Better Late Than Never on "Freaky Tales"

Another movie I was able to watch the past two weeks was "Freaky Tales". I only vaguely knew of this movie due to the fact that Pedro Pascal was cast in it. I did see one trailer near the release of the movie that got me more hyped, but I never went to see it in the theaters. Then I kind of forgot about it, until I read some people saying it was one of the better movies to come out last year. The publications were ones I like and take their recommendations. So, it was my turn to pick on date night and "Freaky Tales" was the choice.

This movie takes place in Oakland over a couple days in 1987. Right off the bat, the look of this movie was so cool. It had that retro feel to it. It reminded me of watching movies on VHS back when I was a kid. It was a little grainy and I really was into the vibe they were putting out there. There are four different stories that all coincide with each other. Each story is told in its own chapter, and it all culminates and comes together during the finale. The first story focuses on some punk rock kids that have to fight nazis to keep them out of their club. We meet a few of the punker kids, and I was immediately on their side. The nazis, like all of them, were horrific people and they deserved to be beaten. We do get a background on one of the young kids, the punkers who go to the club every night, the owners of the club and their inner meetings. The lead up to the fight scene was great. This was when the movie used montages to perfection. And the fight scene itself was gory and violent and awesome. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing a nazi get punched in the throat with a studded bracelet. As soon as this story started, I was fully in.

By the end, I wanted even more. Luckily for me, the second chapter was right up my alley. This time we saw a rap group, Danger Zone, trying to catch a break. Danger Zone was two ladies and they were still working at an ice cream shop, but just needed a break. Lucky for them, a local promoter saw them perform and invited them to rap battle Too Short, who also happens to be the narrator throughout the whole movie. Meanwhile, we see the members of Danger Zone get annoyed and hit on by a police officer, we see one of the members freaking out prior to their performance and then we see them, dare I say, beat Too Short in said battle. It was cool to watch a musical performance in this movie, and props to Normani for giving one hell of a performance during this chapter.

The third chapter focuses on Pedro Pascal's character. He is a criminal fixer doing one last job. We do also find out some info on what happened to him the day before. There is a scene in this chapter, where Pascal is going to a movie rental store and has a great conversation about underdog movies. The conversation he is having is with Tom Hanks, who plays the rental store clerk. He and Pascal going back and forth was a sight to behold. I truly enjoyed Hanks' work in this scene, and Pascal does some damn good stuff too. The part where he is talking to another criminal in a diner was so electric.

The final chapter, which also happened to be my favorite chapter, tells us a story about former NBA player Sleepy Floyd. He was a great NBA player, and he had a historic playoff game during his career, but "Freaky Tales" tells us something new and fascinating. The tale we get is, during Floyd's epic playoff game, his girlfriend, mom and another friend get accosted and attacked by some thieves. To get his revenge, Floyd takes matters into his own hands, by doing kung fu, of which he is excellent at doing. When we get to the scene with the kung fu, it was akin to the punk rocker scene, but it was amped up by a million percent. It was wild and fun and I wanted to watch more and more of it. I'm not sure who played Sleepy Floyd, but he was incredible and did the best job in the movie in my opinion.

What really made this movie go over the top for me, while it is a fictional tale, some of the people involved are real. Gilman Street is a real place. Danger Zone was a real group who did battle Too Short. And Sleepy Floyd was a great player who did, as mentioned before, have a historical playoff game and a solid run in the NBA. The writers just heightened these stories.

I loved this movie. It was different and cool and a total blast to watch. Check out "Freaky Tales" ASAP. You will not regret it. 

Ty

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

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