Ty Watches "Don't Look Up"

I just finished "Don't Look Up". I am being as literal as possible. I just turned off my tv after watching the movie.

First off I loved it. It is a great movie, very well made, the acting is superb and it is wonderful. I do not understand the bad reviews. My only critique is that it is a bit too long, but it did not feel like any of the footage was overused or unnecessary. The movie is very funny, but also horrifying. I actually look at this movie more as a horror movie than a comedy.

For the people that do not know, the movie is about a comet the size of Mt Everest coming to Earth in six months. There are scientists, astronomers, doctors and other very smart people that want to do whatever they can to stop this comet. Then we have the politicians, their followers and the tv people that just want ratings who choose to ignore the smart people. We also have a tech company leader, a la Steve Jobs, who is a money grubbing genius, and may be the most evil of all the villains in the movie. I am not going to spoil the movie because people must watch this movie. It is an important piece of pop culture that perfectly encapsulates our modern society. Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence play the scientists, along with Rob Morgan. Lawrence discovers the comet, she tells her teacher and mentor, DiCaprio, about it and they celebrate, until they find out how disastrous this comet is going to be. They have done the calculations over and over again, and it keeps coming up that the comet will destroy Earth in just over six months. They tell Morgan's character this, and since he has connections to the White House, he gets them in front of the president.

Meryl Streep plays the president, and my goodness she is wonderfully scary in this role. She is this media obsessed, money grubbing scumbag of a person. She doesn't care about anyone but herself and she is all about her image and her votes. She crushes this role. Jonah Hill is her son and chief of staff. And he is woefully terrible at his job because he doesn't know what he is doing. There is a great runner that starts when the White House and scientists meet, and a general charges DiCaprio, Morgan and Lawrence for their snacks. Then they realize that they are free. It is truly the funniest bit in the movie.

From this meeting on out we get the whole social media circus. Tyler Perry and Cate Blanchett play a morning talk show team that just wants ratings. They loathe Lawrence and love DiCaprio. When Lawrence tells everyone the truth, she is immediately made out to be the pariah. She is memed to death. She is portrayed as the "bad guy", She is the only one that lets everyone know the truth from jump street. But that doesn't stop everyone from finding a person to bash. That is exactly what people do everyday now. It is maddening. And this movie shows that to perfection. Streep as the president takes even more of a heel turn when she gets rid of the original crew who told her what to do, and tells everyone to simply not look up. The comet is in the sky, we can all see it, but she is too busy worrying about the upcoming election. She goes so far as to put a hat on. It is frighteningly hilarious. And when stuff does hit the fan, the way people reacted, it sent chills up my spine. It was like looking at the real world. I cannot fathom what we would do as a country if this really happened. I have sat here just typing and thinking about how truly scary all of this would be. Then I remember that we have something similar with COVID. It is so wild and so scary.

Watch this movie now. It is required viewing. It is important to watch and discuss. Everyone must, must watch this movie. Please.

Ty

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

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"Grandma's Boy" is One of the Greatest Underrated Movies of All Time

At the beginning of this month my wife had to go out of town for work. This meant that I had free reign to watch whatever I wanted after I put my kids to bed. I watched a lot of sports, but I also watched some movies that I hadn't seen in quite awhile that I used to love. One such movie that I revisited was "Grandma's Boy".

I am an unabashed fan of this movie. I saw it in the theaters. I feel like I was one of the, maybe, 100 people who did that. I then proceeded to buy it on DVD the day it came out, and then tried my best to spread the word about it. My brother Seth bought in. He loves the movie. A few of my friends, the ones who movies preferences I appreciate, loved it. My wife, then my girlfriend, thought it was hilarious.

Unfortunately “Grandma’s Boy” does not have the best of reputations. I read all the reviews and talked to some people who hadn't seen it, and it got trashed. I was very confused by this. I thought, and after a rewatch, that "Grandma's Boy" is one the best stoner comedies ever made.

Come at me.

During this rewatch, I found myself laughing as hard as I did the first time. This movie flows seamlessly from scene to scene. They don't hold on any jokes too long. The pace is perfect for this style movie. The acting is great. Yes, I said great. It is a perfect movie to just sit down, if you have about 80 minutes to spare, and laugh your ass off. The most famous person, in my opinion, from the movie is Linda Cardellini, and much to her credit, she goes for it.

The movie has a very simple story. An older gentlemen works at a video game company, he loses his house, can't find a place to live, has to move in with his grandma and her roommates, creates a game, has a conflict and wins and gets the girl. Simple. But, like the aforementioned Cardellini, all the actors go for it, and they all nail it. Cardellini plays a higher up at a big video game firm and she is brought in to help fix the company's new game. She is funny, smart and great in this role. She is so unassuming, and the scene where she sings "Push It" by Salt N Pepa is amazing. But, like I said, everyone else is hilarious.

This movie is a Happy Madison movie, Adam Sandler's company, but he doesn't flood it with his famous friends. There is no Kevin James or Chris Rock, and I like Chris Rock. Rob Schiender is in one scene, but that is it. In "Grandma's Boy", Sandler lets his less famous friends shine. Allen Covert plays the lead, Alex. He is the old man stoner that works at the video game company. He is hilarious. He has great lines and I totally buy him as a leading man in a movie like this. Nick Swardson, in one of his first movie roles, plays Alex's friend, Jeff. Jeff still lives at home, is a total momma's boy and has some great scenes opposite Shirley Jones. Speaking of Shirley Jones, she is wonderfully hilarious in the movie. She plays one of Alex's grandma's roommates. Alex's grandma is played by Doris Roberts. We all know her from "Everybody Loves Raymond". But in this movie, she is so sweet and nice. There is also a scene when she drinks pot that is wonderful. Jonah Hill shows up in this movie. This is the first movie I ever saw him in, and he is hilarious. Kevin Nealon plays the owner of the video game company who is also into yoga and getting high. He is great. Another one of Sandler's buddy's, who shows up in all of his other movies in small roles, Peter Dante plays a weed dealer named Dante. Do yourself a favor and go listen to a famous Swardson bit about working on this movie with him. Lets just say, instead of smoking fake weed, he smokes real weed. The bit is tremendous. And everyone else is perfect for this movie.

Like I said, "Grandma's Boy" is a movie that I expected to tune in, but tune out by playing on my phone. I did not do that because I found myself laughing so hard. The movie still held as much weight with me as it did my first go round. It could have been, had they made multiple sequels, my generation's "Cheech and Chong". But, I am glad they didn't make any sequels. This movie didn't need any. They got it right on the first try and they wrapped it up nicely.

Also, don't always believe what the critics say. Sometimes they go in inclined to dislike a movie because it doesn't have a super star or a big name director or they don't like the company that made it. They have preconceived notions that they will not let themselves get past.

My opinion. "Grandma's Boy" is well worth your time, especially if you like stoner comedies. This movie rules, and the fact that I am now defending it, 12 years later, should prove how funny it is, and that it still holds up. I love this movie.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Other than “Grandma’s Boy” what other bad movies are actually really good. Check out our podcast where we discuss that very topic.

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