R.I.P. James Earl Jones

James Earl Jones passed away at 93 years old yesterday.

James Earl Jones is one of the most famous actors that has ever been. He is Darth Vader's voice. He was excellent in "Coming To America". He is the voice of reason in "Field of Dreams" and "Sandlot". He did so much work that was important to so many different people. Everyone is a fan of his. I have never come across anyone that doesn't like any of his work. There are two things for me that made me love him instantly as an actor. The first, "Lion King".

This is my all time favorite Disney movie. I saw it on opening day. I saw the 3-D version when they released that on its opening day. My dad and I would watch it together all the time. I adore that movie. And as I get older, and probably when I was a kid too, Mufasa was the best. I loved his wisdom. I loved his love for his kids. I felt like he was the best version of a father. My dad loved this role, and I related Mufasa to him. They were one in the same. I cried and cried and cried when Mufasa was killed. I didn't want to believe it. When he came back in Simba's dream, I wished it was real. All of that is due to James Earl Jones. His voice and line delivery were perfect. He sounded like a wise father. He sounded like he gave the best advice. His voice was comforting. It made me feel safe as a kid. I was so late to the "Star Wars" game that Mufasa was James Earl Jones, not Darth Vader. He was only Mufasa in my eyes, and I was so happy with that. Mufasa is my all time favorite Disney character and one of my all time favorite movie characters. I was instantly in love with the animation, but it was the voice that really pulled me in. For James Earl Jones to be able to pull all of that off in an animated movie, that is a true sign of his greatness.

The second thing, James Earl Jones was the voice of Michigan football. The first time I went to the Big House, and heard his voice over the loudspeaker, I was stunned. It was Mufasa, but he was talking glowingly about my favorite football team. I asked my dad, and he informed me that James Earl Jones was a Michigan alum. I did not know that until that day, and it made me like him even more. On my return trip to Ann Arbor, I anxiously awaited his voice over. When it came booming over the speakers I was transported back to the first time. His voice was so iconic and so easy to listen to, especially when talking about Michigan football. I wanted to run through a wall after hearing him speak. He had me, just a fan, pumped for the game. I cannot even fathom how the players and coaches felt hearing that. Having a legend that is an alum doing the voice over work has to feel amazing. The voice, the tambre, the way he said certain things, it will get you totally fired up to watch and play a football game in front of 100,000 plus fans every home game Saturday. I am sure, and very hopeful, that Michigan does something to honor him this Saturday. It would be perfect and fitting and deserved.

Rest In Peace James Earl Jones. I'm sure you're commanding whatever room you are in now with your powerful and iconic voice. 

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.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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