Ty Watches "You Can See Everything"

I'm going to take another break from my preseason NBA countdown because I was fortunate enough to see "You Can See Everything" yesterday and I have some thoughts.

First off, this may be the best movie of the year, and it may have surpassed "Hoop Dreams" as the greatest documentary that has ever been made. I'm going to remain spoiler free since I believe, much like "Digger", that this movie should be seen in the theaters with a group of people. I was able to do that very thing, in a pretty much full theater yesterday, and it made the experience even better for me. There were moments in this documentary that made me and the crowd laugh and gasp, sometimes at the very same time.

"You Can See Everything" is the new Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim documentary that shows the viewer the last 34 days before Holmes goes to prison for fraud, and then the aftermath of while she is in prison. Holmes and her partner, who is an evil, narcissistic and possibly insane, invited Fielder to film them, and eventually live with them, before she goes to serve her sentence. And it is as insane as people have said it was after seeing it. There are moments in this movie where Fielder will question Holmes and her partner, and the way they answer, or better yet, talk around answering, is so wild to me. There's a scene about an hour or so into the movie where Fielder shows them the famous who's on first bit, and their reaction to this, and Fielder's follow up questions had me throwing my hands in the air. I could not believe what I was watching, but even more, what I was hearing from Holmes and her partner.

As the movie continued to move on it became more and more wild. The way those two interact with people is so odd and off putting. The way Billy, Holmes' partner, treats Holmes' parents is so wrong and so ridiculous. Some of the stuff they say, some of the answers they give, some of the way they try to explain themselves, it's kind of scary to be honest with you. They seem to not understand social cues, and the way they talk around answering any real, any truthful question, is psychotic. Holmes at one point claims that she has never once lied in her life. I mean, what the hell?

And to let Fielder do this, to let him be one of the main people documenting this whole thing was certainly an interesting choice. I'm a massive Fielder fan. I have watched pretty much everything he has done to this point, and I truly love it all. But he is also the type of movie and tv maker that knows how to push buttons, and he has no fear in what he asks. He wants answers. He wants to get to the bottom of everything. He wants the person that he is interviewing to be uncomfortable, but also open and honest. That is not Holmes, nor is it the people that she has taken to and kept on her side.

The movie is just a few minutes under 3 hours, but at the 2 hour mark, when Holmes goes to jail, this movie turns into something I have never seen before, and it becomes more and more of a horror movie when Holmes isn't really the main subject anymore. I love how Oppenheim and Fielder kind of changed the way we see documentaries now. This will truly change the way docs are made. I fully believe that and I am excited for where these types of movies are going.

The hype is real. The critics are right. There's a reason this movie is the highest rated movie in the history of Letterboxd. All of it is real and all of it is correct. Go see this movie, and like I said before, see it in a full theater. This movie will blow your mind and I cannot recommend it enough. 

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 "Digger"

I'm going to postpone my NBA countdown 1 day because I saw "Digger" on Saturday and I have some thoughts. I wrote about how excited I was to go and see the movie last Friday, and man am I happy that I went to watch it in a theater. This review will be as spoiler free as possible because I truly think that if you have any feelings on seeing this movie, you should know as little as you can going in, and you should go watch it in a theater.

This is a movie that should be seen with a crowd, and then have some conversation with said crowd afterwards, just like my father and I did on Saturday. I loved this movie. I was all in from pretty much the first scene. I love it when Tom Cruise does something different with an established director. Alejandro Innaritu is an Oscar winning director. He has won multiple, for "Birdman" and "The Revenant", both movies which I like. I like "Birdman" more, but both are worth checking out. So having him on board, and getting Cruise to sign on was a home run. It reminds me of Cruise working with Paul Thomas Anderson on "Magnolia". That was something different and unique for Cruise, and he nailed it. I don't like Oliver Stone, but he has made a few decent movies. One such movie is "Born On The Fourth of July". Cruise makes that movie worth watching with one of his best performances. "Eyes Wide Shut" is up and down, but Cruise and Nicole Kidman do some great stuff, and I like to think that some of that is due to Stanley Kubrick's direction. I guess what I'm saying is, I prefer when Cruise isn't doing action movies. I like his acting in something like "Digger". When he takes a chance he usually hits, and this performance was a total knockout for me. I fully think he deserves to be nominated for this role. He is that good. I could not take my eyes off this performance. And when he wasn't on screen, I found myself waiting for him to get back in the scene. He is incredible in this role.

The supporting actors do some great work too. I thought John Goodman was the funniest person in the whole movie. He makes a proclamation halfway through the movie that made me cackle out loud, and it fully locked me in to the movie even more. The stuff between him and his wife is quite funny, and kind of depressing. I thought Riz Ahmed did some really solid work as a scientist. Ahmed is becoming more and more reliable for me as an actor. When he shows up in something I have found that I tend to enjoy the movie and his performance. He is also very funny, and the voice of reason in this movie. Sandra Huller is really solid in a smaller role. She has just got on my radar as of late, but I am becoming even more of a fan with each new performance I see of hers. And Jesse Plemons almost steals the show from Cruise. He may have the smallest "lead" role in the movie, but he owns his screen time. He is such a great actor and I appreciate that he continues to take on weird and wild roles in every movie he is cast in.

"Digger" is going to spark lots of reactions from people. There are going to be people like me that love this movie. I will sing the praises of "Digger" to anyone that will listen. I didn't know how I was going to feel about this movie going in, but going in fully blind and not knowing anything, like I said before, was the way to go. To experience this movie now knowing a thing is the only way you should watch it. But there are going to be people that despise this movie. I know RD may be more on this side. The movie takes swing after swing, and for some viewers those swings will not connect. The twists come out of nowhere. And they really change the trajectory of what you have been watching. I can see why that may turn away some viewers. But for me, I was all in on "Digger". I adored it. I will watch it many more times just to see what I may have missed before.

Go check it out and decide for yourself, just like the new ads are saying. But go see it with people, in a theater. That's the best way to get the full experience. "Digger" rules. 

Ty 

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

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Is "Digger" Bad? I'll See for Myself

I am finally going to see the movie "Digger" tomorrow. I mentioned on the podcast that I will be doing a review on Monday, and today is just about my excitement in going to see this in the theater.

I have not been this excited to see a movie in a long, long time. I mentioned on the pod that this may be the height since I saw "The Simpsons" movie years ago. And it has nothing to do with my familiarity or fandom of the subject material. I'm a rabid "Simpsons" fan. I always have been. That excitement came from seeing it on the big screen and hoping they would do the show justice. And they did. I actually saw that movie two days in a row because of my excitement. The feelings for "Digger" are totally different.

I have successfully missed any spoilers for this movie to this point. I know that they're some twists, but I have no clue what they could be. "Digger" could have some musical elements to it, it could be music free. I know that I love the cast. I am an Innaritu fan. I like when Tom Cruise goes against the grain and plays some kind of wild character. I like when he takes chances. This movie has everything going for me as a fan of going to the theater. But there's also all the negative stuff that has simply fueled my passion for wanting to see this movie.

RD was the first person to stoke the flames for me. He saw it last weekend and he texted me that he thought it was not a good movie. This didn't deter me. He sent some subsequent texts as well, but those kind of made me want to see it more and more. Then I saw some stuff on the internet saying that it could be the biggest flop ever. These quotes and blurbs only made me want to give my money to the movie to try and save it some money. Then I saw how the campaigning for the movie changed. They started to show negative reviews, then Cruise in character saying, "f those people", and then the new trailer telling the viewer to decide for themselves.

Then RD called me the other night and he said something that pushed me even harder to find a time to go watch this movie. He reiterated that he did not like the movie, but he thought that I may love it. I saw some people online who I tend to agree with their movie reviews saying how much they liked the movie. I like weird movies that take big shots. I love "Hot Rod". "Southland Tales" is a movie I still think about on a daily basis. David Lynch's early movies seem to be devisive, and those are my favorite of his. I like the new "Star Wars" movies. "Cloud Atlas" is one of the coolest and most unique movies I've ever watched. I'm not that tough on movies that seem similar, or at least have similar views on the internet, like "Digger". I wanted to see this movie from the very first teaser that simply showed a silhouette of Cruise with a shovel. I got even more on board when I saw it was Innaritu's next movie. Hell, he made "Birdman", so he will always hold a place as one of my favorite directors. I cannot wait to see his take on climate change. I'm sure it will be explained much better than whatever the hell Adam McKay was trying to do with "Don't Look Up", another movie I don’t totally hate like some other people do. But this feeling I currently have in my body, this push of joy and excitement hasn't been around for a movie for me in awhile. I had something close to this with "Friendship", and that movie rules. But there haven't been too many other movies that have given me this feeling. Sure, I wanted to see "Primetime", I am stoked for "You Can See Everything", "Everything Everywhere All At Once" got my juices flowing, and I still have yet to see "the Odyssey", but I still have hopes to see it in a theater soon. But this feeling I have for "Digger" is different.

Like I said at the top, I'll have an actual review on Monday. Today I just wanted to kind of take you through my current thought process and my feelings of excitement knowing that I will be watching it in a theater tomorrow. I cannot wait. 

Ty 

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

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I Did Not Like "Starship Troopers" When I First Saw It. I Was Wrong

Every once in a while I will go back and rewatch movies that I have only seen once, a long-ish time ago, and see if my ideas on them have changed over the years. I just did this with "Starship Troopers". Let’s discuss.

I remember seeing it when it came out in 1997 and not really liking it all that much. I thought it was gross, a little too long and I just didn't get the story they were trying to tell. Recently I heard some people on a podcast talking about the movie, they are roughly my age, and they were singing the movies' praises. They seemed to really enjoy the movie now that they were older. This was the kind of push I needed to check the movie out again, to give it one more shot.

I'm here to say, "Starship Troopers" rules. It is one of the rare movies from the late 90's that knew exactly what it was and what it wanted to be. Paul Verhoven directed the movie, and it absolutely showed during this rewatch. I have always been a fan of the original "Robocop", and a lot of that is due to Verhoven's direction. The dude knew how to make a late 90's action movie. He had the eye for it. This is shown tenfold in "Starship Troopers". The war sequences in this movie are brutal and they rule. He wasted no time showing how violent and destructive the bugs could be. Soldiers are getting ripped in half in this movie, and it feels like Verhoven didn't even blink an eye directing these scenes. He wanted the viewer to see how brutal war could be, even in a sci-fi movie like this. The soldiers have no shortage of bullets and weapons either, but it never feels like enough when they're fighting the bugs.

Verhoven and the writers also knew how to write females. The women in this are never really put upon like they were in other movies in the same genre. Sure, Rico gets elevated very quickly, but so does his buddy, and she is also on the futuristic football team, with him at the beginning of the movie. Denise Richards easily climbs to the top of the pilot program she is a part of in her role. When the main characters get shipped to a new unit, the lady they run into takes no crap and instantly punches Busey in the face. She rules. The women in this movie are just as strong and important as anyone in the military, and I think that showed some nice insight from the people involved in making this movie.

There's comedy in this movie in the beginning. They're telling straight up jokes and the jokes land. I don't remember that being the case the first time I watched it, but it was evident during this viewing. Verhoven knows how to lighten the mood when needed, and it was important in this movie.

Also I never questioned why Rico would continue to fight. He joins to be closer to Richards, who is his girlfriend at the beginning. He sticks around even after she breaks up with him, and he gets promoted too. He is involved in a death during a drill, and he thinks about leaving then. But he speaks to his parents, realizes they have been vaporized, and he decides to stay and fight for them. He then hooks up with his friend from the football team, but she gets spiked by one of the bugs and doesn't make it. Everyone he loves or loved keeps getting bumped off, so all he can do is fight to deal with the pain and anger. There is never really a moment when I question his motives.

I couldn't have been more wrong on this movie when I was 15. "Starship Troopers" rules. This is one of the better army movies that have come out in the last 30 years. The movie tells a cool and fun and interesting story. The actors do some solid work. Every character seems to be written as equals. I adore this movie now. I'm glad I gave it a second chance. "Starship Troopers" is indeed a banger of a movie. 

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 "The Assessment"

I just watched the movie "The Assessment". I had seen some clips from it on Instagram and it piqued my interest, so I decided to give it a try.

"The Assessment" stars Himesh Patel and Elizabeth Olsen as a married couple in the not so distant future. Earth has been ravaged by something, and survivors started a new world on the outskirts of society. In this new world you cannot have children the usual way. You have to go through what is known as an assessment. This is where the movie gets nuts.

The first fifteen or so minutes show us how Patel and Olsen live their lives. They appear to be scientists and they have made considerable contributions to the new world. Then Alicia Vikander shows up as the assessor. This is when the movie shifts into high gear. I have really grown to like Vikander. She is kind of a perfect actor for sci-fi movies. She is so cold and mean and aggressive as the assessor. Her whole job it seems is to act like a child and put Olsen and Patel through some wild tests. The tests start out normal enough, but then they appear to be sinister and mean spirited. Vikander nails this aspect. Patel is kind of perfect as the put upon husband who thinks he is ready to be a dad, but it may be way more than he bargained for. Olsen is perfect as the expected mom. She shows great signs of frustration and anger and grief. She clearly has had something happen in her past, and she is still struggling to get over it all.

I found this movie to be compelling and fascinating. I didn't think it would get to my emotions at all, but I was wrong. I was very impressed with Olsen and Patel's performance, but it was Vikander who truly stole the show. I thought the visuals and look of the movie was pretty spot on for what a not so distant future could look like. I really liked Patel's "office" that he worked in. He had this whole room with a big black box on the ceiling where he can perform his tests. He appears to be some kind of creator who can make artificial animals that almost feel real. He is struggling to make the fur feel real, but he is continually trying to get it right. He also seems to have issues trying to make his creations feel fully real. Olsen has this entire greenhouse where she grows plants and food. She has one of the last orchids that has ever existed in her greenhouse. She takes incredibly great care to make sure this greenhouse continues to provide for her and her husband. But then when Vikander shows up and does her job, Patel and Olsen's whole world is flipped upside down. She takes this couple through the ringer. It appeared to me that she was maybe taking things a little too far in fact. She acts like one of the brattiest kids I have ever seen. But we eventually come to find out that she has some things to deal with as well.

My only true gripe with the movie is the length. The ending took a little too long for my taste. The movie clocks in at about 1 hour and 50 minutes, but it could have easily been 90 minutes. I understand why they did what they did in the last 20 minutes, but there was some stuff early on I thought they could have left out and the movie would still have been good.

I like when I find little gems like this out in the world. I had never heard of this movie until about a week ago and was glad that I turned it on yesterday. If you like sci-fi movies, check this one out for sure. And if you like your sci-fi with a little bit of family drama, definitely check it out. I'm glad that I did. 

Ty

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

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"Rollerball" and Other Movies Used to Take Their Time. Today's Movies Don't

Recently I watched the original "Rollerball" movie. It's a movie that has been on my list for a while. I like sports movies, I like James Caan's acting and I like sci-fi. It kind of hits every note for me. So I sat down and watched the damn thing.

In the end I think that I liked it. It is definitely one of the weirder movies I have ever watched. It also isn't a "sports" movie. But in the end, after sitting with it for a while, I think I had a good time. I could do a whole review of it today, but I would rather talk about movies from that era.

"Rollerball" was released in 1975. I have been going back and watching movies from that era that many people consider classics. Some may be older, some a little newer. But most of the movies I have been watching were released in the mid 70's, and there's a running theme through all of these that we don't get in modern movies. Movies from the 70's will just let you sit in a scene for what feels like way too long. There were so many scenes in "Rollerball" where nothing was happening. Early on in the movie James Caan goes to the owner of the rollerball team he is on to have a conversation. He is escorted to his office, and this thing is clearly the vision of what the director thought offices would look like in 2018. It is all shiny and white and clear and there are chandeliers everywhere. James Caan even bumps into one, and then cuts his finger on another one. But, as the scene plays out, Caan walks into the room and the owner of the team has his hands over his eyes. And we sat there for a good solid minute with no one conversing. And when the owner finally does speak, he speaks in metaphors that make zero sense. And I walked away from that scene entranced. There is other stuff in "Rollerball" where Caan will turn on his multiple tvs, some classical songs will play and he will say nothing. We sat there and watched Caan watch his tv. Again, this goes on for a full minute. And it is not just "Rollerball" that does this. I recently watched "Rear Window", great movies by the way, and that movie opens with our lead character sitting in a wheelchair just eavesdropping on his neighbors. I understand that this is the point of the movie, because how else would he witness what he witnessed, but Hitchcock lets us live in that moment for a long, long time. "Easy Rider" is another fairly recent watch of mine where we just see dudes riding their motorcycles for endless amounts of time. And it is rad. They also have a full story arc in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, and we get to watch the two main characters and two lady friends go on a drug trip, with little to no dialogue. The director just wanted us to feel like we were on the trip with them I suppose. There's also the whole hippy commune where we watch people swim in a lake. That's it. nothing else really happens for long stretches of time.

I cannot fathom a world where someone would make a movie nowadays where you watch full minute long scenes of nothing really happening. Even directors I really like wouldn't do something like this. Ari Aster has to fill his movies with the wackiest stuff you have ever seen. Also, he is clearly trying to terrify his viewers. Zach Cregger doesn't put things in his movies unless it is going to drive the story along even further. I cannot picture a world where Robert Eggers isn't trying to make you fully pay attention simply due to the dialogue and dialect of his actors. Jordan Peele's movies want to scare you and make you laugh, never "wasting" a second just to show you some cool scenery. The attention span we all have now is so diluted that movie makers simply cannot waste any time on screen. They need to keep everyone's full attention at all times.

It is kind of a bummer to be honest. We all watch videos, myself included, that are Tik Tok or Instagram length now. I will skip some videos if they don't grab my attention within the first 10 seconds. It has become a problem. But sitting back and watching these old classic 60's and 70's movies, I kind of like just staying in a scene for long periods of time. I get a good look at the set and can pick out things I dislike and like within a scene. I get a good look at what the actors are trying to do. I get a better feel for what the director is trying to say. It almost feels like a way for the directors to show off, and I mean that as a compliment.

I will be continuing to check off these classics that I have been watching more frequently now. And I will be looking hard for more of these scenes that just sit and stay for a long period of time. I have grown accustomed to them, and to be frank, I like seeing stuff like this in movies. 

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 "Jackass: Best and Last"

I finally just saw "Jackass: Best and Last". I loved it. I feel like this movie was made for my generation. We grew up on "Jackass".

I remember seeing that show for the first time and being blown away by what they were doing, and showing, on tv. This was the first "prank" show that I watched weekly. In fact, I don't think there would be the amount of prank shows if it wasn't for "Jackass" doing it first. I know that there have been hidden camera shows before this, but "Jackass" did something different. These people were doing some wild stunts, filming it and putting it out there for the world to see. I can remember seeing the warning before the show and thinking that this was the first time I had seen something like that. It kind of blew me away the stuff they were doing on tv. So when they started to make movies out of it, that meant I was going to see this all unedited and full of swear words. That was more than enough for me to go check these movies out. And I have officially seen them all now.

What made this one so great was the flashbacks and them showing some unaired footage from the past. Yes, I was still all in on watching the new pranks and stunts. It was disgusting too. Being the age that they are now, they did a ton of butt stuff in this final movie. There is a scene where they are playing twister and they have all taken laxatives. It was foul and hilarious. Steve O popped a ping pong ball out of his butt. He also got a rectal exam from a robot. See, a lot of butt stuff. They also did some new things. The escape room bit was quite funny. Johnny Knoxville did the bull in a ring thing that he has done in pretty much every movie. And that bull messed him up. They really put Danger Ehren through the ringer. And you'd think it would get old after a while, the way they harass him, but it wasn't at all. I found myself still cracking up at each prank they got him involved in. The play bit was pretty damn good if I do say so.

What made me really enjoy my watch was the old footage. It was so cool to see some of the older pranks. They definitely hit the big ones. They showed the toy car in Ryan Dunn's butt. They showed Knoxville getting hit by a softball from a pro softball pitcher. They had a bunch of the stuff with Bam beating up his dad, which always had me in stitches. They had the paper cut stuff in there, which made me sick to my stomach all over again. I had forgotten how much that grossed me out. As mentioned before, they showed a bunch of old footage with Ryan Dunn, who passed away some years ago. I always liked Dunn. I know he had issues, but he always made me laugh when he was on the show. He had this oddly calm way about him when he was going through all the stuff they were putting him through. He made me laugh. It was cool to see him on screen again. Seeing his stuff reminded me of when I was first watching the show as a teenager. It felt like a nice tribute. It was a proper goodbye for Dunn.

That also kind of sent me back too. Seeing all of these dudes, who are now in their late 40's or early 50's, still out there doing their thing. Sure, they may not have the gusto they had when they were younger, but they're still game for pretty much anything. They still go for it. But it seems like they know their limitations at this point, and that is all well and good. But they also still go harder than most will on screen. It was nice to see Steve O and Knoxville reminisce about the good old days. It was cool to see Danger Ehren and Dave England going hard. Wee Man still looks exactly the same as he did when he was first on the show. The new people they brought on, like Jasper and Poopies, among others, were just as ready to try out some wild things. I feel like this was a fitting ending to this franchise. These guys know what they can and can't do at this point, and I have to imagine they have done all they want at this point. The opening credits were great, but the end credits were just a perfect way to close it all out. And to show older clips sover the end credits was a nice touch as well.

"Jackass: Best and Last" is a fitting and emotional and perfect way to end it. I highly recommend anyone my age that grew up with the show check this out. It is a great nostalgia watch and you will be taken back to when you were younger watching this show for the first time. This was a great movie. 

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 "Primetime"

I have just returned to my home from the movie "Primetime" and I have some thoughts. This is going to be a spoiler free review. It is also going to be shorter than most of my reviews. I wanted to do a quicker, kind of gut reaction type review for you all today.

"Primetime" came to me later than most. I had heard that there was going to be a movie centered around Chris Hansen and his tv show, "To Catch a Predator". But I kind of dismissed it. Then RD kept talking about it. Then I saw the teaser trailer. Then I saw a full trailer last week when I went to see "Resident Evil", and I was all in. I have become a big time Robert Pattison fan over the years, so him starring in yet another A24 movie was more than enough for me. Add in the fact that Lance Oppenheim was directing, and that made it even more enticing. Now, when "To Catch A Predator" was first on tv, I did not watch. I believe my folks had the show on in the house, yes I was still living with my parents back then, back I just saw it in passing. So, this was kind of like a history lesson for me, just a fictionalized version.

"Primetime" is a very well made and extremely well acted movie. I really liked what I saw today. The story was way different from what I was expecting going in, and that is a very good thing. It was nice to go in with fresh eyes in my case. Robert Pattison is as good as everyone is saying he is in this role. He became Chris Hansen, but played him with this quiet and unnerving obsessiveness. He was clearly a person who had a vision and was going to see it through, come hell or high water. Pattison embodied this. Watching him terrified me at times. Other times I'd roll my eyes at how nonsensical his ideas were in this movie. Some compared this performance to what Jake Gyllenhall did in "Nightcrawler", and that feels right to me.  Pattison is great.

Sklyer Gisondo is up to the task as well. He plays naive and easy to manipulate wonderfully in this movie. He let himself fall into Hansen's trance and Gisonso nailed it. I actually felt bad for him, and I think that was the goal.

Merritt Wever is amazing. I felt like her performance should be talked about as much as Pattinson's. She is amazing in this role. She is cold and calculated. When she starts to get forgotten or passed by, I found myself rooting for her to win in the end. I loved the stuff she did when she was talking to Gisondo's character when they first meet. It is a transformative performance from one of the most underrated actors right now. Wever is so, so good in this role.

What made me love this movie was the visuals and the story. The movie looks so cool and feels like classic A24. It may sound weird to say "classic A24", but this had that feel for me. The colors were super cool that they used as well. As for the story, like I said above, it was different from what I expected going in. I liked that the movie kind of faked me out. It made me look at this whole world in a totally different direction than I went in with. I thought they showed the good and the bad very well. This movie does not hold back from anything, and that made it even more watchable. It doesn't take a side either, letting the viewer dictate what they want out of it, which is always good for me.

I recommend this movie. It has some tough to watch scenes, but that comes with the territory. But I say, for Pattison and Wever's performances alone, this movie is definitely worth your time and money. There's some really good stuff to see. 

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 "Resident Evil"

Yesterday I went out and saw "Resident Evil". I am a Zach Cregger fan, so whenever he puts out a new movie, I'm most likely going to see it. I really liked "Barbarian" and I loved "Weapons". So, when it was announced that he was going to do his take on "Resident Evil", I was intrigued.

I should point out that I have never played the video game before. It was never on my radar. I'm not much of a gamer, you know that if you listen to the podcast. I have also never been much of a fan of first player shooter games. They have never appealed to me. So I kind of went into this movie blind, which was great for me. I didn't have any preconceived notions or things I was looking for in this movie. For me it was all about Zach Cregger, and what he was going to do with his new movie. I saw the trailer, and even though I knew that it was based on a video game, to me this was a horror/body horror movie. It also stars Austin Abrams, who was exceptional in "Weapons". Abrams seems to be having a moment right now, and he is capitalizing on it. So, going into the movie, I was as blind as one could be.

I really enjoyed the hell out of this movie. "Resident Evil" was a blast. It was also gory and bloody. There were jokes. I found myself laughing more than I thought. It was also intense, and in a good way, gross. All in all, I found this movie to be fun as hell. I'm also going to go about the rest of this review without any spoilers. I think what I liked most about this movie was the fact that Cregger made Abrams' character a regular dude put in an impossible situation. This all felt like some stuff I would do if I was in the same predicament.

Abrams plays Bryan who is a courier that brings things to hospitals. It is usually body parts for transplants, but he is offered a super secret, very hard job that he cannot pass up on. And when he is driving to the place he's supposed to go, he accidentally hits a person crossing the road. This is when everything starts to go to hell. From the moment he hits this person, it happens about 10 minutes into the movie, everything after takes us on a wild, wild ride. And all the while Bryan is dealing with all of this craziness in real time. There are moments when something totally wild happens and during the aftermath Abrams can be heard cursing under his breath, and complaining about this wackiness he has encountered. He seems to be so frustrated that all he can do is curse under his breath. He also continually tells himself that he is almost to his destination after every horrendous situation he is dumped into. I tell myself that I'm almost done with stuff all the time. I will be on a run and constantly be telling myself that I'm almost there. Abrams played this role as just a regular dude and I loved that. It was nice to see someone who doesn't have any superpowers or is a wiz with guns or anything. He is put into an impossible scenario and he is just reacting like most of us would. I also thought that the graphics and  "bad guys" looked really cool. I thought that Cregger and crew did a very good job making the monsters that Bryan has to fight endlessly. There is one scene with a kid that is very creepy and very well done. There's another with a dog that totally reminded me of "The Thing". It was a nice homage. I think what I liked best though was the sheer fact that I got to see a kickass horror movie with some comedy. I had no want to see anything from a video game that I have never played. I got to see a cool story told in a cool new way.

I liked "Resident Evil" a ton. I highly recommend it to anyone that is a fan of Cregger's previous work. He continues to make really funny and very scary movies. I like where his career is headed and Austin Abrams proves in this role that he is a star that is going to continue to shine. Check out "Resident Evil". It is dope. 

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 "Is God Is"

Back when RD and I did our summer movie wager I went hard for the movie "Is God Is". I had seen a trailer by the time of recording and was all in on this movie. RD hadn't heard of it at that time. He told me on mic that he thought it was a christian movie. It most certainly did not look that way. Now it is streaming on Prime, which we subscribe to, so I watched it.

This movie was great. And it is not religious in the least. Sure there are mentions of god. The twins call their mom god. There is a great scene that takes place in a church. But this is a revenge movie. This is a gory movie. This is a funny movie at times. This is a story of family and the lengths some will go to to get their own revenge. Mallori Johnson and Kara Young play the main characters in this movie. They're twin sisters. Johnson plays Anaia and Young plays Racine. These two are so awesome in this movie. They crush their roles. I do not want to spoil the movie, but I will give minor details about what happens. I'll tell you a little about the story.

Vivica A Fox plays the twins' mom. The twins have some very visible scars on their bodies. It appears that they have been violently burned by someone in the past. When the movie starts we see the twins as young kids. Someone on the playground calls them ugly, so Racine goes and beats that person up. We then flash to them as adults, and we see the burns and everything. We also see a person in a working space that gives Anaia a look of disgust. Racine comes to her aid. We then get a little look into their lives. They have this ability to talk without saying words. They're so close that they don't need words, just looks, to have a conversation. One night at dinner they get a letter from their mom who they haven't seen since they were young. After a debate they decide to go see her to find out what she would like them to do. This is when the movie really kicks into gear.

As mentioned before, Vivica A Fox plays their mom. She is on her deathbed. She has been very clearly burned very badly. She tells her girls that her dying wish is for them to get revenge on their father. This is where we learn how they all got these bad burns. This is pretty much all in the trailer by the way. But after the story is told, after their mom gives them the mission, the movie breezes by, and it is a whole hell of a lot of fun. Fox is dynamic. She has one scene, but she crushes it. She is really good here. Johnson and Young are remarkable. They play two totally separate roles, but you know they're twins. They have this closeness that is easily identifiable as family. I had seen Young before on "I'm A Virgo", where she's great as well. I have never heard of Johnson before, and she is wonderful in this movie. Her quietness and shyness masks her true feelings. She is phenomenal. And in a wild twist, Sterling K Brown plays the villainous dad in this movie. I like Sterling K Brown a lot, but this is a role I never would have expected him to play, and he is awesome. He's sinister and wicked. He holds no prisoners. He is ruthless. I was fascinated with his performance in this movie.

I think the best way to go into this is knowing only the little bit I just wrote about. I didn't know much else and I was excited by what I saw. I also didn't expect this movie to make me laugh like I did. There are legit jokes in this movie. Some of the stuff is played for comedy. But in the end this movie is a revenge thriller and they nailed it. I couldn't take my eyes off screen while watching. I was enamored with what was going to happen next. Some stuff really took me by surprise and that is the sign of a good movie in my eyes.

I definitely recommend checking out "Is God Is". It is a cool and new and interesting way to tell this type of story. 

Ty

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

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There Was a Time Tom Green Was My Thing

Earlier this week I went back and watched the movie "Freddy Got Fingered". I had never seen it before and when I was younger I used to think Tom Green was hilarious. I used to watch his MTV show all the time.

Well, "Freddy Got Fingered" is terrible. It is not even fun bad. It is just flat out bad bad. It is not very funny, there's far too much gross out humor and I felt like Tom Green decided he was going to let the curse words fly left and right since he was making a major motion picture. I have no qualms with any of these ideas, but it came off bad on screen for me. I found it gratuitous. But I'm not here to write a review of "Freddy Got Fingered". People have already done that to death at this point. What I want to talk about today is Tom Green as a performer and actor.

Green came around at the exact right time for his style of humor. Before he was on MTV, the only real "shock" comedian I knew of was Howard Stern. Stern had a radio show and he did his thing, and became quite successful at what he did and now does. But Green was different. He was childish. I think that is what got me onboard when I was younger. I liked his childish humor. I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that I was 16 when his show on MTV premiered. He was speaking to my comic sensibilities at the time. He would do pranks and stuff that seemed so out of left field, and it worked for me. I was all in on "The Tom Green Show". Hell, I even went out and tried to purchase his single for his song about putting his butt on stuff. The song was stupid, but it was the right kind of stupid for me.

He went on to have a, for me at the time, star turning role in "Road Trip". This is another in a long line of college road trip movies that came out in the early 2000's, and it was as cliche as they came. But Tom Green stood out as the older college student. I thought he was hilarious. He wasn't doing the gross out thing either. Sure, he put a mouse in his mouth during a scene, but immediately took it out and fed it to a snake. That part was really good for him. He got to make jokes, but didn't have to go to the extreme to make me laugh. I have not seen "Charlie's Angels", but I know he has a role in I believe the first one. This has to be due to his marriage to Drew Barrymore at the time. And the only reason I can think that he convinced Barrymore to marry him at the time was due to his fame in the early 2000's. Nothing else makes any sense to me regarding this relationship.

Green was also one of the first famous people I know who was diagnosed with cancer and openly talked about it on screen. He was very open about everything, including treatment and all. This was kind of eye opening for me. It is one of the first times I can remember hearing about a famous person getting sick and talking about it. This made me like him even more. I know some may have thought it was one of his bits, but he made sure to clarify any misheard or misunderstood information. My respect grew for him from there.

He did take a hiatus during his treatment, and to be honest, after he got healthy again I kind of forgot about him. He wasn't doing much and I kind of stopped watching his stuff. I know he wrote a book in 2004, but I never got around to reading it. He also appeared on "Jiminy Glick" during this time, but I have only recently watched clips from that show, and I have never seen Tom Green's interview. He has also dabbled in music since leaving tv, but I have zero interest in listening to any of that. And more recently he made his own documentary, which I have yet to see.

I think what Tom Green did best was capitalizing on his fame when he did. He got his chance and he ran with it. I think he also came around at the right time for his style. If he tried that nowadays it would not work. His schtick wouldn't have worked in the mid 2010's either. He used the shock comedy to the best of his ability during a time when not many could do what he did best. I have often thought about going back and rewatching some "Tom Green Show", but I don't think it will hold up.

Tom Green had his moment at the best time for him. My hat is off to what he achieved, but I have zero interest to go back and rewatch. Maybe that is for the best. 

Ty

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

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"Rocky" is Still a Stone Cold Classic

My son has been on a kick lately watching older sports movies. He told me awhile ago that he wanted to see the stuff that I used to watch when I was his age. I have shown him some of my favorites, and he has found some newer stuff, based on older sports movies, that he has gotten quite into.

One such series of movies is "Creed". He loves those movies. I've only seen the first one, which is great, and I plan on seeing the other two very soon. But since he has this newfound love of "Creed", his uncle and I decided he should see the original "Rocky".

We showed him the movie this past Saturday, which he loved, but I had a whole different experience watching this time around. I have seen all of the original "Rocky" movies a bunch. My mom loves the first one. My dad is into 2 and 3. "Rocky 4" is hilariously ridiculous, and 5 is just flat out awful. But my kid had to start at the top, and I'm glad he did. I have not seen "Rocky" in a long time, so I made sure this go round had my full attention.

This movie is so different from what I used to recall. The movie opens with a fight, and then we do not see Rocky box again until he fights Apollo Creed, at the very end of the movie. The in between is so different from my memories. I thought this movie was all boxing all the time. It most definitely is not. After the opening fight we get to see the everyday life of Rocky Balboa. We see him doing his job, which is working for a loan shark. We see his apartment. We see how he lives his life. We see him constantly hitting on Adrienne. I always thought they were already a couple when the movie kicked off. That is not the case. There's a whole courtship and everything. Rocky has to really work to get Adrienne to go on a date with him. He is very persistent, almost to the point of harassment. But this movie was made in a very different time. I'm not excusing it, but "Rocky" came out 50 years ago.

I also found that I liked the pacing of the movie. They really make you sit in this world. You really get to know everyone and everything they seem to do day to day. I also never remembered that Pauly was a flat out drunk. He drinks constantly and his mood swings come at you a mile a minute. I was always a fan of Mick growing up. I used to have to do impressions of him for my family when I was a kid. But now I really got an understanding of his character and why he talks to Rocky the way he does throughout the movie. Mick used to be a fighter. He used to have real feelings that Rocky could make it. But he also sees that he doesn't have the discipline or the knowhow.

What surprised me the most was Slyvester Stallone. I know Stallone as the guy that was in horrible 90's action movies. I did not like those movies at all. You can go check out our other podcast First Watch Rewatch and you can hear me talk about the movie "Cobra". His "Judge Dredd" movie is terrible. Any attempts he had at comedy all fell flat. But he is genuinely exceptional in "Rocky". He brings it. He acts the hell out of that role. I was all in on his performance. And throw in the fact that he wrote the movie, man the dude used to be incredibly talented. I wonder what happened along the way. When we get to that final fight, all the stuff leading up to it, it makes that final act all the better. You feel for Rocky. You see Apollo struggling because he didn't take the fight seriously enough, figuring he would steam roll Rocky. By the way, Carl Weathers is great in this movie as well. He was such a good actor and the fact that he's gone now really bums me out.

"Rocky" is a wonderful movie. They do not make movies like this anymore, and while I understand why, they should maybe go back to this slow, simmering style of a movie. That would be neat to see. And the fight choreography was second to none here. The fights looked real and I loved that about the movie. If you haven't seen "Rocky", or haven't watched it in awhile, go check it out. It is a classic for a reason. 

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 "Untold Raygun: Breaking Badly"

Yesterday I sat down and watched the new Raygun mini documentary on Netflix. This is part of the "Untold" series, and boy oh boy, this may be the best one they have done yet. I have written about other "Untold" movies before, but none of them have had this kind of an effect on me.

For people out there that don't know who Raygun is, she is the Australian breakdancer that represented her country in the 2024 Paris Olympics. This was the first year that they made breakdancing an Olympic sport, and Raygun left quite the impression on the world. This doc tells us how she started, how she ended up in the Olympics and how, after the games, her life kind of unraveled a bit. Most people know who Raygun is due to her performance. It was pretty bad. She became a meme. Her performance went viral. She got roasted by a bunch of people. But this movie tells us how it got to this moment. We got the behind the scenes stuff. We see how she worked her way up to the top in Australia, and how she got herself into the Olympics. We also get to meet the people in her life who have helped her get there.

The first person we meet, and who leaves an everlasting impression on the viewer, is her husband Sammy, aka Sammy Sex. Sammy is her coach, but he was a breakdancer before he ever met Raygun. He has been into that whole world since he was a kid. Does that mean he is a great dancer? No. But he does have some small skills, and boy does he love Raygun. This guy is obsessed with her, but they are married, so no big deal. But the way he describes her dancing, especially in the Olympics, the words he uses, the beaming in his eyes, he thinks way too highly of her. Raygun has skills as well, but she is not some otherworldly dancer either. They both move so oddly. They look so much slower and less coordinated than the other breakdancers. They look stiff and just not that great. But man do they love one another.

We also meet some of the other breakdancers in Australia, and man do they have an opinion on Raygun. They always say something nice about her, but then button it with how much they despised her performance at the Olympics. I do also want to say, hearing white people with Australian accents call themselves "b-boys" and "b-girls" is one of the funniest things I have ever seen on tv. And the fact that they do that, with a straight face mind you, makes it all the more funny. And seeing some of the old routines, watching Raygun and Sammy dance back in the day, was one of the more cringe things you can see on tv. I had to look away a few times because I was embarrassed for them. I know they have no issues with it, they truly love to dance, but it just made me squirm on my couch.

The doc does go into some great detail about the toll and the aftermath of the Olympics as well. That's all well and good, but that was not why I turned this on. I do feel bad for what she and her husband and mom and dad had to endure, but I would have been better off not knowing all of that. I get that they have to do this, especially in a documentary, but it made this movie a bit more depressing than I wanted it to be. I was also not that big of a fan when they showed her working out after punching her ticket to the Olympics. It felt hollow and, while she got stronger, it did not help her all that much during the Olympics. And when they got to the Olympics, that was when the movie really started to groove. Seeing all of this again, but knowing about the backstory stuff, that made it even wilder seeing all this stuff. Raygun did not give a solid performance. She was pretty bad actually. Seeing her do the sprinkler, do a kangaroo walk, yawn at a competitor who is beating her ass, it was nuts. She didn't score a single point during her run. She was beaten by her three opponents by a score of 54-0. That's crazy. Raygun didn't score a single point. Not one of the judges deemed anything she did good enough to give her one solitary point. Yikes. And seeing where she is now, seeing how she kind of climbed out from the abyss was a good thing, I still wished they did more of the dance stuff.

I turned this on to laugh, as bad as that may sound. And while it got a good amount of laughs from me, I didn't need all the other stuff. I recommend checking this out if you have any memory of Raygun, but maybe skip all the stuff that feels like it is going to get emotional. 

Ty

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

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Nathan Fielder, Elizabeth Holmes, Creepy Doc, I'm In

If you have not seen the trailer for the new A24 documentary, "You Can See Everything", do yourself a favor and go watch it, then come back and read my blog.

For people who may not know, "You Can See Everything" is the new doc about Elizabeth Holmes and her partner, who allowed full access to filmmakers Lance Oppenheim and Nathan Fielder. They let these two into their home 34 days before she went to prison, and it turned into a three year project.

Now, I'm a big Fielder fan. He is one of the best tv and movie personalities out there right now. I loved "Nathan For You". That was one of the funniest and most unique shows when it was on. And while the show was on, Fielder seemed like another funny dude making funny stuff on Comedy Central. But, as the show progressed, it got a little different. That all came to a head with "Finding Frances". This was when Fielder decided he was going to start making something different, something interesting. "Finding Frances" is funny and creepy and distressing and endlessly watchable. This felt like the turn in Fielder's career.

After "Finding Frances", Fielder went on to do "the Curse" and "The Rehearsal". I liked "The Curse". It was not so comedic, but it still had the uncomfortableness that we have grown accustomed to with Fielder. He and Emma Stone went to some dark and eerie places and I found that the deeper they went, the more interested I became in the show. "The Rehearsal" is damn near a masterpiece. I loved both seasons of the show. I hope they make more. The stuff he accomplished in season 1 was wonderful. The way the show morphed from helping people rehearse for real life situations, into him moving in and living with a mom and her son, that was a sight to behold. Then, with season 2, he helped make major change in the piloting world. He started his focus on trying to figure out why the pilot and co pilot barely spoke to one another, and by the end of the season he was speaking in front of congress and got his pilot's license. Watching him fly that jumbo jet was very unexpected and very, very cool.

Now we have "You Can See Everything". This feels like a magnum opus to an extent. The fact that they have kept this quiet for this long is a feat all its own. How they have been able to not talk about this, how they got it into a film festival and had people put their phones in a bag so they couldn't talk about it, this was genius. The reactions coming out of Telluride have been pretty epic. I don't even care that the run time of the movie is damn near three hours. The fact that Fielder himself has talked about how much the experience of making the movie has changed him, and that he is still confused and kind of messed up makes me want to watch it even more. This is the movie I am most looking forward to in 2026, and yes that includes "Dune: Part 3". The trailer isn't very long, but it packs a punch. The one scene they show us is Holmes and Fielder sitting next to one another and she says to him something along the lines of, "why would I lie to you", in not so many words. And then the camera pans over to Fielder who has this look on his face that says so very, very much. I can't tell if he is worried, laughing, nervous, scared, or all of the above. People have said that it looks like Fielder has finally met his match. I have read that people are saying that Holmes is committing to the bit harder than Fielder, who is known to over commit to his bits. It looks like Fielder may have finally met his match. And I'm also stoked to see Oppenheim's work as the co-director. Oppenheim just directed "Primetime", which I cannot wait to see. And it seems he is following it up with this epic that is going to rule. I am interested to see how he directs Fielder when Fielder steps in front of the camera.

This movie is the exact type of movie that I love. It is going to make me uncomfortable in the best possible way. And only a person like Fielder is worthy enough an auteur to do something like that. This movie is going to rule so hard because the trailer is so short but so impactful. I cannot wait to see it. 

Ty

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

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Better Late Than Never on "Don't Tell Larry"

The other day while I was searching for a movie to watch I came across a recent-ish indie comedy called "Don't Tell Larry". I had never heard of it before, so I watched the trailer attached to the movie. It piqued my interest. I also saw that Ed Begley Jr had a role in it and Patty Guggenheim was the main character. Guggenheim falls into the same territory with me as Johnny Pemberton. I enjoy both of their work, and feel like they should be starring in more content, be it tv shows or movies. So I hit play and sat back for the next 90 minutes and watched.

Right off the bat, I found myself enjoying the movie. It is by no means the best movie in the world. It isn't some kind of breakthrough comedy, but I still found plenty of laughs and had a good time with the movie. The movie stars Guggenheim who is the potential next CEO at a travel agency and she is just biding her time before getting the job. Ed Begley Jr is her superior, and he is about to retire, leaving the door open for Guggenheim to take over. We meet Kenneth Mosely at the beginning of the movie, and he plays Guggenheimn's buddy at the office. We also meet Larry, played by Kiel Kennedy. Larry is a weird dude. He eats raisins with his pencil. He doesn't know much about the business. He is too overzealous and needy. We quickly come to find out that he is Ed Begley Jr's long lost son. And Begley wants to make him the new CEO. Prior to this, Guggenheim throws him a retirement party, but doesn't invite Larry. She gets bad vibes from him. The party goes off without a hitch, but Begley notices and brings up that Larry wasn't there the day after the party. This is where we find out he is his son and that he wants to make him CEO. Guggenheim is obviously upset at this news, and goes off on Begley. It is so bad that she throws a rock at his window and Begley relieves her of her duties. But as she is about to pack up and leave, we hear a scream from Begley's office and we find out he has fallen out of his window to his death.

The movie kind of takes off from here. It turns into a crime caper type movie, but with a ton of jokes peppered throughout everything. It was kind of cool to see a throwback comedy like this. The movie never takes itself seriously. The people involved understood the assignment and they ran with it.  The scene with the drug tester is hilarious. We eventually meet Larry's Nana, played by Paula Rafferty. She doesn't have too many lines in the movie, but when she does speak it serves a purpose and this actor nailed it. We get a whole lot more from Mosley during the second half of the movie and I found him to be the funniest person in the whole thing. Dot-Marie Jones plays the detective that is sent to work on the case in the office, and she is wonderful. The scene between her and Guggenheim near the end is great, until some even crazier stuff happens. But it was Kennedy, playing Larry, who really stole the show. He is so off putting and creepy, but also funny. There were times when I really disliked him, but then would switch to feeling bad for him. The stuff between him and his nana was hilarious. And when Kennedy had to turn the creepy on, in the final act of the movie, he absolutely nailed it. The last image of him I found haunting and hilarious. He really pulled off something very intriguing here. And it was nice to see Guggenheim get to do her thing. She is so funny and easy to watch on screen. I hope this will get her more starring work soon.

In the end, "Don't Tell Larry" is a fun and easy movie to put on and enjoy. I recommend it to comedy fans who want to see something a little off beat, a little different and akin to a throwback comedy from the 80's. I say check it out. 

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 "Mermaid"

I am a fan of Johnny Pemberton. I became a fan when I first saw him on "Superstore". He played Bo, Cheyenne's boyfriend then husband, and his character cracked me up. He was silly and made tons of jokes. I then saw he was cast in "Fallout". I like that show as well, and he is just as funny as he is in his other work. He brings comedic elements to a show that can be pretty intense from time to time. He has popped up in other stuff here and there, but it is usually just a small comedic thing. Then I listened to him on a bunch of recent podcast appearances and he kept talking about his new movie, "Mermaid".

I heard “Mermaid” described as a horror/comedy. When Pemberton was talking about the movie during these appearances, I could not glean how much he was going to be in it. Well, the other day I noticed that it was streaming for free on Prime, so I decided to watch.

Pemberton is the main character in this movie. He is the star and he drives the whole thing. First off, that made me happy. I feel like he has been around long enough, paid his dues and was bound to get a leading role sooner or later. But he is playing a totally different character here. Pemberton plays Doug, a divorced dad of one who gets fired from his job as a fish tank cleaner and is addicted to pills. And while there are some comedic elements in this movie and this role, Pemberton plays this character very quietly and makes him very odd. That is the consensus of all of the people who spend time with him in this movie. They are constantly asking him if he is okay or if something is wrong.

The first 45 minutes of this movie give us Doug's backstory after he gets fired. We see him spending time with his daughter, getting into a fight with his ex, drinking beers and taking pills. Then one of his dealers and his crony show up at his house trying to get paid. This is where Robert Patrick comes into play. He is the dealer and he is a bad, bad dude. After they rough up Doug, Patrick pours bleach into his fish tank. This really upsets Doug, as fish are the only thing he communicates with on a regular basis. From here on out the movie takes us on a wild ride.

Doug is in the process of trying to kill himself, and then he chances upon a mermaid in the ocean. We see this mermaid during the first scene of the movie, a chance encounter with Tom Arnold. Doug takes the mermaid into his home, it is injured, and he starts to care for it. The movie then kind of starts to go nuts when the mermaid shows up and has a starring role next to Pemberton. This mermaid is very scary looking. It's not like most mermaids we get to see on screen. The usual mermaids we see are beautiful, with great voices and a heart of gold. This mermaid is terrifying. The mermaid has super sharp teeth, its body looks like it has been mutated, the fin and tail look normal-ish, but the rest of the mermaid looks scary. I like that they go to these lengths to make this mermaid look different. And the relationship between Doug and the mermaid is well done here. Doug takes proper care of her and truly cares for her. But it is the stuff they add on here that makes this wild. The puking, the birthday party scene, the montage of them hanging out, it is crazy. We then have an auction in the final plot point of the movie. This is where the movie officially goes off the rails. It is truly nuts.

This movie was hit and miss for me. There was some stuff that I truly liked. As mentioned before, I thought Pemberton did a really good job with this role. He gets to do something different and he really goes for it here. I liked the design of the mermaid. I thought Tom Arnold had a great scene. I liked Kevin Nealon as well as his relationship with Doug's ex and his daughter. Robert Patrick plays a superb villain as well. But there was some other stuff that I just couldn't get into. I thought Kirk Fox was underutilized. Sometimes the movie got gross just to be gross. There was about 15 to 20 minutes that they could have easily cut out of the movie to make it a clean 90 minutes. And I wanted to see more with the other sea creature that came to help, or maybe hurt the mermaid and Pemberton. It kind of felt uneven. But my favorite thing in this whole movie was the opening credits had some writing on the screen that read, "this is my love letter to Florida". And Kevin Nunn goes out on a banger of a line, that you have to see because it rules.

"Mermaid" was fine, but I don't think I'll ever watch it again. And I'm glad that Pemberton is getting more work. I just read that he is going to be in another horror movie coming out sometime in the near future. Give it a watch if you're curious. That is my glowing recommendation for "Mermaid". 

Ty

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

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R.I.P. Tim Curry

Last week Tim Curry passed away. This one was almost as big a bummer to me as Dolly Parton's passing. Tim Curry left more of an impact on me than I realized.

After he passed I went and checked out all of his work online just to refresh my memory. He was in a ton of movies that I watched over and over again. The movie that I have gone back to time and again is "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". Dr Frankenfurter left an indelible mark on me. "Rocky Horror" was the first time I saw a musical and loved it. The music is second to none in that movie, but it was Dr Frankenfurter that I put most of my attention towards. That performance was truly unique and one of a kind. Every time I watch that movie I find something new that reminds me of how wonderful a performance Curry gave in that movie. That is probably his most iconic character he has ever played.

Pennywise from the original "It" has also stayed with me for other reasons. I used to adore clowns. They were my jam as a kid. When I was younger I even went as a clown for Halloween one year. Then my brothers showed me "It" and it changed me, for the worse. I have a fear of clowns to this day because of that movie. There are only a few that I can tolerate, Krusty is probably it to be honest with you. but Curry's performance here as Pennywise put a permanent fear in me too. He was so creepy and so scary. I still get spooked out whenever I see red balloons floating in the air. I cannot hear the phrase, "we all float down here" without picturing Curry as Pennywise.

But it didn't stop with those two characters. The "Scary Movie" franchise used to be a funny enough spoof series of movies. I enjoyed the first one, so of course I saw the second one in theaters. Tim Curry gives a hilarious performance here. Sure, Chris Elliot and David Cross do the brunt of the comedy, but it is Curry's straight man that makes me laugh harder with each rewatch. There is a scene where Cross and Elliot are going back and forth, ribbing one another, and Curry is there smiling and trying his hardest not to laugh. It is small, but I still think about it to this day. More recently,

RD had me watch the movie "Legend" for one of our Patreon shows. While the movie didn't do much for me, Curry played the Devil and he crushed it. When he was on screen in this movie I could not take my eyes off of him. He was scary and mean and loud and did some really solid work as the villain. "Legend" was kind of dull, but when Curry showed up, the movie sprang to life.

I can remember seeing the movie "Congo" in theaters as a kid. When I went to see it back then, I only remembered a lady saying, "this movie is so startling, I cannot even eat my Twizzlers". My friends and I dined on that quote for years. But I rewatched it during the lockdowns during the pandemic, and while it is not good, Curry is decent. He always brought the heat whenever he was cast in a movie. Even something that should have been great, like "Congo", but it doesn't live up to the hype, Curry makes his time on screen worth watching.

I will never, ever forget my first time seeing "Clue". That movie rules. I actually think it is kind of underrated. The fact that they took a board game and turned it into one of the best movies to come out in the 90's is a feat all its own. And Curry gives us yet another great performance as the butler. He is funny and sarcastic. He is great at being the straight man in these heavily comedic movies. He just nailed it in this movie, like he usually does.

A few other movies come to mind when thinking of Tim Curry. He's exceptional in "The Hunt for Red October". He lent his iconic voice to tons of cartoons and kids shows. He is the absolute best part of "Home Alone 2". I thought he was excellent, again playing a butler-esque character. My wife has been a fan of his ever since she saw him in "Muppets Treasure Island". She has always been a muppets fan, and I bet if I asked her, she would probably rank his performance in a muppets movie right up there with Michael Caine and Charles Grodin.

As he got older he stopped acting and got pretty sick. He was wheelchair bound not too long after he got sick, but he still went out there and gave interviews. He was an icon that kept going as long as he could. I watched an interview of his from a few years back where he talked about death and his feelings towards it. He was in his wheelchair and it was a very profound and enlightening interview. I was moved when I saw it.

It stinks that Dolly Parton and Tim Curry both passed just mere hours between one another. I hope wherever they are right now they are hanging out and having a laugh together. And wherever Tim Curry is right now, I hope he is singing some tunes from "Muppets Treasure Island" or "Rocky Horror". Rest In Peace. 

Ty

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

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R.I.P. Dolly Parton

Last week we lost two icons. I will be taking the next two days to write about them.

The first one that passed away was Dolly Parton. I was sitting down on my couch and my wife texted me to let me know. I didn't believe her at first. I had just read something that Parton had written about how she was sick, but she was going to fight it as long as she could. This was only a few days before her passing. Then I got the text and checked it out and found out it was real. Dolly Parton was officially gone.

This is such a bummer. Not only was Parton an icon. She did so many wonderful things in the world of country music and acting. "I Will Always Love You" is one of the greatest songs ever written. It is so beautiful, meaningful and elegant. "Jolene" is one of the best songs ever written about a scorned lover. "9 to 5" is fun and upbeat and so easy to sing along with. I could go on and on about her music. She was such an exceptional writer, she could play the hell out of a guitar and her voice was so ironically her own. No one else out there sounds like she did.

As far as acting, the first thing I saw her in was "9 to 5". She is more than up to the task with the other great performers in that movie. When she arrives on screen, she fully takes the whole movie over. It is all hers from there on out. "Rhinestone" is a terrible movie, but not because of her. She gives it her all and she tries everything she can to save that sorry excuse for a movie. She lent her voice to so many kids shows and cartoons. She had that voice that is instantly recognizable and she used it for some great work. She also did her own music videos, as well as appearing in tons of other artists, artists who idolized her, videos. She also had a theme park in her name, Dollywood. And she gave as much back to the community as possible.

And, as I mentioned before, she was so much more than just a musical artist and actor. She was a humanitarian. She tried and gave to any kind of non for profit or charity that she believed in. She was instrumental in helping get the Covid vaccine out there and running when it was needed most. She championed other artists. My brother showed me a letter that she wrote to Eminem years back and it was amazing to see how polite and kind she could be in a letter. She wanted equality for everyone. I read that she got into a Dolly Parton lookalike contest and was beat out by a drag queen. She cheered and was so happy for that person. She didn't begrudge them or say bad things, she was happy and made sure that the winner knew how happy she was. She would appear on talk shows and make jokes at her expense and others. I love the "Letterman" clip that has resurfaced online as of late where she mentions that people don't "recognize that she also has a great ass".

Dolly Parton never let the fame get to her head. She always knew and remembered where she came from. She never stopped working hard. That is what those close to her have been saying lately. She worked all the way up to her final days. She wanted people to be happy with what she did and did as much as she could. I've also read that she has a ton of unreleased music she was working on prior to her death, and that her estate is more than likely to release it when they feel ready. I cannot wait to hear it. I have been going back and watching some of her older clips too, and she was the same when she was young and new on the scene. She was always happy and bouncy and fun when she was on the tv or on a movie screen. She never let that die. She always had an upbeat spirit that was infectious in the best way possible. She was loved the world over. No one has come out and said anything bad about her or tried to take her down a peg since her passing. She was one of the few people that crossed borders and was loved by everyone she came in contact with, or was a fan of hers. It felt like she had so much more left to give. She was taken far too soon. She was only 80. She seemed like she was ready to fight the cancer, or whatever illness took her.

This one stinks. This one hurts. Dolly Parton was a big part of my life, but also hundreds of millions of other people. My niece, who is in her early 20's, is just as devastated by this as me, my wife and my folks. Dolly Parton is going to be severely missed. I wish she were still here. At least she is with her husband wherever she may be right now. I hope she is jamming with other music legends wherever she is now as well.

Rest In Peace Dolly Parton. Gone way too soon and you will be sorely, sorely missed. 

Ty

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

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Better Late Than Never on "Seven Samurai"

I sat down over the past three days and watched the entirety of "Seven Samurai". This movie has been on my list for sometime now. I have always heard about it. I have heard everyone say what an epic and triumphant movie it was when it came out. I have heard everyone sing the praises of director Akira Kirosawa. I know the lore but have never put away time to sit and watch. I knew with my son starting football practice that I would have some free time in the mornings to watch what I want to see, and "Seven Samurai" was my choice. It must be said, this is my first Kirosawa movie that I have watched. I figured I'd start with what most consider to be his best. I will definitely be watching more of his work after seeing this movie.

"Seven Samurai" is a classic, and it is a classic for a myriad of reasons. This is one of the best movies I have ever watched. Never for one moment did I feel bored or annoyed watching an almost three and a half hour long samurai epic from 1954. The movie's pacing might be one of its best attributes. This is probably the first movie that followed the whole "getting the band together" cliche. That is the crux of this movie.

For those that haven't seen it, "Seven Samurai" tells the story of a village of people afraid of being pillaged by bandits, asking one samurai to help, and he then recruits six more to fight the fight. From the first moment we saw our main samurai, I was hooked. I loved seeing him pretend to be a monk and help out the other village. I didn't mind seeing the villagers become scared by the bandits, then try to recruit other samurai before getting their first commitment. I thought the full storyline for one of the villagers, Rikichi I believe was his name, was incredible. We got to see him go from meek and weak willed, to fighting off bandits himself, to leading the whole village in song after they win. I thought the movie had great comedic moments. My favorite samurai, Kichuychi, was hilarious. He had jokes galore, but when it was time to fight, he was serious. He also had the most hero worthy death of all of the samurai. And I don't even care that he wasn't technically a "samurai". He wanted to fight, he gave his life, and he saved the three samurai that made it out of there with their lives. He ruled. I also liked the second samurai they got to join the crew. He was always smiling, always ready to laugh at a joke. But he also knew that he had a job to do, and death was one of the setbacks. He was willing to give his life to fight. The young kid who comes aboard as a student or sorts fascinated me. He wanted so hard to be a samurai, but he also had some fear and he was clearly in love with one of the villagers' daughters. The love story between the two of them fit perfectly within the story this movie tells.

What got me the most, what made me truly love this movie, was the battle scenes. I wrote yesterday about how wonderful all the fight scenes were in the most recent season of "House of the Dragon". None of that is possible without "Seven Samurai" doing it first. From what I read after I finished the movie yesterday, most call this movie the first action movie. I totally see that. This movie has fights and deaths everywhere. The sword work is masterful. The way they shoot bows and arrows is like nothing I have seen before. The hand to hand stuff is rad. There's an early scene where another villager challenges the best swordsman within the seven samurai, and while the fight is short, it is precise and perfect. We get a small glimpse of this samurai's talent and when he cuts down the villager who challenged him, he doesn't gloat or yell at anyone. He simply puts his sword back in its sheath and continues his mission. Growing up I used to watch a ton of Bruce Lee movies. I was obsessed with how they shot those movies and the fact that Lee did his own stunts. Those movies were made in the 70's, with nice cameras and more knowledge. The stuff that Kirosawa did in this movie, the edits, the choreography, the fight scenes, the tension, he did all of that in the early 50's. He was clearly a visionary and way, way ahead of his time. We don't get movies like this anymore. "Seven Samurai" builds and builds until that final scene, where it is an explosion of a battle scene. But I wanted to know everything about everyone in the movie. I appreciated the backstory and how they all ended up joining the fight. I like that each moment was given its space to breathe and to let the audience fully understand what was at stake.

I am ashamed that it took me so long to see this movie, but glad that I remedied that over the past three days. "Seven Samurai" is a masterpiece. I now see what other movies I love have taken from this as an ode when making newer movies. I loved this movie and I cannot wait to dig into more and more of Kirosawa's catalog. "Seven Samurai" rules. 

Ty

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

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2026 Has Alredy Been an Amazing Year for Movies

Maybe it's just the movie fan in me, but I can't remember the last time I looked at a theater schedule and thought, "I want to see almost everything." For the first time since the pandemic turned Hollywood upside down, it feels like movies are back in a big way.

For years we've heard the same conversation. "Movie theaters are dying." "Streaming is the future." "Hollywood has run out of ideas." And while there have certainly been some great films over the past few years, 2026 feels different. It feels like there's real momentum again.

What's been most exciting isn't just that we've gotten a handful of good movies—it's that we've gotten great movies across almost every genre.

Early in the year, science fiction fans were treated to the incredible Project Hail Mary, a film that reminded audiences why big, intelligent sci-fi adventures belong on the biggest screen possible. It wasn't just another effects showcase. It had heart, humor, and one of the year's most satisfying stories.

Animation has been on a roll, too. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie continued Nintendo's winning streak, proving once again that video game movies can actually be...well...good. Better than good, actually. It captured the fun and imagination that fans hoped for while introducing a whole new generation to Mario's universe.

Then came Toy Story 5.

I'll admit it—I wasn't sure we needed another Toy Story. After Toy Story 3, I thought Pixar had wrapped things up pretty well, yet they still made Toy Story 4. But somehow they found another story worth telling. It reminded us why Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the gang have meant so much to audiences for nearly three decades.

And then there's The Odyssey.

Big, ambitious, epic filmmaking has felt increasingly rare over the last several years. Seeing a classic story brought to life on such a massive scale reminded me why theaters exist in the first place. Some movies just aren't meant to be watched while folding laundry at home. Chistopher Nolan swung for the fences with The Odyssey, and he hot the ball out of the stadium. Go see this movie on the big screen.

Over the weekend the biggest movie opening ever happened. Spider-Man: Brand New Day delivered exactly what fans wanted: heart, humor, exciting action, and a reminder that superhero movies still work when the focus stays on great characters instead of simply setting up the next dozen sequels. Great actors playing characters we love doing cool stuff will always bring box office gold.

But here's what I think has made 2026 really special. It hasn't just been about the giant franchises. Some of the year's biggest surprises have come from smaller films, especially in horror. Obsession and Backrooms became breakout successes not because they had enormous budgets, but because they had fresh ideas, memorable scares, and audiences eager to discover something new. People, twenty somethings in particular, wanted to have a shared moviegoing experience with these films made by people who are their age. The success of these films proves that you don't need a $250 million budget to make an impact—you just need a great concept and strong execution, and an audience that wants to be scared. That's encouraging not only for horror fans but for anyone who wants Hollywood to keep taking creative risks.

Honestly, the best part is that we're not even finished with 2026. The second half of the year still has plenty to look forward to. I'm already counting down the days until Digger, one of the more intriguing original films on the horizon with a must see performance from Tom Cruise. Then there's Avengers: Doomsday, which has the chance to be the biggest superhero event in years if it sticks the landing. And for science fiction fans, Dune 3 promises to continue one of the most visually stunning and ambitious franchises of the modern era. For the first time in a long time, it feels like every few weeks there's another movie worth getting excited about.

The pandemic didn't kill moviegoing, but it definitely changed it. Studios became more cautious, release schedules were constantly shifting, and streaming often overshadowed theatrical releases. For a while, it seemed like every discussion about movies centered on declining ticket sales instead of the films themselves. This year, the conversation has finally changed. People are recommending movies to each other again. They're avoiding spoilers, buying advance tickets, debating favorites online, and making plans to see films together. Going to the movies has started feeling like an event again rather than just another entertainment option.

Will every movie be a classic? Of course not. But that's never been the point.

The point is that 2026 has reminded us what it's like to be genuinely excited about going to the theater. Between smart science fiction, emotional animated films, massive historical epics, crowd-pleasing superhero adventures, and inventive low-budget horror hits, there's been something for just about everyone. After several uneven years, Hollywood finally seems to have found its rhythm again. And if the rest of the release calendar lives up to the promise of Digger, Avengers: Doomsday, and Dune 3, we may end up looking back on 2026 as not just the best movie year since the pandemic—but one of the best blockbuster years in a very long time.

I’m excited. As Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel used to say, “I’ll see you at the movies”.

RD

RD is the founder and Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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