Each week, I check out VH1′s The 20 (formerly Top 20 countdown), and then I rearrange the songs based on my estimation of their quality.
Original Version
1. R. City ft. Adam Levine – “Locked Away”
2. The Weeknd – “The Hills”
3. Justin Bieber – “What Do You Mean?”
4. Taylor Swift – “Wildest Dreams”
5. Demi Lovato – “Cool for the Summer”
6. One Direction – “Drag Me Down”
7. Ed Sheeran – “Photograph”
8. Shawn Mendes – “Stitches”
9. Elle King – “Ex’s & Oh’s”
10. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Eric Nally, Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee, and Grandmaster Caz – “Downtown”
11. Selena Gomez – “Good for You”
12. X Ambassadors – “Renegades”
13. Hailee Steinfeld – “Love Myself”
14. Nick Jonas – “Levels”
15. Ellie Goulding – “On My Mind”
16. Alessia Cara – “Here”
17. Major Lazer & DJ Snake ft. MØ – “Lean On”
18. Calvin Harris and Disciples – “How Deep is Your Love”
19. Hozier – “Someone New”
20. Selena Gomez – “Same Old Love”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. Lean On
2. The Hills
3. Downtown
4. Ex’s & Oh’s
5. Same Old Love
6. Renegades
7. Good for You
8. Here
9. Cool for the Summer
10. Levels
11. On My Mind
12. What Do You Mean?
13. Someone New
14. Love Myself
15. How Deep Is You Love
16. Wildest Dreams
17. Drag Me Down
18. Stitches
19. Locked Away
20. Photograph
The Martian is very interested in process. As such, it is more focused in making you think than in leaving you thrilled. That is not to say there is no action – there is, it is just not especially emphasized. When it comes to movies that are almost exclusively about making you think, I usually appreciate them more than I like them. But The Martianreally makes you think. The plight of Mark Watney (a fully engaged Matt Damon) – stranded on Mars with any hope of rescue years away – is one that requires the full commitment of all his mental faculties. The detailed presentation of how he gives himself a fighting chance is endlessly inspirational. Not everyone will have to plant a makeshift potato farm at some point in their lives, but everyone will almost certainly have to face situations when a lot has to be made out of a little. Thus, humanity is better off because of the example set by The Martian.
SPOILER WARNING: This essay discusses in depth the endings of an episode of Community, a 35-year-old movie, and a classic piece of sketch comedy. If you are reading this, you are probably already familiar with Community’s twist. The Shining works perfectly fine even if you know the ending. But if you have not seen the Key & Peele bit yet, do yourself a favor and watch it before reading.
When I took on this assignment, I thought I was going to be able to cover a whole survey of Shining homages. But then I realized that besides Chang’s misadventures in “Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality,” the only other one I am really familiar with is the Key & Peele sketch “Continental Breakfast.” So I looked up some more to make sure that my suspicion of their proliferance was correct. There’s a 2014 IKEA commercial in which a Danny bikes around a store. The Simpsons did it (“Treehouse of Horror V”). So of course Family Guy also did it. There are plenty of directions one can take with a Shining parody: hammy Jack Nicholson impressions, creepy little kid acting, Shelly Duvall’s big eyes, etc. Focusing on a comparison between Community and Key & Peele is instructive because the crux of both homages is the ending and what they say about the nature of reality.
SNL: The Weeknd, Amy Schumer, Kate McKinnon (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)
This review was originally posted on Starpulse in October 2015.
“Saturday Night Live” in 2015 continues its search for an identity, as the second episode of Season 41 is the latest in a long line of recent outings with almost no recurring segments. This state of affairs would seem to allow someone with such a well-developed comedic style like Amy Schumer to come in and bend the episode to her will. But it does not always work out that way. Besides, while Amy has an identifiable voice, she does not have much in the way of recurring characters, generally preferring to play variations of herself. She gets to do to that to a certain extent in her “SNL” hosting debut, but “SNL” is still “SNL,” so everyone has to play characters, for better or for worse.
Fox and Friends – This “political” gabfest is one of “SNL’s” few current reliable go-to opening sketches. This edition does not say anything too unique about Jason Chaffetz’ bid for Speaker of the House or Congress’ attempts to defund Planned Parenthood. But it does not have to when Bobby Moynihan’s Brian Kilmeade is delivering plenty of malapropisms, like wondering why they don’t let every House member speak or identifying Newt Gingrich as “the man who stole Christmas.” His interpretation of the Pizza Rat footage as the purported Planned Parenthood video is one for the ages. B
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 – Rick and Morty
Monday – Whose Line is it Anyway?
Tuesday – The Grinder‘s second episode was good, but what if it weren’t?
Wednesday – Arrow is making me nervous.
Thursday – Billy on the Street
Friday – Jeopardy!
Saturday – Doctor Who
Imagine, if you will, a romantic comedy in which two friends want to prove that they can prevent romance from getting in the way of their platonic status. You don’t have to imagine it – there are already plenty. So what does Sleeping with Other People have to add to this subgenre (other than a strong cast, fiery wit, and Alison Brie dancing to “Modern Love”)? Because even with all the fun on display, you figure that at its core, this is still the same old tale. But there actually is a twist on the formula: where sex is usually what gets in the way of the friendship, this time friendship gets in the way of friendship.
Despite their history of emotionally unhealthy sex, Jake (Jason Sudeikis) and Lainey (Brie) understand the importance of a deep personal bond in a relationship. They also recognize how strong a match they are for each other. Therein lies the conflict: it would be so easy if they were to only kind of like each other, or if they were to not realize how strong their attraction is. But at the same time, it is not easy to just stop spending time and sharing everything with a soul mate. This particular rom-com concept has inspired groans because of contrivances; Sleeping with Other People gets it right because of honesty.
Each week, I check out VH1′s The 20 (formerly Top 20 countdown), and then I rearrange the songs based on my estimation of their quality.
Original Version
1. R. City ft. Adam Levine – “Locked Away”
2. Demi Lovato – “Cool for the Summer”
3. Ed Sheeran – “Photograph”
4. The Weeknd – “The Hills”
5. Selena Gomez – “Good for You”
6. Justin Bieber – “What Do You Mean?”
7. Taylor Swift – “Wildest Dreams”
8. One Direction – “Drag Me Down”
9. Major Lazer & DJ Snake ft. MØ – “Lean On”
10. Elle King – “Ex’s & Oh’s”
11. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Eric Nally, Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee & Grandmaster Caz – “Downtown”
12. Shawn Mendes – “Stitches”
13. X Ambassadors – “Renegades”
14. Hailee Steinfeld – “Love Myself”
15. Fall Out Boy – “Uma Thurman”
16. Nick Jonas – “Levels”
17. Ellie Goulding – “On My Mind”
18. Charlie Puth ft. Meghan Trainor – “Marvin Gaye”
19. Hozier – “Someone New”
20. Calvin Harris and Disciples – “How Deep Is Your Love”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. Lean On
2. The Hills
3. Downtown
4. Ex’s & Oh’s
5. Renegades
6. Good for You
7. Cool for the Summer
8. Levels
9. On My Mind
10. What Do You Mean?
11. Love Myself
12. Someone New
13. How Deep Is Your Love
14. Wildest Dreams
15. Uma Thurman
16. Drag Me Down
17. Stitches
18. Marvin Gaye
19. Locked Away
20. Photograph
If The Intern were to focus solely on Anne Hathaway, it would be pretty dispiriting. As Jules, the founder/CEO of an e-commerce clothing company, her struggle does not go much beyond “Can successful women have it all?” While this conundrum is fairly cliché, it can potentially produce an interesting story. But it is tough for The Intern to do that when Jules’ husband (Anders Holm) is supremely underdeveloped.
Luckily, The Intern instead focuses on the relationship between Jules and Ben Whitaker (Robert De Niro), the titular intern. Nancy Meyers’ films are (understandably) criticized for being fluffy wish-fulfillment, but a restless retiree getting hired at a fast-paced new media company is a decent concept. It could easily be screwed up, though, with too much of a focus on “old people don’t understand technology” gags or “why isn’t the current generation like the older generation?!” diatribes. Thankfully, the former disappear after about the first 10 minutes, and the latter are few and far between. Ben proves to be adept at picking up 21st century skills, and he is an excellent employee not because he is old-fashioned, but because he is observant, diligent, and empathetic. He is a paragon of virtue, and De Niro gives an appropriately virtuous performance – his best in a non-David O. Russell film since Meet the Parents.
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