“By the way, I would have voted for Obama for a third term, if I could. Best President in my lifetime, hands down.”
Dean Armitage
Spoilers throughout.
It was probably hard to be on the internet the past couple of weeks and not see something about Jordan Peele’s new movie Us. Whether it be the impressive opening weekend at the box office, the various fan theories that are popping up everywhere, or perhaps the
We wanted our meal to thematically follow the major beats of the movie. Early on, we see the Armitage family smother Chris with their performative wokeness. It’s physically painful to watch. Like, we don’t disagree that Obama is the best president of our lifetimes (Keep in mind that we were born during Bush Senior’s presidency), but to, unprompted, offer that information to the black man dating your daughter says… a lot. To capture this enveloping white embrace, we decided to make raclette. For those of you unfamiliar with raclette, it’s a semi hard cheese that is just asking to be melted. We melted ours in sheets on a skillet and laid those sheets on top of potatoes. The cheese immediately wrapped itself around the shape of the potatoes and didn’t let go.
Also, do yourself a favor and order the raclette next time you see it on the menu at a restaurant. If you have a whole wheel of cheese, like restaurants that serve raclette do, you can heat the surface of the exposed cheese right on a pan then scrape that layer of melted cheese straight on to what you’re eating. If you’re lucky, they’ll do that right at your table for you. Dinner and a show.
Soon after, Chris falls into The Sunken Place for the first time in the unforgettable teatime hypnotism scene. We knew we had to do a tea cocktail, but we wanted some light-to-dark gradation in the drink to evoke that sinking feeling. We ended up making a Bailey’s Cream Tea cocktail, which tasted pretty good, if a little plain. We’d prefer to drink our Bailey’s in Irish Coffee in the future.
Next, Rod starts noticing that some people have started going missing… Chris included. It’s subtle and hard to put your finger on exactly how you can feel so sure something is missing, and we wanted to capture that same uncomfortable uncertainty. We chose to make a classic reuben sandwich, but, importantly, leave something out of the mix. And it had to be subtle. We chose to leave out any leavening agent in the homemade rye dough we made, so the rye ended up flat and thick. And when you bite into it, you know that something is off. It isn’t a bad sandwich per se but it definitely isn’t what you want.
At the end of the movie, the Armitage family secret is revealed: they take white people’s brains and stick them in black people’s bodies. With our dessert, we wanted something dark on the outside and white on the inside. We found a marshmallow chocolate cake that looked like it fit the bill, even if it is similar to the soufflé we did last time for Birdman. The recipe didn’t seem quite as refined, so you can imagine our surprise when we realized a 13 year-old made up the marshmallow cake recipe. Then we thought more about marshmallow cake and decided it made sense that it came from the mind of a 13 year old.
Some parting thoughts on
The Reviews
André: A modern masterpiece. I’m sure I wasn’t the only person who went to Get Out with a certain amount of trepidation. I think the last horror movie I saw in theaters was Final Destination 3D, and I didn’t think of myself as a fan of horror. I walked out of Get Out a total horror convert. I can’t get enough now. Unfortunately, very few horror movies come close to it in terms of thoughtfulness and artistry, but it has opened my eyes up to a genre, and I appreciate it for that. Also it’s an excellent movie, and one of the most thought provoking films I’ve seen in years.
Leanna: Get out! But in the way Elaine Benes says it when she’s excited about something. I wasn’t sure if this movie would be as good on a second viewing just because I already knew the twist, but it was actually so rewarding. You start to see all the seeds that Jordan Peele plants early on to set you on edge and make you suspicious. There are so many layers of cleverness and thoughtfulness that the second watch really helps you appreciate it all more fully. Also, if you haven’t watched this video where Jordan Peele addresses fan theories, I highly recommend it. As someone who actively avoids horror films, I have to say that both this film and Us are starting to bring me around.
Ben: 85%. There was a moment after our viewing experience where we were sitting around talking about all of the connections, themes, and call backs in the film where everything kind of just fell into place for this film. It is an incredibly smart and tightly created endeavor that reveals more of itself on subsequent viewings or a solid conversation amongst friends. It is unsettling in the right ways, has enough humor to ease the viewing experience, and so many moments in the film are so visually impactful and enduring in a way that so many films aren’t.
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