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 "Coming 2 America"

For date night this week my wife picked "Coming 2 America".

Two weeks ago we watched the original movie because she had never seen it, and she enjoyed herself so much that she wanted to watch the sequel. This worked out well for me because, as a big fan of the original, of course I wanted to watch the second one. Eddie Murphy is also on some kind of come back tour, if he even needed one. "Dolemite is My Name" was one of the better movies I saw last year, and he crushed when he finally came back to host "SNL". It seems like he is finally having fun again being funny. He isn't doing the family comedy stuff or the big paycheck stuff. He is more in a "Tower Heist" groove, a very underrated movie I might add, and that is the perfect Eddie Murphy mood for me. He is so funny, and when he has really good material to work with, he usually crushes it. And I did not care at all what the critics were saying about the movie. I know it didn't get the best marks, but hey, neither did "Hot Rod", or the myriad of movies RD and I talked about on the pod a few weeks back, and I like those movies very much.

This is the category "Coming 2 America" falls into for me, the "Hot Rod" category. I had an absolutely delightful one hour and forty minutes watching this movie. There were call backs that were great. They had everyone who is still alive from the original in the sequel. Arsenio Hall was dynamite as Semi, and all the heavily made-up characters he played. I loved the newer character he played, the old man that lives in Zamunda, that guides Prince Akeem after his father passes. I could say the same for Eddie Murphy. Prince Akeem is a classic, but so is the sexist minister and the barber and the infamous singer from Queens. Murphy returned all these characters, and they all made me laugh just like I did when I first saw "Coming to America". Murphy really nails this, or these, roles. Shari Headley, as Lisa, is just as strong and confident and beautiful and proud as she was in the original. James Earl Jones, in his maybe five minutes of screen time, was awesome. His funeral was one of the silliest, yet saddest, and most choreographed things I have ever seen in a movie, and I loved every single second of it.

In the movie, Akeem and Lisa have three daughters, one of which is played by Murphy's real life daughter. They are all strong willed, tough and have the best qualities of their mom and dad. The oldest daughter, Meeka, played by KiKi Layne is almost a replica of her father from the original movie, except she may be tougher. Her story arc is one of my favorite things about this whole movie. She was awesome. They even brought back John Amos, Louie Anderson, Clint Smith and Paul Bates to reprise their roles from the first movie. It was nice to see them all acting and all doing a great job in these very memorable roles. The new additions were excellent as well.

The main story of the movie is that Akeem has a son who was fathered while he was in Queens in the first movie. He is the rightful heir, so Akeem and Semi go back to retreat him. The son is played by Jermaine Fowler. His name is Lavelle. I am a Jermaine Fowler fan. I loved his role in "Sorry to Bother You", he was one of the only things I liked in Pete Holmes' HBO show, "Superior Donuts" was decent because of him, and he does a great job in this movie. For him to keep pace with Arsenio Hall and Eddie Murphy is a triumph on its own. Add on that this movie also put Leslie Jones in it, as his mom, Tracy Morgan, as his uncle and Luenell as his aunt, and he kept up with all of them. Leslie Jones was hysterical, and she made me laugh any time she was on screen. She is so consistent. Luenell is quietly hilarious in everything she does. And Tracy Morgan, he is my favorite actor of all time, and Fowler kept up with all of them. This had to be a dream for him. They also put Morgan Freeman in this movie as the narrator at the funeral, and that ruled. Trevor Noah was a newscaster from Zamunda, and he was great, and so was his fake mustache. And Wesley Snipes, much like he did in "Dolemite is My Name", nearly stole the show as the rival king from Nextdooria, a great name by the way.

Look, this movie works on a few different levels. It is great nostalgia, it is fun, it gives Eddie Murphy another starring role, it gives some up and comers a real chance and it allows great comedic actors to do funny things over and over again. This movie is good. I definitely would ignore the critics reviews and check this movie out. It is more than worth your time.

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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Cloves and Fedoras: Go See the Intriguing Film "Sorry to Bother You"

Cloves and Fedoras is Seed Sings reviews for little known pieces of pop culture.  Feel free to contact us with your own submissions of undiscovered gems that must be known.

This past Saturday I had the great pleasure of seeing one of the wildest, weirdest, crazy, scatter brained, satirical and best movie that I have watched in a long, long time. I took my dad to see "Sorry to Bother You", and boy did this movie not disappoint.

I had very high expectations for this movie. From the moment that I heard Boots Riley of The Coup, a band that I am a big time fan of, I even nominated them for greatest American band, had written and directed a movie, I was interested. I didn't need to know what it was about, or who was even in it, I was just totally stoked that a visionary, and political activist like Boots Riley was getting a chance to make a movie. That being said, when I heard who was cast in the movie, that made me want to see it even more. As you all know, I am a big time fan of the show "Atlanta", and when I saw that Lakeith Stanfield was starring in the movie, I was pumped. It  also didn't hurt when I saw names like Tessa Thompson, Terry Crews, Steven Yeun, Jermaine Fowler and Danny Glover in the cast. Then the trailers started to some out. The trailers put all of the craziness and absurdity and wonderfulness that was this movie into the world. The trailers also made me realize who people like David Cross and Patton Oswalt were in this movie. I got advanced tickets and saw it the day after it was released nationwide. As I said, I saw it with my father, and a fairly crowded theater during a Saturday matinee. That made me happy from the start. The theater was not sold out by any means, but to see it about 1/2 full for an independent movie that was described as a "comedy, sci fi thriller", well, that is awesome. Maybe that means that more unique and cool movies will get a chance to be made. I am fatigued by sequels, remakes and super hero movies. It was nice to see something totally original. And, after only 3 previews, which I definitely appreciated, the movie started.

Now, I am not going to spoil anything, so I am going to continue very carefully with how I describe this wonderful movie. Stanfield plays Cassius Green. Green is broke. He lives in his Uncle's garage, Terry Crews played his uncle, and he is engaged to a performance artist that is also a sign twirler on the road. Green's fiancé is played by Tessa Thompson, and she shines in this movie. Her name is Detroit. She wears some of the wildest and coolest clothes that I have ever seen. She is an activist and she is just a beam of light whenever she is on screen. She makes all of her earrings in the movie, and they make it a point to say that, and to point them out. I loved that about this movie. Her wardrobe is also so hip and forward thinking, I would not be shocked if I saw people starting to dress like Detroit in real life. Anyway, Green needs a job because he is 4 months behind on his rent, and his uncle is about to lose the house. He gets a job at a telemarketing company, Regal View, and it is a struggle at first. Some of the scenes where he is making his first calls, where he literally drops into the home of the people he is calling, are so cool and unlike anything that I have seen. It was awesome. Green is struggling, and he is not making any money. The co worker sitting next to him, played by Danny Glover, gives him some advice. He tells him he needs to use his "white voice". He says that this will calm the people he is talking to, and they will be more willing to speak with him. I found this part of the movie very intriguing. I, and I assume many other people, just hang up on telemarketers. But, I wonder if the people that actually field these calls take them because of how the person sounds. It is a very great take on race relations, and only someone like Boots Riley could have pulled this off.

Green, now using his "white voice", which is voiced by David Cross, begins to crush it at work. He is selling whatever Regal View sells, it isn't very clear, and he is selling a ton. Amidst all this, Steven Yeun, playing a character named Squeeze, and Jermaine Fowler, Cassius' best friend, are starting to unionize so they can make living wages. This movie takes place in an alternate universe, and telemarketers in this world make far less than telemarketers do now. Cassius is part of their fight at first, but then he gets promoted to "power caller". This is where the real money is made. This is where Cassius can make enough money to help his uncle keep his house, buy an apartment for himself and Detroit, and furnish it with nice things. He is happy about this, at first. He then realizes what he is selling as a "power caller".

There is a company in this movie called Worry Free. They give people a job, a free place to live and free food, all they have to do is sign a lifetime contract, and work for them forever. It is essentially slave labor. Cassius comes to realize that, as a "power caller", he is only furthering and helping this awful corporation continue to thrive. But, since he is making money, he continues to go to work.

This begins to strain his relationship with Detroit and his friends. He is a scab. He may not realize it, but he is going against everything he believes in. He continues to cross the picket lines because he has finally found something that he is good at doing. He has struggled all his life, but telemarketing, with his "white voice", and selling things to random people on the phone, he is good at this. Needless to say, he and Detroit split. Fowler and Yeun want nothing to do with him. One day, while crossing the picket line, he gets struck in the head by a soda can. With all this happening, he continues to go to work, and to make Worry Free a ton of money.

Due to his success, Green gets invited to a big party with one of the owners or CEO or something of Worry Free, Steve Lift. Lift is played by Armie Hammer, and while I do not think he is a great actor, he is amazing in this movie. He is evil, a womanizer, a pig, a bully, a drug addict and just an all around bad guy. It is only when Cassius meets Hammer does he start to question what he is really doing. Hammer bullies him into free style rapping at a party. He essentially traps him in his home, and threatens his life when Cassius finds out some major news about what he is doing to help Worry Free continue to progress their laborers, who, lets just say, may not be all human. When Cassius learns of all of this, he decides now that he needs to fight back.

From here on out, if I were to say much more, I would spoil some major things in the movie. With that being said, you need to stay through the credits to get the full extent of what I am trying to get across without spoiling anything.

"Sorry to Bother You" is one of the most ambitious movies that I have ever witnessed. Boots Riley had a vision, and I feel like he decided he was going to put as much of it into this movie as possible, and that makes me so happy. He took all the chances. I mean, in this movie, the number one TV show in America is called, "I Just Got the Shit Kicked Out of Me". When they showed that, I was reminded of another one of my favorite, off the wall movies, "Idiocracy". But where the shows are similar, that is the only thing. "Sorry to Bother You" is much deeper, and way more in depth than "Idiocracy", and I adore "Idiocracy".

"Sorry to Bother You" is, quite possibly, the most original movie, with common themes, that has ever been made. The movie touches on class, selling out and race, but in such a unique and cool and visionary way. You must see this movie. You also must know, going into it, that it is weird and different, and there are crazy cuts and some of the wildest stuff you can think of times ten in this movie. But, it is all worth it. This movie more than surpassed my expectations. I saw it on Saturday, and I am still trying to figure everything out. The movie is open ended and lets you kind of decide what you think is right and wrong, and I love it even more because of that.

"Sorry to Bother You" is an amazing achievement, and I cannot wait to see what Boots Riley does next. What a gem.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He has had a bunch of crappy jobs that forced him to bother people. Never again will you see Ty knocking on your door asking if you have the latest in Video Cassette Recording experience.

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