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I think after sitting it for a few days, that might by my favorite movie by Peele. It's one of those Mad Max Fury Road style movies that just draws me in on so many levels. I was actually scared and anxious through a lot of it, but goddamn if the horseback herding of JJ isn't one of the best action scenes I've seen in a long time. It weirdly left me okay and excited for Peele to not do a horror movie next--I know his next movie is horror as well. A few stray observations: -- I think what made the digestion scene work so well for me was that I didn't realize what JJ was and fully what was happening. I feel like my brain has been filling in the blanks on the scene when I think about it and making it much worse than what was on screen. The screamed and defecation stuff doesn't help. -- I think I have a different read on Jupe then a lot of other folks do. I keep seeing this idea of Jupe having some level of hubris that he tamed the beast, but based on the flashback, I'm not sure I really see it that way. What Jupe remembers mostly is him helplessly hiding while his first crush is savagely beaten and mauled by a chimp, his co-star trying to somewhat heroically save her only for the ape to attack him, and then to submissively fist bump the ape before it gets its brains blown out. The idea that Jupe is trying to tame JJ because he tamed the ape doesn't really make sense to me because Jupe doesn't even know what JJ is. Genuinely, I don't think he thinks that he's feeding the horses to it. But what Jupe actually does constantly is try to find a new narrative for himself. When he tells what happened, he chooses to not tell the actual story, but Saturday Night Live sketch which probably is more famous than the show or he ever was--note he was played by the guest star! Jupe so hungry to remain part of the entertainment industry chooses to take the entertainment industry's version of what happened over what was a traumatizing experience. He creates a little theme park that retroactively gives him the star position that he never actually had. He tries to push his kids to fame and turn his family into a reality show. And finally he recognizes this opportunity with the flying saucer to become famous and important so he takes it because it will change his story. The fact that he brings his mamed co-star to be part of it speaks to him not really being that bad of a guy, but a tragic figure. He wants her to be a part of this happy story, which probably speaks to the guilt he feels over not helping her. Functionally, he and the Haywoods are not that different. Both have been chewed up and shat out by Hollywood, but like the horse safety speech, they try to cling to a happier narrative. --With the idea of JJ being representative of Hollywood itself, you can't help but think that the idea of negotiating with a predator doesn't speak to Peele's filmography so far. Get Out was a revelation of a film and for the last five years we've seen Hollywood turn the idea of racism-as-horror into a commodity, not that there aren't creators working on this in earnest and Peele himself has produced stuff that falls into this, but its clear there are also folks who see Get Out as a template more than anything else. And when you actually look at Peele's filmography, you see films that are increasingly different than Get Out while keeping his dedication to tell Black stories. Peele is calling his shots that he can make great movies, but does it while tending with a beast ready to devour him and his creativity. Allegorically, it makes sense for OJ to be the one to go toe to toe with JJ because not only did he begin to realize what JJ was before anyone else did, he also is probably the guy who most clearly sees Hollywood for what it is compared to his sister and Jupe. Timeless Appeal fucked around with this message at 23:00 on Aug 14, 2022 |
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Aug 14, 2022 22:00
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 09:01 |
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Baron von Eevl posted:Good points throughout, but I agree with this paragraph. He doesn't think of JJ as an animal, he explicitly refers to "them" as viewers. He puts intelligence and consciousness on it, but he probably did the same with Gordy instead of treating either as a wild animal with somewhat predictable routines. I don't think he thought of either as "tamed" so much as him having a connection with both of them.
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Aug 15, 2022 01:51
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Steve Yun posted:I like this a lot
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Aug 15, 2022 03:32
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Coffee And Pie posted:Defunctland would definitely apply too
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Aug 23, 2022 02:46
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Pirate Jet posted:Key hasn't reached the heights of Peele but he's doing just fine
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Sep 1, 2022 03:42
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I think it also works because David is one of those actors who you could imagine in an alternate dimension being a Hollywood powerhouse. Seeing this great actor who is undeniably part of some great cinema but also never really became a star really works with the themes of the movie.
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Sep 5, 2022 15:09
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Ghost Leviathan posted:I did like the theory earlier itt that Roswell was a smaller member of the species, and the 'aliens' were partly digested human corpses.
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Sep 15, 2022 15:22
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The poster for Kid Sheriff reminded me of Holes. I think Gordy’s Home being a relic when it was made also works for the film. It wasn’t even a good show or really worth making.
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Oct 11, 2022 15:26
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 09:01 |
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Ghost Leviathan posted:I suddenly realise the quiet punchline of how The Star Lasso Experience goes so badly wrong, that you can accurately describe it as Jean Jacket eating literally everyone present except for the horse it was meant to. Also, holy poo poo... I rewatched the Gordy scene just now and it's insane that the thing is barely over a minute and a half for the entire flashback. I feel like in the theater, time stopped for that sequence.
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Oct 24, 2022 15:07
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