One of the best episodes of ‘The Simpsons’ is, without a doubt, “homer bad man” from the sixth season. Apart from the quotable joke of “That sweet cu”, leaves another fabulous reflection of contemporary television and the exploitation of scandals with a fictional show hosted by a bear with a microphone on its head. “Good old Ben” draws sensationalism and fiery reactions from the public, although the entire show goes down the drain when the bear reveals himself when he sees food on the set.
Aside from being an example of how gags were timed so that every funny thing came in at the right moment, it’s fun to think that his display of unleashed nature trying to be controlled and exploited had its influence on Jordan Peele for his latest film, of In the same way that a movie like ‘Cowboys and Aliens’ may have had it to try to improve it. These are, of course, my half-joking, half-serious guesses as to what may be part of the varied set of references that can occur in an ambitious film like ‘Nope!’.
I will make a show of you
It should not be underestimated, of course, Peele’s ability to use resources and memories of pop culture to make complex and powerful stories of a social nature. His latest horror film, which also ventures into the fields of science fiction and even westerns, outlines an exciting speech at the same time as endorses his status as director of the moment with a spectacular job of making images and sequences. And now it can be seen in streaming through Movistar +.
Here a family with a ranch specializing in training horses for film shoots is hit by tragedy and then by a threat. A strange object is observed in the sky, and it appears at the same time that inexplicable phenomena begin to happen. Daniel Kaluya and Keke Palmerthe leading pair of brothers, make the decision to try to capture images of this phenomenon that can be sold and get them out of their financial difficulties.
There are many approaches by which this Peele film can be approached, because its richness in terms of themes is such that they are phenomenally linked through the script. The initial prologue is disconcerting as it takes us to the failed production of a sitcom where one of the monkey actors has caused a disaster on the filming set. There ‘Nope!’ settles his warning about trying to tame the wild and, above all, try to exploit it for your own benefit.
‘Nope!’: Jordan Peele consecrating himself
There are also many ideas to extract about exploitation and the spectacle. Which is especially interesting in a film whose visual finish is impressive and large-scale, very inspired by how Steven Spielberg faced films like ‘Encounters in the third kind’ or ‘Jaws’ (only what the latter did with the water ‘ Nope!’ does it with the sky). Peele establishes himself as a storyteller of intrigue and as a creator of images with an amazing movie to watch, with references ranging from fantasy classics to anime or western in its final stretch. In addition, wonderfully photographed by Hoyte van Hoytema, who leaves some extraordinary and revolutionary night sequences.
Images play a crucial role, especially through Steven Yeun’s character with his adjoining amusement park. It seems the part that is furthest from the core of the film, but leaves moments like when he recounts the trauma that has haunted him throughout his childhood through a sketch that was made of it on SNL. The obsession with celebrity and impact images collide with our way of processing what happens to us through contemporary popular culture.
These are just some of the rich ideas that are flowing into the film’s subtext, which only gains with time and with reviewers as well. not only does one of the most impressive monster movies of recent years, with a unique design that has a crumb, but rather that Peele demonstrates once again that he dissects the moment we are living like no other through proposals different from those proposed by other filmmakers. His courageous mix of tones, where humor also plays a role, now goes hand in hand with the ambition of a great filmmaker whose films are already events in themselves.
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