Celebrating the Best Episodes (CREDIT: FOX/Screenshot)
If you get Conan O’Brien to guest star, and go cleverly meta, chances are good that you’ll end up pretty high on my Best Episodes list.
The Best TV Episodes of 2024
January 22, 2025
Best of 2024, Best of TV 2024, Television Abbott Elementary, American Dad!, Bob's Burgers, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Elsbeth, Family Guy, Fantasmas, Fargo, Girls5eva, John Mulaney Presents: Everybody's in L.A., Matlock, Solar Opposites, Superman & Lois, The Curse, The Simpsons, What We Do in the Shadows, Young Sheldon Leave a comment
Best New and Returning TV Shows of 2024
January 21, 2025
Best of 2024, Best of TV 2024, Television @fter Midnight, American Dad!, Best of 2024, Bob's Burgers, Conan O'Brien Must Go, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Elsbeth, Evil, Evil Superman, High Potential, John Mulaney Presents: Everybody's in L.A., Last Week Tonight, Mr. Bates vs the Post Office, Pop Culture Jeopardy!, Solar Opposites, St. Denis Medical, The Floor, What We Do in the Shadows, Whose Line is it Anyway?, X-Men '97, Young Sheldon Leave a comment
CREDIT (Clockwise from Top Left): FX/Screenshot; FOX/Screenshot; HBO/Screenshot; CBS/Screenshot
Television offers both the thrill of the new and the comfort of the familiar. So with that in mind, I’ve decided to split my Best TV of 2024 roundup into two lists: one for the Debutantes, and another for the Returning Champions.
I’ve Heard of the Wolf Man, But the Last Showgirl?
January 20, 2025
Cinema, Movie Reviews Billie Lourd, Brenda Song, Christopher Abbott, Dave Bautista, Gia Coppola, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jason Schwartzman, Julia Garner, Kiernan Shipka, Leigh Whannell, Matilda Firth, Pamela Anderson, Sam Jaeger, Wolf Man, Wolf Man 2025 Leave a comment
Couple Goals? (CREDIT: Roadside Attractions; Nicola Dove/Universal Pictures)
Wolf Man
Starring: Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, Matilda Firth, Sam Jaeger
Director: Leigh Whannell
Running Time: 103 Minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: January 17, 2025 (Theaters)
The Last Showgirl
Starring: Pamela Anderson, Dave Bautista, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kiernan Shipka, Brenda Song, Billie Lourd, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Gia Coppola
Running Time: 89 Minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: December 13, 2024 (Oscar Qualifying)/January 10, 2025 (Wide Theaters)
What’s going on, movie freaks?!😛Well, I’ll tell you what’s up with me: I saw a couple of movies this past weekend that most people probably don’t associate with each other, beyond the fact that they’re both currently playing in theaters. Interestingly enough, they also both feature (opposite) gendered language in their titles.
Jeff’s Wacky SNL Review: Dave Chappelle/GloRilla
January 19, 2025
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television Dave Chappelle, GloRilla, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 50, SNL, SNL Season 50 Leave a comment
Glo Up (CREDIT: NBC/Screenshot)
Jeff “jmunney” Malone watches every new episode of Saturday Night Live and then reviews all the sketches and segments according to a “wacky” theme.
OMG, it’s 2025 already? Indeed, we’re more than halfway through January. Well, with that in mind, I’m gonna go ahead and talk about the first new SNL of the calendar year, which undeniably had the guest lineup of Dave Chappelle and GloRilla.
For the theme of this review, I’m going to A to B to C things. As you may know, another famous guy with a similar name as our host is photographer-director David LaChapelle, who has his own connection to this late night institution, having recently shot the recent SNL-centric cover story for New York Magazine. So I’ll analyze each sketch and segment by asking the question: Would David LaChapelle Like This? (For reference, LaChappelle is known for his colorful music videos like Christina Aguilera’s “Dirrty,” as well as the krumping documentary Rize.)
Entertainment To-Do List: Week of 1/17/25
January 17, 2025
Cinema, Entertainment To-Do List, Music, Podcasts, Television Balloonerism, Casuals, Jasmine.4.T, Katie Nolan, Mac Miller, One of Them Days, Podcasts, Severance, Wolf Man, You Are the Morning Leave a comment
CREDIT: Katie Nolan/Screenshot
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–One of Them Days (Theaters)
–Wolf Man (Theaters)
TV
–Severance Season 2 Premiere (January 17 on Apple TV+)
Music
-Jasmine.4.T, You Are the Morning – I’ve never heard of her until this week, but her Wikipedia page mentions that she has a single produced by boygenius.
-Mac Miller, Balloonerism – Second posthumous album
Podcasts
–Casuals (Debuts January 21) – Hosted by Katie Nolan
‘The Damned’ is a Fairly Interesting January 2025 Movie Release
January 17, 2025
Cinema, Movie Reviews Andrean Sigurgeirsson, Francis Magee, Guillermo Uria, Joe Cole, Lewi Gribben, Mícheál Óg Lane, Odessa Young, Rory McCann, Siobhan Finneran, The Damned, Turlough Convery Leave a comment
Portrait of The Damned in Snow (CREDIT: Vertical Entertainment)
Starring: Odessa Young, Joe Cole, Rory McCann, Siobhan Finneran, Francis Magee, Turlough Convery, Mícheál Óg Lane, Lewi Gribben, Andrean Sigurgeirsson, Guillermo Uria
Director: Thordur Palsson
Running Time: 89 Minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: January 3, 2025 (Theaters)
I don’t want to be damned! Nor do I want to be in the location where the Thordur Palsson-directed movie The Damned is set, i.e., an Arctic bay that’s days away from the nearest village. Brr, that sounds cold! Although that’s not the biggest problem. I could find a way to survive the below-zero temps, but the lack of sunlight would really just not work for me. Also, the hallucinations that are apparently running rampant don’t sound so great. I enjoy analyzing hallucinations from the outside, but actually interacting with them – and living to tell the tale – is a little trickier.
Grade: Frostbite & Brainfreeze
‘Unstoppable’ is Pretty Much Exactly What You’d Expect Out of a One-Legged Wrestler Biopic
January 16, 2025
Cinema, Movie Reviews Anthony Robles, Bobby Cannavale, Don Cheadle, Jennifer Lopez, Jharrel Jerome, Michael Peña, Unstoppable, Unstoppable 2024, William Goldenberg Leave a comment
Photo of a Man Who Can’t Be Stopped (CREDIT: Amazon MGM Studios)
Starring: Jharrel Jerome, Jennifer Lopez, Don Cheadle, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Peña, Anthony Robles
Director: William Goldenberg
Running Time: 123 Minutes
Rating: PG-13 for Troubles at Home
Release Date: December 6, 2024 (Limited Theaters)/January 16, 2025 (Amazon Prime Video)
What’s It About?: Champion wrestler Anthony Robles is one of those athletes with an undeniable underdog appeal. His family struggled to make ends meet, his stepfather was unreliable, and also he was born with only one leg. But eventually he managed to be one of the top college grapplers in the country. So it’s hardly a surprise that there’s now a biopic starring Jharrel Jerome as him, as well as J. Lo as his mom, Bobby Cannavale as his stepdad, and Michael Peña and Don Cheadle as his coaches. It had a limited theatrical run at the end of 2024, and now it’s streaming on Amazon Prime.
What Made an Impression?: Head on Straight, Learning to Pivot: I think the ideal way to experience Unstoppable is for wrestling coaches to screen it for their teams or aspiring wrestlers and then bring in the real Robles for a motivational speech and Q&A session. Sports biopics are often inspirational to a fault, but this one certainly earns that spirit. The world wasn’t exactly designed for one-legged people, after all. Anthony doesn’t make excuses for himself, but he’s also far from perfect. For those of us watching, there are plenty of opportunities to really dig into his decision-making to help anyone who wants to follow in his footsteps to think both ambitiously and practically.
Standard Filmmaking Achieved: Ultimately, Unstoppable is one of those movies that I don’t find myself going absolutely ga-ga for, while also not really wanting to criticize it all that much. The acting is solid, the filmmaking is sufficient, and it gets its themes and emotions across effectively. But it doesn’t do anything spectacular. I doubt it will stick in my mind all that much, but I might stumble across it totally randomly a few years from now and go, “Oh yeah, I saw that movie. I hope Anthony Robles is still doing okay.” And if anyone is doing more than okay thanks to having watched Unstoppable, well then, I’m glad it exists.
Unstoppable is Recommended If You Like: High school wrestling, College wrestling, Olympic wrestling (probably)
Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Pins
From the End of December 2024 Into Early January 2025, I Caught Up on Some Holiday Movie Releases: Here’s What Happened
January 14, 2025
Cinema, Movie Reviews Aaron Pierre, Alan Tudyk, Anika Noni Rose, Antonio Banderas, Auliʻi Cravalho, Awhimai Fraser, Babygirl, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Billy Eicner, Blue Ivy Carter, Brian Cox, Dana Ledoux Miller, David Derrick Jr, David Fane, Donald Glover, Dwayne Johnson, Esther McGregor, Gaia Wise, Gerald Ramsey, Halina Reijn, Harris Dickinson, Hualālai Chung, Jason Hand, John Kani, Keith David, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Kenji Kamiyama, Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda, Lennie James, Luke Pasqualino, Mads Mikkelsen, Mirando Otto, Moana 2, Mufasa, Mufasa: The Lion King, Nicole Kidman, Nicole Scherzinger, Preston Nyman, Rachel House, Rose Matafeo, Seth Rogen, Sophie Wilde, Temuera Morrison, Thandiwe Newton, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, Tiffany Boone, Vaughan Reilly Leave a comment
CREDIT: A24; Warner Bros. Pictures/Screenshot; Disney/Screenshot; Disney/Screenshot
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
Starring: Gaia Wise, Brian Cox, Luke Pasqualino, Mirando Otto
Director: Kenji Kamiyama
Running Time: 134 Minutes
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: December 13, 2024 (Theaters)
Babygirl
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Harris Dickinson, Antonio Banderas, Sophie Wilde, Esther McGregor, Vaughan Reilly
Director: Halina Reijn
Running Time: 115 Minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: December 25, 2024 (Theaters)
Moana 2
Starring: Auliʻi Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Hualālai Chung, Rose Matafeo, David Fane, Awhimai Fraser, Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda, Temuera Morrison, Nicole Scherzinger, Rachel House, Gerald Ramsey, Alan Tudyk
Directors: David Derrick Jr, Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller
Running Time: 100 Minutes
Rating: PG
Release Date: November 27, 2024 (Theaters)
Mufasa: The Lion King
Starring: Aaron Pierre, Kelvin Harrison Jr, John Kani, Seth Rogen, Billy Eicner, Tiffany Boone, Donald Glover, Mads Mikkelsen, Thandiwe Newton, Lennie James, Blue Ivy Carter, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Preston Nyman, Anika Noni Rose, Keith David
Director: Barry Jenkins
Running Time: 118 Minutes
Rating: PG
Release Date: December 20, 2024 (Theaters)
Oh hi, there! Well, you know how it goes. That annual time between Thanksgiving and New Year tends to be busy, both in terms of social obligations and new movie releases. So even someone who frequents the cinema as often as I do struggles to catch absolutely everything right when they arrive. But I do my best to catch up with them eventually! So here’s a roundup of my thoughts on recent holiday flicks with a focus on how much they put me in the holiday spirit.
Lead vs. Supporting Conundrums: 2024 Edition
January 13, 2025
Cinema, Oscars 97th Academy Awards, 97th Oscars, A Real Pain, Academy Awards, Awards categories, Challengers, Emilia Perez, Heretic, Oscars, The Substance, Wicked Leave a comment
Respect. (CREDIT: Golden Globes/Screenshot)
You may have noticed that trophies are being handed out more than usual lately. You may have also noticed that the organizations that deliver those awards may be making questionable categorization decisions.
Around this time of year, I like to assess the situation and offer my own take on certain dilemmas, in particular whether a certain movie performance was a Lead or Supporting role. To be fair to the Oscars and other awards ceremonies, these decisions are subjective and not always clear. Reasonable people can disagree on these matters. But I’m not one to have my enthusiasm dampened my ambiguity!
Ergo, here is a selection of performances from 2024 getting awards attention and whether I think they should be considered Lead or Supporting.
(There are still a few movies in the awards conversation that I haven’t seen yet, so I may update my thoughts if I feel compelled to.)
‘Den of Thieves 2: Pantera’ Adds International Flavor for Surprisingly Strong Results
January 10, 2025
Cinema, Movie Reviews Antonio Bustorff, Christian Gudegast, Cristian Solimeno, Cyril Gane, Den of Thieves, Den of Thieves 2, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, Dino Kelly, Evin Ahmad, Gerard Butler, Giuseppe Schillaci, Meadow Williams, Michael Bisping, Nazmiye Oral, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Orli Shuka, Rico Verhoeven, Salvatore Esposito, Swen Temmel, Velibor Topic, Yasen Zates Atour Leave a comment
A couple of Panteras (CREDIT: Rico Torres)
Starring: Gerard Butler, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Evin Ahmad, Salvatore Esposito, Meadow Williams, Swen Temmel, Michael Bisping, Orli Shuka, Cristian Solimeno, Nazmiye Oral, Yasen Zates Atour, Giuseppe Schillaci, Dino Kelly, Rico Verhoeven, Velibor Topic, Antonio Bustorff, Cyril Gane
Director: Christian Gudegast
Running Time: 144 Minutes
Rating: R for Guns, Fists, Bad Words, and a Few Hits of E
Release Date: January 10, 2025 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: Detective Nicholas O’Brien (Gerard Butler) might go by the nickname “Big Nick,” but they oughta call him Ahab, considering the white whale he just can’t let go of. That Moby Dick would be Donnie Wilson (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), who bested Big Nick and the city of Los Angeles several years ago with a twisty heist, and now he’s arrived in France for his next big score. But Nick is hot on his tail, and it looks like he wants to … help him out? It’s true, or at least it seems that way, as he embeds himself right within Donnie’s crew and talks a big game about abandoning the rule of law. Or, you know, it could be that he’s just finally decided to flex his undercover entrapment skills.
What Made an Impression?: Well, the first thing that made an impression is that I actually kinda liked Den of Thieves 2. Or at the very least I thought it was an improvement over the original Den, which felt like it was cosplaying more acclaimed urban American crime sagas. But Pantera manages to be its own thing by sprucing itself up on a whole new continent. The two-hour plus runtime feels more patient than indulgent, with writer-director Christian Gudagest confidently assembling various factions on his sprawling chess board. The dialogue is a lot less clever than the plotting, but at least there’s a certain self-aware charm to Butler’s macho-overload bluntness at this point in his career.
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera is Recommended If You Like: Cheap vibes crossed with high production values
Grade: 3 out of 5 Diamonds
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