NOPE (July 2022)

    

NOPE

(July 2022)

“I will cast abominable filth at you, make you vile, and make you a spectacle.”

--Nahum 3:6

“What if I told you… that in about an hour… you’ll leave here different?”

Just as Us was a different cinematic animal than Get Out, so is Jordan Peele's latest, Nope, a different beast, perhaps even more so.

It isn't the same kind of “social thriller” Get Out and Us most definitely were.

His assertions regarding “the big summer blockbuster spectacle film” and “the violence of attention”? Well, he rather effectively addresses those with Nope…

“Who is gonna go down there and get the star out of his trailer?”

Even more than his two previous films, Peele’s Nope asks its audience to enter it knowing as little as possible and with the least amount of preconceived notions.

Which, admittedly, could be a big ask for some simply because Get Out and Us were so very clearly about Something.

Well, Nope is about Something too, just not in the same way…

Or, you could look at it as Peele choosing to interrogate that Something in a different, more subtle way than his previous efforts.

“We don’t deserve the impossible.”

So let’s just talk about that cast instead, shall we?

Not only do we get some strong, noteworthy performances from the three top billers, Get Out’s Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer (as the Haywood siblings) and Steven Yeun, but the fine character writing by Peele extends even to Brandon Perea’s lovelorn retail jockey, Angel, and to Michael Wincott’s “legendary cinematographer,” Antlers Holst (particularly to the latter).

And speaking of that cast, we also get familiar ¡Qué horror! face Osgood Perkins*, sadly appearing all too briefly as Fynn Bachman.

We even get Donna Mills (Knots Landing, yo!) in the package!

“How exquisitely stupid is that?”

So just trust in the Peele, and go into Nope with as blank a slate as possible, and simply allow yourself to be dazzled by a genre virtuoso who very clearly levels up his filmmaking craft with his latest…

“Nobody f*cks with Haywood, b!tch! Nobody! You hear me?!”

* Peele and Perkins previously worked together on The Twilight Zone’s “You Might Also Like”.

Perkins, of course, has also appeared ‘round these parts for The Blackcoat’s Daughter and I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House.

(I really should get around to catching up on Gretel & Hansel…)

(Nope key art courtesy of impawards.com & bloody-disgusting.com)

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2019

The Wrap-Up

And there we are.

For the record, there was a brief moment where I considered having a Deadly Doppelgänger slot, but that might have invited the kind of involved geek discussion/debate that can get sticky and too protracted for its own good.
After all, while Us is very clearly about doppelgängers, Head Count features a shapeshifter and The Hole in the Ground seems more inclined towards the folklore of changelings. And then there's Cam...
In the end, I just opted to sidestep all of that potential controversy and give them their own individual slots.
At any rate, there were already a pair of twofers in the main rundown...

So.
That's that for this October then.

The only other thing that needs to be said is:
Have a Happy (and safe) Halloween.
Here's to all the awesome (screenbound) horror of the past 12 months, and to all the awesome (yes, screenbound) horror of the next 12...
 

13 Slots for the Best Horror I've Seen in the Past Year
[11 of 13]

US

(March 2019)

“Then Sotuknang went to Taiowa and said, ‘I want you to see what I have done. And I have done well.’

“And Taiowa looked and said, ‘It is very good. But you are not done with it.  Now you must create life of all kinds and set it in motion according to my plan.’”

--“Creation Story” (written and performed by Tsonakwa & Dean Evenson; from a Hopi creation myth)

After the decisive statement of purpose that was Get Out, Jordan Peele returns with Us, which sees Lupita Nyong’o as a wife and mother whose family is besieged by red-clad, scissors-wielding doppelgängers.

Which of course, you’d know if you’ve already seen the trailers or the one sheets.

That is, however, all you’re going to get here, because, as always, to preserve as much of the cinematic experience as possible, I steer as clear of spoiler territory as humanly possible…

But I will say this:

Though Peele trades in the overt thematics of racism in Get Out for a follow-up that’s apparently a more straight-forward horror film that just happens to have an African-American family as its protagonists, what it looks like (as indicated by Us’ narrative) isn’t necessarily what it actually is.

So, yes, Us, like Get Out, is most definitely about something. It’s just a bit more under the skin though, so you’ll need to dig to uncover Us’ truths.

Another thing I can say:

It’s rare these days to point to a film with a nearly two hour running time and call it “tight,” but Us seriously just flies by.

The pacing, performances, and clear control Peele exerts over the narrative all combine to give (heh) us another ¡Qué horror!-worthy piece from the comedian who’d always dreamed of becoming a horror movie director.

Well, thank goodness he finally got around to the horror…

Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them.

--Jeremiah 11:11 (King James Version)

(Us OS’ courtesy of impawards.com)

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2019

Candidate #19

US

(March 2019)

“Then Sotuknang went to Taiowa and said, ‘I want you to see what I have done. And I have done well.’

“And Taiowa looked and said, ‘It is very good. But you are not done with it.  Now you must create life of all kinds and set it in motion according to my plan.’”

--“Creation Story” (written and performed by Tsonakwa & Dean Evenson; from a Hopi creation myth)

After the decisive statement of purpose that was Get Out, Jordan Peele returns with Us, which sees Lupita Nyong’o as a wife and mother whose family is besieged by red-clad, scissors-wielding doppelgängers.

Which of course, you’d know if you’ve already seen the trailers or the one sheets.

That is, however, all you’re going to get here, because, as always, to preserve as much of the cinematic experience as possible, I steer as clear of spoiler territory as humanly possible…

But I will say this:

Though Peele trades in the overt thematics of racism in Get Out for a follow-up that’s apparently a more straight-forward horror film that just happens to have an African-American family as its protagonists, what it looks like (as indicated by Us’ narrative) isn’t necessarily what it actually is.

So, yes, Us, like Get Out, is most definitely about something. It’s just a bit more under the skin though, so you’ll need to dig to uncover Us’ truths.

Another thing I can say:

It’s rare these days to point to a film with a nearly two hour running time and call it “tight,” but Us seriously just flies by.

The pacing, performances, and clear control Peele exerts over the narrative all combine to give (heh) us another ¡Qué horror!-worthy piece from the comedian who’d always dreamed of becoming a horror movie director.

Well, thank goodness he finally got around to the horror…

Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them.

--Jeremiah 11:11 (King James Version)

(Us OS’ courtesy of impawards.com)