Us (2019) - Get in line to scratch your head

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+ Strangest Movie of the Year 

Lead Lupita Nyong'o removes a mask of her own face to reveal a disquieting other version of it, wearing a red suit, ensconced in darkness, on this quizzical poster for Jordan Peele's Us

An American nuclear family head out on their first day of a summerhouse stay to visit the Santa Cruz amusement park. But the visit awakes unpleasant memories for the mother, and soon the family find themselves under attack from mysterious doubles.

Us is written and directed by great New-Yorker filmmaker Jordan Peele (Get Out (2017)), whose 2nd feature it is. It is the talk-about movie of the day, but perhaps what most who see it will talk about after watching it is simply; what the devil is it really about?
Peele has cooked up one strange beast here, and while some pundits have pointed to film references and proffered Peele a true cinephile in light of these, I will only go on to suggest that Us might also be the work of a writer/director who gets his ideas while smoking weed and then combines them as a big mass of clay, which is what we see now in front of us in cinemas. (And which may be the reason that its construct is less salient and understandable than we might wish.) Of course this is just speculation, but often when artists become as highly regarded as Peele is at the present moment, the truth of the source of their works are a lot less gilded and much more practical and commonplace than the admiring critics and scholars will lead some to believe.
The film may be a meditation on African Americans' collective identity and the development of this over the course of the last century; it may be about Americans in general, the spoiled nature of modern urbanites, and the tragedy and misery that lurks in the corners. - Or something else entirely. - Does it even seem to embrace a kind of violent activism?
One may leave it with these types of questions, or just shake one's head and move on in life.
For a wide mainstream hit, Us sure is strange, and this is probably its biggest distinction.
Lupita Nyong'o (Non-Stop (2014)) is hailed for her demanding dual performance, and she certainly transforms impressively, though its scare effect on me was regrettably limited. Winston Duke (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2014, TV-series)) is very likable as her big but second-in-command husband. SPOILER Elisabeth Moss (On the Road (2012)) plays an acerbic, binge-drinking mother, who suffers an unenviable fate and serves as subject for some of the film's humor, of which some instances are misplaced.
Peele's film survives largely because he flourishes with conviction in his odd game: The execution feels deliberate, and the film's musical sequences are memorable, in particular the climax, which utilizes Luniz's I Got 5 on It to stage a dance fight of doubles, - one that is not that scary but strange indeed.
Us isn't as comprehensible or sensational as Peele's great first film Get Out; the family here keep their cool way too much, and the peril they are in isn't nearly terrifying enough for the film to get truly scary. It is entertaining and a great conversation starter but leaves us with way too many question marks: SPOILER Why do the doubles eat rabbits? Why do the doubles emulate behavior overground? Why does the mother double, who is in fact the original girl, tell the strange story of hurt and hard gifts? What is the connection to the old commercial of holding hands? Why do the doubles want to meet and hold hands? ... But most of all ... 
What is this movie actually saying? Grrr....!!

Related post:

Jordan Peele: 2019 in films - according to Film Excess

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 20 mil. $
Box office: 174.5 mil. $ and counting
= Mega-hit (has returned 8.72 times its cost so far)
[Us premiered 8 March (South by Southwest Film Festival, Austin, Texas) and runs 116 minutes. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles, from July - October 2018. The film continually reference Biblical place Jeremiah 11:11, which reads: "Therefore this is what the Lord says: 'I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape. Although they cry out to me, I will not listen to them.'" It has been reported that the marketing spend for the film is as high as staggering 77 mil. $, which, if added into its cost, would set its break-even mark at 237.5 mil. $. The film opened #1 to a 71.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent its 2nd week in #2 and has grossed 128.2 mil. $ to date. The film's 2nd and 3rd biggest markets at this point are the UK with 3.6 mil. $ (2 %) and Australia with 2.7 mil. $ (1.5 %). It is set to open in 2 more markets coming up: Italy (4 April) and Mexico (3 May). Peele has not announced his next project as director, but is helming the hyped new iteration of iconic sci-fi horror TV-series The Twilight Zone (2019, TV-series) as executive producer/narrator, as well as producing a bunch of other coming attractions. Nyong'o returns in Star Wars: Episode IX (2019), Duke in Avengers: Endgame (2019). Us is certified fresh at 94 % with a 7.93/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Us?

Black Panther (2018) - Coogler strikes gold with African superhero - but could have delved into actual African problems

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+ Most Overrated Movie of the Year

Ensconced in dark-blue metallic, futuristic designs, this poster for Ryan Coogler's Black Panther highlights the film's main characters

The African nation of Wakanda, who enjoy a secluded life in technological bliss due to their natural resource, vibranium, has a new, kind monarch in T'Challa. But the kingdom is shaken, when a stranger emerges to claim the throne.

Black Panther is the 18th Marvel Cinematic Universe film and the first in what is destined to become its own franchise within the franchise. It is written by Joe Robert Cole (Amber Lake (2011)) and great Californian co-writer-director Ryan Coogler (Creed (2015)), whose third picture this is, based on the Marvel comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
Chadwick Boseman (Persons Unknown (2010), TV-series) has the timbre and soft, sensitive eyes that make him ideal for the title character. Martin Freeman (Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016)) as a CIA operative and especially Andy Serkis (King Kong (2005)) as a wild-man villain are good, the film's only Caucasian characters. Everyone else is African-American, making this tentpole stand out and feel a bit like an inverted huge movie, since it is most often the ethnic minorities who find themselves with just two smaller roles.
SPOILER Serkis is killed off, which is a bit of a shame since he's so damn electric and enjoyable to watch; but he is, and it is to open up for Black Panther's main villain, played by Michael B. Jordan (Fantastic Four (2015)), who is certainly the sexiest villain in recent memory here. The two lead opponents naturally fight, but the film's more thrilling fight scenes are the ones with its female characters: Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave (2013)), Danai Gurira (Restless City (2011)) and especially Letitia Wright (Cucumber (2015), TV-series) (who is actually from Guyana) make the younger women characters come to vivid and enjoyable life here.
The film benefits from a cool score by Ludwig Göransson (Central Intelligence (2016)) who traveled to Senegal and South Africa and recorded musicians for it.
There's an it-vibe and enormous hype surrounding Black Panther at the moment, especially in North America, where it may almost seem like the film is going to cure cancer and end all wars. So groundbreaking is its reversal of the ethnic representations over there, and some of this hyperbole is not just bordering on ridiculous but just plain ridiculous.
The excitement for Black Panther is palpable, but the film talks especially to the African-American audience and their feelings and frustrations, not least in the Jordan character's motivations for his plan of an essentially militaristic revenge campaign on the Western world for its past misdeeds in Africa. - The film's connection to the actual African peoples and their plights now and in the past are far more elusive:
- In the film's first act, some of the young women around T'Challa want Wakanda to start helping refugees in their region. - Despite Wakanda's overwhelmingly developed situation, helping their neighboring African nations with issues of refugees and devastating famine, as has killed millions for the past century, apparently hasn't been on the radar until now that we meet them today.
- Issues of Africa's unique wildlife and its extinction from poaching, pollution and overpopulation is also non-existing in Black Panther, SPOILER in which the only wildlife we meet are rhinos that help one of Wakanda's tribes in battle and well-behaved obey the sound of their whistles.
In this way Black Panther is still a standard action-adventure film for the urbanized Western ex-African (and everyone else) more so than the actual peoples of Africa, whose problems it largely neglects, (and who are also not likely to beat up the film's gross, a pivotal point for a film as expensive as this.) So Black Panther is best enjoyed without thinking too much about the actual realities of Africa, which, however, is a relevant criticism of this particular film. - We can always hope the sequel dares a bolder relevance.
The film is also overlong. But it undeniably has thrilling sequences, a good story and a tempting freshness and sense of idealism about it: SPOILER For instance; what other superhero tentpole ends with the enthusiastic planning of opening an outreach center?

Related posts:

Ryan Coogler: 2018 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2018 in films - according to Film Excess
Fruitvale Station (2013) - Well-meaning issue drama heightened by stars Michael B. Jordan and Octavia Spencer

Watch an IMAX trailer for the film here

Cost: 200 mil. $
Box office: 520 mil. $ and counting
= Too early to say (but already a box office success)
[Black Panther premiered 29 January (Los Angeles) and runs 134 minutes. Wesley Snipes was aiming to star in a Black Panther film from 1992 on, but the project never materialized. Marvel approached Ava DuVernay to direct the film, but she exited as she found they did not "see eye to eye" about the film. Shooting took place in Argentina, South Korea, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Georgia, including Atlanta, from January - April 2017. The film is released in 3D, IMAX and 2D formats and opened #1 with a 202 mil. $ first weekend and a record-breaking 242.1 mil. $ over the full 4-day Presidents' Day weekend, the 2nd best 4-day opening ever, trailing Star Wars: The Force Awakens' (2015) 288 mil. $. Black Panther is likely to end up as one of the top-grossing films of the year. It opens in Russia 26 Feb., Japan 1 Mar. and China 9 Mar., its last announced market. Boseman returns in Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Marvel's next blockbuster. Coogler returns with Wrong Answer, again starring Jordan, and is also in talks for a Black Panther sequel. Black Panther is certified fresh at 97 % with an 8.2 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Black Panther?

12 Years a Slave (2013) - The inhumanity of slavery captured in powerful film

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+ Best Movie of the Year
+ Best American Movie of the Year 

The poster for Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave

Free African American Solomon Northrup, a distinguished violin player and family man, is kidnapped in Washington D.C. in 1841 and sold into terrible slavery in Louisiana which comes to last for 12 long years. 

 
It is the first truly incredible film by London-borne director Steve McQueen, who has previously made the two features, Hunger (2008), a barely watchable film about a hunger strike in a prison, and Shame (2011) a good movie about a New York City sex addict and his sister, - and a bunch of short films.
John Ridley (Red Tails (2012)) is responsible for the adaptation of Northup's autobiographical account of his trials as a Southern slave.
McQueen's keen eye for the physically reprehensible culminates with a great - and greatly engaging - story that unfolds in a fine, always forward-moving pace that still affords itself to linger at details and important events. McQueen is not an American filmmaker, and even in this, his most awarded American film to date, he succeeds in a pacing and explicitness that seems decidedly European. - Furthermore, he never succumbs to sentimentality or falsity, and his film stands taller for it.
The film still feels very American; partly due to its cast that seamlessly portray their subjects, and partly due to its score, a marvelously blended mix of folk and work songs and Hans Zimmer's powerful, emoting score that bursts the already blood-whipped hearts of most audiences. Its percussion underscore the perversity of the slavery system, while the theme's strings put us in the tortured place of Nerthup and his fellow slaves. The catharsis is strong throughout different sections, and there is a strong sense of inevitability about the story, but the plot is so filled with despicable things that the catharsis don't cleanse so much as illuminate and bring despair. - At least I felt some despair after the strong experience of watching 12 Years a Slave, as I thought of all the places in the world where slavery is still prevalent.

12 Years a Slave presents an impressive array of bad guys. Most all of the white stars of the film portray terrible characters, barring Brad Pitt, who also co-produced the film.
But; Paul Giamatti is a rotten buffoon (in one really good, awful scene); Paul Dano is an ass; Benedict Cumberbatch is all wrong; Sarah Paulson is a mean woman; and Michael Fassbender (in his third McQueen-film) is, as most will already know, the worst; sadistic, zealous and highly dangerous.

Aside from all of these, who all give fine performances, the film also has great people in even the smallest parts, and in the most significant supporting role, Lupita Nyong'o (Non-Stop (2014)) breaks our hearts as the hardworking slave-girl Patsey, who endures her master's very awful, special attention. Nyong'o's performance is one for the ages; remembering her character, many will forever feel a sting in their hearts.
In the lead, Chiwetel Ejiofor (American Gangster (2007)) is intense and unflinching in his singular portrait, brave and honest.
The beautiful scenery of the often relentless South - filmed in New Orleans, close to the actual plantation that Northup was enslaved in, - is beautifully rendered by cinematographer Sean Bobbitt (The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)). A few of the takes are especially impressive; the realism is simultaneously stunning and grueling.
12 Years a Slave is a monumental film that deserves to be seen by as many as possible; an incredible story of human sacrifice and endurance, and a truly enlightening story of slavery in America.

Related posts:

2013 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED VI]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

 

Watch the trailer for the movie of the year, 12 Years a Slave

Budget: 18 mil. $
Box office: 187.7 mil. $
= Huge hit

What do you think of 12 Years a Slave?

Non-Stop (2014) or, The Text Messaging Terrorist!

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Liam Neeson in mortal jeopardy on a plane with a gun effectively sells Jaume Collet-Serra's Non-Stop

Non-Stop is a highly suspenseful airplane action thriller with Liam Neeson (Schindler's List (1993)).

An alcoholic air marshal gets into a severe jam on a Transatlantic flight, as a person on the plane is killing people and demanding 150 mil. $ via texts.

Non-Stop marks the highlight so far in Neeson's improbable rise as an A-list action star over age 50, more or less beginning with his part in Batman Begins (2005). Since, Neeson has starred in nearly a dozen action movies and spun one franchise with the Taken movies (2008; 2012; 2014). Some of the films are good, some are bad, some mediocre, but not until now has Neeson found himself heading a truly great action movie; Non-Stop is the perfect vehicle for him:
First of all, the script is smart and full of clever ploys, written by John W. Richardson and Christopher Roach, who have collaborated in TV such as on Big Brother, and Ryan Engle, who has written a script for a movie based on the 80s video-game Rampage (2014). Non-Stop moves fast and the suspense is, - as the title promises, - non-stop.
The text message terror of the unknown terrorist on-board is weaved visually into the story very aptly, and the different suspicious characters on the plane are introduced well. We never leave the plane physically for most of the film, which is also a good choice. There is a nerve-wrecking tension of paranoia and prejudice rank in the air of the cabin, which feels very real, and the claustrophobia and anxiety of the aircraft and being crammed in with (hysterical, annoying and crazy) strangers is caught very well in the film.
Although it is no work of art, the score by John Ottman (Valkyrie (2008)) is very simple and effective. The film delivers the nail-biting excitement and thrills that we hope to get from it and gives us something extra due to its fine cast:
Besides Neeson, - who proves himself a real, flawed American hero in the film, - Julianne Moore is a joy as a sassy passenger he works with, and Corey Stoll (Midnight in Paris (2011)) is good as a macho cop passenger. The bit-parts are also well-achieved; the old lady, the girl, the pilots, the doctor, the idiots on-board ... It made me think of the disaster classic Airport (1970), but Non-Stop is essentially better.
Non-Stop is a mirthful concoction on the part of the writers; SPOILER a moment that epitomizes it is when the marshal 'buys' some calm on the plane by promising all the passengers free international flights for a year. Balanced with Neeson's bear-like, patriarchal charm, this piece of cynicism (and others) work as sardonic charm sprinkle on Non-Stop.

SPOILER One plot point that had me doubting its authenticity is when fighter jets follow the plane and threaten to shoot it down, if it changes its altitude, - because it is getting near Iceland, which is far from densely populated. But it works for the suspense and is just one element in the film's almost too suspenseful last half hour, which is also truly terrifying for those of us who are not too keen on flying in the first place.
The film received mixed reviews, but the public ran to see it; it stopped The Lego Movie's strong reign over the US box office and additionally beat the big Jesus movie Son of God (2014) for the #1 spot, as they both opened wide on the same weekend. Great director William Friedkin (Killer Joe (2012)) also agrees with Film Excess and has called Non-Stop "a great action suspense movie. I highly recommend it."
Barcelona-born director Jaume Collet-Serra also sees a career peak with Non-Stop. He has previously directed the entertaining House of Wax (2005), below average actioner Unknown (2011), also with Neeson, and a few other minor movies. His next film, Run All Night (2015) is again an action movie with Liam Neeson. Perhaps Collet-Serra should accept that this relationship has now peaked? Or maybe he will show me wrong.

The worst, - meaning the best, - airborne thriller in many years will leave you not wanting to go flying anytime again soon. - Jaume Collet-Serra's Non-Stop

Budget: 50 mil. $
Box office: 198.7 mil. $
= Big hit

What do you think of Liam Neeson's action movies,
and do you agree that Non-Stop is the best one so far?

The day after ... The Oscars 2014

So as anyone who have read my Oscar post yesterday will notice, I make a pretty terrible Oscar prognostic ... out of the 21 categories that I had guessed in, I only got 7 right. Those were Matthew McConaughey as Best Actor, Cate Blanchett as Best Actress, Lupita Nyong'o as Best Supporting Actress, Gravity for Best Cinematography (by Emmanuel Lubezki), Best Make-Up and Hair for Dallas Buyers Club and Best Sound Mixing and Best Visual Effects both for Gravity.
I look ridiculous in hindsight, having proposed that a film about a strong male hero (Captain Phillips) was something for a 2014 Academy. - Apparently not at all, (the film went home empty-handed, although it was nominated for 6 awards.) Instead the movies that won were about sick men dying of AIDS (Dallas Buyers Club), a woman drunk (Blue Jasmine), a strong woman in space (Gravity, which also won its director Alfonso Cuarón the Best Director Oscar) and evil slavery (12 Years a Slave, which won Best Film).
I had hoped for something for Alexander Payne's Nebraska, one of my biggest favorites of the year, but that film also went home empty-handed.

Well, it was a wonderful Oscar night anyhow.
Second time host Ellen DeGeneres started out in style with an opening monologue that included minor roasts of Liza Minnelli (for looking like a male impersonator!), 84 year-old nominee June Squibb (for being old and deaf) and Jonah Hill for flashing his (presumably fake) penis in The Wolf of Wall Street. DeGeneres later laid down Tweeter with a photo she took of her and a bunch of stars during the telecast, and later again had pizza delivered to the starving celebs. She took some air out of the pompous occasion and made almost everyone comfortable and laugh at one point or other (and myself at several occasions.) None of the irreverent bad boy stabs of earlier years from hosts like David Letterman, Chris Rock or vulgar Seth McFarlane. But also none of the Oscar class of Steve Martin/Alec Baldwin or Billy Crystal.
The show also shone from fun presentations from the likes of Jim Carrey and Jamie Foxx especially, wonderful musical performances from Pharrell Williams, Pink and an impressive Frozen-singer, whom John Travolta introduced very terribly by giving her a different name, and whom I therefore will never (probably) know the name of now.
Both host, presenters and winners stumbled in their speeches repeatedly, which almost came to seem sloppy, being that they are all performers who should be able to think of something else besides being in millions of living-rooms across the globe live. It was a joy to have Christoph Waltz (who is Austrian and was erroneously introduced as Christopher) come out and introduce nominees with clear intonation.
Liza Minnelli was in the audience and looked bizarre, (prompting DeGeneres' harsh joke on her behalf), and later on, Vertigo-legend Kim Novak presented with Matthew McConaughey and looked equally inhuman. They are both obviously victims of too much vanity, culture-craze and endless botox and other cosmetic surgeries.
Sidney Poitier, the aging screen legend, on the other hand came out fine in his presentation, in which he enlivened some after otherwise looking pretty off in his seat in several shots.
The Wizard of Oz was praised on its 75th anniversary, as was movie heroes, although not very memorably, and the in memoriam section was altered some this year, with no applauses and instead a tasteful, beautiful graphic of names and faces in clouds. We lost many greats this year, like Peter O'Toole, Philip Seymour Hoffman, James Gandolfini, Harold Ramis and many others. Bette Midler sang beautifully at the end of the section.

There were several Oscar-moments, as in moments that makes you weep; Lupita Nyong'o's speech, Matthew McConaughey's speech was first rate, and Jared Leto's if you can stomach him (I personally can't, and found his sudden throw-in of Venezuela and Ukraine in his political-personal speech borderline comical), and one of the winners from the documentary winner 20 Feet From Stardom breaking out in wild singing was also something.
Steve McQueen winning for Best Picture for 12 Years a Slave was so emotional it was almost impossible to understand what he said.

On another note, this being a Danish-rooted blog, Denmark was nominated for Best Foreign Film (The Hunt), Best Documentary (The Act of Killing) and Best Short Film (Helium), and won the latter, for Anders Walter and Kim Magnusson. Big congratulations to them.
In the Best Foreign Film category, it was instead Paolo Sorrentino's The Great Beauty that won.
Best Animated Film became Disney's Frozen, and the screen-writing Oscars went to Spike Jonze for Her (Best Original Screenplay) and John Ridley for 12 Years a Slave (Best Adapted Screenplay.)