Best Songs of 2016

March 4, 2017

jmunney Best of 2016, Best of Music 2016, Music , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 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.

More

Son of Zorn Season One Review

March 2, 2017

jmunney Son of Zorn, Television , 1 Comment

son-of-zorn-return-to-orange-county

Here be my Zephyrian postmortem: http://www.bubbleblabber.com/season-review-son-of-zorn-season-one/

This Is a Movie Review: If ‘Groundhog Day’ Wasn’t Emo Enough for You, Try ‘Before I Fall’

March 2, 2017

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

before-i-fall

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

Starring: Zoey Deutch, Halston Sage, Logan Miller, Diego Bonita, Jennifer Beals

Director: Ry Russo-Young

Running Time: 99 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for Teenagers Screaming at Each Other and Fatal Driving Habits

Release Date: March 3, 2017

Before I Fall is basically Groundhog Day for the YA set, which begs the question: what takes the place of “I Got You Babe.” Instead of Bill Murray being eternally roused by Sonny, Cher, and some hacky small town DJ’s, we now have Zoey Deutch (Everybody Wants Some!!, Why Him?) staring into space to the strains of Big Data ft. Joywave’s “Dangerous,” which serves as her phone alarm. It’s a great song – a giddy, pounding, kind of sensual dance number (I ranked it the 13th best of 2014), but in the context of the scene, it lacks personality. Presumably Deutch’s Samantha Kingston likes this song, whereas “Babe” was a constant bugaboo reminding Murray’s Phil Connors of his eternal prison. “Dangerous” may signal the same for Sam, but it lacks punch for her to fight against.

This is such a downbeat, unspectacular route for Before to go in, especially compared to its buoyant predecessor. But perhaps that is the point. Sam has a perfectly pleasant high school senior existence, but it could all be masking how dead she is inside. And it is not repeating the same day over and over that makes her so, though she may not realize it at first. The only problem here is that the film fails to signal its purpose until about halfway through. Before that, it’s just a bunch of basic teenagers hanging out, partying, and giving each other roses on “Cupid Day.”

The challenge that Before I Fall presents to its audience boils down to: can Deutch win us over by the end, after a first act in which she participates in a hellish display of mean girlhood? To be real, though, this is not a tall order, as this viciousness is alarmingly unnatural. These girls could not possibly be that terrible to each other, could they? A major message of the movie is how adolescence can lead us profoundly away from our true identities. And Deutch’s true colors, which she generously displays, are quite charming. The movie she is in, however, lacks the small-town specificity that makes Groundhog Day a classic, but it genuinely explores the emotional truth of young adulthood.

Before I Fall is Recommended If You Like: The Groundhog Days scenes where the old man dies, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Grade: 3 out of 5 Nth Chances

What Won TV? – February 19-February 25, 2017

March 1, 2017

jmunney Television, What Won TV? , , , , , , , 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.

agents-of-shield-self-control

Sunday – Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Monday – Jane the Virgin
Tuesday – Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. going on hiatus in maddening style
Wednesday – The Goldbergs
Thursday – Baskets
Friday – Another Jeopardy! College Tournament satisfactorily completed
Saturday – Film Independent Spirit Awards

Billboard Hot Rock Songs – Week of March 11, 2017

February 28, 2017

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.

Original Version
1. twenty one pilots – “Heathens”
2. Lana Del Rey – “Love”
3. Linkin Park ft. Kiiara – “Believer”
4. Imagine Dragons – “Believer”
5. twenty one pilots – “Ride”
6. Fitz and the Tantrums – “HandClap”
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. Judah & the Lion – “Take It All Back”
12. The 1975 – “Somebody Else”
13. Zach Williams – “Chain Breaker”
14. The Lumineers – “Cleopatra”
15. Green Day – “Still Breathing”
16. All Time Low – “Dirty Laundry”
17. Highly Suspect – “My Name is Human”
18. Kings of Leon – “Waste a Moment”
19. The Revivalists – “Wish I Knew You”
20. NEEDTOBREATHE – “Testify”
21. blink-182 – “She’s Out of Her Mind”
22. Shinedown – “How Did You Love”
23. Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness – “Fire Escape”
24. Papa Roach – “Help”
25. John Mayer – “Love on the Weekend”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Human
2. My Name is Human
3. Way Down We Go
4. Heavydirtysoul
5. Love
6. Somebody Else
7. Ride
8. Heathens
9. Fire Escape
10. Help
11. How Did You Love
12. Wish I Knew You
13. Waste a Moment
14. Cleopatra
15. Heavy
16. Believer
17. Take It All Back
18. Still Breathing
19. HandClap
20. Dirty Laundry
21. She’s Out of Her Mind
22. Love on the Weekend
23. Sucker for Pain
24. Testify
25. Chain Breaker

Billboard Hot 20 – Week of March 11, 2017

February 28, 2017

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.

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 ft. Halsey – “Closer”
6. The Chainsmokers – “Paris”
7. Rihanna – “Love on the Brain”
8. Katy Perry ft. Skip Marley – “Chained to the Rhythm”
9. Big Sean – “Bounce Back”
10. Machine Gun Kelly x Camila Cabello – “Bad Things”
11. The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk – “I Feel It Coming”
12. Kygo x Selena Gomez – “It Ain’t Me”
13. Drake – “Fake Love”
14. Alessia Cara – “Scars to Your Beautiful”
15. Bruno Mars – “24K Magic”
16. Rae Sremmurd ft. Gucci Mane – “Black Beatles”
17. The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk – “Starboy”
18. Shawn Mendes – “Mercy”
19. Maroon 5 ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Don’t Wanna Know”
20. KYLE ft. Lil Yachty – “iSpy”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Chained to the Rhythm
2. Scars to Your Beautiful
3. Black Beatles
4. Starboy
5. I Feel It Coming
6. Love on the Brain
7. Closer
8. Shape of You
9. Bad and Boujee
10. 24K Magic
11. That’s What I Like
12. It Ain’t Me
13. Paris
14. Bounce Back
15. I Don’t Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker)
16. iSpy
17. Bad Things
18. Fake Love
19. Don’t Wanna Know
20. Mercy

This Is a Movie Review: Mother of Mercy, Is This the End of ‘Logan’?

February 28, 2017

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

logan-dafne-keen-hugh-jackman

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

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant

Director: James Mangold

Running Time: 135 Minutes

Rating: R for Relentless, Vengeful Bodily Harm and a DGAF Attitude to Language

Release Date: March 3, 2017

Logan marks the ninth time that Hugh Jackamn is donning the muttonchops and adamantium claws to play indestructible X-Man Wolverine. At this point, for general audiences and fanboys alike to care, there simply MUST be something new to offer this go-round. Both of Wolverine’s previous solo films kind of fulfilled that dictum, but 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine otherwise totally missed the mark, while 2013’s The Wolverine felt too inconsequential. Logan ain’t having any of that. Set in a semi-apocalyptic near future, the film streamlines the muddled continuity down of the X-universe to its essence and gets right down to business.

Logan and an unstable, nonagenarian Professor X (Patrick Stewart, relevant as ever) are tasked with transferring the preteen Laura (Dafne Keen) to safety. In this future, mutants have mostly died out and no new ones have been born for two decades (the reason for this is revealed in a quick bit of exposition, so keep your ears peeled), but Laura displays abilities very reminiscent of our title character, suggesting that the mutant gene may not have died out completely. What we have here is a classic Western story structure about transporting human cargo. This makeshift family treks along dusty Oklahoma highways in search of a supposed Eden, avoiding the evil scientist forces that constantly plague this world’s heroes.

In a first for the franchise, Logan is rated R, and it does not shy away from earning that rating. With Wolverine’s penchant for slicing his enemies to smithereens, this potential was always there. And this is not just bloodlust for the sake of it. Logan does not have any new powers in this iteration, but he does deploy them in unprecedented fashion. Rendered sick by the same culprit that killed off the rest of mutantkind, there is greater vulnerability to his carnage. His earlier appearances have not lacked for thrillingly hardcore action, but with his healing power, the stakes have never been as high as they are in Logan. Every thrash of his claw becomes profoundly cathartic.

Logan works primarily as an acting showcase for Jackman, Stewart, and Keen. This entry just solidifies the Aussie’s performance as one of the most iconic bits of casting in cinema history. Stewart plays the telepathic leader in a key that I would have never anticipated. I am not entirely sure it all works, but it is undoubtedly riveting, and I admire Stewart for venturing into such dangerous territory. Keen is a spitfire and a revelation. It takes a special breed of 11-year-old to go toe-to-toe with a hairy beast, and she’s got what it takes. All signs point to Jackman hanging up the claws for good after this entry, and if this means that Keen can inherit the mantle, we are in good hands.

Logan is Recommended If You Like: The berserker scene from X2, The Hateful Eight, The Nice Guys, Looper

Grade: 4 out of 5 Decapitations

The 2016 Jeff Malone Academy Awards

February 26, 2017

jmunney Best in Film 2016, Best of 2016, Cinema, Oscars , , , Leave a comment

witch-oscar-collage

If I were in charge of unilaterally selecting the Oscars, here is who would be recognized. Nominees are listed alphabetically, winners in bold.

Best Picture
Arrival
Midnight Special
The Neon Demon
The Witch
Zootopia

Best Director
Robert Eggers, The Witch
Pablo Larraín, Jackie
Jeff Nichols, Midnight Special
Denis Villeneuve, Arrival
Nicolas Winding Refn, The Neon Demon

Lead Actor
Paul Dano, Swiss Army Man
John Goodman, 10 Cloverfield Lane
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nocturnal Animals
Sam Neill, Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Daniel Radcliffe, Swiss Army Man

Lead Actress
Mackenzie Davis, Always Shine
Isabelle Huppert, Elle
Ruth Negga, Loving
Natalie Portman, Jackie
Anya Taylor-Joy, The Witch

Supporting Actor
Lucas Dawson, The Witch
Oscar Isaac, X-Men: Apocalypse
Keanu Reeves, The Neon Demon
Michael Shannon, Nocturnal Animals
Alex Wolff, Patriots Day

Supporting Actress
Khandi Alexander, Patriots Day
Ellie Grainger, The Witch
Greta Gerwig, Jackie
Alison Sudol, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Lulu Wilson, Ouija: Origin of Evil

Original Screenplay
Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthymis Filippou, The Lobster
Jeff Nichols, Midnight Special
Josh Campbell, Matthew Stuecken, and Damien Chazelle, 10 Cloverfield Lane
Robert Eggers, The Witch
Jared Bush and Phil Johnston, Zootopia

Adapted Screenplay
Eric Heiserrer, Arrival
Jon Spaihts, Scott Derrickson, and C. Robert Cargill, Doctor Strange
Luke Davies, Lion
Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney, Moonlight
Tom Ford, Nocturnal Animals

Animated Feature
Zootopia

Cinematography
Bradford Young, Arrival
Stéphane Fontaine, Jackie
Seamus McGarvey, Nocturnal Animals
Flavio Martínez Labiano, The Shallows
Newton Thomas Sigel, X-Men: Apocalypse

Costume Design
Courtney Hoffman, Captain Fantastic
Sang-gyeong Jo, The Handmaiden
Erin Benach, The Neon Demon
Kym Barrett, The Nice Guys
Arianne Phillips, Nocturnal Animals

Film Editing
Joe Walker, Arrival
Michael Aller and Kirk M. Morri, Lights Out
Jennifer Lame, Manchester by the Sea
Joan Sobel, Nocturnal Animals
Louise Ford, The Witch

Makeup and Hairstyling
Doctor Strange
The Neon Demon
Nocturnal Animals
Star Trek: Beyond
X-Men: Apocalypse

Original Score
Jóhann Jóhannsson, Arrival
Michael Giacchino, Doctor Strange
Mica Levi, Jackie
Cliff Martinez, The Neon Demon
Abel Korzeniowski, Nocturnal Animals

Original Song
“Another Day of Sun,” written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, La La Land
“City of Stars,” written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, La La Land
“Drive It Like You Stole It,” written by Gary Clark, Sing Street
“Start a Fire,” written by Justin Hurwitz and John Legend, La La Land
“Waving Goodbye,” written by Sia Furler, The Neon Demon

Production Design
Arrival
Don’t Breathe
The Handmaiden
La La Land
X-Men: Apocalypse

Sound Editing
Sylvain Bellemare, Arrival
Christopher Bonis, Don’t Breathe
Robert MacKenzie and Andy Wright, Hacksaw Ridge
Matthew Wood, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Alan Robert Murray and Bob Asman, Sully

Sound Mixing
Bernard Gariépy Strobl and Claude La Haye, Arrival
Csaba Major, Don’t Breathe
Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee, and Steve A. Morrow, La La Land
Scott Harber, Nocturnal Animals
Michael B. Koff, Patriots Day

Visual Effects
Captain America: Civil War
Doctor Strange
The Jungle Book
Swiss Army Man
X-Men: Apocalypse

Documentary
Amanda Knox
I Am Not Your Negro
OJ: Made in America
Tower

Animated Short/Documentary Short/Live Action Short
I wish that shorts were more readily viewable theatrically or that these categories be seriously reconsidered.

Foreign Language Film
Elle
The Handmaiden
Toni Erdmann

This Is a Movie Review: Get Out

February 25, 2017

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , 5 Comments

get-out-daniel-kaluuya

Get Out did not have me getting out of my seat from fright, which is unsurprising because I generally don’t get too scared at horror movies. But I imagine most people will not be frightened, as its techniques are less about jump scares (though it does have those) or general dread than about mindbending. Its signature concept (“the sunken place”) is a killer example.

This is basically cultural appropriation as body horror. Knowing that it is from Jordan Peele makes it easy – and sensible – to say that this concept could have started as a comedy sketch that evolved into a fright flick. And indeed, as the reveal plays out, it is clear that this actually has been done as comedy before.

I have a slight problem with a couple of moments that are endemic to the evil genius genre, in which small mistakes inexplicably give the hero a fighting chance. But I don’t want to quibble too much, because this is a clever extreme dramatization of a real societal fear, which is what the best horror movies do.

I give Get Out 18 Awkwardly Casually Racist Remarks out of 20 Days.

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