Us, the new Jordan Peele thriller, is a terrific and terrifying freakin’ movie.
All I can tell you about it is that Us is about what happens when a family on vacation comes face to face with people who appear to be their doppelgängers. The parents are played by Lupita Nyong'o, who is amazing, and Winston Duke, who erases our image of him from Black Panther as a fierce warrior. And Elizabeth Moss makes the absolute most of a small role as a friend and neighbor.
More than than, I’m not going to tell you, because you need to see it for yourself.
I will, however, tell you a story as I urge you to see Us. I was in Chicago, and on Sunday night I was having dinner with my son, David, who lives there. David was raised on movies - he is, after all, my son - and he’s one of my favorite people with whom to go to the movies.
I knew he’d seen Us and loved it, and so we talked about it a bit and I detailed my trepidations - I don’t like horror movies, have trouble with graphic physical violence onscreen (I’m not crazy about it offscreen, either), and was worried that Us would be too much for me.
David, however, assured me that I could handle it … and then said that we should go right to a theater from dinner and see it together. He bought the tickets online, I paid the check for dinner, and off we went.
I remained nervous as the curtain went up, but he whispered to me, “I’m here for you.” I’m glad he was, because he would whisper to me at moments of extreme tension that I was going to be okay … and besides, I held his hand - tight - for at least 30 minutes of the two hour movie.
And I’m not ashamed of it at all. Everybody should have a David.
And I repeat - see Us. It is destined to be considered one of the year’s best movies.
During dinner, before we got to Us, I recommended a movie to David - The Highwaymen, which is on Netflix. He burst out laughing, because he’d just read a review of the movie that carried the headline, “This is cure to be your dad’s favorite new movie.”
I can see why. The Highwaymen is the story of two aging Texas Rangers who come out of retirement to track down Bonnie and Clyde; it is based on the true story of Frank Hamer (played by Kevin Costner) and Maney Gault (Woody Harrelson), who brought years of experience, instinct and righteous indignation to the hunt for the infamous outlaws.
The Highwaymen is a fairly straightforward piece of work by director John Lee Hancock and writer John Fusco, but the period details seem authentic and the performances by Costner and Harrelson are terrific. I’m not sure the kids are going to love it, but for me, watching a couple of sixty-something guys go out and kick a little butt and demonstrate that they’ve still got game … well, I’m not ashamed to say that I found The Highwaymen to be a very nice way to spend a couple of hours.
One last thing. If you want to laugh hard, watch John Mulaney’s Netflix special, “Kid Gorgeous at Radio City,” which is just laugh-out-loud funny. Especially the bit about college’s looking for donations from alumni, which seems particularly pointed these days.
I also have a wine to recommend this week - the 2016 Three Degrees Pinot Noir from the Momtazzi Vineyard in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, which is fresh and vibrant and absolutely yummy.
That’s it for this week. Have a great weekend, and I’ll see you Monday.
Sláinte!!
All I can tell you about it is that Us is about what happens when a family on vacation comes face to face with people who appear to be their doppelgängers. The parents are played by Lupita Nyong'o, who is amazing, and Winston Duke, who erases our image of him from Black Panther as a fierce warrior. And Elizabeth Moss makes the absolute most of a small role as a friend and neighbor.
More than than, I’m not going to tell you, because you need to see it for yourself.
I will, however, tell you a story as I urge you to see Us. I was in Chicago, and on Sunday night I was having dinner with my son, David, who lives there. David was raised on movies - he is, after all, my son - and he’s one of my favorite people with whom to go to the movies.
I knew he’d seen Us and loved it, and so we talked about it a bit and I detailed my trepidations - I don’t like horror movies, have trouble with graphic physical violence onscreen (I’m not crazy about it offscreen, either), and was worried that Us would be too much for me.
David, however, assured me that I could handle it … and then said that we should go right to a theater from dinner and see it together. He bought the tickets online, I paid the check for dinner, and off we went.
I remained nervous as the curtain went up, but he whispered to me, “I’m here for you.” I’m glad he was, because he would whisper to me at moments of extreme tension that I was going to be okay … and besides, I held his hand - tight - for at least 30 minutes of the two hour movie.
And I’m not ashamed of it at all. Everybody should have a David.
And I repeat - see Us. It is destined to be considered one of the year’s best movies.
During dinner, before we got to Us, I recommended a movie to David - The Highwaymen, which is on Netflix. He burst out laughing, because he’d just read a review of the movie that carried the headline, “This is cure to be your dad’s favorite new movie.”
I can see why. The Highwaymen is the story of two aging Texas Rangers who come out of retirement to track down Bonnie and Clyde; it is based on the true story of Frank Hamer (played by Kevin Costner) and Maney Gault (Woody Harrelson), who brought years of experience, instinct and righteous indignation to the hunt for the infamous outlaws.
The Highwaymen is a fairly straightforward piece of work by director John Lee Hancock and writer John Fusco, but the period details seem authentic and the performances by Costner and Harrelson are terrific. I’m not sure the kids are going to love it, but for me, watching a couple of sixty-something guys go out and kick a little butt and demonstrate that they’ve still got game … well, I’m not ashamed to say that I found The Highwaymen to be a very nice way to spend a couple of hours.
One last thing. If you want to laugh hard, watch John Mulaney’s Netflix special, “Kid Gorgeous at Radio City,” which is just laugh-out-loud funny. Especially the bit about college’s looking for donations from alumni, which seems particularly pointed these days.
I also have a wine to recommend this week - the 2016 Three Degrees Pinot Noir from the Momtazzi Vineyard in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, which is fresh and vibrant and absolutely yummy.
That’s it for this week. Have a great weekend, and I’ll see you Monday.
Sláinte!!
- KC's View:
