Ty Watches "Barbie"

Now that I am done with the football talk I want to get to some things that I have seen or done or listened to the past couple weeks and have been waiting to tell you all about. The first thing I want to talk about is "Barbie".

Me, my wife and kids all finally went to see the movie two Sundays ago. I have been pestering my wife to see it and told her the kids should come. The movie is a phenomenon and I felt like it would benefit the kids to see it. They had typical reactions. My son, who is 11 and focused solely on sports said it was a "6 out of 10". My daughter loved the colors and seeing Barbieland, but when it got to the more serious stuff she was not interested. My wife and I absolutely loved the movie. I mentioned on the podcast last week how much I adore this movie. I fully believe it is going to go down as one of the best, and most impactful movies to ever come out.

"Barbie" tells a great story about acceptance and being okay with who you are and how it is fine to be sad sometimes and that everything is never going to be as perfect as one may want their lives to be. I was moved by this movie. I laughed harder at this movie than some of my favorite comedies of all time. The imagery was astounding and cool. They used old style techniques and made them modern day. It was highly impressive. And the acting was superb. Margot Robbie knocked it completely out of the park. She was fully engrossed in this role and gave it her all. She played funny and heartbroken to perfection. She blew me away. Ryan Gosling was what I imagine Ken would be like if the doll came to life. I fully believed he was Ken. It was terrific. He was the funniest person in this whole movie. America Ferrera spoke for all of us in our early 40's and how tough life can be with kids nowadays, especially kids with an opinion. Ferrera is wildly underrated and this role should push her to the fame she deserves. Even the smaller roles, those were nailed. Michael Cera as Allan was my favorite. Issa Rae as president Barbie was pitch perfect. Will Ferrell as Mattel CEO was spot on. Simu Liu as a rival Ken was the best foil you could want for Gosling's Ken. Kate McKinnon as Weird Barbie was an example of how great a comedic actor McKinnon is. I was blown away by everyone. To see all the Barbies and Kens, that was quite a feat.

What got me most was Greta Gerwig's directing and her and Noah Baumbach's script. The directing was second to none. Gerwig controlled every aspect of these super talented actors and pulled the best out of them. To get drama and comedy the way she did, that work should not be overlooked. She should be the odds on favorite at the Oscars for best director. There should be no question. The script was even better than the directing. Gerwig and Baumbach told a relatable, real life story using Barbie and Ken dolls. They found a way to make a real life story out of dolls. There were moments in this script that were the best of the best. The way they tackled the stupidity of the patriarchy to Barbie dealing with an existential crisis to America Ferrera dealing with her daughter growing up and being over Barbie, it all worked. I bought it all and wanted more and more.

This is one of the rare perfect movies. I cannot find a flaw anywhere. Any early skepticism I had was instantly erased. I cannot recommend this movie enough. I think everyone should see it. It is a feat that will not be met for a very long time. "Barbie" is destined to become a classic and I am stoked that I saw it in a packed theater during week four of its release. What an accomplishment. 

Ty

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

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Ty Does not Watch the Dumb Oscars, but He still Has Some Thoughts

I said I'd have a follow up to RD's Oscars piece today, and I'm a man of my word. I'll get to other stuff later in the week.

First off, I totally agreed with pretty much all of RD's thoughts on all the categories. I don't really care about the sound stuff and the shorts. Don't get me wrong, those things are very important to movies, but I do not think the movie going public truly, really cares about those awards. I was very happy to see "Zootopia" win best animated movie. I very much liked the message and the animation and the story. It was a very well deserved win. I was so pumped that Masherala Ali won best supporting actor for "Moonlight". Ali is a wonderful actor, I loved him in "Luke Cage", and though I haven't watched "Moonlight" yet, I plan on seeing it tomorrow, I'm sure he is tremendous and well deserving. And "OJ: Made in America" is a must watch, and it won the award for documentary feature. These were my favorite things about the 2017 Oscars.

All the other stuff, save for Best Picture was predictable. The movie that won Best Foreign Language was a shoo in from what I read. Denzel Washington should have won Best Actor, but the academy gave it to a terrible, mean person, Casey Affleck. I felt real bad for Brie Larson, the presenter, because she does so much charity for victims of abuse, having to give him the award. Denzel is also a masterful actor. Viola Davis was more than deserving. This award was a long time coming.

Then we have "La La Land". As I said, I fully agreed with RD that the academy was going to reward a movie about white struggling jazz musicians, dancers and actors. That movie should have been called "Oscar Bait". And, for the most part, it won everything it was nominated for. I have no intention of watching this movie. I like the director, Damien Chazelle, I loved "Whiplash", but "La La Land" did nothing for me with the trailers. It's not my cup of tea. But, Chazelle won for directing, Emma Stone won for Best Actress and a few, not all, of the technical awards it was nominated in. I have nothing against this movie or the actors. I have made it wildly known my love for Ryan Gosling. I think Emma Stone is wonderful. I already said I love Chazelle's work with a movie like "Whiplash". But I was so excited when I read that "Moonlight" beat it out for Best Picture.

I've read and seen all the stuff that happened last night, with announcing the wrong winner. All that stuff just goes to show that EVERYONE expected "La La Land" to win, even Warren Beatty. But, for a movie like "Moonlight" to take the main prize, especially in this f'ed up political climate right now, makes me so in incredibly and irrationally happy. I haven't even watched it yet, but I'm so, so stoked that it won. This is a big deal for independent movies, which I love, and I'm filled with joy that "Moonlight" and Ali took home major prizes.

One more quick thing, screw the academy for not even nominating "Deadpool". The Golden Globes, and basically every other major awards show at least gave it a nod, but the academy decided movies like "Nocturnal Animals", "Arrival" (ed note: This film is is terrible) or "Hacksaw Ridge" were more deserving. Just give it a nod. You can nominate up to 10 movies, and "Deadpool" was most definitely one of the 10 best of 2016. The academy missed out on a big opportunity, but at least they cashed in a big opportunity with "Moonlight" last night.

Congrats to everyone involved with all the good movies and performances, it was a well deserved, great night for the people involved. Also, I heard that Jimmy Kimmel did a fine job as host, which I expected. Those are my takes on the 2017 Oscars.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He gave up on the Oscars when the best movie of the year, "Hunt for the Wilderpeople" received a non-record zero nominations. The Oscars are dumb. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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Better Late than Never on the Awesome Movie "The Nice Guys"

Nothing like a new movie with an old look on a new yet old media device

It is harder for me to get out to the theaters now, unless it is a children's movie, so a lot of things I wanted to see in the theaters, I have to wait until they come out on DVD and rent them. One such movie that I was kind of cool on, but still wanted to see, was "The Nice Guys". I'm a big Ryan Gosling fan and I think Russell Crowe, given the right role, script and director, is a very good actor. I saw the previews and thought the movie looked like it might be decent, so I decided that I wanted to see it. I could not find time to see it in the theaters, but I put it in my Netflix queue and it showed up at my house a week or so ago. It sat on top of my DVD player, and yesterday, I decided that I was going to finally watch.  

I put my kids in their rooms and turned the movie on, and I have to tell you, I loved this movie. Like I said, I was cool on it at first, heard some good things about it, got a bit warmer on it, then when I watched it, it is such a great movie. Had I watched it a month ago, it would have had a great shot at making my "Best Of 2016" lists that I did last month. I like Shane Black. I think he is a decent director. I thought that "Iron Man 3" was kind of boring, but it had its moments. It was also much better than "Iron Man 2". On the other hand, I love the movie "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang". That was a great, very underrated movie. Shane Black did a tremendous job with that movie, and kind of partially revived Val Kilmer's career for a minute. The thing that Shane Black may be best known for was the fact that he wrote the first "Lethal Weapon" movie. That is an all time great action/comedy movie. It still holds up and it is timeless, even though Mel Gibson is a terrible, terrible person.

In another great move, Shane Black brings something interesting and cool to "The Nice Guys". First of all, the movie took place in the late 70's, and the set pieces and shots that they got were exquisite. The movie looked like it was filmed in the 70's. It looked a lot like "Boogie Nights", and it definitely has to do with the fact that this movie has the pornography industry as a big player. "The Nice Guys" is not about the porn industry like "Boogie Nights", but the main plot has Crowe and Gosling looking for 2 female actresses that have dabbled in the industry.

The plot is beside the point, the 2 main characters are what make this movie. Russell Crowe plays Jackson Healy, a rough and tumble ex New Yorker that is muscle for hire. He goes out and beats up guys that may or may not be doing something wrong. For the most part, the people he beats up are bad dudes, but sometimes he gets it wrong. One time he does get it wrong was when he meets up with Ryan Gosling's character, Holland March. Healy goes to beat him up after he is hired by a lady that says he is "stalking" her, but March is actually a detective and he is doing his job. March, and Gosling's performance for that matter, is the best thing in the movie. He is a single father who lost his wife in a fire. He is a drunk and a low life. The detective life has really soured him on real life, and add on the death of his wife, he just does not like living, unless he is with his daughter. Gosling is absolutely hilarious in this movie. I know that I am a built in fan, but I am not over selling how god damn funny he is in this movie. He is the comedic element, and he nails it. He has so many great one liners and facial expressions that made me crack up while watching this movie. He is incredible in this movie.

When the 2 of them team up to work together, that is when this movie goes from good to great. It also takes a bit of a darker tone when they team up. This is when the whole porn industry comes into play. There is also a ton of gun fighting and fist fighting that happens. But, I love it all. I think it is perfectly spliced in with all the early comedy and the early tone of the movie. When it gets darker and more violent, there is still some great comedy. I also love the whole private investigator and detective teaming up type of "spy" or "thriller" movie. I'm always in for that type of movie.

The other actors in the movie are great too. Gosling's daughter, Holly(Angourie Rice), is really good. She is the perfect daughter of a drunk that has given up on life. She tells him like it is and makes sure he knows that he has a reason to live. She is also a total badass, and I think that is great. Kim Basinger, in a very small role, is really quite evil. I do not want to spoil anything, but she is a bad person, and she does a great job. Keith David, you may know him from season 6 of "Community" or as Mary's step dad in "There's Something About Mary" is another bad dude, and he is really good in the villain role. I could go on and on, the whole cast is great because this movie is great, but these are the five characters that really stuck out to me. Most importantly though, Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling are the reasons to watch this movie. Shane Black does a great job with these 2 super stars, and they really shine.

I am so glad that I finally watched this movie, and I cannot recommend it enough. Go check out "The Nice Guys", I think you will enjoy it as much as I did.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man. Is one of the last people standing when it comes to getting Netflix in the mail. The early 2000's are alive and well in his house. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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