Little Monsters (2019)

Director: Abe Forsythe

Cast: Lupita Nyong’o, Alexander England, Josh Gad, Kat Stewart

Have I Seen it Before: No. And I’m very, very mad at myself for having waited as long as I have to fix that.

Did I Like It: If Lupita Nyong’o is in a movie, my temptation is to reduce my opinion to one simple question: Is the film featuring as much Nyong’o as it possibly can. The Star Wars sequel trilogy is frequently frustrating*, whereas Us (2019) was easily my favorite movie of that year. Here, the movie threatens to derail by not delivering on its promise for quite some time, but after Nyong’o does show up, she gives a delightful comic performance that is not necessarily in line with her other performances, only underlying the range she possesses. Is there anything she can’t do? And with the implied answer to that question, is it possible I’m going to find the majority of films frustrating because they don’t even bother to have the minimal amount of Nyong’o on display?

Beyond that, I can only suppose I had some hesitation about watching the film was because my patience level for anything zombie had been absolutely sapped by The Walking Dead, but even with a different cast (the kids are all great and believable, which is more than enough to earn the film a recommendation) this film would work. I realize now that I’m not sick of zombies entirely, but instead sick of the zombie apocalypse. Were this story to have taken place during an apocalypse, all the characters would have to look forward to is more zombies. Bleak, sort of exhausting, and no amount of comedy is likely to change that. Here, with a relatively isolated outbreak, the situation is dire, but there is hope.

That’s all I really need out of a story. That, and Nyong’o.

*Even when it is good. Star Wars - Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017) is an the best entry since Star Wars - Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (fight me, I don’t care), but yet my only complaint is the obstinate rationing on Nyong’o.

Black Panther (2018)

Director: Ryan Coogler

Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira

Have I Seen it Before: Several times. Surprising given both the age of this film, and, for that matter, the age of this blog.

Did I Like It: If you don’t love this movie, you must have a reason. I’m beyond certain that reason is pretty dumb.

I could use this review to talk about everything everyone has already unpacked that makes this film great. The triumph of representation. The revolutionary depiction of people with agency with agency over their own lives who can still embrace their traditions and ancestors. The villain Erik Killmonger (Jordan) is lethal and ruthless, but kinda has a point (something some of the Marvel movies have struggled with).

I could talk about all of these things, but that would be falling short of the challenge Coogler has set for us by going three for three on making unlikely, astounding films that cannot be ignored. He has yet to fail to bring us something new, and I feel I must reach for something more.

Thus, I will dwell on the moment where the film threatens to collapse in on itself, but does not relent in being next level. I’m talking about the film’s first few minutes.

N’Jobu (Sterling K. Brown) tell his son, the future Killmonger about home. The movie opens with what amounts to a voice over narration. With characters—like Black Panther—that may have less cultural ubiquity, this may be a necessary evil. At the same time, it’s death on a cracker. Here, however, Coogler does what VO fails to do and embraces the visual medium he is beholden to. This sequence shows us so many things that N’Jobu doesn’t say about the world in which Black Panther exists. By the time the title of the film comes to find us, we are steeped in this world.

In lesser hands, this movie would have failed in the first few minutes. In Coogler’s hands, it never fails to compete for one of the Greatest Of All Time.

The point is this: Ryan Coogler is better than we deserve. If you’re not aware of this, you will be.

Us (2019)

Director: Jordan Peele

Cast: Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker

Have I Seen it Before: New movie. On every level.

Did I Like It: Man… If you don’t, I’m fairly sure you’re actually a (SPOILER REDACTED).

And that right there will limit this review right there. I can’t, in good conscience, go into to too much detail about the various goings on in the film. Also, there’s too much. Every moment is filled with either complicated levels of subtext or next-level cinematic skills. Also, those moments interlock together to form a tableau of misdirection, and it all comes together in the end, despite what some people might say. Jokes set up scares and scares set up jokes. Us is a well-oiled machine fo a movie.

It’s also difficult to go forward with an immediate, obvious comparison between Peele’s first film, Get Out (2017). Peele has also managed to avoid one of the more ominous elements of what could have been a sophomore curse. He is most certainly not repeating himself, despite what some of the promotional material might have you believe.

The entirety of Jordan Peele’s career is a marvel. He certainly in the running for the greatest sketch comedian of all time, inside of a week, he will claim his rightful place as the heir apparent to Rod Serling, and here in directing only two features, he has cemented himself as the greatest horror filmmaker of our times. It’d be like if Alfred Hitchcock were also Bill Murray this whole time, and without the horrible mistreatment of Tippi Hedren (so far as we know).

Some may complain that the twist ending either isn’t as satisfying as the rest of the film, or is a bit too telegraphed. They’re definitely wrong on the first part, while I may be able to allow for reasonable people the believe the latter. Even if we grant either premise, it doesn’t matter. Unlike many of M. Night Shyamalan’s films, the rest of Us is so thoroughly thrilling and satisfying that the ending is incidental.