Ty Watches "Marty Supreme"

I took my dad and son to see "Marty Supreme" yesterday and I have a review for you all today. I have wanted to see this movie for some time now, and it just happened to be released here in Saint Louis on Xmas day. We waited through the weekend, but saw it pretty soon after Xmas.

I was predestined to like this movie. I have become a pretty big fan of Timothee Chalamet in the past few years, ever since I saw him in "Wonka", and I like what the Safdie brothers do as far as directing. And I fully understand that this was a solo directing job from Josh Safdie, which I am all in for at this point. Josh Safdie has always felt like more of a director than his brother Benny. I feel like Benny Safdie has always wanted to be an actor, which he is very accomplished and pretty good at by this point. But Josh seems like he prefers to be behind the camera, and that is great. He brought his usual greatness to this movie as well. What I like about a Safdie directed movie is how anxiety riddled, in a good way, you feel while watching one of their movies. That was the case with "Uncut Gems", and Josh Safdie does the same thing in "Marty Supreme". The scenes shift very quickly into one another, there's always some kind of action going on, there's bad guys and good guys to root for, there's always someone talking and trying to get out of a situation and the romantic scenes always feel a little more raw and real in a Safdie movie. All that was in "Marty Supreme" and it all worked really well for me. Josh Safdie is very good at the kind of movies he makes and I want him to continue with this style of making the viewer anxious. There's no one better at making those kinds of movies at the moment.

While the direction is always incredibly important, you need actors who are up to the task, and they knocked it out of the park with the casting here. I'll get to Chamalet last because he was a revelation, which I didn't think was possible at this point in his career. What I appreciate most about a Safdie movie is they give unknowns a chance. Luke Manley, as Dion, is a first time actor and he was amazing as Marty's best buddy. I rooted for him even though others seemed mad at him from time to time. Ralph Colucci was only in a few scenes at the beginning of the movie, but the back and forth between him and Chalamet was incredible. Odessa A'Zion is becoming a star at the moment, but her work here was amazing. She was so in love with Marty, warts and all, and she tried to prove her worth to him time and again. Tyler, the Creator made his acting debut in this movie and he did a wonderful job. He was the guy Marty would hustle with and that felt like a perfect role for him. He should get many more acting jobs from this. George Gervin, former NBA star, was acting for the first time and his presence was gigantic in his minor role. Then Safdie put some former stars in bit parts and they were equally excellent. Fran Drescher played Marty's mom and she was the epitome of a mom trying to control her son. Her work opposite Chalamet was needed in this movie. Sandra Bernhart played a nurse, or something, and she was as wild here as she is in her minor role on "Severance". Penn Jillette has a very small role as a farm owner, but man is he scary and memorable. And we also have Gwyneth Paltrow playing a former aging movie star. She proved what made her such a draw in the 90's and early 2000's here. She was phenomenal in this role. I loved every second she was on screen in this mcvie.

But the cream of the crop was Chalamet. This was an incredible performance from him. He was, at the same time mind you, slimy and charming. He was always hustling and always talking his way out of some problem he inevitably created. There were times where I hated him, then in an instant I was rooting for him. The way he treated A'Zion's character throughout was mean and disgusting, yet I wanted them to be together. Paltrow's character treated him like the child he was, but there were times where I felt like they deserve one another. Chalamet has more than proven his worth in the past few years with the two "Dune" movies and "A Complete Unknown". I also loved him in "Wonka" as I mentioned before. But this performance proved that he is on another level from other actors his age. He embodied this role and he took his acting to a whole other stratosphere. He doesn't have to be the hero or the good looking dude in every movie. Marty is a hustler who is smamry and slimy, and Chalamet absolutely nailed it here. I think he has a definite Oscar nomination coming from this role and that will be two years in a row that he gets a best actor nomination. He is going to be the definitive actor of this generation and that makes me smile.

I highly recommend seeing "Marty Supreme". It is a fascinating performance from Chalamet and the movie will make you care about ping pong. This movie was great. 

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 "Dune: Part 2"

I have just returned home from seeing "Dune : Part 2".

I have been really anticipating the release of this movie. I watched the first, new "Dune" during the pandemic. It was released to streaming, and I took advantage and watched that movie in my home. I loved it. I was glued to my screen. I did not look at my phone once. My wife would come in and out of the room and ask questions and I would answer, and then rewind and rewatch what we may have missed. The first new "Dune" was also my first time I found myself cheering for Timothee Chalamet. That movie made me a fan, and I have not looked back. I also watched David Lynch's "Dune" during the pandemic. I did not like that version at all. It was a slog. It was boring. And it was nonsensical. So I've done the necessary homework. My dad joined me this morning, he watched the first new "Dune" on Wednesday, and we set off for a 10am screening.

I want to say, the theater was as clean as I've ever seen a theater before. The crowd was delightful and pleasant. The staff was dynamite and helpful. The Galleria 6 Cinema here in Saint Louis did their job perfectly. There were only two previews, only one commercial, and by about 10 after, we were in the world of "Dune". And from there on out I was in awe of what I was watching.

First off, this cast is incredible. Chamalet is back and does an even better job in this movie. Zendaya is given much more to work with in this sequel and she does amazing things. I was rooting for her character the entire movie. Javier Bardem was more involved, did a great job and even provided some laughs. Rebecca Ferguson did a phenomenal job with her arc in this movie. The whole Harkonnen family was terrifying in all the right ways. Stellan Skaarsgard is back and he is even more scary as the head of the family. David Bautista is back and he is cowardly and in over his head. And Austin Butler is the nephew who is the villainous of all the villains in this movie. He was scary as hell. Florence Pugh and Christopher Walken do some pretty good things here. Pugh figures to have a much bigger part in the third installment of this franchise. Josh Brolin returns and he is having a great back half of his career. And there's all the side characters and minor part actors who do some wonderful things in their very minimal screen time.

Then we have the direction. Denis Villenvue is the best sci fi director in the game right now. I trust him with any material he decides to work on from this moment on. And then there's the stuff on screen. This is an epic in every sense of the word. It was close to three hours but never felt long. The scenery, being pretty much nothing but sand, was mesmerizing to look at on a big screen. The sandworms were the coolest thing I have seen in a movie in a long, long time. I was enamored with those things. The CGI and the massive amount of people in the movie was a triumph all its own.

The story was pretty great too. The majority of the movie is a war movie. There are a bunch of battles. There are moments of strategy. There are training moments. There is hand to hand combat. There are soldiers hiding and attacking from everywhere. It was awesome. And, near the end, although it is what I consider to be the main story, it becomes a religious story, and the problems that lie within following one person. It was interesting to see the movie take this turn and everyone involved pulled it off with grace and professionalism.

I loved this movie. My dad did too. I couldn't believe that they exceeded my high, high expectations. I cannot recommend this movie enough. That is why I left my review so vague. I think you should try and see it in a theater too. I'm not a big theater goer, but this movie needs to be seen on a big screen to get the full effect. "Dune: Part 2" is amazing. Go see it. 

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.