My Journey Back to the Movie Theater

Last night I went to a movie in a theater for the first time in nearly two years. My wife's work rented out a theater, we are all vaccinated, we wore masks when not eating or drinking and we watched "F9". I want to talk about the theater experience more than the movie.

My quick little review of "F9" is that it is absurd and ridiculous and I did not like it, but I get why it is so appealing to its fanbase and why they continue to make these movies. I have only seen two of them, this new one and the first one, but I was not into this movie at all. It was way, way too absurd. That is my quick overview for all of you.

It was very odd being back in a movie theater. We walked in like we always used to, but when I entered the theater everyone was masked. This made me feel pretty good. But as I walked around more and was checking out the theater, more and more people were removing their masks. They were eating, drinking, talking, just going about their everyday life as if COVID never existed. I envied these people, but I wore my mask most of the night. I am still not at a place where I am fully ready to remove my mask, especially when I am in an indoor setting. Again though, I was comfortable knowing that the people I was sharing the theater with had been vaccinated. It was nice. I went to the concessions beforehand to get my wife and I snacks. I had forgotten how much this stuff costs at the theater. I got two 20oz bottles of water, a bigger package of peanut M&M's and a large popcorn. That was over 25 dollars. And that large popcorn was gigantic. My wife and I did not even finish half of it. I had forgotten how big the portion size is at the movie theater. It is as absurd as the plot of "F9". No one needs that amount of popcorn ever. I can eat, and I was sick of it a quarter of the way in. The peanut M&M's still hit, and they are even better mixed in with the popcorn. And three bucks a piece for some water, give me a break. My wife also went to the bathroom halfway through the movie and bought another bottle of water and some peanut butter pretzels for us to share. That was 15 dollars. All in all, snacks were 40 dollars. That is crazy.

As for the seats, they still rule. They were recliners, they were cozy and they were spaced apart. We were not six feet away from each other, but we were a good two to three feet away. I did forget how comfy those chairs are too. If the movie hadn't been so loud, I might have fallen asleep. I was able to move around very freely. I am a 6 foot 2 inch 280 pound adult man, and I was never uncomfortable in the chair. It was my favorite part of the movie by far.

It was also kind of cool to be in a theater with forty other people, many of which know the story and enjoy the "Fast and Furious" franchise. That communal feeling, hearing people laugh at inside jokes, hearing people clap, talking to others about the characters and their backstory, that was really neat. I did not know I missed that, but last night reminded me that I do. I always liked the feeling of being in a theater with other people that are excited to see a new movie on a very big screen. I got a little of that last night. I did wear my mask the whole movie with the exception of eating, and I am sure I was one of few, but all in all it was a solid time.

I had fun, but I will say, with all the streaming channels and the ability to rent movies at home, I do not think I will return to the theaters in the future unless absolutely necessary. I have enjoyed having the choice to watch new movies in my own home on my own TV with my own snacks. I have learned a lot about myself during this still going pandemic and last night further hammered home my distaste for returning to the movie theater. It was fun, I had a good time, but I think I like watching movies from home now. That is my preferred choice for the time being.

Ty

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

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Let's Talk About How Great the Lighting is on "Inside"

I just finished watching Bo Burnham's special "Inside" for the third time.

I keep watching it for a few reasons.

One, it is awesome. It's truly one of the best pieces of art I have ever seen.

Two, I constantly find new things every time I view. There is always something new that interests me.

Three, the music is rad. Burnham is already a very funny singer and songwriter, but on "Inside", while the songs are still funny, it is like real, legit music. There are some really solid songs throughout the special. In watching today I noticed something else, and that is what I want to talk about. I swear this will be one of the last times I write about this special, but damn this thing is amazing, so I am not sorry actually.

When watching today I was super impressed with the way he uses lighting for this movie. It is really cool, really unique and totally different from most things I have watched in this same genre. When the special starts, the impressive light show begins. When he is doing the song "Content", he is just sitting in a dark room for about 45 seconds, and when he gets near the end of the song he looks up and there is a spinning disco ball reflecting lights on the wall. The reflection is coming from a headlamp he is wearing and it is super cool. It is dope the way he uses some very simple things to make a very cool visual. This continues throughout the special. The two "Bezos" songs he does have very rad and very different lights. The first one is a bit dark with a shadow. The second one is like watching a techno concert with some wild red objects reflecting off the wall. It is cool to see the way he switches it up on the two different tunes. When he does "All Eyes On Me", the dark room with light blue lights reflects not only the mood, but also his eyes and his white shirt. It makes for a somber look on a dark song, but that has to be what he was going for. It is perfect. The way he shoots the final song, going back and forth, with different images displayed on the screen, it is so awesome. I was completely blown away at how cool and ahead of its time the way he lights and edits the song. We see him in three different phases, and when the camera pans away at the end, the spotlight on him is too perfect. It reflects the mood so well. I also really enjoy the woodsy background he has when he plays "That Funny Feeling". The song sounds like it would be played on a camping trip, so making the background symbolize that, well done. The song that takes the cake in the lighting process is "30". This is my favorite song on the record and during the special. The way he lights it, uses lights and performs with the lights is second to none. When there is a clap, he moves his white light out and the whole room is lit. When he is singing the verse there are red and purple and blue clouds in the background. When he sings the chorus he moves that white light around his whole body which reflects shadows on the wall and it looks like I'm watching a live show. I am immediately transported back to a time when I went to live shows. But the best part is when he is singing the "my stupid friends are having stupid children" and there are three of his shadow, one in the middle and one on each side, that is some damn good art. It is neat and interesting. It makes me wonder how he does stuff like that. I'm sure it is easy for him, but for a rube like me, this is pretty amazing stuff to see.

I get more impressed every time I watch the special. I simply cannot recommend "Inside" enough. It is so god damn awesome, and there are always new things popping up with each new watch. Go check this thing 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 "Inside"

I will get to the NBA game 7's that happened this weekend later this week. But today I have to talk about the movie my wife and I watched on our quarantine date night this past Friday.

I know things are opening up, and more people are going back into the world, but not my wife and I. We are still staying at home most weekend nights, we have seen a few more friends, but they are all vaccinated, our kids do play sports, but I am masked and we still enjoy our new Friday date night routine. We still order from a local restaurant and we pick a movie to watch after our kids go to bed. This week was my turn and I picked the new Bo Burnham special "Inside". RD has told me to watch this. A friend of mine told me to watch this. I watched the trailer which made me want to watch this.

I will say, I am so happy RD and my buddy told me nothing about it, and the trailer is very vague. It is best to go into this thing not knowing what to expect. I absolutely adored this special. My wife wasn't as into it as I am, but she did like the music. My wife's problem, there wasn't enough comedy in it for her. I was absolutely blown away by what I witnessed. I keep calling it a "special", and not a "comedy special". My wife is right, it is not very comedic. There are jokes, some of the songs are funny, but this is more a piece of art posed as a comedy special.

When “Inside” starts we see Burnham in a room by himself. He goes on to explain that he is doing this special by himself. He wrote, directed, edited, arranged, he did everything on this project. He had one producer, but I have to assume that was after the fact. This is all Burnham. So to see the way he did this, how he did this, to see the background stuff, to see some of the outtakes, to see him going through a massive change in his emotions, I was floored. Seriously, I was moved by this special. The whole idea was to do a one hour comedy show, but with no audience and by himself. He does it with no audience and by himself, but it is so, so much more than comedy. At the beginning Burnham is unshaven and has shaggy hair. He then goes into his routine. His first song is a short and sweet pop groove called "Content". It is classic Burnham. He is hammy and jokey and pointing out everyday foibles. He then goes into some more songs and bits that follow his usual path. The song "Comedy" is such a great F U to people who think they are holier than thou. "Facetime with my Mom" is downright hilarious. It starts to get a little darker on "How the World Works", but I love that song. It is so true and so of the time and so needed. Socko is a genius. "White Woman's Instagram" kind of goes back to classic Burnham, but there is this moment of clarity when he talks about a girl posting a picture of her deceased mom and the caption accompanying it. It shows growth. "Unpaid Intern" is a hilarious bebop parody. He then shifts into a very of the time bit about doing a response video. My son watches stuff like this all the time, and Burnham nails it. When he plays it on that loop it is wild. The first "Bezos" song comes out of nowhere, and it is totally off the rails, but I loved it. Then we get "Sexting", and this is a very funny song about how people are intimate in modern times. It does end on a dreary note. Then we get "Problematic", and this is such a great song which shows Burnham is embarrassed and ashamed of some of his past bits. He is apologizing in his own way for what he has done. It is fantastic.

Then, right in the middle of the special we get a complete tonal shift. Burnham turns 30 during the special. He stops and talks about it and we even see a clock that reads 11:58. He talks about how he thought he would be done with this special before his birthday, but he is not. Then this gets dark. The whole thing changes, and it is amazing to watch. He performs the song "30", and it is such a perfect way of explaining how most of us accomplish almost nothing when we turn 30. Burnham says nearly everything I thought when I turned 30, but I did have a kid and married my wife prior to 30. At this point in the special Burnham's hair and beard are much longer and very unkempt. He is also wearing the same clothes day after day. He is clearly going through some stuff. And it is all on film. He does a great little tune called "Don't Wanna Know". It is all of his personal thoughts laid out. Then we get real depressing stuff, "Shit" and "All Time Low". These songs are about how he is feeling bad, how he is depressed and how he doesn't know if he will get out of this or not. The loneliness and solitude are clearly getting to him. Then there is this vaudeville esque song called "Welcome to the Internet". It is bleak and sad and gloomy and scary and 100 percent true. I do not know if a more apt lyric than "can I interest you in anything and everything all of the time" has ever been sung. We also get some bleak bits in this portion where Burnham pretends to stream a game that is just him crying and barely moving, him posing with a knife and doing a YouTube-esque subscribe video. He is also clearly losing it when he talks to the camera and cannot get the words out without punching his leg. He is frustrated and losing his grip. There is a second "Bezos" song that is more bizarre than the first, but again, it slaps. Then he plays an acoustic guitar and sings a song called "That Funny Feeling". If this were sung by someone like Father John Misty or Conor Oberst from Bright Eyes, people would call it genius. Burnham nails this impression, and the song is so good. He then breaks down on camera. He starts crying and it goes black. Then he performs "All Eyes on Me". This is the quintessential portion of this special. This is Burnham letting it all out, really going for it and really just letting his mental stuff take hold. Again, it is bleak and brutal, but it hits so many chords. It hits so many feelings that all of us have had during this pandemic. He then closes it out with "Goodbye" and "Any Day Now". Both songs touch on things from earlier in the special, and they kind of wrap it all up. We also see Burnham finally step outside and a fake audience is clapping and cheering for him. This turns into laughter and he is terrified by it. He wants back inside. But then we see him watching this bit and a shy smile comes across his face and it ends.

Look, I was completely and utterly blown away by this. I have never seen anything like it. I think it is the best representation of life during this pandemic. Burnham absolutely nails every aspect of it. He hits a homerun with every song and every bit. It is perfect. I have watched it twice now and been listening to the music on Spotify. This is one of the best pieces of art that I have been able to witness. I do not know what Burnham was trying to achieve or get out of this. but man did he do something that I will never forget. "Inside" is genius. Of course I think you should watch it.

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 "Nobody"

Date night this past Friday was my turn to pick the movie, and I decided on “Nobody”.

I have been wanting to watch "Nobody" since I first saw the trailer a few months back. I love Bob Oedenkirk, I love the "John Wick" movies, I'm not a violent person but I do love violent movies and I like short, 90 minute movies. The only problem was the fact that it only came out in theaters first. I am not ready for theaters, not yet, so this bummed me out. Then, while still living with my folks, I saw that it was going to be on On Demand very soon. When it finally made its appearance, I was more than ready to rent it, and we did.

Right away, I love this movie. I watched it both days we had it on rental. It wasn't because I missed anything, or because I wanted to find some easter eggs, I just wanted to see it again for the pure joy this movie gave me. It was exactly what I was hoping for too. When I heard about it first I was nervous that they were going to go full "John Wick '' and make it a serious violent gangster/assassin movie. And while it has a ton of violence in it, the body count has got to be in the triple digits, this movie was different in tone from "John Wick". This movie doesn't take itself as serious. There is humor. There are legitimate funny moments. I was chuckling at scenes here and there. Even the violent stuff, like the fight on the bus, has some great internal monologue that made me laugh. That is what I wanted from "Nobody". I wanted the violence, but I also wanted some laughs.

Then we have Bob Oedenkirk. Man, he was awesome. There were other solid performances, the RZA and Christopher Lloyd were great, and the villain was a bad, bad dude. But Oedenkirk absolutely owns this movie. In doing some online research, and confirmed by my wife's online research, Oedenkirk had an incident where there was a home invasion, and he thought how he would have acted if he were a badass. That is the movie. His family gets robbed, and he doesn't take action. We come to find out that was a good thing because he has a checkered past, where he is a bad dude. Well, he isn't a bad guy, he takes care of the bad guys that other people do not want to deal with. He tried to get away from that life, hence being a family man and working a crummy job. But when he cannot find his daughter's kitty cat bracelet, there is some of the humor for you, that is what pushes him over the edge. He then gets into this kick ass fight scene on a bus, and we find out one of the dudes he beat the hell out of is related to a real bad bad guy. This is the villain I mentioned before. This throws Oedenkirk, his name is Hutch Mansell in the movie, directly back into his old life, and we learn so much cool stuff about his past. The scene in the tattoo parlor rules. The bus scene, this is the third time I have mentioned it, is incredible. When the villain sends his goons to his home, that is awesome. And that final battle scene, that is one of the best fight scenes I have seen in a movie in sometime. I saw someone online say that that scene was like if "John Wick" married "Home Alone". There is crazy violence, crazy fight stuff, Lloyd and the RZA come to help him out and there are a ton of booby traps and self created weapons Hutch did at his place of work. It is awesome.

"Nobody" rules. It was exactly what I wanted. It more than lived up to the hype. This new career path Oedenkirk is on is not only earned, but so so awesome. I highly recommend this movie. It is tremendous.

Ty

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

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Better Late than Never on the Documentary "Icarus"

Now that I am back in my home I have been starting to catch up on shows and movies that I didn't watch while living with my folks. Yesterday I watched one of these movies, "Icarus", and I am here to talk about it.

I saw this movie on a ton of lists that centered around the best sports movies currently on streaming devices. The picture they had on most sites had a bike rider with some kind of wild oxygen face mask on, which made it all the more alluring to me. Then I read a brief synopsis of this movie which simply stated that the movie was about a bike rider deciding, for the sake of science, to try doping for six months to see how much better he could do, and some wild stuff happens from there. This was more than enough to check all of my boxes. So I had the time yesterday afternoon to watch and I did.

I loved it. “Icarus” was not like what I was expecting at all. The director, who is also the writer and star, is the bike rider. He is the one that decided to try PEDS. And the first forty minutes of this movie are all about him doing that and preparing for a very big amateur bike race coming up. All of that was very interesting. I was enamored with that whole storyline. I am a runner who runs races, but the stuff this guy does, Bryan Fogel, is way more intense and way more serious than anything type of trail or road race I have done. The guys he competes against are just on the cusp of the Tour de France. These dudes are the real deal. So is Fogel. He finished 14th in this super tough race before he decided to dope for science sake. Then to see him go through the whole doping regimen, that was wild. He was going to do the program with one certain doctor, but he opted to send him to a different doctor, a scientist from Moscow, who is one of the biggest cheats in athletic competition history, and was responsible for almost all of the gold medals that Russia won in the Sochi Winter Olympics. He knows how to mess up tests, how to cheat the system, so these athletes that use PEDs do not get caught. So for forty minutes, we get a great insight in this doctor/scientist method. It is nuts. Fogel does all this stuff, and shows it bare bones and all. It is rough stuff. What made it worse was, he finished further back after using PEDs for six months. He went from 14th to 27th. It could have been because of bike issues, that other racers have been using for years, that he didn't feel as well or all of this combined.

Later we see that Fogel's experiment did not work the way he wanted. I thought the movie would pivot into Fogel and the Russian doctor trying something else, or continuing on the program and doing it yearly. It did not. The movie suddenly turns into this geopolitical thriller. We get the ins and outs of why Russia had so many athletes banned from the 2016 Rio Olympics. I remember hearing that Russia was banned for PEDs, and I thought nothing of it. It just seemed like a bunch of cheaters finally got caught, and they were going to have to pay a price. It seemed karmic. But to see where this movie took us, the insight into how bad, and how deep the cheating goes, how long it has gone on, how the Russian government has covered it up, it was intriguing. I mean, PEDs are seemingly everywhere, especially in the Olympics, but what Russia was doing, and may still be doing, was on a whole other level. And to get this doctor/scientist side of the story, it was amazing. He risks his life. A friend of his who spoke out suddenly died of a "heart attack". The Russian doctor had to go into hiding. He had to go into witness protection. His wife and kids have to bear the brunt of the Russian police, or KGB, who is now known as the FSB. They are ruthless. But what was most fascinating to me was to see the doctor spill his guts. He holds nothing back, nothing at all. He names names, calls out the cheaters, calls himself out for doing what he did, it is all laid out on the table. It is truly incredible to see him do what he did, both the good and the bad. And for Fogel to be there every step of the way, that took guts.

I loved this movie. It takes a turn almost halfway through, but man does that turn payoff. There is a reason this movie won an Oscar for best documentary. Check this movie out. 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 "Golden Arm"

For date night this past Friday my wife and I watched the movie “Golden Arm”. This was my choice. I have wanted to see this movie for awhile. I am a big fan of the actors in this movie, and I was pumped that some of them were finally given a chance to shine.

I love Betsy Sodaro, and the first place I heard about this movie was via her Instagram. She, to me, is the leading star of the movie, and she nails it. She is so good. She’s so funny, but also has some very nice, very tender moments. She really takes the reins of this movie, and she is more than worth the price of admission. She has the best lines, the best jokes, the best flashback scene and she carries this whole movie. From the opening moment where she is arm wrestling in a dive bar, to the end when she is her best friend’s coach, she absolutely nails it. She was amazing.

Mary Holland plays her best friend, and she too is very good in the movie. She plays a down on her luck bakery owner, but she has a past with Sodaro and arm wrestling. I mentioned that flashback scene, she and Sodaro are college roommates, they’re both dressed goth and Holland wins all their matches, giving her the right to choose where they get dinner. She has what is known as the Golden Arm in arm wrestling circles. Sodaro goes and finds Holland because she’s broken her wrist and can’t arm wrestling in the big tournament. She tricks her into closing her shop for a bit so they can go on the road and Sodaro can see if she still has the magic. She does. They end up at some dive bar in middle America and Holland has to arm wrestle to win their money back. She tentatively agrees, then wins and that’s when Sodaro knows she still has the gift. This scene also features a great cameo from Kate Flannery, who you all may know as Meredith from the American “Office”. It was hilarious.

From this scene on out the movie follows typical sports movies clichés, but that is what I love about sports movies. They meet a trainer, Big Sexy played by Dot Marie Jones. She is the typical trainer that sees a no one, but gets the best out of her. My only critique is that I wanted more Big Sexy in this movie. She’s great. We get some great comedic scenes from Ron Funches. He and Sodaro have a past, their soft, sexual talking is a riot and he crushes as the big event’s announcer. Eugene Cordero gets to be the love interest to Holland, and he’s great. He’s funny and sweet. The baseball field scene with him and Holland is fantastic. Aparna Nancherla only has one scene, but it’s hilarious and memorable. And Olivia Stambouliah as the villain Bone Crusher, is phenomenal. She’s ominous and scary, but also very goofy and funny.

Overall, this is Mary Holland and Betsy Sodaro’s movie, and they make it great. I had a fantastic time while watching. It’s a breezy 90 minutes, and fun too. Also, when the two leads do their Robert Deniro impressions, holy cow is that hilarious. Of course I recommend this movie. “Golden Arm” is a gem.

Ty

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

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"Rogue One" Is the Greatest Star Wars Movie Ever

In honor of Star Wars day, which is kind of wild that May 4th has become Star Wars day, but whatever, I want to talk about what I think is the best Star Wars movie.

I kind of combed through every one of them in the past day. I went back and tried to remember which ones I liked and disliked. And since it is so recent, my daughter is only five, it was easier than I thought. And before I reveal my pick, I am only talking about movies. I never watched any of the cartoons, and while I really enjoy "The Mandalorian" that does not count as a movie to me. Those are out of the conversation, so calm down nerds.

With that caveat, my favorite Star Wars movie, the one that I think is better than all the other ones is "Rogue One''. I just like the whole overall feel of this movie as compared to the other Star Wars movies. I think there are better movies, "Empire Strikes Back" and "Force Awakens" comes to mind, but I like "Rogue One" more. I also think a movie like "Solo" is funnier and more upbeat, but I prefer "Rogue One". "Return of the Jedi" and "A New Hope" are all time classics, but I'd pick "Rogue One" before both of them. As for the prequels, just forget about them all completely. Those movies are trash, so there is no need to mention them. And I do enjoy the other new movies, the JJ Abrams ones, and I am confused by the internet hate for them, but I still would rather watch "Rogue One". I like war movies so maybe that is a reason why this one resonates so much for me.

I also think the Darth Vader scene at the end is the best use of Vader in any Star Wars movies, full stop. That is like a horror scene. That was like when Jason Voorhies would claim his victims in "Friday the 13th", or when John Wick goes on a rampage in the "John Wick" franchise. It was that brutal. He is just erasing dudes with his lightsaber. It is the best representation of how evil Vader can be. I know he has moments in the other movies that make him seem human, but not in "Rogue One". He is a murderer hell bent on destruction. I very much appreciate that about his character in "Rogue One". It shows his truly evil side.

The rest of the movie is as good as "Saving Private Ryan" or "Apocalypse Now" or any other classic war movie. It has some great strategy scenes. The fight scenes are great throughout, to go along with the Vader scene. The actors do an exceptional job. The movie has this quiet uneasiness about it that I have come to really love in movies about war.

What sets this one apart from all the other Star Wars movies for me, what makes it the top of the heap, the good guys do not win in the end. Pretty much every character dies in this movie except Vader. They are either killed in battle or they sacrifice themselves. That is what happens in war, and this movie doesn't Disney-ify that aspect. They show it all. It is raw and seems real. The fact that we are left with that Vader scene as the last thing hammers home the point of this movie, which I believe to be, that no one wins when you fight a war. Everyone suffers some way or another. That is why "Rogue One" is hands down the best Star Wars movie on the market. I could watch this movie over and over again and never get bored with it. It is one of a kind in this universe, and if you decided you want to start watching Star Wars late in life like I did, this would be the one I would suggest to start your journey.

So, for this Star Wars day, go ahead and check out "Rogue One" if you want to watch a movie. It is the cream of the crop.

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 "Mortal Kombat"

I watched “Mortal Kombat” this afternoon. As you all know well by now I was very pumped to see this movie. The game was taboo when I was a kid, the first movie was kind of blah, later iterations of the game were rad, and this new movie had pretty much everything in its corner to be epic.

Sadly, it is not.

This movie is very cheesy and not very good. I am pretty bummed. I wanted to love this movie, but I just cannot think of more than one character in this whole movie that I actually liked. There were also times that I scoffed, complained how cheesy it was and just found myself bored. I cannot believe it. The first seven minutes of this movie, I wrote about it last week, were great. There were stakes, the fight scenes were dope and the actors nailed everything they did. Then it was just downhill from there for me. There was a quick explanation of what the world has become, and boom, we are introduced to the main character, Cole. The guy who played him was fine, but man he was just a cliché through and through. He’s an older fighter, he doesn’t know why he’s been picked to fight in this other dimensional tournament, he leaves his training, but finds a reason to go back. It is a story lifted right from a bad 80’s movie. Jax, who was my favorite fighter in the video game, doesn’t get enough screen time, and when he’s there, his lines are nonsense. His battle with Sub Zero, more on him in a minute, was rad, and his battle scene at the end had the best fatality, but every other time he’s on screen it’s very blah. Sonya should’ve had a much better backstory, and they could’ve delved deeper into her reason for being here, but they don’t. Her story is all wrapped up way too quick. Kano is an asshole through and through. He could’ve been the comic relief, but he was way too much of a jackass. He has zero redeeming qualities. The “bad guys” from the Other World were all stupid, except for Sub Zero. The two lady fighters have as little brevity as Sonya. One of them is in two scenes, and she gets brutally murdered. The other one was pretty sinister, but she gets zero backstory. We know literally nothing about her, other than she likes blood. The four armed monster looked cool, but that’s it. The iron lung guy was more of a dick than Kano. The dude with the sledgehammer has no lines, and he gets his head exploded by Jax, one of the cooler scenes. And the main baddy, he is so much of a cliché that I groaned whenever he spoke. When Raiden, who was solid in this movie, banished him, I said out loud to no one, “thank goodness”.

On the good side, Sub Zero and Scorpion were the only two characters I cared about at all. They had the best fight scenes. They had the best stories. I would watch an entire movie just about the two of them. That would’ve made for a far better movie. Sub Zero is a great, great villain. He was the only one, well he and Scorpion, that I actually liked. I enjoyed their scenes. I was worried every time Sub Zero was on screen. His visual effects were the best. They should’ve done a series of movies, or a TV show about each character individually. That would’ve been so much better.

The makers of “Mortal Kombat” just tried to stuff too much into a 90 minute movie. And that ending scene, with Cole, that was rough. I really do not want them to make a sequel, especially one focused on Johnny Cage, who was lame as hell in the video game. Just make a stand alone Sub Zero origin movie. I’d much rather watch that. Sub Zero and the fight scenes were good, but everything else was pretty bad in this movie. I wish I was wrong. I wish this was better. But oh boy is this movie a clunker in my opinion. And that really stinks.

Ty

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

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I'm So Ready to See "Mortal Kombat"

The other day the internet did one of the few good things it does nowadays, and the people behind the new "Mortal Kombat" movie released the first seven minutes of the movie for free. I immediately watched it, then I watched it three more times after that. I am so very excited to see this movie. I am going to Columbia for a race this weekend so I will not be able to watch it the day it releases, but I will have watched it by early next week. That much I can promise you all.

As for now, that first seven minutes has only made me more excited to see the movie. Now, back in the 90's they tried to do video game movies, and not many of them were watchable. Hell, pretty much all of them were downright awful. I know RD likes "Street Fighter", but even he says it is a guilty pleasure. The "Super Mario Bros" movie is a total dumpster fire. And I feel like, and I could definitely be very wrong, but I am pretty sure they tried to make a "Mortal Kombat" movie, and it stunk (ed note: They made two, and the first one is terribly good with a great techno soundtrack). The problem I have found as I have gotten older is all the video game movies from the 90's wanted to appeal to kids and teenagers, so they went for the PG, or in some very rare cases, a PG-13 rating. That takes away all the fun of the video game. I get that the studios wanted to make money, wanted to appeal to a mass audience, but to not go for the R, or even a hard R, that was their downfall. Those movies were doomed to fail. From what I saw in the first seven minutes of the new "Mortal Kombat" movie, it is a very hard R. It is "Deadpool", but with more violence.

The part that was released shows a humongous body count already and some of the most kickass choreography for fight scenes that I have seen in a movie since "John Wick 3". Then add on the fact that the guy who plays Scorpion loses his wife and son, Sub Zero freezes them and puts a frozen dagger through Scorpion's wife, which makes him hungry for revenge, adds some backstory to this movie. The way he dismisses the assassins that are sent to get him is amazing. I was astonished, while also exclaiming, "that was almost too much blood". I rarely have visceral reactions at movies, and this little portion already gave me one. That is a good sign for me as a movie watcher. I also liked seeing Sub Zero before he was in his fighting suit. I liked seeing the origin of Scorpion's dagger that he throws at people while saying, "GET OVER HERE". Apparently, according to this movie, it is his wife's gardening tool that he uses as his weapon of choice, which is rad. And this portion that was released only showed us two of the, I believe, eight main characters that will be fighting each other in this upcoming movie. There are four bad people and four good people. A nice equal competition.

My main takeaway from this was how good the movie looks overall. The writers seemed to have crafted a story that is easy to follow, and one that is interesting. The choreography, which I mentioned, is like watching a very violent ballet. The actors seem legit. They can act, and they can fight. That rules to me. And there seems to be some kind of brevity, something the good guys will be fighting for.

I am so amped to see this movie. I really cannot wait. I hope the rest lives up to the seven minutes I have already seen. But at this point it would have to be a real dud for me not to find it, at the very least, highly enjoyable. Go check out the video on the internet right now, and if you plan on watching it this opening weekend, and are a friend or family member of mine, do not spoil it for me. I'm going to watch it ASAP. I hope this movie lives up to the hype. The early signs are that it will, and that is good news.

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 "Godzilla vs Kong"

Based on RD's high recommendation, and seeing the positive feedback the movie got online, my wife and I watched "Godzilla vs Kong" on our Friday date night. This was her pick too. I am not a Godzilla guy. I do like King Kong, and I have enjoyed most of the movies they have made about the ape, but I was by no means psyched to see the new movie. I have been fooled by the whole "versus" franchise. "Alien Vs Predator" was not good. At all. I did not watch "Freddy vs Jason" because I thought even the trailers looked dull. I guess monsters, or bad guys, facing off is not that big of a deal to me. But much like RD, my wife does enjoy monster movies, and she was pretty excited to watch. So we did and I have some thoughts.

First, I enjoyed parts of the movie. It was exactly what I thought it was going to be, and that was good. I liked that I could actually see the monsters. Even when they fought at night time, the scene was lit so we could see the monsters in full. I also thoroughly enjoyed the battle scenes, especially the final battle scene. I liked the built in relationship Kong had with the scientist and the little girl that the scientist watched over. I thought Brian Tyree Henry was solid in what is a very different role for him. And the monsters themselves, they looked great and the motion capture stuff was done very well. Godzilla and Kong looked as realistic as ever. Spoiler alert, Mechagodzilla was totally rad. I loved the look of this robotic monster. When Kong would fight something other than Godzilla, I loved the ripping apart and drinking of their juices, mainly from the animal's head. Seeing Godzilla swim in the ocean was very cool. The stuff that this movie got right, they nailed.

I do also have a few, minor complaints. I did not need the story lines they shoehorned in this movie. As much as I enjoyed Tryee Henry, his whole thing with Millie Bobby Brown and the kid from "Hunt for the Wilderpeople", both actors who I really enjoy, was pretty pointless. Also, the stuff with Millie Bobby Brown and Kyle Chandler held zero weight with me. Maybe I needed to see the previous "Godzilla" movie to be more involved, but I didn't. And their whole thing was totally pointless to me. And the stuff with Kong, the scientist and the young deaf girl and the Skarsgaard guy and the girl from "Baby Driver", really nonessential to what I wanted from this movie. Yeah it was cool that Kong learned to sign from the little girl, and the world the scientist created for Kong was dope, I quite frankly could have cared less about any of them. Also, for as solid an actor as Skarsgaard is, his whole storyline was completely pointless. And to give him a hero moment was very blah to me. I also did not care for the villains. The two guys that created Mechagodzilla were so cliché and so scenery chewy and just, again, nonessential to what I wanted to watch in this movie. I also wanted all of the movie, the whole hour and 40 minutes to just be a fight between monsters. They gave me that for 40 minutes at the end. But to have to wade through back stories, some new stories and stuff like Hollow Earth, I just did not care at all about any of that. I get why the writers and director added it, it just felt unneeded to me. But, the movie is totally redeemed in that last 40 minutes, and the few fights we get between Godzilla and Kong in the first hour. For a movie that is based in total science fiction, and wild fights between behemoth monsters, they delivered tenfold in that final 40 minutes. That was more than enough for me to recommend this movie. That battle scene at the end is so awesome and so cool and I found myself heavily involved when the main monsters were fighting each other. The movie is also a breeze to watch. It is less than two hours, and for a movie of this magnitude, I appreciate the hell out of that.

So yes, watch "Godzilla vs Kong". The fight scenes are more than 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 "Bad Trip"

This past Friday was my turn to pick the movie for date night with my wife. We have managed to keep this up while we are staying with my folks, and it has been great. We go down in our room, close the door and my parents hang with the kids until we put them to bed. Awesome. So since it was my turn, and I have been in a comedy mood lately, I picked the movie "Bad Trip".

Now, a few things. I am a big time Eric Andre fan, my wife is not. I liked almost every iteration of "Jackass", my wife did not. I am a big fan of prank movies, my wife only likes a hand selected few. I was in dangerous territory, at least I thought. I picked the movie because I really wanted to see it. I have been wanting to see it since I saw the trailer. This was a movie, in pre COVID times, that I would have watched in a theater. And add in the fact that Lil Rel Howery and Tiffany Haddish were in it with Andre, I was fully on board. Obviously the movie did not make it to many theaters, but it was purchased by Netflix. So, I clicked on it and fully expected to love it, and fully expected my wife to be bored by it.

Well, we both loved it. This movie is absolutely hilarious. The fact that they were able to pull this off is amazing. That they could stage these pranks on unsuspecting people, people that did not know a movie was being made, incredible. Then to add a coherent story, a tip of the hat to everyone involved. The moment I knew that my wife was in, that she was going to enjoy herself, was when Andre appeared out of a bathtub to an unsuspecting plumber and he got freaked out. She was cackling, I was howling and she said, "this movie right here, this is my kind of prank movie!". I was even more smitten than I thought I could be with her. From there on out the movie is wild. The pranks are nuts. The people being pranked are very real getting pranked. They don't suspect a thing. We have the plumber, but there is oh so much more. They do a whole song and dance number in a mall that is wild. The stuff in the juice bar is great. When Howery and Andre steal Haddish's car, the guy working behind the counter just lets it happen.

The story of “Bad Trip” is a simple one too, but I should mention it. Andre and Howery are life long friends that are stuck in their middling jobs in podunk Florida. Andre's high school crush comes into the juice bar one day and invites him to her gallery opening in New York and he decides he needs to go and bring Howery with him. Haddish is Howery's older sister who has been in and out of jail and they take her car to New York. She tries to track them down. All the while these pranks are being played. There is a scene where Howery gets stuck in a porta potty that was outrageous. Andre and Howery get their members stuck in a finger trap. Haddish steals a cop car by ripping the door off the hinges. She fights people who will not give her any info she needs. At one point they superimposed a gentleman into a picture with Howery and Andre, and her interaction with this man is gold. Andre and Howery go to a country bar in the deep south and they are the only two African Americans there. Some hilarity ensues while they are at said bar, and a lot of it has to do with alcohol. The zoo stuff, that was just wrong and hilarious at the same time. This movie was everything I hoped it would be. I mean the very first scene involves Andre getting his clothes ripped off by a car vacuum cleaner, and he convinces the patron to give him his sweatshirt and to try and get a phone number for him. That is quintessential Eric Andre stuff.

I have nothing but good things to say about this movie. Yes it is cheesy and weird and goofy, but it is supposed to be. It is better than any "Jackass" movie in my opinion as well. This movie works. It is short and fast. It is hilarious. And it is coherent. Check this movie out. I think it will give Eric Andre the much needed respect he deserves for the humor her does, and Howery and Haddish totally commit to their roles. I loved it and I think you will too.

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 "Coming 2 America"

For date night this week my wife picked "Coming 2 America".

Two weeks ago we watched the original movie because she had never seen it, and she enjoyed herself so much that she wanted to watch the sequel. This worked out well for me because, as a big fan of the original, of course I wanted to watch the second one. Eddie Murphy is also on some kind of come back tour, if he even needed one. "Dolemite is My Name" was one of the better movies I saw last year, and he crushed when he finally came back to host "SNL". It seems like he is finally having fun again being funny. He isn't doing the family comedy stuff or the big paycheck stuff. He is more in a "Tower Heist" groove, a very underrated movie I might add, and that is the perfect Eddie Murphy mood for me. He is so funny, and when he has really good material to work with, he usually crushes it. And I did not care at all what the critics were saying about the movie. I know it didn't get the best marks, but hey, neither did "Hot Rod", or the myriad of movies RD and I talked about on the pod a few weeks back, and I like those movies very much.

This is the category "Coming 2 America" falls into for me, the "Hot Rod" category. I had an absolutely delightful one hour and forty minutes watching this movie. There were call backs that were great. They had everyone who is still alive from the original in the sequel. Arsenio Hall was dynamite as Semi, and all the heavily made-up characters he played. I loved the newer character he played, the old man that lives in Zamunda, that guides Prince Akeem after his father passes. I could say the same for Eddie Murphy. Prince Akeem is a classic, but so is the sexist minister and the barber and the infamous singer from Queens. Murphy returned all these characters, and they all made me laugh just like I did when I first saw "Coming to America". Murphy really nails this, or these, roles. Shari Headley, as Lisa, is just as strong and confident and beautiful and proud as she was in the original. James Earl Jones, in his maybe five minutes of screen time, was awesome. His funeral was one of the silliest, yet saddest, and most choreographed things I have ever seen in a movie, and I loved every single second of it.

In the movie, Akeem and Lisa have three daughters, one of which is played by Murphy's real life daughter. They are all strong willed, tough and have the best qualities of their mom and dad. The oldest daughter, Meeka, played by KiKi Layne is almost a replica of her father from the original movie, except she may be tougher. Her story arc is one of my favorite things about this whole movie. She was awesome. They even brought back John Amos, Louie Anderson, Clint Smith and Paul Bates to reprise their roles from the first movie. It was nice to see them all acting and all doing a great job in these very memorable roles. The new additions were excellent as well.

The main story of the movie is that Akeem has a son who was fathered while he was in Queens in the first movie. He is the rightful heir, so Akeem and Semi go back to retreat him. The son is played by Jermaine Fowler. His name is Lavelle. I am a Jermaine Fowler fan. I loved his role in "Sorry to Bother You", he was one of the only things I liked in Pete Holmes' HBO show, "Superior Donuts" was decent because of him, and he does a great job in this movie. For him to keep pace with Arsenio Hall and Eddie Murphy is a triumph on its own. Add on that this movie also put Leslie Jones in it, as his mom, Tracy Morgan, as his uncle and Luenell as his aunt, and he kept up with all of them. Leslie Jones was hysterical, and she made me laugh any time she was on screen. She is so consistent. Luenell is quietly hilarious in everything she does. And Tracy Morgan, he is my favorite actor of all time, and Fowler kept up with all of them. This had to be a dream for him. They also put Morgan Freeman in this movie as the narrator at the funeral, and that ruled. Trevor Noah was a newscaster from Zamunda, and he was great, and so was his fake mustache. And Wesley Snipes, much like he did in "Dolemite is My Name", nearly stole the show as the rival king from Nextdooria, a great name by the way.

Look, this movie works on a few different levels. It is great nostalgia, it is fun, it gives Eddie Murphy another starring role, it gives some up and comers a real chance and it allows great comedic actors to do funny things over and over again. This movie is good. I definitely would ignore the critics reviews and check this movie out. It is more than 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 "Promising Young Woman"

For date night this past week I chose the movie "A Promising Young Woman" for my wife and I to watch. I hadn't heard much about the movie, but Adam Brody was on "Comedy Bang! Bang!" promoting a different movie, and Scott Aukermann mentioned how much he liked "A Promising Young Woman", and how cool he thought it was that some comedy actors had bit parts in the movie. That piqued my interest. Then my wife kept talking about how much she wanted to see it. Then it got nominated for a bunch of Oscars. I was already getting on board, and then all this other stuff put it over the top for me. So we rented it on Amazon and watched.

We both loved it. This movie does have some comedic elements to it, but make no mistake, this is a thriller. And Carey Mulligan is so good as the lead actor. I bought her from moment one. The movie, no spoilers, is about a lady who loses a friend, and then kind of goes on a revenge tour in her honor. We come to realize that the friend was assaulted, and she is turning the pages on guys, and messing with their heads. This is where some of the comedy actors show up. Brody plays a guy at a bar that picks her up and brings her back to his house. You think he is being nice, but it is all a ruse to get her more drunk and take advantage of her. But this is what she wants. She wants these guys to think they are in the clear, that they can take advantage of her, and then she reveals that she is not drunk, and chastises these assholes for the punks and scum they are. It is great. She does this same thing to Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Sam Richardson. She does start to date a gentleman in the movie, a very solid performance from Bo Burnham, but that has quite the twist in the end as well. Laverne Cox is very good in this movie too as her overbearing but well meaning boss and only friend. Molly Shannon is very good in her very small role too.

All the acting is great. but this is a tour de force from Mulligan. She is so goddamn good in this movie. The way she manipulates these low lifes, the stuff she lets them get away with before calling them out, the thing she does to the dean of her college, Mulligan pulls it off so well. There were moments where I was like, damn she is cold blooded, but then I remembered why she is doing what she's doing, and I am instantly back on her side. Even when she tries to give it up, to move on if you will, that's when things kind of crumble in her everyday world, and she goes on a truly vengeful trip after that. But that works in her favor. She finds a bachelor party of the guys who did horrible things to her friends, and that is when she takes over. Even when it looks like she may have been had, she finds a way to turn the tables in the best possible way. Mulligan more than deserves her Oscar nomination. She is that good in this movie. I also like the message of the movie. Hopefully some frat boy idiots will see it and think twice before they try to take advantage of a seemingly drunk person. I love the way they did the thriller stuff in the movie too. There is no jump scares or blood or gore, it is all mental, and it still has me shook and thinking about it almost five days later.

I highly recommend this movie. Watch it for Mulligan's performance alone, and in doing that, I think you will really end up liking the movie, or at the very least it will leave you thinking about it. This movie is good. Watch it.

Ty

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

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Ty Talks About the Biggest 2021 Oscar Nomination Snubs

Every year the Oscars seem to get something wrong, and I’m including winners and nominations. It happens all the time. “Inside Llewyn Davis” got nothing its year. “Moonlight” almost got screwed by “La La Land”. “Crash” won best picture. So did “The Artist”. This is a thing. But this year the snubs seem a little more apparent. There are a good amount too. Let’s discuss.

Regina King deserved a best director nom. So did Aaron Sorkin. Eddie Redmayne and the guy that plays Dr Manhattan on the TV adaptation of “Watchmen” should have been nominated for “Trial of the Chicago 7”. Daniel Kaluuya got a supporting actor nom, but it should be leading actor. The fact that Glenn Close got nominated for “Hillbilly Elegy” is insane. She was also nominated for a Razzie for the very same role. I think that’s the first time that have ever happened. All these snubs suck. Yet there are three blatant snubs in this go around that are so hard to ignore.

The fact that “Da 5 Bloods”, Delroy Lindo and Spike Lee are not even nominated is insane. The movie may be kind of scattershot, it may jump time a bit too much and it’s a little overlong, but it definitely deserves a nomination. For its faults, it’s still a very well made movie with a very good story. It is essentially an updated version of “Treasure of the Sierra Madre”, only better. The academy opened it up to ten movies eligible to be nominated and they only put in eight this year. The ones I’ve seen are good, and I’m sure so are the others. But come on, throw “Da 5 Bloods” in there. It is more than deserving.

I’m even more shocked that Delroy Lindo didn’t get a nom. He is wonderful and insane and scary and excellent and so memorable in this role. I was taken aback at how great his performance was. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. I didn’t agree with his character’s point of view, but that was the point. Every time I think of that movie I think of him. Even more so than Chadwick Boseman, who was excellent as well. Lindo, much like the movie, should be nominated. It’s nuts that he isn’t. They could’ve easily replaced Anthony Hopkins with Lindo. I haven’t seen Hopkins movie, but he’s had his time. Now it’s Lindo’s turn. I’d also rather have Lindo in there in place of Gary Oldman. I haven’t seen “Mank”, and I don’t plan to, not a fan of “Citizen Kane”. I’d go as far to say that Lindo was better in his movie than Oldman was in his. Lindo may be the biggest snub.

Also, what does Spike Lee have to do to get an award? He didn’t direct just one great movie this year either. He also directed “David Byrne’s American Utopia”, and that could’ve gotten a best picture and director nom as well. Spike Lee is a preeminent director, yet he seems to always get passed over. It’s frustrating. The fact that he’s only been nominated five times, with only one win for adapted screenplay, is criminal. He should’ve won for “Do the Right Thing”. He should’ve been nominated for “He Got Game”. He got Ray Allen to give him a solid performance. “Inside Man” is one of the most underrated movies in history. I could say the same for “25th Hour”. “Kings of Comedy” is a crucial stand up comedy movie for people my age. And “Crooklyn” is quietly awesome. “Da 5 Bloods” and “American Utopia” are better than all these movies, save “Do the Right Thing”. If I were Spike Lee I’d be pissed off. This happens to him far, far too much. As much as I loved Lindo in “Da 5 Bloods”, I think Lee is the biggest snub of anyone that was eligible for an Oscar. I’m sure this sounds like whining, and I’m sure “Mank” is going to win everything because Hollywood loves movie about Hollywood, but come on. Give people the credit they deserve.

“Da 5 Bloods”, Delroy Lindo and Spike Lee were the biggest snubs. That is a fact.

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 Sound of Metal"

Tuesday mornings have become my time to catch up on movies that I have wanted to watch, and haven't gotten around to for one reason or the other. This morning while both my kids were at school I watched "Sound of Metal". Let’s discuss.

This movie has been on my radar for awhile now. And, last night when my wife and I watched an episode of "The Boys", the ad beforehand was for the movie. I said right then that I was going to watch it this morning. I did and I was blown away.

“The Sound of Metal” is one of the better movies I have seen in quite some time. It is also very sad and dire and gut wrenching, but kind of uplifting near the end. For those that may not know, "Sound of Metal" is about a drummer in a heavy metal band that loses his hearing, and the trials and tribulations he faces when he realizes he is losing his hearing. Riz Ahmed plays the drummer, his name is Ruben, and he is amazing. His performance is right up there with Daniel Kaluuya from "Judas and the Black Messiah", and Delroy Lindo from "Da 5 Bloods". He is also better than Sacha Baron Cohen from "Trial of the Chicago 7". The difference here is, Ahmed plays a fictional character. He and Lindo are the only two that do that. Cohen is exceptional as Abbie Hoffman, and Kaluuya is magnetic as Fred Hampton. I come from the school that thinks awards should be given to original characters, and not someone playing a real person. This year is the exception, because Kaluuya is so great, but Ahmed is right up there too. He is tremendous. I fully bought in and believed he was Ruben and he was going deaf. Ahmed played the role to absolute perfection. He is also a recovering addict, and he pulled that off as well. He showed the grief and terror and frustration and willingness to do what he felt he wanted to do so well. The first couple scenes, when you can watch him begin to lose his hearing is relatable. He is trying to unplug his ears thinking that they may be popped. Or he tries to clean them out. All of the stuff we all do when our ears feel weird. When that doesn't work, he skirts getting the problem checked out because he has a show that night. The show is not great, and the lead singer of the band, and his girlfriend, exceptionally played by Olivia Cook, notice something is wrong. He gets help from a doctor, and this doctor sends him to a place for addicts that happen to be deaf. The scenes that take place here are wonderful and sad and touching and moving all at once. From when he first gets there, he doesn't want to be there, he feels it is a waste of time, to him figuring out sign language, to him helping the staff and students, and even him leaving to go get surgery, it is played and shot so well. Even with the surgery, spoiler alert, which doesn't work out like he hoped, it is done perfectly. I think what helps it work so well is how they use sound in this movie. This movie goes from very loud to silent to small noises, and at times, it hurts to listen. But this was done on purpose. The writers and director want us to go through this journey with Ruben. They want us to feel the things he feels. Now, I do not know what it is like to be deaf, I thankfully have my hearing, but there were times watching this that I just could not imagine how hard it would be, especially to go deaf later in life. But they do show some things that are moving for deaf people. The way musical vibrations are used in this movie is absolutely terrific. I assume this is how deaf people enjoy music, and it is done so well. When Ahmed and a young student go outside and play drum beats on an aluminum slide, I could have watched that for hours. Or when he teaches the kids how to drum, that made me tear up. When they all stand around a piano with their hands on it to "hear" it, it was truly amazing.

This movie is going to stay with me for a long while. The stuff after he gets the implant, how it doesn't go the way he hoped and wanted, that was stunningly made. The way they used sound for that, the sound engineers deserve all the accolades in the world. This is a tough movie, but it is also a very, very good movie and well worth your time. It is on Amazon Prime right now, and I cannot recommend this movie enough. Go watch it. 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 Trial of the Chicago 7"

Continuing my quest to watch historical movies, last night I finished “The Trial of the Chicago 7”.

It was great. I really enjoyed this movie. I know it may be weird to use the word “enjoy”, but that’s what I felt. There was a difference from this movie as compared to “Judas and the Black Messiah”. “Judas and the Black Messiah” was a better movie in my opinion, but it was bleak. That’s because it is more realistic, and it ended tragically. I know both movies are based on true stories, but “Judas and the Black Messiah” felt more real. But “The Trial of the Chicago 7” starts fast, moves fast, intertwines the multiple storylines fast and ends fast. It was a very quick 2 hours and 10 minutes, and I appreciated that.

The cast is great in this film too. John Carroll Lynch was dynamite as the conscientious objector and soft spoken father and husband. Yahya Abdul Mateen II was perfectly cast as Bobby Seale. He was a force. The three main lawyers, played by Joseph Gordon Levitt, Ben Shenkman and Mark Rylance did wonderful. I appreciated that Gordon Levitt didn’t have a “white savior” moment either. He played a republican lawyer, and he didn’t really change his attitude too much throughout the movie. Frank Langella was a monster, a racist and mean. He nailed the judge, and this judge was truly a monster. Eddie Redmayne and Alex Sharp were very good, especially Redmayne, as the young and opportunistic student democrats leader. Michael Keaton was spectacular in his five minutes on screen. But for me the true stars were Jeremy Strong as Jerry Rubin, and especially Sacha Baron Cohen as Abbie Hoffman. They knocked their roles completely out of the park. Strong was a perfect hippy, who happened to be extremely smart. He had some of the best lines, he was funny at moments and he really sounded and looked and acted like a hippy. I totally bought it. Cohen, he was a revelation. I know he can act. I’ve seen both “Borat” movies. I’ve watched his shows. He is good in bit parts in other stuff. But here he got to show his dramatic side, and man was he great. His line, “I’ve never been on trial for my thoughts” was powerful. I was stunned at how great he was in this role. He brought Abbie Hoffman back to life. It helped that he got to be a bit comedic, but when drama was needed, he nailed it. Delroy Lindo or Daniel Kaluuya deserve the Oscar, but Cohen is a very close third. The movie was so well done too.

The actors were great, as mentioned, but so was the writing and directing and recreating of this pivotal moment in American history. They showed the good and bad. They put in real footage with their shot footage, and it worked. The recreation of interviews and meetings and court scenes was great. The stories jumping back and forth in time was a great way to keep the story moving. I have no bad things to say about this movie. It is worth the hype. It lives up to it. It is a very well made movie that hits all the criteria for an Oscar worthy movie.

As I said, I think “Judas and the Black Messiah” is a better movie about this time period. But, “The Trial of the Chicago 7” is no slouch, just a different perspective. Watch this movie too. It is also a very important one.

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 "Judah and the Black Messiah"

This morning while my daughter was in preschool and my son was in elementary school, I decided to finally sit down and watch "Judas and the Black Messiah".

From the moment I heard of this movie, and saw the trailer, it was on my must watch list. I am really into African American history, I have read a ton on The Black Panthers, and this seemed to be the most real story to date on Fred Hampton, and his importance in American history. The cast is also absolutely top notch. I am a humongous LaKeith Stanfield fan. Love him in "Atlanta", "Sorry to Bother You" is one of my all time favorite movies, he was excellent on this most recent season of "The Eric Andre Show", the dude can act. I enjoy Daniel Kaluuya as well. He first appeared on my radar in the "Black Mirror" episode "One Million Credits". Then I saw "Get Out", which was followed by his role in "Black Panther" and I most recently saw him in "Queen and Slim". He's great. I am a Jesse Plemons fan too. He is becoming one of the nicest creeps in Hollywood. He is a force. All three of these guys are the main dudes in this story, and they all absolutely nailed their roles. Sure, Martin Sheen is eerie as J. Edgar Hoover, Dominique Fishback is wonderful as Deborah Johnson, Ashton Sanders, from "Moonlight", has a nice and important part, and Lil Rel Howery is only in five minutes of the movie, but man is he memorable. Really though, this is Kaluuya and Stanfield's movie, with some nice spot duty from Plemons.

In the movie Stanfield plays former car thief turned FBI informant Bill O'Neal. He is so good as the rat. He is squirrely and squirmy and it appears at times he is going to be had, but he always finds a way out somehow. Stanfield nailed the nerves, then belief, then betrayal and looking out only for himself to perfection. I openly rooted for him at times, but in the end, I loathed him. I know Stanfield and Charlamagne the God have some kind of beef over this role. What Charlemagne needs to understand, Stanfield is acting. He is not this person he is portraying. Charlemange needs to get off his jock because Stanfield was incredible. He is a creep, and he deserves all the bad he gets in the end. Plemons is the FBI agent who convinces Stanfield to be his rat. Plemons plays this role very monotonous, but it is clearly on purpose. He is an officer trying to catch someone who he believes is a "bad guy". He is as creepily quiet, and almost endearing in this role as he was on "Breaking Bad", or the season of "Fargo" he was on. He is really good at playing someone who is sympathetic on the surface, but in the end, is a real bad dude. The scene where he sees O'Neal at the Black Panther rally speech is frightening.

With all of the great actors in this movie, Daniel Kaluuya is the absolute star of this movie. Every award and accolade he is getting is totally understandable. He nailed it. He gives a powerhouse of a performance. When he spoke as Fred Hampton in this movie, when he had an audience, I felt it. I would go to battle with this man. He was so impassioned and powerful and commanding and thoughtful and political and downright charming. For every Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr, we also had a Fred Hampton. Someone who isn't as well known, or studied, but needs to be. And Kaluuya brought this person back to life. I was moved by his performance. I watched him jaw agape because of his tremendous performance. His speech scenes were the best, but the prison stuff was very good, and his death, the day before, was brutal and heartbreaking. Kaluuya should be one of the frontrunners for Best Actor. I'd say it is Delroy Lindo for "Da 5 Bloods", or Kaluuya for this role. They are head and shoulders above the rest of the pack this year. I loved him in this movie and in this role.

I highly recommend this movie for everyone to see. It is important American history brought back to life by some really great actors, writers and a director. Check it out. 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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Better Late than Never on "Eighth Grade"

This morning I finished the movie “Eighth Grade”, and now I am going to talk about it.

This movie was so many things, mostly great. In fact, it was uncomfortably great. I have put off seeing this movie for sometime now because I didn’t know what to expect. I saw the rave reviews, I am a Bo Burnham fan and I could’ve watched it in the theaters, but other stuff kept coming up. Then COVID hit, and I kind of forgot this was on my list to see. Luckily it was on Showtime last week, and I recorded it. I still waited about a week to watch, but I watched it and loved it. I was also very uncomfortable with some stuff, but that seemed purposely. This movie is supposed to be about how rough early teenage life is. It’s supposed to make us who are older remember how tough that time of our lives was. It’s supposed to make you cringe and talk out loud at the people on the screen. It wants you to have these visceral reactions. And this movie achieves that tenfold.

There was so much stuff in “Eighth Grade” that made me squirm, and then think about how I reacted when I was 13 years old. That may be the most awkward time in anyone’s life, and Burnham and Elsie Fisher portrayed them to perfection. From the pool party, to class superlatives, to meeting high school boys and girls, to having moments with your folks and finally finding your group of friends, it’s all there and it’s all wonderfully executed. Seeing Fisher, she played the main character Kayla, go through such panic when being invited to a pool party, showing up and having to interact with other kids, that was so well done. The stuff with her and her dad hit me right in the heart. From her being on her phone when he’s trying to talk to her, to him spying on her when she’s hanging out with the high school kids, to their very poignant and perfect and tear jerking bonfire talk, it was simply wonderful. I was in tears hearing him tell her how happy and proud and perfect she is. I know my daughter and I will have these moments in the future, and it was almost reassuring to see that, while it will be tough at time, it will also be so rewarding. Fisher was so so so great in the starring role. She played introverted and quiet and anxious and teenage so exceptionally. She was tremendous. It helps that she was the age of her character because she’s going through it right now.

The other kids were almost as good as Fisher. They didn’t have as much to work with, but they all played their roles great. I also liked the technology aspect of the movie. “Eighth Grade” showed how important and influential things like YouTube and Snapchat and Instagram are to the younger generation. Hearing these kids talk about how they got Twitter in middle school, or Snapchat in fifth grade, I mean that’s wild. Middle and high school was tough enough when I went, and cell phones were relatively new. I cannot imagine how much harder it is now, and how much harder and weirder it will be when my kids are that age. I have two nieces in high school, and I get glimpses how important Instagram is to them. It’s tiring to see from my perspective. This is a movie that is going to stick with me for a long, long time. I want this to be watched by kids that are in the 13-16 age range. It will ring so true for them I imagine. I also think parents of kids of any age should see this movie just to get a blip of what we are all in for in the near future.

“Eighth Grade” is a wonderful, timely and squirmy in all the right ways movie. I wish I’d seen it sooner, but at least I watched it. I cannot recommend this movie enough. It is so worth your time. Please go watch this movie if you can. It’s great.

Ty

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

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Better Late Than Never on the Great Movie "A Futile and Stupid Gesture"

This past weekend I sat down and watched "A Futile and Stupid Gesture". This movie has been on my list since it came out in late 2018, but I just never got around to it. Other stuff came up, other shows were on, I forgot about it and then this past weekend, I noticed it was still streaming, and I just happened to have two spare hours. So, I finally watched it.

I am bummed it took me so long to watch this great movie. This one is totally on me. I should have watched it in 2018 because I really, really enjoyed this movie. For those that may not know, "A Futile and Stupid Gesture" is about the creation of the National Lampoon magazine, and the people who helped create it. And for those that may not know what National Lampoon is or was, it was a parody magazine, and then it became a movie making studio, creating "Animal House" and "Caddyshack" along the way. The leads, Domhall Gleeson as Henry Beard, and Will Forte as Doug Kenney, were great. Gleeson was very monotone and gave one word answers and never really changed his facial expression. He also happened to be extremely funny, and knew how to run a business. Forte, who I am a big time fan of, was perfectly cast as the wild and crazy and equally hilarious Kenney. Doug Kenney was the idea man, who would go for it no matter how many people told him no. He never quit. He was also heavily into drugs, was not the greatest husband at all and went a little too nuts sometimes. But hey, he co created National Lampoon, and he wrote both "Animal House" and "Caddyshack". He gave us two of the greatest comedies of all time. It takes a little crazy to pull that off. "A Futile and Stupid Gesture" is Kenney's story too. This is a dramatized autobiography of his life, that he personally cut short. This movie gave Forte a chance to shine, and he totally nailed it. As I said, he was perfectly cast, and for someone so self centered and egotistical, I rooted for him at times, and was saddened by the end. Forte brought that to this movie.

While Gleeson, and more so, Forte really shined, the rest of the cast was awesome. Thomas Lennon as Michale O'Donoghue was almost as perfect as Forte. He was rude, crude and crazy. Natasha Lyonne as Anne Beats, especially in her intro scene, was stupendous. Matt Lucas, you all may know him as Rebel Wilson's writing partner, was great as Tony Hendra, the English comic who had to leave Ed Sullivan because it wasn't edgy enough for him. Neil Casey was excellent as the weird and crazy and odd, but also hilarious, Brian McConnachie. Ed Helms popped us as Tom Snyder in a hilarious scene. And all the people they got to play the really famous people, the people who did the radio show, and then ended up on "SNL", were great. They were cast as to not look like the people they portrayed either. Jackie Tohn was Gilda Radner, Jon Daly was Bill Murray, Seth Green was Chris Guest, John Gemberling portrayed John Belushi, Rick Glassman was Harold Ramis and Joel McHale totally knocked it out of the park as Chevy Chase. None may have looked like the people they played, but boy did they crush everything else. Gemberling did a great Belushi when Belushi did Joe Cocker. I already mentioned McHale's performance. Tohn was as funny as I imagine Radner was. Daly did some excellent imitations of Murray on the "Caddyshack" set. And Glassman as Ramis was pitch perfect. That was one of the many things I loved about this movie, was the talk of all the very famous, very important comedy people that got their start at National Lampoon. It helped that I just read a book on "SNL", and watched the "BELUSHI" doc on Showtime because all this is fresh in my mind, but I think the way they showed it would help someone new to this.

While this is a very funny movie about very funny people, there is heavy stuff. Kenney was not a good husband, and this movie shows that. He wasn't a great friend either. He also made life hard for a lot of people that counted on him. He constantly lived in his brother's shadow, even though his brother passed when he was a kid. His parents were tough on him. And, spoiler alert, although it is common knowledge among comedy fans, Kenney did die young. Some say suicide, others say to was an accident caused by too many drugs. Glassman as Ramis said it best at the funeral, and supposedly this was a true statement, when asked how he thought he died, he said, "he probably fell while looking for a place to jump". That was a pretty telling statement coming from Ramis. It kind of perfectly encapsulates his life.

I highly recommend fans of comedy definitely check out this movie, but I also think it could pull in some outside fans. I think people that like decent biopics will enjoy it. People who like Foret will love. And people who lived in that generation will most likely have a good time with it. I know I loved it, and I think you will too. Give it a shot if you haven't already, if only for Forte's performance.

Ty

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

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Best of 2020: Top Five Movies

For my best of lists this year, today I come to you with movies.

Movies weren't as hard as music, but I still ran into some issues. I watched a ton of old movies this year. My wife and I do have a movie date night every Friday or Saturday from our home, but again, we have watched a ton of older movies, movies we liked when we were teenagers, or before we started to date. And there were a ton of good ones during these date nights. But we did see some movies that came out in 2020. We haven't seen a lot of the Oscar bait movies yet, but I usually wait until later anyway to see those movies. That is why "Uncut Gems" didn't make my initial list last year. And while we did just watch the new "Wonder Woman" movie, and liked it, it did not push its way into my best of. With all that being said, let's get to the list.

At number five I have "Bill and Ted Face the Music". This movie was all I wanted it to be, and so much more. My wife hadn't seen either of the first two, so we watched them, and then saw this movie, and she loved it too. This movie was funny and fun and silly and cool and had an excellent message. The music was also pretty rad. They also brought back classic characters, and introduced some funny new ones. I have seen the movie a few times since we first watched, and it is still as funny and fun as the first time. This is a great movie to watch to let you escape from the crazy world. It is a good movie, and a very solid sequel.

At number four I have "Da 5 Bloods". I had some issues with this movie personally, but it wasn't anything that a third viewing totally got rid of. The first time I watched, I loved it, but thought it was a bit too long. The second time, I felt I understood it more, but not quite enough. The third time was where it hit me the hardest. This movie is a true masterpiece in many ways. The way Spike Lee directed this, intercutting scenes with Chadwick Boseman as his young soldier self, and his platoon as their older versions, was amazing. The way they weaved racism and the new generation and mistaken identity, fantastic. The setting was beautiful. The story was compelling and heartbreaking. This is a movie that deserves all the awards, and hopefully it will be recognized for the achievement it is. It is also one of Boseman's last performances, and he is magnetic. I highly recommend multiple viewings of this movie. It is a slow burn, but a great slow burn.

At number three I have "Palm Springs". This is my generation's, hell maybe even a generation younger than me, "Groundhog Day". Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti are so great as the two people caught in the time loop. JK Simmons was pretty wonderful too. But the way they did this movie, the comedy and the raunchy and the sweetness and the story itself was just wonderful. I also love that it is the highest selling movie to ever come out of Sundance by 69 cents, per request of the movie makers. That rules. But this movie is good. There is a reason it is the highest selling Sundance movie ever. The performances by the leads are tremendous and noteworthy. They both deserve Oscar buzz. And the way it all unfolds, in a comedic/science fiction way, was so unique and so cool. I love this movie, I love that it is on Hulu still so I can watch it whenever, and I love how great of a movie it truly is.

At number two I have "David Byrne's American Utopia". Is it a concert film? Yep. Didn't Spike Lee direct this one too? Sure did. Isn't it just David Byrne being himself? Most definitely, and it is exquisite. I am new to Talking Heads, and anything involving the four original band members. But like most people I have gravitated towards Byrne. Sure he is a weirdo, probably did some shady stuff to Talking Heads during their heyday and can be a headache, but he is a genius, and "American Utopia" proves this tenfold. Watching this concert doc was the closest I have come to feeling optimism towards the world in 2020. This movie was all about upbeat, good things to come in, hopefully, the near future. And the people backing Byrne were absolutely magnetic. They almost stole the show from Byrne. The dancers and the band were amazing. They were incredible to watch. But Byrne would talk in between most songs, and while I am even one of the people who have no problem admitting that he is pretentious, this was the least pretentious I have seen him. Maybe age and wit and wisdom have caught up to him and he finally realizes how he can put out his music without being an asshole. I also was moved to tears when I heard them do Janelle Monae's "Hell You Talmbout". That was so moving and powerful. I have watched this almost a half a dozen times already, and I know I will watch it many, many more times. "American Utopia" is one of the greatest concert docs ever. It is right up there with "Stop Making Sense". And, real quick, Lee's direction was perfect.

One movie is better than "American Utopia", and that movie, my number one movie, is "The Last Dance". Not a movie you say? I disagree. Just because it is nearly 10 hours long doesn't mean it is not a movie. The OJ doc was always considered a doc, and that is the case with "The Last Dance". Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE was looking forward to this. I have friends that do not care about sports at all that watched "The Last Dance". This was the moment we would finally get to hear Michael Jordan, the GOAT, talk about his personal experience with the Bulls during their two three-peat title runs in the 90's. And you know what, Jordan didn't hold back at all. He said whatever he felt, what he deems to be true, and it was incredible to see the distaste and disdain he has for some people. It was also interesting to see him admit that he needed more than just himself to get to the heights he achieved. This movie also gave answers to pretty much every question people may have had about Jordan, the 90 Bulls and the other players on that team. We found out the truth about the "flu game". We got to see the real Dennis Rodman. We got to hear Scottie Pippen talk about when Jordan left, and how that made him feel. We got some real dirt on Horace Grant. Phil Jackson is the hippiest hippy out there still. Jerry Krause and Jerry Reinsdorf are both pretty shrewd businessmen, and could be real assholes. I truly, really loved this movie. I love that ESPN, who I do not like that much, released it two months early because they knew people didn't want to wait in quarantine. "The Last Dance" is a true one of a kind classic. Sure there are other sports movies and sports docs, but this one feels different. This one was more salacious, more dirt was spilled, the real people told real stories, it was all unedited and real. It was awesome. It is on Netflix now too, I have already rewatched it all once. "The Last Dance" is an achievement that will go down in history. It is number one, and it is so far ahead of the rest of the competition.

That does it for movies, come back tomorrow for my top five shows 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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SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.