Ty Watches "The Long Dumb Road"

I've been watching a bunch of movies that I have wanted to see during the pandemic lately. I'm catching up I guess you could say. Some have been okay and some have been pretty blah. The other day I watched one, one that I have been putting off for about seventeen months now, and I found myself really enjoying it.

The movie is called "The Long Dumb Road". I am a big fan of Jason Mantzoukas. I try to watch everything he is in. I love his guest appearances most. He was great as Adrian Pimento on "Brooklyn 99". He was fantastic as Derek on "The Good Place". He was perfect as Rafi on "The League". His role as Kyle on the criminally underrated "I'm Sorry" was him playing a heightened version of himself and he crushed. Mantzoukas is so great at coming in and stealing every scene he is in on TV shows. He has had some solid movie roles, but the movies are not always the best. He's good in "The Dictator". He kept pace with Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler in "The House". He's decent in "Sleeping With Other People". And I still say "Tick Tock Mr Wick" when referencing him from "John Wick 3". With "The Long Dumb Road" he was given the chance to be a co star.

The movie is a road trip movie that is pretty much just him and Tony Revelori. Mantzoukas was excellent in this movie. So was Revelori. They both did a really, really good job. The movie is a cliché road trip movie, but when you get the chemistry that Mantzoukas and Revelori had, that is when it becomes a good movie. I remember watching it and kind of thinking it was ho hum, but as it got further into the movie, the more I found myself really enjoying it. I liked seeing these two actors play off one another. Revelori is a really solid young actor and he was more than up to the task to keep pace with Mantzoukas. Revelori was very believable as a kid heading out to art school in LA. He played the naive young kid to a T. Mantxoukas arrives in the movie with a bang and he is at a ten the whole time. He has so many different balls in the air. He is always doing something wild and crazy. He is always getting into some kind of wild situations. He is also a drunk and stuck in a big time rut. Only an actor like Mantzoukas could do this role and make it believable. His character did some totally off the wall stuff, but since it is Mantzoukas I was along for the ride. The scene between him and Casey Wilson, his old flame, was classic. When he is in the motel room with the girl he randomly meets at the bar, doing adult things, and pops up when Revelori opens the door and says, "either in or out buddy", I was rolling on the floor laughing. He also shows some depth. When he proposes to a girl he has just met, and she declines it thinking it is a joke, you can see the hurt and awkwardness in his eyes. When he fights with Revelori, you buy his side. When he talks to a driver that picks them up, you can see they get one another.

I was pleasantly surprised by "The Long Dumb Road". Revelori was really good, but Mantzoukas totally steals the show. I could watch him read a phone book and he would find a way to make me laugh. This is a good, short movie. I recommend it purely based on Mantzoukas' performance.

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 "Black Monday" Season Two Premier

On Sunday Showtime had a two episode season two premiere of “Black Monday”, and it was great.

I was intrigued by this show last year when I heard David Caspe, creator of “Happy Endings”, one of the best and most underrated rated shows of all time, had created it. I then saw the cast, people like Regina Hall, Andrew Rannels, Don Cheadle, Casey Wilson, Paul Scheer, Yassir Lester and Horatio Sanz, and it made me even more pumped. Season one did not disappoint. “Black Monday” is one of those rare shows that perfectly straddles their line of comedy and drama. The show is definitely more comedic, especially darkly comedic, but they nailed the dramatic scenes. All the stuff that came out during the first season was handled very, very well. I don’t want to spoil anything, especially since we all should be social distancing and self isolating. Go binge watch the first season while we are all supposed to be indoors.

Season two picked up seemingly a few months, maybe five or six, right after the first season wrapped up. Regina Hall is now in charge, along with Rannels. She runs the firm that Cheadle was running, and Rannels, who is in DC trying to expand his political career, is looked at as a wunderkind. He is plastered all over magazine covers, and is a household name. Hall, on the other hand, is handling business back in NYC. She is the boss, and she acts like it and she deserves it. She has worked too hard to not be in this position. But, she does have some demons that she needs exorcise. Lester and Sanz still work at the firm, but they’re the only dudes. Their couple of scenes were great, and fitting for their character arcs to this date. Meanwhile, and again, I’m going to try to not spoil much, Scheer and Cheadle are living in Miami. They’re living a separate life from what they did in NYC. And while Scheer seems to enjoy his life, Cheadle looks like he’d rather be anywhere else. The scene that introduces us to Scheer in season 2 is amazing. The music, the clothes, the mustache and the rollerblading, it was just so perfect. Cheadle meanwhile, he has quit cocaine, a big part of season one, and is playing in a hotel band. Also, speaking of looks, his hairdo is amazing. I love it.

The first two episodes of season two have me very excited to see where things go from here. This show is so well made. It’s well written, directed and acted. They have pros all across the board on this show, and it shows. The ending of the second episode has me fired up for the rest of the season as well. Seriously people, especially if you’re looking for a new show to binge in our current state, I cannot recommend “Black Monday” highly enough. This show rules.

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 "Black Monday" Series Premier

Yesterday I watched the premiere of one of the shows I was looking forward to in 2019, “Black Monday”. I’m a David Caspe fan, so when he has his name attached to a show, especially one he’s co created and written, I’m in. “Black Monday” was no exception. I have been looking forward to this show since I first heard about it, almost a year ago.

And it did not disappoint. When I heard the names being cast, and that it was going to be on a premium cable channel, Showtime, I just assumed it would be good. Not only did we have Caspe on board, the actors are great. Don Cheadle, Regina Hall and Andrew Rannells are the three main characters, and they’re wonderful. Hall is a total badass, that can more than hold her own in the male dominated world of the 80’s stock market. That’s when the show takes place, right before a humongous market crash in 87. Back to Hall. Not only is she a badass, but she does have a heart. She cares about her job, and some of the people she works with. She also is clearly the smartest person in the room. She knows better than everyone else, and has a good head on her shoulders. She’s terrific. Rannells is the fish out of water, trying to impress his girlfriend. He plays a genius trader that created this “perfect” algorithm. But, the scene in the premiere when he tries to double 50k in 4 hours, shows he is in way over his head. The way Rannells portrays his character is so good. He’s too nice. He’s too smart. He’s too gullible. He lets others control what he does. But, when he needs to, he can stand up for himself. When he storms into the office to demand a job, that scene was pretty wonderful. I am also a big fan of his, because of “Book of Mormon”, the only thing I’ve seen him in. So to see him play a totally different character is always fun for me as a viewer.

Then we have Don Cheadle. He can do no wrong. He is one of the best living actors. His character is slimy, mean, does copious amounts of cocaine, spends money just to spend it and acts like he’s the greatest dude ever. And you know what, I found myself openly rooting for him by the end of the episode. Cheadle exudes confidence, and he does that tenfold on “Black Monday”. When he berates his team for being the 11th ranked firm in New York I found myself agreeing with him. When I saw the painting of him doing coke I thought, that’s pretty dope. When he tries to hit on Hall, only to be rebuked by her boyfriend, I wanted Hall to go with him. When he brags about his Lamborghini Limbo, and Rannells says to him,”so you have a slow uncomfortable car?”, and he responds, “ I got it because it was the most expensive!”, I thought, hell yeah you did. Even when he first bumps his robot butler, you read that right, after doing more cocaine, I just found myself rooting for him more. Cheadle is so awesome.

Outside those three, the rest of the major cast is filled with improv actors. Paul Scheer, who I praised yesterday, is on this show. So is Eugene Cordero. Kurt Braunholer plays a dude named Ty, so I’m in on him. Yassir Lester wears a full head garb, and calls himself Yassir X. Ken Marino plays twin brothers, who may or may not be romantically involved. And Casey Wilson plays Rannells girlfriend. And when she slaps him twice in a row in the episode, it was hilarious.

I’m pumped to see where “Black Monday” goes from here. It has a tremendous amount of promise and intrigue. I highly recommend everyone check it out. It’s so good.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He remembers the high energy time of 1987 not because of the cocaine but because of the joy any 5 year old would have getting ready for new episodes of the original “Duck Tales”.

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