The Crow (1994)

Director: Alex Proyas

Cast: Brandon Lee, Rochelle Davis, Ernie Hudson, Michael Wincott

Have I Seen it Before: Yes. Somewhere along the line, Lora became convinced that I hated the film, and I distinctly don’t remember that.

Did I Like It: A movie that is trying to harness (or, really, glom off) the cultural ubiquity that came with Batman (1989) has to have something going for itself. More than a few viewers at the time of the film’s release might point to the film’s art direction and special effects. I’m not so sure that holds up. The special effects strain any credulity now (I can’t imagine they worked all that well in 1994), the editing is frequently so frenetic that it becomes slapdash (at least the movie has a valid excuse), and the sets are all easily identifiable as any backlot ever built. The film was shot in North Carolina, so it wasn’t that same backlot that appears in practically everything that isn’t so lazy as to put the clock tower from Back to the Future (1985), but it does have a blandness to it. Ultimately, that’s more of a virtue than a fault. When you shake off the extreme 90sness, the entire affair has a far closer relationship to the noir films of the 50s it is trying to emulate than either the aforementioned Batman or other imitators like The Shadow (1994).

The real strength of the film is also its greatest tragedy, though. Lee had been puttering around in B martial arts pictures (and, by extension, his father’s shadow) for the first several years of his career, and here he is really letting us know what he can do. He’s sincere, charming, and even funny in a role that might not be giving him much to work with in those arenas. He could have had a truly magnificent career, but it was not meant to be.

Nope (2022)

Director: Jordan Peele

Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun, Michael Wincott

Have I Seen it Before: No. But, a word about the crowd which surrounded me. I saw the movie in IMAX (hopefully, you can do the same) at the first available screening on opening day. As I’m departing the theater, one of my fellow moviegoers is walking beside me and says. “I can’t believe I paid money for that shit.”

I tense up for several seconds, not sure if a real-life Twitter conversation might eventually unravel into gunplay. I eventually offer a strident, “Well… I like it.”

The two Beavis and Butthead types about ten feet ahead of us didn’t like that. Not one bit. They whipped around, as if I had said something about their collective mother/cousin. “You liked that piece of shit? That ending fucking sucked!”

They immediately zero in on the other guy, thinking he had given the film a positive review. I, sensing that the discourse that was about to follow wouldn’t precisely be enlightening, immediately moved toward my car. I wonder if a fight broke out. I wonder if they worked through their misunderstanding and became the best of friends.

So first thing’s first: while I still love taking in movies on the biggest screen possible, I’m quickly reaching my wits end with the strangers who show up.

Did I Like It: Second, I have a feeling this is going to be Peele’s most controversial film yet. Some will love it, but some will not know what to make of it, and decide that is more than enough to cause them to hate it.

And they will be wrong.

I’ve taken a good week to digest the movie, and I may still put it third so far in Peele’s canon (behind Get Out (2017) and my unassailably favorite movie of the last year before COVID, Us (2019)). The story of the Gordy incident and how it relates to the Jean Jacket’s reign of terror feels too tenuous to make this plot gel together as well as Peele’s other films. Sure, you can make the case that Jupe (Yeun) has a far greater sense of just what floats above him than he let’s on, but the two traumas feel mostly unrelated until its far too late.

But this is a minor complaint. The plot doesn’t really matter in the end. I don’t think I’ve been as terrified in a movie theater as when we see the immediate aftermath of Jean Jacket descending on the audience of Jupiter’s Claim, or in those tense moments before Gordy’s fate is sealed.

Nope is a genuine terrifying trip, forging the best parts of Jaws (1975) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)) into something entirely new. When most films disappear like vapor the moment you leave the theater, this one begs to be talked about repeatedly and re-watched just as frequently. Every performance is a delight, with Keke Palmer displaying enough charisma to power several decades worth of blockbusters, and Kaluuya turns down his considerable charisma and screen presence in a mesmerizingly understated performance.

Just go see it, and please: if you don’t already know your fellow moviegoers, just leave them alone. Especially if you’ve only got talking shit on your mind. We don’t need that.