Tip jar

If you like CaB and wish to support it, you can use PayPal or KoFi. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the site - Neil.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Support CaB

Recent

Welcome to Cook'd and Bomb'd. Please login or sign up.

March 29, 2024, 03:59:46 PM

Login with username, password and session length

Get Out (Horror film by Jordan Peele)

Started by up_the_hampipe, February 26, 2017, 09:17:42 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Brundle-Fly

Quote from: Sexton Brackets Drugbust on April 01, 2017, 10:15:37 PM
Went into this completely unprepped aside from seeing how well liked it was, and was stoked to be seeing such a highly regarded horror. Unfortunately, I'm going to be one of the voices of dissent as I thought it was pretty shit, with the exception of Kaluuya's remarkable performance. Unfunny and a complete failure as horror.

There are so many stupid elements, but in a film that seemed to be in-part about the commodification of aspects of black culture, to have such a stock 'wise-cracking' stereotype as his best mate seemed a strange choice to be 'rescuing' our genuinely interesting hero.

Spoiler alert
How the fuck did he contort himself to get enough chair cotton in his ears to prevent hypnosis, and then why did he remove this secret weapon, knowing that his witchy captor was likely to use her crockery based weapon again?
[close]

It's a great Tales of The Unexpected, no more, no less. 

New page?

I didn't expect that.

WestHill

Quote from: Wet Blanket on March 29, 2017, 01:10:16 PM
No way man. Save that shit for the Prince Charles Cinema. Shrieks and laughs I can put up with, once you start with the "Don't go in there mister! That shows him!" shit show... well, that way anarchy lies.

People started shouting out at the characters when I saw this in Streatham and a cinema-hero saved the day by telling everyone to shush and go home if they want to talk.

Generally loud gasps and reactions add to the experience but adding asides is too much I reckon.

Blinder Data

Quote from: WestHill on April 09, 2017, 08:38:57 AM
People started shouting out at the characters when I saw this in Streatham and a cinema-hero saved the day by telling everyone to shush and go home if they want to talk.

Generally loud gasps and reactions add to the experience but adding asides is too much I reckon.

People shouting out things at the cinema - are Cabbers aware that this is a pretty common thing for black audiences? I'm sure JD made a joke about it in Scrubs once.

I'm assuming more black people attended this film proportionately than others - and maybe the subject matter made audiences get more involved? It was my first experience of energetic interjections from the audience, and as long it wasn't constant throughout I think it only adds to the fun of going to the cinema. We weren't watching Shoah, you miserable honkies.

acrow

yeah, i used to live in a predominantly black neighbourhood and so interaction with the film is something i'm used to. i don't like it in some films but i definitely enjoyed it with this one. there was a big mix of loud chatter and exasperated cracker ass crackers saying "oh would you please be quiet!"

mrpupkin

I thought this was good fun for a Saturday night, although I do have one more implausible plot point to add to the list. His mate goes to the police with photographic evidence of having located a missing person and they lol him out of the room? Surely they would have to look into it, despite his wacky speculations.

WestHill

For the record, the dude complaining about the chatter during my screening was black.

Junglist

I really don't get the hype about this. The horror aspect, bar a couple of earlyish, creepy moments (
Spoiler alert
the maid almost breaking down, the black dude with the gilf loosing it
[close]
), is weak. There's a few laughs throughout, the lead and Keener are great, but it felt nothing more than a stupid, fairly bland horror to stick on and kinda semi-watch.

brat-sampson

I think I agree with the approach that I loved the message but hated the delivery. Considering the perspective of black American viewers the threat of insidious ingrained yet extreme suburban racism with a smile is fully believable. I don't doubt the concern about his girlfriend not having told her parents of the racial situation was very real and the following commentary from the elderly white neighbourhood likewise. But then we have to also deal with the
Spoiler alert
magic hypnosis
[close]
and
Spoiler alert
unlicensed basement brain transplants
[close]
and it all get's a bit...
Spoiler alert
silly.
[close]
I think to make the conceit more believable it would've benefited from more black characters, frankly. If we're to believe
Spoiler alert
they've been doing this for decades
[close]
, and that the majority
Spoiler alert
aren't going to want to be 'reborn' as servants or the like, then where was a black (resurrected white) character seen making the best use of their rejuvenation? They had an auctioning procedure and multiple willing candidates and we saw the girlfriend with a wide array of victims (not even including any she chose to just run down in a mask, instead of engaging in a long dating procedure, but that's another story,) and yet the results seemed to only yield a housekeeper, a gardener, and I guess a boyfriend/servant, which, considering we're given to believe the first two procedures went as planned, seems to present a shockingly low following success rate.
[close]

I don't want to sound too down on this, because I did enjoy it, but yeah.

Mister Six

Presumably the other rejuvenated folks were off enjoying their bodies and didn't need to go to the auction to pick up a new one.

The filmic answer is that having just one other black guest at the event emphasises Craig's loneliness/vulnerability. And it makes his continued presence at the party more convincing (if there were LOADS of crazy "black" people there he really would look a chump for staying).

It also means the scene doesn't last as long; we can note "Logan's" behavour and move on rather than having to travel around every black person at the party.

Small Man Big Horse

I enjoyed this, it's no classic but as a throwaway thriller it was a lot of fun, whilst making some decent points at the same time. The moment they showed the big house in the middle of nowhere I thought it might
Spoiler alert
be a giant cult thing, and from then on in I was just trying to work out if the girlfriend was in on it or not.
[close]
It does start off a little slowly but I enjoyed the character work, and thought Daniel Kaluuya was absolutely superb in it.

Quote from: brat-sampson on April 22, 2017, 02:34:20 AM
If we're to believe
Spoiler alert
they've been doing this for decades
[close]
,

Stephen Root mentioned
Spoiler alert
that whilst they'd been working on it for decades, they'd only just recently perfected the operation, so I presume it was early days for the cult.
[close]

QuoteAnd that the majority
Spoiler alert
aren't going to want to be 'reborn' as servants or the like, then where was a black (resurrected white) character seen making the best use of their rejuvenation? They had an auctioning procedure and multiple willing candidates and we saw the girlfriend with a wide array of victims (not even including any she chose to just run down in a mask, instead of engaging in a long dating procedure, but that's another story,) and yet the results seemed to only yield a housekeeper, a gardener, and I guess a boyfriend/servant, which, considering we're given to believe the first two procedures went as planned, seems to present a shockingly low following success rate.
[close]

I presumed that
Spoiler alert
the grandparents don't normally act as housekeeper / gardener, but did so this weekend so that their presence didn't look out of place. The boyfriend was a bit odd though, especially the part where he complained about not being able to leave the house without the permission of his wife, but then I guess they're worried that there might be a flash of light and the original mind will take back control.
[close]

Puce Moment

I liked this a lot, but hated the final 20mins or so. The tone and creeping sense of dread was pretty good, and yer man Parking Pataweyo was excellent.

I just felt like it fell back into over-familiar horror tropes in the third act, which was a real shame.

marquis_de_sad

Quote from: Puce Moment on April 23, 2017, 01:57:52 AMI just felt like it fell back into over-familiar horror tropes in the third act, which was a real shame.

Agreed. I'm not bothered about the plausibility, which seems like a silly critique, but I wished they took it somewhere more interesting.

SteveDave

Quote from: brat-sampson on April 22, 2017, 02:34:20 AM
Spoiler alert
(not even including any she chose to just run down in a mask, instead of engaging in a long dating procedure, but that's another story,)
[close]

That was the
Spoiler alert
brother kidnapping the fellow at the start? Stephen Root's character said "Her brothers methods more brutal"
[close]
or sutin like that.

I saw this last night and loved it. The screen I was in was relatively quiet though.

Sexton Brackets Drugbust

Quote from: SteveDave on April 24, 2017, 10:36:46 AM
That was the
Spoiler alert
brother kidnapping the fellow at the start? Stephen Root's character said "Her brothers methods more brutal"
[close]
or sutin like that.

Yeah, this was the case.


Ant Farm Keyboard

Quote from: Blinder Data on March 29, 2017, 11:48:01 AM
nags, her hearing the crash over her headphones is entirely believable. Have you never been in a situation where you think you've heard something loud in the background but not quite sure? She might have felt the car hit her grandma in the vibrations of the earth or something. Anyway, it's a seriously minor point to get annoyed about.

Spoiler alert
Not just that. The basement is burning. The smoke or the smell may have reached her.
And she may have not noticed the flash because it was minimal compared to the headlights of the car, while the body of the gardener was in the line between the car, her and the smartphone.

Anyway, I enjoyed the depiction of racism. The maid, the gardener and the black guy at the party acted exactly like black characters in a fifties Hollywood film, you know when they are all uptight and stiff, as if it were the noble thing to depict them this way. So, it makes sense that elderly whites would act exactly the way they picture black people do things.
Also, the casual explanation about using blacks by Stephen Root's character is actually quite pungent. The treatment just uses black people because it works. There may have been some ideology for some of the initiates, but basically, they think it works "well" (strong body types, their disappearance gets less noticed, the raptors are less likely to pick somebody they know, genetical compatibility for the surgery, or any other reason) and didn't have a second thought about it. Ultimately, what comes first is their self-interest, even at the expense of a community. Dave Chappelle, when he was on SNL on the first show after the election, had a few comments about white liberals who whine that they will have it bad under Trump, while failing to realize that black people have had it bad for ages, and that they have done little to address it.
[close]

zomgmouse

This was really enjoyable. I liked the slow burning of it and though I figured something was up, exactly what that something was caught me quite off-guard. The fact that it escalated to full weird was a real plus. The
Spoiler alert
hypnosis
[close]
imagery was brilliant. And the comic relief was excellent.
Maybe a bit heavy on the music and some of the racial commentary was slightly on the nose though looking back maybe had more of a double meaning than I initially gave it credit for (
Spoiler alert
"it is a privilege to experience other cultures"
[close]
). Otherwise I found this to be an impressive debut with lots going for it. Had some definite Wicker Man/House of the Devil vibes about it. Looking forward to Peele's next film.

Cuntbeaks

Had big hopes for this given the hyperbole earlier in this thread.

Turns out it was a load of hokey old shite, a sub Tales of the Unexpected episode.

BeardFaceMan

Not sure why its billed as a horror, its more of a psychological thriller. Social horror, maybe? Doesn't matter how 'woke' the issue is, if Tealeaf had been arrested or killed by a cop at the end it would have been a nice snapshot of the time,  a relevant,  social film you can look back on in 10 or 15 years and see how things have changed (hopefully). And the message would have been more powerful too. The ending is a cop-out, i wonder if it was Peele who chose to change the ending or if the studio told him to because they didnt want a film with a downbeat ending?

As it is, its worth a watch but I don't get all the praise for it, other than Tealeaf who is great throughout and I never even questioned his accent which I usually do when seeing Brits do accents, I'm so used to hearing their normal voice when they do an accent it always sounds dodgy, like, well, they're doing an accent.

Quote from: BeardFaceMan on May 15, 2017, 01:21:50 PM
Doesn't matter how 'woke' the issue is, if Tealeaf had been arrested or killed by a cop at the end it would have been a nice snapshot of the time,  a relevant,  social film you can look back on in 10 or 15 years and see how things have changed (hopefully). And the message would have been more powerful too. The ending is a cop-out, i wonder if it was Peele who chose to change the ending or if the studio told him to because they didnt want a film with a downbeat ending?

I disagree, your proposed ending would have been the obvious route as it was the one I was expecting to see and clearly the one you were expecting as well. Peele deserves kudos for avoiding the predictable in that respect. As mentioned upthread, the ending was entirely his decision.

BeardFaceMan

Quote from: Monsieur Verdoux on May 15, 2017, 01:32:30 PM
As mentioned upthread, the ending was entirely his decision.

I know that's what he's saying, I just wonder if it's true. So he was making a film that was commenting on race today and because the proposed ending was a bit too accurate he scrapped it? That doesn't make much sense to me, it's seems like a film with an ending as bleak as could have been is just what America needs right now. It's commenting without saying anything, all a bit pointless and the film is a toothless because it didn't commit to it's premise.

I don't think the ending is a cop-out, an ending where the protagonist would have been killed by a cop would have been awkwardly polemical in a really obvious way. It's what an untalented writer with no sense of subtlety would do. The sociological themes the film deals with are not undone by the ending, which is still quite bleak in many respects. It still concludes with the idea that America is almost irreparably hostile to the idea that racial prejudice still exists, and that cries for help will not be believed.

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

Quote from: BeardFaceMan on May 15, 2017, 01:21:50 PM
Not sure why its billed as a horror, its more of a psychological thriller. Social horror, maybe?
I think Peele has described it as exactly that.

Quote from: zomgmouse on May 05, 2017, 04:35:40 PM
though I figured something was up, exactly what that something was caught me quite off-guard.
Upon reflection, I think this is the best thing about the film. The fact that something is up is painfully obvious from the get go (hence my earlier complaint that knowing the genre constituted a Spoiler) but that just makes the reveal all the more powerful. We're led to believe that the baddies are (however covertly) old fashioned racists, using hypnosis to enslave their victims. The white liberal members of the audience pat themselves on the back for being nothing like these awful sods or the racist cop at the start (after all, they're consuming black culture) only to have the rug pulled out from under them while the spotlight is focussed on them. If the film had ended with Chris being arrested or gunned down by the police, it would undermine what it was really about.

Here's an interesting video about the themes of the film - www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gQP4ffowCY

BeardFaceMan

You can't do social commentary, say you're holding up a mirror to reflect society and then say, actually, the reflection is a bit too accurate so we'll change it. It makes the whole endeavor pointless. I'm reminded of Bill Hicks bemoaning censored porn, what's the fucking point? Either do it or don't but doing it and holding back is a waste of time.

Quote from: BeardFaceMan on May 15, 2017, 02:53:14 PM
You can't do social commentary, say you're holding up a mirror to reflect society and then say, actually, the reflection is a bit too accurate so we'll change it. It makes the whole endeavor pointless. I'm reminded of Bill Hicks bemoaning censored porn, what's the fucking point? Either do it or don't but doing it and holding back is a waste of time.

It would appear that you wanted a document rather than a rumination. You will be continually disappointed by art if that's your approach to things like this.

BeardFaceMan

Quote from: Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth on May 15, 2017, 02:50:59 PM
I think Peele has described it as exactly that.[/url]

Really? I didn't know that, that's a fitting description though, I think people calling it a horror misrepresents it and does it no favours.

BeardFaceMan

Quote from: Monsieur Verdoux on May 15, 2017, 02:57:43 PM
It would appear that you wanted a document rather than a rumination. You will be continually disappointed by art if that's your approach to things like this.

Not at all, but if the issue at the moment is Black Lives Matter, then to set it up like he's going to be killed by police and then not doing it is a cop out. It just seemed a pointless 'ahhhhh' bit at the end. Would have been better not leading you down that path at all and just have his mate show up. Real life doesn't have many happy endings, it would be nice if films purporting to be social commentary reflected this a bit more.

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

But the film isn't really about that.

Quote from: BeardFaceMan on May 15, 2017, 03:01:01 PM
Really? I didn't know that, that's a fitting description though, I think people calling it a horror misrepresents it and does it no favours.
To be accurate, he's called it a social thriller.
QuoteThe "social thriller" is a genre I'm particularly obsessed with. To me, it's about the notion that to find the scariest monster we need look no further than the human demon. And when I talk about the human demon, I'm talking about the evil we're capable of collectively. Society is capable of some beautiful things, but when we get together we're also capable of the darkest atrocities. Get Out I would consider a "social thriller" — the horror is embedded in the way people interact, the way people think, the way people categorize.

Sexton Brackets Drugbust

It doesn't even work as a 'happy' ending, as the trail of death and destruction will ultimately lead back to Tealeaf anyway, and with the house in flames, the remaining material evidence and witness statements will surely condemn him.

phantom_power

How will it lead back tio him? They were very careful not to let anyone know he was there. Even fingerprints would be circumstantial, even if he was in the system

Sexton Brackets Drugbust

Aside from the immense crime scene leaving multiple corpses, his fingerprints will be all over the crashed vehicle he was initially driving away from the property, tying him to the crash and corpses.

The stereotype best mate had already tipped off the police - in a rather memorable way - that something was going down with his friend and girlfriend's family, so the story they'd written off as insane ravings would suddenly be a worthwhile avenue of investigation once the corpses are found.

Finally, the issue that leaves no shadow of a doubt that Tealeaf's fucked; the numerous party guests (Who now have an axe to grind) that could all provide positive ID on the lone survivor of the mysterious fire.