Ty Watches "Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die"

Of the seven movies I have watched this week, the one I'm writing about today may have been my favorite. "Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie" was the funniest, and "Blackberry" was a nice surprise. But "Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die" is the one I have thought about the most since watching it.

I have wanted to see this movie for some time now. I tried to see it in the theaters, but it came and went pretty fast. Then it was streaming, but it was something like twenty dollars to rent. But, there was a deal to rent the movie on Amazon this week for five bucks, so I decided now was the perfect time. And, as I said before, I really liked this movie quite a bit.

I'm a big Sam Rockwell fan, and he does some masterful work here in this movie. The short plot of this movie is, Rockwell shows up in a diner in modern time LA to warn everyone that always being on your phone causes an apocalyptic event and he is here to try and stop it. This is the whole first scene of the movie, which grabbed me right away, and the movie takes off from there. Rockwell absolutely owns every second that he is on screen in this movie. He is brash, mean, foul mouthed and clearly has a job that he needs to get done. Coming off his minor arc on the most recent season of "White Lotus", this role in this movie was almost too perfect for him. He crushes the whole time. I feel like they told him to just be a heightened version of himself.

As he is recruiting the rest of the team for this mission, this is where we meet the other main characters in this movie. Juno Temple plays Susan. She plays a grieving mother who may be getting information to join Rockwell's fight from a certain source. What I like about this movie is we get some breakaway scenes where we find out why these people are in the diner that night and why they eventually choose to help Rockwell. Temple's story is the saddest by far, but it also gives us a very good, very real understanding of why she is joining the fight. I also appreciate that Gore Verbinski, the director, tells a story of how numb Americans have become to school shootings. Temple's character arc focuses on this entirely. Haley Lu Richardson, who is basically the second lead, plays a character that is allergic to phones and wi-fi. Smart phones play a massive part in this movie. They may be the villain for all intents and purposes. I love that they are using those as the basis for why the apocalypse started. I feel like teenagers should be required to watch this simply for that reason alone. Haley Lu Richardson, as said before, is allergic to these devices. She grows to loathe them. She has a partner that is on her team for awhile, until he is not anymore. This was a nice reversal from her previous roles. She gets to have fun with this and she is right up there with Rockwell as far as her performance. I thought she was great. Michael Pena and Zazie Beetz play high school teachers. They have the funniest backstory. I found myself howling when they got their turn on screen. They are also kind at the starting moment of the whole world going nuts for their phones. Beetz is hilarious and I love that she keeps saying that teachers who aren't at the school anymore are on "sabbatical". It was great. Pena is terrified of the kids and he wants them off their phones. He gets a nice little hero turn and I thought he was the funniest of all. There are a few other members of the team, but the five I mentioned are the key players.

What made me so enamored with this movie was why they ended up where they did in the movie. Smartphones are becoming a real problem in the world. People are addicted to them. I see more people with their heads hunched over just staring at their phones. That is the inciting incident for this movie. People are so obsessed that they literally turn into zombies. Rockwell is hell bent on turning this all around, but he looks crazy, says he is from the future and takes people's phones and throws them in buckets of water. His costume in this movie is so rad. I kind of want to go as him for Halloween this year.

The best thing about the movie is all the twists and turns. Rockwell's character says something early on about how movies suck you in with the story, the problem and how you think it is all going to be wrapped in a nice, neat and happy bow. But that may or may not be the case with this movie. This is not a spoiler, but the way the movie ended floored me. I did not see it coming and that made me like this movie even more. I wished I had seen it in the theater, but at least I watched it on streaming.

I highly recommend this movie to anyone. As I said before, I do think it should be mandatory for teenagers to watch. But I also highly suggest that people who like Sam Rockwell watch it. "Good Luck Have Fun Don't Die" is a fun time traveling apocalyptic movie. It tells a good story with some very excellent performances from solid actors. Check it out. 

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 to Catch the Great "Ant-Man"

Early screen test footage

With the release of the new "Captain America: Civil War" trailer being dropped today, I want to talk about another superhero movie I recently saw and loved. Yes, it does feature one of the heroes that will appear in "Captain America: Civil War", but it's not Spiderman. That's right, Spiderman is going to be in the movie and his appearance at the very end of the trailer is awesome. Seriously, if you haven't watched the trailer yet, read this, then watch it. "Captain America: Civil War" looks like it is going to be great.

The superhero movie I want to talk about today is "Ant-Man", and yes he is going to be in the new Captain America movie, presumably fighting on Cap's side. But, "Ant-Man", in my opinion, was a really fun and very entertaining movie. I had my doubts when I heard all the stuff about the movie. I didn't think Paul Rudd could pull off a superhero. I heard that they kept pushing the release back. I didn't think an action movie about a guy that can shrink to the size of an ant seemed that cool. And when Edgar Wright said he wasn't going to direct anymore, that was almost the last straw for me. I didn't see the movie in the theaters because I thought it was going to stink and I have two young kids. When it did come out, it got pretty good reviews, clocking in at right around 80% on Rotten Tomatoes. So, my interest became piqued again. Then, I had friends and relatives tell me that it was pretty good and they thought I'd enjoy it. I kept putting it off, even renting it from Netflix, but not watching it for almost three months, but man am I glad my wife and I watched it this past weekend. I really enjoyed the hell out of it. Like I said before, it was entertaining and completely action packed. I really loved that they got right down to the action. First scene of the movie is action packed and the rest is much of the same, with some slower moments sprinkled in.

But, let's look at all the things that kept me from watching it in the theaters.

First, the Paul Rudd thing. I didn't think he could pull it off, but he is really good in his role. The thing about Paul Rudd, he is just a really good actor. He can play goofy, like "Wet Hot", he can be charming, like "They Came Together", he can be an asshole, like "Knocked Up", he can be a teen heart throb, like "Clueless" and now he can add superhero action star with "Ant-Man". Paul Rudd is awesome and I will never question his acting ability again. Second, the push back of the release date. This usually happens to movies that the studio is afraid will not do so well, but in the case of "Ant-Man", I just think they had to push it to find a new director once Edgar Wright stepped down. I also heard something about having to recast Wasp, but I think the director thing was the biggest problem. But, this director did a great job with this movie. He portrayed a world of ants that was plausible and believable. He did a great job with the fight scenes too. This was a case of a good reason to push a release date. You want to get someone that will do the movie justice. Which leads me to reason three, Edgar Wright dropping out as director. I am a huge Edgar Wright fan. I love all the stuff he does with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. I saw "Shaun of the Dead", "Hot Fuzz" and "The World's End" all in the theaters and loved every single one. I heard they are doing another and I can't wait to see that as well. Wright is a phenomenal director, so when he dropped out, I instantly became worried. What I failed to recognize though, he stayed on as a writer and a producer. He still was involved, just not the way I thought he should be. But, after watching the movie, you can tell that he had his hand in on most of, if not all, the jokes. This made me happy that, at least, he stayed on as a writer. 

Now, my main original gripe prior to watching "Ant-Man", who in the hell would want to watch a movie about a guy that shrink to the size and control ants? Me, now, that's who. This movie pulled this off to perfection. I believed that a guy like Scott Lang(Paul Rudd), would take on a job like this so he could be with his daughter. He was a thief that just got out of jail and couldn't even keep a job at Baskin Robbins because of his past. Becoming Ant-Man was his last option in life. I also loved Michael Douglass as Dr. Henry Pym, the original Ant-Man. He was older, but wiser and still had an ass kicking attitude. Guys like Michael Douglas and Robert Redford should be thrilled when they get asked to be in superhero movies and these two are excellent in them. Evangeline Lilly, playing the new Wasp, was totally awesome. She was great as the bad guy's, Yellow Jacket, assistant that was spying on him for her father Dr. Pym and she was a total ass kicker too. The scene where she is training Lang and continues to brutally beat him is very funny. When she shows Lang how to control ants, another great scene. Lilly is great in this movie. Yellow Jacket is menacing and creepy and your typical over the top bad guy, but that is the beauty of playing bad guys in superhero movies, you're encouraged to chew scenery and this guy does it great. Then there's Lang's crew who are all very funny, especially Michael Pena.

"Ant-Man" was so good. I'd watch it again before I'd watch the second "Thor" movie, the second and third "Ironman" movies, any of the "Hulk" movies and any "Spiderman" movies, except for the first two. In fact, the only two, recent superhero movies I'd pick before "Ant-Man" would be "Avengers: Age of Ultron" and "Guardians of the Galaxy", but "Ant-Man" is a close third. If you are a fan of superhero and Marvel movies, and you haven't seen "Ant-Man" yet, check it out. It's super enjoyable and extremely entertaining.

Can't wait to see how they use him in the new Captain America movie. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man. He wonders if Marvel can make a good Ant Man movie, is Dazzler next? You must follow the tiny adventures of Ty on twitter @tykulik.