Ty Watches "Kinds of Kindness

After over three days of viewing it, I just finished Yorgos Lanthinmos' latest movie, "Kinds of Kindness". This is a movie I was looking forward to after watching "Poor Things" and falling in love with it instantly. I also happen to be a Lanthimos fan. I like "The Favourite", "The Lobster" is one of the most underrated movies, and as I previously mentioned, "Poor Things" was amazing. I was going into "Kinds of Kindness" with high hopes. The cast was also pretty stellar. Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Hong Chau, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley are all in this movie and I enjoy most of their work.

With all that being said, with all the expectations, this was one of the weirder movies I've seen in a long, long time. That doesn't mean I disliked the movie. I enjoy weird movies. I like movies that sit with you after you see them. I want a movie to challenge me from time to time. I want to go back and read multiple things about some of these movies to see what I may have missed. "Kinds of Kindness" gave me all of that.

The movie also frustrated me too. And that's fine. I think what frustrated me most, outside of the 164 minute runtime, was how disjointed the finished product was. This is a movie told in three parts, with three different stories and the actors playing multiple roles. That's all well and good, but I almost wished Lanthimos just decided to make three shorts. Or he could have chopped this up into one two hour long very good idea of a movie. The movie is also unexpectedly gory and sexual. There are some things in this movie that made me uncomfortable to watch. I'm becoming more squeamish the older I get, but some stuff in here felt a little gratuitous. There's a lot to ingest with each story and it comes at you in shocking and wild ways.

Outside those few complaints I had, this is an okay movie. Plemons is doing a masterclass here. His performances in the three different stories are pretty damn great. When he is given solid material and doesn't always have to play a creep, he can do some good things. I especially loved his performance in the second story. It's quite clear that Emma Stone trusts and respects Lanthimos and he seems to bring out some of her best work. The third story, which follows a cult and its members, is where Stone really buys in and pulls out all the stops. She is tremendous there. Dafoe and Chau don't have as much screen time as Plemmons and Stone, but when they're on screen they're great. Qualley is in and out of the first two stories, but she pulls double duty in the third one, and she goes toe to toe with Stone. The movie is, while still very odd, very thought provoking. I was getting a little sleepy eyed with about 40 minutes left, but then some stuff started to happen which jarred me awake. I had to see what was going to happen next. The movie kept my attention better than others. I also appreciate the fact that Lanthimos went a little sci-fi with the second story. I understand that "Poor Things" is about reanimation, which is very sci-fi, but in this movie, which is a hard drama, he adds a little sci-fi spice and I like that. I like when people take chances.

All in all, "Kinds of Kindness" is a good movie. It has all the tools to be good. Hell, it has everything it needs to be great. But, it is incredibly weird. The movie is niche. It can be shocking here and there. It has unsettling things happening left and right. I will most likely never watch the movie again. But, I'm glad I was able to see it, finish it and write about it today. I don't know if I'd recommend it to everyone though. If you do watch it, what I will say, expect the unexpected. And go in with an open mind. 

Ty

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

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Ty Watches "The Northman"

My wife is out of town for work and when she leaves I tend to watch movies that she is not interested in when we do date night. I've seen some solid and not so solid movies during these work trips. I've also seen "Titane", and I'm still confused by it. Last night I watched "The Northman".

I've wanted to see this for quite some time. My dad is really into viking culture lately, the preview looked badass, I like Alexander Skarsgard and I have enjoyed every Robert Eggers directed movie I have seen, especially "The Lighthouse". I had high hopes going into this movie.

“The Northman” did not disappoint. Sure it was a bit too long and some stuff could have been cut out, but for the most part, this movie was very, very well made. I am not as into the viking stuff as my dad, but I do like the stories I have been told. I am also kind of enamored with their lifestyle back in the early 1000's. It is all intriguing to me. This movie, from what I've read and watched, has to be one of the more accurate portrayals of life back then. It was brutal. It looked old. It looked archaic. Eggers and the writers did not sugarcoat the awfulness that some vikings lived with. There was pillaging and murdering and assaults happening left and right. I appreciate the fact that they put it out there bare bones. I do not like when other movie makers glorify and deify these people. They were not the best. There is one battle scene in particular, right in the first 45 minutes, that is one of the best and most brutal things I have ever watched. This group of vikings pillages a town during the day. At one point a person throws a spear at Skarsgard's character, he catches it and throws it back, impaling someone else in the process. After that, Skarsgard proceeds to murder three or four people, and when he gets to the last person, he bites into their neck, as if he is a dog feeding on his prey. That was another thing. There are so many dog references in this movie. From start to finish, dogs are involved and it is gruesome. But I liked what I was seeing.

I liked how they made this movie. I was fully in on Skarsgard. I'm relatively new to him. My wife watched "True Blood", but I did not. And I loved when he was on the most recent season of "Atlanta". But this was a juicy leading role for him and he nailed it. He was magnetic. He put in a ton of work on his body and it showed. He played his character to perfection. He was the only viking I rooted for, but there were times when he was just as bad as the rest. As for the rest of the cast, they were up to the task. Anya Taylor Joy was great. She looked and acted like a viking queen. She was a total badass as well. I loved her in this. Ethan Hawke was dope. He is having a bit of a renaissance. Nicole Kidman was ruthless and evil and totally nailed it. Claes Bang was a bad, bad dude, but I kind of sided with him a little bit in the end. Willem Dafoe was as creepy as ever and it was so fitting for this movie. Bjork had a bit part and it was exactly what she thrives at doing, being weird and using her cool voice. It was just a perfect cast in a very good movie.

I mentioned that one fight scene at the top, but this movie was filled with some of the best, and most real, fight scenes I've watched in a movie. There was one where they were playing some kind of old game, and when Skarsgard goes to protect a child, oh my was that nuts. There was another one where he takes on multiple fighters and beats them, until he is contained and proceeds to get repeatedly punched in the face. When he was tied up it was the most real looking torture thing I have seen since "Zero Dark Thirty". When he gets Taylor Joy to feed the guards hallucinogenic mushrooms, and what happens next, it was wild. My favorite was when Skarsgard returned to the site of his capture and freed the people at night time. That was rad. And brutal. And gory. And kind of sad. But it was so well done. And the final battle scene, no spoilers, was totally worth the anticipation and build up. It ended on a perfect crescendo. I sat on my couch and just kind of stewed in what I had just watched. I really thought about it all. And I came away thinking this was one of the better movies I have watched in some time. It is beautiful to look at, well acted and directed, very well written and super interesting.

I definitely recommend the movie under the caveat that it is slow in certain parts and that the movie is very heavy with viking and Icelandic language. But Skarsgard, Taylor Joy and those battle scenes are totally worth it in the end. "The Northman" lived up to my personal hype.

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.

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Ty Watches "Aquaman"

Last night my wife and I went on a movie date to see "Aquaman".

Going into this movie I had very, very little expectations. I'm a Marvel fan. I have made that abundantly clear many times. I am not a big fan of the DC series, with the exceptions being the Christopher Nolan "Batman" movies and the "Wonder Woman" movie that came out a few years back. Most other DC movies are not good. "Batman V Superman" was mad dull. "Justice League" was too dark and boring. The "Superman" movies with Henry Cavill are just flat out bad. So I wasn't too high on "Aquaman". But, my wife wanted to go to the movies, and she wanted to see "Aquaman". Also, I like Jason Momoa, so I was in.

Now, as I get deeper into my review, I am going to be as spoiler free as possible. So, first things first, this movie is visually stunning. It was a delight to look at for 2 and a half hours. It was bright and vibrant and just plain cool. Whoever concocted this universe with this color palette totally nailed it. Then we have the star of the movie, Jason Momoa. Honestly, I would watch this dude read a phone book and he'd make it enjoyable. He is also a very attractive guy. It's the truth. Part of where he got to where he is today is his looks. As we were watching the movie I told my wife that he is what Taylor Lautner wishes he could be. Momoa is charismatic and funny and I bought him as this half bred fish/human being. He seems like a genuinely cool dude, and that came across on the screen. I also enjoyed the jokey nature of the movie. It didn't take itself too seriously. Sure, the bad guys did their villainous things, and some of the dialogue was corny, more on that later, but all in all, it was a fast moving movie with some jokes sprinkled in and out. Also, as I just mentioned before, the movie did not feel like it was 2 and a half hours. The flow was nice and the battle scene after battle scene made its pace that much more fun. I was never bored, and I found myself enjoying the movie.

Now for the picky side of me to come out. I love Nicole Kidman. I think she is a wonderful actress, and I usually enjoy her in the many movies I have seen her in. That being said, she was not great in "Aquaman". She seemed almost tacked on. I think she took this part because she passed on "Wonder Woman", and her role felt hollow. Patrick Wilson, as King Orm, was too cliché of a villain. He yelled and stalked and did all the things that typical cartoon villains do. While I think he is a solid actor, he does not play a good bad guy. Amber Heard is the female Taylor Lautner. That's right, I have 2 Lautner references in this post. She is in movies because she is unfairly beautiful. But her performance was very meh, and she had no chemistry with Momoa. That was one of my wife's biggest criticisms. Heard felt out of place. Willem Dafoe was also pretty useless in the movie. He helped a young Aquaman learn his powers, but he was just kind of there. He didn't bring much of anything to this movie.

My biggest problem with this movie, and this goes for all DC movies for that matter, whenever the hero is getting ready for a big battle scene, there is some cheesy 80's guitar riffs played over and over again. It is so dumb and sometimes it totally takes me out of the moment. That music drives me nuts.

All this being said, I enjoyed "Aquaman". If it just had the battle scenes and the stuff with his dad, it would have easily gotten an A from me. But, the people writing the movie had to fill the time, and they added some stuff that wasn't necessary. That is the case with most super hero movies. All in all, I liked it. If I did have to give it a letter grade I would give it a solid B-. This is definitely the second best recent DC movie, far, far behind "Wonder Woman". But, I would recommend this to everyone. It is family friendly, not bloody, not too violent and fun. It is also visually stunning. "Aquaman" is a perfect popcorn movie. That's the best compliment I can give it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He thoguht Vinnie Chase was the only man that could play Aquaman. He is happy to be wrong in his ignorance of real life.

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