#donnamills

[doomonfilm]

Thoughts : Nope (2022)

Back in January of 2012, Jordan Peele made his breakthrough into the popular consciousness via Comedy Central’s comedic golden ticket that was Key & Peele.  While both members of this pairing had achieved varying levels of success as bit players and character actors, I’m sure that nobody anticipated that the mild-mannered and deceptively intense Peele would soon become the face of modern day commercial horror and suspense media, stepping into the rare air occupied by the likes of industry giants like Rod Serling and Alfred Hitchcock.  His debut film, the landmark Get Out, showed infinite potential and promise... his follow-up film, Us, while not loved as universally as Get Out, did manage to garner enough support and respect for Peele to avoid accusations of the sophomore slump... but it was his latest film, the mysteriously promoted Nope, that has left me the most extreme in terms of the juxtaposition of anticipation and curiosity.  Sadly, I missed the film in theaters, and didn’t want to pay ownership price for an early rental, but the day the movie dropped to own I was on top of it, which finally afforded me the opportunity to take Nope in and share my thoughts.

Nope would probably work best as a completely blind experience, but as one of the multi-millions that saw the ad campaign initiated during the Super Bowl, building and creating my own set of expectations was inevitable.  With plenty of looks to the sky and lots of ominous situations, comparisons to Close Encounters of the Third Kind felt logical but obvious, and luckily, the actual film baits and switches narratively in a way that adds tons of substance and subtext to the familiar self-imposed premise.  The parallels between the in-world Gordy’s Home sitcom and the Jean Jacket situation become obvious with the help of the understated OJ, and through his eyes, we immediately shift our thinking on Jean Jacket... normally, we see a UFO as an invading force with some sort of intentionality, but much like the titular Gordy lashing out in a primordial manner on set (a location completely foreign and likely frightening to him), Jean Jacket roams the unfamiliar Agua Dulce mostly unnoticed and harmless, but lashes out once their fear response is spiked by misidentified threats (a.k.a. humans).  With this new positioning of the synergy between all parties involved, we as viewers are allowed to saddle up (no pun intended) for a much needed fresh take on the UFO film trope.

Interestingly enough, this drawn parallel between Gordy’s Home and Agua Dulce also serves as the foundation for narrative subtext surrounding post-traumatic stress responses in the face of tragic losses.  Though he is not presented as the main character, this illustration of post-traumatic stress is the clearest in terms of the character Jupe, the sole individual to make it through the Gordy attack not only unscarred, but acknowledged by Gordy in a non-violent manner.  With this situation seemingly completely derailing what was a promising career in the entertainment industry, we find Jupe not only clinging on to any assemblance of his former past glory, but we also find him essentially trying to recreated that bridge between his fear-based morbid curiosity and a potentially dangerous foreign element in his familiar (read : safe) territory.  In contrast to this stands OJ, who was also is attempting to understand sudden and violent tragic loss.  OJ’s extremely reserved nature allows him to keep his distance, assess and understand the threat, and eventually, turn his tragedy into a potential opportunity to better both his life and the life of his sister Em, though the potential trade may be their actual lives if they make any mistakes.  Outside of this brilliant dynamic, we also are shown lots of very real reactions to a UFO... OJ is scared but cautiously curious, Jupe is attempting to exploit the situation for monetary gain, Em shows completely believable fear and confusion responses prior to extreme bravery in the face of the unknown... even Angel and Antlers find themselves curious enough to provide their technical knowledge and prowess to what seems like a potentially possible window emerging from insurmountable impossibility.

As always, Jordan Peele and company use calculated and ambitious cinematography to put viewers in the grey area between subjective and objective viewership, at many times using his camera to almost make viewers feel like a curious but scared tag-along looking over the shoulder of any particular character.  The visual effects used to bring Jean Jacket to life are stellar on a number of levels... as far as design, the multitude of forms that Jean Jacket takes are somehow both curiously familiar and wholly foreign, while the seamless integration of Jean Jacket into the world of Agua Dulce makes it feel extremely tangible.  The costuming is mostly natural and subtle, seemingly to give prominence to Jupe and his crew, whose signature and outlandish attire serves as a connection element to their signature and outlandish lifestyle.  The sound design of Nope is completely brilliant, with the sounds emitting from Jean Jacket sounding both vaguely familiar and wholly terrifying in their role as the auditory star of the film, while tons of supporting sound design balanced out against deafening silence is used effectively to breed tension.  The location of Agua Dulce is cinematically pleasing, with the rustic and dusty landscape standing in stark contrast to the rich blue skies and healthy clouds that fill said skies.  There also seems to be a healthy amount of homage in the film... I personally noticed the main cloud standing as a sort of proxy for Devil’s Tower from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jean Jacket’s primary form resembling the Trimaxiom Drone Ship from Flight of the Navigator, and in a nice personal touch, Em’s final motorcycle ride ending with an homage to one of Akira‘s signature shots.

Daniel Kaluuya’s best leading man performances have always been centered around protagonists that are pensive, resourceful and economic with their words, and Nope continues this tradition, allowing Kaluuya to dwell in the dramatic realms of those like Clint Eastwood or Toshiro Mifune in terms of his ability to own cinematic real estate through steely looks and calculated physicality.  Keke Palmer both uses and offsets Kaluuya’s energy by presenting her character as boisterous, optimistically opportunistic and larger than life despite numerous relatable odds, with deep love for her brother still emanating in spite of her actions.  Steven Yeun, who has been on an amazing run the last few years, turns in another wonderful performance by embodying the most extreme version of grace under fire, with the grace represented by the smiling mask he is barely able to maintain that hides his hurt from the fire that is the Gordy’s Home trauma that Jupe sits in on a daily basis.  Brandon Perea makes the most of his limited supporting time by serving as a happy medium between the energies of OJ and Em, with his enthusiasm and curiosity bolstering Em, and his ability to assess and his natural apprehension lending credence to OJ.  Michael Wincott also makes a brief but memorable performance as a jaded and entitled cinematographer who has created a bubble for himself that allows him to sit in his extreme toxicity, with his unhealthy laser-focus to his craft ultimately setting up his downfall.  Keith David makes an important initial cameo to help set the narrative in motion, while appearances by Wrenn Schmidt, Sophia Coto, Barbie Ferreira, a number of other supporting actors, and perhaps most importantly, and uncanny valley-dweller performance from Terry Notary as Gordy round out the film.

Yet again, I find myself in a position of regret for not taking the time and onus to see Nope in theaters, as the sheer grandeur that Jean Jacket commands would seemingly translate best on the big screen.  I try not to feed into reviews and the opinions of the internet, but it was hard not to notice the mixed reactions to Nope from the viewing public.  Personally, my initial viewing of Nope did not hit me the same way I was hit during my first Get Out viewing, but as for the hierarchy of Jordan Peele, Nope is immediately better than Us (no disrespect to that film), and in time, will likely be more accepted and appreciated than Get Out (a bold statement, I know).  I’m looking forward to revisiting this film, and curious to see what viewers discover as time passes by, because Nope definitely feels like a movie deserving of repeat viewings.

#ChiefDoomsday #DOOMonFILM #JordanPeele #Nope #DanielKaluuya #KekePalmer #StevenYeun #BrandonPerea #MichaelWincott #WrennSchmidt #KeithDavid #DevonGraye #TerryNotary #BarbieFerreira #DonnaMills #OsgoodPerkins #EddieJemison #SophiaCoto #JenniferLafleur #AndrewPatrickRalston

[alejandromogollo]

Jumping in this #FaceYourArt @instagram challenge with some of the portraits I’ve been creating lately. I’m quite happy with the range of characters I’ve created, from tv stars to pop music icons, Broadway stars and trailblazing old Hollywood legends. Do you agree? #lucilleball #judygarland #angelalansbury #donnamills #marilynmonroe #AnnaMayWong #dorisday #kylieminogue #Cher #AlejandroMogolloArt https://www.instagram.com/p/CiFnYz8Mqbz/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#faceyourart #lucilleball #judygarland #angelalansbury #donnamills #marilynmonroe #annamaywong #dorisday #kylieminogue #cher #alejandromogolloart

[joebryantphotographer]

It was a magical evening with @thedonnamills … Love this wonderful person and her amazing family!!!!! 📸 @bfapatricio #holidayparty #love #christmas #joebryant #donnamills #celebrity #photoshoot #2022 (at Brentwood) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm2Y_OQvJjY/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#holidayparty #love #christmas #joebryant #donnamills #celebrity #photoshoot #2022

[film-book]

‎

Film Review: NOPE (2022): Keke Palmer Steals the Show in Jordan Peele's Intense Science Fiction Thriller https://film-book.com/film-review-nope-2022-keke-palmer-steals-the-show-in-jordan-peeles-intense-science-fiction-thriller/?feed_id=88631&_unique_id=62da11f06bc0d

#MovieReview #AndrewPatrickRalston #BarbieFerreira #BrandonPerea #DanielKaluuya #DevonGraye #DonnaMills #EddieJemison #JacobKim #JenniferLafleur #JordanPeele #KeithDavid #KekePalmer #LincolnLambert #MichaelWincott #Nope #OzPerkins #SophiaCoto #StevenYeun #TerryNotary #Universal #WrennSchmidt #ThomasDuffy

[mumbojumbo84317]

Happy Birthday to Donna Mills, who turned 82 today. She began her television career in 1966 with a recurring role on The Secret Storm, and in the same year appeared on Broadway in the Woody Allen comedy Don't Drink the Water. She made her film debut the following year in The Incident. She then starred for three years in the soap opera Love is a Many Splendored Thing (1967–70), before starring as Tobie Williams, the girlfriend of Clint Eastwood's character in the 1971 cult film Play Misty for Me.

Mills landed the role of Abby Cunningham on the primetime soap opera Knots Landing in 1980 and was a regular on the show until 1989. For this role, she won the Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Villainess three times, in 1986, 1988, and 1989. She has since starred in several TV movies, including False Arrest (1991), In My Daughter's Name (1992), Dangerous Intentions (1995), The Stepford Husbands (1996), and Ladies of the House (2008). In 2014, she joined the cast of long-running daytime soap opera General Hospital, for which she won a 2015 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Guest Performer in a Drama Series.

(Photo by Paul Popper/Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)

#celebritybirthdays #beautifulactresses #donnamills #knotslanding

#donna mills

[adamwatchesmovies]

Curse of the Black Widow (1977)

I can’t believe I’ve seen Curse of the Black Widow twice. At least now it’s definitive. This movie sucks. It’s boring, badly acted, never frightening, or even tense.

From the realm of “Made for TV horror” comes this story about a were-spider! When a private investigator named Mark Higbie (Anthony Franciosa) is hired by newly widowed Leigh Lockwood (Donna Mills) to investigate the strange death of her husband, he uncovers a cover-up by the police. A giant spider is killing men! But where did it come from, and how does the arachnid choose its victims? Mark suspects Leigh and her twin sister Laura have something to do with it.

This picture could have been good - in theory - if it weren't missing everything that would make it amusing. Firstly, the mystery is weak. The idea of a "werewolf" whose identity is unknown is solid. It adds a whole new dimension to the case when the killer (or killers) are unaware of the crimes they're committing and if it’s something supernatural going on, it makes for a story that can’t be solved by simply going up to a police station and plopping a bag of evidence on their doorstep. If only so much time wasn't wasted on discovering how one turns into a were-spider. Unless you’re going to find an antidote, it’s useless information that generates more head scratches than interest. I would've gladly traded information for red herrings to keep things less obvious.

My heart goes out to the filmmakers who make low-budget films, but this is an example of a project that needed more money. There’s no gore, no nudity and the special effects in Curse of the Black Widow are not special at all. We are never treated to any cool transformation sequences and the killer arachnid only appears briefly towards the end of the film. Before then we have to endure quick shots of spider leg-like sticks poking soon-to-be victims and dreadful shots of "monster vision". I'm talking about a bunch of filters applied to footage to give us a point of view on what the monster is eyeing before it strikes. Not an inherently bad choice but here's something bad filmmakers never understand: eight eyes doesn't mean the same image repeated eight times.

We’ve got comedic sub-plots that feel totally out of place and several amateur actors so wooden they could stock a hardware store. Then, a giant spider puppet dances around ineffectively while humans pretend like they’re scared until we get to an ending that will make you roll your eyes and sigh in disappointment. There are only two good things about Curse of the Black Widow. The first is that when we finally see the monster, the noises it makes are stolen right out of 1956's Rodan. Any time I can be reminded of this underrated kaiju film, I smile. The second good thing about Curse of the Black Widow? It actually has a full-length, well-researched Wikipedia article! What a relief! Unlike Cellar Dweller or Invader, which have not been documented at all, I didn't need to do any research to complete my review. Hurray for small victories! (On VHS, November 9, 2015)

#CurseoftheBlackWidow #movies #films #MovieReviews #FilmReviews #DanCurtis #RobertBlees #AnthonyFranchiosa #DonnaMills #JuneAllyson #VicMorrow #1977movies #1977films

[billybennight]

Here’s my full length fashion shot of Donna Mills in this red pant power suit black turtleneck at The Los Angeles Premiere Of Netflix's "The Unforgivable” at the DGA Theater Complex. Donna showed she still had the red carpet swagger! @unforgivablemovie @thedonnamills #donnamills @netflixfilm @netflix #theunforgivable #fashionlook (at West Hollywood, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CXCEsroPAfm/?utm_medium=tumblr

#donnamills #theunforgivable #fashionlook

[shellilyn72]

Season 2 #knotslanding #abbycunningham #valeneewing #breachoffaith #1/8/81 #80sTV #donnamills #joanvanark https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ6ukUpFJSF/?igshid=e1egqvt3ihku

#knotslanding #abbycunningham #valeneewing #breachoffaith #1 #80stv #donnamills #joanvanark

[olusheyi31]

Also Happy Birthday to @purplegoat1 @therealmoworldwide #MosDef @djyellaofnwa @theritamoreno @call.me.brenda @johnkerry2004 #DonnaMills @iamjustinesimmons and #BigMommaThorton https://www.instagram.com/p/CIqJESiMzgM/?igshid=h30arn51adn0

#mosdef #donnamills #bigmommathorton

[superman-2050]

#playmistyforme #clinteastwood #donnamills #jessicawalter #davegarver #evelyndraper #tobiewilliams #johnlarch #femalestalkers #stalkers #stalking #horror #horrormovies #universalstudios #sgtmccallum #irenehervey #madge #jamesmcceachin #almonte #claricetaylor #birdie #brittlind #1970s #1971 #70scinema https://www.instagram.com/p/CHAGoazpRCC/?igshid=1pubgckep7ceg

#playmistyforme #clinteastwood #donnamills #jessicawalter #davegarver #evelyndraper #tobiewilliams #johnlarch #femalestalkers #stalkers #stalking #horror #horrormovies #universalstudios #sgtmccallum #irenehervey #madge #jamesmcceachin #almonte #claricetaylor #birdie #brittlind #1970s #1971 #70scinema

[bobbybutz]

#donnamills-:::::::::- https://www.instagram.com/p/CBHCF1hA0Y2/?igshid=hmoysfn3yotv

#donnamills

[247snob]

#donnamills ♡ @thedonnamills (i loooved this face.)

#donnamills

[alejandromogollo]

These two wonderful ladies share a birthday today. Donna Mills the villainous Abby Cunningham of Knots Landing fame is 82 years young. And EGOT winner and trailblazing living legend Rita Moreno is 91 💜 #donnamills #knotslanding #abbycunningham #dontcallmecookie #ritamoreno #anita #westsidestory #america #EGOT #trailblazers #alejandromogolloart https://www.instagram.com/p/CmCEINRodsS/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#donnamills #knotslanding #abbycunningham #dontcallmecookie #ritamoreno #anita #westsidestory #america #egot #trailblazers #alejandromogolloart

[josephfrady]

#playmistyforme #1971 DIR #clinteastwood CAST #clinteastwood #donnamills #dukeeverts #thriller #movie DP #brucesurtees (à Carmel-By-The-Sea) https://www.instagram.com/p/CC6p5JCoYhN/?igshid=eijin66e1hmc

#playmistyforme #1971 #clinteastwood #donnamills #dukeeverts #thriller #movie #brucesurtees

[juanescobedo]

How is getting an award alongside Donna Mills. @thedonnamills @juanescobedo . . . . . . . . . . #donnamills #juanescobedo #juan #award #bestdramticshort #marisol #marisolfilm #film

#bestdramticshort #film #donnamills #juan #juanescobedo #marisol #marisolfilm #award

[paulasoapbox]

#Repost @crystal_hunt (@get_repost) ・・・ #Repost @pureflix (@get_repost) ・・・ @crystal_hunt plays the character Elisha Trisk who is a brilliant neurosurgeon who returns to Hilton Head Island to care for her father. Don't miss the brand new Pure Flix original series Hilton Head Island! #HiltonHeadIslandTheSeries #pureflix #pureflixoriginal #entertainment #originalseries #hopeopera #drama #HiltonHead #HHI #HiltonHeadIsland #suspense #series @pureflix #pureflix @davidarwhite #davidarwhite #winkmartindale @winkgamesmusic @thedonnamills #donnamills #crystalhunt @antoniosabatojr #antoniosabatojr @swanactor #michaelswan @unicornblonde @jeremyjohnwells

#pureflix #suspense #series #pureflixoriginal #hiltonhead #hiltonheadislandtheseries #hiltonheadisland #winkmartindale #antoniosabatojr #michaelswan #repost #originalseries #entertainment #donnamills #drama #hhi #hopeopera #davidarwhite #crystalhunt