On Friday: ‘Nope,’ ‘Marcel the Shell With Shoes On’

Above : Jordan Peele’s “Nope” opens nationwide on Friday. (Photo/Universal Pictures)

I was introduced to Jordan Peele by a couple of friends. They were fans of Comedy Central’s “Key and Peele,” the series that Peele did with Keegan-Michael Key for five seasons.

Since “Key and Peele” ended in 2015, both have remained busy. Key has appeared in a number of movies and even was a host of “Saturday Night Live.”

Peele, on the other hand, has become a successful filmmaker. He followed his critically acclaimed 2017 thriller “Get Out” with 2019’s other worldly “Us.”

And now we have “Nope,” which opens nationwide on Friday. You may have seen the trailers, which have been playing for months.

Certainly the critics have. Though at this point not much more, since no advance reviews – as of this writing – have been released.

Another film that opens on Friday opened across the country last week and has been reviewed. It’s titled “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On” and is a stop-action film directed by Dean Fleischer-Camp and featuring the voice of Jenny Slate.

Based on a series of YouTube short films that Fleischer-Camp and Slate produced, the feature is a story of the title character – a one-eyed mollusk that wears shoes – looking for his lost family.

Stephanie Zacharek of Time magazine wrote, “Its quiet tenderness feels expansive… proof that good things really do come in small exoskeletons.”

KiMi Robinson of the Arizona Republic added, “If a heartfelt summer comedy feels like something that the doctor ordered, then a healthy dose of ‘Marcel the Shell with Shoes On’ is just what you need.”

I’ll update as the week progresses.