Ty Watches "The Disaster Artist"

I had the great pleasure of seeing “The Disaster Artist” this past Saturday. I’ve been very much looking forward to this movie since I heard they were going to make it over a year ago. I’m a big fan of “The Room”, and when I saw they were going to make a movie about making that movie and Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero’s friendship, I couldn’t wait. Then, I saw the cast and I knew I had to see this movie on opening weekend. “The Disaster Artist” was a hit at every festival, and the early reviews were pretty much all positive. This only built my anticipation. My wife bought us tickets about a week ago, and we finally got to see it on Saturday.

I was absolutely blown away. First of all, the theater we saw the movie in was sold out. I was stunned, but in a good way. I never thought a niche movie like this would appeal to a mass audience. Boy was I wrong. After the previews the movie started and it had my full attention for every single second of its 105 minute run time. This was such a perfect way to tell this story.

The first third of the movie was all about Tommy and Greg’s friendship. “The Room” doesn’t come into the story until about 40 minutes in. We see a “young” Tommy and a young Greg meet in an acting class in San Francisco. We see their friendship grow from scene partners to roommates to collaborators. I must say, all the buzz that James Franco is getting is well deserved. He embodies Tommy Wiseau. It’s not just the accent either. He looks like him. He has his same gestures. He laughs like him. He became Tommy. He was amazing. He better damn well get an Oscar nomination. Dave Franco was just as good as Greg. He embodied the faith and trust that Greg inexplicably has for Tommy to this day. His devotion is at times charming, but also sad. The younger Franco was so good. I imagine this had to have been so much fun for them to do as well. To the best of my knowledge this is the first time they’ve acted together. They crushed it.

Outside of the Francos, everyone else in this movie was awesome. Ari Graynor as the actress that played the infamous Lisa showed us the naive and ultimately disgusted young actress. Seth Rogen and Paul Scheer as 2 key workers on the movie were hilarious. Rogen was a delight, as usual. Scheer crushes his performance. He was great. Josh Hutcherson as Denny, phenomenal. His haircut was worth the admission alone. Zac Efron as Chris R, wonderfully absurd and hilarious. Nathan Fielder as the psychologist, perfect. Jason Mantzoukas and Hannibal Buress as the guys that sell Tommy the equipment for the movie, perfect. There are so many cameos, and they are all amazing. Too many to list. Just know, JJ Abrams shows up in the very first scene.

When we do get to the making of “The Room”, “The Disaster Artist” effortlessly bounces between comedy and drama. This was where James Franco truly shines. The stuff he says and does on the set are so crazy, but it’s all true. Only an actor like James Franco could’ve pulled this off. I do not want to spoil anything for anyone. I will say though, you don’t have to see “The Room” to like “The Disaster Artist”, but if you’ve seen “The Room”, you’ll understand the movie more, and I think you’ll love it like I did.

I cannot recommend this movie enough. It is a true masterpiece. Due yourself a favor and go see “The Disaster Artist”. It has definitely been the best movie I’ve seen in 2017.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He and his brother have worked together on an entertainment product. I wonder what that could be?

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Ty Watches "Tour de Pharmacy"

There are spoilers for the HBO film "Tour de Pharmacy". Go watch and come back to read Ty's review. It is currently showing on HBO Go, HBO Now, and periodically showing on one of HBO's family of channels at some time of the day.

This past weekend The Lonely Island and HBO released their second sports based faux documentary/comedy, "Tour de Pharmacy". I loved the first one, "7 Days in Hell", so I was excited for this second movie. When I say movie, I use that term loosely. This is basically a short. The "movie" runs about 35 minutes long. This is perfect for this subject material, and an excellent amount of time for what is basically a long form sketch.

Anyway, "Tour de Pharmacy" tells the "true" story of the 1982 Tour de France. This was the most drug riddled race in the history of bike races, according to the narrator, Jon Hamm. We all know now that, for the most part, the guys that do the Tour de France are dopers. It is widely accepted. "Tour de Pharmacy" takes this knowledge and makes it the entire basis of the movie.

Early in the program we find out that a rich German guy named Dittmer Klerken, played hilariously by Kevin Bacon, writes a letter to all 170 racers saying that they can do whatever drugs they want and they won't be tested, if they give him 50,000 dollars a piece. Klerken had built up incredible credit card debt due to a very absurd credit card ad in Sweden. The scene with the ad was probably my favorite part of the entire movie. It was so bizarre and odd and the talking heads comments on it were hilarious. If you watch this movie for one reason, make it to see the part with the ad. It was uproarious.

After the ad shows, they cut to the racers. They introduce us to 5 specific riders at the beginning. The first is Nigerian born racer, Marty Hass. He was played by Andy Samberg. Hass was born into a royal family that just happened to mine diamonds in Nigeria. They say that he went to an all American boys private school, and the people of Nigeria hate him. They hate that he is their country's representative. He is the epitome of a spoiled rich kid, and Samberg plays him hilariously. Another great part of this movie is they have the main characters as their older selves, and the actors that portray the older versions are perfect. Jeff Goldblum plays the older Hass. He is so god damn funny. He has some fake blonde hair hanging out of his hat and he wears African coats the whole time. Goldblum is just as funny as Samberg.

We also meet the first female, posing as a male, to ride in the tour. Freddie Highmore plays the young version of Adrian Baton. He was hilarious. His attempts to act like a female acting like a male was classic Lonely Island stuff. Julia Ormond played the older, and real, Baton, and she was equally as funny. She is a classically trained dramatic actress, but she pulls off the comedy to perfection. Her reveal at the end is wonderful.

Next up is Jackie Robinson's nephew, Slim Robinson, who is trying to get out of his uncle's shadow. He wants to be the first African American to break the color barrier, and at the time, cycling was the only sport that did not have many, if any, people of color. Daveed Diggs, of "Hamilton" and "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" fame is terrific in this movie. He is so funny, but understated. Danny Glover as the older Slim was equally tremendous. His wig is absolutely bananas. I loved it.

John Cena plays Austrian cyclist, Gustav Ditters, and he may have been the best in the whole movie. They show a picture from him the year before and he is rail skinny, then they show the actual Cena, and he is ripped. His claims that he isn't doping are so funny. The fact that he is that shredded, but constantly denies doping, is awesome. When the big fight breaks out in the first stage, and Cena starts to beat the hell out of people, I was in tears. Dolph Lundgren plays the older Ditters, and the whole "cheetah" and "cheater" scene is comedic gold.

The final main cyclist, JuJu Peppi, played by Orlando Bloom, was classic cycling cheater. He had so many drugs in his body that he actually died during the race due to a heart attack. Unfortunately for Peppi, he died while going pee, so his member was out when he died. There is a ton of male frontal nudity in this movie by the way. I have to say, while I don't like Bloom as an actor, he was really good in this movie.

The reason there are only 5 riders left is due to the fight I mentioned earlier. After the fight broke out, many of the riders came forward and said they were paid to not tell anyone that they were doping, and Klerken was the one that paid them. The only riders to not pay him were the 5 main characters, or as Seth Morris' ESPN anchor dubs them, "The Fab Five", claiming no one else will live up to that nickname ever. This was when we get a mini interview with Chris Webber and underneath his name it days, "a member of the much more famous Fab Five". Again, I was cracking up.

Lots of funny and wacky stuff happens during the race. I mentioned Peppi's death. Ditters get caught with cheetah blood, thus setting off the whole cheetah and cheater scene. Hass and Baton start to fall in love. Slim leaves the race to go be a farmer in France, only to return in the end. James Marsden, who was incredible as the announcer for the BBC, is involved in the race, but it is later found out that he is using a bike with a car motor on it, and Baton throws herself onto him to help her new lover, Hass, win the race. Just tons of crazy, hilarious stuff.

The people that they got to be the talking heads in the movie were phenomenal as well. Maya Rudolph is the head of a cycling magazine. She is great. Nathan Fielder is the head of the anti doping committee and he brings his dry humor to this movie, and it is pitch perfect. Joe Buck is himself, and he is really good. Mike Tyson and Lance Armstrong, both people that have done truly awful things in their personal lives, were actually pretty good in this movie. Lance Armstrong was pretty funny. Mike Tyson was a riot. JJ Abrams was pretty tremendous in his small role, as himself too. He plays a heightened version of himself, and I found him to be pretty good.

The entire cast was phenomenal for this small movie. The star, at least in my opinion, was Cena. He was the funniest of all the funny people in this movie. I have found that I enjoy Cena as an actor. Diggs was also really good too. Watching him try to get out of Jackie Robinson's shadow was just great. Jeff Goldblum was also really funny as well.

What I am trying to say is that "Tour de Pharmacy" was incredibly funny and I highly recommend everyone watch it. The Lonely Island seem to have found another niche that fits them, and I hope they continue to do little movies like this. "7 Days in Hell" was great, "Tour de Pharmacy" was better. I can't wait to see what they do next. Until then, go watch "Tour de Pharmacy" if you want a good laugh.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He recently competed his first mini triathalon and has his sights set on the 2018 Tour de France. Anybody know where he can score some cheetah blood?.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and Welcoming the Rise of the Female Action Hero

Maybe Han should have stayed in the carbonite?

Editors note: Part of Ty's goals set forth by the Head Editor at SeedSing was to watch all seven of the Star Wars films. Now that Ty has fulfilled his end of the deal the X Millennial Man podcast on Sunday January 29th will be all about his experience seeing the films. Make sure to bring your ears and listen to the X Millennial Man podcast.

So, I finally saw "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" this past Saturday. I know, I'm probably the last pop culture writer to see the movie, but better late than never. 

Right?

Anyway, I loved the movie. It was adventurous, exciting, well acted, well written, well directed, funny and a great throwback to the original. It could be just because I very recently saw it, but it is my favorite of all seven "Star Wars" movies. I thought it was the most fun and the best looking. "Empire Strikes Back" is a very close second, but I prefer "The Force Awakens" to all other "Star Wars" movies. I could have seen this without seeing the other six and I would have loved it. I wouldn't have gotten the references and the call backs, but I would have enjoyed myself, it was that good of a movie.

JJ Abrams has proven himself, in my opinion, to be a very skillful director that can make old movies or TV shows, a la "Star Wars" or "Star Trek", into extremely enjoyable movies for fans and non fans alike. I never saw any form of any "Star Trek" show or movie, but I really enjoyed the two "Star Trek" movies he made. And, what he did with "The Force Awakens", erasing all the terribleness that is the prequels, bravo Mr. Abrams, you've revived "The Star Wars" movie universe into something enjoyable again.

I could go on and on about how much I like this movie, but my main point of my blog today is, I love that two of the biggest movies in the past 6 or 7 months, have had females being the strongest and most badass characters in the movie. This has to make those moronic MRA assholes nuts. Those idiots have to be losing their feeble minds right now. First, a movie I've written extensively about on this website, "Mad Max: Fury Road", has a female playing one of the most badass characters of all time in any movie ever, Furiosa. It doesn't get much better than Theron as Furiosa in "Mad Max". She kicked so much ass, played the main character in what was always considered a male driven lead role and owned the best movie of all of 2015. The fact Theron didn't even get a nomination is grotesque, another thing I've written about on the site already. She was incredible in the movie. The fight scene between her and Max during the first act of the movie was incredible. The fight was even the whole time, and the only reason Max won was because Nux snuck up on Furiosa and took her off guard. Furiosa basically beat his ass the majority of the fight. I don't think I've ever seen a more kick ass character, be it male or female, than Furiosa. She is the absolute best.

In "Star Wars: The Force Awakens", is it my imagination, or isn't Rey the main character of the movie? She seems to be, at least in my opinion, the new Han Solo. When she is introduced, she's scavenging an old ship and bringing in the best stuff to the traders in Jakku, even though the alien won't give her much food. Then, BB 8 finds her and is immediately drawn to her. BB 8 clearly trust her as much as it trusts Poe. That's very high praise coming from a droid. Then, when she runs into Finn, she ends up saving him by piloting the Millenium Falcon to safety. When Finn sees her at first too, he is on his way to save her from two guys trying to steal BB 8, but he backs off when he sees her kick those two guys asses. He realizes that she can hold her own. Later on, when Finn and Rey run into Chewbacca and Han Solo, I know there's a lot of spoilers, but it's been over a month now, everyone that wanted to see it has seen it multiple times, Han has an immediate rapport with Rey, much more so than he had with Finn. Han even goes so far as to offer her a job working for him and Chewbacca. Even later, when she is captured by Kylo Ren and he has her chained up, his power of the force doesn't work on her. Earlier in the movie, Ren's force worked to perfection on the supposed biggest badass, Poe, but it doesn't work on Rey. In fact, she is much, much stronger than Kylo Ren, who is the new Darth Vader. And that light saber battle between her and Ren, in the snow at the end, what an amazing, amazing battle that Rey wins in the long run. She is struggling at first, but once she realizes that she is a true Jedi, she completely takes over that fight. She is a bad ass fighter and she destroys Ren in the battle. It's incredible. She even takes over Solo's role on the ship(RIP Han Solo) at the end and she's the one chosen to deliver Luke Skywalker's light saber back to him. She's given that order by another strong, kick ass female character, General Leia.

Basically, I love that big time studios and directors are giving these kick ass, no nonsense roles to much deserving female characters. We don't need anymore damsels in distress or the token woman looking for a man because only that will complete her roles in Hollywood. Those roles are old and tired and stupid. I hope these studios and writers and directors keep giving females these awesome roles. We've gotten three great ones in the past couple of years, Emily Blunt in "Edge of Tomorrow", Charlize Theron in "Mad Max: Fury Road" and now Daisy Ridley in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and they have all been great. Please keep giving these roles to well deserving actresses.

I love it and they deserve it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. It is about damn time he got around and saw the Star Wars movies. His training is now complete. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.