Billboard Hot Rock Songs – Week of February 11, 2017

February 1, 2017

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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. twenty one pilots – “Ride”
3. Fitz and the Tantrums – “HandClap”
4. X Ambassadors – “Unsteady”
5. Kaleo – “Way Down We Go”
6. Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, & Imagine Dragons with Logic, Ty Dolla $ign ft. X Ambassadors – “Sucker for Pain”
7. John Mayer – “Love on the Weekend”
8. John Mayer – “Moving on and Getting Over”
9. The Lumineers – “Ophelia”
10. John Mayer – “You’re Gonna Live Forever in Me”
11. Zach Williams – “Chain Breaker”
12. John Mayer – “Changing”
13. Green Day – “Still Breathing”
14. The 1975 – “Somebody Else”
15. The Lumineers – “Cleopatra”
16. twenty one pilots – “Heavydirtysoul”
17. Judah & the Lion – “Take It All Back”
18. Rag’n’Bone Man – “Human”
19. Kings of Leon – “Waste a Moment”
20. “Not Easy”
21. Highly Suspect – “My Name is Human”
22. blink-182 – “She’s Out of Her Mind”
23. The xx – “On Hold”
24. NEEDTOBREATHE – “Testify”
25. The Revivalists – “Wish I Knew You”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Human
2. My Name Is Human
3. Way Down We Go
4. Unsteady
5. Heavydirtysoul
6. Somebody Else
7. On Hold
8. Ride
9. Ophelia
10. Heathens
11. Wish I Knew You
12. Waste a Moment
13. Cleopatra
14. Take It All Back
15. Still Breathing
16. You’re Gonna Live Forever in Me
17. HandClap
18. Moving on and Getting Over
19. She’s Out of Her Mind
20. Changing
21. Love on the Weekend
22. Not Easy
23. Sucker for Pain
24. Testify
25. Chain Breaker

Billboard Hot 20 – Week of February 11, 2017

February 1, 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. Migos ft. Lil Uzi Vert – “Bad and Boujee”
2. Ed Sheeran – “Shape of You”
3. The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey – “Closer”
4. Machine Gun Kelly x Camila Cabello – “Bad Things”
5. Zayn and Taylor Swift – “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker)”
6. Rae Sremmurd ft. Gucci Mane – “Black Beatles”
7. Maroon 5 ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Don’t Wanna Know”
8. The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk – “Starboy”
9. Drake – “Fake Love”
10. Alessia Cara – “Scars to Your Beautiful”
11. Bruno Mars – “24K Magic”
12. Ariana Grande ft. Nicki Minaj – “Side to Side”
13. The Chainsmokers – “Paris”
14. Rihanna – “Love on the Brain”
15. Big Sean – “Bounce Back”
16. DJ Snake ft. Justin Bieber – “Let Me Love You”
17. Aminé – “Caroline”
18. The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk – “I Feel It Coming”
19. Jon Bellion – “All Time Low”
20. Hailee Steinfeld & Grey ft. Zedd – “Starving”

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

This Is a Movie Review: I Am Not Your Negro

February 1, 2017

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i-am-not-your-negro

This review was originally published on News Cult in 2017.

Narrator: Samuel L. Jackson

Director: Raoul Peck

Running Time: 95 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for a Little More Explicitness Than the Title

Release Date: February 3, 2017 (Limited)

Nobody wants a documentary entitled I Am Not Your Negro to still be timeless in 2017, but here we are. The film is based on Remember This House, a manuscript by Harlem Renaissance writer James Baldwin that remained unfinished at the time of his death in 1987. Samuel L. Jackson narrates Baldwin’s words, because when you want a voice to expound upon the legacy and persistence of racism in America, Sam is your man.

With its mix of archival news footage, still photography, and other various media clips (old movies to represent the American myth, game shows to represent capitalism), I Am Not Your Negro is not your typical cinematic experience. It plays more like a museum exhibit with a visual component. But please do not let the edutainment implication that description might inspire scare you away. I just want to make sure you know what you are in for. This is a vibrant, exciting experience, different though it may be.

But I do not want to discount the educational value. The film places Baldwin squarely in the context of the civil rights movement. He was an important figure right alongside Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, but he seems to be shunted off to a different historical pocket, perhaps because of his status as an artist. I fear that tendency is a grave mistake, especially in today’s climate.

Finally, dear viewers, pay particular attention to the scenes from Baldwin’s appearance on a 1968 episode of The Dick Cavett Show. Yale philosophy professor Paul Weiss shows up to challenge Baldwin’s perspective, and the resulting rhetorical scuffle is a powerful display of the importance of listening and insisting that voices be heard and ideals be put into action.

I Am Not Your Negro is Recommended If You Like: Staying Woke, the Harlem Renaissance, the Dulcet Tones of Samuel L. Jackson

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Artist-Activists

This Is a Movie Review: Resident Evil: The Final Chapter

January 30, 2017

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resident-evil-the-final-chapter-milla-jovovich

Every Resident Evil movie starts legitimately promising but then inevitably descends into an opaque mess. The Final Chapter is no exception. It kicks off with a prologue that establishes “this is what it’s all about, this has always been what it’s all about.” And we’re cooking! But then Alice just goes off and fights monsters. Obviously the monster battles are going to happen no matter what, but it would be nice if they were better informed by the purpose of the story. And if that cannot happen, at least don’t make things so drab, especially considering how vibrant the color palette can be in the other sequels.

I give Resident Evil: The Final Chapter 2 Acrobatics out of 5 Roadblocks.

For more of my thoughts on the Resident Evil series, click here!

This Is a Movie Review: Lion

January 29, 2017

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lion-movie-sunny-pawar

Why did Lion not get a full wide release right from the get-go? It’s an insanely inspiring true-life story about the triumph of the human spirit and love knowing no geographical bounds. This is the sort of story that people want to see! When you tell me, “Saroo Brierley got lost as a boy on a train in India and couldn’t find his way home, but 20 years later, after being adopted by an Australian couple, he finds his way back with the help of Google Earth,” what do I say? Just point and shoot! Well, don’t just point and shoot. Throw in some cinematic style as well, as we’ve already been inspired plenty of times. Like maybe include some flashbacks and subjective POV shots to indicate that Saroo’s family continues to walk alongside him even as they are no longer physically there. Yeah, that’ll do.

I give Lion 1 Tear for Fear, and 19 Tears for Joy.

This Is a Movie Review: Fences

January 29, 2017

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , 1 Comment

Denzel Washington plays Troy Maxson and Viola Davis plays Rose Maxson in Fences from Paramount Pictures. Directed by Denzel Washington from a screenplay by August Wilson.

Every baseball stadium’s fence is unique. Some of them are harder to breach than others. I suppose we all put up different sorts of fences of varying difficulties in our own lives. Some of them are covered in ivy, sometimes we crash into them, sometimes we stand on top of them. If we break through them, no matter how we do it, and regardless of whether or not it is a good idea, it is usually at least somewhat painful.

Does it feel a little obtuse that this whole review is an extended baseball metaphor? Well that is pretty much the only way that garbageman/former Negro Leagues player Troy Maxson (Denzel Washington) talks, and it is indeed maddening.

I give Fences 78 out of 100 … well, Fences.

What Won TV? – January 22-January 28, 2017

January 29, 2017

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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.

australian-open-2017-william-sisters

Sunday – The Young Pope
Monday – The Young Pope
Tuesday – Billy on the Street, Billy on the pulse of America
Wednesday – Man Seeking Woman
Thursday – Baskets (but honorable mention kudos to Riverdale for winning me over)
Friday – Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Saturday – Williams sisters in the Australian Open final in 2017?!

Billboard Hot Rock Songs – Week of February 4, 2017

January 27, 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. twenty one pilots – “Ride”
3. X Ambassadors – “Unsteady”
4. Fitz and the Tantrums – “HandClap”
5. Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, & Imagine Dragons with Logic, Ty Dolla $ign ft. X Ambassadors – “Sucker for Pain”
6. Kaleo – “Way Down We Go”
7. The Lumineers – “Ophelia”
8. The xx – “On Hold”
9. Zach Williams – “Chain Breaker”
10. Alex da Kid ft. X Ambassadors, Elle King, & Wiz Khalifa – “Not Easy”
11. The 1975 – “Somebody Else”
12. Green Day – “Still Breathing”
13. twenty one pilots – “Heavydirtysoul”
14. John Mayer – “Love on the Weekend”
15. Kings of Leon – “Waste a Moment”
16. The Lumineers – “Cleopatra”
17. Judah & the Lion – “Take It All Back”
18. Highly Suspect – “My Name is Human”
19. The xx – “Say Something Loving”
20. Rag’n’Bone – “Human”
21. blink-182 – “She’s Out of Her Mind”
22. Shinedown – “How Did You Love”
23. The xx – “I Dare You”
24. The xx – “Dangerous”
25. The xx – “Lips”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Human
2. My Name is Human
3. Way Down We Go
4. Unsteady
5. Heavydirtysoul
6. Somebody Else
7. Dangerous
8. Lips
9. On Hold
10. Ride
11. I Dare You
12. Say Something Loving
13. Ophelia
14. How Did You Love
15. Heathens
16. Waste a Moment
17. Cleopatra
18. Take It All Back
19. Still Breathing
20. HandClap
21. She’s Out of Her Mind
22. Love on the Weekend
23. Not Easy
24. Sucker for Pain
25. Chain Breaker

Billboard Hot 20 – Week of February 4, 2017

January 26, 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. Migos ft. Lil Uzi Vert – “Bad and Boujee”
2. Ed Sheeran – “Shape of You”
3. Rae Sremmurd ft. Gucci Mane – “Black Beatles”
4. The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey – “Closer”
5. The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk – “Starboy”
6. Machine Gun Kelly x Camila Cabello – “Bad Things”
7. The Chainsmokers – “Paris”
8. Zayn and Taylor Swift – “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker)”
9. Maroon 5 ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Don’t Wanna Know”
10. Bruno Mars – “24K Magic”
11. Drake – “Fake Love”
12. Ariana Grande ft. Nicki Minaj – “Side to Side”
13. Alessia Cara – “Scars to Your Beautiful”
14. Aminé – “Caroline”
15. Big Sean – “Bounce Back”
16. DJ Snake ft. Justin Bieber – “Let Me Love You”
17. Rihanna – “Love on the Brain”
18. Zay Hilfigerrr and Zayion McCall – “Juju on That Beat (TZ Anthem)”
19. The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk – “I Feel It Coming”
20. twenty one pilots – “Heathens”

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

This Is a Movie Review: A Dog’s Purpose

January 26, 2017

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , 3 Comments

A DOG'S PURPOSE

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

Starring: Josh Gad, K.J. Apa, Britt Robertson, John Ortiz, Dennis Quaid, Peggy Lipton

Director: Lasse Hallström

Running Time: 100 Minutes

Rating: PG for a Few Moments That Make a Dog Whimper

Release Date: January 27, 2017

A Dog’s Purpose asks, “What is a dog’s purpose?” Before answering this question, it is important to note that A Dog’s Purpose presupposes that reincarnation (or at least canine reincarnation) is a fact of existence. If you have been a dog parent multiple times and ever believed that one of your more recent pups was somehow the same as one of your older ones, then this film has your back. This is the third in director Lasse Hallström’s dog trilogy (following 1985’s My Life as a Dog and 2009’s Hachi: A Dog’s Tale), so I feel confident in determining that he imbued that belief into every single frame.

The film seeks its meaning by tracking the lives of the dog (voiced by Josh Gad in each iteration) over approximately 50 years. The lifetimes that are traversed include an all-American football-slinging, farming sixties family; a seventies detective buddy story; a Jheri curled-style romance in the eighties and nineties; and a reunion narrative in the 2000’s, along with a few danger-filled detours along the way. The canine perspective remains endearing, with much humor mined from the dog growing into its new bodies, often switching genders (the breeds range from Red Retriever to German Shepherd, down to Corgi, concluding as a St. Bernard-Australian Shepherd mix).

But the quality of the film is only as strong as the quality of each of the human stories. The most prominent is also the most cliché-ridden. Ethan (K.J. Apa) is a wholesome high school quarterback with everything going his way until an accident derails his guarantee of an athletic scholarship. Rectify’s Luke Kirby does what he can in the mandatory drunk dad role, and Britt Robertson is a minor delight as Ethan’s best gal, but this whole segment is a slog due to painfully unimaginative writing.

Much more fun, and offbeat, are the two middle segments. John Ortiz is a natural as a ’70s detective in the K-9 unit. His pursuit of a divorced dad who has kidnapped his daughter is a weirdly engrossing mix of family friendly and urban grit. That is followed by a portion that is a bit like The Cosby Show, except with a lot more perms and a-ha.

A Dog’s Purpose is never so cloying that it ought to be resented. Yet its storytelling is all too often so surface-level that it does not matter how lovable dogs are. But it concludes nicely when it returns back to the farm, redeeming a story that had little going for it in the first place. Let’s put it this way: Dennis Quaid has a face and physique that were made for carrying bales of hay, and Peggy Lipton makes the case that all cinematic love stories should henceforth star 70-year-olds.

A Dog’s Purpose is Recommended If You Like: Dogs More Than You Like Good Storytelling, Pretending That Your Dog’s Internal Voice is That of Olaf from Frozen

Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Games of Fetch

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