Masterful 'Us' Warrants Repeat Viewings

The knock on Us, the new horror masterpiece from Jordan Peele, is that it's not Get Out.  I think that is totally unfair to this film and a director's previous work should not enter into the equation of whether or not a current film is good or not.  I get it that people want another Get Out... because that film was such a brilliant and audience pleasing thriller.  And because of its success, and the fact that it was his first film, Jordan Peele will always be measured up to it.  Just as M. Night Shyamalan films will always be mentioned in the same sentence as The Sixth Sense, Peele films will always be mentioned with Get Out, fairly or not.  I just don't want that film's success to take away from his brilliant sophomore effort, Us.  This film fires on all cylinders from beginning to end, that I almost wish that this was his directorial debut.  It's that good.  People need to stop trying to measure it up to Get Out. Us stands firmly on its own two feet, and will easily be in my top 5 for 2019.

Us is much less concerned with being a straight forward film.  It's ending is open ended and not as uplifting as Get Out.  It's only after you peal back the layers,  that you see there's much much more to this one.  It leaves much up to interpretation and our imagination.   Little of this film's deeper meanings are spoon fed to us.  I'm sitting here writing this review with a couple different interpretations of this film open in different web windows.  They all make sense, and yet they are not definitive interpretations.  This one hits closest to home for me.  There's breadcrumbs sprinkled throughout this film, that you'll only pick up with repeated viewings.

Us tells the story of a family that goes on vacation only to be attacked by their identical (albeit more psychotic) doppelgangers.  These doppelgangers (known as the tethered) want to kill and replace their other halves.  It's a 21st century Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, but with Peele's signature blend of horror and comedy.  It'll keep you on the edge of your seat, and never lets you get settled. 

Kudos to the stellar cast for pulling off the double duty, both as protagonists and chilling antagonists.  Lupita Nyong'o leads the way with her Oscar-worthy performance (I can't get her doppelganger's whispery voice out of my ears!).  Winston Duke, Elizabeth Moss and Tim Heidecker all shine playing both sides of their characters' personalities.

Like I said, Us warrants repeated viewings.  I'm already counting down the time until I can watch it again.  It cements Jordan Peele as a master filmmaker, and proves that original ideas can still thrive in today's world of blockbusters, sequels and remakes.  3.8 stars out of 4.

Julianne Moore Shines In The So-So Gloria Bell

There's a lot of movies where the performances (or a single performance) are greater than the film itself.  The most recent movie that comes to mind was Bohemian Rhapsody.... a "by the numbers" biopic of the late, great Freddie Mercury and Queen.  I honestly thought Rami Malik's performance was the only saving grace of that dull and flat film.  I know it nabbed a ton of Oscar nominations, but it was a wildly overrated film.  I bring this topic up, because I recently saw Gloria Bell and thought to myself, "wow, Julianne Moore is great in this!" while at the same time feeling that the movie wasn't as great as Moore.  I liked it a lot more than Rhapsody, but in the end, her performance is what stayed with me.

Gloria Bell is about a middle-aged divorced woman who works a boring insurance job, who spends her evenings dancing away at singles dances at night clubs.  She has children, who each have their own issues in life.  A son who is left to look after his child when his wife leaves him, and a pregnant daughter who is thinking about moving to Sweden with her baby-to-be's father.  There's a lot of fun family dynamic scenes that establishes each of the characters.  Moore's character meets another lonely soul played by the always fantastic John Turturro.  They form a connection, but there's something sad and lonely about Turturro's character that prevents their relationship from really blossoming.  He plays pathetic with gusto and is believable as a divorcee who hasn't quite moved on from his former marriage.  He's a coward and a bit of an obsessed lover, but Turtorro makes him believable.

The movie never quite took off the way I wanted it to, but it's worth seeing for Moore's (and to a lesser extent) and Turtorro's performances.  Gloria Bell is about a woman finding herself and gaining the strength and courage and comfort of self-love.  It's worth a viewing for anyone who wants to get away from the daily grind of life.  It's not a home run, but it's a solid double.  2.4 stars out of 5.

Captain Marvel Plays It Too Safe... And Wastes An Opportunity To Make A Great Movie

FYI, if you haven't seen Avengers: Infinity War yet, this post will ruin it for you.  Spoilers-A-Plenty.


Still here?  Good.  The last we left Nick Fury, he was using an old-school pager to call for some sort of help as he was flaking away into a Thanos-induced nothingness.  We didn't know who or what he was calling... until now.  The who in this particular scenario is Carol Danvers (aka Captain Marvel), an energy infused woman of mysterious origins.  Captain Marvel opens on the alien planet of HALA where the inhabitants are in the midst of an alien war.  Danvers' character is part of a group of warriors tasked with capturing and/or killing the Skrulls, a shape shifting alien race.  Eventually, her path leads her to earth in the 1990s, when she crash lands into a Blockbuster Video store (RIP).  Earth is where the majority of this film takes place.  She eventually crosses paths with a young Nick Fury (an enjoyable Samuel L. Jackson) and joins him for a mysterious source of energy that will win the alien war. 

For better or worse, Captain Marvel follows the successful Marvel formula.  It introduces new characters while tying it into the already established Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).  However, that formula started to get a little stale.  Recently, films like , Guardians Of The Galaxy, Black Panther, Thor: Ragnarok and Ant-Man began to push new boundaries.  Each film and character had their own distinct personalities to them.  It looked like Marvel was loosening the reins on its directors, allowing them to create unique visions and experiences.  However, it looks like Marvel was a little timid giving Captain Marvel free rein in terms of tone and direction.  It takes place in the 90s, and yet it doesn't feel quirky enough.  It tries humor, but doesn't go far enough.  It has a strong female lead without giving her too much power or personality. 

Brie Larson does a good job portraying Captain Marvel and Annette Bening collects a paycheck as her mentor.  However, both are pretty bland characters that don't get to push the boundaries that their Oscar-worthy talents would allow them to do.  Sadly, this film feels like more of a Nick Fury origin story featuring Captain Marvel rather than a stand alone Captain Marvel film.  Don't get me wrong, Samuel L. Jackson is great in this movie (his interactions with a cat are a highlight of the MCU), but he's had ample films to flesh out his character, and it's not his film.

I wasn't all together disappointed by this film.  There were still great action pieces and sequences to keep me entertained.  I just wished Marvel allowed these filmmakers to push the boundaries more, rather than giving us a bland, safe origin story for the studio's first female-led movie.  It's also unfortunate that so much negativity has surrounded this film from the onslaught of negative reviews that online trolls have tried to heap upon this film.  I wish it was a stronger middle-finger to those snowflakes.

Captain Marvel is a good, but not great entry to the MCU.  There's a couple post-credit scenes to stick around for.  I hope this character is given more room to shine in Avengers: End Game.  2 out of 4 stars.