Ty Watches "Space Force" Season One

The other night my wife and I finished season one of "Space Force".

When I first heard about this show I was excited. It was Steve Carrell and Greg Daniels pairing up to make fun of the current "government", and their "plan" to get the US back in space. It sounded like an absolute home run to me. I was stoked. Then it came out, and it seemed to be getting poor reviews. I saw online publications saying it wasn't that funny, Steve Carrell was not very good, it seemed disjointed, all kinds of problems seemed to be had. Then my wife talked to some people she works with, people who have similar taste in TV shows, and they echoed what the critics were saying. They seemed to simply say that it wasn't funny, and that was the biggest problem. So going against my better judgement, I decided to listen to the critics. I decided I wasn't going to watch it. Then one night my wife suggested we give it a try. We are home, we have caught up on other shows, we have watched far worse things, so why not?

One night we watched the first episode and we both liked it. The next night we watched a few more, and found ourselves liking it more. We would find ourselves watching two episodes every other night until we finished it late last week. When we were all done I stated, " this is why I don't listen to critics!". I mean, the show isn't great, it is definitely no "Office", but it is not as bad as most were saying. I found Carrell funny. Sure, his voice was weird, but other than that, he was good. He played his role as the guy lumped into a job he didn't even want, or is qualified for, very well. Carrell has become one of the more reliable actors in Hollywood. And working with Daniels, they remind me of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, they put out solid stuff. John Malkovich played a scientist, a super genius, and he was the best one on the show by a million miles. He was arrogant and smug and mean, but he was also damn funny. He also showed a very soft side at times that I found incredibly sweet. Whenever Malkovich was on screen I did not take my eyes off him. I knew his performance was going to be great. I'd nominate him for an Emmy. Seriously. I thought Lisa Kudrow was great. She is Carrell's wife, and even though she has a very small role, it is damn memorable. When they move to Colorado, and she is in jail, I was shocked, in a good way. She has some great moments in season one. Diana Silvers plays their daughter, and she is good as the oft forgotten wild child in the family. She has good intentions, but she lets her emotions get the best of her too often. Jimmy O Yang is so god damn great as Malkovich's right hand man. He is funny, smart, obsessed, and involved in a very sweet love story. His love interest, Tawny Newsome, was simply perfect. She is a pilot who winds up going to space out of nowhere, but she just rolls with the punches. When she says her statement when she first walks on the moon, it was so great, so perfect and so well written and performed. Ben Schwartz is the media guy for Space Force, and while he could have pigeonholed himself as a Jean Ralphio esque character, he doesn't. He is kind of dumb, but also cocky, and when an actor like Schwartz, who is really willing to go for it, gets a role like this, it hits. And everyone else involved, they did a very solid job.

That is the best way I can describe this show. It is solid. It is not the best thing you will ever watch, but it is not the worst. It's not quotable, but you don't forget about it either. I highly recommend bypassing the critics and checking out this show if you are on the fence. I know I was, and I am glad that I was pushed into watching it. I recommend "Space Force". It is well done TV. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Watches "Bird Box"

So my wife and I sat down and finally watched "Bird Box". We wanted to see what all the fuss was about. She said people were talking about it at work, and she felt a bit left out. I have heard some of my buddies talk about it, so I also felt a bit left out. I have also seen all the memes and gifs and stuff on social media mentioning this movie. A lot of the social media stuff had to do with sports, so I was getting even more frustrated because I just didn't get it. So we put the kids to bed on Saturday night a little early, and we put the movie on.

First things first, this review will be spoiler free. It is going to be spoiler free because I feel like people should really check this movie out. But even before I get into it, I do need to yell at everyone on social media for not informing me how sad this movie is. I expected it to be scary, which it is. But, this movie is depressing as hell. I mean, my wife was sobbing at points. I was holding back all of my tears. I had to cover my face several times because I do not like to cry in front of her. We were both emotionally drained at the end of the movie. So this is my way of letting anyone know that hasn't seen the movie yet, and only expect it to be a horror movie, and they want to watch it, it is also super sad and super depressing. You will cry, and you will be upset. Just a warning.

Getting to the review now. "Bird Box" is excellent. I didn't really know what to expect, stayed away from all the stuff, with the exception of the memes and what not. But what I saw, I really, really liked. It was suspenseful and scary and well told and greatly acted and brilliantly directed. I have no real problems with the movie at all. Sandra Bullock is wonderful in this movie. She acted the hell out of this role. I totally bought pretty much everything about her role. She was awesome. The other people in the movies, Sarah Paulson, John Malkovich, Trevante Rhodes, Jackie Weaver and Lil Rel Howery, among others, were great as well. Paulson as Bullock's sister was perfect in her minimal role. Malkovich is a total dickhead, and he has every right to be. Rhodes, who was so awesome in "Moonlight" as well, was great as the love interest/badass with a heart of gold. Weaver is good as the house mom after the apocalyptic event takes place. And Lil Rel, in a not so comedic role, just keeps winning me over with performances like this and his character in "Get Out".

What I really loved about "Bird Box" was how the people all reacted to the event. Something crazy happens, again I do not want to spoil anything and it causes people to do unthinkable stuff against their will. The people who end up in the house, not yet effected, each have different ways of dealing with it. It was pretty well done to see how each one dealt. Some were strong, others were scared, others were mad, others were ready to let it go. It was great. It also made me think of how I would react in a similar scenario.(I would not last long, which my wife and dad agreed with) Aside from that, pretty much anything else I tell you would be a spoiler.

This movie needs to be seen. I have now, and I will never, ever watch it again, but I am glad I did. This is a cultural phenomena, and I wanted to be part of it. I wanted to be able to talk about it. Also, Sandra Bullock, like I said before, was outstanding. The only person, and my wife disagrees with me here, that I thought did a better job in a similar movie was Emily Blunt in "A Quiet Place". But, they both crushed it. I would hope that Bullock would get some kind of awards consideration for this role. She is that good.

"Bird Box" is great, you should see it, you should be prepared to be scared and sad, and prepare yourself to be thinking about it for days. It is the type of movie that stays with you for days, in a good way. "Bird Box" is a must see.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is back on the Netflix bandwagon now that he has seen a good movie. The last one he saw did not make him hopeful for future films from the streaming giant.

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