"OJ: Made in America" is the Best Film of the Year

Being the pop culture expert that I am, I binged watched all of "OJ: Made in America" this past week so I could review it for everyone. That was my thought going into the movie. I figured, since I do write about sports, movies, music, all things pop culture, I would watch this movie that everyone was talking about, just to say that I saw it. Good or bad, I was going to watch the monster film for you.

A funny thin happened when I watched that first hour and a half, I was blown away at how perfect a documentary "OJ: Made in America" truly is. I was fascinated. I couldn't wait to watch all 5, hour and a half parts of the movie. I wished and hoped that nap and quiet time came quickly for my kids so I could get back to this tremendous movie. By the way, I will call it a movie from here on out. I have read, and heard, that in some places it was shown in its entirety, so that qualifies it as a movie for me. Some may call it a mini series, I call it a movie. It was made as a movie, and it unfolded like a movie, so it is a movie.

Anyway, "OJ: Made in America", may be the greatest documentary ever made. It had everything in it that one could want. There was triumph, tragedy, love story, horror, downfalls, everything one could want from your typical movie. The movie started out talking about young OJ, about his childhood. They mentioned that he was a great athlete, but he was also a troublemaker. He did stuff that most kids do, but he would always push a little further. We also came to find out that his mom raised him, and that his father was a homosexual. That really made OJ an angry, rough and tumble kid. He felt he had to overcompensate on a lot of things.

As OJ grew older, he excelled at football. He went to junior college for 2 years, then to USC. We all know about his triumphs at USC. He was unstoppable. He won the Heisman. He made USC great again. But, amidst all this, he seemed to be a fame hungry, angry young man. When his first wife, Margarite, was interviewed, they asked what he was like away from the field and she said he was very intense and focused. How many 20 or 21 year old people are described as intense? That was the first moment I saw during the movie that made my head shake. His first wife looked legitimately scared when she had to answer questions.

After leaving USC, Simpson was drafted by the Bills. He was unhappy. Buffalo was cold, they had a bad team and an even worse coach. But, when a new coach came in, he excelled because this coach featured him. Only his fourth year in the league, but he felt that he needed to be the focal point of the offense. Sure, he rushed for over 2,000 yards,  but the Bills never won a title with him. And while, at least on the surface, he seemed to like all his teammates and coaching staff, that all may have been an act.

One thing I gathered from this movie was, OJ was very good at turning the switch to being a nice guy when he needed to. He was an actor before he became an actor. He eventually left football to pursue said acting career. This is where his life, and his choices, kind of start to go off the rails. He got a lot of jobs because of his name, but he was not a very good actor. He tried too hard. His co stars and directors didn't really like him. He wasn't a real actor, he was a pitchman. It wasn't until the "Naked Gun" movie that he became a "respectable" actor. He was funny on screen, but again, he was a pain to work with. While doing all the Hollywood stuff, that was where he met Nicole Brown. Now, prior to meeting Nicole Brown, Simpson was asked many, many times by leaders of the black community and the NAACP to speak out on all the problems in the 60's and 70's, and OJ would tell them that "I'm not black, I'm OJ". Talk about your classic self inflating asshole. Back to the Hollywood phase. I mentioned the movies and the acting and Nicole Brown. He saw her one night, said he was going to marry her, and he almost immediately started dating her. Mind you, he was still married when he started to date Brown.

The relationship between Nicole and OJ, as we all know now, was torturous. He was abusive. She was scared all the time, but she was hypnotized by him. OJ had a hold on her. He monitored her movement. He made sure she was never very far from him. He became extremely abusive. He started to become the monster that he always had inside of him. When Brown finally got the nerve to actually leave him, that pushed him over the edge. Simpson began to stalk her. He would show up at restaurants and family gatherings that he wasn't invited to. He would watch her when she would be with other men. He would threaten her and the other men. He was getting angrier by the second.

This anger all came to a head the night that he, and yes, I believed he did it when I was 12, so my mind has not changed, decided to end her and Ron Goldman's life. I one hundred percent believe that he acted alone and he, and his knife, took the lives of 2 innocent people. The monster inside finally came out. He couldn't push it down anymore. What he did to Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman is disturbing and scary. OJ Simpson is a murderer, plain and simple. Then, how much more of an admission of guilt can you have than a suicide note and a chase down a huge highway in LA? That should have been more than enough to put him away.

When he finally went back to his house, he was taken to jail, but the story did not end there as it should. We all know about the trial. We all know the saying, "if the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit". We all know that the decision to have him try on the glove was a dumb move. We all know that this trial was rigged from the start. Even the jurors they interviewed have admitted that they let a guilty man go free. But, there were a few things I didn't realize from the trial. Johnnie Cochran and his team of lawyers turned this trial into a race war. It wasn't about murder, they made it about race. When the jury went to his house to check stuff out, they defense team changed photos to make it look like OJ only had African American friends. This was not the case, one of his lawyers admitted this. The photos he had hanging were of himself and only white people. Just like before, OJ never said he was black, he said he was OJ. But, when he and his team of lawyers realized they could use race, OJ not only allowed it, he ran with it. Mark Fuhrman, who is a monster himself, became the focal point of a trial that he should have never even been that big a deal of. When that tape surfaced of him using racial epitaphs, people forgot that OJ was on trial for murder. They simply focused on one racist cop in the LAPD. As I said, Fuhrman is a monster, but he should have not been the scapegoat. Johnnie Cochran would have never admitted this, but he completely played, and used the race card to his advantage to get a murderer off. This was all admitted by his team of lawyers during the movie. It was even revealed that after the jury was selected, OJ said to his team of lawyers, and I quote, "if this jury doesn't get me off, maybe I did do it", what a monster. I don't understand how guys like Johnnie Cochran, Rob Shapiro, F Lee Bailey, anyone on his "dream team" of lawyers, could sleep at night, or look at themselves in the mirror without being disgusted. Marcia Clark, and even more so, Christopher Darden, did a much, much better job of prosecuting this murderer, but they will be forgotten because they didn't win the trial. The way OJ's "dream team" attacked Darden was gross and shady. They should be ashamed of themselves. Darden was/is a great lawyer, and he did almost everything correct in the case, with the lone exception of having OJ try on the glove in court. That was a crucial error that cost them the case, in my opinion.

Once OJ was found not guilty, his life spiraled even further. He got custody of his two kids he had with Brown, but he was not a good father. The Goldman family kept bringing cases to court to try and get OJ to admit that he did it. They won the civil suit, but that was just a piece of paper stating they won. They didn't get money or an apology from OJ. He hid things from them. He was ordered to pay 33 million dollars, but he found ways around it. None of that mattered because none of that would bring their son and brother home. The Brown family was still terrified of him. They tried to get him out of their lives but they couldn't because of the kids. As his life got weirder and wilder, OJ started to do cocaine regularly and started to hang out with thugs. He never saw his kids. His friends who believed he was innocent, they changed their minds as time went on. OJ became erratic. He would go on binges. He wasn't getting acting jobs anymore. He was becoming a joke. He even wrote a book entitle, "If I Did It", which was basically an admission of guilt, but he needed the money and the fame.

This disaster of a life came to a head when he tried to get back some memorabilia at a Las Vegas casino hotel. He attacked collectors, stole his stuff back and used force and threats with a firearm. This was what finally put him in jail. He got caught because he is an idiot. The Las Vegas judicial system put him away for 33 years. That seems harsh, but remember, he got away with a double murder. Karma is real people.

I mean, I could go on and on and on about this movie. It is so, so good and I urge everyone to watch it. You don't have to be a sports fan to enjoy it. If you like sports, sure, it makes it that much better, but if you like mysteries and crime dramas, it's right up there with those as well. I do not know if "OJ: Made in America" is eligible for the Oscars, and do not care what the dumb Academy Awards rules are, it should win every single one that it is up for. This is the best movie I have seen in quite some time, and it is the best movie of the year. I know we still have six months left in 2016, but this is the best, hands down. Ezra Edelman has created something that will stand the test of time. Do yourself a favor and watch this movie. I promise you will not be disappointed.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. In his opinion one hour of "American Crime Story: The People vs OJ Simpson" felt ten times longer than the entirety of "OJ: Made in America". Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

A Millennial's Appreciation of Garry Marshall

Yesterday we lost another legend. This legend was huge in television and movies. We lost the great Garry Marshall at the age of 82.

Marshall was one of the great writers and directors that Hollywood had ever seen. Marshall had his hand in on many, many great television shows. Among many other things, Marshall created "Happy Days", "Mork and Mindy", "Angie" and "Laverne and Shirley". He wrote on classic TV shows like "The Dick Van Dyke Show", "The Odd Couple" and "The Lucy Show". He directed classic movies like "Pretty Woman", "Beaches", "Overboard" and a bunch of the television shows he created and wrote on. He was a master of comedy in the 60's and the 70's. "Happy Days" is a timeless television show that, at least the first couple of seasons, still holds up. "Mork and Mindy" was the coming out party for the greatness that was Robin Williams(another person we lost way too young). "Laverne and Shirley" was, and still is, one of my mom's favorite TV shows, and I really enjoy it as well. It was one of the first shows that featured 2 females in lead roles. Marshall was an innovator.

Writing for the shows he wrote for was just incredible. During that era, there were very few channels, so whatever the higher ups at the channels wanted on TV, that what was on. That included some great shows like "The Dick Van Dyke Show", "The Lucy Show" and "The Odd Couple". Those shows are all timers and Marshall was one of the lead writers on each one. Dick Van Dyke was an enormous star and a lot of his spoken words were lines written by Gary Marshall. There is almost no one as big as Lucille Ball in the history of TV, and Marshall wrote a lot of her jokes. "The Odd Couple", featuring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, again, written by Gary Marshall. Lemmon and Matthau are two of the biggest stars of all time, and Gary Marshall was one of the leaders in the writers room, feeding these guys their iconic lines.

I know that his movies near the end have become a punchline, but look at the ones I mentioned above. "Pretty Woman" was Julia Roberts coming out party. That movie made her a star. Also, to get a movie made in the 80's about a prostitute with a heart of gold, that's super impressive. Like I said, he was ahead of his time. "Beaches" is one of the saddest, most heart wrenching movies ever made, but I do not know one person that hasn't seen at least most of that movie. That movie is so sad, but it is also very well made and excellently directed. "Overboard" is a great comedy movie starring two fairly unknown people at the time. Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn were marginally famous, but that movie put them over the top. That movie is also very, very funny and it does hold up. The farcical story is so out there, but due to Marshall's directing, it's believable and executed exceptionally. I never thought of Kurt Russell or Goldie Hawn as comedic actors until I saw "Overboard".

He also had a hand in on a lot of the stuff his sister, Penny Marshall, was involved with. Be it helping her write or cast or perform himself in the movies, he was a big help. His minimal role in "A League of Their Own" stands out among many great things in that wonderful movie. I'm sure he helped some way in one of my favorite movies, "Big". He directed, and gave his sister her start, in the wonderful "Laverne and Shirley". He also never had any problems helping his sister out. When he was called out for nepotism, he didn't hide from it, he embraced it. His famous quote about hiring family members, "When in doubt, you bring in relatives. Nepotism is a part of my work", is incredible.

I know it might seem weird that the millennial of the site is writing about Garry Marshall, but he has been involved, some way, throughout my entire life of watching TV and movies. I adore Gary Marshall's TV shows and most of his movies. I'm also curious as to how the podcast "Comedy Bang! Bang!" will approach this news. For those that don't know, Paul F Tompkins plays a lot of characters on the podcast and the TV show, but I think his most beloved is his impression of Gary Marshall. He does a spot on impersonation, and I hope they do something special to remember the man. I'm sure they will and I'm sure it will be hilarious and heartfelt. I eagerly await your move "Comedy Bang! Bang!".

Rest in Peace Garry Marshall. You were an innovator, a genius, a writer ahead of his time and an all around fantastic TV and movie personality. Your directing and writing will go down in history. Enjoy the afterlife good sir.

ed note: We forgot an extra r in Garry when the article was first published. We have corrected the mistake. Sorry that we are idiots.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Follow him on twitter @tykulik.

How the Internet has Changed Pop Culture

Popular culture is a complicated beast. Like the Hydra, it has many heads, and when you think you've figured it out, two more heads pop out of the last. I'd like to thank SeedSing.com for helping expand the conversation on so many topics, including this one. If you have time, check out their article about why the book is always better than the movie—argued from the perspective of someone who doesn't actually agree!

For its relatively short lifespan, pop culture has undergone many changes. Within the past century, it has developed alongside different forms of media, including radio, movies, television, and finally the internet. Of these forms of media, none has been more transformational than the internet.

While radio might at first seem like the first big mover of pop culture, the vast majority of pop culture has been a one-way street for nearly a century. Entertainers delivered material, and consumers absorbed it, transmitting it to other consumers in the process and growing the market. The internet has massively altered the way information is transmitted and, as a result, turned the entire pop culture scene on its side.

The Two-Way Street

In some ways, there's always been some level of interaction between fans of pop culture and perpetrators of pop culture. Music concerts, fashion shows, and other spectacles allow fans and enthusiasts to attend and see the latest—that much hasn't changed. But with the internet, people can also provide meaningful feedback instantly.

It has replaced the thousands of fan letters that are never read and go unanswered. Services such as Twitter and Facebook allow everyday people to interface with real celebrities, artists, and content creators on a very personal level. Rather than wait days or weeks for a response to hear from these famous figures, the public may see a response in mere minutes.

The leaders of pop culture haven’t let this change go unnoticed either. More than ever, social media pages are advertised on television, over the radio, and even within products. “Visit our website to learn more,” they say. “Text (something) to 321” will get you added to a list for any number of different things.

Even a person like Dr. Phil has gotten in on the act, with his show sometimes weighing the opinions of the public by broadcasting their responses to his questions live. As this trend continues, entertainment shifts more and more away from being a mostly passive to sincerely welcoming interaction.

The Death of Cable

Another amazing phenomenon we’ve begun to experience is the slow demise of cable. While there is still a hefty subscriber base to standard television, the numbers are beginning to dip. Consumers are seeking their entertainment elsewhere, mostly through streaming services over the internet.

As a result, the movers and shakers of pop culture are no longer just the late-night TV hosts or the faces of prime-time television. A new demand for quality entertainment that directly answers the wants and needs of the consumer has created an incredible lineup of original shows that can be seen any time so long as you have a subscription to the right service (typically Netflix).

That brings us to the heart of our next point: The change in audience has created a new type of consumer.

On Demand

The instant nature of the internet has, in many ways, altered the patience of consumers. As progressively more content becomes available on demand, it changes audience expectations. Pop culture becomes something the audience doesn’t want to wait to read about in the tabloids tomorrow—why bother when they can visit TMZ’s website right now?

In some ways, this has also created a conflict between the previous generation and the new. The older generation is used to waiting; what choice did they have? "Snail mail" got its name precisely because it was so slow. But the new generation wasn't raised on that.

The new generation has been exposed to an entirely different upbringing that is reshaping everything we know about pop culture. Deemed “millennials,” these new consumers are used to things being available instantly. They grew up with cell phones, email, and instant streaming movies.

Naturally, pop culture has developed to answer these needs. Vendors of popular items sell their goods online with fast-paced shipping. Virtually every major bill can be paid online with a few taps. And since the newer generation spends so much time online (typically on a phone or laptop), much of advertising has moved there as well.

Copy That

In many ways, the internet is solely responsible for the most freely produced content since the dawn of history. Because all online entertainment is stored as data, it can be (largely) freely copied. Unlike physical media, there are no limits to how many times data can be reproduced.

Internet users first figured it out on a large scale when Napster became big over a decade ago. A single user could post a song they had on CD, and thousands of other users could download it and share it themselves. Because there was no physical limitation on the number of copies, it meant millions of people could get music for free.

With time (and faster internet), file sharing expanded to videos and larger programs. So too did the record companies’ fight against what they deemed internet piracy. Today it still continues unabated, but new efforts have been made to fight against file sharing.

The Fight Against Piracy

This brings us right back to today’s on-demand culture. Piracy has been combated in two different ways. The first is through censorship and monitoring. The FBI has taken down several pirating websites, and Hollywood has sued the owners of select IP addresses that pirated movies. Well, except the people using VPNs, since they’ve been able to hide their IP addresses.

The second way has been just to make content more accessible. Instead of having to visit the video store, you can load a show up without leaving home. Music can be purchased one song at a time instead of having to buy an entire album. Little tweaks to the market have dissuaded quite a few pirates by making the legal way just as easy.

Other entertainers have embraced the idea of free content by literally making their stuff free but stuffing it with ads or add-ons that can be purchased for cold, hard cash. Video games have changed quite a bit as well. Many games can be bought before they’re even finished, allowing users early access to the still developing product.

Where most games usually shipped finished, now we see games sell with only a limited amount of content and the rest purchasable at a later date. This is made possible only by a fully connected population that can go online at any time to buy the new content.

What Tomorrow Holds

If present trends continue, we’ll only see more digital media come to replace physical media. The internet can’t quite replace live conventions or concerts, but it has afforded many more access to these events than ever before.

While print struggles to stay alive, online versions of popular magazines and TV shows flourish. Independent content also continues to grow in popularity, with YouTube and Twitch providing platforms for individuals to create content for other users.

We won’t know what tomorrow holds until it happens; my bets are in for something fast, convenient, and accessible anytime, anywhere.

If you have thoughts to share about pop culture and the internet, post a comment below.

Isa

About the Author: Isa is an internet security specialist and entertainment blogger. If you enjoyed her work, check out some more of her writing on Culture Coverage. Follow Isa on twitter @ Go like Culture Coverage on Facebook. 

"Cool Runnings" is Still a Great Movie

I'm getting shivers just looking at the flag

A few weeks ago I was channel surfing and I came across the movie "Cool Runnings". When I was a kid, this was one of, if not the, best movies I had watched. I loved everything about this movie as a 10 or 11 year old. It had sports. It had comedy. And it was Jamaican. I love all things Jamaican. I love the flag, Rastafarianism, the accents, the people, everything. A a place that can give me all those things plus being the hometown of Bob Marley, I will forever be grateful to Jamaica. Then, they gave us the movie "Cool Runnings". Well, at least the setting.

 "Cool Runnings" is about the first Jamaican bobsled team that qualified for the 1988 Winter Olympics. It was a Disney movie that starred John Candy and lesser known actors at the time. The bobsledders were played by Leon, Doug E Doug, Malik Yoba and Rawle D Lewis. The only one of the bobsledders I even recognized back then was Leon. As I stated above, the child me adored this movie. When it came on the other day, my kids were in their rooms and I had an hour or two to kill, so I decided to see if the movie still held up.

Boy, does it hold up and then some! I was just as enamored as I was when I was a young kid. I hung on every important moment of the movie. I felt bad for Derise Bannick, Yul Brener and Junior Bevil when they all got tripped up trying to qualify for the 100 meter dash to go to the summer Olympics. I felt terrible for Junior Bevil(Rawle D Lewis) because he was the one that caused them to all trip and miss their chance at the summer Olympics. I felt bad for Yul Brener(Malik Yoba) because he thought that was his one chance to get out of Jamaica, which is all he wanted. But, I felt the worst for Derise Bannick(Leon) because he was the fastest man in Jamaica, and it was a foregone conclusion that he would be going to the Olympics. The character that I didn't feel bad for, at least at the beginning, was Sanka Cofee(Doug E Doug). He was the goofball in the movie. He provided the comic relief. But, he was also pivotal in them starting a bobsled team. When we first meet Sanka, he is doing a push car derby race, and he is the self proclaimed best push car derby driver in all of Jamaica, so he kind of knows how to bobsled, even though he doesn't really know that yet.

After the trials, and the tripping, Derise is determined to get a second chance at the Olympics. He was in the, I don't know if it's a senator, or a mayor, or whatever, but it was some big time person, office asking for a re race. He doesn't get this wish granted, but he does see a picture of his father with some white dude and he asks the big wig who that guy is in the picture with his father. We come to learn that that man's name is Irv Blitzer(John Candy). Blitzer was an Olympian himself, as a bobsledder, and he wanted to get Derise's father to try it out because he thought that sprinters would make for great bobsledders. The elder Bannick had zero interest, but Derise, he was onboard with anything that would get him into the Olympics.

From then on we get a lot of clichés and troupes from Disney movies. There's classic stuff like, Jamaican's don't like the cold, so why would they want to do a winter sport. The whole town, including Blitzer, thinks Derise is crazy. The guy's that all miss out on the Olympics are, conveniently the only ones that stick around to stay on the team. Sanka wants nothing to do with it, but because he is best friends with Derise, his mind is easily changed. We have the training montage. We have the Olympic committee constantly changing rules because they don't want the Jamaicans there. We have the bad guy team from Swiss. We have the fights. We have a cheating scandal, because what would an Olympic movie be if it didn't have a cheating scandal. And we have the Jamaicans not only qualifying, but winning the hearts of the entire city of Calgary, Canada.

I know, it all sounds cliché, and it shouldn't work, but it just, somehow works. The actors, who are all Americans, and I'm pretty sure they are all New Yorkers, totally pull off the accents and make me believe that they were born and bred in Jamaica. This is one of John Candy's best, most understated roles of his very underrated career. The bad guy from the Swiss team is the best kind of sports bad guy. The Jamaicans really did face obstacles from the IOC because the IOC is just as corrupt as FIFA. Everything about this movie works. It never feels schmaltzy. Nothing feels shoehorned in. The actors are great. The directing was great. The script was great. The movie was just flat out great. I'm glad I sat down and watched it again, and I'm glad it still holds a very special place in my heart. Even my wife watched it with me the other day, that's right people, it was on again just a few days later, and she found herself enjoying it as well.

"Cool Runnings" is awesome and I cannot recommend it enough. If you are my age, or for that fact, older or younger than me, watch this movie again because I guarantee that you will love it. "Cool Runnings" is, and always will be, incredible.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He was a neighborhood champion in the four man saucer sled race when he was a young lad. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Having More Time Makes any Book Better than the Movie

Make sure your book has charged batteries before you take the time to read

So, for all of my posts this week, I wanted to try something a bit different. My wife and I were talking the other day and she told me that I should argue a point that I don't necessarily agree with. All five posts this week will be topics given to me that I have expressed a dislike for to, either my wife or everyone who reads my blog, but I have to give the opposite view. I have to explain why these things are actually true, or that they at least have some good qualities. This is going to be a weird, but also very fun, and maybe even a bit difficult, but I'm up to the task.

My fifth, and final, topic sentence of the week from my wife, "books are always better than their TV/movie adaptation. This sounds like it should be an easy one, but I'm the type of person that will watch a show, or see the movie first, before I read the book. Case and point, I saw the movie "Friday Night Lights", then read the book, then watched the TV show. I will say, the book was the best, but I enjoyed the movie a hell of a lot more than the show, but the show was great. An example that is contrary to my wife's belief, I adore both "One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest" and "A Clockwork Orange", but I find the books almost unreadable. I also loved what Spike Jonze did with "Where the Wild Things Are". I thought that book would be nearly impossible to bring to the big screen, but he achieved that very task. But, I do see why my wife, and a lot of other people, feel that books are better than their adaptations.

Here goes with my answer to why books are better.

First off, movies and TV shows have a time limit, unless you are Richard Linklater or Judd Apatow, and you make your movies a million hours long. The directors and writers usually get 2, sometimes 2 and a half hours to tell a story. When the writer writes their book, they can use as many pages as they want. They can make their book 100 to 1,000 pages, if they choose. My first example is "The Hobbit". I believe that there is one book and three movies. The book is about 200 to 250 pages long, but it is filled with some of the best imagery in writing. That book took my mind to a world that I did not think was possible. I never thought of trolls, giants, any of the stuff in "The Hobbit", but after reading it, I had this whole world dreamed up in my head. Then, Peter Jackson, who I think is a very capable director, made three of the most boring, over long movies ever when he adapted "The Hobbit". He made three movies, each well over 2 hours, and that just did not have to happen. He could have done one 3 hour long movie that encompassed the entire book, but he chose to divide the short story into three  2 plus hour movies and they were not very good, in my opinion. The world I dreamed in my head was not Peter Jackson's vision for the movie. And that is okay, everyone has different ideas. But, why did each movie have to be so damn long? That was unnecessary. J R R Tolkien created a much better world in one short book. Peter Jackson got a little too big for his britches after the "Lord of the Rings" success and made the "Hobbit" movies entirely too long. This is one case where I completely agree that the book is so much better than the movie.

Now, my second example is going to make me sound pretentious, but this topic is pretentious, and where else can I be pretentious than on the internet, but every Bret Easton Ellis book is so, so much better than their movie adaptation. For those that don't know, Ellis wrote, among things, "American Psycho", "The Rules of Attraction" and "Less Than Zero". Let's first look at "American Psycho". That book is about as disturbing and violent as it gets. The imagery in that book is frighteningly real. I could not read that book before bed for fear of having nightmares. The description of the heinous acts still haunts me, and I haven't read that book in well over a year. But, the movie left a lot to be desired. I get that they couldn't make the movie nearly as brutal as the book, but therein lies the problem with adapting a book. The book has more time and can paint a realistic picture. Movies, 2 hours and out. While the book "American Psycho" terrified me, the movie was kind of blah. Then, I read "Less Than Zero". That book is a brutal look into the life of wealthy Californian kids that suffer with real problems, like drug addiction, divorce and having too much wealth way too young. The way Ellis described this stuff in the book made it seem real to me. I could picture these kids. Hell, I knew some of these kids. But, the movie, save for Robert Downey Jr, almost played like an after school special. The movie didn't take the chances that the book did. But, I'm sure that the agents of the young actors didn't want their clients to do some of the stuff in the book because it could have tarnished their image. That's a bummer because that movie could have been great. And, "The Rules of Attraction" book was so much better than the garbage movie they made. The book focused, again, on rich, white college students with problems. But, the book had a little humor to it that made it very enjoyable. I would read some stuff and laugh out loud, but then I'd be brought back down immediately by something heart breaking. The movie, on the other hand, was trash. The director and casting agents picked young "stars" like James Van Der Beek and Jessica Biel, and tried to make them look angsty and tough. Well, no matter how much fake cocaine Jessica Biel does, or how many fights Van Der Beek got in, I couldn't help but laugh, and not in a good way, at the performances in the movie. It was terrible. Ellis himself proved to be a bad movie writer himself when he made that god awful movie with Lindsay Lohan and a porn star, but he is a novelist, not a movie writer.

One final example I have is "James and the Giant Peach". I loved this book as a kid. This was one of the first chapter books I read in elementary school. Roald Dahl was, and still is, a genius in my opinion. The book is so imaginative and so beautifully written. Again, the imagery in my mind is wonderous. But, the movie just couldn't compare. They even tried with an animated movie, but it was not the same. This time, at least, the movie was halfway decent, but it was nowhere near as cool as the book.

I'm sure there are thousands of other examples, but these are the ones that came to my mind immediately. Tell me and my wife about some other ones in the comment section. But, I do have to agree, once again, with my wife. Books are usually much, much better than their adaptations.

Ty with a little help from his wife

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is already upset the movie version of his life will leave out the part where he spun the world backwards and saved Lois Lane. Movies need to run on time. You should follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Cloves and Fedoras: Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is the Movie of the Summer

Over this past weekend I finally got to see my most anticipated movie of the summer, "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping", and boy, did it ever deliver.

"Popstar" might be one of the funniest movies that I have ever seen. I'm a humongous fan of everything the Lonely Island does. The Lonely Island is Akiva Schafer, Jorma Taccone and Andy Samberg. They started doing the short videos on "SNL" a long time ago, and those were always fun and very funny. They have released four albums as a "rap" group, and while it is meant to be comedic, some of their songs are really good, chart topping good. Then, awhile back they created one of my all time favorite movies, "Hot Rod". "Hot Rod" was so bizarre and not like any comedy I had ever seen. The jokes were written and delivered weird, but in a very funny way. I absolutely adore that movie. It has gone down as one of my personal top ten movies of all time.

While doing all these things, the Lonely Island worked with a "minimal" sum of money, compared to what some other comedic teams were working with. Well, with "Popstar", they had a pretty big industry backing and many famous people came on as producers. Basically, they got the money to make a very big, very funny movie and they 100 percent did that with "Popstar". The movie focuses on Andy Samberg's character Connor 4Real. He, Jorma and Akiva were once in a band called the Styleboyz, but they broke up and Conner(Andy Samberg) blew up as a solo artist. He kept Owen(Jorma Taccone), as his DJ, but Lawrence(Akiva Schafer), looked at Conner as a sell out and left the music business to become a farmer in Colorado. I don't want to spoil anything because people need to see this movie, but that is the basics of the story.

"Popstar" is about so much more than a singer becoming famous and trying to live up to expectations. If I had to pick one central theme to the movie, I'd say it is about excess and how watered down the pop music industry has become in the 21st century. For example, Conner has 32 people on his payroll. These 32 people have jobs like someone to hit Conner in the balls when he forgets where he came from, or a perspective model, to make Conner look taller at photo shoots. It sounds insane and hilarious, of which it is both, but it is also a little too real. I would bet a lot of money that some famous pop stars today have similar type people on their personal payroll. Conner also has a house that would be too big if 50 people lived in it. Once again, we all see what kind of homes these singers today own. They are gaudy, huge and no one should ever want, or need a house that big. Conner also surrounds himself with only yes men and women. No matter how dumb, hurtful or ridiculous his ideas become, all his people tell him what a great idea it is, even if that means they eat pancakes that have dog shit in them. We all know that people like the Beibs, or Taylor Swift have a whole crew of people surrounding them that only say good things about them.

Once we leave the excess, "Popstar" moves into the decline that all these pop singers will eventually face. Conner's second solo album is an absolute flop, and it is because of Conner, and he does not know how to deal with the bad reviews and his fans turning on him. He will do almost anything to get back in his fans good graces. He wants to release his music in kitchen appliances so the whole world can hear his new record. Doesn't that sound eerily similar to U2 giving away their record for free on iTunes? I didn't want that album, but it showed up on my music the day it was released. I couldn't delete it fast enough. Same thing happens to Conner. People opening their refrigerators, ovens and microwaves were inundated with his music and they proceeded to break their home appliances. Conner can't sell out any of his shows, so he brings on the hot new rap artist, Hunter the Hungry, played so great by Chris Redd, but when he starts to get more shine than Conner, Conner becomes annoyed, jealous and upset. He can't handle not being the center of attention.

There are so many other ways this movie shows the excess and the almost obsessive need to be loved in so many great ways. Jorma is great as the DJ that is just along for the ride, but growing tired of not being involved. Akiva Schafer is phenomenal as the guy that leaves the music business, but just wants credit where credit is due. Tim Meadows is tremendous as Conner's manager and former member of Tony! Tone! Toni! Tony?. Imogen Poots is so perfect as Ashley Wednesday, Conner's star chaser girlfriend that leaves him the moment he isn't as famous as he once was. Sarah Silverman is very funny and very good as Conner's head of PR. There are so many other great performances in "Popstar". But, Samberg shines in this role. He is so good at playing this type of character and I want to see so much more stuff like this from the Lonely Island.

The fact that this movie isn't doing so well at the box office is an absolute shame. People nowadays would rather watch some mind numbing Michael Bay crappy action movie. That stinks. That isn't new or hip or even good. It's all rehashed garbage that didn't work in the 80's and 90's. It's a real bummer that more people would rather watch trash than a smart, well written, well acted and well directed comedy like "Popstar". This movie was incredible and greatly exceeded even my very high expectations. I cannot wait to see it again, buy it when it comes out on Blu-Ray and watch it over and over and over again. "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping" is a triumph.

GO SUPPORT THIS MOVIE!

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is serious people, go see this movie. Right now. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Ty got His Very Own BB-8 and You Should Too

The Droid you are looking for

I very recently just saw all 7 Star Wars movies. I like 4 of the 7, I hated the prequels with a fiery passion, but I'm not going to write more about the movies today. I'm actually going to write about a toy from "The Force Awakens" that I am now obsessed with.

My son just recently got a BB-8 toy that may be the coolest toy that I have ever seen or played with. This thing is absolutely awesome. It has different levels of usage that make this toy even better. You can put it in test mode and it does everything that it did in the box at the store, basically, a mini preview of all of its functions. But, there are two other settings. When you put the BB-8 toy on setting 1, it moves based on sounds. So, if you clap, laugh, yell, talk, cough, basically any noise, BB-8 moves. BB-8 will roll to wherever it hears the sound. BB-8 moves to me when I cough. The first time it happened, it scared the hell out of me. I didn't know what I did, but I know I had done something. My son came out of his room clapping and BB-8 followed him wherever he went, if he was clapping. This too scared my son. When my wife got home from work and was laughing at something, and wouldn't you know it, that little robot moved to my wife. She was the only one not scared, she laughed very hard at it. Then, my dog was barking at some kids or cars driving outside our house and BB-8 made a beeline for him. This terrified my dog. He is still terrified of it whenever it moves. This is quite funny to all of us. Now, mind you, this is all on setting 1 only. This is so cool. This new BB-8 toy is sensitive to noise to a fault, but when it works and moves, it is so awesome to see and marvel at. I love it.

Later I was introduced to setting 2. I did not know that this setting existed until my wife showed it to me. This is the best part of this toy. Setting 2 allows you to operate BB-8 with your voice. This is groundbreaking. This is incredible. The whole point is to talk to BB-8, much like Poe Dameron, Finn and Rey do in the movie. BB-8 reacts so much better to your voice than to the sounds like clapping and the such. You put on setting 2, and BB-8 just sits and waits for you, with the blue light blinking. So, I was sitting there and my wife told me to try it out. I looked at BB-8 and I said, out loud, "Come here BB-8", and wouldn't you know it, BB-8 came right to my feet. Then, my son said the same thing I did and BB-8 rolled on over to him. My wife said it, and here comes BB-8, ready to help out anyway it can. I was enthralled by this. I started trying out different sayings, stuff like, "What's up BB-8", or "How's it hanging BB-8", or even, in my angriest voice, "get over here BB-8", and BB-8 rolls over, ready for it's next instruction. This was so damn cool to me.

Toys have become so much better and so much cooler and way more innovative since I was a kid, and I think it's great. I would have never thought that a toy could be activated by a sound or my voice, but I have to say, I think it's fantastic. This toy is so great to have fun with your family, friends and to harass your house pets. The best part about this toy is how much I can mess with my dog with it. Charlie hates this thing, but it is so much fun to see him try and paw at BB-8, or when he gets really angry, watch him lose his mind and bark his face off at this toy until he gets tired. That alone was worth getting this toy, just so I can mess with my dog. I highly recommend buying this toy. Star Wars fans will love this toy, but I think people that like new age toys will really have a good time with BB-8. This toy is great and I cannot say enough good things about. This toy only makes me like "The Force Awakens" that much more and I loved that movie. Go buy this BB-8 toy now and your life will instantly get one thousand times better. I promise you this.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. This is the second best toy he has ever seen, falling behind his beloved Funzo. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

"Captain America: Civil War" is Another Home Run from Marvel

It may all look alike, but some film is better than others.

I was finally able to see "Captain America: Civil War" this past weekend. Now, before I get into my review, I just wanted everyone to know that it is going to be filled with spoilers. So, if you haven't seen the movie yet, and you plan on seeing it, DO NOT READ PAST THIS SENTENCE, YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.

Let's get to it.

I loved this movie. Once again, Marvel absolutely hit it out of the park. They are in a wonderful, amazing, creative movie making groove right now. They do action, drama, comedy and anything else you expect to see in a superhero movie absolutely perfectly. "Captain America: Civil War" starts out with a flashback to 1991, with Winter Soldier executing an assassin he was assigned to. He does his job and he leaves no physical evidence, or so he thinks. We then flash to present day and Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, Falcon and Captain America in another country, trying to stop a crime from happening. They are doing their job very well, as they always do, but when the fight nears the end, Captain America is fighting Crossbones, they hit a big hiccup. Crossbones is willing to blow himself up because it will also kill Captain America. Right before the bomb goes off, Scarlet Witch uses her powers to put Crossbones in a bubble so the bomb only affects him. Her plan works until she starts to float Crossbones in the air. While mid air, Scarlet Witch throws Crossbones into a hospital, and the whole wing of the hospital blows up.

Many people are now upset with the Avengers. People on the news are bringing up all the destruction that happens when they come in to save the day. I have to say, it's a justifiable complaint. Sure, they defeated Loki in "The Avengers", but they also destroyed New York City, killing thousands of innocent people in the process. Yeah, they stopped Ultron in the next movie, but they also destroyed an entire town in Russia. Basically, they do as much damage compared to the good they do. The US government wants the Avengers to register. They are, technically, weapons, so the government wants to make sure that they are only used for good and in a controlled environment. Iron Man, Vision and Black Widow are immediately on board. Captain America, Scarlet Witch and Falcon are hesitant.

During their discussion, Captain receives a message that his former girlfriend, Agent Carter has passed. He rushes away to the funeral in London, with Falcon by his side. Black Widow goes to an African country to sign the bill and give her rights to the government, but while there, the building where they are holding the event gets blown up by what everyone assumes is the Winter Soldier. They have pictures of him and his face is plastered all over the papers. Also, he wouldn't remember if he did it or not because his mind is controlled by Hydra. He's an easy target. Captain doesn't think he did it because he has always believed that the Winter Soldier is not his old friend, Bucky Barnes. Bucky is a good guy, so he thinks that he can make the Winter Soldier realize that he is his old friend. This is where my distaste for Captain America reappeared. He is so blinded by his friendship, he doesn't care who he takes down or hurts, as long as he can convince Bucky that they are old friends. Captain America is a selfish asshole.

In the aftermath of the bombing, Iron Man is on a crusade to get all the Avengers to sign because it is the right thing to do. I totally agree with Iron Man. But, Captain, once again blinded by his friendship, refuses to sign and decides he is going to go against his government, if you'll remember, the government created him, and go off the reservation to find out who really bombed the embassy.

This is where we meet Helmut Zemo. He is a bad dude. He is a manipulator. He can pull strings. And he is obsessed with finding out why the Winter Soldier does what he does. He also wants to destroy the Avengers. Zemo is a very, very bad guy. Captain believes that Zemo is the one behind the bombing and he starts to assemble a team to stop him.

Iron Man also starts to assemble a team to stop Captain from making a careless and stupid mistake. Captain gets Falcon, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye and Ant Man to fight on his side. Iron Man gets War Machine, Black Widow, the awesome and super cool Black Panther, there will be more on him in a minute, and Spiderman. Black Panther shows up earlier in a chase scene between him, Captain and the Winter Soldier. Black Panther's dad was killed in the bombing and he is out for vengeance, mainly after Winter Soldier. Black Panther is kick ass. Iron Man also goes to Queens to recruit a very young Peter Parker and their back and forth is great. Almost like a father son relationship.

When the two sides meet at an airport hangar to fight, it was breathtaking. To see that many superheroes, in one spot, using their specific powers against each other, it is so awesome. The fights are so even and so incredibly shot. When Ant Man turns into Giant Man, I lost my shit. It was so cool. Eventually, they all realize that they are too even, so Captain and Winter Soldier retreat to a plane to go after Zemo. They look to be stopped when Black Widow appears and Black Panther is attacking from the back, but black Widow stuns Black Panther enough to let Captain fly away. Black Widow and Captain will always be friends, no matter what. Once Captain and Winter Soldier get away, Iron Man and War Machine go after them. Iron Man notices Falcon is about to attack them and he calls on Vision to get rid of him. Vision shoots a ray at Falcon, but he side steps in and it hits War Machine, making him tumble to the ground. He is hit and paralyzed. Iron Man is crushed and pissed.

When the big battle is over everyone that was on Captain's side, except for Captain and Winter Soldier, are put in jail. Ant Man is used to it, so it doesn't bother him. Hawkeye is pissed at Iron Man because he just retired, but Captain needed him, so he came to help out and ended up in jail. Iron Man lets him know that he made the choice to side with Captain and he knew the consequences. I agree with Iron Man. Falcon is really pissed at Iron Man, but he also tells him everything he knows about Zemo and where Captain is headed. Iron Man takes this new found knowledge and looks into Zemo. He realizes that Captain is right and goes to Siberia to help Captain and Winter Soldier. It seems like everything is back to normal. Iron Man shows up and says that Falcon told him everything and that he wants to help. The three of them enter a building filled with other "Winter Soldiers". Black Panther is also seen lurking quietly in the shadows. It appears that Zemo is looking to build a super army of Winter Soldiers, and when they finally find him, he has shot and killed all the soldiers and is hiding behind thick glass. Zemo explains that he does not wish to hurt the Avengers himself, he wants them to hurt each other. Here he reveals a video from 1991. It's the video of the Winter Soldier executing his hit. We come to realize that he was told to kill Iron Man's parents and he did it with no regard or change of expression on his face. Winter Soldier is a stone cold killer. We also come to realize that Captain knew this all along and did not tell Iron Man. Captain, once again is being a selfish asshole. He chose to keep this horrible secret from Iron Man because he knew that Iron Man would be, rightfully so, pissed and want to get revenge.

This is the start of one of the best fight scenes, possibly the best, in any superhero movie ever. Iron Man, Winter Soldier and Captain trading blows is absolutely wonderful and must see. It is a tremendous piece of film making. Iron Man eventually is able to rip Winter Soldier's metal arm off, but Captain is able to lodge his shield into Iron Man's chest piece that helps him live. Iron Man stops fighting and Captain takes winter Soldier away to help fix his arm. Meanwhile, Black Panther finds Zemo and we get to hear why Zemo is doing what he's done the whole movie. Zemo lost his entire family when the Avengers defeated Ultron. it happened in his hometown and he lost everything. Throughout the movie he is listening to a phone message because it is the last thing he has from family. It's his last memory. After explaining all this to Black Panther, he tries to shoot himself, but Black Panther stops him and says that the world is not done punishing him. Near the end we see Zemo is in a very high security prison, but has a smile on his face, he clearly has something planned. Iron Man is helping War Machine walk again with prosthetic legs he created for him. Vision is hanging out at the Avenger complex with his sweater vest combo on. and the people on Captain's side are still locked up. Captain sends some bullshit letter to Iron Man "explaining" why he did what he did and we see Falcon smiling while the letter is being read because Captain has shown up at the prison to get his friends out. End credits.

As I said, I loved, loved, loved this movie. I thoroughly hate Captain America now. He is a selfish prick that only cares about his one friend, who is a brutal murderer. He is way too single minded and he is nuisance. I fully side with Iron Man, He did what was best and right for the people he cared most about. He didn't just single out one person, he wants everyone to be safe. "Captain America: Civil War" is a tremendous movie that everyone should go see. It is a masterpiece.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He was trying to get in and see Batman v Superman, but since it was sold out he settled for Captain America: Civil War. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Cloves and Fedoras: Michael Rapaport is one of the best, and hardest working, entertainers out there.

Cloves and Fedoras is Seed Sings reviews for little known pieces of pop culture.  Feel free to contact us with your own submissions of undiscovered gems that must be known.

Today I'm going to give love to another actor/director that seemed to be forgotten, but has now reappeared and is doing some great work. That actor/director I'm speaking of is Michael Rapaport.

This comes about because yesterday, on the Bill Simmons podcast, Rapaport was the guest, for the third time already, and I loved every single second. He is just an angry, yet jovial dude and I love to hear him talk about everything from music to movies to sports, mainly basketball. He is a huge basketball fan and he is extremely knowledgeable on the NBA, especially his beloved Knicks. He knows their history inside and out. He is so passionate about his team. He said on the podcast, that it is nothing but gray skies right now for the Knicks.

That's something I really like about him. He isn't a delusional Knicks fan that thinks, "this is the year we turn it around", every year, he knows that this is a very dark time for his team. They have no picks in the upcoming draft. They will be hard pressed to bring in any big time free agents, unless they trade Carmelo. They are trying to decide between Kurt Rambis and David Blatt as their next head coach. Why is this even a question? Hire Blatt. Rambis is incompetent and has proven that every time he gets a head coaching job. Blatt was in the wrong situation at the wrong time in Cleveland, and he still took that team to the finals last year. Rappaport said the exact same thing. He doesn't see the need for Phil Jackson to interview anyone else if Blatt is available. I couldn't agree more with him, obviously.

This past Tuesday, and the two other times before, he has expounded his vast knowledge of the Knicks and the NBA, and I agree with almost everything he says. I agree that the Knicks are going to be an also ran for the next three, four or even five years. I agree that the NBA is in a golden age, but it will be bad in a couple of years because of the "one and dones", he said this the last time he was on the podcast. I agree that the Knicks of the 90's were incredibly dominant, but also underachievers, because they never won a title with Ewing, Mark Jackson and John Starks. I agree with him when he says he wants the Cavs to lose the finals again because LeBron is kind of becoming whiny since he isn't the top story in the NBA anymore, it's the Warriors. I agree when he says that Russell Westbrook is a lunatic on the floor. I agree that he says there will never be another player like Kevin Durant, a guy that's 7 feet tall and can handle and shoot like a guard. Rapaport is very, very smart when it comes to all things NBA.

Rapaport's hobbies and the things that he likes goes beyond just the NBA. He is a successful podcast host himself. His podcast is very popular and he gets some big time people to appear. He was/is a very decent actor. I personally think that he is a really good actor that can play many different roles and genres. For example, look at his role in "Next Friday", next to "Cop Land". "Next Friday" he had such a throw away part, but he nailed it. He was a mildly racist mailman delivering mail to Craig's uncle's house in the suburbs. Rapaport was surprised to see a young black man answer the door and he acted like a guy that doesn't think he is racist, but there is definitely some racism in him. He was rude and ignorant and funny. And Ice Cube played off of him perfectly. "Next Friday" isn't good or bad, it's just blah, but that one scene with Rapaport and Cube is very funny and worth your time. In "Cop Land", he played a young, out of his league cop. He got to act with Harvey Keitel, who is a wonderful and legendary actor. I feel like Rapaport one hundred percent held his own. He also got to act with Sylvester Stallone in that movie as well. "Cop Land" is star studded and Rapaport does an excellent job among all the big time stars in that movie. But, nothing compares to how awesome he was in the wildly underrated "Beautiful Girls". First of all, that movie is so good and it totally holds up. The list of actors and actresses in that movie is incredible and Rapaport is so damn good in the movie. He gets to act opposite Mira Sorvino and Uma Thurman and he does a wonderful job. If you haven't seen "Beautiful Girls", do yourself a favor and watch it because it is great.

He is also a pretty good actor on the small screen too. He plays a cop a lot, he kind of looks like one, in shows like "Public Morals" and "Justified", and he is very good, but nothing compares to his outstanding, one episode feature he did on the last season of "Louie". He was so god damn good as a down on his luck security guard. He was kind of a downer and a mean guy that punched people and talked over people all the time, but it was because he was a lonely guy. His character was even more lonely than Louis CK. He was such a wannabe and such a meathead, but he was also, to be frank, a loser. Louie always wanted to be left alone, and he could be a jerk about it sometimes, but in this episode with Rapaport, you side with Louie. Louie shouldn't have to hang out with someone always talking over him, punching him and taking him to a basketball game that he doesn't want to go to, no one should have to go through all of that. But, at the end, when he loses his gun and Louie eventually finds it, his cries of agony turn into cries of joy and Rapaport is so awesome in this tiny role. He should have been nominated for an Emmy for that one episode.

Recently, Rapaport has taken his talents to directing with a ton of success. He directed a great "30 For 30" about the Big East at it's height. It is an awesome documentary and one of "30 For 30"'s best efforts. But, nothing will ever compare to the wonderful work he did on the Tribe Called Quest documentary, "Beats, Rhymes and Life, The Trails and Tribulations of A Tribe Called Quest". That doc is a masterpiece about one of the greatest hip hop groups of all time. Rapaport told every side of every story. He gave everyone a voice, even Jarobi and Ali Shaheed Mohammed. That movie is absolutely awesome. It's even more timely and wonderful and sad due to the untimely death of Phife Dawg. That was the last we really ever saw of Phife at his healthiest. It will go down as classic now that Phife has passed away. Rapaport was clearly a fan, but he wasn't afraid to talk about and bring up the bad stuff that happened to everyone in ATCQ. It's his best work by far.

I'm a big, big fan of most of Rapaport's work. I know he may come off as coarse, but if you actually listen to him, I think you will feel the same way as I do. Rapaport is a wonderful actor, director and a great, and very knowledgeable sports fan, especially when it comes to basketball. I'm a fan.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He agrees with almost everything Rapaport says about the Knicks, except for the fact they will be bad for four to five years. They will be bad for decades. Ty is on twitter, go follow him @tykulik.

We Need to Talk About Superman

I don't want to know how he feels about leaping tall buildings, I just want to watch the man fly

A few nights ago I saw Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and left the theater kind of frustrated. I did not hate the movie like the gang of obsolete film critics so desired, I actually thought the movie was mostly enjoyable. What was so frustrating was the way actor Henry Cavill and director Zack Snyder treated the Man of Steel. There was no humor, very little humility, and no awe to the last son of Krypton. These problems were in Man of Steel and they were present once again in Batman v Superman (I will not keep writing the full title, you know what movie I am talking about). Once I took a few days to think about the movie, and tell my closest friends all about it, I started to realize that Cavill and Snyder were not ruining my love for a big screen Superman, the actual Man of Steel is what is wrong.

I adore Superman. He is far and away my favorite comic book hero. As a member of Generation X I grew up with the Christopher Reeve Superman movies. I even remember seeing the third and fourth films, and not hating film forever (they are horrible movies, do not see them). I was willing to give anything Superman a pass. By the time the "Death of Superman" comic series came out I was too old to be buying comics, but I bought those stories. I watched Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and played the horrid N 64 game. While many of my peers were moving on to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I was watching Smallville.  In more recent years I have started to seek out Superman comics again. I am very fond of graphic novels like Red Son, Kingdom Come, and All Star Superman. Anything related to Superman and I was interested. I was especially interested in any movies that would feature the boy in blue with a red cape.

In 2006, almost twenty years after Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, we finally got a new big screen adventure for the Man of Steel. Superman Returns hit the theaters a year after Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale redeemed the film version of the Dark Knight with Batman Begins. Many people, myself included, were hoping that director Bryan Singer and actor Brandon Routh could bring the big blue boyscout into the 21st century. Unfortunately Superman Returns was a fairly boring rehash of the Richard Donner / Christopher Reeve vision for the last son of Krypton. The only new power given to the Man of Steel was the ability to be a deadbeat dad to a very confused child. Superman Returns was not considered a critical or box office success. The 20th century version of Kal-El was not ready for 21st century audiences.

In order to create a Superman for the modern movie goer, Warner Brothers tapped The Dark Knight Trilogy's Christopher Nolan to produce and Watchmen's Zack Snyder to direct the latest reboot. Relative unknown Henry Cavill was tasked with bringing to life a modern look at Clark Kent / Superman. Man of Steel opened in the summer of 2013 to tepid reviews and fairly good box office. Many of the critics disliked the movie because of it's lack of humor and the overall darkness that surrounds one of America's earliest comic book heroes. The final destructive battle between Superman, General Zod, and the other Kryptonians is often held up as the biggest failure to Man of Steel. How many people died in Metropolis? Why did Superman not take Zod to the moon and fight? Why did Superman kill Zod? I was part of the chorus of people asking these questions. I was blaming Nolan, Snyder, and Cavill for smearing the good name of my favorite superhero.

This brings me back to Batman v Superman and my overall frustration. Christopher Nolan, Zack Snyder, and Henry Cavill once again presented us with a violent and dour Superman. Even Clark Kent is humorless and jerky. I found myself getting bored and annoyed whenever Superman, and his friends like Lois Lane and Perry White were on the screen. Whenever I saw Batman/Bruce Wayne, or Wonder Woman/Diana Prince, or Alfred, I was enjoying a great movie. I personally loved Ben Affleck's performance as a violent and unhinged Dark Knight. Jeremy Irons is now my favorite Alfred ever. The little bit of time Gal Gadot gets as Diana Prince, and the criminally less amount of time she gets as Wonder Woman, are incredible. My only real problems with Batman v Superman were the parts with the Man of Steel. That was frustrating because Superman is my favorite of all the heroes. He is the best of the Super Friends, the greatest of the Justice League, and the comic book hero all others should be judged by. Why can I not get a good Superman on my big screen?

The week before I went out to see Batman v Superman, I watched Man of Steel again. I really enjoyed the movie. It had been a couple of years since I first saw it in the theater, but I feel like time has been good to that movie. The opening scenes on Krypton are awesome. Russell Crowe's Jor-El and Michael Shannon's Zod are great takes on classic characters. The action scenes are easy to follow, and quite exciting. The plot is well executed and the character motivations make perfect sense. I really enjoyed Man of Steel, I just did not care that much for Superman. Then I figured it all out. It is not Bryan Singer, Brandon Routh, Zack Snyder, or Henry Cavill that are ruining Superman. It is the character of Superman that is ruining these movies.

In the comics Superman is all powerful (most of the time) and all good (again most of the time). The Christopher Reeve films focus on Clark Kent and how he fits in a world he barely understands. The best characters in Superman I and II were Clark Kent and Lois Lane. A show like Lois and Clark was more like the 1960's Adam West Batman. The best character was Lois Lane. Smallville focused heavily on the characters around Clark Kent and explored what Superman meant to them. The best character was Lex Luthor. Superman Returns focused on nothing new and interesting and every character was worthless. Do not waste your time on this movie. Many of the great Superman comics looked at what it meant to be the Man of Steel, not who the man actually is. Red Son imagines the last son of Krypton as someone who represents truth, justice, and the Soviet way. The best characters are Lois Lane, Wonder Woman, and Batman. Kingdom Come shows us an older and bitter Superman who is ineffectual because he is out of touch, a Superman who needs his friends. The best characters are Wonder Woman, Batman, and Magog. All Star Superman has the Man of Steel facing imminent death, and it is a joyful and celebratory journey. The best characters are Lois Lane and Lex Luthor. Superman stories work best as a light hearted affair, or one of philosophical ruminations. The greatest stories about Superman focus on the people around him (mostly Lois and Lex), they focus on how Superman effects them personally.

I am not frustrated with the people bringing Superman to the big screen, I am frustrated that these people keep trying to make movies with Superman as a main character. The last son of Krypton is more interesting because of what he is to others, not because of who he is personally. Superman is super because of his unmatched power, and unmatched humanity. That does not make for a very interesting protagonist. Why does Batman distrust someone like Superman? That is an interesting tale. How does Lois Lane deal with being in love and having a relationship with someone like the Man of Steel? That is a story worth telling. How does the existence of Superman effect genius sociopaths like Lex Luthor? I would leap tall buildings to see that particular film. The people who are directly impacted by the Superman have the more interesting stories to tell. They should be the main characters in any film concerning the big blue boyscout.

We need to accept the fact that there will never be a good stand alone Superman movie. The character is too much a part of our cultural identity. When producers like Christopher Nolan, and directors like Zack Snyder try to give the Man of Steel some depth, we end up with a dour film and have a Metropolis leveled. Batman v Superman was a great film when Superman was not the focus. The final climatic battle saw the Man of Steel working with the Dark Knight and Princess Diana of Themyscira, and it was glorious. We could see Superman's awesome powers being complimented by the two other heroes. Superman is my favorite comic book hero ever because of what he means to everyone else. His purity does not need to be tinkered with. DC can own the superhero world by focusing on everyone else. We will always know that Superman is in the back ground to help out. The world of superhero movies is better off with the Man of Steel backing up all of the World's finest.

RD

RD is the Head editor at SeedSing. He will keep seeing Superman movies, and he will keep reading Superman comics, because Superman is the best. Do have a better superhero? Well let us know.

The Movie of 2016 Will be "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping"

The Popcorn is buttered. Now we wait

I know that there are some big movies coming out this summer. First of all, this week we have "Batman VS Superman: Dawn of Justice", which I'm not excited about at all. Go back and listen to the podcast from last week for my thoughts and complaints about it. Some big time superhero/action movies I am looking forward to come out this summer as well. Movies like "X-Men: Apocalypse" or "Captain America: Civil War". There's even some comedies that I am pumped for like "Ghostbusters" and "Keanu". But, I saw a trailer for a movie last week and it immediately stomped my excitement for any of those movies.

This movie is the one that I am most looking forward to seeing, and that's just based on a 2 minute trailer. The movie is the new Lonely Island movie, "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping" (trailer NSFW). I am so very excited to see this movie. I love all the superhero, action and other comedies I mentioned, but none of them come remotely close to my excitement for "Popstar". The first trailer was released last week, as I said before, and it is riotous.

Andy Samberg plays the main character that is a Justin Bieber clone that calls himself Conner4Real. First things first, I love me some Andy Samberg. He was one of my favorite all time cast members while on "SNL". I absolutely adore the movie "Hot Rod", which I will touch on later. He was excellent in smaller roles in movies like "I Love You Man" and "The To Do List". He was awesome in the HBO tennis movie "7 Days in Hell", which I wrote about a long time ago. And he's so great on "Brooklyn 99". He has made so much stuff that I enjoy, even when he shows up in a crappy movie like "Grown Ups 2", I find his one scene the best scene in a terrible movie. Needless to say, I'm a huge Andy Samberg fan.

The other two members of the Lonely Island, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer, I am also a big fan of. The three of them make some hilarious parody hip hop as the Lonely Island, I own all three of their records. Go listen to songs like "I'm On a Boat", "Like A Boss", "Turtleneck and Chain", basically any music they put out. It's not only funny, but it is some damn good hip hop music. It's a parody, but it is good. The three of them are like a goofier version of the Beastie Boys, just not as talented as the Beastie Boys. But, I really like all the other stuff that Taccone and Schaffer have had their hands on. I enjoyed all the stuff they wrote and directed while a part of the writing and directing team over at "SNL". Go back and check out YouTube videos of Taccone dancing during bands rehearsals that were going to be on "SNL" that week. It's pretty hilarious. Taccone is also great in the smaller roles he takes on. He was excellent as Cupid on an episode of "Man Seeking Woman". He was great on his three episodes of "Parks and Rec" as the CEO of the internet company that takes over Pawnee in the future. He's funny and weird as Spazz on "The League". Basically, he falls in the same territory as Samberg for me. I like pretty much everything he is in and he makes it funnier and better when he shows up.

Akiva Schaffer is less in front of the camera. He is more of a writer and a director, but I pretty much like everything he does as well. I kind of enjoyed "The Watch", which he directed and whenever he directed an episode of "SNL", I could tell it was his because it was extra funny. He happens to be my favorite rapper of the three of them too. But, nothing compares to Shaeffer directing for "Hot Rod". I love, love, love this movie. It is so weird and goofy and absurd and hilarious, all at the same time. Schaffer directed this movie to perfection. He had all the actors, be it Samberg, Taccone, Danny McBride, Bill Hader, Ian McShane and even Isla Fisher, act as bizarre and as absurd as they could and they knock it out of the park. I will defend "Hot Rod" until the day I die. It is one of my all time favorite movies. It is so odd, but so damn good.

All this though, brings me back to "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping". Schaffer directs and acts in the movie and Taccone and Samberg, more so Samberg, star in the movie. As I said before, Samberg is playing a version of Justin Bieber, but he plays it hilariously. The trailer is only two minutes, but I was able to glean from it that Connor4Real is a spoiled star and he's been that way since he was a baby. There's a scene in the trailer that shows him drumming like a pro, but he is a baby that can't even keep his head up straight. It is so funny. Connor is also a brat with an entourage that never says anything bad to him, or tell him no. He has so many people working for him and they are all yes men and women. Another scene shows him shooting baskets, he takes a no look shot, misses terribly, but everyone there tells him he made it. Again, hilarious. Joan Cusack plays his over bearing "momager" and she seems like she will be great in her role. Sarah Silverman is his publicist, and she looks super funny as well.

But, it is all about the Lonely Island guys. Samberg plays the title role and he is going to nail it. I just know he will because he is a good actor and he is a hilarious actor and this role is perfect for his comedy and his acting. I'm so excited to see him totally nail the role. Schaffer and Taccone are also super funny in the trailer as his childhood friends and future bandmates. Taccone plays his DJ who is just coasting on his friends fame. He too is a yes man and he also follows and does anything Connor tells him to do. He is the quintessential friend that is just happy to be involved and will do anything to stay friends with his ultra famous childhood friend. Schaffer plays a character that is in the boyband when they are younger, but he then moves to the woods and becomes Connor's songwriter. The scene where they show him in his woodshop, wearing all kinds of Carhartt gear, with a humongous beard, holding a birdhouse, is so funny. The screen flashes the words, "And his songwriter", and that's the next thing we see. It cracks me up every time.

As I'm sure you gathered by now, I am so, so pumped to see this movie. This has replaced all the other movies that I was excited to see. I'm still excited to see them, but not as excited as I am about "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping". This has all the makings of a classic for me. It has over the top, silly humor. It will be raunchy and it stars three of my favorite comic actors, writers and directors working in Hollywood right now. I cannot wait for this movie and I will see it opening day, no matter what the critical reviews are. The critics hated "Hot Rod", but I love that movie and I saw it twice in the theaters. So, "Popstar" will be seen at least once by me in the theaters.

That's a promise I can, and will, easily fulfill.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He likes to dance in his underwear while he watches Saturday Night Live, sadly we have no recording of his moves. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Batman v. Batman v. Batman. A Millennial View on the Dark Knight

Just hanging out waiting for a new Batman movie

With the new Batman and Superman movie coming out soon, which I'm not looking forward to, I went back and watched almost all the "Batman" movies and I have to say, at least for my generation, the Christopher Nolan trilogy is, hands down, the best.

Don't get me wrong, I love the two that Tim Burton did. He created a visual of Gotham City that was 100 percent what I imagined it looked like. Michael Keaton as Batman was absolutely phenomenal. Those movies were great. Keaton was awesome, Jack Nicholson as the Joker was great, Christopher Walken was good, Michelle Pffeifer was very good looking and played Catwoman very well and Danny DeVito's portrayal as the Penguin still scares me to this day. Those were all very good, but they were before my time. I didn't see them until I was in my teens, so I didn't understand the relevance and revival of the "superhero" movie. Tim Burton brought the superhero movie back from the dead after the disaster that was "Superman 3" and "Superman 4".

The first Batman movie I saw, and was excited to see, in the theaters was "Batman Forever". I was excited about this, not for Val Kilmer as Batman, but the fact that Jim Carrey was cast as the Riddler. I also thought that Tommy Lee Jones as Two Face was a weird choice that could be either good or bad, no in between. Needless to say, "Batman Forever" was a disappointment. I did not enjoy anything about this movie. Kilmer was very blah as Batman, Tommy Lee Jones was downright terrible as Two Face and Jim Carrey just couldn't find the common ground between the campiness of the TV show, starring Adam West, which I really enjoy, and the seriousness of the real world that Batman lives in. He tried, but he failed. I was pretty upset that I wasted my parents money and my friends time by making them see this movie with me.

Then, Joel Schumacher made the god awful "Batman and Robin". This movie has been beaten to death, and rightfully so. "Batman and Robin" is an abomination. It is one of the worst movies that has ever been made. Everyone knows it and everyone agrees. It's a pile of garbage. Every decision from the director, writers, producers and actors is baffling and terrible. It is so, so bad. But, the one good thing that came out of the trash heap that is "Batman and Robin", they had to completely scrap whatever Schumacher had planned next and basically start all over again.

They waited a pretty long time, but in 2005, Christopher Nolan released part one of his trilogy, "Batman Begins". This movie came out around the same time that "Star Wars Episode Three" came out. I think readers and listeners of the site and podcast know which movie I was more excited about. But, I didn't really know who Christopher Nolan was. I had heard of him and had seen the movie "Memento", which is great, but I was a bit concerned how he would handle a superhero movie. I also didn't know all that much about Christian Bale. I hadn't really heard of him at that point. I knew he was in "American Psycho" and that he was in the very underrated "The Machinist", but other than that, I couldn't have picked him out of a lineup. So, I was cautious with my optimism about the new direction. Then, I saw "Batman Begins" and it totally revived the Caped Crusader from the dead. This was a very good, well written and well acted movie. What I enjoyed most about the new direction was the fact that Nolan didn't focus on making a superhero movie, instead, he made a crime drama that happened to have a superhero as the main character. Nolan also brought to life how psychotic and how weird Batman truly is. I mean, as a child he saw his parents murdered and then he grows up to become a vigilante that dresses like a bat. That's pretty insane. Nolan and Bale brought that to life. Nolan's version of Gotham was darker than Burton's. He took what Tim Burton created and improved on in dramatically, in my opinion. I love Burton's vision, and he created this world, but Nolan made it better. I also really enjoyed that Nolan didn't feel that he had to have a big time villain as the bad guy in part one of his trilogy. Sure, Ra's Al-Ghul was there, but Scarecrow is the bad guy in this movie and he is terrifying. The scenes where he makes people go crazy are very scary and when Batman turns the tables and infects Scarecrow with craziness, one of the coolest, yet scariest scenes in a movie that I've ever seen. Nalon also set up that in the next movie the Joker would be there. Also, before I get to the next movie, Gary Oldman is awesome as Commissioner Gordon. Great casting choice.

A couple of years later, we got "The Dark Knight". This movie is a masterpiece, a la "The Godfather" or "Goodfellas" or even a movie like "Heat". Nolan took the crime drama and used it so perfectly in "The Dark Knight". This is such a wonderful, classic movie that my son will look back on like I look back on "The Godfather". Bale is, once again, tremendous as Batman. He exudes the psychotic, yet classy side of Bruce Wayne so well. He toes that line to perfection. But, the absolute star of this movie is Heath Ledger as the Joker. I mean, he won an Oscar for this role. How many "superhero" movies can claim that they have an Oscar winner? Ledger's portrayal of the Joker is timeless. He is crazy and ruthless and solely focused on his goal of destroying Gotham City. Scenes like when he makes a "pencil disappear", classic. Or, when the movie opens and there's the big bank robbery and bad guys are killing other bad guys, awesome. The scene where he slides down a mountain of cash, pours gasoline all over it and burns it, wonderful. His cronies look at him with a bewildered look and he plainly and straight faced tells them, that he doesn't care about money, he only cares about destruction, is so great. But, the best scene is when he is in the jail, talking to Batman telling him that they are the same person, I mean, the speech he gives is incredible and the viewer finds themselves agreeing with the Joker. Batman is crazy and it took a speech from an equally crazy villain for all of us to realize it. Batman and the Joker are the same person, with the only difference being that Batman claims to fight for justice, where the Joker just wants destruction. It is such a bummer, on so many levels, that Heath Ledger passed away, because his version of the Joker could have appeared in the third installment of the franchise. He was never killed in "The Dark Knight", in fact, Batman refuses to kill him while holding over a ledge, instead pulling him back and making him suffer the consequence of what he's done and what he has created. "The Dark Knight" is legendary.

I didn't know how Nolan would follow up his true gem, but I feel he did an excellent job with "The Dark Knight Rises". I know it's hard to follow a masterpiece, just look at "The Godfather Part Three", but Nolan did it right. In "The Dark Knight Rises", we were introduced to the real Bane, not the stupid one in "Batman and Robin". This Bane, played by Tom Hardy, was a well thought out character that had a backstory and everything. The great thing about Bane, he was very similar to the Joker, where they both wanted the same thing, destruction of Gotham, but they both tell Batman that they are the same person. Batman is just as crazy as the Joker and Bane and it took Nolan telling us this in two movies and I love it. Bane is such a cool bad guy. This movie had another great opening scene, where Bane and his cronies hijack a plane mid air, is so cool. I was immediately on board for the next 2 and a half hours. I couldn't wait to see where they took this movie and how they ended it. It was so good the rest of the way. Anne Hathaway was very good as Catwoman. Gary Oldman was crushing it again as Commissioner Gordon. Joseph Gordon Levitt was very good as John Blake, AKA Robin. Marion Coittilard was good as the villain Talia Al-Ghul. but, no one was as good as Tom Hardy as Bane. He was the absolute star of this movie. And, much like "The Dark Knight", I found myself siding with the bad guy, Bane, in this movie. I actually wanted him to "take control" and to crush Gotham City. I really enjoyed "The Dark Knight Rises", no, it's not as good as "The Dark Knight", but it's damn close.

Christopher Nolan revived Batman from the dead. Christian Bale did his part, but it was Nolan's directing and writing that really made these three movies great and made them classics for my generation, the millennials. I will watch these movies for the rest of my life, and I will enjoy more each time. Nolan made relatable bad guys that people have rightful reasons to root for and I love that. These three particular Batman movies are classics and will be talked about for the rest of time when superhero and just flat out movies are talked about. They are the best.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He will tell you all about on tomorrow's installment of the X Millennial Man Podcast, make sure you lend your ears. Read more from Ty on his twitter @tykulik.

Great Movie Comedies Vol 1: "Caddyshack" & "The Big Lebowski"

The greatest jokes ever live on the reels

As you all know by now, I'm a fan of comedy. I've written and talked about it a ton both on the site and podcast. I love stand up comedy, television comedy and, today's topic, comedy movies.

Today I'm going to talk about 2 specific comedies that I adore, but there's so many others I could talk about. Movies like "Billy Madison", "This is Spinal Tap", "What We Do In The Shadows", "Napoleon Dynamite", the list could go on for days. Those are all great and all classics. I really love a good comedy. A movie that makes me belly laugh and doesn't take it self to seriously, it gets no better than that. A great example of that, "Anchorman", but that's not one of the two I will talk about today, but it deserves mentioning. There are also older, classic comedies that still hold up to this day. Movies like "Some Like It Hot" or "Duck Soup" or "Kentucky Fried Movie". All older, but all still absolutely great and worth checking out. But, the two I want to specifically talk about today are "Caddyshack" and "The Big Lebowski". Not only are these two of my favorite comedies, they're two of my favorite movies of all time. They're both timeless, hilarious and just flat out well made movies. Everyone involved with both movies really hit a home run. The actors, writers, producers and directors really struck gold.

Let's first talk about "Caddyshack". This has to be one of the most quotable movies ever made. Talk to anyone that's seen it and I guarantee they will quote something from "Caddyshack". There is so many famous lines and speeches in this movie. Bill Murray has multiple moments that are absolutely splendid. Take any scene, be it when he is pretending he's at the Masters and smashing flowers or when he is ogling the older women and telling them to "bark like a dog for me" or when he cleans the pool after what is believed to be feces floating around and he picks it up, smells it and takes a bite and exclaims that everything is okay and the rich lady passes out. Bill Murray is the star of this movie by far. But, we get excellent performances from Chevy Chase, Ted Knight, Michael O'Keefe, Sarah Holcomb and Rodney Dangerfield. Chevy Chase and Rodney Dangerfield are phenomenal in this movie. They too, much like Murray, have equally quotable lines and moments. Chevy Chase's scene when he is putting and talking to Danny Noonan(O'Keefe) about life and handing him lessons is very, very funny. And everything Dangerfield does in this movie is comedy gold. Rodney Dangerfield truly did not get the respect that he deserved. He is one of the greatest comedy actors of all time. "Caddyshack" is a classic.

"The Big Lebowski" is almost the exact opposite of "Caddyshack", but that doesn't make it less funny. Where "Caddyshack" had great improvisers and great comic actors, "The Big Lebowski" is one of the best written comedies of all time. The Cohen Brothers dabbled in comedy, with the excellent "Raising Arizona", but they're more known for their more dramatic stuff. What makes "The Big Lebowski" great, they blend drama, action, and most importantly, comedy to perfection. This has to be one of the weirdest, yet most hilarious movies I've ever watched. It is so good. It starts out great and continues to be great for two hours. It's also very weird, but that adds to its charm. Any scene involving Jeffrey Lebowski(Jeff Bridges) and Maude(Julianne Moore) is absurdist comedy gold. The scene when the two of them are talking about sex and her weird roommate is just sitting there listening, reading and laughing is genius. It's so bizarre, yet hilarious at the same time. John Goodman and Steve Busecmi are spectacular in this movie too. Goodman is the loud and obnoxious ex Vietnam vet and he is so good. When he pulls the gun on the guy for going over the line and forces him to mark it 0 is awesome. Also, when he talks about "the Jesus"(John Turturro), and his troubled criminal past, absolutely hysterical. Busecmi is great as their quiet bowling buddy that just wants to be involved. The arguments he and Goodman get into are great. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is also very good in his limited role and so is Tara Reid. But, Jeff Bridges is the star and he totally nails this character. He's so good, I associate Bridges as "The Dude", no matter what role he's playing. Everything he does is memorable and he is very believable as this stoner stuck in a crazy situation. And what makes is so well written as I wrote earlier is, everything that comes out of the actors mouths was all written. There's no improvising in a movie that seems it's almost exclusively improvised. That's some next level writing and the Cohen's are some of the best. "The Big Lebowski" is a terrific and bizarre comedy that everyone should see.

These are just two of my favorites, but I wanted to single these two out because they're different, yet equally hilarious. If you haven't seen either of them, stop what you're doing and watch them now. When you are done laughing, you will be thanking me.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Tomorrow you can hear Ty talk all about great comedy movies on The X Millennial Man Podcast. Ty is on twitter, go follow him @tykulik.

Better Late than Never to Catch the Great "Ant-Man"

Early screen test footage

With the release of the new "Captain America: Civil War" trailer being dropped today, I want to talk about another superhero movie I recently saw and loved. Yes, it does feature one of the heroes that will appear in "Captain America: Civil War", but it's not Spiderman. That's right, Spiderman is going to be in the movie and his appearance at the very end of the trailer is awesome. Seriously, if you haven't watched the trailer yet, read this, then watch it. "Captain America: Civil War" looks like it is going to be great.

The superhero movie I want to talk about today is "Ant-Man", and yes he is going to be in the new Captain America movie, presumably fighting on Cap's side. But, "Ant-Man", in my opinion, was a really fun and very entertaining movie. I had my doubts when I heard all the stuff about the movie. I didn't think Paul Rudd could pull off a superhero. I heard that they kept pushing the release back. I didn't think an action movie about a guy that can shrink to the size of an ant seemed that cool. And when Edgar Wright said he wasn't going to direct anymore, that was almost the last straw for me. I didn't see the movie in the theaters because I thought it was going to stink and I have two young kids. When it did come out, it got pretty good reviews, clocking in at right around 80% on Rotten Tomatoes. So, my interest became piqued again. Then, I had friends and relatives tell me that it was pretty good and they thought I'd enjoy it. I kept putting it off, even renting it from Netflix, but not watching it for almost three months, but man am I glad my wife and I watched it this past weekend. I really enjoyed the hell out of it. Like I said before, it was entertaining and completely action packed. I really loved that they got right down to the action. First scene of the movie is action packed and the rest is much of the same, with some slower moments sprinkled in.

But, let's look at all the things that kept me from watching it in the theaters.

First, the Paul Rudd thing. I didn't think he could pull it off, but he is really good in his role. The thing about Paul Rudd, he is just a really good actor. He can play goofy, like "Wet Hot", he can be charming, like "They Came Together", he can be an asshole, like "Knocked Up", he can be a teen heart throb, like "Clueless" and now he can add superhero action star with "Ant-Man". Paul Rudd is awesome and I will never question his acting ability again. Second, the push back of the release date. This usually happens to movies that the studio is afraid will not do so well, but in the case of "Ant-Man", I just think they had to push it to find a new director once Edgar Wright stepped down. I also heard something about having to recast Wasp, but I think the director thing was the biggest problem. But, this director did a great job with this movie. He portrayed a world of ants that was plausible and believable. He did a great job with the fight scenes too. This was a case of a good reason to push a release date. You want to get someone that will do the movie justice. Which leads me to reason three, Edgar Wright dropping out as director. I am a huge Edgar Wright fan. I love all the stuff he does with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. I saw "Shaun of the Dead", "Hot Fuzz" and "The World's End" all in the theaters and loved every single one. I heard they are doing another and I can't wait to see that as well. Wright is a phenomenal director, so when he dropped out, I instantly became worried. What I failed to recognize though, he stayed on as a writer and a producer. He still was involved, just not the way I thought he should be. But, after watching the movie, you can tell that he had his hand in on most of, if not all, the jokes. This made me happy that, at least, he stayed on as a writer. 

Now, my main original gripe prior to watching "Ant-Man", who in the hell would want to watch a movie about a guy that shrink to the size and control ants? Me, now, that's who. This movie pulled this off to perfection. I believed that a guy like Scott Lang(Paul Rudd), would take on a job like this so he could be with his daughter. He was a thief that just got out of jail and couldn't even keep a job at Baskin Robbins because of his past. Becoming Ant-Man was his last option in life. I also loved Michael Douglass as Dr. Henry Pym, the original Ant-Man. He was older, but wiser and still had an ass kicking attitude. Guys like Michael Douglas and Robert Redford should be thrilled when they get asked to be in superhero movies and these two are excellent in them. Evangeline Lilly, playing the new Wasp, was totally awesome. She was great as the bad guy's, Yellow Jacket, assistant that was spying on him for her father Dr. Pym and she was a total ass kicker too. The scene where she is training Lang and continues to brutally beat him is very funny. When she shows Lang how to control ants, another great scene. Lilly is great in this movie. Yellow Jacket is menacing and creepy and your typical over the top bad guy, but that is the beauty of playing bad guys in superhero movies, you're encouraged to chew scenery and this guy does it great. Then there's Lang's crew who are all very funny, especially Michael Pena.

"Ant-Man" was so good. I'd watch it again before I'd watch the second "Thor" movie, the second and third "Ironman" movies, any of the "Hulk" movies and any "Spiderman" movies, except for the first two. In fact, the only two, recent superhero movies I'd pick before "Ant-Man" would be "Avengers: Age of Ultron" and "Guardians of the Galaxy", but "Ant-Man" is a close third. If you are a fan of superhero and Marvel movies, and you haven't seen "Ant-Man" yet, check it out. It's super enjoyable and extremely entertaining.

Can't wait to see how they use him in the new Captain America movie. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man. He wonders if Marvel can make a good Ant Man movie, is Dazzler next? You must follow the tiny adventures of Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Ty Really Dislikes the Smell of "Entourage The Movie"

This is the only action you should take when presented with "Entourage The Movie"

Every year around this time HBO gets some of the "bigger" movies that were in the theaters less than one year ago. One such movie that I came across last night was "The Entourage Movie".

So, let's get this out of the way right off the top, I loved the first three seasons of that show. That was appointment viewing TV. I loved the concept, I thought the actors were funny, and who was better than Ari Gold? No one, that's who. Then, the show became pretty stale and very repetitive. I also grew up and realized that the show just wasn't as good as I previously thought it to be. I was in my mid twenties by season four, and I realized that this was a fantasy show. This was Mark Wahlberg's life and only Mark Wahlberg can relate to his own life. The show became immediately unrelatable by season four. I didn't care about Vinny getting the role  in the fake Aquaman movie. I didn't care about E becoming a manager. I didn't care about Johnny Drama doing whatever stupid shit he was already doing and I never truly cared about Turtle at all. He was the worst of the four main actors. He had no reason to be there, other than the fact that he was the chubby friend that they could make fun of, that's it.

Although my love for "Entourage had passe, I'd be lying if I didn't say that my curiosity for the movie was peaked when I saw that it was on HBO last night. So, I decided that I would give the movie a try. Why not I figured, maybe it would be kitschy and maybe after all these years, they'd be in on the joke of how ridiculous the idea for this show really is.

Then, the movie started.

Just to let everyone know, I made it through 20 minutes before I gave up on this horrible piece of garbage that these actors, directors, writers and producers made. I cannot believe that all the people involved truly thought that they put out a good piece of work. They had to know it was really, really bad, right? I hope so, but I'm not that sure.

The movie opened with Vinny on a yacht in Ibiza, Spain, so super relatable to anyone watching in their Saint Louis homes. I kid. Of course they have the obligatory shot of many topless young ladies and Johnny Drama speaks the first line of dialogue, and it's the trashiest piece of writing that I've ever heard. He speaks the line, after seeing all the beautiful young ladies on the yacht, "I'm going to have to jerk it at least once before we get to the boat". Yeah, you read that right and yeah, that made the final cut of the movie. From there on out, at least the 20 minutes I watched, was the most homophobic, mimisogynistic and the worst kind of "bro" type dialogue that has ever been on screen. It was appalling at how terrible and how awful all the dialogue and acting in this movie was. It was so, so bad. Some of the misogyny that was portrayed was pretty absurd. All the fellas are sitting down at a breakfast, or some stupid shit, and Eric has to leave to go meet his new girlfriend for breakfast, but all the guys complain that he is "pussy whipped" and ask "why won't you introduce us to this new girlfriend? Is it because she is fat? HAHAHAHA". I mean, come on, do a rewrite before putting this stuff in the ether. Some more misogyny all dealt with Vinny Chase. He gets all the girls and he "hits it and quits it", or so they say. He was married for 9 days, but they all knew that wouldn't last and when asked if they broke it off on good terms, Vinny tells them "yeah, and then we banged one more time for good measure". That is just absolutely awful writing. As I said, how does all this stuff make the final edit. Who are they appealing to with this awful dialogue. The only people who saw this and liked it, in my opinion, has to be frat boys, because frat boys are stupid.

The homophobia was also very, very strong in this movie. They are constantly making jokes at Turtle's expense, because of all the weight loss, that he now must "be gay" because of how he looks. They use the word "gay" so much in the opening act, I was offended. I jut don't get, in the 21st century, why we think we are so advanced as a society, yet this word still gets used in a negative way. The word "gay" means happy, but these script writers clearly have no idea. They use it so derogatory, it was one of, if not the, main reason I quit watching after 20 minutes. The scene where Lloyd shows up and is on the phone with Ari is so offensive, I'm surprised GLAAD hasn't come out against this movie. They may have, but I've heard nothing about it. This movie is offensive.

Moving on to the acting, it is some of the worst I've seen. Adrian Grenier as Vinny Chase is about as vapid as they come. Grenier is supposed to be this guy who cares about Earth and seems to have some kind of truly good feelings, but he is so bad in this role. He has these empty stares and he delivers lines so poorly, it feels like he is reading off cue cards. Being the "star" of this movie, he fails horribly. The guy that plays Eric is about as douchey as they come. He's supposed to be the anti Ari Gold, but he is just as bad, but not as good at his job. He is forever skirting the issue and passing the buck and he never seems to truly care about throwing himself into his new job as Vinny's manager. He is also a complete dick head to the women in his life in this movie. Eric is an awful human being. Jerry Ferrara as Turtle is about as pointless as they come. He is only there now so they can make skinny jokes about him to replace the fat ones from the TV show. You could remove Turtle from this movie and not miss a beat. It would still be awful, but Turtle is about as unimportant as they come. Jeremy Piven is fine as Ari God, but I feel like Ari is just Jeremy Piven in real life. He seems like an asshole that would constantly berate people that don't seem as important to him as they may be. He is a dick head and it's easy to portray that in a dumbass movie like this.

Then there's Kevin Dillon as Johnny Drama. Johnny Drama is the worst human being in the history of the world. He is rude, crude, ignorant and dumb as hell. He is also homophobic, the biggest chauvinist and the "bro-iest" of all the bros in this movie. Don't forget that he is probably close to his 50's in this movie when you watch it(Don't watch it). Kevin Dillon, at least in my opinion, is doing his best Andrew Dice Clay impression, but that would be a slight to Andrew Dice Clay. The Diceman, yeah I said it, at least had his moment and has been decent in some recent things he's done. Kevin Dillon is just a shitty actor and this performance reaffirms this ten fold.

"Entourage The Movie" is one of the most offensive things I've ever seen and I cannot believe that it got made, that it made millions of dollars and that some dumbass critics actually gave it a good review. This movie is absolute garbage, and I gathered that after only 20 minutes.

"Entourage The Movie" stinks.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host for the X Millennial Man podcast. He figures if "Entourage" gets a movie, where in the hell is the big screen adaptation of "Even Stevens". Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Ty Saw and Ranked All the Star Wars Movies

I find your rankings disturbing

Make sure to download the X Millennial Man podcast tomorrow (January 29th) to hear Ty and RD talk about the Star Wars movies.

I know I already wrote about "Star Wars" earlier this week, but I'm going to write about it again. This time though, I'm going to rank the movies from worst to best, in my personal opinion. Now, for everyone out there, I've just recently, within the past two months, seen every single "Star Wars" movie of importance. I did not watch the Christmas special and I have not seen any of the cartoons or TV shows that exist in the Star Wars universe. I have only seen the seven movies that were made. That's the basic information any reader needs going into my rankings. This is all very subjective as well. I'm, by my own admittance, a movie snob. I prefer comedies to any other genre of movie, but I also really like science fiction, noir and drama. But, I also recognize that a pop culture writer should see movies like the "Star Wars" movies because they are very influential and are involved with any big time pop culture. "Star Wars" is quoted and referenced in almost every pop culture thing that I've ever seen. And, with the nudging, I call it harassment, coming from my wife, cousins, friends and most importantly, our editor, RD, I caved and decided to watch every single movie. Before I get into my countdown, I watched them in a specific order. I watched episodes 4, 5 and 6 within two weeks of each other, then I watched episodes 1, 2 and 3 about a month later. Just last week I took my four year old and we saw episode 7 in the theaters. So, I have officially seen all seven movies, which in my mind makes me qualified to give my rankings. As I said at the top, I'll be going from what I think in the worst "Star Wars" movie to the best. On with the countdown.

Coming in at number 7, I have "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith". This movie is pure, unadulterated garbage. Nothing about this movie is good. I didn't care about anyone or anything in this movie with the lone exception being the death of Mace Windu(Samuel L. Jackson). That was the only bummer to me. This movie is bad. Hayden Christensen is a terrible actor. He shows zero emotion and I don't buy his and Padme's(Natalie Portman) love story at all. Those two have no chemistry at all. The rest of the movie feels very scattered and poorly made. I HATED this movie.

Coming in at number 6 I have "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace". This was supposed to be the movie that brought "Star Wars" into the 21st century, or so I was told. This movie is boring. Too many federation meetings and stupid back stories about Anakin Skywalker. Also, could Anakin be more of a whiner? All he did was complain about everything. The pod racing scene, which I heard was cool, also felt very boring to me. I didn't care about it at all and by the end, I kind of wanted Sebulba to win. The only "cool" scene in "Phantom Menace" was the light saber battle between Qui Gon Gin, Obi Won Kenobi and Darth Maul. It was neat, but it also was pretty uneventful for something that's supposed to be a big deal in the Star Wars world. I wasn't shocked, nor upset when Qui Gon Gin got stabbed and even less surprised when Darth Maul got his. The double edged light saber was cool, but not nearly enough to save this piece of trash. Oh and the racist accents, that also sucked. 

Number 5 is the only prequel that has some cool stuff in it. The movie is still bad, but there are three pretty cool battle scenes. That movie is "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones". First, let's get the bad stuff out of the way. The scene between Anakin and Padme where they ride a mammoth type beast and frolic in the grass is dumb as hell. This scene should have been the first thing cut, but it made it into the movie. This was a terrible scene. Once again, Christensen and Portman have no chemistry and there are way too many federation meeting scenes. Now, there is the three battle scenes I mentioned. The first is the fight between Obi Wan and Jango Fett. That was a cool fight scene. There was the big battle at the end where we finally get to see Windu's purple light saber. That was cool. But, the best battle scene was between Count Dukuu and Yoda. When Yoda whips out his green light saber and begins his magic on Dukuu, I was legit excited. If they just had these three scenes in this movie, it might have been good, but they did all that other useless crap. Saying that "Attack of the Clones" is a good part of Star Wars is like saying that "Godfather 3" is better than "Speed 2: Cruise Control", it's still not a good movie.

Now, let's get to some better movies.

Number 4 is "Return of the Jedi". This one fell kind of flat for me, but it is still a million times better than the prequels. "Return of the Jedi" didn't need Ewoks and why on Earth was Han Solo all of the sudden a pushover, but the light saber battle between Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine and Luke is awesome. I wasn't crazy about the side characters like Jabba The Hut or Bib Fortuna, but it was some cool make up to see. And Luke using the force to rescue Leia and Han Solo was cool too. "Return of the Jedi" is good, but not as good as the movies I'm about to mention.

Coming in at number 3 I have "Star Wars: The New Hope". This movie is as influential to science fiction as "Citizen Kane" is to all movies. Without a "New Hope", we wouldn't have all the great science fiction movies we now have. This movie is incredibly influential. It's also a good movie. We meet the main characters in this one. Sure, Yoda doesn't show up until the second one, but we meet Luke, Leia, Han, Darth Vader and, my personal favorite, Chewbacca. This is a really cool movie and I thoroughly enjoyed my watching experience. It was exciting and adventurous and instead of saying, "I guess I have to watch these", my sentiment became, "I can't wait to watch all of them". That's a sign of a good movie.

Number 2 on my list is "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back". This movie is non stop, kick ass action for 2 plus hours. I loved everything about this movie. The opening scene in Hoth, when Luke gets captured and Han has to save him is awesome. We finally meet Yoda and he is as awesome as RD told me my entire life. The scenes when he is teaching Luke about the force is excellent writing and directing. Han Solo has one of the coolest lines ever spoken when he's about to be dipped in carbonite and Leia says, "I love you", Han replies, cool as shit I might add, "I know". That's awesome. And the light saber fight between Luke and Vader, where Vader tells him he's Luke's father and then cuts off his hand is incredible. "Empire Strikes Back" 100 percent lived up to its hype. It's an awesome, super enjoyable movie.

Which brings me to my number one, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens". I wrote a mini review earlier this week and I still stand by how much I love this movie. I could've seen it without seeing the others and I would have loved it. It's a great action movie that also has drama, comedy and heart breaking moments. The acting, writing and directing were top notch. "The Force Awakens" is such a well made movie that completely restores a franchise that looked lost after the prequels. There is nothing wrong at all with this movie. Now, hard core "Star Wars" fans may find problems with it, but me, just being a lover of movies, I thought it was perfection.

So, that's my personal rankings of the "Star Wars" movies. Take it or leave it, but this is how I feel about a pretty decent franchise of movies. If I had to give any advice to first time viewers, I'd say watch episodes 4 and 5 and then 7. You could probably skip the rest and still be satisfied. I will say though, "Star Wars" has gained a new fan.

I'm excited for episode 8.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He thought the prequels could have been better if there was some more Kit Fisto. Everything needs more Kit Fisto. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and Welcoming the Rise of the Female Action Hero

Maybe Han should have stayed in the carbonite?

Editors note: Part of Ty's goals set forth by the Head Editor at SeedSing was to watch all seven of the Star Wars films. Now that Ty has fulfilled his end of the deal the X Millennial Man podcast on Sunday January 29th will be all about his experience seeing the films. Make sure to bring your ears and listen to the X Millennial Man podcast.

So, I finally saw "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" this past Saturday. I know, I'm probably the last pop culture writer to see the movie, but better late than never. 

Right?

Anyway, I loved the movie. It was adventurous, exciting, well acted, well written, well directed, funny and a great throwback to the original. It could be just because I very recently saw it, but it is my favorite of all seven "Star Wars" movies. I thought it was the most fun and the best looking. "Empire Strikes Back" is a very close second, but I prefer "The Force Awakens" to all other "Star Wars" movies. I could have seen this without seeing the other six and I would have loved it. I wouldn't have gotten the references and the call backs, but I would have enjoyed myself, it was that good of a movie.

JJ Abrams has proven himself, in my opinion, to be a very skillful director that can make old movies or TV shows, a la "Star Wars" or "Star Trek", into extremely enjoyable movies for fans and non fans alike. I never saw any form of any "Star Trek" show or movie, but I really enjoyed the two "Star Trek" movies he made. And, what he did with "The Force Awakens", erasing all the terribleness that is the prequels, bravo Mr. Abrams, you've revived "The Star Wars" movie universe into something enjoyable again.

I could go on and on about how much I like this movie, but my main point of my blog today is, I love that two of the biggest movies in the past 6 or 7 months, have had females being the strongest and most badass characters in the movie. This has to make those moronic MRA assholes nuts. Those idiots have to be losing their feeble minds right now. First, a movie I've written extensively about on this website, "Mad Max: Fury Road", has a female playing one of the most badass characters of all time in any movie ever, Furiosa. It doesn't get much better than Theron as Furiosa in "Mad Max". She kicked so much ass, played the main character in what was always considered a male driven lead role and owned the best movie of all of 2015. The fact Theron didn't even get a nomination is grotesque, another thing I've written about on the site already. She was incredible in the movie. The fight scene between her and Max during the first act of the movie was incredible. The fight was even the whole time, and the only reason Max won was because Nux snuck up on Furiosa and took her off guard. Furiosa basically beat his ass the majority of the fight. I don't think I've ever seen a more kick ass character, be it male or female, than Furiosa. She is the absolute best.

In "Star Wars: The Force Awakens", is it my imagination, or isn't Rey the main character of the movie? She seems to be, at least in my opinion, the new Han Solo. When she is introduced, she's scavenging an old ship and bringing in the best stuff to the traders in Jakku, even though the alien won't give her much food. Then, BB 8 finds her and is immediately drawn to her. BB 8 clearly trust her as much as it trusts Poe. That's very high praise coming from a droid. Then, when she runs into Finn, she ends up saving him by piloting the Millenium Falcon to safety. When Finn sees her at first too, he is on his way to save her from two guys trying to steal BB 8, but he backs off when he sees her kick those two guys asses. He realizes that she can hold her own. Later on, when Finn and Rey run into Chewbacca and Han Solo, I know there's a lot of spoilers, but it's been over a month now, everyone that wanted to see it has seen it multiple times, Han has an immediate rapport with Rey, much more so than he had with Finn. Han even goes so far as to offer her a job working for him and Chewbacca. Even later, when she is captured by Kylo Ren and he has her chained up, his power of the force doesn't work on her. Earlier in the movie, Ren's force worked to perfection on the supposed biggest badass, Poe, but it doesn't work on Rey. In fact, she is much, much stronger than Kylo Ren, who is the new Darth Vader. And that light saber battle between her and Ren, in the snow at the end, what an amazing, amazing battle that Rey wins in the long run. She is struggling at first, but once she realizes that she is a true Jedi, she completely takes over that fight. She is a bad ass fighter and she destroys Ren in the battle. It's incredible. She even takes over Solo's role on the ship(RIP Han Solo) at the end and she's the one chosen to deliver Luke Skywalker's light saber back to him. She's given that order by another strong, kick ass female character, General Leia.

Basically, I love that big time studios and directors are giving these kick ass, no nonsense roles to much deserving female characters. We don't need anymore damsels in distress or the token woman looking for a man because only that will complete her roles in Hollywood. Those roles are old and tired and stupid. I hope these studios and writers and directors keep giving females these awesome roles. We've gotten three great ones in the past couple of years, Emily Blunt in "Edge of Tomorrow", Charlize Theron in "Mad Max: Fury Road" and now Daisy Ridley in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and they have all been great. Please keep giving these roles to well deserving actresses.

I love it and they deserve it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. It is about damn time he got around and saw the Star Wars movies. His training is now complete. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

The Oscar Nominations Came Out Today, and They Mostly Suck

I am not sure the Oscars really know what is good.

I know I promised everyone a greatest American band blog today, but I'm putting that off until next week. There's bigger fish to fry for me today.

The Oscar nominations were handed out this morning and I have two big, big problems with the nominees. First off, why all the white people again? Do the people who vote on these awards think that there are no people of color that act in movies these days? There were a decent number of people that were well deserving of, at the very least, a nomination. What about Samuel L Jackson for his performance in "Hateful 8"? He was awesome. What about Michael B Jordan in "Creed"? Stallone gets nominated, but the lead of this great movie gets no love? That's lame. And even though the movie "Concussion" didn't have its desired effect and wasn't very good, Will Smith was excellent and totally deserved a nomination. I guess the people that give out the nominations are racist, old white people that wish it was still 1950. It's a shame that they refuse to nominate actors that aren't white, especially in 2016. It's upsetting to be frank. I wonder how long it will actually take for actors of color to get their due. It's time, and there are so many great African American, Asian, Indian and so on and so forth of any ethnicity well deserving. I'm sick of all the same white people being nominated. I'm done with Meryl Streep and Matt Damon and Jennifer Lawrence being the people that get nominated no matter how bad or repetitive their performances are. Eddie Redmayne belongs with the people I mentioned above too. I'll take Michael B Jordan, Will Smith and Samuel L Jackson any day over the four actors I just mentioned.

Second issue, my biggest problem, why is Charlize Theron not nominated for her role, Furiosa, in "Mad Max: Fury Road"? How on earth does this happen? How was Jennifer Lawrence's performance in "Joy" aka "Silver Linings Playbook 2", more deserving than Theron? Or Cate Blanchette in a movie I've never heard of, "Carol", more deserving? In fact, Brie Larson in "Room" is the only one that I have no problem with being nominated. "Mad Max: Fury Road" got a ton of nominations, but none for acting. That's wrong. Theron was the best actor in the best movie of the year, possibly of all time. She was so fantastic and perfect in her role. She played the part expertly. She was tough when needed, vulnerable when needed, sad and angry when needed, basically, whatever George Miller asked of her, she did it and did it phenomenally. She was so, so great in this movie. I know it's called "Mad Max", but Furiosa, not Max, was the star and leader of this movie. This may be one of the biggest snubs of all time in Oscar history. I just don't get what else she could have done. Maybe the movie needed to be foreign, or she needed some kind of disease, or she needed some kind of smaller indie role that the academy loves now. That's all bullshit. Why won't they reward the actors from the movie that's widely considered the best movie of the year? It makes absolutely no sense at all. I wrote before, and I still believe, Theron not only deserved the nomination, but she 100 percent deserves the Oscar. There was no better performance all year from anyone, man, woman or child. Theron was head and shoulders above anyone that's been nominated this year. Another shame.

I guess I should know by now to be disappointed in what this dumbass academy does every year. They clearly don't care for minorities and they are just flat out wrong when it comes to nominating actors and actresses. You'd think they'd be more conscious in the 21st century, but they're still racist and stupid.

The morons that give out these nominations suck.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He was once nominated for a grade school acting award, but lost it to the kid playing tree #2. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Thank You David Bowie

Today we have lost a legend in the music business. He was not only a legend in music, but a pioneer, a fashion icon, an actor and an all around great guy. This morning, I turned on my phone, went to Twitter and saw that David Bowie had passed away.

I was shocked.

I first thought it was one of those celebrity death hoaxes. A couple of months ago there was a story being passed around the internet that Macauly Caulkin had passed away. I thought this was bizarre because I'd just seen his band, Pizza Underground, open for Har Mar Superstar. They were terrible, but I didn't think he should lose his life over it. It was found out about an hour later that he was still alive and all was well. That's what I thought when I read about David Bowie this morning. At least, that's what I hoped. But, further research proved that the stories online were true.

We lost David Bowie very unexpectedly. I really didn't know how to process this. I do not know him personally. I just came to his music about a decade ago, I was admittedly very late to his genius. I really liked him in "Zoolander" and "Labyrinth". But, I found myself pretty upset. It's not like losing a family member, but it still hurts. He was an inspiration to me musically. The first album of his I had was "Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars" and it completely changed my preconceived notion of his music. I assumed he was a disco, rock type of guy. He seemed more poppy than what I really like. Well, "ZSATSFM" totally floored me. It was rock, psychedelic and pop all blended perfectly together. Songs like "Soul Love" and "Five Years" and "Starman" are all classic pop songs. "Soul Love is beautiful and moving. "Five Years" is a very cool intro to this album. I like the quietness at the beginning and I love a song that explodes at the end, much like this one did. "Starman" is just an absolutely perfect pop song. Then there's the mega hits on this record, "Suffragette City" and "Moonage Daydream" and "Ziggy Stardust". "Suffragette City" is such a cool, punkish rock song that only Bowie could pull off. "Moonage Daydream" is the personification of the perfect psychedelic/pop song. And "Ziggy Stardust" has the hippest, coolest and most innovative guitar riff in almost all of rock music. The moment I first heard that riff, I went out and learned it on my Gibson immediately. I was so into the riff, I couldn't go on without teaching myself how to play it. The song, lyrically, is so perfect. I absolutely adore that song. I know that I'm only focusing on one of his albums, but why not this one that is so perfect. I know he has many, many other hits and beautiful songs, but "ZSATSFM" is his best and one of the best albums of all time. It's the perfect rock/psychedelic/pop album.

Bowie was a pioneer of the movement in the late 70's and early 80's of musicians taking on new personas. He became Ziggy Stardust, and all of the sudden, "new" people showed up. Without Stardust, we'd never gotten the band KISS. There'd be no new career for Rod Stewart, he would have disappeared just like Faces did. Mick Jagger, who was already mega famous, started to wear make up at the same time as Bowie and he became even more famous. These guys, and many more owe a lot to Bowie for being the first to do it and do it well.

As far as his acting career, I mean, how great and extremely weird was he in "Labyrinth". That movie is so nutso, but only a guy like Bowie could pull off that role and pull it off so awesomely. Try to imagine anyone else in that role, it's impossible. "Labyrinth" is one of the most bizarre movies I've ever seen, but Bowie's performance is so perfect, it makes that movie very enjoyable and very, very memorable. He was also excellent in his five minute part in "Zoolander". He just shows up, seemingly out of nowhere, and crushes it. He was funny. His hair was on point. He looked dashing. He seemed normal. And him judging the runway walk was so hilarious and so great. I loved when Stiller tried to pull his underwear off like Owen Wilson did, fails at this task and they cut to Bowie making a hilarious ouch face. It was great. I hope he had some kind of role in "Zoolander 2", since they already filmed it, because that would be great to see him one more time so we can remember how great of an actor he was. His movie choices were weird, but he pulled them off like only he could.

David Bowie was married twice, but you never heard of spats or disputes in public like we seem to with every other celebrity. I didn't know much about his first wife, but he's been with super model Iman for 14 years and they seemed to be very happily married and very happy to be with each other. Two beautiful people being married for that long and looking that good in the modern day social media society is incredibly admirable. I feel very upset for Iman. We, the fans, lost a musician and guy that we adored, she lost her husband whom she knew inside and out. I'm incredibly sorry for your loss Iman.

What I like most abut Bowie is the fact that while incredibly famous, he always seemed to come off as a genuinely good guy. There weren't any stories, at least not to my knowledge, of him taking his celebrity seriously. You never heard about off stage demands or illicit affairs from him. I'm sure he did a lot of drugs, who didn't in the 70's and 80's, but it didn't wreck his life. He was super cool all the way to the end of his life. He didn't seem to have any enemies or people that didn't like him. I've never run into someone that is not a fan of Bowie in some capacity. He was just an all around good guy for the most part. I'm sure he's made mistakes, but it was never really aired out in the media and who among us hasn't made mistakes.

David Bowie was an incredible artist and he will be missed. He's an influence to a countless number of people and will continue to influence people posthumously. Rest In Peace Mr. Bowie, you had a great life that was cut way, way too short. Enjoy making music with Freddie Mercury wherever the two of you are now.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing. Follow him on twitter @tykulik.

It is Such a Shame that "Southpaw" Wastes so Much Talent

Southpaw is not worth bothering the microwave

I'm predisposed to like movies about boxing. One of my all time favorite movies is "Raging Bull". That's the watermark for me and almost every other movie critic there is and ever will be. I also enjoy movies like "Ali", "The Great White Hope", "Million Dollar Baby", "Fighting" and even "Girlfight", that's a very good, very underrated boxing movie and, probably, Michelle Rodriguez's best acting performance to date and yes, I'm including her small, but recurring role as Anna Lucia Cortez on "Lost".

So, naturally, I was excited to see the movie "Southpaw" when it came out last year. I even mentioned it on one of our very early, possibly first, podcasts. I was expecting big things from this movie. It had Jake Gyllenhall, whom I really like, Rachael McAdams, who is an excellent actress and it was directed by Antoine Fuqua who directed "Training Day", another one of my all time favorites. It was also written by the guy that wrote "Sons of Anarchy". I never watched that show, but I heard only tremendous things about it.

I was on board. I didn't get to see it in the theaters, but I just recently watched it via my Netflix account and it may be the most melodramatic piece of overacting I've seen in quite some time. I was so underwhelmed and kind of mad that this movie I had such high hopes for, felt like a 2 hour waste of time. It starts out cool, with a bruised and battered Gyllenhall screaming into the camera and it pulls back to show him in the middle of a title bout, but, it was really downhill from there. It was almost like watching a soap opera. The story was a good idea. Prize fighter with a temper gets into a fight with his next opponent at a benefit and someone accidentally shoots his wife and kills her. Gyllenhall is now alone with their daughter and he's lost and drunk and high all the time. He loses custody , cleans his life up and gets his kid back.

Simple story, but the boxing is what had me intrigued. It was the direction and over acting and chewing of the scenery that lost me. Gylenhall is a wonderful actor, but there is only so many times I can watch him scream in agony over his deceased wife. Same goes for him getting drunk and stoned or threatening to hurt or kill other people. Rachel McAdams is only in the first 20 minutes of the movie, but her New York accent is dreadful and the way she interacts with Gyllenhall, there's absolutely no chemistry. Even her death scene was a bit too over the top. The little girl that played their daughter was the most generic "hard on her luck" kid they could find. Her direction and attitude was way to "woe is me" for a movie. Curtis Jackson, you may know him as 50 Cent, was a terrible villain. He tries to win you over at the beginning by seeming like he really cares about his fighter, but I think we all knew he was only in it for the money from the get go. It was way too obvious. The bad guy needs to have depth and almost a likability before we turn on them. Not in the case of 50 Cent's character. I knew almost immediately that he was a money grubbing bad guy. The only really decent acting in this movie came from Forrest Whittaker. He played Gyllenhall's new mentor, after his life fell apart, and even though he was paint by the colors character, Whittaker did a pretty good job. That's to be expected from an actor of his caliber though. I did enjoy most, definitely not all, but most of the scenes that he was involved with.

This brings me back to Gyllenhall. Not once did I believe his character. Sure, he got into great shape for this role, but aside from that, he was not very good. He was too moody in some scenes. Too angry and over the top in others. He didn't play the part of antihero very well at all. He's much more suited for a movie like "Nightcrawler" because he can really dig deep into that character. In "Southpaw", he was chewing all of the scenery. If McAdams accent was bad, Gyllenhall's was atrocious and I like Jake Gyllenhall, just not in this movie or this role.

That brings me to the director, Antoine Fuqua. He came out of the gate with guns blazing, directing the totally kick ass "Training Day". Then he tried to do a very similar project with "The Equalizer". That movie isn't very good. And "Olympus Has Fallen" was a train wreck. And now we have "Southpaw". I think he belongs in the same class as M Night Shyamalan and Neill Blomkamp. These guys started with a bang and now, they are going out with a whimper. It sucks too because I really like both Blomkamp and Fuqua, I could care less about Shyamalan.

I was very disappointed with "Southpaw". If they focused more on boxing and less on the melodramatics, I probably would've loved the movie. If you're thinking about watching this movie might I suggest you go watch "Raging Bull" instead. It's ten thousand times better and you already know you will enjoy it. "Southpaw" is not a good movie.

Don't waste your time.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He once thought about becoming a championship boxer, then he heard about all the hitting. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.