One Sentence Oscar Movie Reviews

Don’t call it a comeback.

No seriously…..don’t. I have no idea if this post is a one-off or a tentative return to the world of pop culture blogging. The myriad reasons that I went on a “temporary break” that turned into nearly a year-long hiatus haven’t changed, but I have missed this. So no labels.

But whatever this, I couldn’t let the Academy Awards happen without me saying something. It’s just how I’m built. So since there is a lot of ground to cover and I don’t have much time to do it, here are my very efficient, one-sentence thoughts about all of this year’s Best Picture contenders:

• Bohemian Rhapsody – A good performance (Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury) in a very mediocre movie.

 

• Black Panther – The most fun I had at the theater this year – Wakanda forever! (Full review can be found here – remember when I reviewed movies?)

 

• The Favourite – Not as funny as I was expecting and definitely won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but filled with strong female performances.

 

• BlacKKKlansman – I hadn’t watched a Spike Lee joint in a while, but I really enjoyed BlacKKKlansman – depressing this story is still so relevant, but uniformly great performances from the cast.

 

• Green Book – I ride or die for Mahershala Ali, but this movie is problematic.

 

• Vice – I’m usually here for whatever Adam McKay is laying down and this is no exception – I enjoyed his storytelling and I’ll be damned if Christian Bale didn’t become Dick Cheney.

 

• A Star is Born – Frankly I think this one is overrated, but I’ll admit “Shallow” is a banger.

 

• Roma – Still sitting in my Netflix queue since subtitles requires a level of focus that I have not been capable of lately.

As for the actual Oscar ceremony, I’m not even sure I’m going to watch this year. This isn’t a year where I have strong feelings one way or another about the movies nominated – I don’t hate anything with the passion that I previously did War Horse or Extremely Loud & Incredible Close nor was I enchanted with anything quite like the years Moonlight and Birdman won. Basically I have no real rooting interest and the Academy has really gone out of their way to make the ceremony unwatchable – no host, constantly changing their mind about what will or will not be in the telecast – so I think I may just watch Twitter for the highlights.  I am far more invested in the season finale of True Detective, which will be airing at the same time (side bar – we all think Amelia is dodgy, right?).

Have thoughts about this year’s Best Picture nominees? Share them in the comments.

And forever long this lasts…….it’s good to be back.

 

 

Pop Culture Odds and Ends – Out Like A Lamb Edition

While upstate New York has burned me before, I’m going out on a limb and say that I think Spring is officially on its way. Thank goodness for that, since though the snow hasn’t been to terrible here, it feels like winter has been going on forever and I’m ready for some warmer temperatures and not having to make tentative plans pending the weather. I don’t do well being cooped up, though it is admittedly good for my bank account. Of course now that I’ve said this, we’ll probably get a foot of snow dropped on us.

So while I hope it’s almost time to put away my winter jacket for the season, get yourself caught up on the pop culture that you might have missed with this week’s installment of the roundup.

Television

• Donald Glover and FX are no longer involved in the proposed Deadpool animated series.
• Amazon’s Lord of the Rings prequel series is going to cost some serious cash money.
• The Crown producers have apologized over the Claire Foy/Matt Smith wage gap embarrassment.
• The Stranger Things kids all leveled up with raises for season 3.
• Netflix has renewed the great One Day at a Time reboot for a third season.
• Reggie Watts’ new game show Taskmaster to debut next month.
• Netflix orders more episodes of Queer Eye and Nailed It.
• Outlander will be back for a fifth season.
• Two former Gilmore Girls and Golden Girls writers are working on a comedy about a group of gay senior citizens.
• John Krasinski thinks the Office should return as a Christmas special.
• Sinbad will play Lil Rel Howery’s  dad in a Fox pilot.
• David Tennant to star opposite Jennifer Garner in the HBO series Camping.
• NBC has renewed Will & Grace for a third season.
• Astro City and Street Fighter are getting TV adaptations.
• Steven Sorderbergh and Gregg Araki are working on something for Starz.
• Starz will launch a Catherin of Aragon series.
• Allison Tolman will stop by Good Girls.
• Javier Bardem will star in a miniseries from Steven Spielberg and Amazon.
• Hulu has passed on the Locke & Key pilot.
• Netflix has picked up the entire Monty Python catalog.
• Dax Shepard to replace Danny Masterson on The Ranch.
• Connie Britton will star in Bravo’s Dirty John anthology series.
• Allison Williams will appear in A Series of Unfortunate Events.
• Melissa Joan Hart may return for a Clarissa Explains It All reboot.
• Margot Robbie is producing a female-led Shakespeare series back home in Australia.
• Julie Klausner joined a NBC comedy pilot.
• Nickelodeon has cut ties with Dan Schneider.
• Here’s what is coming and going from Netflix in April. And Hulu.

Movies

• Sounds like Chris Evans is hanging up the Captain America shield after Avengers 4.
• Amy Poehler is set to make her directorial debut and all her SNL friends are along for the ride
• Elizabeth Moss joins the cast of The Kitchen. Tiffany Haddish and Melissa McCarthy are already attached to star.
• Haddish is going to be busy – she’ll also star in The Lego Movie sequel.
• Nate Parker to direct a biopic of LAPD detective Ralph Waddy.
• Tessa Thompson will co-star with Chris Hemsworth in the Men In Black spin-off.
• The Spice Girls are reportedly developing an animated superhero movie.
• Gina Rodriguez to play Carmen Sandiego for Netflix.
• Ben Affleck and Oscar Issac are the latest actors to be attached to Netflix’s drama Triple Frontier.
• Alicia Keyes to produce a biopic of choreographer Alvin Ailey.
• Michael B. Jordan will produce a film about African-American WWII liberators.
• Jacob Tremblay joins the cast of the R-rated comedy Good Boys.
• The release of Bohemian Rhapsody has been moved up to November.
• The cast of Robert Downey, Jr.’s Voyage of Doctor Doolittle is pretty lit.
• Jeff Goldblum to play an “enthusiastic lobotomist” in The Mountain.
• A rumored never-before-seen cut of The Shining is hitting the auction block.
• Don’t look for Captain Marvel to make her debut in Avengers: Infinity War.
• However, she will have some familiar faces in her film.
• Vulture ranks every Wes Anderson movie.
• Disney is working on a live-action Lady and the Tramp film for its streaming service.
• Drew Barrymore called Jake Gyllenhaal her “least-talented” costar. Drew Barrymore is an idiot.

Trailers

• Deadpool 2:

 

• Won’t You Be My Neighbor?:

 

• The Rain:

 

• Tag:

 

• Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger:

 

• Under the Silver Lake:

 

• Terminal:

 

• Nightflyers:

 

• The Titan:

 

• The Spy Who Dumped Me:

 

• Into the Badlands:

 

• Kodachrome:

 

• Come Sunday:

 

• Action Point:

 

• Fear the Walking Dead, season 4:

 

• Being Serena:

 

• Succession:

 

• The House with a Clock in Its Walls”

 

• Troy: Fall of a City:

 

• Cobra Kai:

 

• The Devil and Father Amorth:

Music

• Bruce Springsteen has extended his Broadway performance through December.
• Snoop Dogg released a new gospel album.
• Blink-182 is doing a residency in Vegas.
• Cardi B’s debut album drops next week.
• Beyoncé and Jay Z are filming a music video in Jamaica.
• Bruno Mars and The Weeknd to headline Lollapalooza.
• Janelle Monáe and Erykah Badu will headline the Afropunk Brooklyn festival.

Theater

• Stockard Channing to star in Apoloia off-Broadway.
• Ethan Hawke and Paul Dano to star in True West on Broadway.
• National Lampoon’s Vacation is set to become a Broadway musical.
• A Beetlejuice musical is doing a pre-Broadway run in Washington D.C.

Books

• John Oliver’s parody book about Mike Pence’s bunny has sold out. My copy for my nephew is on back order.
• Bill Cunningham left behind a secret memoir.
• The Weeknd is getting his own comic book from Marvel.
• Sean Penn wrote a book. Nobody is happy about it.
• Sarah Jessica Parker is launching her own publishing imprint.

Stand-up

• Tiffany Haddish and Kumail Nanjiani are among the guests for Seth Rogen’s Hilarity for Charity event.

Odds and Ends

• The mystery that has gripped the nation: WHO BIT BEYONCE????
• Ben Affleck’s regrettable back tattoo is apparently real.
• Cynthia Nixon is running for New York State governor.
• Corey Feldman was taken to the hospital after an apparent stabbing.
• Fred Savage has been accused of physical harassment on the set of The Grinder.
• Ryan Murphy won the lawsuit Olivia de Havilland brought over Feud.
• Edward Norton’s production company has been sued after a fatal set fire.
• Unexpected friendship alert – Judge Judy and Samuel L. Jackson are buds.
• Jenny Slate and Chris Evans have reportedly broken up again.
• Atari is making a comeback. My original system still works.
• Michael Bublé and wife Luisana Lopilato are expecting their third child.
• Queen Latifah’s mother Rita Owens has passed away.
• Bozo The Clown performer Frank Avruch has died. He was 89.

Mashups and Supercuts

• The Office reimagined as cartoon characters:

#the office #character design #art pic.twitter.com/JvyQFUXMqV

— Marisa Livingston (@Marisa_Draws) February 28, 2018

 

• Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ben Platt mashed up songs from their Broadway musicals:

 

• The history of TV theme songs:

 

• “Feel Good, Inc.” meets The Simpsons steamed hams:

 

• The Office describes Kanye West albums:

Pop Culture Odds and Ends – Pi Day Edition

Today is Pi Day (March 14 = 3.14), though since I’ve lost the ability to keep track of the date I am unprepared to celebrate today. I’m actually not a huge pie fan – there are some pies that I like but it isn’t my go to dessert – though perhaps I can swing by a restaurant this evening to get a slice to go. I hate to miss out on food related celebrations.  Had I been in NYC today, I would have grabbed a slice of crack pie from Milk Bar, which is probably my all-time favorite (key lime and pumpkin are close seconds). Now I’ve made myself hungry.

Also pretty tasty – this week’s pop culture roundup. So get yourself caught up on all the pop culture that you may have missed in the last week – and feel free to have a slice of pie while doing so.

Television

• Michelle and Barack Obama (you may have heard of them) are in talks to collaborate with Netflix.
• Claire Foy made less than Matt Smith on both seasons of The Crown. Like I didn’t hate Prince Philip enough already.
• Wyatt Cenac’s HBO series debuts in April.
• ABC shelved an episode of Black-ish over “creative differences.”
• ABC has renewed The Good Doctor.
• Christopher Abbott will star in Hulu’s Catch-22 series from George Clooney.
• Nicole Kidman and David E. Kelly are developing an adaptation of You Should Have Known for HBO.
• Reese Witherspoon’s adaptation of Little Fires Everywhere has received a series order from Hulu.
• The classic “Who Shot Mr. Burns?” episode of The Simpsons almost had a different perpetrator.
• The Silicon Valley team spills some tea on why T.J. Miller really left the show.
• Vincent Kartheiser joins the cast of a legal drama pilot from Danny Strong.
• FX has ordered a thriller pilot from Alex Garland.
• Transparent probably won’t return until 2019.
• Dax Shepard and Lake Bell to star in a Fox comedy pilot.
• USA has picked up a Suits spin-off with Gina Torres.
• Netflix has ordered 10 episodes of Norm Macdonald Has a Show.
• Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth are developing a show for CBS based on Beverly Hills, 90210.
• There’s a conspiracy theory about Toby from The Office.
• Apple has ordered an animated musical comedy from the creator of Bob’s Burgers.
• Bronson Pinchot joins the cast of the Sabrina The Teenage Witch Netflix series.
• A Home Improvement reboot has allegedly been considered.
• Showtime has ordered seven more episodes of Our Cartoon President.
• TNT has cancelled The Librarians.
• Jane the Virgin may endafter season 5.

Movies

• Black Panther 2 is officially happening.
• David Chase is working on a Sopranos prequel movie.
• Margot Robbie is in talks to play Sharon Tate in the new Quentin Tarantino film.
• Barry Jenkins finally got to read his Moonlight Best Picture acceptance speech out loud
• Mackenzie Davis to star in the upcoming Terminator reboot.
• Elizabeth Banks and James Gunn to reunite for a new horror movie.
• John Malkovich and Matalia Dyer to join Jake Gyllenhall in an art world thriller.
• Pitbull to star in Robert Rodriguez’s Uglydolls movie. Mr.Worldwide will also contribute a song.
• This week in pop culture real estate: the Stratford sisters’ house from 10 Things I Hate About You is on the market.
• Nic Cage finally gets to live his dream of playing Superman in the Teen Titans GO! To the Movies.
• Jerrod Carmichael is producing a documentary based on Dapper Dan’s upcoming memoir.
• Madonna is directing a ballerina biopic.
• Netflix has also inked a deal with comic book creator Rob Liefeld for the rights to his Extreme Universe brand.
• Dave Franco and Abbi Jacobson get to play it straight in the drama 6 Balloons.
• John Travolta’s Gotti movie will finally get out of movie purgatory.
• Benji the dog returns in a new Netflix movie.

Trailers

• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald:

 

• Santa Clarita Diet, season 2:

 

• The documentary RBG, which I will watch multiple times:

 

• Your new favorite show, Making It:

 

• A Series of Unfortunate Events, season 2:

 

• The Handmaid’s Tale, season 2:

 

• Rampage:

 

• Eight Grade:

 

• The Grinch:

 

• The final season of The Americans:

 

• Andre the Giant:

 

• Sorry to Bother You:

 

• Game Over, Man!:

 

• The Outlaw Johnny Black:

 

• Show Dogs:

 

• Paradox:

 

Music

• The rumored Beyoncé/Jay Z “On the Run II” tour has been officially announced.
• Pearl Jam dropped a new protest song, “Can’t Deny Me.”
• Beach House’s new album drops in May – and they are going on tour.
• Eminem’s iHeartRadio Music Awards performance took aim at the NRA.
• Taylor Swift released a new music video.
• Rolling Stone profiled Jack White.
• Rolling Stone also has an interview with Meek Mills from prison.
• Hear Stranger Things’ Finn Wolhard sing on his band Calpurnia’s debut single.
• Meshell Ndegeocello has released a new album of covers.
• Violent Femmes are going on a summer tour.
• Billy Corgan says the first of two new Smashing Pumpkins EPs will be released in May.
• Neil Young is releasing a new album of music from the film he’s starring in.
• The final run of the Warped Tour will be filmed for a series.

Theater

• Zooey Deshanel to play Belle in a Beauty and the Beast live concert.
• Joy Mangano’s life will be turned into a Broadway musical. Jennifer Lawrence portrayed her in the film Joy.
• Laura Benanti and Jason Jones to host the Lucille Lortel Awards, which recognize performances off-Broadway.

Stand-up

• Kathy Griffin in headed out on tour.

Odds and Ends

• The production companies of Michael B. Jordan, Paul Feig, and Matt Damon and Ben Affleck will add inclusion riders to future deals.
• The Duffer brothers are accused of verbally abusing a woman on the set of Stranger Things.
• A producer on Wolf of Wall Street has been ordered to pay $60 million in a corruption case.
• Gary Oldman’s son disputes the domestic abuse allegations made against the actor by his mother.
• Actress Taylor Hickson sues over facial disfigurement on the set of Ghostland.
• Metallica is getting in on the Whiskey business. Fun fact – if you want to piss off St. Patrick’s Day revelers, call “Whiskey in the Jar” a Metallica song.
• Bachelor Arie Luyendyk, Jr. may be banned from Minnesota.
• Tim McGraw collapsed on stage in Ireland.
• Colin Firth’s wife, Livia Giuggioli, had a relationship with the couple’s alleged stalker.
• Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid have called it quits after two years of dating.
• Chrissy Teigen and John Legend’s dog Puddy has passed away.
• Rapper Craig Mack has died. He was 46.
• Couturier designer Hubert de Givenchy has died. He was 91.
• Theoretical physicist (and occasional pop culture guest star) Stephen Hawking has passed away. He was 76.

Mashups and Supercuts

• Tommy Wiseau auditions to play the Joker:

 

• A bad lip reading of Star Wars: