Ty Watches "The Batman"

I have just returned from my second in person theater experience since the pandemic started. I went to see "The Batman" by myself at a vax only show this afternoon. It was me, two other people by themselves and one couple. It was about as safe as I have felt inside an enclosed building in two years. I also really wanted to see this movie, so I found a way to make it work. I am at a point now where, to actually go inside a theater, it has to be a movie I really, really want to see, and I did not want to wait for it to stream. "Nope" fits that bill, and so did "The Batman".

Leading up to the movie I watched all the trailers, I like the actors, I like the director and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I'm usually a MCU guy, but Batman has always held a spot in my heart. I am pretty sure I have seen all the Batman movies, I used to watch the Adam West show, and I have even seen some of the campy movies they made with West. And as previously stated, I am a fan of the actors that were cast in this movie. I have pretty much enjoyed everything that I have seen Robert Pattison star in post "Twilight".

Getting to my thoughts on “The Batman” I think Pattison did a very good job as the lead in this movie. He brought a more emo version to the screen of Batman. He also used a lower toned voice, but it was not on the level of Christian Bale. He was also in shape, but not overly in shape. He actually looked like a somewhat regular ass person in this movie. I liked his take on the character. Zoe Kravitz was amazing as Catwoman. I think she might have been the best actor in the movie. She was very confident and calm and really held it together. I also like how she did not alternate her voice at all, or say any ridiculous cat puns. I truly adored Andy Serkis as Alfred. Serkis is a good actor, and to let him play actual people, not motion capture people or monsters or apes, seems to work. He was great as Klaue, and he was great in "The Batman". Jeffrey Wright is the consummate actor and professional and he was tremendous as Commissioner Gordon. I am a fan of his. I like John Turturro, but he felt a little overused here. He was important to the plot, but they could have cut a scene or two of his. I liked what they did with Colin Farrell as the Penguin, I just wanted more. He was hardly in the movie. Farrell went for it, and I was in, but he was only in a few scenes. I will watch the show that they have reported to be making about him on HBO Max.

Out of the main cast, Paul Dano hit an absolute homerun. He was terrifying. He was insane. He used social media, and the director and writers also did a great job of portraying how evil social media can be. Dano is almost too good at playing creeps. He legitimately frightened me in this role. The scenes where he films his criminal acts is downright stomach churning. I was terrified of him and his actions. That is the sign of an actor doing a phenomenal job.

I do think Matt Reeves did a fine job of directing. I liked this movie. I found myself invested. I wanted to see what was going to happen next. This is not a superhero movie, it is a crime drama, and I like that. But I did think it could have been a bit shorter. There were some cuts I would have made, but I am not a director. Also, the fight scenes were amazing, so Reeves crushed that component.

All in all though, I found this movie to be very okay. It was a very solid viewing experience. I'm glad I ventured to a theater and saw it on the big screen. It was worth it. I recommend "The Batman", but know going in that it is three hours long and it feels three hours long. But if you can deal with sitting around, go see this movie. It was solid.

Ty

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

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Great Movie Comedies Vol 1: "Caddyshack" & "The Big Lebowski"

The greatest jokes ever live on the reels

As you all know by now, I'm a fan of comedy. I've written and talked about it a ton both on the site and podcast. I love stand up comedy, television comedy and, today's topic, comedy movies.

Today I'm going to talk about 2 specific comedies that I adore, but there's so many others I could talk about. Movies like "Billy Madison", "This is Spinal Tap", "What We Do In The Shadows", "Napoleon Dynamite", the list could go on for days. Those are all great and all classics. I really love a good comedy. A movie that makes me belly laugh and doesn't take it self to seriously, it gets no better than that. A great example of that, "Anchorman", but that's not one of the two I will talk about today, but it deserves mentioning. There are also older, classic comedies that still hold up to this day. Movies like "Some Like It Hot" or "Duck Soup" or "Kentucky Fried Movie". All older, but all still absolutely great and worth checking out. But, the two I want to specifically talk about today are "Caddyshack" and "The Big Lebowski". Not only are these two of my favorite comedies, they're two of my favorite movies of all time. They're both timeless, hilarious and just flat out well made movies. Everyone involved with both movies really hit a home run. The actors, writers, producers and directors really struck gold.

Let's first talk about "Caddyshack". This has to be one of the most quotable movies ever made. Talk to anyone that's seen it and I guarantee they will quote something from "Caddyshack". There is so many famous lines and speeches in this movie. Bill Murray has multiple moments that are absolutely splendid. Take any scene, be it when he is pretending he's at the Masters and smashing flowers or when he is ogling the older women and telling them to "bark like a dog for me" or when he cleans the pool after what is believed to be feces floating around and he picks it up, smells it and takes a bite and exclaims that everything is okay and the rich lady passes out. Bill Murray is the star of this movie by far. But, we get excellent performances from Chevy Chase, Ted Knight, Michael O'Keefe, Sarah Holcomb and Rodney Dangerfield. Chevy Chase and Rodney Dangerfield are phenomenal in this movie. They too, much like Murray, have equally quotable lines and moments. Chevy Chase's scene when he is putting and talking to Danny Noonan(O'Keefe) about life and handing him lessons is very, very funny. And everything Dangerfield does in this movie is comedy gold. Rodney Dangerfield truly did not get the respect that he deserved. He is one of the greatest comedy actors of all time. "Caddyshack" is a classic.

"The Big Lebowski" is almost the exact opposite of "Caddyshack", but that doesn't make it less funny. Where "Caddyshack" had great improvisers and great comic actors, "The Big Lebowski" is one of the best written comedies of all time. The Cohen Brothers dabbled in comedy, with the excellent "Raising Arizona", but they're more known for their more dramatic stuff. What makes "The Big Lebowski" great, they blend drama, action, and most importantly, comedy to perfection. This has to be one of the weirdest, yet most hilarious movies I've ever watched. It is so good. It starts out great and continues to be great for two hours. It's also very weird, but that adds to its charm. Any scene involving Jeffrey Lebowski(Jeff Bridges) and Maude(Julianne Moore) is absurdist comedy gold. The scene when the two of them are talking about sex and her weird roommate is just sitting there listening, reading and laughing is genius. It's so bizarre, yet hilarious at the same time. John Goodman and Steve Busecmi are spectacular in this movie too. Goodman is the loud and obnoxious ex Vietnam vet and he is so good. When he pulls the gun on the guy for going over the line and forces him to mark it 0 is awesome. Also, when he talks about "the Jesus"(John Turturro), and his troubled criminal past, absolutely hysterical. Busecmi is great as their quiet bowling buddy that just wants to be involved. The arguments he and Goodman get into are great. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is also very good in his limited role and so is Tara Reid. But, Jeff Bridges is the star and he totally nails this character. He's so good, I associate Bridges as "The Dude", no matter what role he's playing. Everything he does is memorable and he is very believable as this stoner stuck in a crazy situation. And what makes is so well written as I wrote earlier is, everything that comes out of the actors mouths was all written. There's no improvising in a movie that seems it's almost exclusively improvised. That's some next level writing and the Cohen's are some of the best. "The Big Lebowski" is a terrific and bizarre comedy that everyone should see.

These are just two of my favorites, but I wanted to single these two out because they're different, yet equally hilarious. If you haven't seen either of them, stop what you're doing and watch them now. When you are done laughing, you will be thanking me.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Tomorrow you can hear Ty talk all about great comedy movies on The X Millennial Man Podcast. Ty is on twitter, go follow him @tykulik.