Especially in the big blockbuster space we don’t get many original films these days. I enjoy a formula film as much as the next person but it is exciting when you have a filmmaker consistently putting out bold and exciting new movies and studios giving that filmmaker the money to make their projects. Jordan Peele is such a director and writer, which is why it is disappointing I didn’t enjoy his latest film Nope more. I think I actually prefer his last release Us, and I was mixed on that. However, the zombie home invasion part of Us was more fun than anything we get in Nope.

Nope tells the story of a family of Hollywood horse trainers, OJ and Em (Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer) who start experiencing supernatural events at their ranch in California. The film is told through the perspective of the horses including a horse that is part of a Western show named Lucky. This show is run by ex-child star Jupe Park (Steven Yeun) and is introduced as a major set piece for the story.

The film seems to be commenting on the history of Black artists in entertainment with repeated references to the first use of film being a Black man on a horse (the ancestor of Em and OJ). The problem is it doesn’t really do anything with that fact. What is it trying to say about representation and diversity? We know this problem exists so merely pointing it out isn’t very insightful.

Then we get a long segment with Jupe and his trauma on the set of a show he was in during the 80s. This is strange because there’s no payoff for this entire plot. Like seriously someone explain to me what the point was with the monkey? There’s also aliens and a set up with an alien show at the Western park that goes nowhere. We meet a young man who works for Fry’s Electronics named Angel (Brandon Perea) and his character doesn’t have much of an arc. Perea has some funny lines but that seems to be the only point of his character.

Palmer’s Em is the true protagonist of the film, but they move away from her for long stretches making it hard to be invested in her story.  Palmer and Kaluuya do have nice chemistry, and I believed them as brother and sister, but I wish the script had given them more to do than running around avoiding crazy weather.

The movie looks incredible with fantastic cinematography from Hoyte van Hoytema and the sound design is also very strong. Unfortunately, great technicals can only take you so far when the story is so unsatisfying.

I keep hearing people say this is ”Jaws in the air,” and I honestly have no idea what they are talking about. Jaws isn’t just about a creature that kills people. It’s about a whole town that ignores signs and what a few brave people finally do to stop the shark from killing people. In this the characters experience a creature, but there’s no plan to defeat it, no building up of tension, or group think to fight against. Most of the other humans are watching what is happening as spectators (literally paying to support Jupe and his alien show. No skeptics to be found) not actively fighting against the protagonists (or doing anything positive or negative to move events along) like the mayor and other townspeople do in Jaws. Like I said, it’s more a weather phenomenon movie like Twister than a creature scares movie. Have these people seen Jaws?

Because the story was so scattered and the action so random Nope did not work as a sci-fi film and it certainly didn’t scare me like a horror movie should! When I left the theater I was meh on the movie, but the more I think about it the more glaring the problems are. It was slow, obtuse and plodding, wasting the strong work of the cinematographer and cast. You might say it’s a nope for me on Nope.

4 out of 10

Frown Worthy

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Hey everyone! It’s time for a quick update on the new films I’ve been watching.

Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank

My feelings concerning this movie are surprisingly complicated. Ever since I first started reviewing films back in 2014 I heard about Blazing Samurai and it seemed like a project we were never going to see. Now in 2022 we finally have it and considering the production history it’s not half bad. Then again I might be giving it too much credit because of very low expectations.

The strength of this film is the humor and the animation. I laughed quite a bit, and the animated action looks great. The downside is the plot is quite dry and slow. The pacing could have been better. Still it’s a harmless action comedy the family can enjoy (it should have gone to streaming).

6 out of 10

Smile Worthy

Mrs Harris Goes to Paris

In a world where the cinema seems crowded with superheroes and explosions it’s nice to take a break and watch a movie about human beings with simple dreams. Such is the case with Mrs Harris Goes to Paris.

The film stars Lesley Manville as the Mrs Harris in the title and she is a cleaning lady who decides to travel to Paris and buy a couture Dior dress. While there she meets Isabelle Huppert’s Claudine who runs Dior and doesn’t know what to make of this British woman who wants such a fancy dress.

Manville should get nominated for an Oscar for her performance. She’s so good in this role. You feel for her desire to be recognized and that she is worthy of great things like a Dior dress. The costumes are also obviously gorgeous and there’s a lot of escapism in all the fashion.

My only real flaw with the film is we don’t get to see much of Paris as most of the movie is in the Dior offices. Might have been nice to get out into the city more just to break things up. This is a movie you can take your family too and all have a great time. It’s a heartwarming tribute to dreamers.

8 out of 10

Smile Worthy

Love Accidentally

Everyone knows I’m a sucker for a romantic comedy so I was excited to see Love Accidentally in the new service Freevee, which is associated with Amazon Prime. This is not a great romcom but it is serviceable if you are in the mood for the genre.

It mostly works because Brenda Song and Aaron O’Connell are charming and have decent chemistry. It’s about a couple working together who end up in a texting relationship without realizing who the other texter is. This story has been done many times but it almost always works for me. It’s romantic the idea of falling in love with each other’s words.

Still we’ve seen this all before and most of the attempts at comedy fall flat but it hit my romcom craving so I give it a mild recommendation.

6 out of 10

Smile Worthy

Zombies 3

I consider myself a bit of a defender of the DCOM especially the musicals. I think they have an energy in choreography, music and casting I enjoy. One of my favorites is the first Zombies film. It’s a cute little metaphor for tolerance with talented young actors and some entertaining choreography. Then we got Zombies 2 and now to Disney Plus we have Zombies 3.

Each entry in this series adds a new group the residences of Seabrook must learn to accept. First, zombies. Second, werewolves, and third, aliens. I still enjoy the cast of this 3rd film with Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly in the lead with new addition Matt Cornett as one of the aliens. I love him on HSMTMTS so was excited to see him get more roles.

Zombies 3 tries to tackle a lot and unfortunately the music and dancing get lost. It’s like Grease meets Wrath of Kahn meets Bring it On and that’s a lot for any movie, let alone a DCOM, to take on. The songs are also weirdly placed and not memorable. In the end, it’s too much and not enough at the same time.

4 out of 10

Frown Worthy

Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song

I am always fascinated by creatives and the process by which they come up with great music or art. In Hallelujah we get to peek behind the life and career of musician Leonard Cohen who wrote the incredibly popular song Hallelujah (you definitely need to like that song to enjoy this film as you will hear it about 40 times!)

This doesn’t reinvent the wheel for this kind of documentary but I appreciate how thorough this one is. They even go into the process for how Hallelujah ended up on Shrek and how they completely changed the lyrics for the film.

If you like this song than you’ve got to watch this documentary!

6 out of 10

Smile Worthy

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