Ty Watches "Dolemite is My Name"

Yesterday I sat down and watched "Dolemite is My Name", and I have to say, this is one of the funniest, and most heartfelt movies that I have seen in some time. I watched the preview for it about a month ago, and I knew then that I was going to enjoy it, I just had to find the time. I had an open afternoon, and watched it while I folded laundry.

This movie totally delivered as well. I am an Eddie Murphy fan, but some of his stuff lately isn't that great. It is funny because he is in it, but it just doesn't hit like "Beverly Hills Cop" or "48 Hours" did. "Dolemite is My Name" hit, and hit a god damn homerun. When Murphy is given range to be filthy, use a ton of 4 letter words and act like a comedian, he crushes his roles. That was what made him so great in a movie like "Dream Girls". He got to act like a hyper version of himself. Casting him as famed vulgar comic Rudy Ray Moore was perfect. It was almost as if he was born to play this role. He embodied it as well. I fully believed he was Rudy Ray Moore resurrected. He was just as filthy and funny and hard working and a hustler and a perfectionist, just like Moore aimed to be. To see Murphy play him from his lowest point was exceptional. To see him play him as he makes his rise, well that was even better. Murphy was astounding. The fact that he didn't even get a sniff from the Academy for the Oscars shows how unimportant that awards show has become. To pass him up for Joaquin Phoenix's Joker is so stupid. To pass him up for anyone playing a real life person, which I thought the Academy loved, is asinine. He should have been, at the very least, nominated. I think his snub is even bigger than Adam Sandler getting nothing for "Uncut Gems". Watching this movie made me remember that Murphy is a star. He was exquisite.

But it wasn't just him. Everyone involved with this movie was great. Wesley Snipes should have also gotten awards consideration. His character was so holier than thou and high and mighty and acted like he was too good for all of this, and Snipes absolutely nailed it. Just like with Murphy, it made me remember that Snipes is a really, really good actor. Titus Burgess is wonderful as Moore's record store buddy and friend. To see him in a role like this, outside of "Kimmy Schmidt", was great for a fan like me. Burgess was funny, but he was also grounded. It was great. Da'Vine Joy Randolph, as his comedy partner, was wonderful. She was tough, beautiful, funny and I loved every second she was in this movie. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen when she was there. Even actors in smaller roles, like Craig Robinson as the singer in a band and Mike Epps as a friend of Moore's, they both shined when they were on screen. Robinson is a great singer as well, and getting to hear him do the Dolemite theme was dynamite. Keegan Michael Key, as the writer of the movie, was wonderful as well. It also helped that we got cameos from both Chris Rock and Bob Oedenkirk.

As I said, the movie is a riot, but it also has some heart in it. I feel like it is a true journey, filled with all the ups and downs, about becoming a Hollywood star, and how hard that can be. But Murphy's portrayal as Moore had me rooting for him all the way. And he was never really mean to those that helped him. He didn't treat them like lesser than him. There was no scene that shows him acting like he is better than everyone else. He was a dude that worked hard, and appreciated all those that helped him get to where he got. Rudy Ray Moore became a star, but it wasn't all him. He had help from a ton of people, and I feel like this movie did a great job of showing that.

I highly, highly recommend checking this movie out. I feel like we are getting an Eddie Murphy renaissance at the moment, and this movie is the catalyst to all of that. What a winner.

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: People of Earth

I recently started watching the show "People of Earth" based on a recommendation. Man am I glad that I took that advice and caught up on this show. "People of Earth" is one of these rare, unique shows that comes along once in a lifetime.

The show's premise is simple. We have a journalist that is sent to a small town in New York to write about a support group for people who claim to have been abducted by aliens, they call themselves "experiencers". Wyatt Cenac, who I adore, plays the lead character, Ozzie, who is sent on this assignment. In the pilot episode he keeps having flashes of a deer, which he hit in an accident, driving to this small town. He finally arrives to this group and finds out way, way more about himself than he ever knew.

When he gets to this town, we get to meet all the weird and wacky people that entail this group. The ensemble cast is wonderful. Luka Jones pays a wannabe alien abductee, AKA, an experiencer, but he is the ultimate alien expert in this small town. Brian Huskey plays an experiencer that claims all the world is run by aliens, which he calls "reptilians". Ana Gasteyer plays the leader of the group, and she is great as the main support, but has a troubled past. Alice Wetterlund and Tracee Chimo are an excellent Yin and Yang of people that claim to have been abducted by the same alien. Nancy Lenahan is great as the lonely widowed lady that had her alien experience. Da'Vine Joy Randolph is great as the local mail person that had a run in with aliens. Daniel Stewart Sherman is very good as the hillbilly esque guy that had your typical run in with aliens. H Jon Benjamin shows up as a cop in the town, and he is great.

The people that play the aliens, Drew Nelson, Ken Hall, Bjorn Gustafsson and Michael Cassidy are the absolute best. They each represent a different style of alien. We have your run of the mill, big head, little body alien. We have the reptilians and we get a very tall, very long haired human looking alien. These actors do these roles so well. I love how normal and regular the alien characters act. Sure, they are abducting people and doing random tests on them but they aren't probing anyone, or eating anyone, or even being mean to the people. They just want to study humans, at least that is what I have gathered from the first four episodes. The aliens bicker with each other. They have conversations like you and I have at our regular everyday jobs. They are as normal as aliens have ever been portrayed on TV or in the movies. I love all the back and forth between the aliens.

But, the star of the show, as it should be, is Cenac. He is absolutely wonderful as Ozzie. The interactions that he has with the deer are wonderfully weird and hilarious. He keeps seeing them, and thinks that it is because of his accident, but we come to realize, spoiler alert, that he was abducted by all three styles of aliens, and they made him think that he hit a deer. When he recalls this to the support group, they are all shocked that he had an experience with the three different aliens, and they want him to stay to tell his whole story and stay in the group. Everyone likes him.

Ozzie decides, after revealing everything to the group, that he wants to stay, so he quits his job and moves to the small town to work for their paper. We do come to realize that his boss at the big newspaper is a reptilian, sent to study Ozzie. This sends us into a whole different world of who is real, and who is a reptilian in this planet that this show has created. The friendships and interactions between the people in the group and Ozzie are funny and heartfelt at the same time.

This show is a great opportunity, and the perfect one for that matter, for Cenac's unique sense of humor. He is a very funny, yet quiet person. He was great on "The Daily Show". He has done some excellent stand up specials. He has had bit parts in movies and TV shows here and there, but "People of Earth" is just perfect for him.

I do not want to give too much away because I think people should watch this show. It is really good, and I feel like it will be around for awhile. Watch "People of Earth" so we can get multiple seasons. The show is different from anything you will see, but it is one of the funnier shows to come out on TV in a long, long time. Check it out.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He has suspected that the head editor is an alien, one of those Midwestern balding ones. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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