Some jumbled thoughts on this modern sci-fi/horror classic:

- The Gordy sequence, as divergent as it may seem on the surface, is key to a large part of what Peele's getting at here. Jupe witnessed a sudden explosion of horrible carnage that no one could've expected or stopped--and he was spared. Gordy let him go, for some unknowable reason. "What's a bad miracle?". Peele makes a point of how this tragedy has only turned into monetary gain; nationwide infamy, a full Gordy museum attached to Jupe's office, an SNL parody that serves as the only way Jupe can really talk about the incident. And it's led him to believe he can brave the danger in the sky—and as we know, it doesn't turn out so well for him. Exploitation of tragedy, profit from disaster, hubris that leads us to think we can tame beasts beyond our control—these are all key themes to be found here.

- Nope feels indebted to a deep lineage of film history and rooted in a love of filmmaking, whether it's in the wide range of influences Peele draws from, or the Hollywood mythmaking on display throughout. Spielberg is an obvious comparison point (one that I made in my initial review), but he’s working in all kinds of iconography from '50s sci-fi to '80s horror to classic westerns. And there's also the acknowledgement of Black history in the very origins of cinema itself, and the love paid to cinematographers and below-the-line workers who dedicate so much to creating lasting images to be preserved forever.

- Above all, this is formally and conceptually inventive in ways that no sci-fi or horror film has been in years. There's so much evocative and memorable imagery in this; the vast open valleys of the ranch, a deeply unnerving and claustrophobic glimpse into an alien digestive system (which is likely the single scariest movie scene in years; the screams are chilling to the bone), a blood rain on a farmhouse, the design of the alien itself. It's image-making at its finest--not to mention how immersive and brilliant the sound design is. And Peele draws from the masters in his sheer command of craft, with a perfect handle on how to build suspense, withhold visual information until the right moment, and utilize every inch of the frame to pack in details. The spectacle of it all is so enveloping. It's a marvel of filmmaking, one that I found even more striking and singular on rewatch.