No, you 'Get Out!' Horror film on racism is gravely comedic

Universal Pictures

Imagine being a young black man whisked away to a hyper rich, affluent country suburb where your girlfriend's well-off white family resides. Her parents fully embrace you and boast about their admiration of America's first black president, Barack Obama, as if they're conforming to the politically correct social register of appeasing any black guest that walks through their door with  such an obvious plea that they are accepting of a black man courting their white daughter. Unfortunately, the Stepford persona of the family and their house staff, friends and other family members wears off in a situation that is so grim and fantastical you could never believe it was true if it weren't being told on the silver screen.

That is "Get Out" in a nutshell.

It is the incredibly relevant and popular story for the directorial debut of comic Jordan Peele who also penned the extremely creepy and  funny film that tackles the current social climate of racism. It was recently announced that "Get Out" was classified into the comedy/musical genre field for the 75th Golden Globe Awards in 2018 and drew criticism for deeming a satirically serious - an oxymoron? - film about race relations as being anything but dramatic. Some viewed it as white privilege laughing at racism. Given that the persons who award the Golden Globes are foreign journalists, I doubt many are of the Aryan brethren.

Movie Review: 'Force Majeure' Piles on Dark Laughs For Vacation

The avalanche that started it all in "Force Majeure"

Force Majeure (2014, directed by Ruben Östlund. Sweden, in Swedish and English, color, 118 minutes) I saw "Force Majeure", Sweden's submission for the best foreign language film Oscar consideration, during a packed screening as part of the Philadelphia Film Festival this year. It was one of many sellouts during this year's fest and it's easy to see why.

Tomas, his wife, Ebba, and their two children take to the French Alps for a five-day vacation. The first day goes off without a hitch. Plenty of skiing on the beautifully photographed slopes, a hilarious photo opportunity on the mountain, and cranky kids. You know, it's vacation. Then on the second day, the family has lunch outside at the hotel's restaurant when a controlled avalanche happens, but it looks to get too close and everyone starts running, even Tomas. While Ebba protects the kids as a cloud of snow blankets the deck, Tomas grabs his glove and phone and runs like hell.

Movie Review: "Birdman" Soars High on Talent

 

Riggan (Michael Keaton) and Mike (Edward Norton) square off in "Birdman".

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. USA, English, color, 119 minutes) Living in a time where thoughtless superhero action moves dominate the box office, is there any hope for those actors who have become icons after their starring role in the franchise ends?

Imagine Robert Downey Jr. 20 years from now after the Iron Man franchise is over and he's trying to break back into the acting world with a serious performance. Will he always be remembered as being Iron Man, or will people think he has real acting chops?

This is the basis for the comedy "Birdman", starring Michael Keaton as a washed-up actor trying to revive his acting career by writing, starring and directed an adaptation of Raymond Carver's "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" for Broadway.