[movie] Us - Jordan Peele’s latest film

[hepcat]

Saw it this afternoon and it’s really quite good. Get Out and now Us proves Peele is a director to be reckoned with. His ability to inject social and/or political commentary into his stories without making it heavy handed, and without compromising the story he’s trying to tell, is pretty damn impressive.

The twists are great, although I think the main one can be easily seen towards the beginning of the movie...but that doesn’t even matter since the story doesn’t rely on an M. Night style gimmick to work.

It’s getting rave reviews from almost every direction, and I hope this means Peele is going to continue making films for a long time. And I even think he has the chops to break into more than just horror (even though I’d really prefer he keeps churning them out).

Go see it. You won’t regret it. At almost 2 hours it still manages to keep things moving and avoids dragging on.

[Holman]

Everyone is calling Peele the new Hitchcock, and after GET OUT I can believe it. He's getting the TWILIGHT ZONE reboot too, and I'm looking forward to that.

I'll bow out of this thread until I see US, though.

[hepcat]

It’s so weird to go back and watch some of his great comedy skits from his tv show Key and Peele and realize he’s the same guy. Talk about multi faceted.

[rittchard]

I liked Us much more than Get Out. I liked Get Out, but I thought it was a bit overly hyped and over-rated all in all. I felt with Get Out I had seen all the creepiest sequences in the trailer, and while I enjoyed the sci-fi-ish twist, the ending seemed kind of by-the-book for horror movie fans. I thought there was going to be a lot more of the "racial" content, and in some ways I thought it was counter-intuitive.

Spoiler:

Like if I was really a super racist, why would I put my mind into the body of the race I hated???

With Us I didn't have that feeling at all. I had seen the preview plenty of times, but I had no idea where they were heading with the base premise. It went further and deeper into its premise in ways I'd never have imagined, kind of reminiscent (for me) of Aliens in that respect. Even though as mentioned the final "twist" was not too surprising, it really didn't affect the viewing experience for the rest of the movie much. While there are some plot holes/questions that arise, all in all I really liked Us quite a bit.

[hepcat]

Things I still think about from Us

Spoiler:

The moment you realize that this tale isn’t just about one family...but about a whole hell of a lot more.

Elizabeth Moss’ tethered version silently screaming into her reflection in a window as she listens to her mate dying...then starts laughing just as silently.

[GreenGoo]

...but that doesn’t even matter since the story doesn’t rely on an M. Night style gimmick to work.

That's an important point. Betting the farm on a gimmick or "bit" is a huge risk. While it might be high reward, high risk means it's unlikely to succeed. Making a good movie that just so happens to contain the occasional "gotcha" is a much better use of a director's talent.

[GreenGoo]

Spoiler:

Like if I was really a super racist, why would I put my mind into the body of the race I hated???

I think Peele was playing to the stereotype of black people as superior athletes, with an overtone of racism coming from jealousy rather than hatred. I have no idea. This is the first time I've even thought (no matter how briefly) about it.

I like being surprised by Peele's talent. I never thought much of his comedy and so I pigeonholed him in that role. For him to get an opportunity to utilize his other talents and so successfully is awesome. I was not a fan of his before. I've moved a lot closer now that I've seen Get Out (which was very good, but not amazingly awesome). I haven't seen Us yet. I look forward to it.