There is a deep well of kindness to all the characters that Zach Galifianakis plays. As an HR manager in the suburbanites-caught-up-in-spy-intrigue action comedy Keeping Up with the Joneses, this quality is more relevant than usual. He listens and keeps an open mind, which new neighbor Jon Hamm appreciates even as he is pressing him to divulge information that is sensitive to national security. The film utilizes that empathetic quality, but it feels accidental or noncommittal about it. The climax features the cartoonishly high stakes typical of mediocre action comedies, but with a game cast adept at offbeat line readings, it could have aimed for something more eccentric.
I give Keeping Up with the Joneses11 Moments of Genuine Connection out of 20 Subterfuges.
A bit of fanfare has been made director Mike Flanagan’s use of split diopter shots and insistence on inserting cigarette burns in the corner of the screen in Ouija: Origin of Evil. These techniques work with the retro vibe in this ’60s-set horror prequel, but this is more than just aesthetic fetishism. They speak to the great care given to constructing the whole film. You’ll see the denizens of the spirit world lurking around the corners, and occasionally bursting into the foreground, but only when you are damn well supposed to.
The fact that Ouija: Origin of Evil is so thorough might lead viewers to make some faulty conclusions and connections, which may just be intentional, and even if they are not, they are still disorienting in a way that great horror often is. One of the main girls is played by Annalise Basso, who was previously in the underrated Oculus, also directed by Flanagan. As Ouija becomes increasingly trippier, it almost feels like Basso is playing the same character she did in (the very trippy) Oculus. Of course, Origin of Evil is actually a prequel to another Ouija movie, but not very many people saw that and I imagine those who did promptly forgot about it.
Much of the success of Origin of Evil rests on the little shoulders of Lulu Wilson, who plays the younger and more possessed of the two main girls. She continues a long and vaunted tradition of creepy horror kids, establishing her own place in this hall of fame by adding hints of nonchalance and ace comic timing. There is one moment when she replaces the second half of an oft-repeated mantra with “blah blah blah,” which is liable to floor viewers with an unexpected chuckle. This film does not reinvent the supernatural genre, but it never lets you take it easy.
I give Ouija: Origin of Evil8 Skeletons out of 10 Crawlspaces.
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 – Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Monday – Jane the Virgin
Tuesday – Jen Kirkman’s Prince dream, as recounted on The Meltdown Show with Jonah and Kumail
Wednesday – You’re the Worst
Thursday – Better Things
Friday – Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Saturday – David S. Pumpkins: Any questions?
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. twenty one pilots – “Ride”
3. Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, & Imagine Dragons with Logic, Ty Dolla $ign ft. X Ambassadors – “Sucker for Pain”
4. Coldplay – “Hymn for the Weekend”
5. X Ambassadors – “Unsteady”
6. Fitz and the Tantrums – “HandClap”
7. The Lumineers – “Ophelia”
8. Disturbed – “The Sound of Silence”
9. Bastille – “Good Grief”
10. Green Day – “Bang Bang”
11. twenty one pilots – “Cancer”
12. Cage the Elephant – “Trouble”
13. Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Dark Necessities”
14. Kings of Leon – “Waste a Moment”
15. Zach Williams – “Chain Breaker”
16. blink-182 – “Bored to Death”
17. The Head and the Heart – “All We Ever Knew”
18. Beck – “Wow”
19. Phantogram – “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore”
20. Skillet – “Feel Invincible”
21. Metallica – “Moth Into Flame”
22. Avenged Sevenfold – “The Stage”
23. Judah & the Lion – “Take It All Back”
24. Panic! at the Disco – “Bohemian Rhapsody”
25. Kings of Leon – “Reverend”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. You Don’t Get Me High Anymore
2. Wow
3. Unsteady
4. Dark Necessities
5. Ride
6. Trouble
7. Good Grief
8. The Stage
9. Reverend
10. Moth Into Flame
11. Ophelia
12. Waste a Moment
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. Heathens
20. Feel Invincible
21. Sucker for Pain
22. Bohemian Rhapsody
23. HandClap
24. Bored to Death
25. Chain Breaker
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. The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey – “Closer”
2. The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk – “Starboy”
3. twenty one pilots – “Heathens”
4. DJ Snake ft. Justin Bieber – “Let Me Love You”
5. Bruno Mars – “24K Magic”
6. D.R.A.M. ft. Lil Yachty – “Broccoli”
7. Major Lazer ft. Justin Bieber and MØ – “Cold Water”
8. Shawn Mendes – “Treat You Better”
9. Sia ft. Sean Paul – “Cheap Thrills”
10. Ariana Grande ft. Nicki Minaj – “Side to Side”
11. Zay Hilfigerrr & Zayion McCall – “Juju on That Beat (TZ Anthem)”
12. gnash ft. Olivia O’Brien – “i hate u, i love u”
13. The Chainsmokers ft. Daya – “Don’t Let Me Down”
14. Calvin Harris ft. Rihanna – “This Is What You Came For”
15. Kiiara – “Gold”
16. twenty one pilots – “Ride”
17. Drake ft. WizKid and Kyla – “One Dance”
18. Rihanna – “Needed Me”
19. Adele – “Send My Love (to Your New Lover)”
20. Hailee Steinfeld and Grey ft. Zedd – “Starving”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. Gold
2. Starboy
3. Cheap Thrills
4. Side to Side
5. Needed Me
6. Cold Water
7. Ride
8. Broccoli
9. Closer
10. 24K Magic
11. i hate u, i love u
12. Starving
13. Let Me Love You
14. Don’t Let Me Down
15. Send My Love (to Your New Lover)
16. One Dance
17. This Is What You Came For
18. Heathens
19. Treat You Better
20. Juju on That Beat (TZ Anthem)
This review was originally posted on News Cult in October 2016.
Love It
Ann Arbor Short Film Festival – This is the sort of satire that really nails a particular piece of culture. This is not the first time amateur filmmaking has been lampooned, but it feels like it is, because it is so incisive, and so cleanly produced. It effectively uses exaggeration and reversal to make its points. Dozens of people work on a one-minute film featuring only one actor, and that feels oddly plausible. And unlike many screenings, in which the wave of questioners overwhelms the panelist, everyone on stage dwarfs the lone audience member. The Holocaust/makeup/“at the end of the day, it’s also a comedy” explanation is one for the ages.
The Hummer party limo’s visit to the Burger King Drive-Thru could have been random for the sake of randomness, but instead, each outré character is sharply defined.
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 – Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Monday – Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Tuesday – Most people don’t realize Atlanta‘s quality is another universe. Don’t be dumb.
Wednesday – The Goldbergs
Thursday – Better Things
Friday – Time to a deliver an Eric Andre Show finale! (Time to a deliver an Eric Andre Show finale!)
Saturday – That part in the Ann Arbor Short Film Festival (SNL) when everyone in the crowd stood up to get on the stage
We’re not going to hold The Girl on the Train to the same standard as Gone Girl, are we? No, because individual films are their own things, but still, comparisons can be illuminating. And these two female-led/female-titled page-to-screen sensations go together more than just superficially. Both films have plenty to say about being pegged into gender roles, and how unreliable narrators can obscure the truth of those messages, but on the Train gives itself much less room to explore those ideas than Gone does. It either thinks they will stand clearly enough on their own or does not realize how much they are there in the first place. So what we are left with is an excellent lead performance in an adequately pulpy, but mostly disposable thriller.
I give The Girl on the Train70 Vodka Swills out of 100 Truth Revelations.
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