“Is there a milkmaid skipping rope?” http://www.bubbleblabber.com/review-the-simpsons-friends-and-family/
The Simpsons 28.2 Review: “Friends and Family”
October 4, 2016
Television, The Simpsons, The Simpsons Episode Reviews Friends and Family, The Simpsons, The Simpsons 2802, The Simpsons Season 28 Leave a comment
SNL Review October 1, 2016: Margot Robbie/The Weeknd
October 2, 2016
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television Margot Robbie, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live 4201, Saturday Night Live Season 42, SNL, SNL Season 42, The Weeknd Leave a comment
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE — “Margot Robbie” Episode 1705 — Pictured: (l-r) Colin Jost, Michael Che, and Cecily Strong as Cathy Ann during Weekend Update on October 1, 2016 — (Photo by: Will Heath/NBC)
This review was originally posted on News Cult in October 2016.
Love It
Season 42 starts off satisfying enough, but with only occasional moments of sustained hilarity. For the sketch of the night, I am going with Family Feud: Political Edition, on the strength of two of the best SNL impressions of all time. Darrell Hammond’s take on Bill Clinton as the ultimate hedonist will never get old, while Larry David’s Bernie Sanders takes the inanities of the Feud (he passes, because playing seems like a hassle) and SNL parodies of the Feud (the whole thing is just hello’s) to task.
Michael and Colin have weeks’ worth of election news and athletic protests to motivate them for an on-fire Weekend Update…Cecily Strong’s recurring Cathy Anne character benefits from her migration from sketches to Update, as she drops by to present her take as an illuminating but frequently incoherent (“predator of Obamacare”?) undecided voter.
This Is a Movie Review: Masterminds
October 2, 2016
Cinema, Movie Reviews David Ghantt, Jared Hess, Masterminds, Zach Galifianakis 1 Comment
The end credits of Masterminds reveal the real David Ghantt (portrayed by Zach Galifianakis) as a consultant on the film. This of course leads to the question, “What did Ghantt, one of the perpetrators of one of the biggest heists in history, mean to get out of consulting?” The final product hardly papers over his guilt, though it does make him out to be a fairly nice guy. In a way, this is emblematic of the work of director Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite, Gentlemen Broncos): oddballs are treated with matter-of-fact respect and only receive true comeuppance if they are cruel to other oddballs.
Masterminds is basically a collection of lunacy in search of a moral, or defiantly devoid of one. Or maybe it just never occurred to anybody that a lesson might be a good idea. Weirdly, the armored car robbery is more or less a victimless crime, as most of the heisted cash belongs to the banks. But this is not a Bonnie and Clyde or Robin Hood situation where capitalism is the enemy. Instead, it is more like the opening of Pandora’s Box, in which a surplus of surprises explodes in everyone’s faces. Quite literally, in fact: there are multiple scenes with explosions, and the m.o. of Masterminds is such that the most notable damage is clothes getting ruined. It’s a weird movie about the endurance of weirdness in moral degradation.
I give Masterminds my approval of its existence.
What Won TV? – September 25-October 1, 2016
October 2, 2016
Television, What Won TV? @midnight, Atlanta, Better Things, Jeopardy!, Last Week Tonight, Saturday Night Live, SNL, The Eric Andre Show, The Goldbergs 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.
Sunday – Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Monday – Jeopardy!
Tuesday – I actually love Atlanta. (Honorable Mention: that cursed health video segment on @midnight)
Wednesday – The Goldbergs
Thursday – Better Things
Friday – The Eric Andre Show
Saturday – An SNL season premiere actually gets by on the strength of its cameos.
This Is a Movie Review: The Magnificent Seven
October 1, 2016
Cinema, Movie Reviews Antoine Fuqua, Denzel Washington, Peter Sarsgaard, The Magnificent Seven, The Magnificent Seven 2016, Vincent D'Onofrio Leave a comment
If you’re looking for some sustenance from the new Magnificent Seven beyond good ol’ horse-riding, pistol-wielding fun, then you’ll probably find it in the motivation of the villains and the diversity of the title crew. Ruthless industrialist Bartholomew Bogue is high on the drug of capitalism; indeed Peter Sarsgaard plays him like he’s perpetually intoxicated. Taking a last stand against him is a team that includes a black warrant officer (Denzel Washington), an Asian cowboy assassin (Byung-hun Lee), a Comanche warrior (Martin Sensmeier), a Mexican outlaw (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), and some other nuts (Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio).
The Magnificent Seven does not explicitly underscore the angle of a melting pot of heroes defending decent hardworking Americans from a rapacious white man. But if you are sensitive to that theme, it’s hard to miss. This film hardly attempts to be the definitive voice on the subject, though it is nice enough that it is there to chew on. Instead, it focuses on what it does best, which is “a fun time at the movies.” As it rouses itself to the climax of the final siege and defense, it demonstrates crisply edited classic Western-style action, the consistent movie-star appeal of Denzel, and some kooky performances from Sarsgaard and an unstoppable D’Onofrio.
I give The Magnificent Seven 7 Horses Out of 10 Explosions.
This Is a Movie Review: Kubo and the Two Strings
September 30, 2016
Cinema, Movie Reviews If you must blink do it now, Kubo and the Two Strings, Laika 1 Comment
Kubo and the Two Strings makes no bones about its belief in its title character’s storytelling prowess. That is a mighty promise to make, one that would be deadly if reneged upon. Thankfully Kubo, with his oft-repeated mantra of “If you must blink, do it now,” can weave quite the tale. The film puts that quality to fine use in the beginning (as it sets the adventurous tone) and at the end (as the adventure is over and the tone for moving forward is set), but in between is less buoyed by that oomph. Not all is lost, as the body of the film features some intricately devised reveals and the idiosyncratic designs of Laika’s stop-motion animation, but the middle lacks that demonstrableness that says, “you had better pay attention.”
My rating for Kubo and the Two Strings is: I Blinked Only 10 Times in the 102-Minute Runtime.
Billboard Hot Rock Songs – Week of October 8, 2016
September 27, 2016
Billboard Charts, Billboard Hot Rock Songs, Music Billboard, Billboard Hot Rock Songs, Phantogram, You Don't Get Me High Anymore Leave a comment
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. twenty one pilots – “Cancer”
7. Disturbed – “The Sound of Silence”
8. The Lumineers – “Ophelia”
9. Fitz and the Tantrums – “HandClap”
10. Kaleo – “Way Down We Go”
11. Bastille – “Good Grief”
12. Bishop Briggs – “River”
13. Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Dark Necessities”
14. Green Day – “Bang Bang”
15. blink-182 – “Bored to Death”
16. Kings of Leon – “Waste a Moment”
17. Skillet – “Feel Invincible”
18. Cage the Elephant – “Trouble”
19. The Head and the Heart – “All We Ever Knew”
20. Beck – “Wow”
21. Panic! at the Disco – “Bohemian Rhapsody”
22. Metallica – “Hardwired”
23. Phantogram – “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore”
24. The 1975 – “Somebody Else”
25. Judah & the Lion – “Take It All Back”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. You Don’t Get Me High Anymore
2. River
3. Wow
4. Way Down We Go
5. Unsteady
6. Dark Necessities
7. Ride
8. Somebody Else
9. Trouble
10. Good Grief
11. Ophelia
12. Take It All Back
13. Waste a Moment
14. Cancer
15. Hymn for the Weekend
16. All We Ever Knew
17. Bang Bang
18. The Sound of Silence
19. Hardwired
20. Heathens
21. Feel Invincible
22. Sucker for Pain
23. Bohemian Rhapsody
24. HandClap
25. Bored to Death
Billboard Hot 20 – Week of October 8, 2016
September 27, 2016
Billboard Charts, Billboard Hot 100, Music Billboard, Billboard Hot 100, Gold, Kiiara 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. The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey – “Closer”
2. twenty one pilots – “Heathens”
3. Major Lazer ft. Justin Bieber and MØ – “Cold Water”
4. DJ Snake ft. Justin Bieber – “Let Me Love You”
5. Sia ft. Sean Paul – “Cheap Thrills”
6. Shawn Mendes – “Treat You Better”
7. The Chainsmokers ft. Daya – “Don’t Let Me Down”
8. D.R.A.M. ft. Lil Yachty – “Broccoli”
9. Charlie Puth ft. Selena Gomez – “We Don’t Talk Anymore”
10. Calvin Harris ft. Rihanna – “This Is What You Came For”
11. twenty one pilots – “Ride”
12. Rihanna – “Needed Me”
13. Adele – “Send My Love (to Your New Lover)”
14. Drake ft. WizKid and Kyla – “One Dance”
15. Drake ft. Rihanna – “Too Good”
16. Kiiara – “Gold”
17. Justin Timberlake – “Can’t Stop the Feeling!”
18. Ariana Grande ft. Nicki Minaj – “Side to Side”
19. gnash ft. Olivia O’Brien – “i hate u, i love u”
20. Ariana Grande – “Into You”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. Gold
2. Into You
3. Cheap Thrills
4. Side to Side
5. Needed Me
6. Cold Water
7. Ride
8. Broccoli
9. Closer
10. i hate u, i love u
11. Let Me Love You
12. Don’t Let Me Down
13. Send My Love (to Your New Lover)
14. Too Good
15. One Dance
16. Can’t Stop the Feeling!
17. This Is What You Came For
18. We Don’t Talk Anymore
19. Heathens
20. Treat You Better
Son of Zorn 1.2 Review: “Defender of Teen Love”
September 26, 2016
Son of Zorn, Son of Zorn Episode Reviews, Television Defender of Teen Love, Son of Zorn, Son of Zorn 102, Son of Zorn Season 1 Leave a comment
“Water, water, lots of drops to drink.” http://www.bubbleblabber.com/review-son-of-zorn-defender-of-teen-love/
The Simpsons 28.1 Review: “Monty Burns’ Fleeing Circus”
September 26, 2016
Television, The Simpsons, The Simpsons Episode Reviews Mr. Burns' Fleeing Circus, The Simpsons, The Simpsons 2801, The Simpsons Season 28 Leave a comment
“Our desperate plea is non-negotiable.” http://www.bubbleblabber.com/review-the-simpsons-monty-burns-fleeing-circus/
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