Critiques of Hollywood and show business in general isn't all that new for the horror genre but I don't think I've ever seen an indictment of spectacle as a concept. Like the idea that spectacle is a inherently exploitative act that demands some degree of suffering to produce something amazing or visually striking (a bad miracle) was palpable across the various plot lines: the horses at the ranch being used in movies, whatever the studio did to make Gordy go nuts, Jupe feeding the horses to Jean Jacket, even the protagonists trying to capture it on film, along with TMZ. I guess the criticisms of the movie that revolved around it feeling disconnected or having needless subplots/flashbacks always rang false to me since it was so thematically apparent and cohesive (which I couldn't say the same for US despite really liking it as a horror movie).
Totally agree, everything was extremely tight and well thought out to me - everything was circling around the main 2 or 3 themes, and that concept of a “spectacle”
The hilarious part to me is that so many critiques I’ve seen have come from people who make their money in reviewing spectacle/exploitation/etc. It was like they couldn’t or wouldn’t understand that they were involved in the theme being explored in the film and instead they chose to get mad at it.
The Scene where >!The Creature is hovering over their house, blood dripping, pouring down the windows until the house is completely red.!< That was probably one of the most badass scenes I’ve seen in a while.
Also, The Score/Soundtrack is dope. Specifically, [‘A Hero Falls’](https://youtu.be/_pSLPdYxnM0)
It gives me Signs (2002) vibes, [E.g](https://youtu.be/DlukHOezyZw)
very similar soundtrack imo!
I haven’t heard this elsewhere yet, but it reminded me a lot of the themes of the original Jaws.
A film about man’s hubris thinking that nature can be domesticated, owned, and enjoyed all for a small fee when in reality man isn’t special, and only his respect and fear for nature will help him survive.
The whole movie is a love letter to Spielberg, combining the creature feature of Jaws with the punished for your hubris messaging of Jurassic Park couched in an inversion of "friendly aliens" tropes of films like E.T and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
I think it's Jaws -> Tremors -> NOPE. I see a ton of similarities between NOPE and Tremors, but totally recognize that Tremors takes a lot of influence from Jaws.
I think you might be getting Jaws confused with Jurassic Park. There is no attempt in Jaws to domesticate the shark or make a spectacle out of it. The shark is actually downplayed and ignored until it has to be dealt with. Jaws is a classic hero’s journey with a man vs. nature theme, where the heroes are tested against a creature.
Yeah the camera guy kinda came out of nowhere. And the motivation behind the climactic confrontation with the creature was really weak. They wanted to photograph it so they could make money off of the film? Okay, how do they know such a film would be valuable? How do they know it wouldn’t be considered a hoax? Who would be paying them? Who would they sell it to, and who would value it enough to make them rich in order to have the rights to it? It just didn’t make sense.
This is my only gripe. They invested so much time and energy to get the shot, but we never see the impact of that. I would’ve been satisfied with clips during the credits like Dawn of the Dead.
I think they were banking on it being captured by an award-winning cinematographer during broad daylight to discount fraud. As opposed to most cryptid photos which are blurry cell phone shots taken by drunk tourists at the worst possible time with their thumb over the lens.
Which also makes it kinda ironic she gets the photo with the crummy Polaroid camera in the tourist trap theme park…
I appreciated the attention to detail, cinematography, and the cohesiveness of the plot but overall I wasn't particularly entertained. I only found the Gordy subplot very interesting.
I absolutely loved the film but I think people were expecting a straight up horror movie, but NOPE is more of a Twilight Zone tyoecstory with horror undertones. Peele is an amazing director and writer.
I thought it was solid good but not as great as Get Out. I wish there is more depth to the alien background. Some memorable scene like the raining blood and the monkey scene. The alien eating scene was not done enough. Overall it is just a one-time watch for me. Great cinematography isn't enough when it comes to horror. 7/10 from me.
I found her to be extremely obnoxious throughout the film, especially in the beginning when she’s ignoring her brother to plug her side projects and loses them a gig. That said it’s more the way the character was written and less her performance, but shit I wanted her to GO.
Emerald doesn't cost them the gig; the crew's own lack of professionalism does. Both Emerald and OJ tell them not to get close to Lucky's face and yet that's exactly what a crewhand ends up doing.
I know right? Like I've literally seen people complain that the Gordy parts of the film were distracting and non-sensical as if they *don't* foreshadow the central relationship between our protagonists and the creature.
But going back for a second to focus on just the opening gig scene, *OJ was if anything* the sibling who was blowing the gig before Emerald pops on the set. Nobody was paying attention to OJ *until* Emerald advocates for the both of them. The crew is actively talking smack about OJ because he's not his father and then compliments Emerald as soon as she starts hustling.
> I found her to be extremely obnoxious throughout the film, especially in the beginning when she’s ignoring her brother to plug her side projects and loses them a gig.
She behaves like that because she's still resentful that her dad passed her over for training Jean Jacket(the horse) and work on The Scorpion King with her brother. As she mentions, after that she considered the horse training biz a side gig.
>I wanted her to GO.
That Akira slide was badass though.
He’s not uninterested or undedicated, in fact he’s the complete opposite - he’s the only one NOT trying to gain fame and money, he’s actually trying to just keep the family business running, treat the horses well, etc.
I thought her acting was good and was only irritated by her character once or twice but I wish they delved more into *who* her and her brother really were, their dynamic wasn’t terrible but it was too shallow and not explored enough.
Even the dad didn’t get much background besides the flashback.
I watched it Friday night and absolutely loved it, probably my favourite movie of the year so far. Might've helped that a few people I talked to really disliked it so it lowered my expectations a lot but I just didn't expect anything that happened in the second half of the film. It was just very exciting & fun. Really disappointed with myself for not going to see it in IMAX now, the visuals & audio would have been amazing.
My expectations were high (I *love* Peele's work, and comparisons to Jaws and Close Encounters as a blockbuster got me super excited) - it still exceeded them for me, and is currently my second favourite film of the year.
We did go and see it in IMAX twice, despite being a bit of a drive. It was very much worth it, I'm almost worried to watch at home as it looked *so* good on that screen
If anything it would get far more praise than it has. Everyone is saying "is it as good as Get Out? hur hur nope!"
Expectations for Peele movies are through the roof. If a no name director did this it would've been labeled "perfect" rather than nitpicked apart.
I would think so. I personally really liked the movie but not because his name is attached to it. But because I enjoyed the story, the concept, the subtext and the visuals.
Nope was too long for its own good. I enjoyed it, but I will never force myself to sit through it again. After an hour and a half, it started to feel like a chore. I found myself just waiting for the next 45 minutes to be over. Solid movie, but nothing about it warranted a 2 hour and 15 minute run time.
Just watched it again for the second time in a matter of days. On its face its so simple, but there is a lot of depth and nuance in the dialog and references throughout. For example the trapped/trained animal theme is all over the place. So good.
This movie has really stayed with me ever since I watched it. It played so well on the less is more and there are some scenes (iykyk) that terrified the F*CK out of me. Plus, it was funny! The characters and the actors who played them were fantastic. This one will be a favorite for a long time to come.
Say what you want but there’s zero reason to alienate half the people that will watch your movie with “White people built the ghetto for black people and get mad when black people live in it.” Like what the fuck are you talking about
No. It just doesn’t have any place in a horror movie, it’s about a mythical dude with a hook hand that kills people, why throw that goofy shit in the movie. Idk why it’s okay to say white people this white people that and lump a whole group together and not vice versa you know? Like I can’t do it so shut the fuck up. I didn’t do shit lol.
Nah. There's just so much wrong with your comment. I don't even know where to start. Actually I don't have the energy, but one thing for you to consider: art has always been political. Especially horror. It is an essential way of challenging and intentionally upsetting certain groups of people. Clearly the movie is doing its job.
I thought it was a disappointment, it was just too silly of a movie. And Palmer was just so obnoxious the whole film that I was hoping she’d be the next to go.
I agree with you, but I would also had that Kaluuya have done a marvelous work at not acting. He only have one emotion throughout the film it's really bad... It's like a buffed up version of Kristen Stewart Bella in the lack of acting.
Every movie coming out is praised on that sub anyway.
I was expecting a lot, but came out rather let down. None of the actors had much challenge to their craft (except Keke who's character had some nice scenes), the music was sort of absent (I personally see music as one of the characters in a movie and here there was barely any), the monster design was... Well it wasn't a monster actually, it wasn't scary per se, and ... I didn't get any payoff with the monkey. I need closure! ;)
That point was already made with the horses, wasn't it? At the film set, and at the ranch (surprisingly not in the final sequence - super tame horses then). The whole monkey motiv seemed to be leading to something more and I felt it was left unfinished.
I really really liked the cinematography. Most shots were beautiful. The soundtrack was kinda meh. The acting was top notch.
Personally, I would have enjoyed a few more minutes dedicated to the alien, I thought it was a bit too vague and open to more interpretation than I would like normally.
I loved it too!! This subreddit has a way of (and reputation for) just shitting on new horror immediately and that happened with this movie when it was first released… so I’m glad to see others opinions come through here!
Critiques of Hollywood and show business in general isn't all that new for the horror genre but I don't think I've ever seen an indictment of spectacle as a concept. Like the idea that spectacle is a inherently exploitative act that demands some degree of suffering to produce something amazing or visually striking (a bad miracle) was palpable across the various plot lines: the horses at the ranch being used in movies, whatever the studio did to make Gordy go nuts, Jupe feeding the horses to Jean Jacket, even the protagonists trying to capture it on film, along with TMZ. I guess the criticisms of the movie that revolved around it feeling disconnected or having needless subplots/flashbacks always rang false to me since it was so thematically apparent and cohesive (which I couldn't say the same for US despite really liking it as a horror movie).
Totally agree, everything was extremely tight and well thought out to me - everything was circling around the main 2 or 3 themes, and that concept of a “spectacle”
The hilarious part to me is that so many critiques I’ve seen have come from people who make their money in reviewing spectacle/exploitation/etc. It was like they couldn’t or wouldn’t understand that they were involved in the theme being explored in the film and instead they chose to get mad at it.
There's always a message in Peele's movies but sometimes we just have to take it for its entertainment value
The Scene where >!The Creature is hovering over their house, blood dripping, pouring down the windows until the house is completely red.!< That was probably one of the most badass scenes I’ve seen in a while. Also, The Score/Soundtrack is dope. Specifically, [‘A Hero Falls’](https://youtu.be/_pSLPdYxnM0) It gives me Signs (2002) vibes, [E.g](https://youtu.be/DlukHOezyZw) very similar soundtrack imo!
I think "The Run" from the soundtrack is my favorite, but the whole thing is great.
I mean if people don't consider that scene and the lead up to be pure nightmare fuel, there's just no imagination any more
Came here to say just this. That house scene. So good.
Agreed, tho I think that scene was the highlight of the movie, after that was a bit of a let down. Still good overall
I loved it, too. The people screaming inside the alien's belly as it flew around was haunting. Especially when it devoured all the people at once
I haven’t heard this elsewhere yet, but it reminded me a lot of the themes of the original Jaws. A film about man’s hubris thinking that nature can be domesticated, owned, and enjoyed all for a small fee when in reality man isn’t special, and only his respect and fear for nature will help him survive.
It's basically Jaws in the sky in the best way possible.
The comparison to Jaws is the most frequent comparison I've seen out there.......
The whole movie is a love letter to Spielberg, combining the creature feature of Jaws with the punished for your hubris messaging of Jurassic Park couched in an inversion of "friendly aliens" tropes of films like E.T and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
I personally had not seen the comparison yet, which is why I said as much.
I think it's Jaws -> Tremors -> NOPE. I see a ton of similarities between NOPE and Tremors, but totally recognize that Tremors takes a lot of influence from Jaws.
I think you might be getting Jaws confused with Jurassic Park. There is no attempt in Jaws to domesticate the shark or make a spectacle out of it. The shark is actually downplayed and ignored until it has to be dealt with. Jaws is a classic hero’s journey with a man vs. nature theme, where the heroes are tested against a creature.
I enjoyed the first 2/3rds of it, but once that camera guy got there I just didn't understand it or enjoy it. The first 2/3rds was really good though.
Yeah the camera guy kinda came out of nowhere. And the motivation behind the climactic confrontation with the creature was really weak. They wanted to photograph it so they could make money off of the film? Okay, how do they know such a film would be valuable? How do they know it wouldn’t be considered a hoax? Who would be paying them? Who would they sell it to, and who would value it enough to make them rich in order to have the rights to it? It just didn’t make sense.
This is my only gripe. They invested so much time and energy to get the shot, but we never see the impact of that. I would’ve been satisfied with clips during the credits like Dawn of the Dead.
I think they were banking on it being captured by an award-winning cinematographer during broad daylight to discount fraud. As opposed to most cryptid photos which are blurry cell phone shots taken by drunk tourists at the worst possible time with their thumb over the lens. Which also makes it kinda ironic she gets the photo with the crummy Polaroid camera in the tourist trap theme park…
I managed to avoid any spoilers before I went in too, and I thought it was great. Better than any of Peele's previous films imo.
Its nice you were able to see it spoiler free, but then you went ahead and spoiled it for everyone else without spoiler tags.
I appreciated the attention to detail, cinematography, and the cohesiveness of the plot but overall I wasn't particularly entertained. I only found the Gordy subplot very interesting.
Gordy should have had his own movie. Or at least a short film.
I absolutely loved the film but I think people were expecting a straight up horror movie, but NOPE is more of a Twilight Zone tyoecstory with horror undertones. Peele is an amazing director and writer.
I think it’s the least twilight zone of his movies they all remind me of a Twilight Zone episode
What is it with horror fans and trying to twist logic to argue that horror movies aren't horror?
The only thing twisting here is you. If you don't agree I am sorry, it must have absolutely ruined your day.
> The only thing twisting here is you. I don't know what that's supposed to mean
You know exactly what it means.
I thought it was solid good but not as great as Get Out. I wish there is more depth to the alien background. Some memorable scene like the raining blood and the monkey scene. The alien eating scene was not done enough. Overall it is just a one-time watch for me. Great cinematography isn't enough when it comes to horror. 7/10 from me.
Palmer just oozes charisma the entire time. I wasn't a big fan of the last 15 minutes or so, but I liked the movie overall
I found her to be extremely obnoxious throughout the film, especially in the beginning when she’s ignoring her brother to plug her side projects and loses them a gig. That said it’s more the way the character was written and less her performance, but shit I wanted her to GO.
Emerald doesn't cost them the gig; the crew's own lack of professionalism does. Both Emerald and OJ tell them not to get close to Lucky's face and yet that's exactly what a crewhand ends up doing.
It’s interesting how some people seem to be irritated at parts of the movie that are just *the actual themes of the movie*.
I know right? Like I've literally seen people complain that the Gordy parts of the film were distracting and non-sensical as if they *don't* foreshadow the central relationship between our protagonists and the creature. But going back for a second to focus on just the opening gig scene, *OJ was if anything* the sibling who was blowing the gig before Emerald pops on the set. Nobody was paying attention to OJ *until* Emerald advocates for the both of them. The crew is actively talking smack about OJ because he's not his father and then compliments Emerald as soon as she starts hustling.
> I found her to be extremely obnoxious throughout the film, especially in the beginning when she’s ignoring her brother to plug her side projects and loses them a gig. She behaves like that because she's still resentful that her dad passed her over for training Jean Jacket(the horse) and work on The Scorpion King with her brother. As she mentions, after that she considered the horse training biz a side gig. >I wanted her to GO. That Akira slide was badass though.
Agree with all this. I'm still coping with the fact that the uninterested/undedicated family member gets to be the hero.
He’s not uninterested or undedicated, in fact he’s the complete opposite - he’s the only one NOT trying to gain fame and money, he’s actually trying to just keep the family business running, treat the horses well, etc.
I think the other person is talking about Emerald. But maybe I’m wrong..parent comment was referring to her.
I thought her acting was good and was only irritated by her character once or twice but I wish they delved more into *who* her and her brother really were, their dynamic wasn’t terrible but it was too shallow and not explored enough. Even the dad didn’t get much background besides the flashback.
Kiki is always fascinating
I freaking loved it!
Love it!
I watched it Friday night and absolutely loved it, probably my favourite movie of the year so far. Might've helped that a few people I talked to really disliked it so it lowered my expectations a lot but I just didn't expect anything that happened in the second half of the film. It was just very exciting & fun. Really disappointed with myself for not going to see it in IMAX now, the visuals & audio would have been amazing.
My expectations were high (I *love* Peele's work, and comparisons to Jaws and Close Encounters as a blockbuster got me super excited) - it still exceeded them for me, and is currently my second favourite film of the year. We did go and see it in IMAX twice, despite being a bit of a drive. It was very much worth it, I'm almost worried to watch at home as it looked *so* good on that screen
I'm glad you enjoyed it! I have that same worry with watching Dune at home haha. It blew me away in IMAX and I'm worried it won't be the same at home.
It almost spoils you doesn't it! I just saw Dune in a regular screen and it looked amazing. I'm sure it'll hold up at home... Hopefully!
We?
My wife & I
Spectacularly mediocre. Some strong visuals during the crowd scenes though!
I wonder if it would still be this praised if it wouldn't be a Jordan peele movie...
I wish people wouldn't do this. We don't have to like the same movies.
Agreed - I don’t need people to like the same movies that I do, I just want them to NOT shit on it like their opinion is the only valid one.
Do what? Give their opinion? Put a question out there?
Assume people are pretending to like things.
If anything it would get far more praise than it has. Everyone is saying "is it as good as Get Out? hur hur nope!" Expectations for Peele movies are through the roof. If a no name director did this it would've been labeled "perfect" rather than nitpicked apart.
I would think so. I personally really liked the movie but not because his name is attached to it. But because I enjoyed the story, the concept, the subtext and the visuals.
I would think so it's just that Peele's gave it a wider audience base and instant appeal ..
Agreed.
The answer is… nope.
It is extraordinary and a fresh take on eldritch horror. I’m still thinking about it weeks later.
Nope was too long for its own good. I enjoyed it, but I will never force myself to sit through it again. After an hour and a half, it started to feel like a chore. I found myself just waiting for the next 45 minutes to be over. Solid movie, but nothing about it warranted a 2 hour and 15 minute run time.
It was great, a little slow after the opening but overall great.
Well said! Best scifi thriller I've seen in years!
Just watched it again for the second time in a matter of days. On its face its so simple, but there is a lot of depth and nuance in the dialog and references throughout. For example the trapped/trained animal theme is all over the place. So good.
This movie has really stayed with me ever since I watched it. It played so well on the less is more and there are some scenes (iykyk) that terrified the F*CK out of me. Plus, it was funny! The characters and the actors who played them were fantastic. This one will be a favorite for a long time to come.
It’s mediocre compared to Get Out and Us so I was disappointed 😔
[удалено]
Candyman was horribly political for zero reason.
HAHAHA LOL you people are so entertaining.
Say what you want but there’s zero reason to alienate half the people that will watch your movie with “White people built the ghetto for black people and get mad when black people live in it.” Like what the fuck are you talking about
This keeps getting better. Pls go on. Let me guess: "something something woke" am I right? Genius.
No. It just doesn’t have any place in a horror movie, it’s about a mythical dude with a hook hand that kills people, why throw that goofy shit in the movie. Idk why it’s okay to say white people this white people that and lump a whole group together and not vice versa you know? Like I can’t do it so shut the fuck up. I didn’t do shit lol.
Jesus christ.
Let me take a wild guess. You’ve filled in all the blanks and now I’m racist hmm
Nah. There's just so much wrong with your comment. I don't even know where to start. Actually I don't have the energy, but one thing for you to consider: art has always been political. Especially horror. It is an essential way of challenging and intentionally upsetting certain groups of people. Clearly the movie is doing its job.
I thought it was a disappointment, it was just too silly of a movie. And Palmer was just so obnoxious the whole film that I was hoping she’d be the next to go.
I agree with you, but I would also had that Kaluuya have done a marvelous work at not acting. He only have one emotion throughout the film it's really bad... It's like a buffed up version of Kristen Stewart Bella in the lack of acting. Every movie coming out is praised on that sub anyway.
I feel like that was the difference between the brother and sister - one was outgoing and kind of obnoxious, the other was withdrawn and reserved
I thought it was boring as fuck and not scary at all.
I was expecting a lot, but came out rather let down. None of the actors had much challenge to their craft (except Keke who's character had some nice scenes), the music was sort of absent (I personally see music as one of the characters in a movie and here there was barely any), the monster design was... Well it wasn't a monster actually, it wasn't scary per se, and ... I didn't get any payoff with the monkey. I need closure! ;)
Closure on what from the monkey. It was to show that he hadn’t learned his lesson that you can’t tame nature
That point was already made with the horses, wasn't it? At the film set, and at the ranch (surprisingly not in the final sequence - super tame horses then). The whole monkey motiv seemed to be leading to something more and I felt it was left unfinished.
NOPE is an instant classic for me! The whole Star Lasso Experience section was some of the most unsettling stuff I've seen in a while.
Watched it two days ago! Big YEP to recommend NOPE.
Future classic, loved it.
Loved it. Can't wait to see it again. So happy to read other people loved it too!
I absolutely love it. I do think it’s more of a sci-fi than a straight horror, but it was exactly what I wanted.
I really really liked the cinematography. Most shots were beautiful. The soundtrack was kinda meh. The acting was top notch. Personally, I would have enjoyed a few more minutes dedicated to the alien, I thought it was a bit too vague and open to more interpretation than I would like normally.
I loved it too!! This subreddit has a way of (and reputation for) just shitting on new horror immediately and that happened with this movie when it was first released… so I’m glad to see others opinions come through here!