An Ode to the Excellence of Matthew Berry

Today is an appreciation post for Matthew Berry and his role as Laszlo on "What We Do in the Shadows".

I'm a big fan of this show. I also love the movie. I was on board the moment they decided to do a tv series based on the movie. The good news about the tv series for me was that I had barely heard of the cast. The whole cast is great, I have become a fan of all of them, but I only knew of Mark Prosch, he plays Colin Robinson, and Matthew Berry. Colin Robinson was on "The Office" near the end of its run, and Berry had some big succes in the UK and doing quirky comedy stuff that some of my friends had sent me or told me about. So I knew they would be just fine on this series.

What I didn’t realize how much I would grow to adore Berry as Laszlo. Every move he makes works for me. He is over the top, but also has moments of sweetness. He speaks crazier than anyone else on the show. Laszlo has grown more than any other person on the show. He started out as a charlatan who acted smart. He is now fiercely loyal to Nadja, his wife, he has tendencies of a father and he is the smartest person among his roommates. Two seasons ago Laszlo was the father figure to baby Colin Robinson. There were hilarious moments, as always, but there was some very good and wholesome stuff. Laszlo grew to really cherish baby Colin Robinson. It was the first time that I watched this show and realized that they didn't have to do broad comedy all the time. They could do some serious stuff and, as long as the actors commit, it would work. This past season he helped Guillermo through his transition and it added to his growth and maturity. Sure, Laszlo still loves to have fun and be intimate with multiple people at once, but he does have a softer side and it has been a joy to watch. The way Berry has chosen to speak as Laszlo is wonderful. He will say some wild stuff, then elongate words that don't need to be any longer, and it is so hilarious. The way he has started to say New York City is magical. It is the only way that I will say NYC now. He also goes on crazy hilarious rants about nothing and they always make me laugh. When he argued with the Sklar Brothers, who were playing construction worker guys, was riotous. I don't remember laughing that hard at a tv show in a long, long time. His outfit in that episode was dynamite as well. The way he dresses is another feather in his cap. He wears some flagrant stuff and it all works. When he showed up to Nadja's friends' diner this past season, and had a t-shirt, wild jeans and a bucket hat on, chef's kiss. It was dope. I also love how smart he acts, but also is. This past season, when he was being silent towards everyone, and everyone was worried about him, the way they showed what was going on in his head, that was perfectly portrayed by Berry. When he finally reveals that he was trying to decide how to organize his bookcase, and all the roommates were relieved that he was okay, that was excellent.

Berry is the standout in this wonderfully talented cast. He makes me laugh harder than anyone else and I cannot wait to see where they take his character from here. I know it will be great because Berry will make it great. He is a star. 

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.

2022 Top Five - Television

Day three of my best of 2022 countdown features tv. TV has been pretty incredible this year. There are a ton of good shows with great writing, excellent casting, wonderful storylines and networks are giving the creators time to figure it all out. TV is in a very good place right now. Let's hope it continues.

Before I get into my top five I have some honorable mentions. "Abbot Elementary" is wonderful. It might be the funniest show on TV right now. All the accolades are more than deserved. Quinta Brunson is a genius. "Righteous Gemstones" had an amazing season with a great story arc from Eric Roberts. John Goodman also took on a bigger role this season and totally nailed it. I cannot wait to see where they go with the next season. "House of the Dragon" was worth the hype as well. I do not care that it had a dark hue, I don't care that the dragons were not fully featured yet and I don't care about internet nerds complaining about nonsensical plot points in a fantasy world with dragons. "House of the Dragon" created a new, unique world in the "GOT" universe. I'm ready for season two. And finally "Bluey". This is the best kids show on TV. It has surpassed "Yo Gabba Gabba" for me. I love the length of episodes, 10 minutes, the storylines, the character arc and the fact that the dad is usually the one home with the kids. It is easy for me to relate. "Bluey" is an achievement. I do, really quickly, want to shout out "Joe Pera Talks With You". I was told by many people to watch this show and I finally started last week. I have already finished the series. It is a perfect Adult Swim show but it also has heart and soul. Joe Pera did something different and it worked. I love this show. Okay, to the countdown.

At number 5 I have season four of "What We Do in the Shadows". This show continues to get better and better. Each episode is funnier than the last. The vampires are even more hilarious than ever. The Laszlo and Colin Robinson storyline all season was beautiful and heartfelt. Also, the way Berry pronounces words, it is a thing of beauty. Nandor had a nice arc with his genie this season. And Nadja had a great arc with her nightclub. Guillermo also got to stretch his legs a bit more and it was a homerun. "WWDITS" is on a hot streak and I do not see it stopping anytime soon. It may be the best comedy on TV.

At number 4 I have "The Bear". I mean, this show is amazing. The way they show food and the world of food was incredible. "The Bear" made me hungrier than any show on any cooking network. But it was the performances and choices this show made all season that put it on my list. Every actor does their job with aplomb. They all have juicy moments and they all succeed, and then some. As for the choices, there is one episode in particular that stands out. They did a 17 minute long ep that is all one shot and it is of the restaurant going down due to not being ready. It is a masterpiece. I have watched it multiple times and I love it even more with each view. "The Bear" is incredible and season two cannot come soon enough.

At number 3, closing out my run of shows on FX, I have the last two seasons of "Atlanta". Now, I think this is the best show on TV, but it isn't number 1 because I liked a few other shows a bit more. But "Atlanta" gave us two seasons and closed out the series to perfection. In season three the show took us overseas and it was a trippy joy ride. We got to see our four main characters go through some crazy situations. Darius saw Tupac get murdered. Paper Boi was in jail and had a crazy drug trip. Van went through all kinds of emotions and bludgeoned a dude with a baguette. And Earn had to deal with all kinds of nonsense being a manager overseas. He also had a crazy cold in the premiere. The final season had them back in Atlanta, but it was still as wild as ever. From the season four premiere, which saw Van and Earn get into some kind of alternate universe where they saw a bunch of exes, to Darius trying to figure out if his whole life was real or in a deprivation tank, it was great. Paper Boi also got a farm and had a conversation with Soulja Boy. Van and Earn reunited. The sushi restaurant was a great ep. And the scavenger hunt that Paper Boi went on was nuts. "Atlanta" had as fulfilling a series finale as a TV show can have. I will always adore this show.

At number 2 I have "The Rehearsal". Nathan Fielder is a genius. He is on a whole other level as a comedian and creator. What he did with "The Rehearsal" would have made Andy Kaufman proud. He showed the best and worst in people. The show started as one thing but ended as a totally different thing. It was a masterclass. I cannot fathom how much work went into making all of these scenarios happen. I am in awe of the work that Fielder has done with this show. I am on pins and needles to see what he does next. But "The Rehearsal" is going to go down in history as an all time great.

And at number 1 I have the final season of "Better Call Saul". As fulfilling and gratifying as the series finale of "Atlanta" was, "BCS" surpassed it. The final season was an achievement. It lets the actors do their thing. They got meaty scenes and everyone brought out their best effort. Rhea Seehorn was phenomenal. It is criminal that she never got an award for her work on this show. And Bob Oednekirk got to do his best oh shucks down on his luck, but totally knows that he is conning people character. Saul Goodman was a big part of "Breaking Bad", but I was skeptical on how they would do a show based on him. Not only did they do it, they made one of the best dramas of all time. As for the series finale, I believe it is the best series finale that has ever been made. It was perfect.

There you have it, my top five shows of 2022. Come back tomorrow for my top five sports moments of the year. 

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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Ty Watches “What We Do In The Shadows” Season Four

"What We Do in the Shadows" wrapped up their fourth season this week. This show is becoming one of the better shows on TV. They are really taking big swings and they are connecting. This show is yet another reason why FX has the best shows going right now. They give the creators carte blanche and let them do their thing. They do not seem to get overly involved and that works in their favor. They allow the creators to create. That is how it should be. The less notes the better the show can be. That is precisely what is happening with "WWDITS".

This show works on every single level. The actors are great. The people behind the scenes are great. The show just works. This past season they went a little more with the drama. I did not know how it would work. I would read some headlines after the show aired, before I watched the DVR version we had, and they would say it was another good episode that was light on jokes. I would be a bit apprehensive at first, but when I watched it it was always great. It always worked in the flow of the show. They still did some big broad comedy stuff, but for the most part, this season was more about building each character and giving them a bit of a dramatic arc.

Nadja got to start her nightclub and she was the funniest on the show this season. But not everything goes her way and she makes a good amount of mistakes that end up being not so great. Nandor had a genie and a wife and seemed like it was all good. But he did too much. He made too many things happen. He couldn;t decide what he wanted, and it just ended up with him being very bored. Guillermo revealed a ton this season. He got to really flesh out his character. But he had some missteps on the way. He lost some stuff. He had some family issues and personal issues he had to deal with. The finale also ended on him with a big time cliffhanger. I cannot wait to see how they handle all of that in season five.

The real drama was all between Laszlo and Colin Robinson. These two had a great end to season 3. Season 4 only built on that. They really went deep into their relationship. It really became a father son type deal with the two of them. Matthew Berry was a revelation this season. I have always liked him as a comedian, but he got to show real depth in the finale. I felt for him. He also wore some crazy outfits and spoke so funny and awkward all season. The way he said New York City in one of the final episodes was simply the best. The AV Club wrote an entire article on it in fact. Colin Robinson was awesome. He got to do some cool CGI acting. Seeing him go from a baby back to himself was remarkable. The VFX crew did a masterful job creating and bringing this character to life. I loved watching the growth all season long. But it was pretty upsetting in the end. I am not spoiling anything either. I was watching the finale with my wife and we both remarked on how upsetting it was in the end, but in a good way.

I adore this show. It continues to get better and better. I love how the show continues to change because it all works. They have great people working on this, and if they continue on the arc they are on right now, "WWDITS" could go down as an all time great. I do truly believe this. I am not being hyperbolic. "WWDITS" rules. Everyone should be watching this show. 

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.  

Best of 2020: Top Five Television Shows

TV was pretty solid this year.

It really was the highlight of 2020.

You do not believe me? Let’s discuss.

There was a lot of great television to choose from, and a good amount of it was okay. There was some early quarantine stuff that, when I look back on it now, was not as great as I thought it was at the time. Think "Tiger King" and "Love is Blind". Those shows were a nice distraction, but looking back, they were not great by any stretch of the imagination. They were more crummy reality TV shows that let me forget how crazy the world was, and still is. But, there was good stuff, just mostly already good shows that had really good seasons. That is how I viewed my choices this year. There is only one brand new show on my list, but that show is the best of the year. The rest are all shows that are already established. Let's get to the list.

At number five I have season two of "What We Do in the Shadows". The movie was amazing, and the show is pretty damn good. The first season was a nice homage to the movie. The second season really went out on its own. They explored each character. They gave us great one off episodes of two main characters. The episode that focused on Colin Robinson, the energy vampire, was one of the best episodes of TV in decades. They were able to follow that up with the "Jackie Daytona" episode, featuring an excellent cameo from Mark Hamill. "What We Do in the Shadows" got exponentially better in season two, and season one was great. The stuff with Guillermo, further looking into his vampire hunting past, ended with a tremendous conclusion. I loved this season, and I cannot wait to see where they go with the third.

At number four I have season two of "The Mandalorian". I am a newly minted "Star Wars" fan, but "Rogue One" and "The Mandalorian" are pretty exceptional. Season two of the show gave us Baby Yoda's real name. We got some kick ass fight scenes. Boba Fett reappeared. The episode with Ashoka Tano was epic. And anytime Giancarlo Esposito showed up on screen, I knew some wild stuff was about to happen. We got to see cool space monsters and other inhabitants of this world, and that is always fun for me. I read they had some on set drama, but none of that showed in the final product. And that surprise at the end of the season ranks right up there with some of the best TV season finales ever. "The Mandalorian" is a great show, with a solid cast and really cool story writing. It is an old west style show shot in outer space. I'm curious to see where they go with season three, but I bet it will be great.

At number three I have season 10 of "Curb Your Enthusiasm". Sure, it gets kind of annoying waiting on a new season of "Curb", but when you come up with the comedy that Larry David does, all that goes away. This most recent season rules. All the stuff with Susie and Jeff is great, and it went to a new level of greatness this season. The episode with the painting was hilarious. The wedding episode with Timothy Olyphant was cringey in the best possible way. The stuff with Cheryl and Larry was tremendously funny. Ted Danson was sparsely on, but when he was he was great. But the spite coffee store was the creme de la creme. Larry deciding to do this, with Leon's help, is what makes this show so funny and so incredible. The writing, and improvising, is second to none. Larry David proved why he is one of the greatest people ever to do what he does. He has entered the pantheon of people that really can do no wrong. I know they are making an 11th season as we speak, and I am sure they will find a way to make COVID funny. David might be the only person capable of accomplishing that.

At number two I have season four of "Fargo". "Fargo" is a great show, with great connecting storylines. Season 4 kind of connected all the previous seasons. This was the first one that didn't take place in the North, instead heading to Kansas City. But, there was mention of Fargo, and the show was as captivating as previous seasons, if not more so. Chris Rock was the head of one crime family, the new one, going up against Jason Schwartzmann's already established crew. How they weaved both families stories together was perfect, and the addition of outside characters was done so well. Nurse Mayflower was frightening. The high school student that lived in a mortuary clearly was running things near the end. The sister and her girlfriend, the robbers, were so good. Timothy Olyphant, his second appearance on my list, was charming as hell. The way Noah Hawley does this show, the way it is written and the people he gets to act are so good and so game for anything that is thrown at them. And as I said before, the way they tied previous seasons to this one was done so well. The very last scene of this season was too perfect. "Fargo" is one of the best shows on TV right now, and I hope FX continues to do more.

Speaking of FX, and how I previously mentioned I only had one new show on my list, coming in at number one is the FX show "Dave". I am a Lil Dicky fan. I like his music. I do not think he is a joke or parody rapper, I just think he writes funny lyrics, but is a genuinely good rapper. I did not know what to expect from his show, and boy did it knock me on my ass in the best possible way. The show is a comedy, but like most things on FX, it deals with some heavy shit. Dave is trying to make it, but it is hard for him. He tells his story on this show, and he gets other people involved. Gata, his buddy and hype man, is all wild and fun, but he is bipolar. The episode that reveals this is a very well told, raw story of bipolar disorder. Dave's old camp buddies come to see him perform live, and while they have him doing jokey things, we find out that his old friends are assholes that took advantage of him. Dave soon realizes this too. His friend and engineer wants to make it in the music business, but his anxiety and self doubt gets in the way. Dave treats his girlfriend like shit, and when she finally calls him out on it, and breaks up with him, I was heartbroken for them both. This show was able to perfectly toe the line of drama and comedy. They did such a good job. And the way it catches you totally off guard is how any good show should hit you. I was on the fence about this show, but damn am I glad I watched it, and have watched it multiple times since. I highly, highly recommend people check it out. It will surprise you.

That does it for TV. Come back tomorrow for my top five sports moments of 2020.

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.

The Latest Episode of "What We Do In the Shadows" is One for the Ages

"What We Do in the Shadows" was a great movie, and the TV has more than lived up to the hype. It is funny, similar to the movie and gives you that feel that you got from the movie. Season one was exceptional, and so far, season two has been equally as great.

Most shows seem to find their footing in later seasons. It happened with "The Office", "Parks and Rec" was the same, even my favorite show ever, "The Simpsons", really started to get great between the end of season one into season two. "What We Do in the Shadows" has been solid all along. They had the outline from the movie, and the show has ran from there.

Last night they hit a very, very high note. This was the best episode, so far, from the series. At least my wife and I think so. The one thing the show has added that the movie didn't was a new type of vampire, an energy vampire. Mark Proksch, who has been on any number of sitcoms you all watch in small roles, is Colin Robinson, the energy vampire, and he is great. His little bits here and there have been some of the best parts of the series to this point. Last week he had a tremendous moment at a Super Bowl party they were all invited to. He has great stuff in season one pertaining to local government meetings. There was a very solid episode from season one where he has a short fling with a feelings vampire. She would make people sad around her, and that is how she would "feed". But last night the majority of the episode was all about Colin Robinson, and if you are wondering why I keep typing his full name, that is how they refer to him on the show all the time. They always say his full name.

The episode started with Colin Robinson talking about how he doesn't know what he is supposed to do at his job, and he gets called into his boss's office, where he assumes he is going to be fired. Instead, he gets a promotion. He is conflicted because he doesn't want to lose any, as he puts it, "roomie time". He likes the other vamps he lives with. They don't really care for him though. When he comes home to tell them about said promotion, they kind of blow him off, and he retreats to his room, where there is an absolutely excellent shot of him in his bed with pajamas that match his bedding. It is such a throw away shot, but it is so worth it. This reaction from his roommates has him even more worried about the promotion. But when he goes into the office, and has his first meeting that he is running, he realizes that all these people have to listen to him because he is the boss. They have no choice. He starts to become more and more powerful the more he realizes this. He gets to a point where he starts to abuse said power. He talks about how it has become easier and easier for him to "feed". There is a scene where he says he can just say a thing, a cliche thing that 9-5 workers say, and they instantly get bored. It's great. There's another scene where he is talking about how he can feel his power growing, he runs his hand over his bald head, and he has a full head of hair. He goes back to the house and starts to get the roommates to argue over something he subconsciously made happen, and he loves that they are fighting over what he did. It makes him that much stronger. He is so strong in fact, he can move stuff with his mind and fingers, and he can fly. That was another great throw away scene. It gets to the point where his roommates are near death because they are so bored and he continues to feed on them. They start to look old and decrepit and can't even move. Even Guillermo, one of the vampires familiars, is near death because he has no energy left. When Colin Robinson comes upstairs to really let the roommates have it, to finish the job if you will, he multiples into three versions of himself. You think he is going to win, but the three of them get into a mundane argument about a nickname. They argue for over an hour, and they all seem to die. While the rest of the roommates go to bury him, they have recovered since Colin Robinson isn't doing his normal thing, they give him a memorial service. It is very mean and they don't say anything too nice about him, but the original Colin Robinson reveals that he was faking just to witness his own eulogy. He then tells the roommates that he is done doing his new thing. He is done with all the newfound power. When the episode ends, we see Colin Robinson at a new office, because the old one was out of business due to him constantly "feeding", and he seems happy to have a new group of people to annoy and "feed" on there.

This was a brilliant idea from one of the best shows that has come out this year. I love this show, and this episode is the best one they have made to date. I highly recommend the show, and if you are looking for an entry point, check out this one. It is peak "What We Do in the Shadows". 

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.

Best of 2019: Top Five Television Shows

My best of 2019 week continues today with my top 5 tv shows of the year. This was probably the most difficult one for me to pair down to just five shows. There are so many streaming services and new shows and just flat out solid tv being made right now. I legit feel like we are in a golden age of tv shows. I left out a ton of shows that I watch every week, and it was hard for me to do that. There is no "Good Place", "The Other Two", "The Mandalorian", "Game of Thrones", which I really liked, "Big Mouth" or 'Veep". And as I said, I really, really liked these shows a lot. But, I guess that is a good thing that we have so many different options now. At times it can be overwhelming, but as my kids have gotten older, I have found it nice to be able to catch up on stuff and find something new. With that being said, lets get to the list.

At number 5 I have "The Righteous Gemstones". I am a big time Danny McBride fan, and when he, Jody Hill and David Gordon Green get together for a tv show, it usually works. "Gemstones" might be their best show to date. The way they send up the whole televangelist world was perfect. It was so funny, and I bet, pretty close to reality. You then get McBride's comedic, and dark lean on it, and it adds a whole other level. The show is hilarious, but some of the stuff was pretty damn dark. But, it worked out so well. The fact that McBride's character is caught on video doing cocaine, and that a hit is put out on him, isn't the craziest thing speaks volumes to the depths this show goes, and I was in for every second of it. John Goodman and Adam Devine were wonderful, as was Walton Goggins. But the star of the first season, for me, was Edi Patterson. She was so foul mouthed and dirty and childish, and it all worked. She is on her way to stardom with this show and this role. I love this show. I cannot wait for season 2.

At number 4 I have the most recent season of "Black Mirror". Sure, there were only three episodes, but they were all poignant and well made and acted and told a tragic and not too distant futuristic story that was completely believable. The first episode, "Striking Vipers" was a wild story about infidelity in a video game setting between 2 men, one single, one married with a child. It seemed simple enough at the beginning, but then it takes a whole turn with the video game, and I was there for the story. I bought in. The episode with Miley Cyrus was a bit on the nose, but I thought she did a great job, and the robot toy that saved the day, how is that not supposed to be Alexa or Siri? Those robots are just as real as the one in Cyrus' "Black Mirror" episode. But, the cream of the crop was "Smithereens". That episode has stuck with me for such a long time. The story, how we are so addicted to screens, was too perfect for this time in history. The acting was also top notch. Topher Grace was awesome. So was the dude from "Snowfall". But the main guy, from "Fleabag", he was prefect. He was so angry and sad and frustrated and just wanted out and wanted people off their screens. Ending the episode with people staring at their phones as they walk and not interact with one another, and the song "You're Just Too Good to be True" playing over the credits was amazing. Simply perfect.

At number 3 I have "What We Do in the Shadows". I loved, loved, loved the movie, and when Jermaine Clement and Taika Waititi gave their blessing for the show, I was in. I love the premise, vampires living in modern days sharing an apartment. It shows all the little things that bother roommates. We all have had crummy roommates, and to make them vampires, it is just so god damn funny. The actors were wonderful, especially Matthew Berry. He was simply amazing. Also, the "energy vampire" was a thing of comedic genius. To see him just suck out the energy from humans was one of the funniest things I have seen on TV in quite some time. I also loved the episode where they go out on the town with the head vampire, and he gets so wasted that he gets left out in the sun and dies. I also loved the episode with the town hall meeting, and the one with all the high ranking vampires, including Wesley Snipes calling in via Skype. This show might not have worked had Clement and Waititi not be involved, but since they were, it goes off like gangbusters. I am so very excited for season 2. It cannot come soon enough. FX is really doing some cool and inventive things with modern TV. Props to them.

At number 2 I have "I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson". This is the best sketch show on TV. It is so much better than "SNL" or anything that the late night talk shows try and do with sketch. Sketch comedy is real hit or miss, and "ITYSL"  hits every time. Be it the sketch with the wiener mobile guy, the guy that eats the receipt, the focus group, the extended spine relief commercial, the "honk if you're horny" sticker, the job interview, the baby pageant, just all of them, they are all home runs. I find myself going back to the show time and time again, and it gets funnier every single time. Tim Robinson never really got a fair shot on "SNL", and then his show he co created with Sam Richardson, who is awesome, "Detroiters", also got wrongfully canceled, but now, he is shining. He is getting to do what he wants, he controls the sketches and he makes every last one of them a winner. I do not think I have laughed this hard at a show since I was a kid. This show brings me back to a time where absurdity made me laugh harder than anything else and Robinson is currently the best at it. I adore this show, and it seems like a lot of other people do as well. Robinson is finally getting is due as a comedy actor and writer.

And coming in at number 1, I have "Watchmen". RD was right. He said that if people wanted to do this story right, they would make it a television series. Well, Damon Lindelof must have heard him and he went out and did it, and he crushed it. The show is so creative. I love that they still have some of the original heroes from the graphic novel, but they added new heroes, and the show takes place in modern times. It was the best way to do the show. It makes it so the movie that Zack Snyder did is all but washed away, and that you haven't had to read the book to get into these characters. Regina King is amazing, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has one of the coolest, and most unexpected surprises of the season. Jeremy Irons and Louis Gossett Jr are perfect in their roles. Tim Blake Nelson is the greatest character actor of all time. And Jean Smart, she is a master. They are finally doing the graphic novel justice with this show, and I couldn't be happier. I just watched the season one finale, and I hope there is more, but if they decide to stop, this season of "Watchmen" could go down in history as one of the greatest season's of tv of all time. It was a masterpiece.

As far as disappointments for 2019 in tv, I don’t really have any. Like I said at the top, it has been a great year, and even a great decade for tv. If I had any gripe, I would say that there is almost too much. But that isn't really a problem. People will watch what they want to, and make time for what they want to watch. TV is having a moment right now.

Okay, that does it for TV in 2019. Come back tomorrow for my top 5 podcast/podcast episodes of 2019.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Get ready for next year when Ty has the Saved by the Bell reboot/continuation on his best of 2020 tv year end review.

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

Ty Watches "What We Do In the Shadows" Series Premier

Two weeks ago a show that I have been waiting on for almost a year now finally premiered. "What We Do in the Shadows" aired its pilot episode, and I have to say, it was tremendous.

I was a teeny tiny bit worried, because I adore the movie so very much. But, they knocked it out of the park. I shouldn't have been so wary because both Jermaine Clement and Taika Waititi were both attached, and gave their blessing. And man did it deliver. The pilot was pretty much like the first 10-15 minutes of the movie, with some added for TV type stuff. And it was so, so funny.

Right off the bat we meet the four main characters as they gather for a house meeting. The main vampire, the one who holds the meetings, is named Nandor, played by Kayvan Novak. He is so good as the typical fish out of water, that just wants things to run smoothly. He wants to have house meetings. He wants things to look nice for guests. He wants to make sure that the house is cleaned up after they have their feedings. He wants everyone to get along. One of my favorite scenes in the pilot revolved around him going to the store to get decorations for a big visitor, and he keeps calling crepe paper, "creepy" paper. It was hilarious. He also lights a paper skeleton on fire with a snap of the finger because he finds it classless.

We then meet the married vampires, Nadja, played by Natasia Demetriou, and Laszlo, played by Matt Berry. Nadja is a riot. She clearly doesn't like Laszlo, but due to circumstance and situation, it is best for her. She also creepily stalks a guy that she thinks is a reincarnation of a former lover of hers. The way she laughs is also very awkward, but also very funny. Matt Berry is a treasure. I am a big time fan of his, and to see him, finally, on a main stream, network-ish type show is well overdue. He is funny. He is dry and he rules. He also is pretty unhappy with his arrangement, but he accepts it. He loves to go hunt for food at night. He doesn't care for the house meetings, and voices his opinions loudly. And he sure loves to turn into a bat because he can fly instead of walk, which he doesn't care for either. I'm so excited to see where they take his character from here.

We also meet Nandor's familiar, a human that works for the vampire, Guillermo, played by Harvey Guillen. He is so sad and lonely, but Guillen plays it hilariously. To see him talk about why he wants to become vampire, due to a role by Antonio Banderas, was great. To see him clean the house, riotous. And to see him get "food" for his leaders, just tremendous. He is so funny. He clearly just wants to be turned into a vampire, but it seems like it will never come.

We also meet an energy vampire, and this was, in my opinion, the funniest part of the whole pilot. The energy vampire is named Colin, played by Mark Proksch. He is hilarious. To see him explain why he is a vampire made me howl. He talks about being the guy in the office that either talks about nonsensical things until the person is so bored they fall asleep, or to enrage people. To enrage people in the office, they show him jam a pencil into an electronic pencil sharpener over and over again. It was great. The other vampires also despise him. When they have people over to feed one night, they hide him away. But, he ends up talking to the victims, and he has bored them so much that their blood has no nutritional value. Again, it was so funny.

I'm so excited the show is finally on, and that it lived up to my personal hype. I cannot wait to watch the rest of the season, and to see it get renewed, hopefully, for many, many seasons. It is a treat.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He likes to annoy people in his office with demands like eating vegetables and taking naps. It is a good thing his office is his house and the other tenants are his kids. Otherwise it would just be creepy.

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Cloves and Fedoras: Go See the Incredible Movie "Hunt for the Wilderpeople"

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.

Over the past weekend, I got the chance to see "Hunt for the Wilderpeople". I had been looking forward to seeing it since I saw the trailer and heard that it was directed by Taika Waititi. Waititi hit a home run with "What We Do in the Shadows", so I assumed his follow up would be just as good. I really enjoy Waititi, and he makes funny, but also kind of moving movies.

Well, "Hunt for the Wilderpeople" was not only as good as "What We Do in the Shadows", but, just as a movie in general, it was better. Sure, "What We Do in the Shadows" had more laughs, but that movie was made as a straight forward comedy. It did it's job. "Hunt for the Wilderpeople" definitely had it's funny moments, but there was more heart and more sweetness to this movie.

The movie is, if you want the bare bones, about a young, troubled kid that gets taken in by a lady and her husband. The couple can't have kids of their own, so they figure this is the next best way. The lady, Bella(Rima Te Wiata), or Aunt Bella to the young boy, was a very happy go lucky lady. She was always smiling and seemed to enjoy every moment of life. She always had a story to tell or a compliment to give. The husband, Hec(Sam Neill), or Uncle Hec, was more of a low key, keep to himself type of person. He much preferred hunting and hiking, usually, by himself.

Then, there was the boy, Ricky Baker(Julian Dennison). He was a ruffian. He had been in and out of juvenile hall. He didn't know his dad and his mom gave him up when he was a baby. He liked to cause trouble, and wherever he was, trouble usually found him. The Child Protective Service people found a home for him, and it was Bella's and Hec's. The lady that was in charge of CPS, Paula(Rachel House), was no nonsense and didn't take any of Ricky's crap. When they drop Ricky off at the house, he is hesitant to stay. He doesn't like being in the wild, Bella and Hec live in the New Zealand bush. He has no cell service and TV is not really an option. Ricky tries to run away the first night, but being the portly young fellow that he is, he doesn't get more than a hundred feet away before Bella finds him the next morning.

Bella and Ricky strike up a friendship after a few days. Bella is very nice to him, and she wants him to have the childhood he never really got. She shows him how to do things around the farm that need to be done. They pluck fur off animals. They shoot rifles. She even takes him hunting, and when Bella guts a pig, Ricky is freaked out, but he also kind of grows to respect Bella even more after seeing this.

Unfortunately, Bella unexpectedly passes away. We see Hec crying over her dead body, and Ricky walks up to this travesty. The funeral scene follows, and in classic Waititi style, something that can be so somber and down is made very humorous. Waititi plays the pastor laying Bella to rest, and he is one great comedic line after another during this scene. I'm not lying when I say that this funeral scene is one of the funniest funeral scenes I've ever seen in a movie. It's truly remarkable. Afterwards, Hec tells Ricky that he never really wanted him, so CPS was coming back to get him in a few days.

Ricky decides that he doesn't want to go back to that life, so this time he opts to run away for real. He even burns down a barn to try and get CPS off his trail. He again doesn't make it too far until Hec, finds him. After they get back together, a great story of a budding friendship and the love for family ensues. Everything that happens from this point on in the movie is great. There's humor, there's love for family, there are touching moments, there are not so happy moments. It really is just perfect. Even the chase between Ricky, Hec and CPS is fantastic.

This is a very, very good movie, that not enough people are going to see. The story, the directing and the acting are tremendous. Sam Neill is wonderfully quiet and subdued in the movie. He plays the role of wannabe loner and hiker very well. Rima Te Wiata, aka Bella, is very good in her limited role. She is so funny and springy and happy. She was great. Rachel House, as the CPS badass Paula, is great too. She constantly states, "no child left behind" over and over again, and it is equally as funny every time. But, the real star of the movie is Julian Dennison as Ricky. He is so good. He plays the rough and tumble kid with a heart of gold to perfection. He delivers some of the best lines of the whole movie. His timing and reactions are so on point. He is a revelation. If you go to see the movie for one reason, make it for Dennison's performance, it's that good.

I can't say enough good things about "Hunt for the Wilderpeople". It is definitely one of 2016's best movies, and I think it deserves, at the very least, some mention during Oscar season. I don't want to give away the whole plot because I think everyone should go and watch this movie. It is a great role for Sam Neill, and showcases some New Zealand actors and actresses a lot of us don't know, The movie also provides excellent side performances from the likes of Waititi and Rhy Darby. The film shows that Waititi is a very adept filmmaker, who is on the rise, but most importantly, it introduces the whole world to the talent of Julian Dennison. Go see "Hunt for the Wilderpeople". It is a wonderfully great movie.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. You can hear all about Ty's current thoughts on the 2016 Olympic Games and Rio by listening to the latest X Millennial Man Podcast. Download it for free. You need to also follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Great Movie Comedies Vol 1: "Caddyshack" & "The Big Lebowski"

The greatest jokes ever live on the reels

As you all know by now, I'm a fan of comedy. I've written and talked about it a ton both on the site and podcast. I love stand up comedy, television comedy and, today's topic, comedy movies.

Today I'm going to talk about 2 specific comedies that I adore, but there's so many others I could talk about. Movies like "Billy Madison", "This is Spinal Tap", "What We Do In The Shadows", "Napoleon Dynamite", the list could go on for days. Those are all great and all classics. I really love a good comedy. A movie that makes me belly laugh and doesn't take it self to seriously, it gets no better than that. A great example of that, "Anchorman", but that's not one of the two I will talk about today, but it deserves mentioning. There are also older, classic comedies that still hold up to this day. Movies like "Some Like It Hot" or "Duck Soup" or "Kentucky Fried Movie". All older, but all still absolutely great and worth checking out. But, the two I want to specifically talk about today are "Caddyshack" and "The Big Lebowski". Not only are these two of my favorite comedies, they're two of my favorite movies of all time. They're both timeless, hilarious and just flat out well made movies. Everyone involved with both movies really hit a home run. The actors, writers, producers and directors really struck gold.

Let's first talk about "Caddyshack". This has to be one of the most quotable movies ever made. Talk to anyone that's seen it and I guarantee they will quote something from "Caddyshack". There is so many famous lines and speeches in this movie. Bill Murray has multiple moments that are absolutely splendid. Take any scene, be it when he is pretending he's at the Masters and smashing flowers or when he is ogling the older women and telling them to "bark like a dog for me" or when he cleans the pool after what is believed to be feces floating around and he picks it up, smells it and takes a bite and exclaims that everything is okay and the rich lady passes out. Bill Murray is the star of this movie by far. But, we get excellent performances from Chevy Chase, Ted Knight, Michael O'Keefe, Sarah Holcomb and Rodney Dangerfield. Chevy Chase and Rodney Dangerfield are phenomenal in this movie. They too, much like Murray, have equally quotable lines and moments. Chevy Chase's scene when he is putting and talking to Danny Noonan(O'Keefe) about life and handing him lessons is very, very funny. And everything Dangerfield does in this movie is comedy gold. Rodney Dangerfield truly did not get the respect that he deserved. He is one of the greatest comedy actors of all time. "Caddyshack" is a classic.

"The Big Lebowski" is almost the exact opposite of "Caddyshack", but that doesn't make it less funny. Where "Caddyshack" had great improvisers and great comic actors, "The Big Lebowski" is one of the best written comedies of all time. The Cohen Brothers dabbled in comedy, with the excellent "Raising Arizona", but they're more known for their more dramatic stuff. What makes "The Big Lebowski" great, they blend drama, action, and most importantly, comedy to perfection. This has to be one of the weirdest, yet most hilarious movies I've ever watched. It is so good. It starts out great and continues to be great for two hours. It's also very weird, but that adds to its charm. Any scene involving Jeffrey Lebowski(Jeff Bridges) and Maude(Julianne Moore) is absurdist comedy gold. The scene when the two of them are talking about sex and her weird roommate is just sitting there listening, reading and laughing is genius. It's so bizarre, yet hilarious at the same time. John Goodman and Steve Busecmi are spectacular in this movie too. Goodman is the loud and obnoxious ex Vietnam vet and he is so good. When he pulls the gun on the guy for going over the line and forces him to mark it 0 is awesome. Also, when he talks about "the Jesus"(John Turturro), and his troubled criminal past, absolutely hysterical. Busecmi is great as their quiet bowling buddy that just wants to be involved. The arguments he and Goodman get into are great. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is also very good in his limited role and so is Tara Reid. But, Jeff Bridges is the star and he totally nails this character. He's so good, I associate Bridges as "The Dude", no matter what role he's playing. Everything he does is memorable and he is very believable as this stoner stuck in a crazy situation. And what makes is so well written as I wrote earlier is, everything that comes out of the actors mouths was all written. There's no improvising in a movie that seems it's almost exclusively improvised. That's some next level writing and the Cohen's are some of the best. "The Big Lebowski" is a terrific and bizarre comedy that everyone should see.

These are just two of my favorites, but I wanted to single these two out because they're different, yet equally hilarious. If you haven't seen either of them, stop what you're doing and watch them now. When you are done laughing, you will be thanking me.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Tomorrow you can hear Ty talk all about great comedy movies on The X Millennial Man Podcast. Ty is on twitter, go follow him @tykulik.

The SeedSing (half) Year in Pop Culture: The Top Five Movies of 2015

Time to fire up the projector

Being that the new year is coming up on Friday, I'll be doing my best of 2015 all week. Today, I'm going to start the week off with my top five movies of the year. Everyday I'll do a different top five and today I want to start with movies.

I see a lot of movies. Some I see in the theaters and others, I watch at home. I love movies and this has been a pretty good year for movies. So good in fact, movies like "Inside Out" and "Me and Earl and The Dying Girl" and "The Wolfpack" didn't make my top five and I really, really liked those movies quite a bit. So, on with the countdown.

Coming in at number five, we have a tie. My number five movies are "Avengers: Age of Ultron" and "Kingsman: The Secret Service". These are both blockbustery type movies, "Avengers" way more so. "Avengers" was fantastic. Go back and read my review. This was an absolutely breath taking super hero movie. There was action, adventure and even a bit of a love story. We also got Hawkeye's back story, and that made me like a character I once never really cared for. My favorite scene was when the Avengers were fighting Ultron and his army of robots and everything was in slow motion and we got to see each hero fight in super slow motion, it was excellent. "Avengers" Age of Ultron" is one of the greatest superhero movies of all time. "Kingsman", on the other hand, was a gory, action heavy, hand to hand and weaponry combat movie for the ages. This movie was criminally under the radar. I heard almost nothing about it while it was in the theaters and I didn't watch it on DVD for about five months. But, I'm so glad that I took the time to watch because this movie was incredible. My review was put up fairly recently. I loved pretty much everything about this movie. The opening fight scene with Colin Firth and the bar patrons was phenomenal. The fight scene in the church, once again featuring Firth, was one of the coolest things I've seen in a long, long time. The tests given to the future Kingsman were heart racing and incredible to watch. The main character, Eggsy, was expertly played. Samuel L Jackson was excellent as the villain. "Kingsman: The Secret Service" is the perfect summer action movie. Go check it out if you haven't seen it and I promise you, you'll love it.

My number four movie is "The End of the Tour". This is one of the most quiet, yet most poignant movies I've seen. Jesse Einsenberg is great as Rolling Stone writer David Lipsky. He plays the jealous, yet enthralled writer perfectly. I cannot picture anyone else in this role. Jason Segel, as David Foster Wallace, is absolutely phenomenal. He plays Wallace so realistically, it's almost like watching a documentary. He shows vulnerability, anger, sadness and genius all very, very expertly. He one hundred percent deserves an Oscar nomination for this role. This movie is basically just these two talking for two hours, but it never seems boring or dull. I was into the story and the movie the whole time. "The End of the Tour" is great.

Coming in at number three, I have "Ex Machina". This movie was so creepy and eerie because something like this could very well happen in the very near future. I mean, honestly, how far away are we from having robots walking amongst us? It's going to happen. Some rich, eccentric genius is going to create a humanoid robot and it will only grow bigger and bigger from there. Oscar Issac plays that eccentric genius billionaire so well. He is every bit creepy as he is lonely in this movie. He has his own lush home in the woods and he invites an employee, played by Domhnall Gleeson, to come out for what seems to be a vacation. It couldn't be more different. He is thrown into a type of lab project to see how he interacts with a female robot played so well by Alicia Vikander. This is another movie small in structure, but huge in story. As I said, something like this is going to happen very soon and this movie made me terrified for that future. It was haunting and terrifying and I'm not looking forward to the robots taking over. The final scene, I won't spoil it, was one of the scariest things I've seen in a movie in a very long time. It still aunts me. "Ex Machina" was the best horror movie of 2015, even though it's categorized as science fiction.

My number two movie is "What We Do in the Shadows". This was the funniest movie of the year by far. "WWDITS" follows the lives of vampires living together in a flat in New Zealand. Being that it was made by Taika Waititi, one of the "Flight of the Conchords" primary directors, it was so funny. It was done mockumentary style and it was perfect. Jermaine Clement, playing Vlad the Poker, was so great. A once powerful vampire, he now was not so powerful after his break up with "The Beast". He was excellent in this movie. Taika Waititi played Viago, the pretty boy vampire, and he was great as well. He was worried about keeping the flat clean and he longed for his lost love that was now in her mid to late 80's. The scene where he lays paper down to keep the blood of a victim off the couch, then hits a vein and bloods spills everywhere, is hilarious. The star of this movie, to me, was Johnny Brugh who plays Deacon. Deacon was a German vampire during the reign of the Nazis and he fled to New Zealand after stating, "if you are a Nazi, people hate you. If you're a vampire, people hate you. If you're a Nazi vampire, forget about it. I had to get out of there and flee to someplace safe". His character had me in stiches the whole movie. "WWDITS" is the best comedy of the year by far.

My number one movie should come as no surprise to anyone, "Mad Max: Fury Road". What else is there to say about this movie that hasn't been said already? It's the best action movie ever. It has the best social commentary. It lets a female be the lead badass. It has the best imagery in a movie in about 30 years. I mean, this movie is perfect from start to finish. Tom Hardy is excellent as Max. He's just as understated and hard core as Mel Gibson was in the original "Mad Max". Hugh Keys-Byrne was so creepy and so good as the ultimate bad guy, Immortan Joe. His breathing apparatus he wore still scares me when I watch the movie. Nicolas Hoult, playing war boy Nux, was surprisingly badass and totally cool. All the young ladies that played Joe's wives were awesome for many different reasons. But, Charlize Theron as Furiosa was absolutely phenomenal. She was the biggest badass, the toughest fighter and the smartest person in the whole movie. She was so great. Much like Segel for "The End of the Tour", Theron one hundred percent deserves not only an Oscar nomination, but she deserves to win. She was so perfect in this role. She beat so much ass and won at the end of the day. Theron was incredible. "Mad Max; Fury Road" is not only the best movie of 2015, it's probably the best movie I've ever seen. It's that good.

So, there you have it, my top five movies of 2015. Tell me what I left out in the comment section and come back tomorrow for my top five albums of the year.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He is lover of movies and a passionate lover of good movies. Feel Ty's love by following him on twitter @tykulik.