Ty Watches "A Quiet Place: Day One"

My wife and I went to see "A Quiet Place: Day One" last weekend. Our kids were staying with grandparents for an overnight visit, so we used that opportunity to go on a date. We went to a movie we wanted to see and had a nice, quiet dinner at home.

We saw the first two "Quiet Place" movies in the theaters as well. The original movie is incredible. It is truly unique. It has a totally different take on a post apocalyptic world. It was an interesting idea that really worked for me as a movie goer. I was all in on the sheer fact that John Krasinki was directing it, and the fact that it happened to work, that was an added bonus. The second installment I was a little cooler on. It is still a good movie, but it just didn't hold the same weight as the first one for me. I liked the idea of seeing the family move on now that the dad had died, but it was more of the same. I knew going in that the monsters attack based on sound, that they cannot see and that water is how you can somewhat defeat them. I was hoping for a little more from the deaf child, but I felt like they didn't push that narrative hard enough. That being said, I liked the whole idea of a town surviving in that world. I thought it was a cool concept. And, spoiler alert, to see how it all came crashing down was a devastating ending, but it was also well done and came across almost flawlessly.

Going into "Day One", I was both skeptical and excited. I was skeptical because we all know this story by now. If you have seen any of these movies, you know the jist. We get the nuance by now. We understand the rules. I was excited though because I wanted to see how this all started. I thought maybe we would get some kind of story telling us why and how the monsters came to Earth. And the fact that they were focusing this story solely in New York City, one of the loudest places on the planet, I was all in for them doing that. So, we got our popcorn and water, sat down in a very comfortable theater and sat back and watched.

We did not get a reason why the monsters attacked, but I was okay with that. I figure that if something like this happens, it will just happen. There doesn't need to be some bigger explanation as to why someone or something decides to attack. I assume with monsters like they have in these movies, they are just out for blood. And that is as acceptable a reason as I need. But, outside of that, this movie didn't really work for me. Lupita N'Yongo is fantastic. She is a damn fine actor and she more than pulled her weight here. But we already know how this all plays out. I wasn't as stoked on seeing the first day of this as I thought I would. When it happened in the movie I sat there and thought, okay, be quiet and get to water. I understand that the storytellers and actors have to do their job and pretend that they don't previously know all this stuff. But if you have seen any of these movies, just like I said above, we know the rules by now. I just didn't buy into the people and how they dealt with this horrific event like I did in the first movie. I already know what the monsters look like as well. And they look great in this movie, and we see them a ton, but the shock and awe wore off for me in the second installment. I didn't really buy any other actors' performances outside of NYong'o's. I wasn't as scared and jumpy as the previous movies made me.

I was talking to my wife and a friend of mine after seeing this movie and telling them that I think they have mined this idea for all it is worth. They can't really tell a new story at this point. They should have stopped after the first movie, but it was a surprise hit and the powers that be want all the money they can get. I get that, but what was once a really cool and different idea has become cliche and, for lack of a better word, boring. Monster movies shouldn't be boring. The monsters should make it exciting. And while I'm not fully on board with this movie, it is good, just not for me. The movie looks great, has one great performance and doesn't linger. But, I could figure out everything that was going to happen, and that is not something I'm always able to do.

Save yourself the time and just watch the first "Quiet Place". Or, if you're a completionist, watch "Day One" and only focus on Lupita N'yongo. She is the only good reason to see this movie. 

Ty

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

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Better Late than Never on the Incredible "Us"

My wife and I finally had the chance to sit down at watch the movie "Us" this past weekend. Ever since we saw "Get Out", we wanted to see what Jordan Peele would do next. What he did with "Get Out", given his comedy background, was outstanding and unexpected for me. I know it shouldn't have been, given his love for horror movies, but I was still very pleasantly surprised by how awesome "Get Out" was.

So, I waited, as did my wife, with anticipation to his follow up. When I first saw the poster for "Us", I was intrigued. It was simply a pair of scissors and a couple of outlines and the same person. Then the trailers started to come. I watched 2 of them, just to get the premise. When the movie was in theaters, we couldn't find a weekend that worked out, or even a weekday. It is harder and harder to get out of the house the older my kids get, unless it involves one of their activities. So, as I said, we had an open weekend night, we put the kids to bed a little early and rented the movie off our TV.

Now, I need to say, there will be some spoilers, but this movie has been out for some time now, and if you wanted to see it, you already have I assume. But, if you have not yet, I suggest watching it before you read my review. Okay, got that out of the way.

"Us" is amazing. I loved every single second of this movie. While it had funny parts in it, just like "Get Out", "Us" is much more of a straight forward horror movie. Now, that is not to say that it has the jump scares like your cliché horror movie. I would describe the movie more as a psychological thriller, which I enjoy. This movie still has me thinking about it today, and we watched it this past Saturday. That is the sign of a great movie, as I have said many times. From the very opening scene, to the end, I was on pins and needles. I was clutching my wife's hand so hard that she had to pull it away for a moment. She said she was sweating from fear the whole time. The horror of the movie got to us for sure.

"Us" takes place in California, and it is, in my opinion, meeting the worst part of yourself. The family in the movie each has their own doppelganger who is the evil version of themselves. When they arrive on the doorstep of the home of the main family, that was when shit got wild. Winston Duke plays the dad, Gabe. He is great. He thinks he is the leader of the family. He thinks he is the tough guy. He is not. He is only fooling himself. And when he meets his evil twin, The Tethered they're called, you can see his insecurities. Shahadi Wright Joseph plays Zora, the teenage daughter addicted to her phone. Her evil Tethered is faster and way more ruthless than Zora will ever be. Zora is the butt kicker in the family. She is the one that acts and doesn't think. Her Tethered is even more intense. Evan Alex plays Jason, the son and magician of the family. His Tethered is a pyromaniac that happens to have the ability to move fast and do the tricks Jason cannot do. And when the Tethered Jason takes off his mask, Jason wears a Chewbacca mask throughout, it was horrifying. And then there is Adelaide, played excellently by Lupita Nyong’o. She is scared and overly protective of her children. Her Tethered, Red, is insane, and has a plan to take over the US.

When the movie starts, we see a young Adelaide at a carnival, and she wanders off to a hall of mirrors. In here is where she first meets her Tethered. That whole introductory scene is intense and scary as hell. We then see Adelaide after the incident, and she is in a therapist's office with her folks because she isn't talking due to trauma. We come to find out that she has grown up, married and had the 2 kids I mentioned. They return to the same spot every year with their friends, played by Elisabeth Moss and Tim Heidecker, who are hilarious and clearly have animosity towards each other. But, things keep happening to Adelaide that are starting to freak her out. She is starting to remember her childhood trauma. She tells Gabe that she wants to leave one night, and that is when the Tethered family shows up at their doorstep. We come to find out that Red, Adelaide's doppelganger, has a plan for all the Tethered to take over the US, like I said. She has all her minions doing her work. See, everyone in this universe has a doppelganger of their own that happens to be a murderous psychopath. Tim Heidecker and Elisabeth Moss each have one that gets them. Same with their daughters. The random people on the boardwalk have doppelgangers. There is a scene where a newscaster is reporting the story, and he gets slashed by his own doppelganger. It is creepy as hell. While this is going on, the main family is picking off their doppelgangers one by one. You come to realize that they are carbon copies of you, so what you do, they do. Duke gets his by bashing his head on boat motor, knocking him unconscious and sending him in the water to drown. Zora's doppelganger is in a race all night to get Zora, and eventually, she gets ramped off a car and struck by a tree. Jason sees his doppelganger hanging out by a big car fire, and makes him walk backwards into the fire, causing him to self immolate. As he is doing this though, he gets kidnapped by Red.

This is where shit gets crazy. We come to find out that Red has this plan for all the Tethered to join hands across the US like "Hands Across America". She has had this plan since she was a child. She wants all the people she has been with to experience a real life, just like Adelaide and her family. The fight scene after Red explains all this to Adelaide is amazing and scored beautifully. It is a ballet, something they reference a lot. Adelaide does eventually get Red in the end, and we think everything is okay. We think everything is going back to normal.

Here comes the major spoiler people.

What we come to realize, what Adelaide realizes as she is driving off with her family in an ambulance, is that she is not who she thinks she is. Adelaide is actually the Tethered. She is the one that Red saw in the hall of mirrors. Red was abducted by Adelaide when they were children. Adelaide assumed the role of her because she likes, and wants, chaos. There are little clues throughout the whole movie, but none make sense until after you have already watched the whole thing. I was absolutely stunned by this twist. When Adelaide realizes who she really is, she looks at Jason who is sitting up front with her, and they both smile, as if to say, they know who each other is. It was such a frightening way to end such a well crafted horror movie. It was stunning.

I loved "Us". Jordan Peele most definitely stayed away from the dreaded sophomore slump. He knocked it out of the park. Now I cannot wait to see what he does next, even more so than I did after seeing "Get Out". "Us" is wonderful, and I highly recommend watching it if you have a spare couple hours. You will not regret it, and you will think about it over and over again. What a great movie.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. His double is just like Ty except that the double is a huge Ohio State fan. That is true horror.

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Ty Watches the Trailer for "Us"

Yesterday Jordan Peele released the trailer for his follow up to "Get Out", "Us". I have been on pins and needles waiting to see how he would follow up his Oscar winning movie. "Get Out" was so unique and new and funny and scary and violent and fresh. I had never seen anything like "Get Out" before. I was pleased to see something new and different in this current climate or remakes and sequels. So when Peele announced that he was going to make a new movie I was stoked. I was hoping it was going to be another horror movie too. I like that he is doing these types of movies, given his comedic background. He could have done trite, typical comedic movies and been very, very successful. But, he went with what he liked, horror, and crushed it right out of the gate.

I was very excited to watch the trailer for "Us" yesterday. I had to wait awhile, what with going to see multiple family members for the holiday, but when I got home, put the kids to bed and showered, the first thing I did was watch the trailer. The only stuff I had seen or read prior to watching this last night was the poster, which is awesome, and some of the cast, which features Lupita N'yong’o and the guy who played the vegetarian troupe leader in "Black Panther". So, after all the dad stuff I had to do, I sat, in silence and watched. I try to stay away from trailers, I don't want movies ruined for me, but this one was a must watch. And it did not disappoint.

The trailer opened with the excellent song, "I Got 5 on It", and it has a family of 4 driving to a beach for a family vacation. It starts out all nice and happy. They meet up with another couple and are seemingly having a great day at the beach. Then the son of the main family starts to walk off to see this odd figure just standing out on the beach with scissors and blood dripping from them. The mom, N'oyongo runs up to him and tells the son he cannot run off like that. Then we get to see the entire creepy family in the very next scene of the trailer. The dad goes outside to confront them, and even has an aluminum bat and says he is ready to get physical. This is when the trailer starts to reveal some crazy stuff. We come to find out that this other family is out to get the main family. They are fast, scary, will talk to the main people, and they oddly look exactly like them. It is as if they are fighting evil versions of themselves. The daughter is terrified of her counterpart. The mirror scene is horrifying. The dad continues to get brutally beaten up by the evil version of himself. The mom fights and fights and fights back with her counterpart. But the son is oddly accepting of his evil half, especially when he takes off his mask and sees a scarred face. This trailer scared me, legitimately. I loved that about it.

The movie looks absolutely amazing. It seems like an excellent follow up to "Get Out". I cannot wait to see this movie. I'm so full yon board with "us", and pretty much anything Peele will do from here on out. He is easily on pace to be this generation's horror master. He is the dude. He is the shocking guy now. And he deserves all the accolades. I cant wait to see the movie. But first, I need to go watch the trailer about 10 more times. I suggest you all do the same.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. For Christmas he got a bad cold, out of control children, and some Michigan gear. How was your holiday?

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