This Is a Movie Review: Brad Pitt Takes Matter Into His Own Hands in the WWII Thriller ‘Allied’

November 21, 2016

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Brad Pitt plays Max Vatan and Marion Cotillard plays Marianne Beausejour in Allied from Paramount Pictures.

This review was originally published on News Cult in November 2016.

Starring: Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard, Jared Harris

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Running Time: 124 Minutes

Rating: R for the Horrors of War

Release Date: November 23, 2016

The World War II thriller Allied has a hell of a premise: intelligence officer Max Vatan (Brad Pitt) is informed that his French wife Marianne Beausejour (Marion Cotillard) may actually be a sleeper spy for the Germans. If she is, he must execute her himself or face hanging for high treason. This is the sort of flashy, adult-oriented actioner that can only get studio backing if the biggest star in the world is in it, and that few directors besides Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Beowulf, Flight) are interested in making anymore. That’s a shame. Allied does not set any gold standards, but it is the sort of perfectly enjoyable effort that Hollywood should be cranking out with ease.

Do not let my pleasant but uninspiring description fool you into thinking that Allied lacks personality. Indeed, its best scene is both Max and Marianne’s sexual linchpin and the prime CGI showcase. Their relationship is confirmed as more than just the bonding of fellow warriors as they find themselves stuck in their car in the middle of a sandstorm. The camera rotates with the force of the environment, as the editing pace intensifies, placing them in a transformational vortex, which serves as the point of no return.

As Max disobeys orders and takes the investigation into his own hands, the twists pile up and complicate the initial assessment of Marianne. Yet the plotting remains straightforward. This is the Occam’s razor of spy thrillers: British intelligence may have a reputation for playing head games with its officers, but sometimes the most simple subterfuge is the correct explanation. Furthermore, while Allied’s official reports may be fudged a few times, its emotions never are. Subtlety may suffer, but integrity (and honor in a very classic sense) survives.

Allied is Recommended If You Like: Casablanca, Valkyrie, Thrillers About the Wrongly Accused Directed by Alfred Hitchcock or Those Influenced by Hitchcock

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Looks of Anguish from Brad Pitt

SNL Review November 19, 2016: Kristen Wiig/The xx

November 20, 2016

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SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- "Kristen Wiig" Episode 1711 -- Pictured: (l-r) Kate McKinnon as Napoleon, Pete Davidson, Kristen Wiig, Cecily Strong, Sasheer Zamata, and Leslie Jones during "Kristen Wiig's Thanksgiving Monologue" on November 19, 2016 -- (Photo by: Will Heath/NBC)

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE — “Kristen Wiig” Episode 1711 — Pictured: (l-r) Kate McKinnon as Napoleon, Pete Davidson, Kristen Wiig, Cecily Strong, Sasheer Zamata, and Leslie Jones during “Kristen Wiig’s Thanksgiving Monologue” on November 19, 2016 — (Photo by: Will Heath/NBC)

This review was originally posted on News Cult in November 2016.

Love It

Kristen Wiig’s Monologue – The world is perpetually in need of good Thanksgiving songs, so “Thanksgiving freak” Kristen Wiig gives us a ditto supposedly about the origins of Turkey Day. But first, she fidgets with her instruments and the placement of props, in a deconstruction of form worthy of Will Ferrell. Dropping by are Steve Martin and Will Forte – big-name cameos that could distract, but since Santa Claus is already there, and Sacajawea is paying for dinner with her own coins, they just add to the wittily written, delightfully rhyming cacophony.

The Bubble is the deceptive utopia we’ve all been waiting for…Anderson Cooper 360° is a whole series of brick jokes mashed together, with a timely twist for the ages.

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What Won TV? – November 13-November 19, 2016

November 20, 2016

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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.

billy-on-the-street-name-a-skin-color

Sunday – Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Monday – People of Earth
Tuesday – Name a TV show you should be watching: Billy on the Street
Wednesday – You’re the Worst
Thursday – Jeopardy!
Friday – Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and its “feminist bikini area”
Saturday – SNL Thanksgiving by way of Westworld

Billboard Hot Rock Songs – Week of November 26, 2016

November 20, 2016

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Each week, I check out the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart, and then I rearrange that top 25 based on my estimation of their quality.

Original Version
1. twenty one pilots – “Heathens”
2. X Ambassadors – “Unsteady”
3. twenty one pilots – “Ride”
4. Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, & Imagine Dragons with Logic, Ty Dolla $ign ft. X Ambassadors – “Sucker for Pain”
5. Coldplay – “Hymn for the Weekend”
6. Fitz and the Tantrums – “HandClap”
7. Disturbed – “The Sound of Silence”
8. The Lumineers – “Ophelia”
9. Bastille – “Good Grief”
10. Zach Williams – “Chain Breaker”
11. Kings of Leon – “Waste a Moment”
12. Skillet – “Feel Invincible”
13. The Head and the Heart – “All We Ever Knew”
14. Judah & the Lion – “Take It All Back”
15. Highly Suspect – “My Name is Human”
16. Metallica – “Atlas, Rise!”
17. The Lumineers – “Cleopatra”
18. Green Day – “Bang Bang”
19. twenty one pilots – “Cancer”
20. Leonard Cohen – “Hallelujah”
21. Five Finger Death Punch – “I Apologize”
22. blink-182 – “She’s Out of Her Mind”
23. Avenged Sevenfold – “The Stage”
24. Grouplove – “Welcome to Your Life”
25. Alex da Kid ft. X Ambassadors, Elle King, & Wiz Khalifa – “Not Easy”

Jmunney’s Revision
1.Hallelujah
2. Welcome to Your Life
3. My Name is Human
4. Unsteady
5. Ride
6. Good Grief
7. The Stage
8. Ophelia
9. Heathens
10. Waste a Moment
11. Cleopatra
12. I Apologize
13. Take It All Back
14. Cancer
15. Hymn for the Weekend
16. All We Ever Knew
17. Bang Bang
18. The Sound of Silence
19. Atlas, Rise!
20. She’s Out of Her Mind
21. HandClap
22. Feel Invincible
23. Sucker for Pain
24. Not Easy
25. Chain Breaker

Billboard Hot 20 – Week of November 26, 2016

November 20, 2016

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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. Rae Sremmurd ft. Gucci Mane – “Black Beatles”
2. The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey – “Closer”
3. The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk – “Starboy”
4. twenty one pilots – “Heathens”
5. DJ Snake ft. Justin Bieber – “Let Me Love You”
6. Bruno Mars – “24K Magic”
7. Ariana Grande ft. Nicki Minaj – “Side to Side”
8. Zay Hilfigerrr and Zayion McCall – “Juju on That Beat (TZ Anthem)”
9. D.R.A.M. ft. Lil Yachty – “Broccoli”
10. Maroon 5 ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Don’t Wanna Know”
11. gnash ft. Olivia O’Brien – “i hate u, i love u”
12. Major Lazer ft. Justin Bieber and MØ – “Cold Water”
13. Shawn Mendes – “Treat You Better”
14. Future ft. Drake – “Used to This”
15. Sia ft. Sean Paul – “Cheap Thrills”
16. Justin Timberlake – “Can’t Stop the Feeling!”
17. Drake – “Fake Love”
18. Aminé – “Caroline”
19. Hailee Steinfeld & Grey ft. Zedd – “Starving”
20. Young M.A. – “OOOUUU”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. OOOUUU
2. Starboy
3. Cheap Thrills
4. Black Beatles
5. Side to Side
6. Cold Water
7. Broccoli
8. Closer
9. 24K Magic
10. i hate u, i love u
11. Starving
12. Heathens
13. Let Me Love You
14. Can’t Stop the Feeling!
15. Caroline
16. Fake Love
17. Used to This
18. Don’t Wanna Know
19. Treat You Better
20. Juju on That Beat (TZ Anthem)

This Is a Movie Review: The Edge of Seventeen

November 18, 2016

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the_edge_of_seventeen

This review was originally published on News Cult in November 2016.

Starring: Hailee Steinfeld, Woody Harrelson, Kyra Sedgwick

Director: Kelly Fremon Craig

Running Time: 99 Minutes

Rating: R, But It Should Really Be PG-13 Because We Should Be More Comfortable with the Fact That Teens Are Sexual Creatures

Release Date: November 18, 2016

Some of the most memorable moments of The Edge of Seventeen remind me of RuPaul’s Drag Race, specifically the reality show’s “Reading is Fundamental” segments (which were in turn inspired by the drag ball documentary Paris Is Burning). “Reading” is basically insult comedy, with everyone in the room taking turns as insulter and insulted – so, you know, a roast, but the drag queen version, i.e., bitchier and wittier. But there is also a sense of perfecting one’s craft and being there to support each other. Much of Edge of Seventeen’s dialogue has this acidic streak, even though every character is fundamentally on one another’s side. Woody Harrelson at one point informs our heroine Hailee Steinfeld, “Maybe nobody likes you” – despite being her closest confidante and that line being part of a pep talk to raise her spirits.

Everything starts falling apart right from the start when high school junior Nadine (Steinfeld) discovers her best friend Krista (Haley Lu Richardson) hooking up with her brother Darian (Blake Jenner). Nadine declares that Krista must choose between her and Darian; Krista refuses to play along, but Nadine is so stubborn and thus she suddenly finds herself friendless. It is hard for me to relate to this type of conflict, because if one of my siblings started dating one of my best friends, I would be thrilled! They might officially become part of my family! (That specific argument is actually made to Nadine.)

However, I do realize that not all brothers and sisters get along that well. But what is maddening is that as much Nadine frustrates Darian, he clearly wants a good relationship with her. The source of this friction is possibly the death of their father five years earlier. It is implied that Nadine feels alienated from her brother and her exhausted mother (Kyra Sedgwick) because of their different methods for handling grief. She also may be suffering from depression or anxiety, which does not make her self-centeredness any less maddening, but at least it makes more understandable.

I am a little torn about how to assess Edge of Seventeen. Nadine is a supremely frustrating character, constantly making hurtful decisions when she intellectually must know better. But she is also easy to fall for. Part of that is because she is played by the guileless but fierce Steinfeld. A bigger part is the fact that when she actually does realize there are other people who have experienced pain she like has, she becomes a fun person to open up to. I may have to catch a few re-watches at home over the next several years to cement this as a classic, but for now it at least undoubtedly has my attention.

The Edge of Seventeen is Recommended If You Like: Clueless, Silver Linings Playbook, Teenagers Played by Actual Teenagers and One Token 30-Year-Old

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Accidental Sexts

This Is a Movie Review: Manchester by the Sea

November 18, 2016

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manchester-by-the-sea-casey-affleck-lucas-hedges-promo

This review was originally published on News Cult in November 2016.

Starring: Casey Affleck, Lucas Hedges, Kyle Chandler, Michelle Williams

Director: Kenneth Lonergan

Running Time: 137 Minutes

Rating: R for Adult Themes Discussed and Left Undiscussed

Release Date: November 18, 2016 (Limited)

In Manchester by the Sea, Boston handyman Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) must return home to his Massachusetts fishing village hometown after the death of his older brother Joe (Kyle Chandler). He is then shocked to discover that Joe has entrusted him as the sole guardian of his teenage nephew Patrick (Lucas Hedges). As he struggles to settle back into life in Manchester-by-the-Sea, he must deal with returning to a place where his existence is practically an urban legend and crossing paths with his ex-wife (Michelle Williams) after their marriage ended in tragedy.

That sounds like a formula for a bummer, and indeed the emotions are often heavy. But if you come in stealing yourself for non-stop depression, like I did, then you will be pleasantly surprised by how much humor there is. At times it plays like an odd couple buddy comedy between Affleck and Hedges, even when long-simmering familial tensions are at their most contentious. The two even act as impromptu wingmen for each other. The film’s sexual politics involving adolescents and how much parents are privy to them are both progressive and screwball.

But Manchester by the Sea undoubtedly belongs to Affleck. I had heard his is one of the best performances of the year. So I was on the lookout for any clear techniques that would show off his emotional prowess, which are not obvious. Do not be fooled though. I have been won over, even though I cannot pinpoint any one at which I would say, “There it is!” Perhaps you will feel the same way.

The question of why Lee’s life has ended up the way it has is pressing at every turn. He has been the victim of multiple tragedies, but that can hardly be the entire source of blame, as his hotheadedness is constantly betraying him. For anyone who has ever had loved ones drag themselves and everyone else down, take a breath, and then take several more, as you stick with the duration of this film. It will reward you for your patience.

Manchester by the Sea is Recommended If You Like: Hanging out with the family, Bah-ston accents, A Surprise Cameo from a Cinematic Icon

Grade: 4 out of 5 Sucker Punches from Casey Affleck

Son of Zorn 1.7 Review: “The Battle of Thanksgiving”

November 17, 2016

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SON OF ZORN: L-R: Cheryl Hines, Tim Meadows, Zorn (voiced by Jason Sudeikis), Johnny Pemberton and guest star Jenny O'Hara in the "The Battle of Thanksgiving" episode of SON OF ZORN airing Sunday, Nov. 13 (8:30-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. ©2016 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: FOX

“Oh, on all the scrotums. Okay, all right. Thanks, Doc.” http://www.bubbleblabber.com/review-son-of-zorn-the-battle-of-thanksgiving/

The Simpsons 28.7 Review: “Havana Wild Weekend”

November 17, 2016

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THE SIMPSONS: When the Retirement Castle and the V.A. Hospital cannot solve Grampa’s health issues, the Simpsons decide to take a family trip to Cuba to get Grampa cheap medical care, on the all-new “Havana Wild Weekend” episode airing Sunday, Nov. 13, (8:00-8:31 PM ET/PT). THE SIMPSONS ™ and © 2016 TCFFC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CR: FOX

Cuba is “like Florida before all the Cubans came.” http://www.bubbleblabber.com/review-the-simpsons-havana-wild-weekend/

SNL Review November 12, 2016: Dave Chappelle/A Tribe Called Quest

November 13, 2016

jmunney Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- "Dave Chappelle" Episode 1710 -- Pictured: Host Dave Chappelle during the monologue on November 12, 2016 -- (Photo by: Will Heath/NBC)

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE — “Dave Chappelle” Episode 1710 — Pictured: Host Dave Chappelle during the monologue on November 12, 2016 — (Photo by: Will Heath/NBC)

This review was originally posted on News Cult in November 2016.

Before I get into my Love It/Keep it/Leave It picks, a word on the Hillary “Hallelujah” Cold Opening, which I have chosen not to categorize. Normally when SNL forgoes a proper sketch in favor of a song for the opening, it is in the wake of a national tragedy. So add one more way in which this election is unprecedented. The song selection memorializes the recently departed Leonard Cohen, rendering this moment less depressing and more bittersweet.

Love It

Dave Chappelle’s Monologue – I guess somebody knew that Trump was going to win. That somebody? SNL’s talent booker. How else to explain how we got Dave Chappelle on the exact week that we needed him? This is not the most laugh-out he has ever been (although Bradley Cooper being the only white person at a BET-sponsored White House party is hilarious enough for the whole set), but that is fine, because he is mainly aiming for truth and strength. A lot of disappointed citizens have been struggling to say something positive while also holding on to their legitimate disappointment. By finding hope while passionately defending enfranchisement, Dave Chappelle hits that multilayered note.

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