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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Ty Watches "Prey"

After reading all about it, hearing all about it and watching the older versions, some of them at least, I finally watched "Prey". This is, essentially, a prequel to "The Predator" franchise. At least I think so. I understand that there are other versions of the Predator, and that they live for a very long time, but for all intents and purposes, it felt like a prequel.

The movie takes place in the 1700's. I mean, how much earlier do you have to get for it to be one of the first Predator stories. Anyway, I enjoyed the hell out of this movie. It was tremendous because it is so different from the other movies. The other movies, which I truly do enjoy as well, are all about the action and blood and gore and fighting. They are fun popcorn movies to just sit back and have a blast. This movie is different. This movie tells a quieter, more harrowing story.

The hero is a Comanche female warrior played by Amber Midthunder. Every other version seems to have some big time action star who happens to be male, or it is full of a cast of male characters. This one doesn't. The older versions are all about American type guys. Again, this one revolves around a Comanche Nation. I love that about it. Midthunder's character name is Naru. She is a fierce warrior, excellent tracker, solid craftsman and has a trusting dog at her side. But since it takes place in the 1700's, she is not allowed to hunt and gather on her own. She has to go with a group of male Comanches. This becomes a problem for her and the predator when it is spotted. That is another great thing about this movie. The Predator is a constant threat and we see it all the time. At first it is just a computer animated shadow, but as the movie goes on we get a better view each time. And this thing looks cool as hell. The hair is wild, but this one has a skull as a helmet, the hands are dangerous as hell and the goo is green that comes out of the predator when it is struck. The actor inside the costume is a former professional international basketball player who happens to be 6'8 tall, which makes it even more menacing. To watch all the tracking and fighting and quiet suspense, it was so well done. There are long moments of silence that just add to the tension. When Naru falls into a sinkhole, watching her struggle to get out, that was so nerve wracking and I loved every second of it. Seeing the predator rip through people and animals was so gory and so well done. Naru and her dog tracking and then hunting the predator was a thing of beauty. The stuff between the fur trappers and the Comanches was done correctly. It was brutal, but not over the top. And that final fight between the predator and Naru was like watching ballet. It was incredible.

This movie is worth the hype. I now understand why everyone was going nuts about it. RD kept telling me I had to watch. I am glad he did because I am doing the same thing to people now. "Prey" is an excellent movie that I highly recommend everyone to see.

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.