Review – Page 9 – Late to the Theater

Now In Theaters: “Get Out”

The IMDB description for Get Out is comprised of eleven hilariously understated words:

“A young African-American man visits his Caucasian girlfriend’s mysterious family estate.”

Eleven words that anyone with a pulse and/or functioning intellect would understand to be incredibly complex and full of subtextual nuance, especially in the USA.

Chris, a successful photographer in New York, takes a weekend trip with his girlfriend Rose to meet her family at their estate in the country. The trip is off to a troubled start when he asks if her family knows he is black, a point she glosses over as unimportant. She just can’t believe her family would care about such things! Obviously Chris, having a little more experience with such things, has misgivings.

Yeah, he’s right.

Lots of people will go into the theater expecting a horror movie. They will get one, and walk out sated on violence, witty dialogue, and thrilling suspense. It has a 99% on Rotten Tomatoes (I feel very proud that I guessed the one bad review was by Armond White). They will also get a brilliant and subtle psychological thriller that unpacks a variety of racial tensions in the US without doing a disservice to the audience’s intelligence.

Although the action and violence are well-done, for my money the awkward social situations were where the movie really came to life, particularly the dinner scene with Rose’s prep-school/ivy league psycho brother. So did a heartbreaking and also terrifying scene with the family maid, Georgina. Overall the tone in the film is tense and foreboding, and although there are jokes, they are of the nervous laughter type and mostly come from Chris’s interactions with Rose’s vast number of elderly white relatives or Chris’s best friend Rod.

You should totally go see Get Out. Great performances and tight writing all around. I suspect it will be a sleeper hit, and I cannot wait to see what writer/director Jordan Peele, of Key and Peele fame, does next.

And just because it’s Friday, here’s one of my favorite skits of theirs, which showcases the utterly bugnuts flavor of their comedy, if you are somehow unfamiliar.

My new life goal is to become a character actress just so I can play a creepy white person in Peele’s next movie. I think I’ve got a pretty good shot at ‘scary bar hag’ at least!

Guest Post – ‘Real Artists’ Review by Achariya Rezak

real_artists_art

Hi all! Today I’ve got something really special – my dear friend Achariya Rezak, writer for hockey site SB Nation and master of Jungian archetypes, wrote a review for sci-fi short ‘Real Artists.’ Please enjoy! She’s included a link to the original Ken Liu story, too!

Title: Cameo Wood’s Real Artists is a Jungian romp through the politics of creation

When I read Ken Liu’s short story, I was immediately struck by his ability to translate our modern discomfort with the uncanny valley into terms of movie making. His short story is about the meta-process of filmmaking, told through the eyes of a “real artist” (“Real Artists” is the title of the film and the short story) Sophia, who has spent her whole life loving — and wanting to work for — a certain film company. Cameo Wood’s twelve-minute short based on this story adds yet another twist, layering on an additional intensity to this parable about creation.

Continue reading “Guest Post – ‘Real Artists’ Review by Achariya Rezak”

Werebeasts Week: Cat People (1942)

It turns out Irina has a secret… If the movie title hasn’t already tipped you, she’s a cat person!

October is Horror Movie month, where we let down our hair and celebrate all things macabre and scary! Not that we don’t during the rest of the year, but still… HORROR MOVIES! People who don’t like horror are encouraged to check back November 1st for less bloody and/or disturbing films. For everyone else, let’s put on our galoshes and WADE INTO THE MIRE!

Hello and welcome to Werebeasts Week here at Late to the Theater! This week’s selections are hairy, scary, and usually unfairly judged – They just want to be understood! Or fed! Either way, we’re looking at people who sprout fur, fangs, and bad attitudes this week, so make sure your shots are up to date and you’ve packed a doggie bag. Let’s get going!

Today I’ve got a real treat for y’all: 1942’s inspired and yet totally banana-balls Cat People. It’s a delightfully weird little film that bears only a passing resemblance to the 1982 remake that starred Natassja Kinski and Malcolm McDowell and is totally ripe for the MST3K treatment, if it hasn’t already happened. Because it’s just so gosh darn fun and I need to discuss it, there will be spoilers.

cat_people_1942_poster

Let’s jump in, shall we?

Continue reading “Werebeasts Week: Cat People (1942)”

Hell Is Other People – Lady In White (1988)

It’s considered a ‘family horror’ movie, which I have never really heard of. Having consulted IMDB just now, I find that it is, in fact, rated R.

AS WELL IT SHOULD BE.

Hello and welcome to Hell Is Other People* week here at Late to the Theater! This week’s selections are all about the biggest threat facing modern mankind – other people. All this week’s selections take place in Suburbia, and while they might feature supernatural flourishes, people tend to be the at the root of the problem. So throw some plastic flamingos on your lawn and turn up the music; we’re going to get a visit from the concerned people at our HOA**!

Read on for today’s entry, 1988 Family Horror movie, Lady In White.

Note: for the sake of more expansive discussion, today’s post will include spoilers.

Continue reading “Hell Is Other People – Lady In White (1988)”

In a Nutshell: Ferdinand Lyle of ‘Penny Dreadful’

Sometimes in media, one part stands out from the whole and is deserving of its own examination. It might act as a microcosm for what the whole is about, or it might stand in stark contrast to the rest of the whole–‘In a Nutshell’ entries focus on those single parts and hopefully serve as an introduction or ‘way in’ for audiences unfamiliar with the subject matter.

Today’s entry examines Ferdinand Lyle of Showtime’s Victorian Horror masterpiece, Penny Dreadful. We’ll discuss his role among the world of PD, Simon Russell Beale’s magnificent performance, and parallels between Lyle’s character and the works of Victorian Literature icon, Oscar Wilde.

Shall we?

Continue reading “In a Nutshell: Ferdinand Lyle of ‘Penny Dreadful’”