This Is a Movie Review: Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising

June 12, 2016

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Neighbors2

Neighbors 2 is admirably feminist, though it only sporadically deploys that feminism into dynamic filmmaking. It is a sorority instead of a fraternity next door to new parents Mac and Kelly (Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne) this time, and neither side is really villainous. The adults just want their house to look good while they’re in escrow, and the college gals are taking a stand against the sexist Greek system. It is heartening to see a sisterhood embracing fun while rejecting degradation, but the dialogue that directly calls for gender equality is inelegant. As the three main sisters, Chloë Grace Moretz, Kiersey Clemons, and Beanie Feldstein all have their talents, but compellingly explaining exactly what they are doing is not one of them. The comedy is less constrained. For better or for most disturbing, it heads into outrageousness ethically, temperamentally, and geographically. In the end, it all somehow works out, believe it or not.

I give Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising 7 Jokes Involving a Dildo out of 10 Jokes Involving a Toddler.

This Is a Movie Review: Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping

June 12, 2016

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PopstarNeverStopNeverStopping

Interestingly enough, Popstar is not entirely concerned about crafting a surreal world of excessive celebrity ridiculousness. Nay, in fact, its primary purpose is adding a healthy dose of progressivism to the typical showbiz redemption story. Just consider what is perhaps the film’s most buzzworthy moment: Connor4Real (Andy Samberg) has been tricked into an attempted reconciliation with his Style Boyz bandmates. So far, so typical. As he brags about and demonstrates his female fans’ penchant to ask for mammary signatures, a male fan is actually flopping his member around, with Connor embarrassingly unaware until it is too late to politely decline the request. Popstar demands that the Connor4Real’s of the real music world put their money where their mouths are and not let their egos get in the way of endorsing civil rights.

The specialty of Samberg, Akiva Shaffer, and Jorma Taccone in Lonely Island mode is surreal surprise with just enough accessibility. That element is present in Popstar, but ultimately they are challenging themselves with something more (for lack of a better word) “real.” They do not sacrifice either element, making for an unwieldy tonal mix, and they could use some more idiosyncrasy in the telling of the narrative, but it is a valiant, valuable effort.

I give Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping 250 Stops and 750 Never Stops Out of 1000 Attempts.

This Is a Movie Review: The Nice Guys

June 12, 2016

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TNG_Day_#42_01232015-324.dng

For a movie that is presumably less about its plot and more an opportunity to mess around with the rules of a genre, The Nice Guys puts a lot of effort into making its plot substantial. Sure, the main attractions are Ryan Gosling adorably bungling around, Russell Crowe wittily roughing folks up, and Angourie Rice providing the competence while still remaining a believable teenager. But the quagmire they get mixed up in sure offers plenty of food for thought. The strain of killings they stumble into investigating turn out to all be related to an experimental film with elements of porn (or is it the other way around?) meant to expose the auto industry’s part in strangling the world with pollution. The whole messy story opens up a can of ethical quandary worms that The Nice Guys pointedly in its gumshoe nihilism does not answer. How could it, when the conspiracy runs this deep?

I give The Nice Guys 20 Gun Gags out of 25 Disco Soundtrack Selections.

What Won TV? – June 5-June 11, 2016

June 12, 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.

CBBTeganAndSara

Sunday – Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Monday – American Dad!
Tuesday – Not Safe with Nikki Glaser
Wednesday – Jeopardy!
Thursday – Inside Amy Schumer, even though I’m not especially afraid of bats
Friday – Comedy Bang! Bang!, weird and psychotic
Saturday – O.J.: Made in America Part 1

This Is a Movie Review: Keanu

June 10, 2016

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews 1 Comment

keanu-movie

Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele have continually peeled away at the outrageousness of modern machismo on their eponymous Comedy Central show. A sketch may be the ideal format for doing so, as their characters in that context can be as caricaturish as they need them to be. But in a film, typically the main characters have to track as real people. In Keanu, Clarence (Key) and Rell (Peele) come off as genuine as they trek through the drug-dealing black market to retrieve the titular cat. And as they pass themselves off as gangsters, they in fact do target machismo just as progressively as K&P usually do. But because they exist in a world that is supposed to be realer than the exaggerated worlds this duo usually plays around IN, there are a lot of hairy implications that are never fully dealt with. Their energy is as righteous as ever, making for some hearty laughs, but they leave an aftertaste of, “But how CAN this be fully resolved?” and “This is where you leave us?!”

I give Keanu 5.5 Oh My God!’s out of 9 Did That Really Just Happens?!’s.

Billboard Hot Rock Songs – Week of June 18, 2016

June 8, 2016

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Longtime readers of my blog may know that I used to watch VH1’s and Fuse’s Top 20 Countdowns and then post my rearranged order of those lists. But apparently countdown shows are no longer a thing. But I still like to keep up with current music, so I have decided to check the Billboard Hot Rock Songs each week and then rearrange the top 20 based on my estimation of their quality.

Original Version
1. twenty one pilots – “Stressed Out”
2. twenty one pilots – “Ride”
3. James Bay – “Let It Go”
4. Disturbed – “The Sound of Silence”
5. X Ambassadors – “Unsteady”
6. The Lumineers – “Ophelia”
7. The Strumbellas – “Spirits”
8. Coldplay – “Adventure of a Lifetime”
9. Coldplay – “Hymn for the Weekend”
10. Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Dark Necessities”
11. Ben Rector – “Brand New”
12. Fitz and the Tantrums – “HandClap”
13. blink-182 – “Bored to Death”
14. Empire of the Sun – “Walking on a Dream”
15. Kaleo – “Way Down We Go”
16. Bishop Briggs – “River”
17. Elle King – “America’s Sweetheart”
18. Panic! at the Disco – “Death of a Bachelor”
19. Prince – “When Doves Cry”
20. Miike Snow – “Genghis Khan”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Walking on a Dream
2. When Doves Cry
3. River
4. Way Down We Go
5. Ophelia
6. Unsteady
7. Ride
8. Dark Necessities
9. Stressed Out
10. Genghis Khan
11. Adventure of a Lifetime
12. Death of a Bachelor
13. The Sound of Silence
14. America’s Sweetheart
15. Spirits
16. Hymn for the Weekend
17. HandClap
18. Let It Go
19. Brand New
20. Bored to Death

Billboard Hot 20 – Week of June 18, 2016

June 8, 2016

jmunney Billboard Charts, Billboard Hot 100, Music , , , Leave a comment

Longtime readers of my blog may know that I used to watch VH1’s and Fuse’s Top 20 Countdowns and then post my rearranged order of those lists. But apparently countdown shows are no longer a thing. But I still like to keep up with current music, so I have decided to check the Billboard Hot 100 each week and then rearrange the top 20 based on my estimation of their quality.

Original Version
1. Drake ft. WizKid and Kyla – “One Dance”
2. Desiigner – “Panda”
3. Justin Timberlake – “Can’t Stop the Feeling!”
4. Fifth Harmony ft. Ty Dolla $ign – “Work from Home”
5. The Chainsmokers ft. Daya – “Don’t Let Me Down”
6. Lukas Graham – “7 Years”
7. Mike Posner – “I Took a Pill in Ibiza”
8. Rihanna – “Needed Me”
9. Calvin Harris ft. Rihanna – “This is What You Came For”
10. P!nk – “Just Like Fire”
11. Ariana Grande – “Dangerous Woman”
12. Rihanna ft. Drake – “Work”
13. Kent Jones – “Don’t Mind”
14. Zara Larsson & MNEK – “Never Forget You”
15. Zayn – “Pillowtalk”
16. Justin Bieber – “Love Yourself”
17. DNCE – “Cake by the Ocean”
18. twenty one pilots – “Stressed Out”
19. Sia ft. Sean Paul – “Cheap Thrills”
20. Flo Rida – “My House”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Cheap Thrills
2. Work from Home
3. Work
4. I Took a Pill in Ibiza
5. Dangerous Woman
6. Never Forget You
7. Can’t Stop the Feeling!
8. Stressed Out
9. Needed Me
10. Love Yourself
11. One Dance
12. My House
13. Don’t Let Me Down
14. This is What You Came For
15. Just Like Fire
16. Panda
17. Pillowtalk
18. Cake by the Ocean
19. 7 Years
20. Don’t Mind

What Won TV? – May 29-June 4, 2016

June 5, 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.

Garbine_Reaction

Sunday – Silicon Valley
Monday – American Dad!
Tuesday – The Civil War letter writing sketch from Maya & Marty
Wednesday – The Chris Gethard Show … ?!
Thursday – Inside Amy Schumer (Hacky sitcom parodies always get me.)
Friday – Comedy Bang! Bang!
Saturday – Ladies French Open Final – is this the beginning of an all-time great?

This Is a Movie Review: X-Men: Apocalypse

May 30, 2016

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , 6 Comments

xmen-apocalypse

X-Men: Apocalypse is liable to thrill and offend audiences in equally extreme measure. I mean, come on, just consider the plot: the oldest mutant arises from his millennia-long sleep after being betrayed in ancient Egypt, and then he works to enact his plan to conquer humankind and establish mutants in their rightful place atop the new world order. The acting, direction, production design, makeup, and cinematography all match the grandiosity of this vision. To make it all work, Bryan Singer and team take a mix-and-match approach to the plotting, mining elements from the comics and the earlier X-Men films and recycling or rejecting them as they see fit. The result is unmistakably audacious and constantly thrilling. This is a movie in which a Holocaust survivor razes Auschwitz, and in many respects that is not even the most shocking moment.

This bombast asks a lot of the actors, but most of them acquit themselves well, or at least as well as they possibly can. As the titular baddie, Oscar Isaac weaves gold despite being caked under a mountain of purple makeup. This could easily be a ridiculous role, and it actually is, but it is also frightening, kind of hilarious, and deeply felt. Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy (Fassbender especially) benefit from drawing upon their earlier performances (and those of their predecessors). As Jean Grey, Sophie Turner must simultaneously be a novice and one of the most powerful beings in the world – she manages to pull off the appropriate dread and uncertainty. While not every character shines (an inevitability with a cast this big), Apocalypse is another example of an X-Men movie understanding its fundamental strength of a rainbow of unique powers. More than any other entry in the series, this is a film in which it truly feels like anything can happen.

I give X-Men: Apocalypse 8 Grand Speeches out of 10 Risers From the Ashes.

P.S.: Quicksilver’s signature scene tops the “Time in a Bottle” sequence from Days of Future Past, but even more jaw-dropping is the scene right before, in which Apocalypse legitimately destroys the status quo.

This Is a Movie Review: The Lobster

May 30, 2016

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

The Lobster

The Lobster weaves a tale of an alternate reality in which single people check into a hotel where they are given 45 days to couple up or turn into an animal of their choosing should they fail. This is not “how things are” so much as it is “how things are enforced.” There are strict rules in place to move courtship along. There are little performances explaining these regulations to demonstrate the value of togetherness over singledom. In promoting stereotypical roles, the horror of this fable is somewhat rooted in sexism, but there is genuine concern that everyone ends up happy. The greater problem is the excess literalness of the prescriptions. The world of The Lobster recognizes the importance of compatibility, but it doesn’t understand it. Even the rebel element is just as adherent to its own severe code. The scary lesson is that no matter what path you choose for yourself, it will be a landmine to navigate society at large with your chosen identity.

I give The Lobster 9 Nosebleeds out of 10 Toasters, but I must take away 1 point for one too many eye pokes.

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