Ty Watches "I Love Boosters"

Over the weekend I went and saw "I Love Boosters". Let’s discuss.

I was primed and pumped for this showing. I'm a big Boots Riley fan. Ever since one of my older brothers introduced me to his music, he raps in a group called The Coup, I was on board. I have always liked how politically charged his lyrics were and still are. I like that he has something important to say. I like that he has some of the best guest features on their albums. I loved Pa the Funkstress, may she Rest in Peace. I then saw that he was making a movie before the pandemic. "Sorry To Bother you" is one of the most unique movies I've ever seen. I was instantly in love with that movie. I told everyone I know to go see it. I took my dad to watch and had my wife watch it with me as well. They had their opinions, but this was a movie I wanted to share with everyone I knew. I have heard from friends that I recommended it to, and they have said they liked it. It was such a good take on the ills of wealth and the lengths people will take to get there. I have not yet watched "But I'm a Virgo". I actually plan on starting that later this afternoon. And then we have "I Love Boosters". Boots Riley and crew have been promoting the hell out of it since they announced a release day. I watched all of that with bated breath. I saw early reviews, and thankfully they were praising the movie. It was widely released last Friday, and the internet was abuzz with people giving it its flowers. I tried to see it on Friday, but the timing didn't work. Fortunately for me my son's basketball game didn't start until 6pm on Sunday, so I was able to see it Sunday afternoon.

I loved this movie so much. It is so Boots Riley to an absolute T. From the jump I knew I was in for a ride. The Tune Yards are back doing the score for this movie, they also scored "Sorry to Bother You". The score for this movie was carnival-esque. I read after watching the movie that the members of the band decided to try instruments they had never played before, like a mouth harp or an accordion. That comes across tenfold when listening to the score. I also love that the Tune Yards sing during the score. They say simple stuff, like "Hi Ho", but man does it work for me. We then have the cast, and they crushed this movie. The Velvet Gang, these are the Boosters, more on that in a moment. Keke Palmer is the star and she nails it. I hung on her every moment. I loved every look she wore in the movie. I thought her plans were the best. She was dynamite. The rest of the gang is filled out with Naomi Ackie, killing it as a mom who is trying best to get the best for her kids, and Taylour Paige, who seems a little dimwitted, but when it comes down to it, she knows what she's doing. Poppy Liu shows up about halfway through the movie, and I loved her backstory and reasoning for why she was doing what she was doing. LaKeith Stanfield is so awesome as a love interest for Palmer, who may have a secret. Demi Moore plays a tremendous villain. I grew to despise her as the movie went on. She also has the wildest office I've seen in a movie. Don Cheadle is in this movie, but you would have to look it up to see who he plays. He is awesome in this role too. Jason Ritter and Jermaine Fowler have bit parts that are very memorable. And this movie has a great story to go along with the great cast. Boosting is stealing clothes from a store and selling it at a lesser price to the people who truly want the clothes. The Coup actually have a song about it on their excellent record "Pick A Bigger Weapon". But this movie has so much more to tell. We have the boosting, but we also have striking workers, poor work conditions, tons of comedy, some of the most vibrant and cool looking clothing in a movie, a great story about friendship and family and some wild stuff that happens, that I don't want to spoil, in the final act. The movie also has a hopeful tinge to it, and makes me feel good when I'm watching it.

I stood up and clapped when the movie was over. Others joined in with me. "I Love Boosters" is so good. I want Boots Riley to continue to make movies because he has the most unique voice in directing right now. Go see this movie and see it in a theater full of people if you are able. It is so good and so fresh. We need more movie makers like Boots Riley. 

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 "Space Jam: A New Legacy"

We watched "Space Jam: A New Legacy" last Friday. It was date night, it was my turn to pick, I loved the original movie, still do in fact and I was pumped to watch the new movie. I watched all the trailers, I saw some news stories prior to the movie that made me more excited and I like Lebron James. I also saw that Don Cheadle was the villain, and he is one of my favorite actors. Basically, I was predestined to love this movie.

Unfortunately I did not love this movie.

I am not going to go scorched Earth like some other notable critics have, but this movie is not very good. I do not buy Lebron as an overbearing parent, I didn't find any connection between this movie and the original, the cuts were choppy, the jokes were not great and it just did not have the nostalgia that I wanted. My wife felt the same. We both loved the original, but did not like this new one. I will give it up and say some of the jokes made me chuckle, I appreciated Don Cheadle totally hamming it up and chewing the scenery and the kid who plays Lebron's youngest son was pretty impressive. Other than that though it was pretty boring. I also wished they had done something with the Goon Squad like they did with the Monstars. I wanted to see the NBA and WNBA players get their powers taken from them. I know it didn't fit with the theme of the movie, but that was one of my favorite parts of the original.

Now that I have had an entire weekend to sit on the movie, I have made a revelation. This movie wasn't made for me and my wife. The original was made for us because we were kids at the time of its release. That is who this new "Space Jam" is made for. This is a kids movie through and through. This movie is made for kids under ten. They will love it. My son is stoked to watch. He is nine. One of his buddies keeps telling him how great it is. He watched it with his family last week, they were chatting on Fortnite, and apparently he would not stop talking about it. I have seen some friends posting about watching it and saying that they enjoyed it so much because their kids enjoyed it. My wife is going out of town and my son and I will watch it together when she is gone. I think my daughter wants to join us as well. I will be very curious to see how much they like it, if they do, and if it changes my view of the movie. I'm also certain my son is going to love it. He keeps talking about it and he still hasn't watched it. My daughter will be happy just to see a bunch of cartoon characters on screen, and she likes to watch basketball with me, which there is plenty of in this movie. I will probably do a follow up after watching with them to let you all know how that experience goes. But for my first viewing, I realize that it is not a good movie, that it has many, many flaws and that a ton of things could be changed. But I also realize that I am not the audience this movie is going after.

Long story short, “Space Jam: A New Legacy” is a total kids movie and that is who the producers want to watch. I am sure they understand that parents will be watching as well, but they most likely know that adults and parents are just there to start the movie and hang out. So while I did not think it was good, I am sure my kids will adore it. More to come.

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.

Ty Watches "Black Monday" Season Two Premier

On Sunday Showtime had a two episode season two premiere of “Black Monday”, and it was great.

I was intrigued by this show last year when I heard David Caspe, creator of “Happy Endings”, one of the best and most underrated rated shows of all time, had created it. I then saw the cast, people like Regina Hall, Andrew Rannels, Don Cheadle, Casey Wilson, Paul Scheer, Yassir Lester and Horatio Sanz, and it made me even more pumped. Season one did not disappoint. “Black Monday” is one of those rare shows that perfectly straddles their line of comedy and drama. The show is definitely more comedic, especially darkly comedic, but they nailed the dramatic scenes. All the stuff that came out during the first season was handled very, very well. I don’t want to spoil anything, especially since we all should be social distancing and self isolating. Go binge watch the first season while we are all supposed to be indoors.

Season two picked up seemingly a few months, maybe five or six, right after the first season wrapped up. Regina Hall is now in charge, along with Rannels. She runs the firm that Cheadle was running, and Rannels, who is in DC trying to expand his political career, is looked at as a wunderkind. He is plastered all over magazine covers, and is a household name. Hall, on the other hand, is handling business back in NYC. She is the boss, and she acts like it and she deserves it. She has worked too hard to not be in this position. But, she does have some demons that she needs exorcise. Lester and Sanz still work at the firm, but they’re the only dudes. Their couple of scenes were great, and fitting for their character arcs to this date. Meanwhile, and again, I’m going to try to not spoil much, Scheer and Cheadle are living in Miami. They’re living a separate life from what they did in NYC. And while Scheer seems to enjoy his life, Cheadle looks like he’d rather be anywhere else. The scene that introduces us to Scheer in season 2 is amazing. The music, the clothes, the mustache and the rollerblading, it was just so perfect. Cheadle meanwhile, he has quit cocaine, a big part of season one, and is playing in a hotel band. Also, speaking of looks, his hairdo is amazing. I love it.

The first two episodes of season two have me very excited to see where things go from here. This show is so well made. It’s well written, directed and acted. They have pros all across the board on this show, and it shows. The ending of the second episode has me fired up for the rest of the season as well. Seriously people, especially if you’re looking for a new show to binge in our current state, I cannot recommend “Black Monday” highly enough. This show rules.

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.

Ty Watches "Black Monday" Series Premier

Yesterday I watched the premiere of one of the shows I was looking forward to in 2019, “Black Monday”. I’m a David Caspe fan, so when he has his name attached to a show, especially one he’s co created and written, I’m in. “Black Monday” was no exception. I have been looking forward to this show since I first heard about it, almost a year ago.

And it did not disappoint. When I heard the names being cast, and that it was going to be on a premium cable channel, Showtime, I just assumed it would be good. Not only did we have Caspe on board, the actors are great. Don Cheadle, Regina Hall and Andrew Rannells are the three main characters, and they’re wonderful. Hall is a total badass, that can more than hold her own in the male dominated world of the 80’s stock market. That’s when the show takes place, right before a humongous market crash in 87. Back to Hall. Not only is she a badass, but she does have a heart. She cares about her job, and some of the people she works with. She also is clearly the smartest person in the room. She knows better than everyone else, and has a good head on her shoulders. She’s terrific. Rannells is the fish out of water, trying to impress his girlfriend. He plays a genius trader that created this “perfect” algorithm. But, the scene in the premiere when he tries to double 50k in 4 hours, shows he is in way over his head. The way Rannells portrays his character is so good. He’s too nice. He’s too smart. He’s too gullible. He lets others control what he does. But, when he needs to, he can stand up for himself. When he storms into the office to demand a job, that scene was pretty wonderful. I am also a big fan of his, because of “Book of Mormon”, the only thing I’ve seen him in. So to see him play a totally different character is always fun for me as a viewer.

Then we have Don Cheadle. He can do no wrong. He is one of the best living actors. His character is slimy, mean, does copious amounts of cocaine, spends money just to spend it and acts like he’s the greatest dude ever. And you know what, I found myself openly rooting for him by the end of the episode. Cheadle exudes confidence, and he does that tenfold on “Black Monday”. When he berates his team for being the 11th ranked firm in New York I found myself agreeing with him. When I saw the painting of him doing coke I thought, that’s pretty dope. When he tries to hit on Hall, only to be rebuked by her boyfriend, I wanted Hall to go with him. When he brags about his Lamborghini Limbo, and Rannells says to him,”so you have a slow uncomfortable car?”, and he responds, “ I got it because it was the most expensive!”, I thought, hell yeah you did. Even when he first bumps his robot butler, you read that right, after doing more cocaine, I just found myself rooting for him more. Cheadle is so awesome.

Outside those three, the rest of the major cast is filled with improv actors. Paul Scheer, who I praised yesterday, is on this show. So is Eugene Cordero. Kurt Braunholer plays a dude named Ty, so I’m in on him. Yassir Lester wears a full head garb, and calls himself Yassir X. Ken Marino plays twin brothers, who may or may not be romantically involved. And Casey Wilson plays Rannells girlfriend. And when she slaps him twice in a row in the episode, it was hilarious.

I’m pumped to see where “Black Monday” goes from here. It has a tremendous amount of promise and intrigue. I highly recommend everyone check it out. It’s so good.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He remembers the high energy time of 1987 not because of the cocaine but because of the joy any 5 year old would have getting ready for new episodes of the original “Duck Tales”.

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