Better Never Than Late on "Infinity Pool"

I have been in a movie watching mood as of late, and I have wanted to watch weird movies. While looking at the many streaming services, I came across the movie "Infinity Pool". I vaguely remember seeing ads for this movie and they intrigued me. I liked the dark look of the trailer and I do tend to enjoy most movies with a Sarsgaard in them. I also find Mia Goth oddly enticing, and she happened to be the other person on the poster. I had free time yesterday afternoon, so I decided to check it out.

I truly did not know what I was getting myself into. I saw that it was directed by Cronenberg, but it wasn't David. I guess this is his son, so I figured it would be weird. And this movie was all kinds of weird. The long and short of the plot goes like this, rich couple goes to a weird resort, makes some friends, gets drunk, accidentally kills a person on a walk, goes to jail, finds out they can get clones of themselves to pay the consequence and Sarsgard becomes addicted to this lifestyle. All along the way, some crazy stuff happens. First off, the excursion to the woods takes a weird, sexual and disturbing turn. Skarsgard goes to the bathroom, gets accosted by Goth, she pleases him and he acts weird the rest of the trip. Then he accidentally hits the walker. He and his wife, Cleopatra Coleman are terrified, but Goth and her friend tell them to act like nothing happened and they will take care of this. This is where the clones and prison come into play. Now, the whole idea of having a clone of yourself deal with your consequences was intriguing to me, but the way the rest of the movie played out frustrated me to no end. When Sarsgaard first gets into the clone making machine, the movie becomes like a 70's psychedelic music video. It's all flashing colors, swirly, tie dyed like symbols and odd music. We see things during his trip in the goo, but can't make anything out. After his wife realizes he is obsessed with this cloning business, she leaves and the movie gets even wilder. Goth, Skarsgard and their buddies start to commit crimes and each time, they have their clones take the fall. They go harder and harder until Skarsgard has to fight a "dog" version of himself. This whole climatic scene is one of the oddest and strangest things I've ever watched. Oh, and the prolonged orgy scene a few moments earlier was not at all fun. It was upsetting and strange.

While I was watching this movie I grew more and more frustrated with each passing minute. The story never came together the way I wanted it to. I kept watching and saying to myself, "this must be what rich white people do when they run out of ideas". I grew frustrated at the direction and acting. Again, I like Skarsgard and Goth, but their performances seemed weird for the sake of weird. They weren't telling a story. They weren't interested in exploring the complications of this whole idea of letting a clone take the fall for you. The movie really started to lose steam for me near the end, the first time they catch Skarsgard on a tour bus.

I wanted to like this movie. It had stuff that I thought I was really going to enjoy. I like the actors. I figured with a name like Cronenberg that it would be gory, but also tell a good story. None of that happened for me. I found the movie to be a rich white person fantasy and I have no interest in watching a movie like that. The only saving grace, I did watch the whole thing because I wanted to see an unsatisfying conclusion I suppose. But, in the end, I'd pass on recommending "Infinity Pool". 
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 Northman"

My wife is out of town for work and when she leaves I tend to watch movies that she is not interested in when we do date night. I've seen some solid and not so solid movies during these work trips. I've also seen "Titane", and I'm still confused by it. Last night I watched "The Northman".

I've wanted to see this for quite some time. My dad is really into viking culture lately, the preview looked badass, I like Alexander Skarsgard and I have enjoyed every Robert Eggers directed movie I have seen, especially "The Lighthouse". I had high hopes going into this movie.

“The Northman” did not disappoint. Sure it was a bit too long and some stuff could have been cut out, but for the most part, this movie was very, very well made. I am not as into the viking stuff as my dad, but I do like the stories I have been told. I am also kind of enamored with their lifestyle back in the early 1000's. It is all intriguing to me. This movie, from what I've read and watched, has to be one of the more accurate portrayals of life back then. It was brutal. It looked old. It looked archaic. Eggers and the writers did not sugarcoat the awfulness that some vikings lived with. There was pillaging and murdering and assaults happening left and right. I appreciate the fact that they put it out there bare bones. I do not like when other movie makers glorify and deify these people. They were not the best. There is one battle scene in particular, right in the first 45 minutes, that is one of the best and most brutal things I have ever watched. This group of vikings pillages a town during the day. At one point a person throws a spear at Skarsgard's character, he catches it and throws it back, impaling someone else in the process. After that, Skarsgard proceeds to murder three or four people, and when he gets to the last person, he bites into their neck, as if he is a dog feeding on his prey. That was another thing. There are so many dog references in this movie. From start to finish, dogs are involved and it is gruesome. But I liked what I was seeing.

I liked how they made this movie. I was fully in on Skarsgard. I'm relatively new to him. My wife watched "True Blood", but I did not. And I loved when he was on the most recent season of "Atlanta". But this was a juicy leading role for him and he nailed it. He was magnetic. He put in a ton of work on his body and it showed. He played his character to perfection. He was the only viking I rooted for, but there were times when he was just as bad as the rest. As for the rest of the cast, they were up to the task. Anya Taylor Joy was great. She looked and acted like a viking queen. She was a total badass as well. I loved her in this. Ethan Hawke was dope. He is having a bit of a renaissance. Nicole Kidman was ruthless and evil and totally nailed it. Claes Bang was a bad, bad dude, but I kind of sided with him a little bit in the end. Willem Dafoe was as creepy as ever and it was so fitting for this movie. Bjork had a bit part and it was exactly what she thrives at doing, being weird and using her cool voice. It was just a perfect cast in a very good movie.

I mentioned that one fight scene at the top, but this movie was filled with some of the best, and most real, fight scenes I've watched in a movie. There was one where they were playing some kind of old game, and when Skarsgard goes to protect a child, oh my was that nuts. There was another one where he takes on multiple fighters and beats them, until he is contained and proceeds to get repeatedly punched in the face. When he was tied up it was the most real looking torture thing I have seen since "Zero Dark Thirty". When he gets Taylor Joy to feed the guards hallucinogenic mushrooms, and what happens next, it was wild. My favorite was when Skarsgard returned to the site of his capture and freed the people at night time. That was rad. And brutal. And gory. And kind of sad. But it was so well done. And the final battle scene, no spoilers, was totally worth the anticipation and build up. It ended on a perfect crescendo. I sat on my couch and just kind of stewed in what I had just watched. I really thought about it all. And I came away thinking this was one of the better movies I have watched in some time. It is beautiful to look at, well acted and directed, very well written and super interesting.

I definitely recommend the movie under the caveat that it is slow in certain parts and that the movie is very heavy with viking and Icelandic language. But Skarsgard, Taylor Joy and those battle scenes are totally worth it in the end. "The Northman" lived up to my personal hype.

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.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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