Reviews

‘Us’ Review

Creep on in on in. Jordan Peele follows up Get Out with a stellar sophomore performance. Lupita Nyong’o shines, but Winston Duke steals the show.

A family’s serenity turns to chaos when a group of doppelgängers begins to terrorize them.


What is your deepest fear? For some, it’s heights or spiders. Some people have fears that we can even begin to imagine, like the fear of peaches. But what about fearing oneself? Deep down we truly are our own worst enemy right? Have you ever seen someone out in public that you swore was someone you know, or stumbled upon a photo of someone who looks just like you? It can be creepy, the old adage that if you ever time travel, you are forbidden to ever see yourself because the human psyche couldn’t handle something like that. Well now imagine not only seeing a mirror reflection of yourself, but that every person is here to kill you. The concept of duality is very interesting when used correctly in the film. What if we all had our own double out there somewhere, but we just didn’t know it? Duality is a very large theme within Jordan Peele’s new movie Us, his incredible follow up to the cultural phenomenon that was Get Out.

I can’t even fathom the amount of pressure Jordan Peele must have felt when making and writing this movie. Get Out literally changed his life forever and will be regarded as one of the best horror movies of all time, and perhaps one of the best movies of this decade. Those are some rather large shoes to fill for your follow up. But, if you had one great idea, you’re bound to have more right? Well, not only is Us going to be a smash hit, in some ways he ups the ante from his previous movie. Onions have layers, Ogres have layers, this movie has many layers. Sometimes adding a ton of layers won’t always translate to success and people enjoying your movie more. In fact, peeling back too many layers can be tiresome and at times boring. There’s a ton to digest with Us, it packs a punch. The movie at times can feel psychedelic and almost hypnotic with the imagery we are given. Peele crafts some spectacular shots, one that includes shadows of our family as they walk on the beach. Like I mentioned, duality and mirror images are a large aspect of this film. Speaking of the family, let’s meet the Wilson’s shall we?

Nothing screams vacation like fighting with your family. Now being hunted down and having your doppelgänger trying to kill you is a whole other ball game. Adelaide (Lupita Nyong’o) Gabe (Winston Duke) Jason (Evan Alex) and Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) are just your typical American family trying to have some fun at the beach. Now, for a movie like this, there is no way I’m giving away anything, I wouldn’t do that. Just know, the trailers don’t even scratch the surface of what this movie is, which I was pleasantly surprised with. Jordan Peele did an incredible job keeping this thing hush-hush. Lupita gives one hell of a performance, one of the best that I can remember in a horror movie. She’s doing a lot here because these four are also playing their counterparts. But Winston Duke man, that’s my new guy. The way I would describe him is simple, he’s – “that’s how I would act kind of guy.” What he’s saying, how he’s acting, he’s doing all the things use average joes would do when faced with these circumstances. The best part about this whole film is how Peele is able to serve up comedy in some scary and suspenseful moments. One misstep and it could have fallen so flat on its face, but it’s the chemistry between our four leads that make it work. They really feel like a family, it’s some of the funniest moments I can ever remember in a horror movie. I want to see this again, which I will, solely for one comedic moment, because I was howling with laughter. The rest of the cast, which is pretty small was just so perfectly crafted. Elizabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker and Cali and Noelle Sheldon play family friends and they were all terrific as well. Fun fact with the twin girls, they played Emma, Ross and Rachel’s daughter in Friends, and now I made you feel old.

My only small gripe with the film was the ending like I said there is a ton to peel back, no pun intended. I wasn’t exactly sure what Peele was going for and he’s asking a lot from his audience, and either you’re going to go there with him or like myself just have maybe a few questions that seem unanswerable. I am not letting that take away from this terrific, suspenseful, master craft of cinema. Jordan Peele is the real deal, and we have just another gifted filmmaker among us and I can’t wait to see what he does next. Go see it, go see it twice, let’s support this man, because he deserves hit. Us could have the biggest box-office openings in history, couldn’t be happier for the guy.

Nate’s Movie Tour Reviews – Us = 94/100

News

Jordan Peele’s ‘Us’ Trailer

Nothing says Christmas like a terrifying home invasion.

The master of horror has return! Jordan Peele just gave us all the best Christmas present, the debut trailer for his next film Us. After the critical success of Get Out, one of the best original horror movies ever made, we’ve been waiting for our first glimpse at Peele’s next project.

We certainly got a look, and it’s incredible that this trailer dropped a mere 12 weeks before the release of the movie. Not your typical family vacation I’d say. What wide range of talented actors and actresses we have, Elizabeth Moss, Winston Duke, Lupita Nyong’o and Yahya Abdul-Mateen, this promises to be another smash hit. Much like Get Out, I’m sure there will be a big twist, and there will be a ton of layers to peel back and digest. This is one of the scariest trailers I can remember and I counted like 10 plus jump scares, so I’d recommend wearing a diaper in March. What a premise, my guess is that this family will be serial killers themselves and that they are like battling their inner demons or something. Whatever it is, Us looks fantastic and we have another young insanely talented film maker in our ranks.

Just another movie to look forward too in 2019. Which already promises to be one of the most packed movie going seasons of all time.

Reviews

Bow Down To Black Panther

Anyone else getting a Lion King vibe. 

(MARVEL)

Well this certainly cured the Monday blues. Sunday scaries were hitting pretty hard last night and this was a nice little treat to wake up too. Black Panther is ultra badass and this entire trailer is truly something unique and something we really haven’t seen from a Marvel movie before. Is the Rocky universe part of the Marvel universe? Because that would be a crossover I would love to see. Ryan Coogler the director is really putting his stamp on this movie, and making it his own. It’s very urban looking, insanely colourful, and just all around world building. 

Tons of action is going on throughout the trailer, but very little about the actual story line is known up to this point. I pointed out that this trailer feels very “world-building” where we are not in a modern city like most Marvel movies or in space for the GOTG and Thor franchises. We are seeing things we have yet to uncover and discover in this trailer and everything just looks spectacular. We have gotten a slew of trailers lately and I think this is really close to being my favourite one. It’s right there with The Last Jedi trailer. 

The cast is just fantastic but I can’t stress enough how excited I am to see Michael B Jordan tackle the role of a villain. He’s one of my favourite actors working today, and I’m really excited to see his take on this character. Seriously this is one of the best all around casts in a comic book movie that I can remember, there are so many talented people working on this movie, it really is something special. I’m not really sure what’s going on with the suits, but it looks pretty awesome, I’m excited to get to learn more about Black Panther and where he comes from. 

Ryan Coogler cares deeply about all of his projects and the fact he also is getting a writing credit for Black Panther speaks volumes. I know there is going to be a ton of passion and heart behind the camera and in the script, so that’s why I have tremendous faith in this movie. He’s coming off Creed which was one of my favourite movies of that year, so he’s got a great track record. There’s just too much to love about the entire project for me not to realize that Marvel has another home run on their hands. Look for this one to break the mould on the cookie cutter formula we are all so accustomed too when it comes to these Marvel movies, I think this one is going to be special. 

Check ya later. 

Reviews

So ‘Black Panther’ Looks Really Dope 

Michael B. Jordan as a bad guy? Sign me up!

(MARVEL)
Wow, wow, wow! Okay, so one of the best parts of Civil War was the introduction of Black Panther. The king of Wakanda is now getting his very own movie, and my god, this just looks incredible. Ryan Coogler is fresh off his Creed success, I thought it was such a fantastic movie. How he handled the Rocky universe and his ability to tell a great story, can only be a recipe for success when it comes to Black Panther.

First things first, this cast is remarkably good. The amount of star power is just something you don’t see in a comic book movie. Big stars are certainly involved, it’s just the actual amount of incredible actors and actresses is something truly special. From Michael B. Jordan, Chadwick Boseman, Lupita Nyong’o, Daniel Kaluuya, Angela Bassett and finally Forest Whitaker. Now that’s some serious star power, I can’t wait to see Michael B. Jordan and Daniel Kaluuya play a couple of bad guys. Daniel is coming off playing hero of the century in Get Out, and you always think of Michael as such a sweet and innocent guy in everything he’s in. Wakanda itself looks breathtakingly beautiful, the visuals throughout this trailer, especially shots of Wakanda are just top notch. It’s a nice change of scenery for the MCU, shifting away from either that cosmic look, or the big city feel, that most of the movies have.

Marvel does enjoy following the same cookie cutter formula for every origin story they tell, but this one seems different. Maybe it’s because we have already been introduced to this character, but certainly not his universe or where he comes from. But I got a serious Batman vibe from this trailer, and when he’s lurking up in the trees, it felt like Batman, and that’s only a compliment. I’m really curious to know if Bucky will make his return, seeing how we last saw him going into some sort of hyper sleep at the end of Civil War. I would love to see these two characters interact again, and build on their unique relationship. We also have Martin Freeman and Andy Serkis back in the mix, Serkis is playing bad guy Ulysses Klaw again, the arms dealer from Age of Ultron, and it’s just a nice little reunion for the actors. Seeing how they both stared in The Hobbit movies together.

What can I say, Black Panther is going to be Batman for the MCU. I’m pretty excited to see this thing, and I have a feeling they will have some awesome action sequences throughout it. Some of the hand to hand combat looks amazing, it’s very brutal and face paced, which again makes it feel like Batman. This movie needs to come out sooner rather than later.

Check ya later.