Ty Watches the Trailer for "Nope"

When the Super Bowl was on, during a commercial break, they aired the trailer for the new Jordan Peele movie "Nope". I, like everyone else for that matter not involved in the movie, had no idea what the movie is about, but I am damn sure going to see it. Hell, I will even go to a theater if I have to.

The thing with Peele, he has knocked two grand slams out of the park with his first two movies. "Get Out" is original and hilarious and scary and wonderful. Peele got a much deserved and well earned Oscar for that movie. And I liked "Us" even more. Again, it was original and unlike any type of psychological horror movie I have ever seen. I still, to this day, think about the ending of that movie. So when he announced this new movie I knew I was going to see it. I also told myself I would not make the mistake of waiting to see this movie. I do not want a thing spoiled for me, and nowadays, people are spoiling movies left and right. Even if you ask them not to, they will spoil minor details that prove to be major. Luckily I avoided spoilers for "Get Out" and "Us", but I feel like it will be next to impossible to avoid spoilers for "Nope". They will be on the internet moments after the movie is released. So, like I said, I may have to go to a theater on opening night to see this movie. I do not mind wearing a mask, and I can go to an early afternoon show with the hopes that the theater will be pretty empty.

I did watch the trailer during the Super Bowl. I watched it intently. I went so far as to ask my guests, don't worry it was my mom and in-laws, to be quiet so my wife and I could focus, and it was amazing. I have since watched the same trailer four times, just trying to parse what I saw. The good thing about this trailer, there is little to nothing in the way of giving away what the movie may or may not be about. There are horses. I see that Keke Palmer, Daniel Kaluuya and Steven Yeun are, possibly the leads. There also seems to be some kind of thing that blocks out the sun, causing all the lights to go out and the electronics to turn off. We also see people running away, some getting sucked into the sky and Kaluuya riding away on a horse. There is also a commercial shoot in the beginning with Palmer talking about her ranch, at least I think.

When watching this trailer, and then analyzing it, this is exactly what modern movie previews should be. Most trailers give away far too much. Some will spoil major plot lines or twists. It can be very frustrating. But Peele did not do that with this movie or any of his others for that fact. He is so good at showing the littlest bit, but at the same time making you want so much more. Like I said, I have watched the trailer five times and I am still trying to figure out what I saw. But that is great. That makes me want to see what this movie has in store. I want to know what is coming to this town. I want to know what is sucking people into the sky. I want to know about the ranch. I want to know about Yeun's character and his job and how this affects him. I want to know why Palmer runs away screaming "NO NO NO". I want to know why Kaluuya is so calm, yet he rides that horse with a fire in his belly. I just want to know what "Nope" is about. And I also want to see what kind of brilliance Peele has in store with this new movie.

I cannot wait for July 22. And until then, I will be here analyzing the trailer.

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 "Game Over Man", Again

During our date night on Friday it was my turn to pick the movie and I chose "Game Over Man". I had seen the movie twice prior to this viewing, but my wife had not watched it yet. I wanted something light and fun and goofy to watch, so it seemed like a great time to show her this movie.

For those that may not know, "Game Over Man" was written, directed and starring the Mail Order Comedy guys. To go even deeper, the MOC guys are the dudes behind "Workaholics", one of my all time favorite shows. I adored that show when it first premiered, I have watched it several times since, I listen to their podcast, I am a fan. So we watched the movie, and I am here to say, I still like it. My wife liked it as well.

First off, the movie is not a good movie. It has issues, it is kind of sloppy and there is some problematic stuff. But I did not go into this on all three watches expecting to see something like "Uncut Gems" or "No Country For Old Men". I knew going into "Game Over Man" that it was going to be over the top, goofy and crazy action comedy. I also fully understood that it was going to be a hyper-realized version of the dudes they played in "Workaholics". I imagine when they wrote this movie they had to have a conversation along the lines of what Ders, Adam Demamp and Blake would do in a wild terrorist situation, and they worked at the place that was being taken over. It has to have happened. What I also imagine, and was confirmed by my wife, that all three of the stars got to pick their wardrobe and how their hair would look as the movie moved along. Adam Devine has his shirt open and he looks like a former athlete. Blake's shirt is tucked in, he has glasses and his hair is pulled back. And Ders has a vest, his bowtie is askew and he has shaggy, unkempt hair. I feel like they wrote perfect for their characters as well. Devine is a drug dealing big time thinker. He wants to be rich. Blake is a quiet worker that just wants to come out of the closet. And Ders is a former athlete who now has to smoke saliva just to get high. He has checked out. As they are helping out at a party for a famous person, all the craziness goes down and they get stuck in the hotel. From there on out it is filled with gory kills, great jokes and an okay enough story to move the movie along. We see a face go into a meat slicer, a guy get impaled by a computer, a guy fall from a big building, many gunshot deaths and even a dead guy get used as a decoy. We also see hilarious stuff like Devine pretending to be dead due to auto erotic asphyxiation, Ders getting super high on saliva, Blake trying as hard as he can to not be loud while using duct tape, the aforementioned zombie guy beating up tons of people and Shaggy performing "It Wasn't Me" at gun point. The story of the movie is simple enough too. The three main guys just want to get rich with a video game idea they have. They try to pitch their idea when all the shit goes down and they end up saving the day even though they are totally inept. They do sell their idea as a video game and do become rich, but it is all a joke how it happens, and my wife and I were laughing the whole way.

Again, "Game Over Man" is not cinema, but it is a damn fun and funny movie to go relax and watch. I will surely watch it 3 to 4 more times. I love putting it on and just vegging out while it plays. And it always finds a way to catch my full attention. Add on the fact that my wife enjoyed herself, and that is icing on the cake. "Game Over Man" is a very, very fun action comedy. 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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Ty Watches "Grand Crew"

Back when RD and I did the what we are looking forward to pod for this year we talked about TV. One of those shows started in early December, as an early premiere, but the series did not officially start until this month. That show is "Grand Crew", and it is really good so far.

They have done six episodes so far, they have ten ordered, and each one has gotten better and better. When they did the first two episodes back in December they were good, but looked like they needed a little work. As with all pilots, they usually start slow. "Grand Crew" was no different. But unlike other shows, "Grand Crew" has blasted away as one of the best new shows on TV in some time.

First and foremost, the cast is incredible. They have wonderful chemistry. They play off one another. They play their characters to perfection. They are so goddamn good. The cast is led, in my opinion, by Nicole Beyer. She is so, so, so good in her role. She is funny and smart. She likes to hook up with dudes, but she always finds a silver lining. She is the funniest, looks the best and just crushes her role. She is so good. So is Echo Kellum. He is the first billed in the credits, so I guess he is the "star" of the show. He is almost as amazing as Beyer. He is the typical lover boy. He wants to find love. He loves romantic comedies and tries to live his life as if he is in one. Kellum is really good at portraying this, and he does a good amount of lifting. Carl Tart is hilarious. I am a big time fan of his as you all know. I love that he is getting a real shot to star on a network sitcom and he is crushing right now. Every time he goes off on a rant on the show I find myself rolling on the floor with laughter. He is so good at controlling the room and owning the scenes he is in. Aaron Jennings is the responsible working one of the group, but he has his comedic moments as well. There was an earlier episode where he thinks he is going to get a promotion, but they are just using him because he is a minority. This was some heavy stuff, but Jennings did a great job making it real yet comical at the same time. The most recent episode, where he is learning chess, is a great masterclass in subtle comedy from Jennings. Grasie Mercedes was an excellent addition. It appeared as if she was going to be a love interest, but they scrapped that and it has worked perfectly. She fits in seamlessly with the rest of the cast. And then we have Justin Cunningham. He is the married one, the settled down one, the one who may or may not have kids and he is so good. He is so funny and relatable. I see a lot of myself in him. My wife and I have said multiple times that he and his wife are us. I love the way he plays his role. The cast is wonderful. They have the same chemistry that the cast of "Happy Endings" had, and that is one of my all time favorite shows. And like I said before, they seem to be finding their groove. They have the relationships all figured out. They are connecting on all fronts. Everything they are doing is working right now. I laugh out loud while watching and none of it is forced.

I hope this show gets its due. I do not want it to leave after three seasons. They have a great thing going, and if they keep up at this pace, "Grand Crew" can become a mainstay. It is that good. Check this show out if you have not yet. It is more than worth your time, even if you just watch it to see this amazing cast. "Grand Crew" is excellent.

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 "Zola"

Yesterday I was flipping through the channels and I happened upon the movie "Zola". I had heard of this movie, but hadn't seen it yet. I also read that it was a pretty good movie. A lot of publications had it on their best of lists, the actors were getting high praise, Janicza Bravo, who I am already a fan of, was getting just due for a good job directing it and I had some free time so I watched it.

I loved it. This is a very good movie. All the praise is very due. I was enamored by this movie. I could not take my eyes off the screen. I needed to know what was going to happen. I was all in. For those that may not know, "Zola" is a movie about a Twitter thread from a dancer about a crazy few days and nights in Florida. Getting a little deeper into the movie, the Twitter thread is about one dancer being conned by another dancer to do some crazy stuff that she definitely did not sign up for.

The two stars of the movie, Taylour Paige and Riley Keough were exceptional. There were other actors in the movie, and they did a good job, but Paige and Keough are the reason to see this movie. They play the dancers. Keough is repugnant in this role, as she is supposed to be. She is a white girl that wants to be black. I read some stuff about how she was kind of uncomfortable doing the voice she uses in the movie, but that Bravo told her that is exactly what she wanted her to do. Her character is supposed to be the villain. She is supposed to be gross and disliked and have zero redeeming qualities. Even when there were times I may have felt bad for her character, she would do something that would immediately pull me back into simply disliking her. I realize that the fact that I was actively rooting against her means Keough did a great job. There is one moment in particular, where she tells her side of the story, that is amazing film making, and it made me loathe her even more. But Paige, my goodness did she carry this movie. She is Zola. She is the person that did the Twitter thread on which the movie is based. To open the movie with her meeting Keough and stating, "you want to hear a story about me and this bitch falling out", I was hooked. I needed to know this story and I needed to hear Paige as Zola tell the story. The way she embodied the character, the way she acted, the cool and calm she portrayed, the easy going demeanor, it was all perfect. She did such a great job as the only real adult in this movie. She owns every scene. She commands the viewers attention. It is a powerhouse performance from beginning to end. It was awesome. These two actors did a masterful job.

I was also super impressed with Bravo's direction. She shot the movie almost like a fairy tale, the craziest, messiest and grossest fairy tale ever. Some of the shots, for example, the beginning after the two meet, they are putting their makeup on to get ready to dance and Bravo has them in a fully mirrored room with haunting music playing while they stare at each other getting ready. I don't know why, but that resonated with me big time. I also enjoyed that, every time someone says a line that was an actual tweet, the bird noise comes up whenever you put out a tweet. It is a nod to let you know that it is a real thing that came from a real person's phone. It made for an even wilder viewing experience. I also appreciated that the movie was a quick 90 minutes. No muss, no fuss. There are no meandering or pointless scenes or shots. Everything that is in the movie is needed to push the narrative forward.

I cannot recommend this movie enough. It is a crazy story that actually happened, and the actors portraying the real life people did an exceptional job. Check out "Zola". It is worth your time.

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 "The Eternals"

Last Friday for date night my wife picked "Eternals". It was finally streaming, we both wanted to watch it, we are both Marvel fans and we figured if we started it early enough, we could watch it all in one sitting. We started it at 6:30pm our time, sent the kids downstairs and we were able to finish it in one sitting.

As I have been saying since 2022 started, I am being more hopeful this year, but man did I not like this movie much at all. It definitely had some solid parts. There was stuff that made me laugh. My son had to explain a few things, and when he did, I liked some of what I was seeing. I thoroughly enjoyed, spoiler alert, the mid credits scene with Harry Styles. I thought Kumail, the deaf lady and Brian Tyree Henry did a very good job in their roles. And it was visually beautiful. But this movie was boring. Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek are barely in it. And Jolie's character had this cool glitch, but it was seemingly resolved with no real reason. I like the idea of giving no names, or up and coming names a shot, but when you throw Jolie and Hayek on posters, I was under the notion that they would be in the movie much more.

This movie did not feel like a Marvel movie. My wife and I almost simultaneously said it felt like a DC movie. Marvel movies are bright and fun and funny, even when they are bad. DC movies, even when they are good, are dour, sad affairs. That was what "Eternals" felt like to me. It was almost exclusively at night. And when it wasn't, the fight scenes were in the woods or in the clouds. Even the final battle was surrounded by erupting volcanoes which obscured a lot of my viewing experience. The villain was weird. There were absurd guitar riffs that seemed out of place. All of that stuff, the darkness and the crummy 80's esque hair metal music was so akin to what DC does. I mentioned a few times to my wife that this was more boring than "Thor 2", which is saying something when talking about Marvel movies.

What made me most annoyed, not even annoyed just kind of bummed out, the actors, minus the three I mentioned did not do great with the source material. The leading actors, Sersi and Ikaris, were way to melodramatic for these roles. I get they are supposed to be gods, but they were far too doom and gloom. They never seemed to have fun. Jon Snow, I do not know the actors names, sorry, was also barely in the movie, and he just seemed stuffed in for future "Eternals" movies. Everyone else treated the movie like it was a hard drama. I wanted so badly to have more Kumail in the movie because he was the only one that felt like he knew he was in a Marvel movie. He and Tyree Henry as well. They both had a good time with their roles. But not everyone else. And while I really enjoy Chloe Zao, "Nomadland" is amazing, she just does not seem to be a superhero movie director. And that is fine. She just took the material way, way, way too seriously. Superhero movies, for me, need to be like "Thor 3" or "Black Panther". Those movies are simply having a good time, with some little elements of drama. "Eternals" just took itself way too seriously and it made for a convoluted and dull movie. It simply wasn't for me.

Maybe I am not smart enough or I do not get what they were trying to do, but I did not like "Eternals". Oh well, maybe the second one will be more fun. I will be sitting here being hopeful.

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 Nicole Byer's "BBW (Big Beautiful Weirdo)"

Last week, before departing for our holiday trip, my wife and I were finally able to watch Nicole Byer's new stand up special "BBW" on Netflix.

We are Byer fans in my house. We love "Nailed It". My wife and I think she is tremendous on "Brooklyn 99" as Trudy Judy. She is the star of the new, very good show "Grand Crew". She is always a delight when she is on a podcast or hosting her own. But I have never seen her standup before. I have heard about it from other people. I have heard that she works very blue, that she is very funny and that she knows how to control the crowd. A buddy of mine saw her pre-pandemic and said she was amazing, but he did not know that she was so dirty. He knew her from "Nailed It" as well I believe. So I was pretty pumped about the special. I did know, or heard, that she does work dirty, but I could care less about that. I have seen a bunch of comics that work blue and the same amount that work clean. It does not matter either way. A good comic is a good comic. Hell, Tracy Morgan was incredibly blue when I saw him, and it was amazing. Brian Regan is known as a clean comic, and he was fantastic every time I have seen him. Jen Kirkman straddles the line, and she rules. The language does not matter. But make no mistake, Byer is blue, and that comes off right away in "BBW".

The special opens with a pole dance, those of us that follow her on Instagram know how much she has practiced this, and it is great. It is a perfect way to open the show. From there on out Byer touches on a ton of things. She opens talking about life during the pandemic. That can be tiresome, but she made it funny and personal. She talked about how it has affected her sex life. She cannot find a good and safe way to hook up with another person. It was very funny. From there the special just got better and better. Her whole bit about Karen's was simply wonderful. I loved her portraying the children of said Karen's. When she talked about flying on a plane with a humongous NICOLE chain and getting drunk, that was the best bit of the night. I loved the button she put on that bit, talking about getting Shake Shack in the morning when she landed, and eating it in the airport toilet. Another pandemic joke I loved was when she talked about the only people who oppose masks are the people who should be wearing them to hide their not so great looking faces. That was perfection. I really enjoyed the crowd work. That is always a plus for me. I like how she went after JK Rowling, and the Harry Potter stuff was gold. I related to her dropping pizza on the ground but deciding to finish it anyway. But what I loved the most was when she talked about singing and how she is not very good at it. This included some wonderful crowd work. She made some very solid jokes about how her appearance can fool people who may think she is a singer. But it was all wrapped up in a great bow when she was talking about Shake Shack and eating it in the toilet. This was when she was so hammered that she decided to sing to try and calm her nerves and let the other people in the bathroom know she was okay. This made me laugh the hardest. This had me giggling afterward. I am smiling thinking about it right now. It is a great bit of comedic storytelling.

Check this special out. Byer is finally getting the shine she has deserved for a long time now. Byer is a great actor, but she is an even better comedian. This special more than proves that.

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 "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" Season 15

Last night my wife and I were finally able to watch the season 15 finale of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia". We are getting all caught up on the shows we missed while we were away celebrating the holidays.

This season may have been short, only eight episodes, but it was pretty damn excellent. I was fully in the whole time. They tackled the pandemic. They talked about owning a business during unprecedented times. They traveled to Ireland. They used CGI for the first time. We met Charlie's real father. They even got the waitress involved. And they did it as hilariously uncomfortable as they always do.

"IASIP" is a near perfect show. There are no real problems with it. Even if they have some past controversy, they owned up to it, and even talked about it and made an entire episode confronting it this season. That ep was phenomenal by the way. I also really enjoyed the CGI monkey they used this season. That was another great ep, and it was the nudge they needed to go to Ireland. When they got to Ireland, that was when this season went from good to great. It was some of the best stuff this show has ever done. I like that, the older they get, the more they touch on real life situations. Dennis got COVID, minor spoiler alert. And that brought out the horribleness in other characters, mainly Frank. Dee finally got an acting job, but things kept getting in the way for her. When she got the big bump on her head, and how they redistributed the blood, that was great. This was also how they got the waitress involved, and she becomes pretty important in the penultimate episode of the season. Mac was even looking to get involved with the church after he learned some stuff about his past. That was a great runner this season.

Charlie, at least for me, was the absolute star of the season. He meets his real dad. He finds his place. He knows the people of Ireland. They write and speak and act like him. He finally has a person he can relate to that seems to know him. He finally has someone that really loves him. But all the stuff that this brings up in Frank made it all the better. Frank and Charlie are definitely the best "love story" on the show. They are the only two that seem to genuinely enjoy one another's company. So when Charlie meets his new dad, and wants to spend all his time with him, Frank is noticeably upset. He acts out. But in the end, they come together. And that is not a spoiler for anyone that watches this show regularly. I was blown away by Charlie Day's performance, especially in the season finale. He went to some dramatic places and really shined. He is a good actor, but this performance truly shined through. I was super impressed.

I also love the way they closed out the season, being the usual obnoxious Americans that we have all come to know and love. It was a very fitting ending for this season. The finale reminded me a bit of the one where Mac came out to his dad. While not as moving and poetic, it was still pretty damn awesome and profound.

"IASIP" is a pantheon show. It is iconic. And season 15 is a feather in their cap. I cannot wait for season 16.

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 "Encanto"

Hello again everybody. I took the past two days off to spend the holiday, safely, with my family. But I'm back. I have watched a good amount of content, listened to some different stuff and got some cool shit I want to talk about on my blog. Today I will start with the movie "Encanto".

We watched this movie last night. We got back home from our trip and my wife, my kids and I have been waiting to watch this movie. We are still a bit hesitant to go to the theaters, so we waited for it to be on Disney+, and with it not premiering until Xmas eve, we waited until the day after Xmas to watch.

Right off the bat, this movie was great. I loved every second of it. Watching movies at home, if I need to do something around the house, I usually get up and ask my family to tell me what I missed. I did not do that with "Encanto". I did not want to miss a thing. This movie reminded me a lot of "Coco" and "Wall-E", my two favorite Pixar movies. The comparison to "Wall-E" was how beautiful everything looked, but also the cracking world around them. As far as "Coco", I know it may sound cliche to compare a Spanish movie to a Colombian movie, but it was also the colors and the voice actors and the music. While "Encanto" did not have as good music as "Coco", no movie does for that matter, it was still very festive and fun and well written and beautifully performed. I loved the music in fact. I am not the biggest Lin Manuel Miranda fan, but when he just writes the music, like he did for "Moana", I find myself bopping my head and tapping my feet. That happened with "Encanto". The music was very good, very well done, very cool and just flat out fun. As for the colors in this movie, my goodness was it vibrant. I found myself blown away by how beautiful the movie looked. There were so many bright pops of blue and yellow and orange and red and green, it was amazing. I was mesmerized. I also loved the way the clothes looked, how the characters looked and moved and how neat and old school the house in the movie was drawn. The voice acting was impeccable as well. Stephanie Beatriz was made to voice a character like this. She added so much and embodied Maribel. I was fully on her side the whole movie. Beatriz also has a very good singing voice too. I knew she could sing, but given this role, she took on a ton and totally nailed it. John Leguizamo was excellent. So was Wilmer Valderama. And the rest of the family, from Maria Cecilia Botero as Abulea, to Adassa as Dolores, and everyone in between, they were all amazing. But make no mistake, Beatriz is the main star of the movie, and she more than handles it. I really enjoyed the story of the movie as well. I am very close to my family, and to see a family like this portrayed in a movie, I was bound to enjoy the movie. They did a great job talking about all things involved with being a family, they just added super powers to the people in the cartoon. But my main takeaway was family. You should love your family, even if you have disagreements, or some other things get in the way. I loved that message in the movie. I also really like, minor spoiler alert, that they never gave Maribel a "power". She was just a regular person in an irregular, superhero style world.

I cannot recommend this movie enough. It is so good to watch with your partner, but even more so with your family, if you have kids. Both my kids, my 9 year old son and 6 year old daughter, absolutely loved it. They have been talking about it all day today. Check out "Encanto". It rules.

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 "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" Season 15 Premier

Last night my wife and I watched the season 15 premiere of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia". There were two new episodes in fact. And it was as great as I hoped. The show hasn't been on in awhile, but it felt like they never left with the first two eps of this season. Let’s discuss.

The first one was all about their characters 2020 in review. They posed it as a government official coming in to ask about personal PPP loans, but it was really just a platform for them to do what they do best, make super tasteless, super funny jokes. The fact that they all claimed to have something to do with the 2020 election was pretty great, and kind of scary because of how truthful some of the stuff they did. I could have easily seen people as vile and brutal as their characters doing the same. And to end it with "their guy" being Kanye West, it was simply genius.

The second episode was all about them making "Lethal Weapon 7". For fans of the show, we all know the gang's love for the "Lethal Weapon" series. But this time they wanted to be more sensitive. Again, it was so funny. The pimp Pepperjack, that actor was amazing. All the stuff with Frank was hilarious. Dee's arc, oh man that was some "Always Sunny" at the top of its game. And Dennis explaining how he has changed, it was too perfect.

The premiere was great. Seriously, go watch. But what I want to talk about today is how great "Always Sunny" really is. It has staying power, it is still great, it is one of the funniest shows on tv, it has a "Curb" like appeal of never having a bad episode. The show works so well. It was also nice to have it back. I have found during this pandemic, seeing older shows, returning shows, classic shows coming back for record breaking seasons or in reruns, it makes me forget about how tough the past two years have been. The shows let me escape. Even with the gang talking about the pandemic, hearing them say COVID, seeing extras wearing masks, it did not take me back to how hard the past two years have been. The creators and actors are so good at their jobs that they let me escape into their world. They let me forget what is going on outside for 30 minutes. I really appreciate that. And to have a show like "Always Sunny", that is so great, back on TV, that rules. These people know what they are doing. They know what works. They know how to craft perfect jokes for their characters. It is truly a great thing to see genius people doing genius work. I know a lot of people say that "Always Sunny" is my generation's "Seinfeld". I used to balk at that because I always felt like both shows are so different and so great. But when you sit down and think of it, they are right. "Always Sunny" is a millennials version of "Seinfeld". Both shows have no redeemable characters, but they know that and they roll with it. "Always Sunny" just goes a bit further with their jokes. The shows are also so brilliantly written that it is easy to see the comparison. Very funny, very smart comedic minds coming together to create something classic, that is a thing of beauty.

"Always Sunny" is a classic, and it is a classic for a reason. And again, it is comforting to have it back on TV. I love this show and I cannot be more excited to see where they go from here.

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 "This is Pop"

Recently I found a new show on Netflix that I have really enjoyed. The show is called "This is Pop". The pure nuts and bolts of the show is how pop music has changed, mixed with genres, tells stories and made its way into our lives for good. There are eight episodes that each focus on a different topic.

I was skeptical of the show at first because I have always said I am not a fan of modern pop music. There are a few bands and singers I like, but for the most part, it is not for me. I was not a fan of boy bands. I did not buy into the bubble gum aspect of Brittany Spears. Pop music was not for me. I like hip hop, rock, blues and folk. Those are my preferred genres, with hip hop being my favorite. But I have got to say, this show has changed my mind on pop music in general.

The first episode was all about Boys 2 Men. I knew of them of course. They were super popular when I was a younger kid. I loved their first single when I was little. But then they went away. What this episode did was show me their process. It showed me how hard they worked and how great a group of singers they were and still are. It also showed me that they were the first true boy band that existed. I also liked learning about them being able to crossover to many different fans. It was fascinating.

The second episode was all about auto tune. This has been my favorite episode. It was so interesting to hear about the auto tune phenomenon and why it is so hated by fans but beloved but some musicians. T-Pain comes off wonderful. I am a fan of his personality for sure. I also really liked how they showed the comedic use of auto tune. It was great.

The third episode is all about how some of the most famous pop songs ever written and recorded come from Stockholm, Sweden. I had no idea that pretty much all of Brittany Spears, The Backstreet Boys and N'Sync's songs were written and produced in Sweden. I also had no idea how hard the Swedes work, and how humble they are about their fame. The people involved in this episode, the people we never see or hear from, have been a part of some of the biggest pop songs ever. "Hit Me Baby", "I Want it That Way", "Bye Bye Bye", all of those songs were written and produced by the Swedes. We also got Roxette and Ace of Base from Sweden. Some of Pink's biggest songs were written by Swedes. It was incredibly informative.

Episode four talks about country music shifting to pop. For a person that is not a country music fan at all, this ep was really cool. I did not realize all the crossover and how stodgy old school country musicians are. Also, Dolly Parton rules. She is the best.

Episode five dove into Britpop. This one was cool because they mostly focused on the "fight" between Oasis and Blur. I am personally a Blur fan, but it was cool to see all the different people talking about why they liked each band. I found it very interesting that Oasis was more the working class band. The episode also made me appreciate Damon Albarn all the more. He is truly a musical genius. This was a good one.

Episode six was all about festivals. This one gave me the heebie jeebies. There were too many people. Too much stuff going on. Festivals were never my thing. This was probably the one ep I would skip if I were to watch this series again.

Episode seven was the most powerful. It was called "What Can a Song Do", and it was all about the power of music. They went from Woody Guthire to Billy Bragg, to Public Enemy to music in the Me Too movement and Riot Grrl stuff. I found this episode to be incredibly important. It was truly wonderful and powerful to see the strength that music has, to see the change that music can create. Hozier was a wonderful narrator for this episode. I am still thinking about everything they said today. It was moving and tremendous.

The final episode is all about the Brill Building in New York and how some of the most famous pop songs were made in this one building. Again, a fascinating event that I have never thought about before. Also, Neil Sedaka seems like a delightful human being. I have not fully finished the episode yet, but I will today.

I think this show is very well done. It tells very good stories about people and events that music fans may take for granted. Each episode is about 40 minutes long, so it is not a total grabber of your time. You can do what I did and watch 2 episodes before bed. Check this show out. It is very good and very informative.

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 "Big Mouth" Season Five

"Big Mouth" has done it yet again.

This show is one of the best things that has been on TV in quite some time. Each season deals with, or adds some new layer that just makes it better and better. I am a big time fan of this show. I have loved it from day one. I have said on this site, to anyone that will let me tell them, hell, to myself that "Big Mouth" is the best representation of going through puberty on any platform right now. I really, truly believe that kids in middle school should be watching the show. I think they should teach a class on it in school. It would have been so much better than the ridiculous sex education that I got when I was in middle school. It was too technical. It was too clinical. They used words that my 13 year old brain had not even heard. At least "Big Mouth" is compelling for kids. It is a cartoon. And it shows the horribleness, and sometimes wonderfulness, that is puberty. It is the truest version that I have ever seen.

Like I said above, they add something new each season that I will watch and think about all the times I had those exact same feelings. This season, their fifth, added hate worms. We have the hormone monsters, the shame wizard, the depression kitty, the anxiety mosquito and so many, many more already. Adding the hate worm was a cherry on top. Even though none of us want to admit it, we all went through this phase of hating a person for some reason only we knew at the time. They used it great in "Big Mouth" by showing Missy getting angry at Jessie for stealing her idea for an organized protest group, and for Nick being upset when Jessie did not like him back. We all had these feelings. It happened to us all. What "Big Mouth" did so well in this fifth season was have the characters say and act how I, and many, many others felt when we were that age, but did not say and act out of rage. It was funny and eye opening to see these cartoon characters act on their rage. They went over the top, but that works because when you are that young and angry, you probably want to go over the top, but you don't. "Big Mouth" gives us this outlet. I also like how they wrapped it up. How they showed Missy and Nick getting through their anger. I liked them showing how they apologized for being assholes. It was great. I also thought it was a great idea to have Nick Kroll, one of the creators of the show, show up as himself and talk to his teenage cartoon character. That was great.

Outside the hate in season five, the other characters involved had some solid storylines. Jay finally finds his true love. Nick's sister gets a real boyfriend. Nick's parents have their first real fight, and then makeup. Jay's dog has a great, small story this season. The Christmas episode was cool as hell. The main hormone monsters have a solid backstory. Lola, Devon and Devin, Ali, they each grow a bit this season.

"Big Mouth" is such a great show. I hope they keep making it. I am pretty sure they have a pretty solid contract with Netflix to keep making it. I love it, I think it is super relatable and totally based in reality, even though it is a cartoon. I think everyone should watch it. I think each person will find something they can relate to while watching. "Big Mouth" is awesome.

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 "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings"

It was my wife's movie pick for date night this past weekend, and she went with "Shang Chi". We had seen that it was going to be on Disney + for free on Friday, we both really wanted to watch it but did not want to go to the theaters and our son was at a sleepover, so we figured Friday was the perfect time.

I want to say right off the bat, I loved this movie. I had zero idea about the superhero Shang Chi. I knew nothing of the rings, no backstory, who he was now and how he came to be the holder of the ten rings. His story was a total blank for me. So I appreciated the backstory that they involved with this movie. The movie was a bit over two hours long, but I felt it was needed for someone like me who knew nothing. I really enjoyed the fact that they took the time to go back here and there during the movie to show why Shang was where he was during the movie. I also really liked the whole story about the ten rings and what they do, how they are used. It is a real cool power to have. It seems super effective and totally useful. I also like how they showed the rings when they were in use. It was cool as hell.

I also thought the acting was top notch in the movie. Young Shang, be it 10 year old or teenage, the actors did a great job portraying the sadness and anger. Then we have grown up Shang, the actor from "Kim's Convenience", he was absolutely wonderful. I loved every aspect of his performance. He was so cool and such a total badass. He was a perfect cast for the role. Awkafina, playing his friend Katy, was great as well. I am a big fan of hers. I love "Nora From Queens", she is great in "Ocean's 8", she is hilarious and fun. She brought all of that to this movie, but she also got to be the love interest, the damsel in distress. It was cool and different. I liked seeing her in that role. And the rest of the cast was superb. Shang's dad was a great villain, but I also kind of got where he was coming from. I felt his pain. Shang's sister was amazing. She may have been more of a badass than her brother. She also taught herself how to fight, and she was kicking ass all up and down the movie. Their mom was sweet and sensitive and also one hell of a fighter. I liked how she only used her powers when she truly needed to in the movie. The people who lived in the mom's village were great as well. There were some great marksmen, great fighters, people who knew how to harness the powers they have. I also loved the animals that lived in the village. It was some of the coolest mashups of animals I have seen in a movie. Also, Ben Kinglsey and his little buddy Morris were a delight. They were kind of the heart and soul of the movie for me.

Outside the acting, the imagery, the scenery, it was beautiful. San Francisco looked awesome. Macau was dope as hell. Everything was shown so well. My wife pointed out when they got to Macau how it reminded her of "Black Panther", when they went to Asia. It was nighttime, brightly lit and looked so cool. They made it feel like a very, very big city. And that fight scene on the side of the big building, that was awesome and it made my knees totally buckle. And the village that I mentioned before, it was amazing.

I adore this movie. I think it is one of the better MCU movies. I like when they make the movies a bit more fun, and even though this movie definitely has some heavy moments, it is still a very good time. And the fight scenes are some of the best they have had in some time. The fight on the bus is one of the cooler things I have seen in a movie since "Nobody". It was rad. If you have Disney + go watch the movie ASAP. It is free and totally worth it. I highly recommend "Shang Chi".

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 "Bad Sport"

Yesterday I finished up a very cool and interesting show on Netflix. The show is called "Bad Sport". I was scrolling through Netflix the other day and it popped up as something I might have been interested in. They were right. I do like sports and I am interested in the seedy underworld that no one ever really talks about. This show has both.

Now, I was hyped because the first episode was all about a point shaving incident that I know of that occurred in the 90's involving Arizona State. I remember this story as a kid. They made a made for TV movie about this incident in the early 2000's. I was aware. What this first episode did though was go very, very deep in the whole scandal. I was learning a ton of new things. I was also kind of frightened at the people who got involved. I was also fascinated at how high this went. It was very informative and a very good. watch. The first episode was a great starting point for my sports fandom. Then I took a few days off because the other episodes featured sports I have never been too interested in. But I was still kind of looking for other shows, but my mind kept wandering back to "Bad Sport". So the next few days I devoured the rest of the series.

I am not a race car fan, but the second episode was all about a race car driver that brought in and sold millions of pounds of marijuana. It was incredible to hear this guy's story. I loved hearing what the people around him thought. I actually ended up kind of siding with the main guy in the end. He got put away for a long time just for some weed. And the race car stuff was kind of interesting. It was minimal, but I still found myself following it all.

The third episode was about a humongous bombshell involving Juventus soccer. I guess their owner back in the day had some serious pull over officials and was able to get things to go for his team when he needed it to. There were never any fixed games, or so they say, but the refs did some shady stuff. And the refs who didn’t do the shady stuff, they got stiff penalties. One of them was kidnapped for a few days. It was also wild to see the actual guy they were talking about come on and be interviewed near the end. And he still claims he did nothing wrong. It was wild.

The fourth episode featured a figure skating controversy. I never really watch figure skating, but I have friends and family that like to watch. I was also vaguely familiar with the people involved in this story because it became so big. There was a Canadian team and a Russian team, they were pairs, and there was a whole problem involving a French judge and how she may or may not have fixed an Olympic event in favor of the Russian team. The story was so wild too. I was totally invested in this one.

The fifth episode featured the biggest monster on the show. This one was about show horses and the owners. The guy they focused on was a guy that ended up falling into this world, and he became known as the Sandman, a guy that would get rid of horses if the owners wanted him to for a 5,000 dollar fee. And by get rid I mean he would execute these poor horses. This episode was frightening. It made me sick to my stomach at times. There were people that made me so angry while I watched. It also made me furious with the legal system. This episode has really stuck with me.

The final episode focuses on a South African cricket star that took money to try and fix games. He was a mega star in the cricket world. He had a big come up and achieved greatness pretty young. He was beloved by everyone. But all along he was accused of finding teammates and telling them to fix games here and there to get big chunks of money. It wasn't until a few of his younger teammates didn't do what he asked him to that he got caught. It was a big time scandal and the guy was banned from cricket. And that wasn't even the worst thing to happen to him. You'll have to watch to see what happens next.

I really liked this show. I hope it comes back for more seasons. I was endlessly fascinated by what I saw. It was very well done and very informative. I definitely recommend people check out this show. It is 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 the Trailer for "Atlanta"

Yesterday I was checking stuff out on the internet, as I like to say, as I am want to do, and I came across a story on many, many social media platforms claiming that Donald Glover surprised everyone with a new trailer for his hit series "Atlanta".

I am a big, big time fan of this show as you all know very well by now. I think it is the best show on TV, it is a delight to watch, it makes me think days after every episode and Donald Glover can do no wrong in the entertainment world. He is a genius. So I was obviously stoked about the trailer. I do not know if he put it out late Sunday or early Monday. I saw it on Monday. I am older, I am a dad, I am usually late to popular stuff on the internet, all of these are my excuses on why it took me an extra day to know, and then watch the trailer. As soon as I saw the story, and a link to the trailer, I watched it immediately. And I loved every single weird second of it.

The trailer is about a minute long. I think it might actually be exactly one minute. I'm sure there is some reasoning to it, but I am not smart enough, nor do I want to put the research time into finding out exactly why it is one minute long. But I watched it with pure glee. I was quite giddy in fact. I started the trailer and was completely blown away by what I saw. It was eerie. It was different. It was sleek. It was cool. I felt hip watching it. I also felt like a dork too because I was a bit confused. Anyway, the trailer goes through a bunch of different rooms and there is a song lyric repeated over and over. "It's after the end of the world/don't you know that yet". That is the lyric that is repeated over and over again. And there is some dark and creepy music accompanying the words. All the while we see these rooms. We see empty, what I assume, are concert venues. There are very few people roaming the streets. I only saw a few people on bikes in one shot. There are four TV's set up with different images flashing on them. There is a room filled with chairs stacked on top of one another. And at the end we see Brian Tyree Henry, who plays Paper Boi. The camera starts out far away from him, but the shot gets tighter and tighter while the creepy song comes to a big crescendo. We then get a close up shot of Paper Boi looking sad and despondent. He has a white shirt with some red, yellow and green stripes on it, and across his chest in yellow letters the word "FAKE". He also has two people working for him who are totally turned away from the camera not even looking in his direction. The screen then goes black and it says "Atlanta/2022".

This has me even more pumped up for what is to come in 2022. Clearly Paper Boi has made his ascent to some kind of fame. But we will also, or so it seems, get a look at how Donald Glover has dealt with the pandemic. We will also hopefully get to see that Paper Boi may not be happy with his newfound fame. Maybe he doesn't like the limelight like he thought he would. I am very curious to see where LaKeith Stanfield, Zazie Beetz and Donald Glover's characters are in this world created by Glover.

While I think a show like "Curb" is more reliable, or "The Simpsons" is my favorite show of all time, "Atlanta" is probably the best show on TV when it is on. And after this trailer I can only hope that this whole new season is going to be like the "Teddy Perkins" episode from the second season, because that is an all time classic. Needless to say, I am very, very excited for the new season of "Atlanta". Now I just have to wait a few more months.

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 "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and He has Some Thoughts on Movie Violence

Over the weekend my wife and I pushed our date night to Saturday due to school stuff and because it was closer to Halloween. We had sushi, since we are so fancy, and my wife got to choose the movie. She wanted a scare so she picked "I Know What You Did Last Summer".

I have never seen the movie and it has been years since she watched it. She remembered really liking it and saying that it had some good jump scares. She also loves the show "Buffy" and is a big Sarah Michelle Gellar fan. It checks a lot of boxes for her. So we watched.

The movie was fine. My wife jumped a few times. It made me laugh a little because I kept thinking about "Not Another Teen Movie" and "Scary Movie". There were some okay chase stuff. It was a typical late 90's scary movie. It felt a lot like a JV version of "Scream", which is not a bad thing. But I came away from the viewing with a thought that has never really occurred within me. When the movie was over I thought that it was kind of hokey, not super scary and not too violent.

I was very wrong on the last thought. This movie was very bloody. A person gets hit with a car. There is a suicide. There is plenty of knife and hook wounds. Needless to say, there is a good amount of blood. But nowadays a movie like this seems so tame. That is brutal. It is actually kind of depressing. I think we are so numb to what we see now that a movie as gory as "I Know What You Did Last Summer" just kind of lands flat. I've seen more violence in a noir like "Drive". All three chapters of "John Wick" have a much higher body count and way, way more gore. The way "Uncut Gems" ends is way more horrifying than anything in this movie. Hell, I have seen worse in comedic movies. Or even psychological thrillers like "The Babadook" or "Black Swan" had me shook up. And even tv shows now are way more violent than this movie. "The Wire" had more hard core deaths. Gus Fring's ending in "Breaking Bad" was much more scary. "Lost" had more brutal scenes. And I think we all can agree that the first episode of "Squid Game" is way more hard core and gory than any scene in the entirety of "IKWYDLS".

That is crazy to me though. We have become so numb to violence in our society now. Some almost have to be pushed to the absolute brink to get even a little scared. When watching scary movies now there is so much more blood and gore and just flat out spooky things that happen. "IKWYDLS" feels almost ahead of its time, but at the same time it feels dated. It is cliched, but aren't all horror movies a little cliched when you really think about it? The acting is solid too, but newer, good horror movies have better acting. And the gore, the thing a lot of horror fans go for now, seems minimal. There were no real jump scares from me. I could feel them coming. But this movie did work on my wife. So what does that say about me? Am I so numb to it now that I need something like "John Wick" to get my blood pumping? I hope not. But I was just so surprised at how little I was scared while watching the movie on Saturday. And I scare easily at more modern horror movies. We are pretty numb to things we shouldn't be so numb to anymore, but it seems like the gross factor continues to notch up and we just consume it and are happy with it.

"IKNWDLS" is a solid horror movie, but it just does not hold up to the standards of today's horror movies. That could be the year or the consumer. I tend to think it has more to do with the consumer unfortunately, and that is what bummed me out the most.

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 "Champaign ILL"

A few years back I heard about a show that David Caspe and his crew were producing for YouTube. I read that it would star Adam Pally and Sam Richardson. I heard that it was going to be about a rapper and his entourage. I read that it was going to be very comical, but have some dark moments. All of these things checked my boxes for what I look for in a TV show. Well, except the YouTube part. It was going to be a YouTube exclusive, but you had to pay for the content. I really like YouTube. I use it a lot, especially during the pandemic, to watch concert footage, trailers for movies, music videos, a ton of stuff, all of which is free. I already pay for enough streaming services, I do not know how to get the material other ways and it seemed unnecessary for me to start paying for YouTube as well. My loss.

Fortunately the show was just released on Hulu, a streaming service I pay for, and I was able to watch it. The show is called "Champaign Ill". And it is everything I read about. The show follows Ronnie, Pally, and Alf Richardson. They are lifelong friends with a rapper who goes by ILL Lou the Sickest, played by Jay Pharoah. It is revealed pretty early on that Ronnie and Alf are a couple of free loaders. They do not know how to do much for themselves, they rely on Lou for everything and they are far too comfortable with the lives they currently have. Then, and this is not a spoiler because it happens in the first episode, Lou suddenly dies. He falls off a staircase filming a music video and hits his head. This shocks Ronnie and Alf, just like it did me when I watched.

This is where the show picks up steam. From here on out we go on to see how Ronnie and Alf have to adjust to life without Lou, and how they adjust to living back home in Champaign. They have all kinds of problems that they do not know how to fix. Alf wants his high school girlfriend back, but she is pregnant and hates him. Ronnie cannot figure out how to get back in the working world, even though he was heading to an Ivy league school before deciding to be part of Lou's crew. Alf has to move back in with his dad, and ever since his mom left him his dad has gotten very overweight and does not take good care of himself. Ronnie moves back home with his folks as well, but the parents are having problems, his sister is running a solid business, but she is still in his shadow and it drives her nuts. Needless to say, they are both finding their new surroundings to not be as nice. And when they find out they have no money in Lou's will for them, they really lose it. They try to start a business, but that never works. They try to write a song, they cannot do that. They try to get an apartment and they get into some serious credit card debt. But the thing that bugs them most is no one in their hometown seems to really care or be interested in their life from when they lived off Lou's coattails.

The series is all around great. It is one season that is ten episodes long. I finished it in about three days. I liked it that much. There is one episode where Ronnie and Alf have a very accusatory conversation in their apartment and it is like one long scene. The direction of this one episode has stuck with me for so long. It was super cool. My hats goes off to everyone involved with this show. It could have been cliche and corny, but they pulled it off. It is hilarious. It is dark. It deals with some heavy stuff. And it made me think how I would have acted had I been in a similar situation.

I really enjoyed this show, and now that it is on Hulu, I definitely recommend checking it out. It is well worth your time.

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 "Dune"

Yesterday I watched "Dune". We got back from our trip earlier than we thought, my wife and I had already decided to move our date night to Sunday since we were gone Friday, and it was my turn to pick the movie.

I have been pretty pumped for this movie since I first heard about it over a year ago. I have seen bits and pieces of David Lynch's "Dune", and it is not a good movie. It has some great ideas, but it definitely falls off the rails. I have seen most of "Jodorowsky's Dune", and that is a great documentary and I would love to see his version. But that would have also been a crazy movie. I have never read the book, but I am somewhat aware of the story. But what made me want to see his one so much, why I was so excited, was the fact that Denis Villenuve was directing it. I loved "Blade Runner 2049", "Prisoners" is a tough watch, but a good movie and although I have never seen it, and RD despises it, "Arrival" won itself some awards. Villenuve has a very good eye for directing these big, lavish features. He has a good vision of how to show these vast landscapes. "Dune" was no different.

This is, hands down, one of the most beautiful looking movies I have ever seen. The landscape was beautiful. The worlds that were created looked so real. Maybe they looked real because this movie was shot in some beautiful places. I read they shot some in Norway. I have to assume that is where they got the water planet, and it looked glorious. I also read they shot in Abu Dhabi and Jordan, and that is most definitely where they got these seemingly never ending deserts. The deserts used in "Dune" were so big and so expansive and looked amazing. It was an incredible treat for your eyes. The set designs, while minimal, were just as beautiful. These futuristic homes and planets were perfectly constructed. I was blown away by how pretty this movie looked.

The acting was just the same. Timothee Chamelet, who I have not been a big time fan of, was very, very good in this movie. He is the main character and I loved watching his story unfold. I also bought his performance tenfold. He committed and he totally stuck the landing. Rebecca Ferguson was perfect as the mom trying to help her son, but also her people. Again, I bought her story. I loved her passion and ability to fight and stick her neck out there. Oscar Issac was a bit more subdued in this role, but he also did such a good job. He had very good vision as a leader and a father. He is a totally dependable actor. Josh Brolin was badass as the leader of the army and the weapons expert. I love this newfound fame Brolin has found the past five years, and he has more than earned it. Jason Momoa was also very good in his role. He can be hit or miss, but he hit in this one. It was a perfect role for him. Sharon Duncan-Brewster, who I did not know, was excellent. She was smarter than anyone else in the desert and she knew it. I found myself actively rooting for her. Dave Bautista and Stellen Skarsgard were creepy looking, ruthless and scary as hell. I found myself kind of sitting back in my chair every time they showed up on screen, which I believe was their job. Javier Bardem had two of the best scenes in the movie, and I have found that I really enjoy his acting. And Zendaya was really good in a very minimal role until the very end of the movie. Everyone in this movie totally nails it. The casting was tremendous. They totally stuck the landing.

While this movie is confusing, "Dune" is a confusing story, I cannot stop thinking about it a day later. I just keep going back in my memory and thinking about more and more stuff I liked about it. My wife was a trooper for sitting through this with me, she is not a big sci-fi fan and this movie clocks in at over two and a half hours, but she did it and she even found things she liked. To me "Dune" is like a modern day "2001: A Space Odyssey". It has that same feeling. And while I do not think this is a spoiler, this appears to be only part one. The movie starts with opening credits and it even says, "Dune: Part 1". I have to assume that they are going to greenlight a sequel very soon, especially considering how much money it made this weekend. I also like that approach to this story. Make it a five hour long two-part movie. "Dune" needs that large of a scope to get the full story across. I highly, highly recommend this movie to anyone out there. It is glorious, beautiful and awesome. I adore this movie. I cannot wait for part two.

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 "The Green Knight"

This afternoon I finally watched "The Green Knight". This movie has been on my list for some time. I am a big A24 fan, I like Dev Patel a lot and I had heard really good things about the movie before it was released. I didn't see it in the theaters, still a little leery of them, and I was finding it hard to find time to watch it at home. My wife had no interest in it which meant that quarantine date night was out of the question. But today I had time. I exercised early, I did the minimal chores I do every Wednesday after running. I waited until after watching it to write. Today was the perfect day.

I really liked the movie. But do not get it twisted, this movie is very weird. It is unlike many other movies I have ever seen. I know that it is a retelling of an old fairy tale, but I had never heard of it before. I had no idea that this was a very old story. A24 went way out on a limb with this movie too. It still has that indie feel that they do, but this movie was big in scale and production. This is them putting big money into a project they really believed in. This is them taking a chance on trying to become a more known brand. It worked on me.

“The Green Night” is quiet but also visually stunning. For someone that does not know the story it can be confusing at times, but it will also hold your attention. Dev Patel more than proves he is capable of being a leading man. This is unlike any other role he has done and he nailed it. I was constantly intrigued by every choice he made as this character. I could not take my eyes off of him. I loved the way he interacted with real and surreal things in the movie. The very first scene we see the Green Knight was incredible, and the Knight and Patel are the main reason why it works so well. He was tremendous as the lead. I have nothing but kudos for him. Alicia Vikander was also very good. She played two roles and they were two totally different people. I first saw her in "Ex Machina" and she was excellent in that movie. She is just as good here in "The Green Knight", again, playing two roles. Joel Edgerton did very well in his small part. He seems to be something of a regular now for A24 and I can see why. He is always reliable. Everyone in this movie did a very good job with the source material. But Patel and Vikander stood out the most.

Like I said before, the visuals in this movie are truly a sight to behold. There is a scene with a bunch of giant people that is wild, but beautiful to look at on screen. The fox, especially when it spoke, was amazing. The scenery, I believe the movie was shot in Ireland, makes me want to go visit. But the actual Green Knight, that was a work of art. I was as transfixed by the Green Knight as I was by Patel. The Green Knight is not in the movie too terribly much, but when it is there, you will remember every single detail. I was blown away by the costume and the makeup. The CGI of the whole movie was just as impressive.

Look, “The Green Knight” is weird and confusing at times, but that is what A24 does. A24 also makes really good, really intriguing movies that will make you think about them days after you've watched, That is exactly what "The Green Knight" achieves. The movie isn't for everyone. But if you like gory fairy tales shot in beautiful locations with excellent visuals and world class acting, this movie is for you. I definitely recommend this movie.

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 "The Other Two"

A show I really enjoy just wrapped up their second season, "The Other Two".

When this show premiered two years ago I was immediately on board. I'm a big Drew Tarver fan. I have followed him on all the podcasts he appears on, and he is always one of the funniest people. He has a true comedic gift and I was glad he was getting a shot to do that in a co-starring role. I didn't know who Helene Yorke was prior to this show, but I have since become a fan. She is funny, she has great timing, she can do dramatic stuff and she is my absolute favorite on the show. Molly Shannon, Ken Marino, Case Walker, Wanda Sykes and Josh Segarra all add great stuff, but this show is all about Yorke and Tarver.

The premise hasn't changed much since season one. Tarver and Yorke are still living in their little brother's shadow and now their mom is the biggest daytime talk show host. But things have gotten a bit better for them. Tarver hosts a lot of short internet talk shows. This is one of the best parts about this season. Seeing Tarver's character doing a job he hates is pretty hilarious, but also relatable. Yorke ended as Chase's, her little brother, manager in season one, and now this season she takes over as her mom's manager and she becomes a much wanted manager in TV. Both of the kids are doing better, but they are still not as big as their brother and mom. I really liked how they skewer Hollywood and acting and managing and everything that goes into a job like that. The managing stuff was great. Yorke is always working, always tired, always sick, but never stops working. She can't for one, but she also seems to like the responsibility. She also is looking out for herself. But she does have quite a few moments of realization that are perfect. When she buys a humongous apartment but is lonely, I loved that. Her feelings for her ex were excellently played by both actors. When she realizes she has pushed her mom too much, that was heartbreaking. Yorke is masterful in this role. She is perfectly cast. She does her job so well. I love her acting in this show.

Tarver's character has quite a leap this season. He has his first real boyfriend, who he eventually splits with in a very sad scene. He has the hosting jobs, but as I stated earlier, he wants more and he strives for more. He gets himself back into the dating scene pretty hilariously. He gets and loses and gets an acting job in a movie all within three episodes. The way he gets the role finally is so funny and so poignant to modern times and the internet. Tarver, much like Yorke, is simply perfect in this show. He gets to do more wildly comedic stuff, but he also shows depth and drama chops.

I love that these two young actors are finally getting a chance to really show what they've got, and they are crushing it right now. I was also very happy with the switch to HBO Max. The show used to be on Comedy Central, but for whatever reason they moved over to HBO Max. This has allowed them to be more blue. The comedy can be broader. They can use profane language. You can get real reactions to tough situations. And HBO does make and produce quality TV shows. It was a solid and smart move.

Look, I love this show and I highly recommend it. Watch it anyway you can. It is definitely worth watching. HBO Max also has both seasons on, so you can binge it whenever you want. Watch "The Other Two". It is the hidden gem you've been waiting for.

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.

Ty Watches "Win it All"

I come to you today with yet another movie review and recommendation. Yesterday I watched another one that I have been putting off for a while, and I wish I hadn't. The movie is called "Win It All". It stars Jake Johnson, who also co-wrote the movie, and it is about an addictive gambler who tries to turn his life around but runs into some bad luck. Again, a cliché story, but this movie was so well made.

I think the reason why “Win it All” works is Johnsons' performance is magnetic. He is more known for comedy and being on "New Girl", but giving him a role like this, a little more drama and less comedy, and he shined. I have said it a lot on the site, and I will say it again, I love when actors and musicians take a chance. Johnson did just that and he crushed. He has become somewhat of Joe Swanmberg's muse as well. Swanberg co-wrote the movie with Johnson and he directed as well. Swanmberg is one of these "mumblecore" guys. That genre of movie can be dull and boring, but "Win It All" was not. This movie moved well and transitioned properly. It had comedy and drama. It was "Uncut Gems" very light. "Uncut Gems" is one of my all time favorite movies by the way, and that movie is super intense. It is a relief to watch a movie that deals with gambling that doesn't give me a panic attack. That is "Win It All".

As I was saying, Swanberg and Johnson have a great rapport now. They have done a few movies together, and they are all, at the very least, watchable. None of them are bad. Sure they can be a little blah, but they are fine. With "Win It All" they take it to another level. Johnson is superb. I cannot say enough great things about him in this role. He is the star, he owns the movie, you cannot take your eyes off of him and I was rooting for him to turn his life around. Swanberg does an excellent job of making a more mainstream style movie. There is still some of that "mumblecore" direction in there, but it doesn't take over. The rest of the cast is really good as well. Joe Lo Truglio plays Johnson's brother. He has his act together and all he wants is to help his brother. Truglio is a great comedic actor, and he does a lot of funny stuff in this movie. But his dramatic stuff really hit. He was solid. Aislinn Derbez was the love interest. I had never heard of her before watching this movie. She was outstanding. She was believable. She had a ton of chemistry with Johnson. She was great. Keegan Michael Key played his sponsor. It was nice to see Key not do any comedy. I love his comedic work, but I felt he was kind of falling in a trap of only doing broad comedy. So to see him do a role like this was refreshing. He did a very good job. And they had a bunch of real life poker players in the movie in scenes where they played real games of cards. This added a whole other level to the minimal stress in the movie. It made the games feel real. I found myself really into everything that was happening in this movie. I also really like that it was ninety minutes long.

I will say it again, Johnson was electric and I want to see more stuff like this out of him. And I like high stakes movies that find a way to not take itself so seriously. I also really enjoyed the final scene in the movie. It made me hopeful. If you have 90 minutes free and like redemption style movies, check out "Win It All". It is solid.

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.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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