Ty Watches "The Napa Boys"

This past Tuesday I watched "The Napa Boys". That was when it was available to stream, and since it didn't come to any theaters in Saint Louis, this was my only option to watch.

I heard about the movie while listening to "Doughboys". Mike Mitchell is one of the hosts of the podcast, they had a bunch of people from the movie as guests on for about a month and everyone involved with "Doughboys" talked about the movie so much, it piqued my interest. And, even though I usually don't watch trailers, I made sure to check out the main trailer for this movie. That made me want to watch it even more. So I sat down and made sure I had nothing that would interrupt my viewing.

Right off the bat, I enjoyed this movie very much. That being said, this movie is not for everyone. It takes a special kind of movie goer to enjoy a movie like this. "The Napa Boys" starts off as if it is a sequel to many "Napa Boy" movies before. They made it similar to all the extra "American Pie" movies that came after the first three main movies. It was similar to the National Lampoon movies that seem to get made every year. That had me on board right away.

We get introduced to characters that we are already supposed to know, and that made me even more interested in what I was seeing. Nick Corirossi and Armen Weitzman play the two main guys, Jack Jr and Miles Jr. They also co-wrote the movie and Corirossi directed. What made them so awesome to watch was the anti chemistry they had on purpose. This was the whole point of their friendship and I enjoyed the cringiness of their dynamic. Some scenes between them would go on far too long, longer than maybe they needed, but that made it even funnier to me. There's a scene where the two of them go back to a few of the waitresses' houses and everything that ensues is over the top and hilarious. The ladies who own the place are played by Vanessa Lee Chester and Chloe Cherry. They're great and up to any and all of the jokes they perform. Vanessa Lee Chester was especially hilarious with her humongous trajectory in the movie. There's also a whole storyline between Corirossi and Cherry that is wildly hilarious.

Throughout the movie we meet a bunch of the other Napa Boys. Jamar Malachi Neighbors plays Stifler's Brother, another very inside baseball joke that got me everytime they said his name. He was hilarious and game for anything. Mike Mitchell plays Mitch Mitchellson, a great name. He owns a winery that is in the big competition in the movie. He stomps his own grapes and people drink the wine immediately. It is funny as hell. Chris Aquilino plays his husband, and he is hilarious. Beth Dover plays Stifler's Brother's girlfriend, and her death was unexpected and hilarious. The way Stifler's brother mourns her was one of the funnier moments of the movie. Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith show up as Jay and Silent Bob. Ray Wise and Mike Hanford play local cops. David Wain is the host of the wine competition. Ryan Perez plays the town mayor. It is clear that Corirossi and Weitzman wanted to make a movie and make it with their friends. And it works in the weirdest way.

This movie is awkward and cringey, but in a good way. If you allow yourself to wade into the waters of this anomaly of a movie, you will be rewarded. Sure, I like the people involved and the people who made it, but I think this movie could find a solid audience. I'm sure it is destined for cult status, but that's totally fine. This movie is funny. It is 90 minutes long. It doesn't wear out its welcome. The actors are clearly very good improvisors and they get to do that for the entire movie. I definitely recommend this movie, but you have to go in knowing that it is unlike any other comedy out there right now. But you will be rewarded with a ton of laughs and a memorable viewing experience. 

Ty

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

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Ty has Very Strong Committed Feelings for "Love"

It is nice when the show title reflects how I feel

Yesterday I finished the new Netflix show "Love" and it was totally awesome. I literally loved everything about this show. It was the perfect comedy/love story show. It was, in my opinion, so much better than another similar Netflix show, "Master of None", and I really enjoyed "Master of None".

One of the things that I enjoyed more on "Love" than "Master of None" was the female lead. Gillian Jacobs was so much better than Noel Wells. Noel Wells was very good, but she was your typical, I need a guy in my life, but when things get too serious, I'm jumping ship and moving on. Aziz Ansari is a great writer and created a great show, but Noel Wells character was pretty one dimensional and I didn't watch that show for her, I watched it for Ansari, who is awesome. Gillian Jacobs was absolutely phenomenal on "Love". In the first episode when we meet her, we immediately see that she is a troubled person, that doesn't realize it yet. She always thinks that she is right and that she is the cool one and that she has no problem, but all of those things couldn't be further from the truth. She is, for the most part, wrong 9 times out of 10. She is not cool, she is a mess that relies on other people way too much. And she has a ton of problems. She is an addict. She is addicted to drugs and alcohol and sex and love. Gillian Jacobs, her character's name is Mickey, is an absolute mess as a person. She plays this role to perfection. I believe every single moment of struggle and awkwardness and anger that she so excellently portrays. This is a real star making role for her. She is absolutely phenomenal on "Love". This is also a completely different role for her. She is not the same character she was on "Community" or "Girls" or any movie role she has had. She usually has her head on her shoulders or realizes that she is a screw up, but not on "Love". It takes her a real long time before she even considers that she may have a problem.

"Love" much like "Master of None", I know I'm comparing the two shows but they are basically the same thing released only months apart from each other so it's an easy comparison, Paul Rust co created this show and stars in it much like Ansari does for his show. Paul Rust is terrific. This is a great vehicle for his brand of comedy and his style of acting. When he is on screen, which is most of the series, you cannot take your eyes off of him. He commands the attention of the audience. Rust plays Gus, your typical nice guy that tries to hard to impress the girl. He's a hard worker, but he has a nothing job. He is a tutor on the set of a fake witch show. Pretty familiar premise for a leading man, but what Rust does with the character Gus is excellent. At first, he is a pushover. He will do whatever his girlfriend wants him to do. When they break up, he constantly blames himself although he was not in the wrong at all. When he meets Mickey, he is putty in her hands and Mickey knows this. She uses him and his kindness to her advantage and Gus is just happy that a pretty girl is talking to him. When he starts to gain confidence, after telling Mickey how he feels, his character becomes more confident, and once again, I completely believe his transformation. He is still a dork, but he is a confident dork. The growth of his character is so believable, I swear I have friends that have gone through the same transformation as we have grown up. Much like Gillian Jacobs, this is also a star making turn for Paul Rust. The two of them have been steady actors, but never been the lead in anything, save for Rust in the not as bad as I thought it was "I Love You Beth Cooper", but "Love" is the perfect platform for them to truly shine.

Jacobs and Rust  may control and demand the audiences attention, but the supporting characters are just as good. Comedic actors like Mike Mitchell, Armen Weitzman, Neil Campbell, Seth Morris and Brett Gelman are great. So are Claudia O'Dougherty, who is really, really great on this show, Charlyne Yi, Bobby Lee, Kerri Kenney and Traci Thoms. Iris Apatow is wonderful as the lead actress on the show that Rust works as a tutor for. She is a very good actress with a very bright future. There are many other supporting actors that I didn't mention that are equally as good.

"Love" is a very good show. I'd call it a great show to be honest with you. I really enjoyed "Master of None", but it felt a little long to binge, at least for my taste. "Love", on the other hand, had the same amount of episodes running the same amount of time, but I breezed through it in three days. It was such an enjoyable watch and I cannot recommend it enough. I don't want to spoil anything because I want everyone to go out and watch this show. It is very, very good and Paul Rust and Gillian Jacobs are tremendous.

I cannot wait for season two.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He loves to binge watch old Michigan football games. Do you have twitter? So does Ty, go follow him @tykulik.

The SeedSing (half) year in Pop Culture: The Top Five Podcasts of 2015

Time to remember the mic's best guests

Continuing my week long best of 2015 countdown today I'll pick my top five podcast episodes of the year. I'm a very, very big fan of podcast, mostly comedy podcast. Comedy podcasts are very well represented in this countdown, but there's one pretty serious, not very comedic episode that tops my list. I could've easily done a top 25, 50 or even 100 for this topic, so paring it down to five was tough. Here it goes.

My number five podcast episode of 2015 was the return of "Go Bayside" when they critically deconstructed the "Saved By the Bell: Hawaiian Style" movie. By they I mean the excellent and very hilarious host, April Richardson and her equally as funny best friend, Millie De Chirico. I was so pleasantly surprised and happy when my podcast app showed me that there was a new "Go Bayside". I put time away to go on a hike so I would not be bothered while I listened. April Richardson took a long time off after she finished doing all the pertinent episodes of "Saved By the Bell", but she promised to return to do this movie and the one when Kelly and Zack get married. This episode made it well worth the wait. Richardson and De Chirico come out hot from the start, just chastising the racism in this movie. It was so funny. I loved how upset they both got t the fact that there was a principal's convention in the exact same spot of Hawaii that the students were vacationing in. They couldn't fathom a world that in all of Hawaii these people picked the same spot to vacation in. I couldn't agree more with them. They constantly bad mouthed Kelly's vacation boyfriend for being a creep and this actor totally deserved it, he was terrible. My favorite thing in the whole episode was how they kept going back to the piece of paper that the hotel lease was written on that was literally, a plain sheet of paper. They kept asking why this wasn't a more important document that they would keep in a special place and I found myself asking the same questions. It's baffling. This was such a great episode of my all time favorite podcast and I can't wait until April Richardson does the wedding of Zack and Kelly on what I assume will be the final episode ever of "Go Bayside".

Number four is the episode of "Doughboys" where they talk about In and Out Burger. "Doughboys" has been my new favorite podcast and this episode takes the cake. In most episodes, there's a back and forth between Mike Mitchell and Nick Wiger and the guest just chimes in with whomever they are friends with. It's all very funny, but this episode was bizarre in the best possible way. Their guest was Armen Weitzman. Comedy fans know who Weitzman is, and how weird he can be, but he was off the handles in this particular "Doughboys". He would go back and forth between talking about the food to talking straight nonsense. While I was listening, I was enthralled at how wacky this episode was becoming. Even Mitchell and Wiger seemed to be taken aback at where all this was going. They even stopped their bickering towards each other and let Weitzman go on some long, strange rants. The best part was Weitzman explaining why his basketball podcast with Mitchell never came to fruition. This was the most bizarre thing in a completely absurd episode. I loved every second and I've listened to it multiple times just to hear the craziness. Not every episode is like this one, but I'm glad they have this, because it's one for the ages.

Coming in at number three I have "The Bill Simmons Podcast" episode with Michael Rappaport. As we all know by now, Simmons was fired from ESPN, took a social media hiatus for a couple of months and finally announced he'd be returning with a podcast and a TV show soon. The podcast was first and his early episodes were with friends and former athletes. It was basically the same thing as the "B.S. Report". Then, he had Michael Rappaport on and it was magical. He talked about everything fro his love for Knicks basketball to Rocky's trainer being a ladies man. He professed his love for Knicks rookie Kristaps Porzingis, calling him the "Latvian Gangster". He also kept calling Latvia, Lativia. He added an "I" that didn't need to be there. He also pushed Simmons to say something bad about ESPN. I loved how he was all in his business trying to get Simmons to say anything about his firing and what led to it. Simmons didn't say anything on air, but I like to imagine he crushed ESPN off air. Rappaport was a great relief from all the Patriots, Red Sox and Celtics love that flooded the first month of Bill Simmons new podcast. He was lively, constantly cursing and just being himself. I loved it and I know most of his listeners did too. I can't wait for part two because there needs to be a part two.

My number two podcast episode was Comedy Bang Bang's fourth edition of "Farts and Procreation". This was bittersweet. Harris Wittels unfortunately overdosed and died the week before this episode came out. It was tragic and he has been greatly missed. He died way too young and had a horrible addiction problem. I didn't even know him and I miss him, so I can't even imagine what was going through Scott Aukerman's head when he did the intro. Well, his intro was an absolutely beautiful homage to his friend. He spoke of the good and the bad times they had and their close friendship. These two were very good friends. I'll admit, the intro brought me to tears. Then, they played their annual episode and it was as funny as one could've hoped for. Wittels, Chelsea Peretti and Adam Scott were as goofy and funny as they were on the previous three. Aukerman did his thing as the host, keeping the pace. Wittels did his classic "Harrison's Foam Corner" where he tells jokes that aren't ready for the stage yet and it was, once again, riotous. Peretti and Scott were great too. This was a great sendoff to the great career of Harris Wittels that was cut way too short. This is another episode I go back and listen to because it reminds me how truly talented Harris Wittels was. He was a great comedy writer nd he will be deeply missed.

And that brings us to my number one podcast episode of 2015, the "WTF with Marc Maron" episode where he interviewed President Barack Obama. This was a watermark moment in podcast history. I know that Obama was on other podcast, but not a comedian's podcast that thousands of hard core comedy fans listen to. This was a huge deal to me because I am an Obama supporter and I'm a Maron fan, so put those two together, I'm immediately on board. Maron did a great job with the interview, asking him all types of questions. Obama was even better, answering everything and telling more. He spoke of his father not really being around. He spoke of his love for his mom. He praised his wife. He talked about being a dad to teenage girls. He came off as a regular guy, not the President and I loved that. This was easily the best one hour of podcasting I listened to every year. And, I'm glad it was Maron that got the interview. He's gotten some big time people to be on his show, but he got the President and to people of my generation, this was great for us to hear this powerful man sound like an everyday guy. Maron and Obama did a great job with this episode. I mean, how could anything else be number one beside this episode.

So there you have my top five podcast episodes of 2015. Come back tomorrow where I wrap it up with my top five sports moments of 2015.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Next year his top five podcasts will all be ones he is a featured guest on. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.