Jmunney's Blog

SNL Review March 11, 2017: Scarlett Johansson/Lorde

March 12, 2017

jmunney Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television Lorde, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live 4216, Saturday Night Live Season 42, Scarlett Johansson, SNL, SNL Season 42 Leave a comment

This review was originally posted on News Cult in March 2017.

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

Ace and Jake – The “Day Without a Woman” protest happened earlier this week, and – just as the people demanded – Kyle Mooney and Beck Bennett have written a female-centric sketch in response! The joke here is obvious – the guys fight institutional sexism by passionately listing every example of it but neglect to actually give the women a chance to speak. These two are miracle workers, somehow making thoughtlessness totally adorable.

That canine actor in the Dog Translation sketch is not having that helmet on his head; the fact that he is also a Trump supporter is also kind of funny…The Olive Garden Commercial shoot has it all: fake orgasms, casual racism, and Kenan Thompson sticking his face flat in a bowl of pasta!

This Is a Movie Review: The Sense of an Ending

March 12, 2017

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews Charlotte Rampling, Emily Mortimer, Harriet Walter, Jim Broadbent, Michelle Dockery, Ritesh Batra, The Sense of an Ending Leave a comment

This review was originally published on News Cult in March 2017.

Starring: Jim Broadbent, Charlotte Rampling, Harriet Walter, Emily Mortimer, Michelle Dockery

Director: Ritesh Batra

Running Time: 108 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for Serious Matters Confronted with British Reservation

Release Date: March 10, 2017 (Limited)

In The Sense of an Ending, Jim Broadbent plays Anthony Webster, the owner of a boutique camera shop who must confront the sins of his past after an old acquaintance passes away and includes him in the will. I would vote for the focus to be waxing nostalgic about vintage Nikons and Kodaks, but alas, the narrative switches back and forth between the present day and Tony’s young adulthood, when he was courting a girl who eventually pursued one of his friends instead. There ends up being a tangle of long-ago secrets that it takes way too long to make sense of.

The film does not engender mystery so much as simmer in its ambiguity. Dinner scenes involve questions being asked and only being answered after staring into space for what feels like an eternity. Is this that famous British reservation, or just tentative filmmaking? If it is the former, the angst of what is left unsaid should be painfully felt, but that is just not the case, at least not until Charlotte Rampling shows up about halfway through. As the present-day version of Tony’s ex-flame, she says more with a piercing glance than the entirety of the flashbacks.

In the midst of sorting out his past, Tony is also on the verge of becoming a grandfather. He accompanies his daughter Susie (Michelle Dockery) to birthing classes, as the father is completely out of the picture. Susie warns Dad not to make any offensive remark about a lesbian couple in the class, as overly cautious children are wont to worry that their parents will go rogue. But Tony not only keep his tongue in check, he becomes fast friends with the couple. And it is not because of any fetishistic desire to diversify his circle. He just happens to be a sociable fellow who likes talking to people. Funny that his daughter doesn’t know that.

Anyway, I would much prefer if The Sense of an Ending were the adventures of Dad and the Lesbians. At least Tony ends up more reliably friendly than he was in his salad days. Perhaps he can take solace in that ending.

The Sense of an Ending is Recommended If You Like: Atonement But Wish It Had Been Difficult to Follow

Grade: 2 out of 5 Angry Letters

Billboard Hot Rock Songs – Week of March 18, 2017

March 7, 2017

jmunney 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.

Original Version
1. twenty one pilots – “Heathens”
2. Imagine Dragons – “Believers”
3. Fitz and the Tantrums – “HandClap”
4. twenty one pilots – “Ride”
5. Lana Del Rey – “Love”
6. Linkin Park ft. Kiiara – “Heavy”
7. Kaleo – “Way Down We Go
8. Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, & Imagine Dragons with Logic, Ty Dolla $ign ft. X Ambassadors – “Sucker for Pain”
9. twenty one pilots – “Heavydirtysoul”
10. Rag’n’Bone Man – “Human”
11. Godsmack – “Come Together”
12. The Lumineers – “Cleopatra”
13. John Mayer – “Still Feel Like Your Man”
14. Zach Williams – “Chain Breaker”
15. Green Day – “Still Breathing”
16. The Revivalists – “Wish I Knew You”
17. Highly Suspect – “My Name is Human”
18. Kings of Leon – “Waste a Moment”
19. NEEDTOBREATHE – “Testify”
20. Shinedown – “How Did You Love”
21. John Mayer – “Helpless”
22. John Mayer – “Love on the Weekend”
23. John Mayer – “Emoji on a Wave”
24. Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness – “Fire Escape”
25. Seether – “Let You Down”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Human
2. My Name is Human
3. Way Down We Go
4. Heavydirtysoul
5. Love
6. Ride
7. Heathens
8. Fire Escape
9. How Did You Love
10. Still Feel Like Your Man
11. Wish I Knew You
12. Waste a Moment
13. Helpless
14. Cleopatra
15. Come Together
16. Heavy
17. Believer
18. Still Breathing
19. HandClap
20. Let You Down
21. Love on the Weekend
22. Sucker for Pain
23. Emoji on a Wave
24. Testify
25. Chain Breaker

Billboard Hot 20 – Week of March 18, 2017

March 7, 2017

jmunney Billboard Charts, Billboard Hot 100, Music Billboard, Billboard Hot 100, Chained to the Rhythm, Katy Perry 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.

Original Version
1. Ed Sheeran – “Shape of You”
2. Migos ft. Lil Uzi Vert – “Bad and Boujee”
3. Zayn and Taylor Swift – “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker)”
4. Bruno Mars – “That’s What I Like”
5. The Chainsmokers and Coldplay – “Something Just Like This”
6. Rihanna – “Love on the Brain”
7. The Chainsmokers – “Paris”
8. Kodak Black – “Tunnel Vision”
9. Big Sean – “Bounce Back”
10. The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey – “Closer”
11. The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk – “I Feel It Coming”
12. Katy Perry ft. Skip Marley – “Chained to the Rhythm”
13. Justin Timberlake – “Can’t Stop the Feeling!”
14. KYLE ft. Lil Yachty – “iSpy”
15. Machine Gun Kelly x Camila Cabello – “Bad Things”
16. Drake – “Fake Love”
17. Shawn Mendes – “Mercy”
18. Bruno Mars – “24K Magic”
19. Alessia Cara – “Scars to Your Beautiful”
20. Sam Hunt – “Body Like a Back Road”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Chained to the Rhythm
2. Scars to Your Beautiful
3. Tunnel Vision
4. I Feel It Coming
5. Love on the Brain
6. Closer
7. Bad and Boujee
8. Shape of You
9. 24K Magic
10. That’s What I Like
11. Can’t Stop the Feeling!
12. Something Just Like This
13. Paris
14. Bounce Back
15. I Don’t Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker)
16. iSpy
17. Bad Things
18. Fake Love
19. Body Like a Back Road
20. Mercy

The Simpsons 28.16 Review: “Kamp Krustier”

March 6, 2017

jmunney Television, The Simpsons, The Simpsons Episode Reviews Kamp Krustier, The Simpsons, The Simpsons 2816, The Simpsons Season 28 Leave a comment

“Do you self-gratify?” “Yes, I do everything but masturbate.” http://www.bubbleblabber.com/review-the-simpsons-kamp-krustier/

SNL Review March 4, 2017: Octavia Spencer/Father John Misty

March 5, 2017

jmunney Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television Father John Misty, Jeff Sessions Gump, Octavia Spencer, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live 4215, Saturday Night Live Season 42, SNL, SNL Season 42 1 Comment

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE — “Octavia Spencer” Episode 1719 — Pictured: (l-r) Mikey Day, Aidy Bryant, Octavia Spencer, and Kenan Thompson during the “Spencer’s Gifts” sketch on March 4, 2017 — (Photo by: Will Heath/NBC)

This review was originally posted on News Cult in March 2017.

Love It

Jeff Sessions Gump – Has Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III ever struck you as the sort of fellow you might encounter at a bus stop in the Deep South? During his confirmation hearings for attorney general, he has not really been charming any of us the same way that Forrest Gump did 20 years ago, but this is still somehow one of those connections that seems so obvious in retrospect. He’s a “sneaky little liar” who works with a woman who “ain’t got not legs” – how delightful!

Have you ever thought the names of drugs sounded like inner city children? Better get in on that class-action suit this Merck Hearing is sure to prompt! … Kate McKinnon spends most of the episode hanging around the set in Kellyanne Conway’s now infamous leg-tuck pose.

What Won TV? – February 26-March 4, 2017

March 5, 2017

jmunney Television, What Won TV? Baskets, Jane the Virgin, Kurt Braunohler, Kurt Braunohler: Trust Me, Legion, New Girl, Oscars, Saturday Night Live, 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.

oscars_envelope_jordan_horowitz

Sunday – An unforgettable Oscars ceremony
Monday – Jane the Virgin
Tuesday – New Girl
Wednesday – Legion
Thursday – Baskets
Friday – Kurt Braunohler: Trust Me
Saturday – Octavia Spencer put poo in the SNL!

Best Songs of 2016

March 4, 2017

jmunney Best of 2016, Best of Music 2016, Music A Tribe Called Quest, Alessia Cara, Ariana Grande, BANKS, Beck, Beyoncé, Bishop Briggs, Childish Gambino, Drake, Flume, Glass Animals, Gold, Gucci Mane, Highly Suspect, Kaleo, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Kiiara, KONGOS, Lady GaGa, Leonard Cohen, Phantogram, Rae Sremmurd, Rag'n'Bone Man, Rihanna, Sean Paul, Sia, Tove Lo 1 Comment

kiiara-gold

All songs on this list were released as singles in 2016, or 2015 but didn’t make an impact until 2016.

1. Kiiara – “Gold” – An ingenious production trick wins the top spot. The best music in the world rewires your brain.
2. Beyoncé ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Freedom” – Beyoncé BUSTS out every emotion of the year.
3. Phantogram – “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore” – I can feel myself dissolving in the despair.
4. Lady GaGa – “Perfect Illusion” – GaGa’s crying out in beautiful pain.
5. Kanye West – “Fade” – From another dimension.
6. Rag‘n’Bone Man – “Human” – The blues are alive and kicking.
7. Sia – “The Greatest” – Sia’s career is the soundtrack for perseverance.
8. Alessia Cara – “Scars to Your Beautiful” – What could have been an anodyne message piece instead infuses an influx of attitude.
9. Flume ft. Tove Lo – “Say It” – An airy, effervescent blast from 2016’s top DJ.
10. Childish Gambino – “Me and Your Mama” – Where did this burst of neo-P-Funk come from?!
11. Rae Sremmurd ft. Gucci Mane – “Black Beatles” – This sounds like nostalgia and the future.
12. Glass Animals – “Life Itself” – Alternative quirk’s top spot of the year.
13. Bishop Briggs – “River” – I need at least one lady rocker belting it out like this per annum.
14. Beyoncé – “Formation” – The production is so much more adventurous and more mature from Queen Bey than ever before.
15. BANKS – “Gemini Feed” – Icy and boopy, with attitude to spare.
16. Leonard Cohen – “You Want It Darker” – I’m vociferously nodding along to every declaration Mr. Cohen makes.
17. Kaleo – “Way Down We Go” – That title is sort of like musical onomatopoeia.
18. Highly Suspect – “My Name is Human” – These guys from Cape Cod ought to be rocking stadiums to their core.
19. Beck – “Wow” – Beck’s gonna keep uncovering these strange corners in the aural landscape.
20. Kongos – “Take It From Me” – These South African rockers are totally in control.
21. Tove Lo – “Cool Girl” – Tove keeps freaking up the airwaves.
22. A Tribe Called Quest – “We the People” – A necessary anthem.
23. Sia ft. Sean Paul – “Cheap Thrills” – Bounce along when you’re looking for fun.
24. Ariana Grande – “Into You” – Features the year’s most killer opening line
25. Rihanna ft. Drake – “Work” – One of those great songs that defy natural analysis.

Best Movie Scenes of 2016

March 4, 2017

jmunney Best in Film 2016, Best of 2016, Cinema 20th Century Women, Arrival, Drive It Like You Stole It, Elle, La La Land, Nerve, No More Weapons, Nocturnal Animals, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Sing Street, The Ballad of Wiener-Dog, The BFG, The Neon Demon, Toni Erdmann, Wiener-Dog, X-Men: Apocalypse 1 Comment

x-men-apocalypse-no-more-weapons

The Oscars were not that long ago, so I guess I better run down the best scenes of 2016.

A lot of great food scenes: dinners in Elle and 20th Century Women, plus the frobscottle feast in The BFG. Also, The Neon Demon stopped by a bar, but I don’t think they ate much.