You Better Believe I will Go See Tommy Wiseau's "Big Shark"

I am a fan of Tommy Wiseau. He is an odd dude, but "The Room" is endlessly watchable, for how truly awful it is, and he has made quite the name for himself in the midnight movie circuit. He has built a following, his followers are loyal and people come out in waves when he is attending a midnight screening of his first movie. I have been at one of these screenings that he attended, and he made us wait and wait, but it was worth it in the end to hear him spew utter nonsense and watch the movie with us all. I am such a fan that I even watched his two part movie he made with Greg Sestero called "Best F(R)iends". That was a movie that kind of worked because there was an actual story to follow and Wiseau played a weirdo. It was kind of perfect for him.

When I checked on social media today, just doing some scrolling, and saw that he has a full trailer for a new movie, you better believe I was going to watch it asap. I have now watched it multiple times and I have some thoughts.

His new movie is called "Big Shark". The title says it all. The trailer is only about two minutes, but from it I can tell that he has some friends acting in it, he is going back to his "hometown" of New Orleans, this shark will let you run and even hide but will find you and that the effects are very, very, very bad. I'm not joking. The effects make "Sharknado" look good. They make "Army of Darkness" look good, and that movie was all about how old looking the effects are supposed to show on screen. Hell, it makes the old school movies my dad saw in the late 50's and early 60's look good. When you see the big shark near the end of the trailer it is the worst effect I have bared eyes on. It looks like a poor screen saver from the late 90's. The shark kind of looks like a great whale if I am being 100 percent honest. And it comes barrelling out the side of the road and it looks as if it is swimming in a shallow puddle while it attacks people. The trailer also starts with two dudes, the aforementioned friends, boxing each other, with no fans in attendance. It is almost like they are just fighting to fight. And the shark isn't even chasing those dudes when it appears in the trailer. There are two other random people it is chasing. I don't know what the boxers have to do with the plot, but I'm sure I'll find out when I see it.

That is the thing, I will see this movie to see how bad it can get. It feels like Wiseau has given in trying to make a real movie that critics and fans will like. I think he is just making movies for his fans now. I think that is the lane he has chosen and he is okay with that. As am I. But don't get it twisted, "Big Shark" looks like it is going to be even worse than any movie the SyFy Channel has put out. And those movies are very bad.

The thing that got me most with this trailer is the button on the end. The trailer, as mentioned above, is about two minutes long. Forty-five seconds of this trailer are an underwear ad. Anyone who has seen "The Room" at a midnight screening knows the commercial I am speaking of. But for those that don't, this is an odd turn to have at the end of your trailer. There are two dudes fake playing basketball. There is no rim within sight and no one is on a court of any kind. The guys also have jeans on, and that is a no no in the unwritten rules of pickup basketball. Then Wiseau shows up with a blonde wig and talks about love. Then some random lady pops up and says the same thing Wiseau does. Then Wiseau shows up yet again, saying the same thing. The commercial ends with a website to buy said underwear, which is www.thunderwear.com. I'm being totally serious. This is how nuts Wiseau gets with things. This commercial is unnecessary and not needed, yet I watched the whole thing and said "that Tommy is a wacko". To no one mind you.

Go check out this trailer. You will not be disappointed. And you are damn right I will see this movie, hopefully at a midnight screening that Wiseau himself attends. Fingers crossed. 

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.

"The Room" Being Introduced by Tommy Wiseau. Need I say More?

I went to see "The Room" at midnight this past Saturday here in Saint Louis. This is my second time going to see this movie for a midnight showing. I wrote about the first time, and how fun and special that night was. The reason I went this second time was made so much more special because the man, the myth, the legend that is Tommy Wiseau was there in person.

The moment I saw that Wiseau was going on this "Love is Blind" tour with "The Room", and that is was coming through Saint Louis, I knew I was going. I texted my buddy that I watched it with the first time, and I told him I was getting us tickets. He was on board. So, I waited with anticipation from the moment I printed my tickets all the way up to the actual date. I read all the Facebook and Tivoli movie theater messages, telling me about the event and how to get prepared for the night. I found it oddly hilarious that they would send multiple messages about "Tommy's mood", and "sometimes you have to buy stuff to get a picture", and "he may or may not be there after he introduces the movie". Tommy Wiseau is a very odd man, and these messages just added to weirdness that was going to ensue.

My buddy and I arrived at the theater an hour early, as suggested, and we quickly found out that we would be waiting for awhile, and that the movie was definitely not going to be starting right at midnight. We were around the middle of the line, and it was moving at a snails pace. People would stop and take pictures of the poster, pose for pictures with him, buy merchandise and spend way, way too much time with him while getting their personal pictures. It was actually kind of frustrating waiting in line that long. But, I chalk that up to the fact that we weren't going to buy anything, and that I had planned on just snapping a few shots when he introduced the movie, which I did. But, I also don't totally blame Wiseau and his people for this, I also blame the theater for being unprepared for the crowd, which was odd considering this was the second night. I even contemplated leaving early because I realized that I am getting way too old to be out that late, and I was very, very tired just driving there. I am officially an old man. But, we stuck it out, the theater saved it by saying the movie would start no later than 1:15.

The reason for the delay was the crowd, getting everyone in and in seats and Tommy Wiseau doing his intro and taking questions. But the Q and A was where it really picked up. Tommy came on stage, after they showed a preview of his new movie "Big Shark", and he was a delight. He is such a weird dude, but he was funny, condescending in a delightful way and very open with his answers. I was cracking up at his response to some of the questions. He even went on a Steven Spielberg tangent that was at times preposterous and hilarious. He was also wearing 5 belts, one draped around his neck, sunglasses and, for some reason, yellow working gloves. It was quite the look. But when I look back at it, after finally catching up on sleep, it was exactly what I wanted to see, and what I expected. That 15 minute intro was more than worth the cost of admission. It, for real, saved the night for me. They started the movie, right at 1:15, and it was just like the first time, only this time, the theater was sold out. The mocking was great. The chanting was dope. The comments were perfect. The spoon throwing was epic. It was so, so much fun. By the middle of the movie, I stopped looking at my watch and just enjoyed myself.

This is the exact way “The Room” should be watched. To see it in a sold out theater, with like minded people, was exquisite. I'm so glad we stuck it out and stayed for the entire event. It was a blast, and a night that I won't soon forget for a myriad of reasons. If you have a chance to see a midnight showing of this movie do it. And, if Tommy Wiseau is going to be there, make sure you go. It is well worth your time.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is onboard to see “The Room” again if we can have James Franco as Tommy Wiseau to introduce the movie.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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

Ty Watches "Best F(r)iends: Part 1"

Getting caught up on some other pop culture stuff that I haven't yet written about, due to sports stuff that took priority, I did watch part one of the new Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero movie, "Best F(R) iends", and I have some thoughts.

First off, as I said, I have only seen part one. That's right, they shot enough footage to make their new movie 2 parts. The reason I haven't seen part 2 yet you ask, it hasn't been released via On Demand yet. In fact, it will not be out for me to see until June of next year. So my write up of the second part won't be for another 8 months. But, I did watch the first part. My wife was out of town on a business trip and I decided that I needed to watch this new movie.

As you all know by now, I love the cult of Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero. I'm a big, big time fan of "The Room". That movie is a national treasure for how bad it is. It is a total mess of a movie, and I have seen it at least a dozen times, and I like it more and more each time for how truly, truly awful it is. I love the book that Sestero wrote about his experience on the movie, "The Disaster Artist". It was a nice look inside all the madness and how insane the making of that movie was. Sure, we only got Sestero's side of the story, but he told it very well. The book led to one of my favorite movies of last year, "The Disaster Artist". James Franco got the go ahead from Sestero, got the help of his brother and friends and made something truly remarkable. Franco became Wiseau. Dave Franco was great as Sestero. Seth Rogen and Paul Scheer were awesome in their roles, as script supervisor and a stage hand. Nathan Fielder was hilarious. So was Zac Efron. The actress that played Lisa was wonderful. Alison Brie was great as Sestero's girlfriend. Everything about that movie was perfect to me. So, when I heard that Wiseau and Sestero were teaming up to make another movie, I was intrigued. I am at a part in my life where I will find time to watch anything the 2 of them work on, fully knowing that it may be, most likely, terrible. I don't care, I want them to keep doing stuff together. They need to continue to capitalize on the massive momentum they have right now. Hell, I even truly liked the two of them recreating the famous interrogation scene from "The Dark Knight". I wrote a whole blog on how great I thought it was. Seeing "Best F(R) iends" was something I felt I needed to do. It also helped that the reviews on it, while not great, weren't awful.

So, I rented it and watched it 2 times in the 24 hours I had it on my TV. It needs to be said right up front, "Best F(R) iends" isn't great, but it is not awful. It was, for the most part, kind of forgettable for me, which was a bit of a bummer. But, I still found myself glued to the screen on my 2 viewings. And, I was drawn to the TV especially whenever Wiseau was on screen. The movie has a very basic story. Apparently, according to the internet, so who knows if it is really true, Wiseau wrote this movie about a time in his life when he thought Sestero might be out to kill him. I'm not bull shitting you, according to the trivia on IMdb, that is what it said. The story of "Best F(R) iends", real quick, Sestero plays a drifter who comes to meet Wiseau, who plays a mortician, in a perfectly cast role for him, and they start to work together. Sestero's character sees that Wiseau's mortician keeps fillings from the deceased, and he decides that he needs to sell them for money. He then gets Wiseau involved, and as one would expect, they start to fight one another, they stab each other in the back and hi-jinks ensue. Like I said, it wasn't great, but it was fine. You can tell that the 2 of them have taken advice from people on their acting. Sestero barely speaks in the movie, which is perfect for him. He is a lesser Keanu Reeves. When he does talk, it is short and to the point. Wiseau goes for it, as he always does, and I think he nails it. He is so creepy but funny. He is so weird, but I found myself rooting for him. When he and Sestero play basketball together outside the morgue, it was some of the funniest shit I have veer seen in what is supposed to be a "serious" movie. And while there are other actors in the movie, some who feel like they come from the pornography world, and then a dude like Paul Scheer shows up, don't really matter much to the plot. This movie is Sestero and Wiseau's vehicle. They are the stars and they are full front in the movie. Sestero did fine, but Wiseau blew him out of the water. He was a charm to watch.

The reason I am excited for part 2 is to see what he does. The way part one ended was so bizarre, no spoilers, and it was all due to Wiseau's performance at the very end. Look, I'm pretty sure that Wiseau and Sestero did not think they were going to make an Oscar level movie. Hell, I'm sure they didn't even think that they are making another cult hit. But, you can see that they've grown. You can see that they are both trying. You can see that they've learned from past mistakes, and they kind of make up for it in "Best F(R) iends Part 1". I appreciate that they are striking while the iron is hot. Like I said before, they are taking their chance and they are rolling with it. All kinds of props to them for doing that.

I recommend this movie, with a caveat. Don't watch this if you have never experienced "The Room", "The Disaster Artist", or know little to nothing about either Wiseau or Sestero. You will hate it. But, if you are like me and you know the lore and you've seen a midnight screening of "The Room" and you've watched "The Room" more than half a dozen times and you know the book and the movie made about the book, I think you will enjoy "Best F(R) iends". You have to have some familiarity with the 2 stars of the movie. You have to know a good amount of their back story to appreciate what they are doing now. So, while I feel like part 1 was a bit forgettable, that has not swayed me from wanting to see part 2, and wanting to see what Wiseau does next. Check this movie out if you know their story and then get prepared to see part 2 next year. I know I am.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Ty is game for a cameo in any film Wiseau and Sestero make. Need a pick-up basketball guy to ball in the background? Ty is your man.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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

Tommy Wiseau is the Joker We Need

A slightly less scary clown than Tommy Wiseau

Every once and awhile, the internet graces us with something memorable and beautiful. Things I think of when talking about this are, "Chocolate Rain", the monkey cleaning the cat video, Will Hung from "American Idol", "Pants on the Ground" guy from "American Idol". You know, things that are funny, not mean and everybody knows about. Yesterday I think I found another video that falls into this category.

I am a big time fan of the cult classic "The Room". I fully believe it is the worst best movie ever made. I also feel like Tommy Wiseau, with a little push from his buddy Greg Sestero, has bought into the lure of this movie. It is a midnight staple. People, myself included, have seen the movie multiple times, by our own free will. I can pretty much recite the entire movie. I have been to a midnight showing. "The Room" spawned the excellent book, "The Disaster Artist", which was then turned into a critically acclaimed, excellent feature length movie. "The Room", Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero have seemed to figure out how to strike while the iron is hot. Wiseau has done this with his internet show, acting in film students movies, taking horrible small roles in bad movies and showing up to midnight screenings of his movie. Sestero wrote a book, also shows up to midnight screenings, became a stage actor and had bit parts here and there on TV, all due to "The Room". But yesterday, the day before the release of their newest movie, "Best F(R)iends", which I really want to see now, they both released a video that was one of the best things I have seen on the internet in quite some time.

I know that most of you, if you are familiar with Wiseau, know that he released his "audition tape" to play the Joker in the new movie that is coming out. We all knew he wasn't going to get the part, but that didn't stop him. That video is one of the weirdest, and funniest things o have seen. But what I saw yesterday totally took over. Sestero and Wiseau recreated the famous interrogation scene between Batman and the Joker from "The Dark Knight". That scene, between Bale and Ledger, is one of the best scenes in movie history. It is wrought and frightening and exposing and just perfect in every possible way. That is a scene I always go back to when I want to see great acting. Well, Sestero and Wiseau did it, and it is insane. Wiseau plays the Joker, obviously, and Sestero, he's Batman.

First lets talk quickly about Sestero. He is an okay actor. He can deliver lines and it seems fine. But, he has a very monotone way about performing, and that comes across big time in this 5 minute video. He delivers some of the lines perfect, but others, it seems forced. I feel like he did this for promotion, and because he cannot say no to Wiseau. He did fine with his impression.

Wiseau on the other hand, he went for it. He was all over the place. He was flubbing lines left and right, but he didn't care, he was having fun. I was both terrified and cracking up during his time on screen. The people that made the video added subtitles for him, and thankfully they did because it was sorely needed. But, again, he went for it. Wiseau seems to be at a point where he gets that he is not a good actor, but he doesn't care. If someone gives him direction, and if it takes 100 takes, he will deliver something memorable, be it good or bad. This video, I found it to be one of the good ones. As I said, he had fun, he went for it and I watched the video three times in a row, simply for his "performance". I loved it, and I am so glad it is in my life. I showed it to my wife, and she thought it was hilarious.

This video is a must watch for all "The Room" and Tommy Wiseau fans out there. It is truly one of a kind, and it should go down as one of the better viral videos ever. It is amazing. Go watch it now if you can.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He and the head editor are working on recreating that famous Judge Reinhold scene from “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”. Not THAT scene, the one where he gets fired from his fast food job.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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

"The Room" is the Midnight Movie We Need in Our Lives Right Now

This past Saturday I went to my first ever midnight movie. I have never done one of these type events, and "The Room" was playing at a local theater, The Tivoli, here in Saint Louis. I jumped on the chance to go since it was a weekend, and I didn't have to coach the following day. I convinced one of my buddies, it wasn't that hard, I asked him if he wanted to go and he said yeah, and we trekked to the theater. He had previously seen a late night screening of "The Room", in fact very recently, so he kind of had an idea of what to expect. Me on the other hand, this was all new territory.

For those of you that don't know, "The Room" is a horrendous movie. It is so bad. It is poorly written, acted, directed, shot and its release was a disaster. It was so bad, this past year a great movie, "The Disaster Artist", was made about the making of this movie. "The Room" is widely considered the "best bad movie ever made". That is why it is so alluring, and the perfect midnight movie.

As I said, I have never been to one, but I know of them. I have heard and read many stories about midnight movies. "Rocky Horror Picture Show" is a big time one. Horror movies seem to draw big time crowds. And, bad movies as well, are the perfect fodder for this event. "The Room" falls into that third category. My buddy that I went with sent me a sort of "how to" when going to see "The Room" at a midnight showing. I am very grateful for this because it helped me to prepare. He, as previously stated, also knew the reins, so he was helpful for this event.

We were all let into the theater right around 11:30 pm to get our seats and get ready. I'd say that the theater was about 1/3 full, not as much as I thought, but it seemed like a good amount. Before the movie started the manager of the theater came out, gave us the rundown of the evening, told us what was upcoming as far as their future midnight movies, and what he knew was going to happen throughout the movie that evening. It was nice to have this little chat right before the start. It even further prepared me, which I like. All the extra prep I can get, give it to me. Then, he told us to enjoy, the lights went down and the curtain was rolled up.

When the movie started, "The Room" has multiple companies producing it, both owned by Tommy Wiseau, more on him later, the first production symbol popped up. The whole crowd cheered. This threw me for a second, but then I was right in there. Then, before the second production symbol, a commercial for Wiseau's underwear popped up.

Now for Tommy Wiseau. He is the star, producer, director and writer of the "The Room". He has a very odd backstory. He may or may not be rich. He may or may not be a villain. He is just an all around goofball. If you really don't know about him, and for some reason you are dying to learn, watch "The Room", or any other thing he may have been in. He is a weird dude.

Anyway, after his bizarre underwear commercial, a bunch of random quotes showed up on the big screen that were immediately followed by an explosion and the text, "Shame on You". Some of the quotes before hand were, "you question the making of "The Room", "shame on you", or "you question Tommy Wiseau", "shame on you". This went on for about 2 minutes, and it was all hilarious. My favorite part was at the end, when instead of the "shame on you", it said, "you know who you are". After all this, the second production symbol came up and the crowd cheered even louder.

Then, the movie started. "The Room" has what seems to be about a 5 minute intro scene, crediting every single person involved with the movie. It seems long when you watch it at home, but with a midnight crew, it ruled. The cheers, the boos and the hisses were amazing. After that nonsense was over and the movie for real started, it just got better form there. The random things people were shouting had me cracking up the whole time. Some great examples, every time that Lisa's mom shows up, Lisa is the villain, everyone yells "CANCER!". This may seem mean, but she randomly says at one point that she "definitely has breast cancer", and it never comes up again in the movie. I laughed every time. Another thing, when Denny, the weirdo that lives in their building shows up at Johnny's home, that is Tommy Wiseau's character, we all yelled, "Hi Denny", and "Close the god damn door Denny". He is always showing up out of nowhere, leaving the door open and saying and doing random nonsense. This also goes for any other character in the movie. Whenever a new person shows up, we' say, "oh hi" insert name, and subsequently telling them to close the door. Then whenever Mark, Greg Sestero, shows up and says that "Johnny is my best friend". we all cheered, until he cheated with Lisa. Then the boos and hisses came out. There was also anytime that people would make out we all yelled, "nom nom nom" because it looks like they are eating the other person's face. Also, during the far too many sex scenes, which are also way too long, we would all clap along to the crappy wannabe R&B music that would play. When Wiseau shows his bare ass, which he is famous for saying that he "needed to show my ass to sell this movie", came up, a loud cheer followed. As far as other random things people said, there was a gentleman in the back, who has clearly been to this more than once, who crushed it all night long. He had one liners and zingers ready all night. He was the star of the evening as far as I am concerned. Some other weird stuff that went on during the movie was the tracking shots of the Golden Gate Bridge, and the crowd chanting "GO! GO! GO!", and then cheering when the cars passed was so much fun. Anytime a football was brought out, which happens a lot, light weight footballs were tossed around. There is a phenomena of pictures of spoons in the movie, and any time one shows up on the screen, we all yelled "SPOONS!", and proceeded to throw plastic spoons throughout the theater. It just got better and better as the night went on. The party scene was hilarious, what with all the laughter and the added commentary. The final fight between Lisa and Johnny was great. The stuff between Mark and Johnny was awesome. The "cheep cheep cheep" noises we all made when people were called chicken in the movie was great. The scene between Chris R and Denny was perfect. The scene with the psychologist, both on the rooftop and at Johnny's home, were amazing. And the conclusion, spoiler alert, when Johnny shoots himself in the head, was just uproarious. That may sound mean, but if you've seen the movie, you know what I mean.

I cannot recommend seeing "The Room" in this atmosphere enough. It was so perfect on so many levels. I now understand why it is such a big thing. This was a night that I will never, ever forget. I had so much fun, no matter how tired I was. This was an amazing event, and I will definitely go to more in the future. It was awesome.

Ty

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

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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

Ty Watches "The Disaster Artist"

I had the great pleasure of seeing “The Disaster Artist” this past Saturday. I’ve been very much looking forward to this movie since I heard they were going to make it over a year ago. I’m a big fan of “The Room”, and when I saw they were going to make a movie about making that movie and Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero’s friendship, I couldn’t wait. Then, I saw the cast and I knew I had to see this movie on opening weekend. “The Disaster Artist” was a hit at every festival, and the early reviews were pretty much all positive. This only built my anticipation. My wife bought us tickets about a week ago, and we finally got to see it on Saturday.

I was absolutely blown away. First of all, the theater we saw the movie in was sold out. I was stunned, but in a good way. I never thought a niche movie like this would appeal to a mass audience. Boy was I wrong. After the previews the movie started and it had my full attention for every single second of its 105 minute run time. This was such a perfect way to tell this story.

The first third of the movie was all about Tommy and Greg’s friendship. “The Room” doesn’t come into the story until about 40 minutes in. We see a “young” Tommy and a young Greg meet in an acting class in San Francisco. We see their friendship grow from scene partners to roommates to collaborators. I must say, all the buzz that James Franco is getting is well deserved. He embodies Tommy Wiseau. It’s not just the accent either. He looks like him. He has his same gestures. He laughs like him. He became Tommy. He was amazing. He better damn well get an Oscar nomination. Dave Franco was just as good as Greg. He embodied the faith and trust that Greg inexplicably has for Tommy to this day. His devotion is at times charming, but also sad. The younger Franco was so good. I imagine this had to have been so much fun for them to do as well. To the best of my knowledge this is the first time they’ve acted together. They crushed it.

Outside of the Francos, everyone else in this movie was awesome. Ari Graynor as the actress that played the infamous Lisa showed us the naive and ultimately disgusted young actress. Seth Rogen and Paul Scheer as 2 key workers on the movie were hilarious. Rogen was a delight, as usual. Scheer crushes his performance. He was great. Josh Hutcherson as Denny, phenomenal. His haircut was worth the admission alone. Zac Efron as Chris R, wonderfully absurd and hilarious. Nathan Fielder as the psychologist, perfect. Jason Mantzoukas and Hannibal Buress as the guys that sell Tommy the equipment for the movie, perfect. There are so many cameos, and they are all amazing. Too many to list. Just know, JJ Abrams shows up in the very first scene.

When we do get to the making of “The Room”, “The Disaster Artist” effortlessly bounces between comedy and drama. This was where James Franco truly shines. The stuff he says and does on the set are so crazy, but it’s all true. Only an actor like James Franco could’ve pulled this off. I do not want to spoil anything for anyone. I will say though, you don’t have to see “The Room” to like “The Disaster Artist”, but if you’ve seen “The Room”, you’ll understand the movie more, and I think you’ll love it like I did.

I cannot recommend this movie enough. It is a true masterpiece. Due yourself a favor and go see “The Disaster Artist”. It has definitely been the best movie I’ve seen in 2017.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He and his brother have worked together on an entertainment product. I wonder what that could be?

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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