Since the beginning of cinema, the idea of catch audience with fantasy subjects like monsters is Hollywood secret weapon, it’s been for almost a century since the big gorilla named King King climbed the Empire State Building with his dame in distress and the iconic battle over the NYC skyline.

Several versions have been made, from 1933 most famous versions to the 1976 which was an erotic and a sexual representation of women and monkey, later Peter Jackson made a version that probably was a tribute and a metaphor to the old dying cinema.

In Kong: Skull Island (Jordan Vogt-Roberts) the movie is set in 1973, the time where USA is defeated and leaving Viet Nam after a terrible war, leaving wounds to everyone. The discovery from a satellite pictures of a mysterious island bring a senior official of a government organization Monarch, William Randa (John Goodman) to lead an expedition, with scientist, a military escort and a group pf explorers. The first 10 minutes of the film will introduce every character involved. James Conrad ( Tom Hiddleston) a hunter tracker, Mason Weaver (Brie Larson) a photojournalist, Preston Packard (Samuel L Jackson) an Army Lieutenant Colonel. The catch for all of them is this mission don’t have any scientific outcome. Is a corporation project to own and control certain territory with so many resources.

Jordan Vogt-Roberts use a very unique visual style with interesting transitions and a heavy influence of Viet Nam films, like “Apocalypse Now” and Kippour, But also the other visual references like Werner Herzog Fitzcarraldo. The storytelling techniques capture a stunning first 40 minutes with a great pace, but them fall off after the audience not understand if this is a rescue mission, or a kill and destroy mission or a revenge mission.

On the other hand the film borrow plots and stories from films like Aliens or Avatar. To me is another vicious circle of military involved in a scientific mission who is just want a corporation to control a place for their own benefit. The visual style vanished, showing more of the action sequences that the audiences need. The characters look more like puppets who are there to entertain, but not to drive the story into a certain direction.

Perhaps the character who have a mission is Preston Packard (Samuel L Jackson) who from the very beginning, wants to keep fighting and never come back from war, but after the mission who kills most of his mens, by King Kong, he now finds a new war to fight. In a way Kong: Skull Island is a metaphor of the war and the destruction of our ecosystem. Every monster in this island, represents the unbeatable campaign to kill an enemy hidden, who cannot be beat. At the end soldiers in Kong: Skull Island leave just with the taste of the Viet Nam war, defeated.

American society is completely obsessed with nostalgia, No matter how many times you redo, readapt, rehash or reinterpret a story, still the same story. Hollywood is have one of the worst time ever, creatively speaking, about making sequels, rebooting past films or adapting TV shows to movies or viceversa.

Disney new obsession is taking their most famous animated films into live action movies. A great idea, with less work on story development, but more invested into the technical aspects of it. The first attempts: Alice and Wonderland, Cinderella, The Jungle Book and now Beauty and The Beats.

Adapted from the animated film from 1991, “Beauty and the Beast” follow the same plot: a prince (Dan Stevens) very powerful, end up transform into a beast by a beggar in disguise. All the prince servants end up transform into household objects. The only way to cast the spell is when Beast can fall in love and receive love in return by a girl who can see beyond his appearance. Belle (Emma Watson) a rural girl who enjoy loves books and been an outsider in the small she live with her dad. She have a love interest Gaston (Luke Evans), an arrogant former soldier who loves him more than anyone else, with a sidekick LeFou ( Josh Gad) who is just there to boost Gaston ego.

All I can say about this movie is so well done, beautiful costume design, art direction, music and masterful work in visual effects. But I’m completely confused about the main reason of making this movie that long. From an original running time of 84 min to an insufferable 129 minutes of unnecessary songs and plot changes making the film unbearable to watch.

The charm of the first animated movie nominated for an Oscar in the category of best movie, still reigns in the original classic Beauty and The Beast from 1991, this film is a nice rehash, rebrand, re-adaptation or whatever ver “RE” we can add in it. This story only serves as a demonstration for great technical work and some shy political comments, like LeFou being gay, Belle been considered different by the town habitants for being a woman with other interest in life beyond been a housewife.

Hollywood explore the world of hypnosis in several films, like “Dead Again” by Kennetth Branagh, Danny Boyle’s “Trance” and “The Manchurian Candidate” these movies use the induction of a state of consciousness as a plot to tell a certain history. Could be past lives, certain personality disorder and the creation of the perfect presidential candidate.

In the same tone, the film “Get Out” by Jordan Peele presents hypnosis as a new metaphorical tool for slavery. A black man Andre Hayworth is adducted from a white suburb late at night. This is just the beginning of the film. A few months have passed, and we introduce black photographer Chris Washington ( Daniel Kaluuya) who is in a serious relationship with Rose Armitage (Allison Williams) are preparing for a trip to see visit Rose parents and introduce Chris to the family. The film presents the first controversial discussion: What are the repercussions of a white girl dating black guy?

Since the road trip started, the audience start noticing the ambivalence of Chris presence in the white only town. Rose hit a deer down the road and the cop as for Chris ID, knowing that he is not involved at all in the accident. After the arrival home, Rose parents Dean ( Bradley Whitford) and Missy (Catherine Keener) make Chris as confortable as possible. But for Chris something seems not right. The groundskeeper Walter and housekeeper Georgina are black and present a very odd behavior.

Later that night Chris bump into Missy while he was doing a walk outside the house. Chris talk about his mom with Missy, who died when he was 11. Missy hypnotized Chris into a paralytic state.

Jordan Peele directs a very powerful thriller for the new Trump era. You get constant reminders that Obama is no longer in office and things are changing, not necessarily for good, but also racism is not only actions but a state of mind. The image of a clean cut white neighborhood who find ways to destroy successful black people, is a clear representation that superiority complex is still on, no matter if the USA lived turbulent times in the 60’s fighting for equality and 8 years with a black president.

The big reveals in this thriller are not only surprising scary, because we are watching horror movie, but the problems presented in this film are true and lives on. The recent events of white supremacist calling to attack of different skin tone citizens or scream a person get out of my country for being latinos is closer than you think.

The big hit of “Get Out” is the ability to mash up “Looks Who’s Coming to Dinner” and The Stepford Wives. A simple visit of a black guy to his white girlfriend parents hit the core of everyone not because the color his skin, but because he is successful and proud about it.