Sam's Review Club

Logo courtesy of VH1. I already miss Morgan McMichaels. Sure, she was a hardcore bitch who was a hot mess in last week’s challenge but she brought a hardness to the competition which is desperately needed in a show where the queens are concerned so much at not coming off as antagonistic to not upset their fans. BenDeLaCreme spends so much time agonizing over how much she hated sending Morgan home and the other queens rightfully point out they don’t buy the act. Thankfully Aja is around to stir up some drama by saying she would have sent home Chi Chi if she had won the lip-sync. I agree with that choice: Morgan showed more promise than Chi Chi did in that first act. But if I learned anything from Season 8, it is that Chi Chi knows how to make a comeback. No mini-challenge this week, instead the queens are hurled right into their maxi-challenge which is another All-Star mashup lip-sync combined with celebrity impersonation. Thorgy Thor immediately launches into her ...

©2017 Nickelodeon. All Rights Reserved. Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? The same cute sponge who has made his home at Broadway’s Palace Theater. Like (I’m sure) many others, I scoffed and rolled my eyes at the thought of a SpongeBob Squarepants musical. But this production—helmed with a lighthearted touch by Tina Landau and featuring an eerily spot-on SpongeBob in the form of newcomer Ethan Slater—demonstrates the power imagination has in creating a Broadway spectacular. If you aren’t already familiar with SpongeBob, there isn’t nearly enough time to catch you up. And this musical doesn’t even try. But honestly, when the cast is filled out by a lazy starfish, an eternally woeful squid and a sea-dwelling squirrel, new converts will be confused no matter what. Thankfully, the deliriously technicolor sets and costumes by David Zinn give you plenty to look at even when the action onstage reaches it’s most manic. Unlike preceding animation-to-Broadway adaptation...

©VH1. All Rights Reserved. Acting challenges are the bread and butter of ANTM ’s wackiness. Why Tyra thinks that any of her girls will have even a semi-successful acting career is beyond me. I’m not complaining. After all, watching young wannabe models flail their way through a short scene is always the most entertaining. I still fondly remember the time the girls needed to whip out a cockney accent for their challenge in Cycle 4. If you haven’t seen it, go and watch it. “SUNNY ROSE I AM!” Classic. That also happens to be the episode where Tyra yells at Tiffany. Cycle 4. Episode 7. I’ll wait while you go and catch yourself up. Welcome back to the review! The Cycle 24 acting challenge is standard Top Model fare. Tyra sends some scripts over to the girls (“be sure you memorize these”), pairs them with an attractive male actor (this time in the form of Kevin Phillips) and all of the girls’ lines quickly fly out the window. In their defense, the scene is amazingly ...

©2017 Twentieth Century Fox If you think Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is a mouthful of a title, try being one of the residents in Ebbing, Missouri. A simple act of defiance from the venom-spitting Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand, in a role that begs for an Oscar) becomes a state-wide phenomenon whose desire for vengeance is one that will leave many wounded as deeply as she. Billboards is more than just an intimate character study, it is an example of how to build narratives, create winning chemistry, and tinge even the darkest of stories with humor. Seven months prior to the beginning of Billboards , Mildred’s world was turned upside down when her daughter Angela was raped and burned alive by her assailant. With no leads and a seemingly stalled case, Mildred rents three abandoned billboards outside her home just outside the town of Ebbing, Missouri. In order they read: RAPED WHILE DYING; AND STILL NO ARRESTS; and HOW COME, CHIEF WILLOUGHBY? They go unnoticed...

©2017 Twentieth Century Fox 2017 was a weird year: Donald Trump was sworn in as president, a Spongebob Squarepants musical was made (and was shockingly good), and Guillermo Del Toro’s woman-loves-fish fantasy epic became undoubtedly the most beautiful film of the year. After seeing The Shape of Water , I immediately kicked myself for not being familiar with director Guillermo Del Toro’s filmography. His lush and over-the-top romantic fantasy is everything storytelling should be: fantastic, unpredictable, and succinct. Much praise will be heaped on the creative team for building Del Toro’s vision, but the real star is Doug Jones who turns a non-verbal role where he is covered in slimy scales into the emotional core of this love story. Elisa Esposito (a revelatory Sally Hawkins) lives her life by the clock. She wakes, boils an egg, masturbates, and heads off to work. The mute woman, who works as a janitor at a U.S. research facility, constantly escapes into the perfect wo...

©2017 - NEON As Margot Robbie drawls in the final moments of I, Tonya : “America wants someone to love, but they also want someone to hate.” Tonya Harding exemplifies both the best and the worst qualities of an All-American athlete. Her career, filled with some of the highest highs for any American figure skater, was short-lived thanks to the infamous knee-capping of Nancy Kerrigan, America’s figure skating sweetheart, prior to the 1994 Olympic Games. She is the perfect fodder for a biopic. But I, Tonya does more than just humanize someone who has become a symbol for villainous and conniving athletes. This film reimagines the way biopics should be presented. According to captions before the movie begins, I, Tonya is based on a series of conflicting interviews between Tonya Harding (an electrifying Margot Robbie in a performance bound to reshape her career) and her now-ex-husband Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan, who serves as a worthy sparring partner). Consequently the rest ...

Show art property of The Humans . All Rights Reserved. During the performance of The Humans last night at the Kennedy Center I had to constantly try to focus on the words of Stephen Karam’s script. Even in their slower moments, Karam’s words are quick, efficient, and representative of how real families experiencing real struggles communicate. It’s a shame the cast was unable to elevate these words to the dramatic heights of which they are capable. Winning the 2006 Tony Award for Best Play, The Humans is a real-time drama set in a duplex apartment in New York City. Having just moved into their new abode, Brigid (a slightly grating Daisy Eagan) and Richard (Luis Vega) decide to host Thanksgiving dinner. The evening is already off to a rocky start thanks to the moving trucks being delayed. There is nearly no furniture in their apartment, which creates a less than inviting space for Brigid’s family upon their arrival. The young couple hopes they can nevertheless make the most ...

Show Poster Image Property of On Your Feet!  All Rights Reserved When I saw On Your Feet! last night at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, the audience had gone crazy before the curtain rose. Unexpectedly, the real-life Gloria and Emilio Estefan were in attendance for the musical chronicling their lives. Knowing these legends were present energized the audience in a way I have seen only a handful of times before. It was clear the evening would be an exciting one no matter what played out on stage. For those unfamiliar with the history of Gloria, Emilio, and the Miami Sound Machine, the musical serves as a solid history lesson. Little Gloria (Carmen Sanchez) grows up in Little Havana in Miami, Floria. Her mother, Gloria Fajardo (Nancy Ticotin, one of the strongest but most inconsistent actresses), and grandmother, Consuelo García (a scene-stealing Alma Cuervo), watch after her. Quickly, Gloria matures into a beautiful young woman (original Broadway standby for Gloria,...