That Writer's Guild of America award sure helped build back momentum for what, quite frankly was, the movie of the year: Jordan Peele's "Get Out." Yes, Peele's film is back in contention as a Best picture contender and my dark horse pick to win come Oscar evening. To say the movie is important would be an understatement, it is a product for and of its time, one of the most culturally important genre films to come around ever. A hybrid of horror, comedy, social commentary, the film was made on a scant $4.5 million budget and made more than $110 million domestically. The way the film dealt with the hypocrisy of white liberalism's tackling of race was not just eye-opening but immensely risk-taking. However, the film's greatest achievement was its showing of what it really felt like to be African-American, a sort of forced empathy that resonated deeply as we looked at the world through the eyes of Daniel Kaluuya's African-American and suddenly we saw the world in in whole a new perspective we never thought to be possible. That's the magic of cinema. Plus, it was just so damn funny and strange.
One year later, the conversation continues. And to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Get Out, AMC theaters has decided to re-release it to theaters on February 19, for one day only, just a handful of days shy of the film's one year anniversary (February 24). And to boot, that’s a Monday and, yes, that’s President’s Day. Coincidence? I think not. So that all the people who would've voted for Obama a 3rd time can enjoy!
In a video shared on Peele's Twitter account, the writer-director had this to say about the event:
"It's been a year since Get Out opened in theaters. As a small thank you to the fans who made the film a success, Universal and I wanted to give something back."
Peele’s movie is one that greatly benefits from the theatrical experience, as he mentions, this is part of the reason why the film is being re-released:
“It’s all about that theatrical experience, so please go, enjoy it with other people, get ready to use your voices,” he said. “I don’t care if you’ve seen it one time, two times, three times, if you bring somebody who’s never seen it and you watch them watch it — whatever. You get to enjoy a free screening of “Get Out” this President’s Day.”
The film will be shown on President's Day at select AMC Theaters at 7 p.m.So far, 55 locations have marked themselves down as participating, according to the press release from Universal, some of the major cities included are Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, Philadelphia, San Diego, Washington, D.C. and more.
The tickets will be given on first come, first served basis. More info can be found on the film's website, which has been reconfigured for the President's Day event.