Ty Watches "Goon: Last of the Enforcers"

I am not a fan of hockey as a sport. I find it very boring and, quite frankly, stupid. This could be because I cannot skate, I never played it as a kid, I never watched it as a kid, there are so many reasons. I just flat out dislike hockey. But, for some odd reason, I do enjoy movies about hockey. I think it is because the movies only show the "exciting" parts of the game. I don't have to deal with any of the other nonsense, and I get to just see the goals and fights. That is all I want to see anyway. I can sit down and watch "Mighty Ducks", or "D2" anytime it is on cable. I have seen "Slap Shot" a handful of times. "Happy Gilmore" has hockey moments in it, and that is one of my all time favorite movies.

But, all of these hockey movies pale in comparison to the wonderful "Goon". That movie is amazing. I saw it on Netflix when it was recommended to me by many people and I was blown away. "Goon" was funny, bloody, raunchy and even a bit moving. Sean William Scott was absolutely perfect as Doug "The Thug" Blatt. This is one of his best roles. In fact, I think he has totally redeemed himself and made himself a great actor and gotten out of the shadow of Stifler. He should be talked about as much as Channing Tatum. I feel like they have both had a great second life as actors.

So, when a sequel to "Goon" was announced, and that Jay Baruchel was going to direct, I was on board. Baruchel co wrote "Goon", so I figured with him directing we would get much of the same. I couldn't get out to the theaters to see it, but I just recently rented and watched "Goon: Last of the Enforcers". And, the movie was okay. It was not even close to the greatness that "Goon" was, but that was an impossible achievement. Everyone is back from the first movie. The hippy goalie, the Russian brothers, Stevenson, La Flamme, the coaches, Alison Pil, Liev Shrieber, Jay Baruchel and Sean William Scott. This time around they added Elisha Cuthbert, in a totally off form role for her, which she was great at, and Wyatt Russell, as the villain.

"Goon: Last of the Enforcers" starts out with the NHL on strike, so this semi pro league that Blatt's team plays in is, for better or worse, the main attraction. This is what everyone in Canada watches. We see the team being give their jerseys and Blatt is named a team captain. Blatt is still the same type player, an enforcer. He is out there to protect his teammates and get into fights. In their first game they face a team that the owners son plays on, this is Wyatt Russell's character. He is a younger, faster and better overall hockey player than Blatt has ever been. They get into a fight in the game, and Russell destroys him. It was a great fight scene. This is when "GLOTE" really shines. The fight scenes are the best moments of the movie. They are just as gory and brutal as they were in "Goon".

Blatt gets his shoulder all messed up, and he has to turn away from hockey. His wife, Pil, is also pregnant with their kid. Blatt goes into insurance, but he hates it. He starts to get the itch to play again when he watches his old team, who has now traded for Russell, and they are miserable. Russell is a great hockey player, but he is also very selfish and crazy. To get himself back into playing shape, Blatt tracks down Schreiber, his nemesis from the first movie. Schreiber is fighting in brawl type competitions because he cannot pull himself away from the game he loves. He helps Blatt learn how to fight with his off hand. The scenes of them working together are pretty good too.

Blatt eventually gets back on the team, but Pil doesn't want him to fight. She needs him around for their kid. He heeds her demands at first. But, in the final regular season game, after the team releases Russell and he is back on his original team, he has to fight him again. Russell knocks out Schreiber, so Blatt goes out to defend his friends honor. He does beat up Russell, but ruins his shoulder in the process. He will never play hockey again.

I mean, "GLOTE" was a fine movie, but it was very color by the numbers. You could tell beat for beat what was going to happen as it happened. That doesn't mean it was a bad movie, I just feel like it may have been a bit unnecessary. "Goon" was classic. I feel like they should have stopped there. But, I get why they made a sequel. No one expected "Goon" to be as great as it was, so why not do it again. Look, everyone was good in this movie. Sean William Scott was great. Jay Baruchel was hilarious. Alison Pil was good. Elisha Cuthbert was just as funny as Baruchel. Schreiber was fine. Even Russell was a decent villain. I just feel like they didn't have to make this movie.

"GLOTE" is fine to have on when you just want to zone out and watch a sports movie. But, when comparing it to the original, it is not even close. I'm glad I watched it, but I will take "Goon" any day over "GLOTE". It was a fine movie, but it was unnecessary.

Ty

Better Late than Never on the Fantastic Film "Everybody Wants Some!!"

Any film with this backdrop will automatically get a pass.

About a week ago I finally got around to seeing "Everybody Wants Some!!". This was the most recent Richard Linklater movie. I think it came out earlier this year. I really, really enjoyed this movie. I am still thinking about a week later, so it obviously was well made.

The movie is basically a sequel of sorts to the much acclaimed cult classic, "Dazed And Confused". I heard some people, Linklater himself, saying it was a sequel of sorts to "Boyhood", but I don't buy that for a second. This movie was much more in tune with "Dazed And Confused" than "Boyhood". "Everybody Wants Some!!" takes place on the weekend before college starts at a school in Texas. The main character, Jake(Blake Jenner), is a freshman baseball player and he is moving into one of the two baseball houses the school has for the team.

From the start, we see the dynamics of new and old students in college. Jake, after driving around town and seeing lots and lots of things he likes, arrives to the house and is immediately met by two older teammates, Roper(Ryan Guzman) an McReynolds(Tyler Hoechlin). They are making a make shift water bed using the house's water hoses, and the two older teammates immediately start giving Jake a hard time. They make fun of him being a freshman and a pitcher. They claim they both dislike pitchers, as does every other position player. This is their way of "hazing" him, if you will. As Jake makes his way to his room, he meets some of his other teammates. When he makes his way to the water bed room, he runs into Finnegan(Glen Powell), Willoughby(Wyatt Russell) and Dale(J. Quinton Johnson). These guys are nicer, but kind of push Jake to the side and explain the benefits to anyone listening about a waterbed. When Jake finally makes his way to his room, we meet his roommate, an introverted loner that only wants to talk to his hometown girlfriend, Beuter(Will Brittain). He's your typical southern boy, always with a dip in his mouth and very standoffish. We also get to meet another freshman at the house, Plummer(Temple Baker), and he is so pumped to be in college, meeting college girls, getting wasted and playing baseball. He is your typical "jock" of the group.

Now that we have established the main characters, the movie is basically a mirror image for most college students of what it is like that first weekend before classes start. There is the "hazing" that I mentioned above, but it is never malicious. The players are all pretty good guys that just want these kids to have fun. There is a great early scene when 5 of the guys are driving around campus, rapping along with "Rapper's Delight", but putting their own spin on it, and telling all the ladies on campus about their party later that night.

On the first night, we get a baseball team party. It is loud, fun, hook ups happen, it is your typical college party movie scene. After the party, the next day they have their team meeting, and we meet some more players, most notably Jay(Juston Street), who has a supposed 95 mile per hour fastball, and this is where you get the whole team feeling from a sports/comedy/coming of age movie. I loved this scene. Sure, these are college students that want to party and have fun, but they are also athletes and this is an important meeting.

The next day at the house, while hanging out, you also get a sense of team with the guys challenging each other at pointless contests. There's some random little games going on, but the main thing that happens, one of the players bets McReynolds that he can't split a baseball in half with an axe. McReynolds is the star player of the team, and a sure fire first round draft pick. It was really cool to see him swing that axe and cut not one, but 2 baseballs in half. Everyone was in awe.

Later on, there are more parties. They go to a punk rock party with punk kids. They go to discos. They go to soul dance clubs. They go to a theater kids party. It was, as I said, a great representation of how, even when you are a 22 year old senior in college, that you don't really know your place in this world yet. Sure, McReynolds knew he was going pro, and Dale was probably going to be a pro as well, but other guys, guys like Finnegan, Roper, Jake, Plummer and Beuter had no idea where they would be in 1, 2 or 3 years, and isn't that what college is all about, finding yourself.

There is a great side story involving the character Willoughby, but I don't want to spoil it because it is awesome. His story is one of many reasons you should watch this movie.

"Everybody Wants Some!!" is a really, really enjoyably good movie. I had tons of fun watching it, and I think I will most likely purchase it. This movie captured college almost as perfectly as "Dazed And Confused" captured high school. That is one thing that Linklater, as a director, does really well. He knows how to tell a very good story involving growing up and coming of age. This movie was fantastic. Everybody should really check it out. You don't have to be a Linklater fan to enjoy it either, it is a really solid movie. Go watch "Everybody Wants Some". I think you'll really like it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor of SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man. He wants to know what piece of pop culture did you discover a bit late. Tell us all about it. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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