Ty Watches "The Thing" on the Big Screen

Over the weekend I was fortunate enough to have a buddy who invited me to see "The Thing" in the theater. Let’s discuss.

My friend had been watching a bunch of John Carpenter lately, and he told me he had never seen "The Thing" in the theaters. We are both too young to have gone to a theater, but I did ask him if he had seen the movie prior. He was quick to let me know that he had. I watched it for the first time relatively recently. I want to say that my wife and I watched it last Halloween. We each pick random movies every weekend we are home to watch, it was my turn to pick, I heard a bunch of people saying how great the movie was, so I finally decided it was time for us to watch.

"The Thing" is an incredible movie. It was way ahead of its time. The practical effects were amazing. I don't think any movie has gotten to the level with practical effects that "The Thing" was able to achieve. The acting and writing were superb. I found myself not trusting anyone in the movie as it went on. And tons of movie makers have tried to recreate this feeling since, to varying degrees. Kurt Russell and Keith David are so, so good. They are, for all intents and purposes, the main characters, with Russell getting a bit more screen time. But it all comes down to those two in the end and they own every scene that they're in for the entirety of the movie. The movie takes place in Antarctica, and the way Carpenter directed, you feel cold while watching. There's snow everywhere. The wind is whipping around the base camp. The actors' clothes are snow covered every time they reenter the camp. It just makes you frigid while watching. I got all of this when I watched this movie in my home.

Seeing it on the big screen though, that was a whole other level. I went into this viewing very excited. I know the ins and outs of the movie, I have made my own feelings well known with the people in my life, what I think about the ending and I went into this viewing looking for stuff that I may have missed. I tried to have as keen an eye as I could. And I think it kind of worked. I noticed the dog way sooner than I did the first time. The crowd would ooh and aah at certain points, and those scenes made more sense to this time. I watched each and every crew member with a closer eye. I wanted to see if I could pinpoint when they were turned by the alien. I wanted to find all this stuff out.

But it was the crowd and my buddy who made this viewing so much cooler for me. I love that local theaters are showing older, restored movies on the big screen. Seeing "The Thing" at the Hi Pointe, a local indie movie theater, is the best way to watch a movie like this. Seeing it with people my age or older, people who have loved this movie since it first came out, people who have a true affinity for it, that ruled. I like how the people who were a little older than me, you could see the pure enjoyment on their faces while watching. Nostalgia is very big right now, and doing something like this is a big money making endeavor. And it lets people see the movie the way they saw it as a kid. That is what is truly important in this scenario. The theater was also about half full, which for a 9:30pm show on a Saturday night, that's a good sign to me. I also truly enjoyed having a conversation with my buddy about our feelings after the movie. I truly liked his insight.

I'm here to say that on April 6th of 2026, I believe that Keith David had turned into a thing, and he and Kurt Russell were going to die on that base camp. I used to believe that they were both human, but after seeing that David's character had no breath coming out, and that he drank what may be gasoline in that wine bottle, I do think he turned into a thing. He also disappeared with no warning when he was supposed to be looking out. That is the first sign that the thing got him.

I cannot recommend going to see this movie in a theater if you get the chance. It will change your outlook and you will view it in a whole new light. Also, if you haven't seen "The Thing" ever, rectify that right now and watch it. "The Thing" rules and seeing it on a big screen makes it even better. I had a blast. 

Ty

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

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Better Late Than Never on "Escape From New York"

When the pandemic started I made the decision to go back and watch a good amount of classic movies that I've missed over the years. I have made good headway, but there are a ton of movies considered classics, and I've only made a small dent on my list. I've kept up as best I can, and this weekend it was my turn to pick the movie for date night. One movie I have been circling for quite a long time was "Escape From New York". I have become a big John Carpenter fan since the pandemic, and the "Escape From" movies are some I have missed. Well, that was remedied this weekend by us watching "Escape From New York".

I have to say right off the bat, I loved this movie. Every second of it was exactly what I wanted out of an action movie. "Escape From New York" takes place in the futuristic world of 1997. I love this about older movies as well, seeing what the actors, writers and directors all predicted what the future would be like. It's pretty wonderful. The island of Manhattan has become a prison, and all criminals have inhabited certain areas of it and are living horrific lives. Kurt Russell plays Snake Plissken. Plissken is one of the coolest characters that has ever existed. He's mean, gruff, angry all the time and has a certain set of skills. He is 1981's version of Liam Neeson from "Taken". Plissken needs to save the president who has been kidnapped, and we go along on the ride with him for 90 plus minutes. I can see why Russell was considered such a big star back in the early 80's. He is good looking. He has this rough side to him. He speaks the coolest of anyone I've ever heard on film. He carries himself like the movie star he was/is. I was glued to the screen every second he was on camera, which is the majority of the movie. He was exceptional. I could tell how much he loved this role and this movie. It showed on my tv. There are other actors in this movie that are doing some nice work, Romero comes to mind, but none did what Russell did while he was on screen.

I also love the way Carpenter directs this, and all of his movies, for that matter. He makes action and scary movies, but he lets you live in the world they have created. It's not non-stop action. There's not the constant threat of a jump scare coming at any moment. Carpenter builds the world within the movie. He lets us get to know the characters. We find reasons to root for or against them. He tells a story with his direction. They don't make action movies like that anymore. No one wants to sit and figure stuff out. We just want it fed to us like babies. Carpenter didn't do that. He wanted the viewer to figure things out for themselves, and I appreciate that. He's telling a story, but he lets us figure things out on our own. I miss action movies like that.

All in all, "Escape From New York" is instantly one of my favorite movies. I loved every single second of this movie. I loved the performances, mainly Russell'. I want more directors to take a page from Carpenter's work and build the world and story. I highly recommend this movie if you haven't seen it yet. It is one of the better movies that has been made. 

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.

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