Nope (2022)

The movie opens with a blood-covered chimpanzee on the set of a 90s TV show, Gordy's Home.  Clearly, the chimp has gone berserk.  The point of view is from someone hiding under a table.  The chimp turns, notices, and starts to approach...

On the Haywood Ranch, OJ (Daniel Kaluuya) gets up before the dawn to feed and exercise the horses.  His father (Keith David) talks about how a movie sequel will save the ranch from financial woes.  Haywood Ranch provides horses for movies.  And then the power fails, and strange things fall from the sky, peppering the landscape like tiny meteors.  Months later, the ranch is not doing well and OJ has taken to selling horses to a local Western theme park called Jupiter's Claim.  Ricky "Jupe" Park (Steven Yuen) is the owner, a former child star who hid under a table when Gordy the chimpanzee went berserk.  In addition to buying horses, he has also made an offer to buy the Haywood Ranch.  The ranch has continued to suffer power outages that even effect battery-powered items like cars and cell phones.  OJ has spotted something soaring in the clouds and hears strange shrieking as it travels.  Emerald (Keke Palmer), his sister, insists they install cameras to get a picture of it, thinking it will be the solution to their financial woes.

As anyone who has seen the trailer would know, there is a UFO stalking the Haywood Ranch.  However, this isn't your standard alien invasion-type movie.  Nope, it is something different.  Entertaining and suspenseful, it is a fine entry in Peele's movie catalog.  Better than Us, but not as good as Get Out.  Kaluuya and Palmer are terrific in their contrast, one serious, subdued, and introverted and the other manic, chatty, and extroverted.  Yuen gets a lot of backstory that is interesting but generally beside the point.  I didn't puzzle out the meaning during the film but had to have it explained via IMDb Trivia and YouTube reviews.  Antlers Holst (Michael Wincott), a cinematographer, is recruited to somehow film the UFO.  He brings a crank-powered camera to avoid the power failure issue.  However, his actions are unexpected and not explained afterwards.  He wanted to take the impossible shot and one supposes that he may have.

Good popcorn fun!

Get Out

Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) is a photographer dating Rose Armitage (Allison Williams).  Chris is black and Rose is white.  They have been dating for five months and Rose wants to introduce him to her parents.  He is less than eager, expecting to get a cold welcome at best.  Nonetheless, he agrees and leaves his dog in the care of Rod (LilRel Howery), his best friend.  Rose's parents are odd but proved to be very welcoming.  Dean (Bradley Whitford) is a neural surgeon who constantly says 'my man' to make Chris feel welcome.  Missy (Catherine Keener) is a psychiatrist who uses hypnotism to resolve issues; it is mentioned how she cured Rod of his cigarette addition; Chris is a smoker.  Chris is initially pleased to see that the maid and the groundskeeper are black but when he meets them, there is something clearly not right.  Jeremy, Rose's brother, is openly hostile.

 

Directed by Jordan Peele of Key & Peele fame, Get Out is alternately funny and spooky.  There are some jump scares and some creepy scenes but it doesn't really rise to horror.  More of a mystery thriller with some horror elements.  While Chris is getting more and more spooked with the weirdness of his girlfriend's parents and their associates, Rod is on the case.  Rod is nothing but comedy, offering crazy explanations and otherwise being outlandish.  Oddly, this interweaving of comedy didn't break the ongoing tension at the Armitage Estate.

 

This was a surprisingly fun horror film and not the sort of thing one would expect from Peele after seeing his sketch comedy and Keanu.  With this as his first venture into feature films, I look forward to more.  Thumbs up.

 

Keanu

The Allentown Boys massacre a Mexican drug ring in an abandoned church, the sole survivor being Iglesia, an adorable kitten.  The kitten flees through Los Angeles until he arrives at the door of Rell (Jordan Peele), who has just been dumped by his girlfriend.  He instantly bonds with the cat and names him Keanu.  Two weeks later, Rell and his cousin Clarence (Keegan-Michael Key) return from seeing a Liam Neeson film to discover Rell's apartment ransacked and Keanu missing!  Determined to find his cat, Rell and Clarence set out.  The trail leads through a small time drug dealer to the 17th Street Blips (rejects from the Bloods and Crips = Blips) and thence to the Mexican drug ring and the Allentown Boys.

 

The movie certainly has its moments but is a let down from their sketch comedy.  This ranks with some of the less funny bits.  It is just a couple of bumpkins trying to act like hardcore killers in order to recover a kitten.  Funny idea but not enough to carry a movie.  I did enjoy the dream sequence that included Keanu speaking; he is voiced by Keanu Reeves.

 

Of particular note, George Michael figured heavily in the movie, including some clips from Faith.  Clarence proves to be a HUGE fan of George Michael and converts many of the Blips into fans as well.  It is sad that the day after I see this movie, George Michael died.

 

Check out their sketch comedy instead, especially Substitute Teacher.  Comic gold!