Jmunney's Blog

New Girl 5.17/5.18: “Road Trip”/”A Chill Day In”

April 27, 2016

jmunney New Girl, New Girl Episode Reviews, Television A Chill Day In, New Girl, New Girl 517, New Girl 518, New Girl Season 5, Road Trip Leave a comment

Ain’t nobody gonna touch Winston’s babies! http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2016/04/27/new-girl-season-5-episodes-17-and-18-r

What Won TV? – April 17-April 23, 2016

April 24, 2016

jmunney Television, What Won TV? Better Call Saul, Broad City, Last Week Tonight, Orphan Black, Prince, Saturday Night Live, SNL, The Grinder, VICE 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.

Grinder For the People

Sunday – Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Monday – Better Call Saul, with Clea DuVall stopping by to ensure that Season 2 ended on a high.
Tuesday – The Grinder cannot stop grinding.
Wednesday – Broad City
Thursday – Orphan Black
Friday – VICE
Saturday – SNL remembering Prince

New Girl 5.15/5.16: “Jeff Day”/”Helmet”

April 20, 2016

jmunney New Girl, New Girl Episode Reviews, Television Helmet, Jeff Day, New Girl, New Girl 515, New Girl 516, New Girl Season 5 Leave a comment

“Y’all know Winston love being on his toes.” http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2016/04/20/new-girl-season-5-episodes-15-and-16-r

SNL Recap April 16, 2016: Julia Louis-Dreyfus/Nick Jonas

April 18, 2016

jmunney Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Nick Jonas, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live 4118, Saturday Night Live Season 41, SNL, SNL Season 41 Leave a comment

SNL: Nick Jonas, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Aidy Bryant

This review was originally posted on Starpulse in April 2016.

This episode marks Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ third time returning to “SNL” as host, but in a way it feels like her first. She never hosted while “Seinfeld” was on the air, and this is the first to coincide with her run on “Veep.” Her last two times were during the age of the decidedly less heralded “New Adventures of Old Christine.” This is all to say, she has never more been one of the undisputed reigning queens of comedy. The writing had better not fail her.

Democratic Presidential Debate – The time in between Democratic primary debates is long enough such that Larry David’s cameo appearances can be spaced out enough to not feel like overkill. By multiple accounts, this round was more contentious than most, which this parody makes sure to confirm. But overall, there is not really an overriding theme to this sketch. The most prominent moment is JLD’s appearance as Elaine Benes, which allows Larry’s Bernie to go full George Costanza (“you break em up!”). This bit becomes increasingly untethered from reality, but “Seinfeld”-inspired bits still hold up so well. Vanessa’s Rachel Green, meanwhile, while clever, is so irrelevant to everything else. B-

This Is a Movie Review: Zootopia

April 17, 2016

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews Zootopia 1 Comment

Zootopia

With its allegorical approach to stereotype-fueled tension, Zootopia is a lot heavier thematically than audiences might expect an animated family movie to be. But this is nothing new for the genre. Inside Out incorporates cutting-edge neurological research, Happy Feet shines an environmental light, the Toy Story series meditates upon loss, and plenty of others have death – so much death. So perhaps family films should be taken to task if they do not cut deep.

Zootopia sticks out in this field by taking on a topic that is especially charged. Good luck remaining neutral once this cat is out of the bag. Confidence is essential here to achieve success, and that is embodied in our leporine hero Judy Hopps. Her character design – all thumping feet, widening pupils, and perky ears – is all about necessary urgency and perseverance. Ginnifer Goodwin provides the vocal equivalent of all those physical attributes. Jason Bateman as her redeemable fox partner usefully counterpoints with opportunism, while his sympathetic background points to hopefulness.

I give Zootopia 1800 Thumps out of 2000 Sloth Gags.

This Is a Movie Review: Hardcore Henry

April 17, 2016

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews Hardcore Henry 1 Comment

Hardcore-Henry

The entirety of Hardcore Henry is from the first-person perspective of its titular hero. For a nonstop actioner, this gimmick is understandable but frequently impractical. With all the jumping and crashing, camera focus is a challenge. As difficult as this film may be to watch, it is an undeniably impressive technical accomplishment. As far as having a point, though, the gimmick is aesthetically resonant, but it does not really matter all that much to the plot, which is actually surprisingly complex (though a little half-baked). There is an evil-accented, telekinetic albino baddie chasing Henry, signaling that this movie might actually be more interested in crafting a strange sci-fi head trip than pulling off its POV stunt. That sci-fi bent is welcome, as it provides a surprising degree of movie magic heft and offers an explanation for why Sharlto Copley keeps popping up everywhere to help Henry out. Anything that allows Copley to be his unpredictable self justifies its own existence.

I give Hardcore Henry 70 Sharlto Copley’s out of 100 Avatars.

What Won TV? – April 10-April 16, 2016

April 17, 2016

jmunney Television, What Won TV? Better Call Saul, black-ish, Childrens Hospital, Jeopardy!, Last Week Tonight, Margaret Miles, Margaret the Librarian, Saturday Night Live, SNL, The Grinder Leave a comment

MargaretJeopardyPetCats

Sunday – Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Monday – Better Call Saul
Tuesday – The Grinder
Wednesday – black-ish
Thursday – Margaret the “hopelessly stereotypical” librarian on Jeopardy!
Friday – A Tournament of Champions-level brawl on Jeopardy! (Honorable Mention: Childrens Hospital‘s revelatory series finale)
Saturday – SNL, with Kate McKinnon and JLD as aliens