Emilia Where-ez?

January 25, 2025

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , Leave a comment

What’s up? (CREDIT: Netflix)

Starring: Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz, Édgar Ramírez, Mark Ivanir

Director: Jacques Audiard

Running Time: 132 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: November 1, 2024 (Theaters)/November 13, 2024 (Netflix)

In case anyone was wondering, I did see Emilia Pérez a few days ago. It was pretty ridiculous, and quite frankly I wish it had been even more ridiculous. As it is, it’s caught in a rudderless limbo between respectability and camp. I’ve heard queer audiences criticize it for not truly understanding transgender people and Mexican audiences criticize it for perpetuating a negative stereotype of their country.

To which I say: why not be even less accurate?! Not in an ugly, shallow sort of way, but rather, in a bizarre, incomprehensible manner that’s too confusing to be offensive to anybody. And honestly, it kind of feels like that’s what the makers of Emilia Pérez were attempting. Or maybe that’s just what I wanted them to attempt. Either way, it’s weird how they got so close to that.

Grade: Stuck Somewhere in the Middle of the Atlantic Ocean

Lead vs. Supporting Conundrums: 2024 Edition

January 13, 2025

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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.)

More

That’s Auntertaiment: What’s Jeff Watching? #18

December 15, 2024

jmunney Podcasts, That's Auntertainment , , , , , Leave a comment

Game on! (CREDIT: Jeopardy!/Screenshot)

Mostly Pop Culture Jeopardy!, and some movies we’ve watched recently.

Entertainment To-Do List: Week of 11/1/24

November 1, 2024

jmunney Cinema, Entertainment To-Do List, Music, Television, Video Games , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Talkin’ bout Chuck (CREDIT: Michael Perez Entertainment LLC/Shudder Release)

Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.

Movies
–Blitz (November 1 in Theaters and November 22 on Apple TV+)
–Doc of Chucky (November 1 on Shudder) – Diving into the Child’s Play franchise.
–Emilia Perez (November 1 in Theaters and November 13 on Netflix)
–Here (Theaters) – This one’s got a gimmick.
–Juror #2 (Theaters)
–Music by John Williams (Limited Theaters and Disney+)
–A Real Pain (Theaters)

TV
-2024 SNL Election Special (November 4 on NBC)

Music
–American Dad!: Greatest Hits – “Iconic songs performed by the cast throughout the show’ s extensive run, capturing many of the quirky, musical moments that have made it a fan favorite.”
-Bishop Briggs, Tell My Therapist I’m Fine – This came out a few weeks ago, but somehow I missed it.
-The Cure, Songs of a Lost World

Video Games
–The Legend of Santa (Nintendo Switch, PS5, Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android) – A simple platformer that might be fun for the holiday season.