Get Out

GET OUT
2017 | Dir. Jordan Peele | 103 Minutes

"All I know is sometimes, when there's too many white people, I get nervous, you know?"

Chris, an African American photographer, spends the weekend at the childhood home of his Caucasian girlfriend Rose to meet her allegedly socially progressive family and their overly-enthusiastic friends. The weekend takes a sinister turn when Chris discovers the unspeakable secret that links Rose's family with several missing local African American people. When Chris goes missing, his friend Rod, a TSA Agent, investigates.

With a clever screenplay and an inspired vision, comedian Jordan Peele's directorial film debut is equal parts uncomfortable and entertaining. The narrative is rich with layers of social commentary on the very real and immediately issues surrounding race and ethnicity in modern America. The most chilling concept presented in the picture is that its monsters do not simply aim to subjugate Chris. The rich old predominately white villains (there is one Japanese man in the crowd) fetishize Chris on a purely superficial level, attempt to suppress and hollow out his personhood, and subsequently fully implant themselves into his shell.

As the emotionally reserved Chris, Daniel Kaluuya is a captivating protagonist, delivering a quiet vulnerability that constantly builds as a formative childhood trauma is drawn to the surface against his will and as he discovers the horror behind his predicament. Allison Williams plays Rose to perfection as the duplicitous bait in her family's scheme. As Rose's surgeon father, Bradley Whitford exemplifies the unnerving shallow friendliness of any racist who has ever denied their prejudice. On the other end of the spectrum, Caleb Landry Jones embodies pure white trash as Rose's brother with a proclivity for random violent outbursts. The most terrifying character of the film may be Rose's psychiatrist mother portrayed by Catherine Keener with cold precision. A close second for scariest character would Georgina, the creepy maid with a disturbing secret, played by Betty Gabriel with delightful creepiness. It is impossible not to root for Lil Rel Howery's Rod, the ineffable and hilarious voice of reason, and possibly the only TSA agent to ever perform a heroic act in film.

Get Out is smart, gripping, socially-conscious horror with a good measure of humor in the mix. The twisted, deceptive, very white antagonists are truly terrifying. Jordan Peele immediately establishes himself as a filmmaker to follow closely.


FRAGMENTS
- According to Writer/Director Jordan Peele, the Sunken Place represents the marginalization of minorities in America as "No matter how hard we scream, the system silences us."

- In the original intended ending of film, Chris incarcerated by law enforcement for killing Rose and her family, but Writer/Director Jordan Peele decided to revise the ending in light of several unjust police shootings of black people that occurred as production for the film was underway

- This film was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture in the category of Musical or Comedy while it is undeniably NOT a musical or comedy

- Bradley Whitford appears in two Best Picture Oscar Nominees that were released in 2017: this film and The Post

- Caleb Landry Jones appears in two Best Picture Oscar Nominees that were released in 2017: this film and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri


MCU CONNECTIONS
- Daniel Kaluuya (W'Kabi in Black Panther)

Dunkirk

DUNKIRK
2017 | Dir. Christopher Nolan | 106 Minutes

"All we did is survive."

Trapped on the beach at Dunkirk in 1940, a British Soldier named Tommy is among hundreds of thousands of allied soldiers in the process of being picked off by German dive-bombers. Across the channel, Mr. Dawson, his son Peter, and neighborhood boy George set sail to Dunkirk in Dawson's boat alongside hundreds of civilian vessels to assist in the Royal Navy's desperate rescue mission. In the sky, a Royal Air Force fighter pilot flies towards Dunkirk to provide air support as his wing men are gunned down.

Dunkirk is an extraordinary and suspenseful war picture utilizing the very best of Christopher Nolan's talents as a filmmaker - most notably Nolan's unique manipulation of time. Told through three interwoven narratives that respectively take place over one week, one day, and one hour, tension is established through steadily rising action, breathtaking photography, and masterful film editing. Though the lead characters are not given much expository dialogue or backstory, they are fully-defined by the actions they take in the direst of circumstances. The film is a tale of pure survival, sidestepping any form of a political message, completely distilled and concentrated, undeniably thrilling the most visceral way.

Fionn Whitehead carries much of the film as the soldier Tommy, completely natural as a young man forming unspoken bonds with other soldiers as he desperately fights to survive under extraordinary circumstances. Kenneth Branagh and James D'Arcy make brief but notable appearances as military officers on the mole. Mark Rylance and Cillian Murphy provide dramatic conflict on the sea as small boat captain Mr. Dawson and a shell-shocked soldier found floating on debris. Young actor Barry Keoghan plays the well-meaning but hapless George in a memorable but thankless part. As the Royal Air Force fighter pilot, Tom Hardy is simply cool - there is no other descriptor for his performance - he is so cool.

Engaging, inspirational, meticulously-structured, at times disorienting, Dunkirk is a solid cinematic achievement that must be experienced in a movie theater. The film more than compensates for the absence of a conventional narrative with universal depictions of heroism through action.


FRAGMENTS
- Writer/Director Christopher Nolan considered improvising the entire film instead of writing a script but his partner Producer Emma Thomas convinced him to write an actual screenplay

- Dunkirk depicts the struggle of Operation Dynamo on the ground, on the sea, and in the air, while Darkest Hour, also nominated for Best Picture released in 2017, depicts the political administrative challenge behind the operation


MCU CONNECTIONS
- James D'Arcy (Edwin Jarvis in Avengers: Endgame)

- Barry Keoghan (Druig in Eternals)

- Harry Styles (Eros in Eternals)

- Tom Hardy (Eddie Brock and Venom in Spider-Man: No Way Home)

Darkest Hour

DARKEST HOUR
2017 | Dir. Joe Wright | 125 Minutes

"You cannot reason with a tiger when your head is in its mouth!"

In 1940, the Labour Party forces British Conservative Party Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain out of office. Meant to serve as a placeholder for the Conservative Party, the irritable First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill is elected Prime Minister. Despite immense pressure from Parliament and King George VI, Churchill perseveres and refuses to surrender to the escalating might of Germany.

Designed to be a prestige picture in every way, Darkest Hour is frustratingly conventional, lacking in any unique qualities in terms of content and presentation. Nearly the entire film features a murky visual aesthetic meant to accentuate the WWII-era England setting that is more jarring than nostalgic. The narrative depicting Parliament and George VI's objections against Churchill and Churchill's subsequent triumph despite their misgivings is as generic as it sounds as depicted on screen in this feature. The very worst sequence is one invented out of whole cloth in which Churchill converses with common British folk while taking a ride on the London Underground, asking their opinions on the war and the potential negotiations with Germany.

Character actor Gary Oldman's go-for-broke performance as Winston Churchill, fully transformed into the iconic British PM under heavy prosthetics, is worthy of praise, but leaves no room for nuance and is far, far from his best work. Kristin Scott Thomas and Lily James also deliver brilliant performances as Clementine Churchill and Churchill's secretary Elizabeth Layton respectively but their work is ultimately wasted on this picture.

The biggest draw of Darkest Hour is Gary Oldman's astounding portrayal of Churchill. Oldman is excellent but his performance is never subtle and, at points, even distracting. The feature itself is a washed-out paint-by-numbers affair, failing to tell a story meant to be inspiring.


FRAGMENTS
- Legendary character actor John Hurt was initially cast as Neville Chamberlain but was undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer and passed away in January 2017; incidentally, the real life Chamberlain died from terminal bowel cancer

- Darkest Hour depicts the political administrative challenge of Operation Dynamo, while Dunkirk, also nominated for Best Picture released in 2017, depicts the struggle on the ground, on the sea, and in the air


MCU CONNECTIONS
- Ben Mendelsohn (Talos in Captain Marvel and Spider-Man: Far From Home)

Call Me By Your Name

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME
2017 | Dir. Luca Guadagnino | 132 Minutes

"Right now, there's sorrow, pain. Don't kill it and with it the joy you've felt."

In the summer of 1983 in the Italian countryside, Elio, the teenage son of an archaeology professor falls in love with Oliver, a graduate student spending the summer with Elio's family. Fearing the social stigma against homosexuality of the time, they carry one their relationship in secret. Elio suffers the biggest emotional loss of his young life as Oliver returns home at the end of the summer.

Luca Guadagnino's adaptation of André Aciman's 2007 novel depicts love, longing, sexuality, heartbreak, and loss through an honest lens that is never judgmental and never veers into exploitation. Beautifully shot in Crema, Lombardy in northern Italy, the film affectively creates an ephemeral idyllic setting both visually and emotionally. Where the film fails to be compelling at certain points is in its lack of dramatic stakes. While there is palpable emotional tension throughout the picture, there isn't much narrative tension to speak of as Oliver's return home is inevitable.

Timothée Chalamet carries the film with a heartfelt and delicate performance as Elio. Equal parts spirited and vulnerable, Chalamet impressively evokes the genuine and often-times confusing emotions of first love. Perpetual second-string actor Armie Hammer is serviceable but ultimately unremarkable as Oliver. Young actress Esther Garrel is adorable in a small but notable part as Elio's jilted girlfriend Marzia. As Elio's father, Michael Stuhlbarg is entertaining as a passionate academic, and ultimately a crucial player in the defining scene of the feature in which the professor reveals to Elio his knowledge and support of the relationship shared between Elio and Oliver.

Call Me By Your Name is a touchingly earnest examination of fleeting romance and youth. For what its worth, the picture is nearly devoid of dramatic tension. The tragedy of this love story, as in all stories of young love, is that the central relationship was never meant to last but there is a multitude of lessons to be learned from it.


FRAGMENTS
- The final shot of the film is of Elio crying in front of a fireplace as Sufjan Stevens' "Visions of Gideon," which was specifically written for the film, plays and the end credits roll -- this sequence absolutely destroyed me

- Timothée Chalamet appears in two Best Picture Oscar Nominees that were released in 2017: this film and Lady Bird

- Michael Stuhlbarg appears in three Best Picture Oscar Nominees that were released in 2017: this film, The Post, and The Shape of Water


MCU CONNECTIONS
- Michael Stuhlbarg (Nicodemus West in Doctor Strange and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness)

The 90th Academy Awards

My ranking of the Best Picture Oscar contenders of 2018:

1. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
2. The Shape of Water *
3. Get Out
4. Phantom Thread
5. Lady Bird
6. Dunkirk
7. Call Me By Your Name
8. The Post
9. Darkest Hour

*Actual Winner