Better Late Than Never on "Bring Her Back"

I've been on a kick of watching movies from A24 lately. Lucky for me HBO Max has a whole category dedicated to this particular production company. I've gone back and rewatched some of my favorites, but I just finished "Bring Her Back".

I understand that the brothers who directed this also directed "Talk to Me", which I haven't seen just yet but is on my list. I picked "Bring Her Back" because I heard that Sally Hawkins gives an amazing performance, and since Amy Madigan was excellent in "Weapons", I wanted to see another actor I like play a very villainous villain. That was the main draw for me, and according to the minimal reviews I read, she is wonderfully heinous in the movie. So I turned it on and sat down and was traumatized, in a good way, by what I saw.

Right off the bat, this movie is not for the faint of heart. This is a tough movie with some heavy themes being dealt with. The whole crux of the movie is, a foster brother and sister's dad passes away and they are sent to live with Hawkins character. There's another young man living in the house with them, and this kid seems a little off. The brother is clearly going through some awful stuff, and the sister, who is legally blind, needs him to help her get around. The young man living with Hawkins is mute and left in locked rooms during the day. We come to find out that Hawkins is dealing with grief all her own. Her daughter, who was afflicted with the same eye disease the new girl has, died after being left alone by the house pool. She hit her head, fell in and did not make it. As the movie unfolds it gets more and more sinister and chilling. And Hawkins is at the forefront of every problem. She, after taking the children to their father's funeral, encourages the young kid to drink alcohol to deal with the pain. After their night of drinking, Hawkins makes the kid believe that he has wet the bed, a problem from his past trauma. But it is Hawkins who puts the wet spot on his pants. We see that. After Hawkins and the daughter go shopping, the two young boys living at the house have, or try to, a conversation. This is where the movie gets gross, and starts to explain itself. After the older boy gives the younger boy a piece of fruit, still on the knife, we hear some clanking metal sounds. The older one turns and sees the younger one trying to eat the knife. His face is all cut up, and as one would expect, Hawkins freaks out. The movie only gets crazier from there. Hawkins continues to torment the older boy, making him think he is crazy, that he hit his sister in his sleep and that he is the problem and needs to leave their house. The older boy doesn’t believe he is doing any of this, and even comes to find out that maybe the younger boy living in the house has been kidnapped. This is proven to be true. Before that was proven, we come to find out what Hawkins is truly up to, and it is upsetting/ Spoilers ahead. I mentioned that Hawkins' daughter has passed away. Well, she has kidnaped this young kid and had him possessed. He eats all the stuff in the house, knives and tables included, because the possessor is hungry. This boy is there to eat the "soul" of Hawkins' deceased daughter so it can purge it into the new foster daughter. Hawkins' character has made this plan and she is trying to set it in motion. She truly goes too far. She kills the older brother and his caseworker, her friend, when they find out the plan. She tells the new daughter what she is going to do. She is on the way to completing the plan until the new daughter actually calls her "mum", just so she will release her. The movie concludes with the daughter getting away, the kidnapped kid, who is badly hurt, getting rescued and the mom and her deceased daughter laying in a pool of water with police barreling down on her.

As I said before, this is a tough movie with gruesome themes. But I felt that the directors and writers did a very good, and unique, job of showing how far some will go when dealing with grief. They did dedicate the movie to a friend of theirs that unexpectedly died while they were making the movie. But the reason I would recommend this movie, and steer people towards it is Sally Hawkins' performance. She is so evil and so mean but she is also understated about it in the best possible way. She is sinister, but you also start to believe her at certain points. The things she does are truly awful, but then she will talk about her daughter and that makes you stop in your tracks. I think next to Madigan's performance, Hawkins' is the next best villain in a movie from 2025. If you do watch, it is a tough movie to get through, but you will also be rewarded with a tremendous performance from Sally Hawkins. 

Ty

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

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Is the New "Animal Farm" Movie for Kids?

I wrote about the movie "GOAT" that I saw with my son earlier this week. Before the movie we had some previews and one stood out to me, and I fear it is for the wrong reasons.

"GOAT" is clearly a movie for kids, so the previews were movies geared towards kids. During one of the trailers I saw a bunch of animals talking and acting like animals from the book "Animal Farm". But I figured that couldn't be the case. "Animal Farm", the book, is pretty bleak. I've read it a few times and it gets bleaker the older I get. I need to say, I love the book. I think everyone should read it once in their life. I feel it is very relevant to society today. I mentioned to my son multiple times during the preview that I think he should read the book to get the true idea of its meaning. So the whole idea of turning this very important, very bleak story into a kids movie rubbed me the wrong way.

As the preview rolled out it almost seemed like they were trying to make it a comedy. The preview had the beats of the book, but it was all being told in a goofy, funny tone. The pigs were making jokes. The other animals were laughing and goofing off. The animation made it look very child-like. They even had the line, "two legs bad, four legs good". But it sounded as if they had a child say it in voiceover.

That is not the lesson I got from the book when I read it. The book is all about standing together to overthrow the bad guys, but then turning into said bad guys when you get power. It is the good and bad of having power. The book tells that story and tells it very well. The pigs are, spoiler alert, the bad guys. They start the revolution, but when they are given the power they get too fat off of it. The book shows you the downside of being in total control. This preview makes a joke of all of that in my opinion. I have mild optimism because Andy Serkis is directing, and the voice cast is great, led by Seth Rogan. But I got a very weird vibe from what I saw. I just can't wrap my head around it.

I've wanted an "Animal Farm" movie for a long, long time. But I want it to stay true to the book. I don't care if it is animated or live action either. Animated might be better since the animals speak to one another throughout the book. But this version has thrown me for a loop. I am kind of hopeful that the preview is just a misdirect. I doubt it since they showed it before a kids movie. And that is what has me most pessimistic. I don't think studios would have attached this to the movie "GOAT" if they weren't going for the same audience. "Animal Farm" should fall into the category of "Heavy Metal" or "Fritz the Cat". You can make animated movies for adults. It has been done in the past. And that is what they should be doing with "Animal Farm". They can have this same cast. As I mentioned, I love that Andy Serkis is directing. He has made one hell of a career for himself, but he is doing more drama/action stuff. Serkis doesn't seem like the type to do kids movies. But I am a little worried that they're going to sully the greatness that is the book. I could just choose to not see the movie. I don't have to even go to the theater. But I like all of the people involved, and it is one of my all time favorite books. Like I said before, I hope they are not revealing much of anything in these early previews, and they are going to make a more true to the book movie.

Time will tell. but right now I'm a little concerned that they're going to take this excellent book, about the corruption of power, and try to make a joke out of it. That would bume me the hell 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 "GOAT"

My kids had school off yesterday and my son has been asking to go see the new animated movie "GOAT". He was asking my folks to take him, but they didn't have the time. With my daughter being homebound since she is sick, my son and I were stir crazy, so I decided that was the perfect time to take him.

I did not know a lot about the movie, but one of my older brother's did tell me that he thought my son would enjoy it. He was correct. This review will be as spoiler free as possible, but a few spoilers may slip here and there. Forewarning. "GOAT" takes place in an alternate world where animals play a version of professional basketball called Roar Ball. Roar ball has, for the most part, bigger animals that play. We have pumas, rhinos, ostriches, grizzly bears and horses, among others. The sport is tough for smaller animals to play because it is, especially for a kids movie, pretty violent. The courts are also susceptible to the elements, since most games are held outdoors.

Early on we meet the main character, Will, and his mom. Will is a goat and he dreams of playing for his local town's team, the Thorns. He also wants to play with his favorite player of all time, Jett. He goes to a game with his mom and vows to become a pro one day. We fast forward 10 years and Will still has hoop dreams, but he is still small. His mom has also, unfortunately, passed away. Will works as a delivery guy for a diner, but he always finds time to play Roar Ball, mostly by himself. Meanwhile the Thorns and Jett are having a tough season and Jett looks to be getting passed by as the best to ever play. There is a new player in town, a horse named Mane Attraction. Mane Attraction is brash and bold and a top notch hooper. He is on the internet talking trash all the time and he knows how good he is. One day he goes to the Vineyard, this is where they play pickup ball, and he is taking on anyone willing to play him. Will gets his shot and breaks his ankles. Mane Attraction eventually wins the game, but Will's friends upload the video of his breaking ankles. This video goes so viral that the owner of the Thorns signs him. Jett doesn't care for this, but they need a sixth player, and Will is chosen for the job.

From here on out the movie follows the typical sports stereotypes. Will doesn't play at all and he cannot get through to his teammates. Jett is a ball hog and a loner. Eventually they come together as a team and start winning. Then the team gets sold before the semifinals. Will overhears a conversation between the owner and Jett and Jett reverts to her old ways. They all apologize and get back together and eventually win it all. And one of the players on the team is able to buy it from the owner and they don't have to move. They set up a sequel in the closing credits and, after 100 minutes, we were out of the theater.

This is your typical kids sports movie. It hits all the cliches. You can tell what is going to happen beat by beat. That being said, I found myself enjoying what I was watching, but not for the reasons I used to like sports movies. Will is all well and good to watch, and I liked the basketball adjacent game they played, but I enjoyed the hell out of the coach in the movie. Patton Oswalt voiced the coach, and when he was given full control of the team, I was all in. His message was all about teamwork and how teams, not individuals, win rings. He championed defense, teamwork and togetherness as ways to win. I have been saying this since I started coaching my son six years ago. I loved that this was the ringing message throughout the movie. And the only way they end up winning it all is by playing as a team. I loved that.

Outside the coach, my favorite part, this was a solid cast doing nice voicework. Caleb McLaughlin voiced Will and he was great. He was full of energy and optimism and I was there for it. Some other people lending voices were Gabrielle Union, Steph Curry, Aaron Pierre, Nicola Coughlan, David Harbour, Nick Kroll and Jennifer Hudson, among others. Everyone is doing solid work and seems to be having a good time doing it. The movie had a great message and the cast put that on blast. The animation was cool, the movie was short, the action was fun and I was never bored watching it.

I recommend any parents with young kids who play basketball go to see this movie. It is neat and cool and tells a positive and nice story. My son and I enjoyed it, and I think young basketball players will like it too. 

Ty

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

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Remember "The Angry Birds Movie"?

My daughter has been home sick for two days, she has a mild fever and a cough, and today she wanted to watch a movie. I let her pick and she landed on "The Angry Birds Movie".

I have to admit, I had totally forgotten that they even made one of these. It seemed unnecessary at the time of its release, and I had completely let it leave my mind that this even existed. I also remember reading some reviews, and as to be expected, the movie was panned by the major critics. I had very low expectations going into this movie.

That being said, I did find some stuff that made me laugh while watching, I thought the animation was cool, but all in all, this movie doesn't even need to exist. It was not great. My daughter loved it. Let me say that. She was laughing through some sniffles and when the movie ended she told me she had a good time. I watched it from an adult and critics point of view, be that necessary or not. Like I said, there were a few gags that got genuine laughs from me, and the movie looked like a much better version of the game. But all in all this was clearly just a cash grab. I don't know when or why Angry Birds the game became humongous, but the fact of the matter is that it is one of the bigger phone games, and I'm sure movie corporations saw that and jumped at an opportunity to make some more money. They even got a solid voice cast, including people like Jason Sudeikis, Maya Rudolph, Peter Dinklage and Danny McBride among many others. But those people didn't have a whole lot to do in their roles. Sudekis was there to be aloof and make one liner jokes, which he excels at doing. But the jokes here, for the most part, land flat. You can tell this was written for a children's audience. Sometimes these movies are made for kids, but the people involved write jokes for the parents that are watching. That wasn't the case here. These were jokes for kids, maybe even written by kids. Danny McBride felt subdued, Maya Rudolph was only there to act like a hippy and Peter Dinklage, who got the laughs out of me, was barely even in the movie at all.

As for the story, it was simplistic, which can be fine, but they went way too simple here. The game goes that the birds need to protect their homes from the pigs. That was exactly what the movie did, but they added eggs, which I don't even remember if that is in the game or not. The eggs were the crux of what the pigs were doing. And it wasn't until the pigs stole the eggs did we even get to see the birds do what they do in the game. And that was the climax of the movie. This was the point where the animation was at its best, but it felt too little too late. I did enjoy how nefarious the pigs were, and Bill Hader voicing the main pig was great casting. But anyone could tell the pigs were evil the moment they stepped on screen, even if you've never played the game before. When they did finally show up the tricks the birds could do, it came and went so quickly that I had to ask my daughter who did what, and we had to rewind a few times to figure out who was causing what damage. Seeing the birds do destruction to the pigs town was cool because that is what the game is all about. But, again, it was the end of the movie and it was only about a five minute scene. The rest of the movie was filled with corny jokes, for the most part, a story of why birds should and should not be angry, the main bird being picked on as a kid and the town turning and then regarding the main bird. You see, very simple stuff. But, my daughter liked it and the movie made more than enough money to garner a sequel.

Herein lies my issue with this movie overall, there's hardly any original ideas anymore. Every other movie seems to be based off a property that gained enough fame to justify the cash grab that is the inevitable feature length movie. Hell, a studio made an "Emoji" movie. That should tell you all you need to know. I will say, if you have a kid who's interested, you should turn it on for them. But for the adults in the room, it won't do all that much for you. 

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 "Opus"

Last week I watched the movie "Opus". Let’s discuss.

Once I saw that Ayo Edebiri was going to be in a horror/comedy from A24 I was all in. I enjoy her work on "The Bear". She is the heart and soul of that show for me. I didn't finish "I Love LA", but I did see her small role as a European pop icon and I thought she played it perfectly over the top. I like her voice work on "Big Mouth", and now i'm stoked that she is getting more and more work.

As I found out more about "Opus", I got even more on board. John Malkovich was cast as a superstar pop icon. He was going to be playing one of the best singer/songwriters in the world. He also seemed to have a creepy aura about him, and you could see that from the trailers. From what I read, "Opus" was about Malkovich's popstar inviting people from the world of pop culture to hear his new record and then some flagrant stuff was going to go down. The two people I knew cast, and the premise were more than enough for me to want to watch.

Then some reviews came out and "Opus" kind of got panned. That bummed me out. That was when I decided to wait for it to come to streaming. It took me a bit, but I finally saw it and I have some thoughts. I do want to say, this review will have spoilers in it. Just a heads up.

So, this movie was not great. I want to start with that. It goes kind of nuts and off the rails in the final act. The stuff leading up to the climax was good and scary and thrilling, but you could tell what was going to happen from the jump. The rest of the cast was really great though. Besides Malkovich and Edebiri, we have Murray Bartlett, Juliette Lewis, Tony Hale and Amber Midthunder, among others. Whoever cast this movie did a wonderful job, and I don't necessarily blame the actors for the movie kind of unraveling the whole way through. Malkovich is good and creepy. I also appreciate that he actually sang the songs in the movie. Edebiri is great as the young and hungry journalist. She is a great actor and she did such a wonderful job in a co-starring role. Bartlett is funny, Lewis brings a solid veteran to the cast and Midthunder is downright terrifying. Tony Hale is barely in it, but he brings it for his two scenes in the whole thing.

For people who may not know, "Opus" is about a former pop star making a new album and inviting some people to his compound to be the first to listen. The compound is creepy. The people working and living there are clearly up to no good. The place is too pristine and too well manicured and taken care of. The invited guests, besides Edebiri, don't seem to see what is going on, and when they do, it is far too late. Look, while the movie is not great, it did keep my attention. Sure, it was easy to figure out what was going to happen beat by beat, but that did not take away from my viewing experience. Malkovich really brought it and he is scary to begin with. I didn't like the way they had him reveal his plan so quickly and abruptly, but again that is not his fault. And even in the end, when Edebiri finally gets to interview him, I could not take my eyes off his performance. Malkovitch is a good and dependable actor and you know he is going to bring it when he is cast in a movie. My biggest nitpick with the movie is the turn after the puppet show. This is when the whole plan is revealed and this is when they go way, way too gory. The kills were merciless and brutal. I felt like they took it a bit too far for my taste. The getaway was easy to spot. The wrap up from Malkovich in prison talking about how the survivors of his cult were still out there was way too easy to see coming. But I was still locked in the whole time. I think the better idea would have been to just keep the movie within the compound and slowly reveal the plan. That was the best part of the movie. When they let tension sit there and made the viewer think about what might happen, that was when the movie worked. They didn't let us sit in that long enough in my opinion.

I say one more time, the movie was watchable. So while not very good, I do think it is worth a viewing. Just go in knowing that the end product isn't great, but you will see some solid performances. 

Ty

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

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A "Blade Runner" Experience Like No Other

Last night I had a movie going experience for the first time in my life. I have seen the original "Blade Runner" dozens of times. It is one of the best movies ever made and it happens to be one of my favorites. I find new things to enjoy with each new watch. I grow to like it even more as I get older. It is truly a masterpiece. And I have seen every version of the movie that has been made available. But last night it was a totally new, totally different viewing.

A while back I saw that a local venue was going to show the movie on a humongous screen in 4k Ultra. That would have been enough for me to go, but this showing also had a live band playing the score of the movie as it was playing. I've heard of this before, but I've never been privy to a screening. My wife a few years back saw "The Muppet Christmas Carol" with a choir and orchestra, which she loved. But this was different. This was not a choir or an orchestra. This was a band playing along with the movie. They had three keyboard players. There was a person who played guitar and bass. They had two electric violin players. There was a person playing an electric harp. They had one singer and a person playing a humongous drum. And they played the score of "Blade Runner", which is more of an electronic, new wave type score. It was akin to something that Daft Punk would do nowadays. It was kind of like their score to the second "Tron" movie Disney did years ago.

This showing was cool as hell though. I didn't really know what to expect when I went into the venue. It was playing at The Factory here in Saint Louis, which is a decent sized spot. I got second row seats, and when I walked in, there were probably about 200 to 300 people. That is definitely the biggest crowd I have been with to watch a movie. I do wish I got seats a few rows back, I had to tilt my head up to watch the movie, but that's neither here nor there. I was also surprised to see the diversity in age at this movie. Most people were my age, or just a little bit older. But there were some younger kids, it was an 18 and over show. There were some people in their 20's, but there were also people who are my folks' age, and that made me happy. That means this movie has continued to gain fans year after year. The greatness of "Blade Runner" knows no age limits. That's dope. I love the movie, so that was no surprise to me that it still holds up incredibly well. It is a classic. But having that band added such a nice extra incentive to watching this movie. From the opening credits to the end credits, the band was on it. They hit every beat. When the drums needed to come in, they came in with a literal bang. The keyboards, probably the most essential part of the score, were banging. The players were on it, they had the right tone and effects and it was amazing to listen to. The violins added to the eeriness of the movie and the score. The electric harp was one of the cooler live instruments I have ever heard. The lady who sang the parts that needed singing had a beautiful voice and hit all the right notes. And the bassist/guitar player added the little extra that those instruments add to this movie's score. There were times when I knew that drums were coming, but they were so much louder that it made me jump in my seat. I made my way out of the venue in the middle of the rolling of the end credits and I could clearly hear the music outside while walking to my car.

This was a very wonderful way to see this movie. It was new and unique and interesting. I will for sure be going to more and more of these type showings, as long as they aren't wildly expensive. I highly recommend seeing a movie you love in this fashion. It adds a whole lot that I didn't even know was possible. This is a memory I will hold for the longest time. 

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 Smashing Machine"

A few months back I saw a trailer for the movie "The Smashing Machine". It piqued my interest at the time, but I never got around to seeing it in the theaters. It is now streaming on HBO Max and I had some time last weekend to watch it.

I recently wrote about my affinity for sports movies and "The Smashing Machine" is most definitely a sports movie. The sport is not one I watch or know much about, MMA fighting, but I've watched plenty of sports movies that feature sports I'm not a fan of.  I was most intrigued by what I saw Dwayne Johnson doing in the trailer. Johnson usually only plays roles in action movies where he can be the hero. That's all well and good and he seems to excel at such roles. He has done some different stuff, like "Southland Tales" for example. But he is usually the nondescript hero. This role in "The Smashing Machine" seemed much different. This is a more dramatic take. He had to go to darker places I felt. He had to do some real "acting" if you will. And I felt like he was up to the task here.

My quick initial review of the movie was okay. It was a bit melodramatic and overlong. I usually love Emily Blunt in her movies, but here it felt like she was directed to be an emotional over the top mess. She did that just fine but it was a cliched take on a girlfriend who felt scorned and not relied upon. There is an entire scene where she threatens to kill herself and I just didn't buy it. It felt very after school special. And as the Safdie's like to do, Benny Safdie had some real people and very green actors perform roles in the movie. It was fine, but it did not come close to the work that his brother Josh Safdie got from the same people in "Marty Supreme". you could tell the non actors in "The Smashing Machine" were not actors. I do want to point out the guy that played Johnson's buddy, Ryan Bader, did a fine job. This is his world, I read he is a former MMA fighter, and all he had to do was play a version of himself with a different name. The fighting sequences were cool and solidly acted and directed. But I just kind of got a hollow feeling after watching it because it was too sad and sappy for my taste when it comes to sports movies.

But, Dwayne Johnson was pretty great. He was the lone standout of this movie. He brought his A game. This was a role that had me realizing that he can be a solid actor when called upon to do something new and different. He was the titular Smashing Machine, Mark Kerr. I had no idea who he was prior to this movie, but I learned a lot about him from Johnson's portrayal. I guess Kerr was a pioneer of the sport and a pretty big reason why it has become as popular as it is today. Johnson also transformed his body for this role. He has always been a big dude, he was a college football player turned professional wrestler. But he had to build up his muscles even more for this movie. I read that Kerr was a pretty devout weight lifter and took his lifting very seriously. There is a part when Johnson turns his back to the camera and he had so many muscles on his back. I had no idea that one could have that many muscles and have them on one's back. Dwayne Johnson got absolutely ripped for this and he more than looked the part. Back to his acting for a moment. As I said, this movie was melodramatic, and in a melodramatic sports movie, the main character always seems to have a drug problem. Kerr was no different. He was addicted to opioids, namely pain relief drugs. But the way Johnson portrayed his addiction, he did it very well. You could see he was an addict, but he was able to hide it for a bit. And when he couldn't hide it, it reared its ugly head and Johnson did this very well. I especially liked the scene where he was in Japan at a fighting tournament and the strongest pain reliever he could get was Advil. Johson portrayed Kerr's addiction perfectly here. You could tell he was angry, but he didn't go over the top. But you could see him seething deep down which only furthered his addiction. And when he needs to get clean, him trying to stay sober with an enabling girlfriend was also very well acted by Johnson. The fight scenes were done very well by Johnson. It had to help that he was a professional wrestler and he has been doing stage fighting most of his adult life. I also enjoyed his arc throughout the movie and the ending was done very well.

Dwayne Johnson is the reason to watch this movie if you are thinking about checking it out. His performance is dynamic and it was the reason I was able to get through the more melodramatic stuff. So if you're on the fence, watch it for Johnson. His performance is worth the two hour runtime. 

Ty

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

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

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SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

R.I.P. Catherine O'Hara

I was going to write about a movie I recently watched, but a very unfortunate thing happened as I was driving home this afternoon. I got a new update on my phone and checked when I got to a stoplight. I read that Catherine O'Hara had passed away at 71.

I was shocked. I didn't want to believe it at first. I thought that it may have been some misinformation that got wrongly released. I truly did not want this news to be true. Unfortunately it is true. Catherine O'Hara has died at 71 years old. She was too young and still had so much more work left to do. No reason for death has been made public, but the stuff I have read said that she had a brief illness. I am stunned.

O'Hara has literally been on my tv and movie screens since I was a kid. "Home Alone" was the first movie I can remember watching dozens of times. It was my favorite movie for a long, long time. "Home Alone" came out in 1990. I was 8. That was the start of my love for movies. O'Hara was the second lead, at least in my opinion, of that movie. She is the mom hell bent on getting back to her son. As a kid I sided with Kevin, as an adult and parent, O'Hara's foible and persistence to get back home hits so much harder. And again, I was 8 when I first saw that movie. She was in the next two "Home Alone" movies, which I obviously watched. But it wasn't until I was about 15 or 16 when my brother, RD, showed me the movie "Waiting For Guffman". Again, O'Hara has a memorable and major role in this movie, but this was also my first Christopher Guest movie. I began to heavily follow Guest's work after "Waiting For Guffman". This also meant that I was going to see a ton more Catherine O'Hara. Guest and O'Hara worked a bunch together after "Guffman". In "Guffman" she and Fred Willard are a hilarious couple who think they are the biggest actors in a small town in Missouri. It's a shame that both of them have now passed. After "Guffman" she did "Best In Show" with Guest. This is probably my favorite role of hers. She is so funny and gets to do her thing in this movie. I loved her limp, her backstory and the relationship she had with Eugene Levy in this movie. She is the star of this movie. She carried it, and this is a great movie with a wonderful cast. O'Hara steals the show and every time I go back and watch I find something new she does that cracks me up. In a break from Guest's work, she was in the very underrated comedy "Orange County", playing Colin Hanks' mom. She's great as the absent minded divorcee that is just trying to keep her youngest son home with her. In 2003 she returned to work with Guest in "A Mighty Wind". I mean, right next to "Best In Show", this is a powerhouse performance. She gets paired up with Levy again, but this time it is a totally different dynamic and O'Hara is more than up to the task. Her voice is also beautiful and I love when she sings in the movie. For three years she did a whole bunch of voice work before teaming up with Guest again in "For Your Consideration". I like this movie, regardless of what the critics said about it. The work she did with Guest was my favorite work of hers and she was always up for each and every job. I would be remiss if I didn't mention her work in "Beetlejuice". This is a great performance that was a joy to watch. I loved her work in a comedy/horror type movie. Her style was rad as well. And when they sang "Day-O", her mannerisms and facial acting was simply divine. She nailed it yet again in the sequel, "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" She and Winona Ryder were such a great mother daughter duo in those movies. She was tremendous in her one episode of "Curb your Enthusiasm". She is the crazy Funkhouser and boy oh boy does she put on an absolute show. She is great as the "mom" in "Where the Wild Things Are".

Then, as a full fledged adult with a wife, kid and a house, I found "Schitt's Creek". I mean come on, Moira Rose is an all time character. This is one of those roles that will go down in history. The voice she used was perfect. Her performance was perfect. She was paired up with Eugene Levy again and the two of them continued to make magic. "Schitt's Creek" is a show that everyone needs to watch and O'Hara's performance is one for the ages. Since then she has continued to do voiceover stuff and, from what I have read, I have not seen either yet, she was tremendous in season two of "The Last of Us" and in the first season of "The Studio". This should show everyone how beloved and what a joy she was to work with.

Catherine O'Hara is one of a kind. She had her own comedy dynamic and she was unique. I'm still kind of in shock that she is gone. Like I said up top, I have been watching her content since I was 8 years old. That is 35 plus years now. I'm going to miss her and anything new she may have been working on. At least I have "Home Alone", her movies with Christopher Guest and "Schitt's Creek" to look back on.

Rest In Peace Catherine O'Hara. I hope you are making people laugh wherever you may be right now. I'm going to miss you. 

Ty

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

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Some Praise for Chase Infiniti and Jesse Plemons

I know that the Oscar nominations came out about a week ago and a bunch of people and publications have done their own writeups on them. I know some have their "snubs and surprises", and others have their own way of saying the same thing. I don't really pour over whom or who did not get nominated. There's only a certain number of nominations that go out and only those people are who the voting committee gets to pick the nominees. That's just the way it is. But I do want to point out two people who, regardless of getting no nominations, I think people should seek out the movies they are in to watch some incredible work.

The first one I will focus on today is Chase Infiniti and the work she did in "One Battle After Another". It's no secret to anyone who reads my stuff that "OBAA" was my favorite movie of last year. It is one of the best movies I've seen in a long, long time. The performances make the movie what it is in the long run, but Infiniti may have stolen the show for me. She was amazing. She shows up about halfway through the movie and when she is onscreen she is the best part of every scene. She goes toe to toe with each and every scene she's in with Leonardo DiCaprio. He plays her dad and she is so, so good as a brooding teenager having to deal with an overprotective and all the frustrations that come with all of that. The scene where her friends come to pick her up and DiCaprio has to deal with all of that is funny and relevant. That is how I imagine I will react when my daughter inevitably starts hanging out with kids I don't know. And as much as I relate to DiCaprio in this scene, Infiniti steals the show from him. And the whole thing between her and Sean Penn is simply wonderful. She is the most powerful one onscreen at that time and she owns the scene. And the whole finale with her and the car chase is one of the most amazingly shot scenes I've ever seen, and Infiniti does such good work and she barely has to say anything. Chase Infiniti stood above the crowd in a movie filled with stone cold stars and up and comers who did get Oscar nominations. She was so awesome and when the movie ended my first thought was how great the work she did in this movie and that I want to see what she does next more than anyone else in this superb movie.

The other performance I wanted to single out was Jesse Plemons in "Bugonia". Emma Stone was rightfully nominated, and if she were to win, that wouldn't shock me one bit. She is the driving force and lead actor of the movie and she is so reliable that I expect her to shine. Plemons is right there with her in this movie though. Stone and Plemons were in Yorgos Lanthimos' previous movie, "Kinds of Kindness". They did some good stuff in that movie, but that was also a very odd and disjointed movie. I liked it, but it was a tough watch and there was almost too much going on in it. "Bugonia" is a much more focused movie and Stone and Plemons only had to play one character. And they both nailed it. Plemons is so good at playing a quiet psychopath. My buddy I saw the movie with said to me that he may be a little too good at playing these types of characters and then we had a full on conversation about Plemons and if he really is like the people he plays in real life. In "Bugonia" he is your typical internet obsessed crazy person who "does their own research". He claims to know who and who is not an alien amongst humans. He drags his cousin along on his wild fantasy. He drags everyone down to his level. He is the main one behind the whole kidnapping and questioning of Stone's character. The way he talks and deals with Donny frustrated me to no end. He was manipulative and acted like what he was doing was for all of humanity, when it really it was all about him. But, in the end, maybe he was right. Plemons was so pathetic and destructive that you are meant to think he is nuts. And while he is, he did kind of know what was going down, he just went about it in the absolute wrong way. As for being psychotic, Plemons nailed that as well. The way he could just switch his crazy on and off was wild. He was truly all the way gone and Plemons showed that tenfold in this performance. I think he was up to Stone's level in this movie and they both did some incredible work.

That was all I wanted to say about these two performances. While they may have not been nominated for any Oscars, go seek out these movies for these performances if you haven't yet. It is some of the better work you will see and the performances will stay with you for a long, long while. 

Ty

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

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Better Never Than Late on "Beer League"

I am currently in a movie watching mood, and to be more specific, I have been trying to watch sports comedies. I like most sports movies. And if I don't like them, I can usually find something enjoyable during a bad one. I played sports growing up, I'm a runner now and I coach feeder basketball. I like to be involved and around sports in general. So, when scrolling on Prime the other day I happened to notice a movie that I have never heard of before called "Beer League".

I had pretty recently watched the movie "Dirty Work". I adore that movie. I always liked Norm MacDonald and his style of comedy. "Dirty Work" felt like his magnum opus and it will always hold a special place for me. Artie Lange happens to play his best friend in that movie. I mention Lange because he is the lead of "Beer League". I have always been kind of leery of Lange. I know he has, or had, drug issues and he always tended to fall off the wagon every few years. He also does pretty blue humor that I determine to be very problematic. In "Dirty Work" he was fine, but that was because he was doing MacDonald's style of humor. In "Beer League" they let him loose and let him do his own thing. I'm not much for the argument that certain movies could or could not be made from the past in current time. "Beer League" came out in 2006, but I'm glad that movies like this are a thing of the past.

This movie is bad and offensive and crude and very poorly made. I played softball up until about four years ago. It was fine. Some people took it a little too seriously while others were just there to have a good time. I don't drink or smoke, so that aspect never appealed to me. But I always loved to play baseball as a kid, and softball let me hang on to that a little bit longer. The softball they portray in this movie is crass and stupid. There's an entire montage where the team has practice. We never practiced or even thought about practicing. The shit talk in this movie was offensive. I'm not saying that people didn't talk in the leagues I played in, but we never used problematic language or said offensive stuff every other word. It was more in jest or playful. Some of the words they use in this movie made me cringe when I heard them say it. And it happened way too often for my taste. I would hope that some of the stuff they said , when they wrote it down, would have double checked it and decided to try and find a different way to get the joke off. They didn't though. They took the lazy route and just said some foul stuff. And I'm not trying to be the language police, but some words just need to disappear forever. Other than the language, the movie was just bad. It wasn't funny. It was poorly written, obviously. The actors seemed uninterested in their dialogue. The comedians they got to play random characters are bad comedians. Artie Lange is not a leading man. Not in the least. I felt bad for the actresses in this movie. I understand that a job is a job, but their roles were so underwritten and, quite frankly, demeaning. The bachelor party scene was tough to watch and pretty disgusting. This is just a bad, bad movie. And like I said before, even in bad sports movies I can find something to enjoy. That was not the case here. I have pretty bad OCD, so I decided that I had to finish this movie, but there was nothing redeeming about it. Sure, I got to see a young Jerry Minor, Joe Lo Truglio and Tina Fey, but they were underutilized. Hell, Tina Fey was in one scene and had one line and she was gone.

"Beer League" is a bad, bad movie. I am writing this today to implore anyone that may want to watch this movie to tell them, don't. Don't waste your time. It is truly repugnant and just a bad 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 "M3GAN 2.0"

In my quest to see a bunch of movies I wanted to see last year, I finally saw "Megan 2.0".

I loved the first "Megan". I thought it was a great idea for a movie and they executed it pretty well. I liked how eerie it was. I appreciated how, with a limited budget, they were able to do suspense and horror and even a little comedy. The concept of the movie was solid too, especially in this day and age. I am a little fearful of AI and the firm grip it has on some people already. I think there are good uses for AI, but most people use it for not so good things. That's the scary part to me. "Megan" does a good job telling that story. The main kid's parents die in a horrific car accident and she is sent to live with her aunt, who's a big wig in the world of computers. She has created a robot companion and she decides to see if it works by pairing it with her niece. Things go awry, as they do in movies like these, and the companion is overprotective of the child. The robot companion, Megan, decides that anyone who does so much as raise their voice at her is deemed a threat and the robot needs to take them out. This is where the first "Megan" movie really achieves its goal. It is violent and sinister and they even manage to sneak a few jokes in here and there. I thought about the movie a lot after seeing it. I really enjoyed my viewing experience. So when a sequel was announced,  I was pumped. It felt like the first movie was the little engine that could type movies, and it more than earned its sequel. I'm not always a fan of sequels, but when a movie surprises me as much as this one did, I'm all here for a sequel. And when it was announced that they would have most of the same people back, that made me even more excited. I never had the chance to see it in theaters. It felt like it kind of came and went pretty quickly, which should have been a sign to me. But it is streaming on Peacock, which we subscribe to at my home, and I had some free time to watch.

Right off the bat I got a bad feeling. First off, the sequel is rated PG13. I know the first one is also PG13, but the sequel felt much more like an actual PG13 movie. It felt subdued and like a bunch of stuff got cut, stuff that may have been deemed too violent. The kills in this one just didn't bring the same oomph. I felt like they showed much more in the first movie than they did here. "Megan 2.0" seemed to cut away from every kill right before it happened. I'm not a violent person by any means, but movies are where we all escape. I love the "John Wick" franchise. I'm all in on the "Alien" movies. I loved "Weapons" and "Sinners" from last year. Those are violent movies that show you pretty much everything. "Megan 2.0" showed almost nothing. I also felt like they tried to make the Megan doll too quippy in the sequel. It felt like they wanted to make the robot like Deadpool, but without looking directly into the camera when making a joke. Megan seemed to have a one liner for every single thing that was said. I don't care for that unless I know that is what is coming, like the "Deadpool" movies. I also wasn't crazy about the new robot they introduced in this movie. This robot could have been so much more badass, but they subdued this one as much as they did with Megan. And when they have their big fight in the end, that whole scene felt kind of hollow and unfinished. And as much as I don't want to rag on children actors, the kid in this one was too preachy and too much of a teenager. I'm raising a teenager who has big feelings and lets us know about them. I don't want to watch that when I turn on a movie. I thought the kid did an okay job, she was just very moody and very much a teenager, which was frustrating to watch. I do want to point out Allison Williams, who returns as the aunt. She was all in and did her best to make this a solid movie. My favorite part was when she and Megan were paired via Williams' brain and she had to fight some bad guys. That part reminded me of the first movie.

All in all this sequel did not deliver for me. It didn't have the same juice as the first one and they tried to do too much here. This is the problem when a bunch of money is thrown at a movie that should feel more like a low budget project. I'd say just watch the original and skip this sequel. You'll thank me in the long run. 

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 "Him"

I finally saw "HIM" yesterday. I wanted to see this movie when it was in the theaters, but the timing never worked out. I saw that it was a Monkeypaw produced movie, which is Jordan Peele's company, and that was almost all I needed to check this movie out. The sheer fact that it was about football was just an added incentive for me. I also saw that Tyriq Withers was co-starring in the movie, and his one episode of "Atlanta" was one of the better episodes I've ever seen. It is really good and I highly recommend checking that one out.

Withers is very, very good in this movie. He commands the screen. Seeing him work, opposite Marlon Wayans, was an absolute delight. He played this highly touted draft pick that suffers a horrendous injury and has to come back from all of that. He also has to go workout with the greatest player to ever play the game. When Withers gets to the remote desert to work out with Wayans, this is where the movie gets nuts.

Wayans plays the aforementioned GOAT. I have always liked Wayans, but I have only ever seen him do comedic work. He is not doing comedy in "HIM". Not by a long shot. He plays a deranged lunatic who is obsessed with being the best there ever will be. He does not want to be usurped by Withers. He wants to continue to play the game. He will literally do whatever it takes to stay on top. He is nuts and is willing to do some horrific things to stay on top. Withers and Wayans are so good and so watchable in their roles. They were, by far, the best thing about this movie.

As for the movie, it had loads and loads of potential. But it felt like they didn't know how to really end the movie, and it truly goes off the rails in the last act. The whole idea of an up and coming draft prospect trying to take over for the greatest of all time is an interesting concept. This happens all the time in professional sports. And since these guys are pros, they may not want their job taken by a younger, more intriguing person. Withers plays that intriguing prospect very well. Everyone likes him and wants what is best for him. He loves his family. He constantly says that family is the most important thing. He is the true vision of a future GOAT. Wayans is on his way out. He has done it all. He has eight titles. He has multiple MVP awards. He is considered the best ever. But he is also old and he is on the verge of retirement. This dynamic is great between the two of them, and when the movie explores that, it works. The whole idea of Wayans inviting Withers out to his house in the desert to work out with him and see if he can take over the franchise is solid. I like that they break it down into six different days. Each day is a different, specific work out for a future pro. Like most horror movies, it starts out fine. But after the first day Withers' world gets turned inside out. First he has to strip down to nothing for a physical. Then he starts to see odd things while staying at the place. He is pushed to his limits. He starts to go kind of nuts. He sees the lengths and craziness Wayans is willing to go to to play this game at the highest level. He starts to get freaked out by what he is seeing, but he is also intent on being the best. He gets advice from people there to leave. He doesn't. He gets pushed and pulled every which way. He starts to see some horrific things, but finds it easier to move on the longer he stays. This all works. I was fascinated by watching how each day escalated. I loved seeing Wayans get deeper and deeper into the darkness of his character. It cannot be stated enough how good Wayans was in this role. But as we get closer to the end, this movie unravels and my interest starts to wane. After the party where Withers is selected to be the next franchise QB, the movie goes too big and gets too kooky. The violence and gore is all of the sudden the centerpiece of the movie. What made the first half of the movie so good was the mood and the vibe. It was dark and seedy, but I had no clue what was going to happen next. After the party it became a typical gross out horror/gore movie. It was gore porn in the very last scene. That kind of turned me off from what I had seen before. I get that they were trying to tell a specific story, but they went too far with the gore in my opinion.

I would say check “Him” out for Withers and especially Wayans' performances. But just know going in that it takes a deep dive in the final act and that was frustrating for me. 

Ty

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

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Willem DaFoe was Next Level in "The Lighthouse"

I like to rewatch movies from time to time. I believe I have mentioned this before. I find things I may have missed while doing this, or sometimes I just want to watch a performance that was so good once again. That was my reasoning for rewatching "The Lighthouse" recently.

I love this movie. The first time I saw it it confused and frustrated me. That was because they speak in old timey sailor talk, so I had no idea what they were saying to one another for most of the movie. When I watched it the second time I put the subtitles on and this made all the difference in the world. I felt like I understood so much more of what was happening and going on in the movie. I could parse together the stuff that made no sense and that was the moment it became a movie I knew I would revisit. While watching it this most recent time I was taken aback at the performance that Willem Dafoe gives. Robert Pattison is great in this movie. This was one of his performances, much like his work in "Good Time", where I found myself amazed by his acting and it washed all the "Twilight" nonsense from my brain. But Dafoe is a true powerhouse and the star of this wild movie.

For people that may not know much about "The Lighthouse", the movie takes place in 1890, two men travel to work on a lighthouse and live there for four weeks and they both go insane. It is pretty much a story of two dudes losing their minds and growing to hate one another. Dafoe got the juiciest of the two roles. He is the older guy that works there. He is the veteran and leader. He knows what needs to be done and how it should be done, in his vision. He is rude, crude and kind of gross. Our first glimpse into his portrayal of this character is him getting up from a bed, snorting and then farting. And not to be outdone, as he is walking out of the room, he rips another fart and leaves it in the room for Pattison to deal with. At dinner he gives the same toast every single night. He says the same thing over and over again. That alone would drive me nuts if I was living there with him. He constantly chides the work that Pattison is doing. Nothing is ever good enough for him. The work doesn't mean his ridiculous standards. He forces Pattison's character to do extra work, and when he is done with the hard work, Dafoe's character will tell him to do it the easier way next time, giving him the proper tools after he has already done the grueling work. He swings the swing so hard that Pattison is painting from that it rips. He drinks constantly. He snores and farts when he sleeps. He likes to get nude while he is up in the lighthouse. His laugh is loud and obnoxious and almost done at the wrong time every time. He refuses, only for a few minutes, to call Pattison by his name after he asks him politely to do so. He degrades and demeans Pattison any chance he gets. He is grumpy and old and taking it out on this poor young kid just trying to make some money. And Dafoe nails it. I grew to despise his character during this most recent watch. I wanted Pattinson to beat the hell out of him. I just knew that if he went at him with full force that he could really mess him up, and I found myself rooting for that. The constant passing of gas was akin to something a frat boy would do to a young pledge. He was supposed to guide this young man and maybe usher him into taking over when he was too old. But he refused. He would lock Pattinson out of the lighthouse, forbidding him from going up there. And if he saw him getting close, he would shut him out immediately.

I am kind of surprised more people didn't talk about award consideration for this role. Dafoe was so up to the task and so good playing this vile person. I believe this was when the partnership really blossomed between him and Robert Eggers. They both continue to do wonderful work together to this day. But this may be my favorite performance of Dafoe's to this point, and he has put on some excellent performances before and since this movie. But he is doing the best work, in my opinion, in "The Lighthouse". I highly recommend watching for his performance alone. 

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 Gutter"

I was looking through the streaming services for a movie to watch earlier today. On Wednesday mornings I usually go for a decently long run and then have the afternoon to myself. I usually take that time to watch a movie. I always try to find something I haven't seen yet and that was just the case today. While looking through Hulu I found the movie "The Gutter".

I remember vaguely hearing about “The Gutter” through Paul Scheer and his podcast "How Did This Get Made". The movie came out over a year ago, but I remember Scheer talking about it when I was listening to episodes around that time. He is not the main guy, he has one very funny scene in the movie, but he was promoting it a ton and when I saw it today his talk jogged my memories. I also saw that the runtime was just over 90 minutes and I was in.

As the movie unfolded I found myself laughing and really enjoying my time. For people who may not know, "The Gutter" focuses on Walt, played by Shameik Moore. He moves from job to job and lives his life kind of aimlessly. He eventually finds a job at a bowling alley, working in the bar. The whole interview scene, this is right at the top of the movie, was great. We get a montage of sorts of Walt's former jobs and this stuff cracked me up. The owner of the bowling alley, played by Jackee, plays off Walt pretty perfectly. She is funny, makes more jokes than Moore and she was a delight to see on screen again. D'Arcy Carden is a former pro bowler who now gets drunk at the bar everyday. She basically lives there. I have enjoyed Carden's work since I saw her on "The Good Place". In "The Gutter" she plays a totally different character, but she is still hilarious and great. She is the one who finds out that Walt is actually a great bowler, and they go on an adventure together trying to save the bowling alley where they hang out and work. This is the conflict in the movie, and this is the main story line. Watching Moore as Walt being this great bowler was awesome. I have found that I enjoy movies that take place in and around bowling alleys. I adore "The Big Lebowski". "Kingpin" is a riot. I love the episode of "Documentary Now" that focuses on bowling. I guess I find that bowling makes for funny content. "The Gutter" is now firmly in that camp.

As Carden and Moore go on this road trip, we meet a ton of people. Susan Sarandon plays the "villain" of the movie. She is Linda Curson, a former professional bowler and beloved by her fans. She is upset that Walt is about to take over and break all her records. She does some things that aren't on the level to slow Walt down, but when that doesn't work, she decides to come back and challenge Walt. She doesn't do the back handed stuff on her own, she gets help from Angelo played by Paul Reiser. Resier is the host of a bowling show and he is, quite possibly, the funniest person in this movie. He knew the task at hand and he was up to the challenge. He had the most jokes and I feel like they all landed. During this we meet some of Walt's cousins, played by Langston Kerman and Jay Ellis. They were both great. Rell Battle plays Brotha Candy and he was awesome. He is always monologuing and going on about what he believes in. He is also kind of the savior of the bowling alley in the end, minor spoiler alert. Kim Fields plays Walt's mom and she was dynamite.

Look, is "The Gutter" the best movie ever made, no. But did I laugh and enjoy my watching experience, absolutely. I said aloud to no one that I loved how goofy the movie was. It never took itself seriously. The movie makers were in on the joke. This was kind of like a spoof in certain ways. I also found this movie to be hilarious. I thought Moore and Carden had great chemistry, and I liked that the movie made them just friends. Their partnership was never meant to be romantic. And then I found out that Yassir Lester was the writer and director, and it all made sense.

"The Gutter" is a good time and a very funny movie. Go find this movie and check it out. I highly recommend it. 

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 Toxic Avenger" (2023)

A while back I watched the original "Toxic Avenger". I had seen a few Troma movies prior to that one, but that was the main Troma movie I wanted to see. I had heard so many interesting things about it and the time had come to finally sit down and watch. And it was fine. It was pretty much what I expected. It was gory, silly, kind of stupid and upsetting at parts, purposely.

After seeing the original I happened to come across a new interpretation of "The Toxic Avenger". I saw that they had a solid cast and I kind of figured I would watch it at some point. Well that day was yesterday. I had some free time in the afternoon, I usually watch movies while folding laundry, so I decided to watch the remake, or reimagination.

What stood out right away to me was that this new version was going to be just as silly and slapstick as the original. The movie starts out with a voiceover by Peter Dinklage, he is the main character, but all the while he is doing voiceover, he is making jokes throughout. I was in from that moment on. I like Peter Dinklage. He was my favorite part of "Game of Thrones". I love his minor role in the MCU. His work in "Elf" is wonderful. He is as reliable as they come in Hollywood. And he is funny as hell. He gets to do a ton of jokes in this movie and I'm here for it. He also plays this put upon scaredy cat before he transforms and he nails that as well. And when he turns into Toxie, although the hero is played by someone else and voiced by Dinklage, his voice work is so perfect for this type of movie. I loved seeing him in a starring role in something goofy and gory. Dinklage has earned the right to star in more movies, and I hope he gets that chance soon.

Joining Dinklage is a pretty solid cast of actors. Jacob Tremblay plays his step son. He is an anxious riddled ball of nerves, and when he finally gets his voice, Tremblay does some good work. I had only seen him in "Good Boys" prior, which is an underrated movie, but seeing him in something like this was a nice change of pace. Taylour Paige plays a former worker of the corrupt company in the movie who is out to show the world how evil the company truly is. She is a very good actor, and I've never seen her do comedy before this. She is the "straight man" in this role, but when she needs to make a joke or a funny face or do anything comedic, she is up to task. Elijah Wood plays the injured brother of the CEO of the corrupt company. He is bald on top,  but has long stringy hair in the back. He uses a cane, talks with a raspy voice and needs an inhaler. He is head of security, but all I could glean security was in this movie was killing people who speak out against the company. Don't worry, minor spoiler, Wood does save someone near the end, but he still has a not so happy ending. And Kevin Bacon plays the CEO of the evil corporation, and he is so good as the villain. He is vile and mean. But he's also being controlled by a mob boss and he gets to play a scared person whenever that guy is around. Bacon has become so good at playing a villian, even in a silly movie like this, and he nails it here. The big fight between him and Dinklage at the end is pretty epic.

Besides the acting, the action and gore in this one is very over the top on purpose. Heads get ripped off, limbs get pulled around, multiple shots are fired to and about faces. It is an endless orgy of gore, but that is the whole idea of Troma movies. They purposely go over the top, and there's nothing left to the imagination. One of the bad guys gets half his head ripped off. Another bad guy gets his arm ripped off by accident. Dinklage uses a mop covered in acid to fight off the bad guys. They do a throwback to the classic fast food restaurant scene in this movie and it gets way more amped up and violent here.

This new version of “The Toxic Avenger” is, overall, a better movie because people make better movies now. That's just a fact. But I think I prefer the original a little more. I like the whole low fi idea of the original movie. But this one is still very funny and a good time. You need to know what you're getting yourself into when you watch a Troma movie, and if you can deal with the gore and goofiness, I'd recommend both the original and this reimagination of "The Toxic Avenger". They're a good time for what they are. 

Ty

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

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The Prophetic Vision of the Classic Movie "Blue Chips"

I just finished watching the movie "Blue Chips" for what must be my tenth time. This movie predicted the future. Let’s discuss.

This was an important movie to me as a kid because it is all about college basketball and they have a ton of scenes involving game action. I remember my dad and his assistant basketball coach taking a bunch of us to see it when we were 12, the movie came out in 1994, and that memory has always stuck with me. I think about it often. We got to see a movie based on a sport we all loved and we all had dreams of being college basketball players at the time. I can also vividly remember going to play basketball with some of my teammates after seeing the movie. After watching it we had to go play. We had to blow off steam. And I also remember, after seeing the movie, how much I stood with Nick Nolte, he played the coach of the team. As a 12 year old I always equated the coach as the boss. They were in charge, they ran the show and whatever they said, that was the law. So when he decided he was going to go to the boosters and whatnot to get the players they needed to return to relevancy, I was devastated. He was breaking the rules to win again. It bummed me out. I sided with the writer, played by Ed O'Neil, who constantly pushed and questioned every recruiting move. I thought Nolte's ex wife was right to chastise him. She should have anyway because he lied to her, but she seemed more angry about the recruiting violations. The AD and the assistant coaches all tried to turn a blind eye, but Nolte was hell bent on getting these top recruits, no matter what it took. And I looked at someone like the character of Ricky Roe as a total scumbag. He asked for money and he did it in a very slimy way. And the villain of all villains in "Blue Chips" was Happy, played by JT Walsh. He was the booster who paid everyone. He helped the football and basketball teams stay in the top 25. He made sure they were a perennial power by any means necessary. And boy oh boy did 12 year old me despise Happy. He was the worst. I couldn't believe what he would do just to keep a college program relevant. And when Nolte called him out at the press conference after they won their first game with the new players, I openly applauded in the theaters. I didn't care what my friends and coaches thought. Nolte was standing up for what was right, or so I believed.

After finishing the movie again yesterday, I'm here to say, justice for Happy. He was right. He was doing NIL before it was legal. He has a line early in the movie where he is talking to Nolte about him signing six figure deals to be a coach, then six figure deals to wear certain brands and how pathetic it is that a coach can cash in on this money, but the players get nothing. He was absolutely correct in his assessment. He also takes care of all of the action without coaches knowing anything. That has to be the dream for college coaches. And Happy didn't focus on one sport, he was doing this for multiple athletic programs at the fictional university in the movie. That is what every agent in America is doing right now for athletes in the NIL era. They made Happy out to be such a slimy and smarmy scumbag, but he was the only person who understood and gave the college athletes what they deserve. I have talked so much about this on the website and the podcast, but college athletes bring in so much money, especially to big universities, and all they used to get was a full scholarship. That's a drop in the bucket for these universities that make billions off their athletics. Happy knew that and he made a choice to give the athletes their worth. NIL has only been a thing for a few years now, and it is a true mess, they need to find a way to sanction some stuff and make new rules, but the best thing about NIL is these college athletes are finally able to make money for themselves. They don't have to live on stipends until they get to the pros, if they get to the pros. Happy was just taking care of the athletes. He is not the villain. The villain is Bob Cousy, who played the AD. The villain is Nick Nolte for chastising these kids and boosters. The villain is Ed O'Neil for being a grown man obsessed with the lives of college students.

Justice for Happy. And if you've never seen "Blue Chips", do yourself a favor and check it out. It is a moment in time movie and it is one of the better ones out there. 

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 "Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

Last weekend my wife and I watched "Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery". Let’s discuss.

I enjoyed the first two movies in the series. I think the first movie is incredible and I don't get the hate that the second movie got after it was released. I thought the second movie was very funny in fact. I have always enjoyed the murder mystery genre, and when the powers that be make it a little funny, that is right in my wheelhouse. My son saw a few minutes of this most recent one and he asked my wife and I if it was like "Clue". I feel like that was a very apt comparison. I thought he hit it on the nose. And "Clue" is a classic. I feel like the "Knives Out" series has brought the essence of "Clue" into the 21st century. These are funny and fun murder mystery movies. I know that they have said that Agatha Christie stories are the inspiration, and while that may be true, these are much funnier than any Agatha Christie novel. That is what appeals to me.

And this new one starts with comedy at the very top. We see this newish priest, played by Josh O'Connor, and he is pleading with the board to keep him on hand. Apparently he has punched a church goer in the face for something they have said that rubbed him the wrong way. We never learn what this person said, but this new priest is passionately pleading his case. Josh O'Connor is so great in this role. I don't know much about him, but in this movie he was so good. He portrayed this new priest as what I imagine someone in his generation would be like. He was passionate and opinionated, but he also knew his purpose in life and was going to fulfil that no matter what. I thought he was funny and compassionate and I was there for it. Jeffrey Wright, in a small role, plays O'Connor's mentor of sorts and he was perfect. He has such a commanding and powerful voice and you buy every word out of his mouth. When O'Connor gets put into his new church, this is where the movie truly starts to roll. He is placed in a small church in small town New York, and the characters that this church has are second to none, Josh Brolin is the main guy and he is a piece of work. He plays a version of this new wannabe alpha male who just happens to have an audience. He is mean and spiteful. He goes after what he wants with blinders on. Brolin, who seems to be in every good movie lately, does a fine job playing this butthead of a character. He goes for it and lands the jump. The community is made up of some wonderful actors. Kerry Washington has a "kid", played by Daryl McCormack, and he is a piece of work. He's entitled and a prick. He is a prototypical new age republican. This actor is great. Washington is phenomenal as the put upon lady in her family. They push her aside and make her do all the dirty work and she does it until she cannot take it anymore. And when she exposes information, that is a powerful performance, Cailee Spaeny is very good as the former cellist who has turned to the church to try and help her get over a serious injury. She is the joker who got sukered into thinking money and faith could help her heal. Jeremy Renner is very good in a very different role for him. He is a drunk whose wife left him. He will do anything to get her back, but he goes about it the wrong way. He is a pushover and a follower. Andrew Scott is a sci-fi writer who, much like Renner, will fall in line with the group. He has some of the best comedy readings in the movie and his fate at the end was hilarious and fitting. Thomas Haden Church plays a hard working guy who just wants what is best for his partner. Church continues to prove he is a capable actor. His partner is played by Glenn Close and she has the best performance by anyone in this movie, and it is not even close. She is wonderful as the keeper of the church and her arc is such a joy to watch in this role. Mila Kunis plays a cop and she is so understated and does a wonderful job using cop jargon and going about her business. And then we have Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc. This is such a fun role for him and he seems to be having a grand old time playing this detective. He chews scenery in the best way possible and I really love seeing Blanc on screen.

This third installment is fun, funny and a well done movie. I thoroughly enjoyed all two and a half hours, and it flew by. I cannot recommend this movie enough, especially if you have seen both, or even one of the previous movies. I believe you will find it as enjoyable as the others.

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. Isiah Whitlock Jr

Isiah Whitlock Jr passed away yesterday at the age of 71. I guess he had an illness that took over pretty quickly and it eventually took his life. This one stings.

Whitlock was a very solid and reliable actor in his time. I know him mainly from "The Wire". He was a constant on every season of that show. He played State Senator R Clayton "Clay" Davis. Like most of the characters on that show he was slimy and up to no good. But he had his moments of clarity and showed that he did have a heart to a certain degree. Whenever he showed up on that show I knew he was going to do something memorable and wild. But it was the way he would say "Shiiiiiiit" that got me every time. That was his thing on the show. He would end sentences that way for the most part and I loved it. He was, for lack of a better term, some form of comic relief on "The Wire". He was involved in serious stuff, but he would pull out that "Shiiiiiit", and it was perfect every time. He also has a meme traveling around the internet from "The Wire", where he is snapping a photo and exclaims, "Got your ass". This is what he excelled at doing on "The Wire". He was a quote machine and he made each episode he was in so much better.

I also loved the work he did in "Da 5 Bloods", Spike Lee's criminally underrated COVID movie. He played Melvin, one of the soldiers going back to Vietnam to finish the job of spreading their friend's ashes. Again, he was the comic relief in this movie. "Da 5 Bloods" was a showcase for Delroy Lindo, but Whitlock Jr was there step for step with him. And he has a very dramatic scene in that movie that he absolutely nailed.

He appeared in seven episodes of "Veep" as Geroge Maddox. "Veep" allowed him to do straight up comedy and he was excellent. I felt like comedy was his thing, but he was cast in dramatic roles as the comic relief. He excelled in those roles, but doing a show like "Veep" felt like his bread and butter. He was so funny and so foul on "Veep", just like everyone else on that show.

He got to do more comedic stuff in movies like "Cedar Rapids". He was such a great side character in that movie, and that movie is very good. Go see it if you haven't at this point. He was on "Onion SportsDome" which allowed him to be a news anchor and also do comedy. He leant his voice to "Lucas Bros Moving Company", "Grand Theft Auto" and a "Cars" movie. His voice was perfect for voice acting. He had such a recognizable tone to his voice and when he showed up in animated stuff it was easy to pick him out of the crowd. He would show up randomly in the many different iterations of "Law and Order". This was great because he got to do stuff similar to "The Wire". But instead of playing a senator he would be a detective or cop, which felt fitting for him as an actor.

I thought it was great that he worked with Spike Lee prior to "Da 5 Bloods". He was in "ChiRaq" and "Blackklansman", doing great work in both movies. He had an arc on "The Good Cop", a show I never watched but I bet he was perfectly cast as a cop or detective. He did a few episodes on "Woke" and "Atlanta" and helped those shows simply due to his reputation as a wonderful person and actor. He was in "Cocaine Bear" and he was great in that.

That is the thing with Isaih Whitlock Jr, everyone liked to work with him and he was always reliable. Even if the project wasn't that great or well made, his presence was worthwhile. He never wasted a moment of his time while acting in a show or movie. I'm going to miss him and his work. At least we have the memes, him saying "shiiiiiiiiiit" and the hours upon hours of work he did on screen. Rest in Peace Isiah Whitlock Jr. You will be greatly missed. 

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 "Marty Supreme"

I took my dad and son to see "Marty Supreme" yesterday and I have a review for you all today. I have wanted to see this movie for some time now, and it just happened to be released here in Saint Louis on Xmas day. We waited through the weekend, but saw it pretty soon after Xmas.

I was predestined to like this movie. I have become a pretty big fan of Timothee Chalamet in the past few years, ever since I saw him in "Wonka", and I like what the Safdie brothers do as far as directing. And I fully understand that this was a solo directing job from Josh Safdie, which I am all in for at this point. Josh Safdie has always felt like more of a director than his brother Benny. I feel like Benny Safdie has always wanted to be an actor, which he is very accomplished and pretty good at by this point. But Josh seems like he prefers to be behind the camera, and that is great. He brought his usual greatness to this movie as well. What I like about a Safdie directed movie is how anxiety riddled, in a good way, you feel while watching one of their movies. That was the case with "Uncut Gems", and Josh Safdie does the same thing in "Marty Supreme". The scenes shift very quickly into one another, there's always some kind of action going on, there's bad guys and good guys to root for, there's always someone talking and trying to get out of a situation and the romantic scenes always feel a little more raw and real in a Safdie movie. All that was in "Marty Supreme" and it all worked really well for me. Josh Safdie is very good at the kind of movies he makes and I want him to continue with this style of making the viewer anxious. There's no one better at making those kinds of movies at the moment.

While the direction is always incredibly important, you need actors who are up to the task, and they knocked it out of the park with the casting here. I'll get to Chamalet last because he was a revelation, which I didn't think was possible at this point in his career. What I appreciate most about a Safdie movie is they give unknowns a chance. Luke Manley, as Dion, is a first time actor and he was amazing as Marty's best buddy. I rooted for him even though others seemed mad at him from time to time. Ralph Colucci was only in a few scenes at the beginning of the movie, but the back and forth between him and Chalamet was incredible. Odessa A'Zion is becoming a star at the moment, but her work here was amazing. She was so in love with Marty, warts and all, and she tried to prove her worth to him time and again. Tyler, the Creator made his acting debut in this movie and he did a wonderful job. He was the guy Marty would hustle with and that felt like a perfect role for him. He should get many more acting jobs from this. George Gervin, former NBA star, was acting for the first time and his presence was gigantic in his minor role. Then Safdie put some former stars in bit parts and they were equally excellent. Fran Drescher played Marty's mom and she was the epitome of a mom trying to control her son. Her work opposite Chalamet was needed in this movie. Sandra Bernhart played a nurse, or something, and she was as wild here as she is in her minor role on "Severance". Penn Jillette has a very small role as a farm owner, but man is he scary and memorable. And we also have Gwyneth Paltrow playing a former aging movie star. She proved what made her such a draw in the 90's and early 2000's here. She was phenomenal in this role. I loved every second she was on screen in this mcvie.

But the cream of the crop was Chalamet. This was an incredible performance from him. He was, at the same time mind you, slimy and charming. He was always hustling and always talking his way out of some problem he inevitably created. There were times where I hated him, then in an instant I was rooting for him. The way he treated A'Zion's character throughout was mean and disgusting, yet I wanted them to be together. Paltrow's character treated him like the child he was, but there were times where I felt like they deserve one another. Chalamet has more than proven his worth in the past few years with the two "Dune" movies and "A Complete Unknown". I also loved him in "Wonka" as I mentioned before. But this performance proved that he is on another level from other actors his age. He embodied this role and he took his acting to a whole other stratosphere. He doesn't have to be the hero or the good looking dude in every movie. Marty is a hustler who is smamry and slimy, and Chalamet absolutely nailed it here. I think he has a definite Oscar nomination coming from this role and that will be two years in a row that he gets a best actor nomination. He is going to be the definitive actor of this generation and that makes me smile.

I highly recommend seeing "Marty Supreme". It is a fascinating performance from Chalamet and the movie will make you care about ping pong. This movie was great. 

Ty

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

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Paul Dano is Excellent in "There Will Be Blood"

I saw the recent comment Quentin Tarantino made about Paul Dano and his performance in "There Will Be Blood". Let’s discuss.

I disagreed right off the bat. I adore that movie. I think it is a modern masterpiece. It is my favorite Paul Thomas Anderson movie to date. And I think that Dano, playing dual roles, is the perfect foil to Daniel Day Lewis' Daniel Plainview. But, in light of his comments I decided I wanted to go back and watch the movie. I usually watch it every year, or every other year since its release. But with the uproar and show of appreciation for Dano, and add on the fact that I have bronchitis, I decided yesterday was as good a time as any to make my revisit.

Nothing changed for me on this rewatch except I studied Dano's performance. And I came away mesmerized with how great he is in this movie. Let me say, this movie is all about Daniel Day Lewis. He gives the performance of a lifetime. He is the heart and soul of this movie and there is nothing else without him. That is what a star is supposed to do, and Day Lewis absolutely nails every single aspect of this role. He is the reason we go to see something like this. But you need the supporting actors to bring their A game as well. This doesn't work if it is just one great performance surrounded by dull and lifeless performances. Luckily for us, that doesn't happen here. Everyone is at the top of their games. Ciaran Hinds is perfect as Plainview's right hand man. Dillon Freasier as young HW does a swell job portraying an abandoned kid. He doesn't ask for that life, but he lives it to its fullest. David Willis is so meek and weak willed as Abel Sunday. Paul F Tompkins plays a dull witted townsperson who knows they need Plainview's help very well. James Downey is so reliable as the real estate gentleman that Plainview deals with. Kevin J O'Connor is slimy and creepy and seems like a crook from the moment he steps on screen. David Warshhofsky plays bewildered by Plainview's actions so well. Russell Harvard as an adult HW does some excellent work, and he happens to be deaf in real life. But it is Dano's performance first as Paul, then, especially as Eli, that truly brings this all together.

Plainview is a driven man who has a singular goal. He wants to drill for oil and drill for it everywhere he can. He knows that this will be his ticket to riches. He has that one goal in mind and anyone or anything that stands in his way is his competitor as he would say. That is what makes the role of Eli so compelling. Dano does play Eli's brother Paul, but that is one scene that gets us into the crux of this movie. Paul tells Daniel where to go to drill and then we are off. When we meet Eli he is the quintessential black oil salesman of a preacher. He proclaims that he can heal through his services and that he can speak directly to god. And people in the late 1800's and early 1900's bought that stuff up, no questions asked. And all along the way Eli is a thorn in Daniel's side. He wants a bigger chapel. Then he needs more of the workers to come to service. He claims he can heal arthritis in an old lady, but all he does is say some mumbo jumbo. He does nothing to help HW after his accident. He forces Daniel to confess his sins loudly to everyone in the church after Daniel refused to let him bless his oil rig, which was the cause of a massive fire and what made HW deaf. Daniel is constantly calling out how fake and phony he thinks all of the church stuff is to deaf ears from Eli. They have fights wherein Daniel bullies poor Eli, who then goes to his home and beats up his own father. It is such a great pairing of two very evil and two very motivated people fighting for what they believe in. This all culminates in a gory and gruesome end for Eli at Daniel's home in his personal bowling alley. And to watch this final scene, to see Eli squeal and confess, to see Daniel push and prod and make him uncomfortable, I can picture no one else doing this than Dano and rising to the level of Daniel Day Lewis. He is right there with him line for line and bar for bar. He plays it so perfectly. I still loathed him even after Plainview beat him to death with a bowling pin. And I still loathed Plainview as I had all of the movie.

So, after this most recent rewatch, Tarantino is wrong. He may not like the performance, which is totally fine. That's his prerogative. But for him to say the things he did about Dano, to call him out like he did, that is similar to what older athletes say about the newer generation. Maybe it's jealousy, maybe he truly doesn't like Paul Dano for whatever reason. But Dano is one of the best parts of this incredible movie. He is the foil we all need in this scenario and he was more than up to task. And if you still have not seen "There Will Be Blood", go watch it. It is a remarkable feat of movie making. 

Ty

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

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

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SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.