This review was originally posted on News Cult in May 2017.
Love It
Song for Peace – Here we have a patently brilliant formula for sketch comedy excellence: I have no idea what is going on, and I do not care. I can tell you what is literally happening: Beck Bennett’s European rapper bemoans the sorry state of the world and his own pornography addiction, while Kyle Mooney provides the minimalist hype and a well-coiffed Chris Pine throws down the chorus. Bennett does an amusing Slavic accent – actual Eastern Europeans can attest to the accuracy or lack thereof, but there can be no doubt about the hilarity – and the digression into mainly focusing on porn (which is softcore, because weird details prompt chuckles) add up to an unforgettable combination.
Auto Shop – The most obvious (and most outdated and backwards) potential joke behind a group of mechanics watching RuPaul’s Drag Race would be that they accidentally stumbled upon it, thinking it was drag motor racing. There is a bit of a feint towards them being embarrassed by how this might reflect on their masculinity, but ultimately they love it too much to care to hide. This sketch is less about comedy and more about the unbridled joy of fandom. It’s infectious. And with the (accurate) appraisal of current contestant Trinity Taylor, it clearly comes from a place of love and knowledge.
Chris Pine’s Monologue song teaches us how to distinguish between all the Chris’s (he’s the one who’s not a Marvel hero, while Evans is the one who hasn’t hosted SNL yet), which isn’t that notable an observation, but the fun is in the details…Kid Actor Alert! I really wanted to see them tease out Where in the World is Kellyanne Conway?, but sometimes when you’ve got a real sharp zinger, you just get in and get out…The SWAT Lookout team wonders when they stopped allowing themselves to have fun, and I have to agree with that sentiment…An HR Meeting that devolves into a “Boy is Mine” contest? Totally up Aidy and Vanessa’s aisle…The House Seattle (the SECOND Beck/Kyle joint in the FIRST HALF of the episode) is basically The Real World by way of Dogville (Do they only do these when Chris’s stop by?)…Michael and Colin go right after the nasty American Healthcare Act, inspiring gasps and groans, and they have the staredown game to throw it right back at the crowd…As meteorologist Dawn Lazarus, Vanessa Bayer’s Fred Armisen influence is showing, as she sprays out a barrage of nervous, loopy wordplay…When a Star Trek sketch revolves around Spock’s Queens-bred goombah half-brother, we know we have gone to the goofy point of no return (also: kudos for letting longtime production designer Akira Yoshimura reprise his role as Sulu)…There was a distinct lack of Cecily Strong in this episode, until the Game Night, where she debuted her gorgeous curls and bewitching black dress and sang the Frasier (or Frazier) theme song, and all was right with the world.
What Won TV? – April 30-May 6, 2017
May 8, 2017
Television, What Won TV? Arrow, Better Call Saul, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., RIverdale, RuPaul's Drag Race, Saturday Night Live, Silicon Valley, SNL 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 – Silicon Valley
Monday – Better Call Saul
Tuesday – Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Wednesday – Arrow
Thursday – Riverdale (Maple Syrup Forever!)
Friday – RuPaul’s Drag Race (see also: Trinity Taylor shout-out on SNL)
Saturday – Chris Pine delivering us one of the best SNL‘s of the season
This Is a Movie Review: If ‘The Dinner’ Has Its Way, You Will Lose Your Appetite
May 5, 2017
Cinema, Movie Reviews Laura Linney, Oren Moverman, Rebecca Hall, Richard Gere, Steve Coogan, The Dinner Leave a comment
This review was originally published on News Cult in May 2017.
Starring: Steve Coogan, Laura Linney, Richard Gere, Rebecca Hall
Director: Oren Moverman
Running Time: 120 Minutes
Rating: R for Children Getting Up to No Good and Their Parents Yelling About It
Release Date: May 5, 2017 (Limited)
Steve Coogan, Laura Linney, Richard Gere, and Rebecca Hall invite you to a very special evening. Coogan and his wife Linney are on their way to meet Coogan’s brother Gere and his wife Hall at the fanciest restaurant in town. Coogan is dreading the evening and would much rather stay home, but alas, there is no wiggling out. This is family, and there is an outstanding issue that must be addressed. Coogan is caught snooping around his son’s cell phone, so that should tell you something about what sort of father he is. It should also be noted that Gere is a politician in the middle of an all-consuming campaign, so that just gobbles everything in its vicinity.
The deal is that both couples’ teenage children have gotten themselves into extraordinary trouble. Far be it from me to reveal any specifics, as the film’s whole raison d’être is gradually revealing the details. But suffice it to say that the event in question has legal and ethical implications that are unavoidably disturbing. They are the kinds of consequences that no child should ever force their parents to face, especially when mental illness, the public eye, and years of seething resentment are in the mix. The formula is set for the most unpleasant outing ever for this foursome and for the audience. It is thrilling to watch a quartet of thespians like The Dinner’s volley vitriol back and forth, but ultimately this meal is more frustrating than anything else.
The Dinner is designed to be challenging, as any story with a clinically depressed character at its center should be. It is unreasonable to expect a cheerier arc, or even necessarily some possibility of relief. But what there ought to be is a chance for understanding. The structure consists of frame devices within frame devices, as flashbacks fill out the motivations forged over the past several weeks and the past several years and lifetimes. When in the outermost frame, The Dinner is naggingly difficult to pierce, but when it opens up to its deepest core, the viewer can say, “I accept you for who you are.”
The Dinner is Recommended If You Like: Having Your Stomach Knotted Like a Fist
Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Courses
This Is a Movie Review: Transgender Rights and Family Drama Fuel the Ho-Hum ‘3 Generations’
May 3, 2017
Cinema, Movie Reviews 3 Generations, Elle Fanning, Gaby Dellal, Naomi Watts, Susan Sarandon, Tate Donovan Leave a comment
This review was originally published on News Cult in May 2017.
Starring: Elle Fanning, Naomi Watts, Susan Sarandon, Tate Donovan
Director: Gaby Dellal
Running Time: 92 Minutes
Rating: PG-13 for The Facts of Life
Release Date: May 5, 2017 (Limited)
It is great when the stories of minority and discriminated groups are portrayed on the big screen, as they are granted greater visibility via the transportive power of cinema. But it is not so great when those stories are boring, because then the experience is less transportive. Teenage Ray (Elle Fanning) is a transgender male hoping to quickly start his gender reassignment treatment, and the reason this film is entitled “3 Generations” as opposed to something like “Ray’s Story” is because it is really about his relationship with his single mother Maggie (Naomi Watts) and grandmother Dolly (Susan Sarandon), whom he lives with together inManhattan. These are three talented ladies, and none of them phone it in, but ultimately 3 Generations feels like little more than spending a couple of hours with a family other than your own.
Teenage transgender transition stories offer the reliable dramatic hook of attempting to secure parental permission. Ray’s decision must be approved by both his mother and long-absentee father Craig (Tate Donovan). And therein lies the rub, as Maggie and Craig are not exactly on good terms, to put it mildly. It is enough to make you scream. Ray certainly does. Donovan is a captivating screen presence, and he has the necessary anti-chemistry with Watts, but again this mostly boils down to: families of transgender people can be just as dysfunctional as everyone else’s.
A constant source of tension for Ray is his grandmother’s difficulty accepting his identity. Dolly is far from conservative. She is a lesbian, but just because your sexuality is not mainstream does not mean you cannot also be closed-minded. There is an edge to Ray and Dolly’s interactions that is unavoidable, but also fascinating. A version of 3 Generations pared down to grandmother/grandson buddy comedy could be a winning formula. The obligations of familial love can be in a constant battle with the plague of misunderstanding/ I think that is the valiant thesis of this film, but it struggles to put its own spin on that age-old conundrum.
3 Generations is Recommended If You Like: The Kids Are All Right, Being an Elle Fanning Completist
Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Fire Escapes
Billboard Hot Rock Songs – Week of May 13, 2017
May 2, 2017
Billboard Charts, Billboard Hot Rock Songs, Music Billboard, Billboard Hot Rock Songs, Human, Rag'n'Bone Man 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. Linkin Park ft. Kiiara – “Heavy”
3. twenty one pilots – “Heathens”
4. Lana Del Rey ft. The Weeknd – “Lust for Life”
5. Lord Huron – “The Night We Met”
6. Paramore – “Hard Times”
7. Rag’n’Bone Man – “Human”
8. Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, & Imagine Dragons with Logic, Ty Dolla $ign ft. X Ambassadors – “Sucker for Pain”
9. The Revivalists – “Wish I Knew You”
10. Bob Pressner – “American Dream”
11. Portugal. The Man – “Feel It Still”
12. Ocean Park Standoff – “Good News”
13. Gorillaz ft. Popcaan – “Saturnz Barz”
14. Lana Del Rey – “Love”
15. NEEDTOBREATHE – “Testify”
16. John Mayer – “In the Blood”
17. Cold War Kids – “Love is Mystical”
18. Gorillaz ft. D.R.A.M. – “Andromeda”
19. MISSIO – “Middle Fingers”
20. Papa Roach – “Help”
21. Fall Out Boy – “Young and Menace”
22. Cage the Elephant – “Cold Cold Cold”
23. Gorillaz ft. Mavis Staples and Pusha T – “Let Me Out”
24. The Lumineers – “Angela”
25. Sir Sly – “High”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. Human
2. Let Me Out
3. Young and Menace
4. Feel It Still
5. Saturnz Barz
6. High
7. Cold Cold Cold
8. Love is Mystical
9. Love
10. Andromeda
11. Hard Times
12. Lust for Life
Billboard Hot 20 – Week of May 13, 2017
May 2, 2017
Billboard Charts, Billboard Hot 100, Music Alessia Cara, Billboard, Billboard Hot 100, Stay, Zedd 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. Bruno Mars – “That’s What I Like”
2. Ed Sheeran – “Shape of You”
3. Kendrick Lamar – “Humble.”
4. Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber – “Despacito”
5. Future – “Mask Off”
6. The Chainsmokers and Coldplay – “Something Just Like This”
7. Kendrick Lamar – “DNA.”
8. KYLE ft. Lil Yachty – “iSpy”
9. Lil Uzi Vert – “XO TOUR Llif3”
10. Kygo x Selena Gomez – “It Ain’t Me”
11. Zedd ft. Alessia Cara – “Stay”
12. Sam Hunt – “Body Like a Back Road”
13. James Arthur – “Say You Won’t Let Go”
14. Julia Michaels – “Issues”
15. Post Malone ft. Quavo – “Congratulations”
16. Khalid – “Location”
17. Clean Bandit ft. Sean Paul and Anne-Marie – “Rockabye”
18. Drake – “Passionfruit”
19. The Chainsmokers – “Paris”
20. Kodak Black – “Tunnel Vision”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. Stay
2. Tunnel Vision
3. Location
4. Humble.
5. Rockabye
6. DNA.
The Simpsons 28.20 Review: “Looking for Mr. Goodbart”
May 1, 2017
Television, The Simpsons, The Simpsons Episode Reviews Looking for Mr. Goodbart, The Simpsons, The Simpsons 2820, The Simpsons Season 28 Leave a comment
“I wanted to make sure you remember that I think your job is stupid.” https://www.bubbleblabber.com/review-the-simpsons-looking-for-mr-goodbart/
Bob’s Burgers 7.19 Review: “Thelma & Louise Except Thelma is Linda”
May 1, 2017
Bob's Burgers, Bob's Burgers Episode Reviews, Television Bob's Burgers, Bob's Burgers 719, Bob's Burgers Season 7, Thelma & Louise Except Thelma is Linda Leave a comment
“Are you joyless, Phillip?” https://www.bubbleblabber.com/review-bobs-burgers-thelma-louise-except-thelma-is-linda/
This Is a Movie Review: ‘Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2’ Fulfills Its Blockbuster Duty
May 1, 2017
Cinema, Movie Reviews Baby Groot, Bradley Cooper, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, David Hasselhoff, Elizabeth Debicki, Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2, James Gunn, Karen Gillan, Kurt Russell, Marvel Cinematic Universe, MCU, Michael Rooker, Pom Klementieff, Vin Diesel, Zoe Saldana Leave a comment
This review was originally published on News Cult in May 2017.
Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Elizabeth Debicki, Kurt Russell
Director: James Gunn
Running Time: 136 Minutes
Rating: PG-13 for Space Opera Whiz Bang and Discussions About the Facts of Life
Release Date: May 5, 2017
As fun as this era of Marvel-ous moviemaking can be, a corporate agenda gets in the way of originality. But it is not necessarily the blueprint of interconnected universes that mandates that every superhero movie must end with a fight for the survival of the planet. That is simply this genre’s instinct. If you want to avoid it, you have to fight it. And expanding the setting to multiple galaxies is not the way to do so. That just raises the stakes. Instead of just Earth, it is the fate of the entire universe that hangs in the balance. Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 cannot help but be a part of this exhausting pattern, but it does what it can by rendering this gigantic fight as personal as possible.
When Peter Quill’s (Chris Pratt) long-lost papa Ego (Kurt Russell) shows up, Quill suspects that the reunion is a little too perfect. Gamora (Zoe Saldana) convinces him to give his dad a chance, assuring him that if treachery is afoot, killing him is always an option. So they, alongside Drax (Dave Bautista) and Ego’s empathic companion Mantis (Pom Klementieff) head off to Ego’s home planet. It looks like an idyllic utopia, but eventually it is revealed that Ego is the planet, and his intentions with his son may not be so aboveboard. The threat of universal apocalypse thereby feels intimate because it depends upon how Quill will or will not be manipulated.
Meanwhile, Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and Baby Groot (Vin Diesel) are holding down the fort elsewhere and forming unlikely, but satisfying, alliances with Yondu (Michael Rooker) and Nebula (Karen Gillan). They must deal with an onslaught from a new race of aliens that I do not feel like getting into. They are probably here because they will factor significantly into future Marvel Cinematic Universe installments, but for now, they are a distraction from the main conflict. I am not opposed in principle to splitting up the main crew. Rocket and Groot, after all, have a delightful C-3PO/R2-D2-style repartee wherever they go. They can do their own thing, it just does not need to be so extensive when the main thrust is already so all-encompassing.
While vol. 2 does fall prey to sequel bloat, the Guardians crew is reliable enough for their adventures to have a pretty high floor. The banter is top-notch, fueled as it is by intergalactic culture clash. Gamora attempts to comfort Quill by referencing his attachment to a certain beloved-by-Germans celebrity, but she totally botches the details. Quill later fires back with a Cheers analogy of their relationship that is adorably confused. Drax demonstrates how his race is quite open about discussing sexual matters with a colorful description of his parents’ experiences. This is all helped along by Mantis’ empathic abilities, in which she can feel others’ emotions and thus open up the dams holding back honesty. The pinnacle of all this sharing is Baby Groot’s opinion on hats (which does not even need Mantis’ prompting).
Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 is Recommended If You Like: “I am Groot.” “I am Groot?” “I AMMM GROOOOOOOT!”
Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Sweet Sounds of the Seventies
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