Nope

Nope (2022)

Written and directed by Jordan Peele

Stars: Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Brandon Perea, Steven Yuen, Michael Wincott, and Keith David

After having some thoughts about Jordan Peele's last effort, I hoped that this movie was not going down the M. Night Shyamalan route of going cuckoo bonkers. It didn't.

OJ Haywood (Kaluuya) and his younger sister, Emerald (Palmer) are to keep their horse wrangling business afloat along with the ranch when their father, Otis (David) dies in a freak accident. OJ notices something strange in the clouds above their ranch. The siblings enlist the help of tech guy, Angel (Perea) with cameras to capture whenever is in the sky.

I was worried that this movie was going to have some batshit crazy twist or a ludicrous reveal. It didn't have that. It was a story about people having to deal with something out of this world.

This is the most straightforward movie that Peele has ever done. There was something that I didn't understand. There is a flashback in the film with Jupe (Yeun) as a young actor. Do I miss something? Why was that there?

Rating: 8/10

Platoon

Platoon (1986)

Written and directed by Oliver Stone

Stars: Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Keith David, Forest Whitaker, Francesco Quinn, Mark Moses, Kevin Dillion, Johnny Depp and John C. McGinley

Currently #144 of the Top 250 Films of All Time on IMDb (as of this posting)

Platoon is one of those movies that should be seen and studied by any film buff. I had this movie in my DVR for the longest time without seeing it. I thought it was time to see the film. I'm glad I did. The movie was nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning four including Best Picture and Best Director. I think that the movie should have won more. I want to shower this movie with more awards.

To rinse the taste of the previous movie out of my mind, this movie is not the typical Vietnam War movie. Based on some director Oliver Stone's own experiences in the war, the film follow Bravo Company in Cambodia. Most of the attention is shown on Chris Taylor (Sheen), a grunt that volunteered to go into the service after dropping out of college. He gets ragged on by his fellow soldiers. They are counting the days until they leave. There is trouble within Bravo Company between the asshole Sgt. Barnes (Berenger) and the level headed Sgt. Elias (Dafoe) that might endanger them from the Vietcong.

I have seen a lot of Vietnam War movies. Some are good and some are bad. This movie is a thing of beauty. I have never been so engrossed in a story before. I cared for the characters. I wanted them to survive the countless clashes that they have with the Vietcong. I was happy that Willem Dafoe and Tom Berenger were nominated for Best Supporting Actor for their work. They were fantastic in the film. They lost out to Michael Caine. He must have been an acting clinic in that movie to trump these two.

It was weird to see Forest Whitaker pop up, Kevin Dillon from Entourage, Mark Moses from Desperate Housewives and Johnny Depp in a bit role as a translator.

There was one thing that bothered me about this movie is the sound. The sound of the gunfire were very muddled in my opinion. The movie won the Oscar for Best Sound. I guess by 1986 standards, it was good. I thought it was muffled gunfire. That was my only gripe with this movie.

My Rating

LAMBs in The Director's Chair Series Spotlight (Sam Raimi): The Quick and the Dead

The Quick and the Dead (1995)

Directed by Sam Raimi

Written by Simon Moore

Stars: Sharon Stone, Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Gene Hackman, Tobin Bell, Keith David, Lance Henriksen and Gary Sinise

I have heard of the movie, but have never got the chance to see it. Seeing that Sam Raimi has directed the film, I had no chance but to watch the movie. Yeah... I understand the movie was supposed be groundbreaking for having a female gunslinger as the lead, but the movie is not good.

As I said, the movie takes place in the Wild West where a female gunslinger, Ellen (Stone) comes into town to be a part of a quick draw contest. The contest is sponsored by Herod (Hackman) who rules the town with an iron fist. Ellen has an ulterior motive for revenge, because he was the man that killed her father (Sinise) years earlier.

I know the movie was supposed to be different but it followed the same tropes as any other western. There is the good guy, Ellen and the bad guy, Herod who has to kill him in the end to get revenge. I was not impressed with the way the film was shot. It has these Dutch angles that were unnecessary. I was not surprised that all of the guys were dirty expected for Ellen. Not an ounce of dirt on her.

I was bored with it. I cannot be bothered talking about this movie anymore.

My Rating: