Sunday, October 17, 2021

hooray for snl for calling him out

Right place, right time.
I truly love how things line up together, with no help from me.
Here's how it all played out.
AMC has been hosting Thrills & Chills $5 movies at 7 PM on Wednesdays and Fridays.
In past years, I have foregone such things, as horror is not really my genre of choice.
However, this time around, I thought I'd give it a whirl.
I already knew that "Carrie" and "Train To Busan" had played, and I was familiar with both, having seen them years ago.
So, I took a chance and paid my money for the one a week ago Friday.
2018's "Halloween" was my reward, and, as it had Jamie Lee Curtis and Will Patton, I stayed and watched, as did about twenty others.
Bolstered, I decided to take a chance on the series of AMC specials.
First, though, I did a bit of research to try to figure out which movies might fit the posted run times for the subsequent movies.
Armed with my list of those that had 104 minutes of "thrills & chills", I bought my ticket, hoping the first on the list would be the "surprise" feature... and it was!
As I had missed the Oscar-winning "Get Out" when it premiered, I settled in to watch, with only about ten others in the screening room.
By the end, I was in agreement with its award level, but not its genre.
That was pure science fiction, y'all, not horror.
I don't understand why skin color was made into an issue, but I figured the script writer and director, Jordan Peele, had added that to cause controversy and to take advantage of the Black Lives Matter movement.
I definitely enjoyed the movie, and the questions it raised, as science fiction is "my jam", as they would say on "Beat Shazam".
Friday night, I was at the cinema at 7 again.
I was hoping for "Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street", as it, like "Get Out", was the top-rated 'horror' movie.
However, I did have "Us" in my list of possibilities, as it also had the quoted run time of 116 minutes, as did "Let Me In", "V/H/S", and "Thelma".
As I said, I was hoping for the grisly musical, but I had a strong suspicion that the more weakly rated Jordan Peele would be shown... and it was.
As before, I stayed for it, as I had not seen it before.
Perhaps I should have taken a hint from the very small audience size: just four this time.
On a Friday night, to boot.
As with the other film by this writer, the genre had been misrepresented, as it was clearly science fiction.
This one did not have a smidgen of racism, though, so that was good, even though it was touted as a callback on slavery. 
My guess is whoever said that was trying to get some extra press by piggybacking on the BLM movement - shame on them, right?
So, I put the matter aside... until last night.
For the first time in quite a while, I tuned in to "Saturday Night Live".
Rami Malek was the host, so I thought it might be interesting.
Boy was it!
He was fabulous!
Daniel Craig even guested in a couple of skits!
And one of those skits that included both actors was a spoof of a casting call for a new Prince biopic by Jordan Peele.
"So that means it's horror with a side of racism" is what the actors were told when they asked what the film was to be about.
Yes, I think it's time for Peele to hearken back to his comedy roots.
Or, perhaps he might want to populate his next movie with an all-black cast so no one can point that misinterpret and think racism is involved.
Honestly, he tried to do so in "Us", but some still wanted to look for the racism card and apply it to the shadow people.
Ack.
"Keanu" was actually quite enjoyable.
That 2016 comedy was written by Peele, and starred him as well.
Hard to believe he followed that up with "Get Out" the next year.
Hmmm, I wonder if the fun buddy film is still on Crackle for viewing?
Pardon me, gotta go check!

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