It's been one week since Get Out came out.

If you have not seen it, fix this immediately.

*SPOILER-FREE*

  January and February are a very exciting time for the movies; Not because there's much to look forward to but in fact, quite literally on the opposite end of the spectrum, nearly all the big flicks to hit theaters are absolute, utter garbage. Post-Oscar season for movies has been deemed "dump months" because the films released between January 1st and as of the last few years, we'll say mid-March, there couldn't be worse movies to be released.    Let's just take a moment to examine that over the last two months, cinemas have released movies such as Underworld: Blood Wars, The Bye Bye Man, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, Rings, Fifty Shades Darker and just about any vomit-inducing films to make any form of top-dollar at ye olde box office (and those were deemed some of the more popular titles over the last two months).

Let's be honest. There are thousands of better movie ideas we'd rather see.

  Yes folks, it's a terrible, terrible time for the movies. So why is it exciting you may ask? Hidden gems.
  Yes, for every twenty terrible flicks that come out, there's bound to be at least one movie that's worth talking about (which for dump months is a huge feat). It's not unheard of to find good flicks in the dead of post-Oscar winter but when a movie comes along and tends to shake up audiences everywhere (sometimes quite literally), it's worthwhile. It was just around this time last year that Deadpool came out of the shadows, snuck up behind us and tickled all of our fancies; moviegoers, critics and those who had almost lost faith in the idea of a well executed R-rated comic book movie that was both true to the origins and a laugh-out-loud lampoon on the genre itself.

    All of that said, with the exception of the overbearingly glorious Lego Batman Movie (which, not for nothing, is the best Batman flick since The Dark Knight and might even be better [I'm also a maniac]), there was one fine film that came out during this dreadful season, exactly one week ago, that people cannot stop raving about and there has not been a single day since I left the cinema in which I have not dwelled on it; a movie that would completely change the game for not just the horror-comedy genre but for thematically relevant racial issues in film; a movie that gives the term "black and white" entirely new meaning...

It's dare I say... hypnotic?

Yes folks, I'm talking about Get Out, and spoiler alert: It's brilliant. And while it doesn't go without any flaws, it's simply too rich to not talk about. So let's start from the beginning.

    When comedy veteran Jordan Peele (of Key & Peele) opted to make a horror-comedy featuring social commentary on the divided stereotypes of racial America, EVERYONE was puzzled. Regardless of how eerie and well snipped together that trailer was, it was literally impossible to be on board with this movie based on Peele's name alone. Of course any K&P fans or any desperate horror fans wanted the film to succeed and sure, just about everyone was at least curious about the film, but no one would have predicted the box office smash and critical success it's become in one, very small week. So just why is it so good? What is it about the film that's making people continue to talk about it? In the end, applaud anyone you'd like but any brilliance comes from Peele.

The man might secretly be a genius.

   As a huge K&P fan, even I was skeptical about this one but Jordan proved the world wrong, myself included. I almost didn't even buy into it when I was sitting in the theater. Even when it was over, my thoughts were "sure it was good but not 99% critically approved good as Rotten Tomatoes depicted" (you can all thank troll-critic Armond White who ruined that perfect percentage) but I can't deny the beauty of Peele's craft. A week later and I'm still reading up on new things about the film; subtle nuances, references and meanings to things I NEVER would have picked up on during first viewing. It's not Citizen Kane folks, and it won't receive any awards but between the cleverness of Peele's writing and the sharp direction he takes in his buildup, he gives new identity to the popcorn blockbuster.

   I don't use those terms metaphorically either. My theater, as many others, ERUPTED with all kinds of cheering, applause, shrieks and outward, audible expressions that could not be contained. I haven't experienced energy like this in a theater since I saw the first Conjuring, if not since The Dark Knight (only SLIGHTLY exaggerating btdubs). The movie was fun and kinetic; it gave people a reason to get excited to trek to the theater and for a movie like this, that's all it needs to get momentum. Word of mouth alone will keep this movie going for a while. So again, WHY the hype? That's what I'm going to dive into today.

LET US SHARE SOME INTERRACIAL LAUGHS BEFORE WE PLUNGE INTO MADNESS

   First there's the genre itself. Of course the movie is being billed as a horror; it's the easiest genre to rely on for the wacky antics this movie ends up taking (if not for the third act alone), even if it is much more of a thriller. But very importantly; excruciatingly important even, the film is funny. Even when it's not laugh-out-loud funny (and you can all thank LilRel Williams as the comedic relief, playing the best friend Rod, who in fact does provide nearly every belly laugh), the film is FILLED with self aware humor, from the charismatic nature of Rose's abundantly white family coming off as very "pro-black" if you will, to the wildly chaotic sequences of violence, down to the sheer moments of jump-scare terror followed by a very awkward gaze from one of the family members giving a creepy Michael Myers stare through the window; make no mistake, these moments play out for laughs and Peele, being the comedian he is, is aware of every single one of them.




     This brings me to my first major, and arguably most important point: Jordan Peele is a comedian first.

Let's be honest.

   What makes the good Key & Peele sketches so GOOD (and believe me there are some abysmal K&P sketches), is the cleverness in the execution; the timing; the punchlines; the bringing everything full circle. Get Out is no different except the focus isn't always comedic timing, it's very much so the timing in not just the third act of pure horror but the build up to it. The writing cues; the fake-outs; the momentum leading up to the surprises, it's all done in vain of being nothing more than a good flick but in a sense Peele treats Get Out they way he treated any of his sketches; tightly wound, always engaging (even when often abruptly silly) with outrageous twists that keep you guessing. Yes, I'm talking about the same Key & Peele sketches that feature a one-note joke of college football players yelling their increasingly absurd names, during their team roster; a sketch that would help define Key & Peele regardless of the stupidity. It made us laugh; it kept us entertained. Get Out is no different and Peele never once loses sight of his mission: to entertain.  




  The next major topic to applaud is the execution of the racial barrier and keeping things just as light as they need to be while being equally as dramatic...

but as we've stated, still. always. funny.

The reality is, it's 2017 and racism is still VERY much an issue and if there's one thing people need in wake of living in a Trump-America, it's the finger-pointing absurdity Get Out wears and it wears it proudly. It points fingers not just at the blatant racists but at anyone who's not taking the race issue seriously (a COMPLETE irony since I'm basically defending Get Out as a comedy first).
   What's both awkward and truly tragic is that we live in a society where America kinda just shrugs at racism. Of course sane human beings don't condone racism but there's simply not much we can do to prevent it. We can take steps but in the end, how much of a dent can we as a country really put in to stop it? Sometimes we escape to the movies to run away from this often-terrible world we live in, yet ironically it's the films such as Get Out which are what films NEED; we need a voice to be taken seriously.

     I refuse to get political because we're still just talking about a movie here, but there is a larger issue at hand and the way Peele goes about tackling  said issue is, as I stated, brilliant. I can't come up with a better word because JP just proved to me that he's not just funny but he's smart and relevant through his comedy. Comedy is often one of the most successful ways to relate to and to address real-world problems that are just too awkward to address unless you're having a heavily serious conversation about it. Am I suggesting that racism need be depicted in an outrageous fashion blending comedy and horror of all genres, in order to get its point across? Absolutely not, but Peele proved that if there's a first step to get people talking about a serious issue such as race, this is how to take it. Just when the movie feels like it's starting to become racially offensive, Peele reveals himself from behind the curtain or pulls the rug from under our feet to remind us that as serious as the race issue is, the film is never once to be taken too seriously.


     Which brings me to my final point in addressing why the film just works: it's confident.

Frighteningly confident.

   We follow the incredible Daniel Kaluuya as the lead, Chris Washington and I can't remember the last time a central character has ever felt more like one of the audience. I don't just mean that the audience can relate to Chris because we (sane) non-racist, sympathetic and socially aware human beings identify with these racist issues go from being inappropriate to straight-up horrific but Chris is also one of the only characters in the movie to ever question the bizarre events that take place. Just when something creepy takes place, Kaluuya wears an expression that the audience wears. The character is almost in a constant WTF state from beginning to finish and he is the audience's mouth piece for how strange and misleading events truly do become. It's Peele's confidence in writing the character of Chris as skeptical and standoffish as he is, not just because he's dating a white woman and meeting her white family for the first time, but because there's a strong possibility of an evil plot afoot that victimizes black people and specifically only black people in an eventual horrific and outrageous manner. It's Peel's confidence in the genre that pushes the audience in relating to Chris' transforming skepticism from a genuinely realistic racial standpoint, to a bat-shit crazy horror fantasy land.

  If Peele never built up the racial issues the way he does so flawlessly here, the film just wouldn't have worked. If the film started beating us over the head with morals and messages that we should be kinder to one another, the film would have fallen completely flat. It is BECAUSE we're dealing with sometimes very blatant horror and often VERY funny moments that a movie that flows like Get Out works at all. I wish I could get spoilerric but I promised I wouldn't. Essentially, for those of you who have seen it, every single tiny aspect to the film's mechanisms completely pays off; every character, every mystery, every allusion to a bigger, darker picture is all explored. You may spend the first hour wondering if this is all truly nothing more than a silly play on Guess Who's Coming to Dinner meets Meet the Parents meets The Stepford Wives concoction of a film that doesn't seem to know where it's headed. You'd be wrong. And you probably WILL be wrong, still. Even when the previews seem to give away much of the movie (and they arguably do), the last act alone will savor any doubts you've had before or during the movie. Unfortunately it doesn't get as gory or as violent as true horror movie gurus are going to want (I had my fists clenched by the last 10 minutes, PRAYING for a blood bath) but the movie also doesn't want to taint the mass appeal of audiences who can't handle that sort of thing (so it's a smart move on Mr. Peele's part).

Did we mention it's also a visual roller coaster of emotion?

   Bottom line: You need to see this movie.   It doesn't matter if you don't do horror; it doesn't matter if you hate Key & Peele. As long as you can (try to) stomach some violence, most of the movie is a phenomenal buildup; a buildup almost in a, dare I say, Hichcockian way. You may sit there for three-quarters of the film questioning whether or not it's actually well executed or if it's just silly, but by the time the film's over you realize you spent the majority of the film's run time in total suspense, trying to unravel the mysteries of the plot or question the antics of the filmmaker. It tackles racism in a clever, relevant manner without beating audiences over the head with a hokey moral (yet some ignorant moviegoers have still somehow found a way to deem the movie as "anti-white." Morons). In these dark times, there has never been a more relevant movie such as this.

   In the end, the movie got its job done and Jordan Peele proved that he's more than a comedian. Sure, Get Out still proves he's definitely a comedian but Peele has now dipped into some new territory and seeing as how he wants to keep going with more socially aware films, it's all the more proof that we could use more people like Jordan Peele in the film industry... a statement that would never have been uttered before last week.

    Get out. No, literally. Get out and GO see this movie; go for the terror; go for the laughs; go for the experience. I promise you it's worth the hour and forty-five minutes, even if it's just for the relevant conversation you'll have after, whether that be regarding the race issue or the outrageousness this movie hurls at you. Right now there's nothing out there like it.

Pure, brilliant insanity at its finest.