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Palm Springs (New Andy Samberg Time Loop Comedy)

Started by Small Man Big Horse, July 10, 2020, 06:22:51 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Small Man Big Horse

This was originally supposed to come out at the cinemas after Hulu paid $22 million for it at Sundance, but is now available to stream / download. A Groundhog Day-esque comedy, for a long old time I thought I was going to love it as Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti are trapped at a wedding, the first two thirds are a huge amount of fun and it makes good use of the old time loop concept, but the final third
Spoiler alert
is rather predictable and features the one cinema cliche I hate the most where the central couple fall out, everyone's a bit mopey, and then they get back together again
[close]
, and because the last half hour is largely disappointing compared to what came before I can only rate it 7.2/10

SavageHedgehog

These days I find I can only really take Samberg in small doses, but I do miss this kind of high concept comedy so I'll give it a go sometime.

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

I'm not fussed about originality, as long as a film is good, but copying such a distinctive premise seems like dodgy ground to be on. No matter how good it is, it's doomed to be thought of as a Groundhog Day rip off.

olliebean

This might just be me, but I thought the ending would have been massively improved if
Spoiler alert
it had ended at the point the screen went black, just after they'd done the thing they hoped would get them out of it - and it had been left up in the air whether it had worked, and if so what happened to them afterwards.
[close]
Also they ought to have cut the
Spoiler alert
mid-credits scene which was completely inconsistent with the goat having disappeared entirely from the loop.
[close]

But then, I tend to think too much about these things.

SteveDave

I enjoyed it for what it was and thought it was good that
Spoiler alert
"being good" or "doing the right thing" didn't get them out of the loop
[close]
. It was
Spoiler alert
SCIENCE!
[close]


Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: olliebean on July 10, 2020, 11:12:02 PM
Also they ought to have cut the
Spoiler alert
mid-credits scene which was completely inconsistent with the goat having disappeared entirely from the loop.
[close]

I thought that, and that it didn't make sense with what they'd set up before, so I'm glad I'm not alone on that.

olliebean

Turns out I didn't even notice the
Spoiler alert
dinosaurs in the final shot
[close]
, which suggests there's something more going on than
Spoiler alert
them just escaping the loop and carrying on living their lives in the normal world.
[close]

steveh

Watched this on Saturday as it's now turned up on Prime in the UK and rather liked it. Had no idea what it was about before I started it, which maybe helped. Yes the premise has been done better before, yes it has some creaky tropes but as fun Saturday night film it hit the spot.

Ferris

Watched it last week - yeah it were surprisingly good. The concept of
Spoiler alert
JK Simmons' character
[close]
was a clever expansion of the classic time loop thing.

phantom_power

I really enjoyed it as well. It is a different take on the subject, though it does tread familiar ground. I also like that the female lead was a strong character rather than just a trope of "whiny girlfriend" or "sensible person who teaches the goofball to grow up" and that she actually puts some hard work in and solves the problem, and that Samberg's character is called out on his sadboi persona

mjwilson

Quote from: olliebean on July 12, 2020, 09:48:53 AM
Turns out I didn't even notice the
Spoiler alert
dinosaurs in the final shot
[close]
, which suggests there's something more going on than
Spoiler alert
them just escaping the loop and carrying on living their lives in the normal world.
[close]

I would never have noticed that (on a TV screen at least)

rude soil

#11
My ideas for future comedy time loop films:

1. The same as this film but
Spoiler alert
when the couple get out at the end
[close]
they don't have the memories of being together. The last five minutes of the film is the small talk they have with each other at future weddings.
2. The same as this film but Sarah escapes the time loop when she gets hit by the lorry after they have sex. A Sarah still exists in Nyles universe but she's not a part of the time loop. So there's a time loop loop where Nyles brings Sarah into the time loop -> They fall in love -> Sarah leaves his universe -> repeat.
3. Groundhog Day

Dex Sawash

Quote from: olliebean on July 10, 2020, 11:12:02 PM
This might just be me, but I thought the ending would have been massively improved if
Spoiler alert
it had ended at the point the screen went black, just after they'd done the thing they hoped would get them out of it - and it had been left up in the air whether it had worked, and if so what happened to them afterwards.
[close]

I thought the same thing



Quote from: olliebean on July 10, 2020, 11:12:02 PM
mid-credits scene

fucksake, have to watch credits now

Dex Sawash

BTW, never seen groundhog day, should I skip that now?


Fry

(Spoilers below)

I had not heard of this film before but I'm happy to watch Samberg in just about anything, so It was a treat having this pop up on a Sunday evening when I had nothing to do. Enjoyed it well enough, the first two-thirds were breezy high concept fun. Characters were likable and funny enough and I never checked the clock once which is pretty much gives it a 1 on the good/bad movie binary. Felt the ending was a little too easy, I agree with the people who said perhaps they should have gone back to not remembering anything that happened, or to have them finally get the sweet release of death.  The film was just cynical enough to get away with something more bittersweet really. The straight happy ending felt a little bit rote.

But yeah worth a watch.

notjosh

Anyone on the lookout for more timeloops in the Groundhog Day mould, should check out Edge of Tomorrow (sci-fi action), Happy Death Day (irreverent slasher) or Russian Doll (Netflix miniseries with Natasha Lyonne). Source Code isn't bad either, though it's not technically a timeloop.

Also have a look at 12:01, a short film based on a short story which arguably provided the template for the whole 'genre'.

phantom_power

Don't watch Boss Level though (dull actioner with added Mel Gibson) because it is shit

olliebean

There's also the Oscar-nominated short Two Distant Strangers which has just turned up on Netflix.

Jerzy Bondov

There is also Map of Tiny Perfect Things, which is like the John Green version of Palm Springs. It's not bad.

I loved Cristin Milioti in this, thought she was really funny.

notjosh

Quote from: Jerzy Bondov on April 13, 2021, 12:53:09 PM
There is also Map of Tiny Perfect Things, which is like the John Green version of Palm Springs. It's not bad.

I'll check it out. Zoey Deutch was in a young adult one called Before I Fall which had some interesting moments, but generally a bit bleak with a pretty juvenile portrayal of someone with mental health issues and a fairly iffy conclusion given the audience:
Spoiler alert
unable to save a bullied girl from committing suicide at the end of every loop, the protagonist commits suicide in her place, thus terminating the loop.
[close]

mothman

Quote from: notjosh on April 13, 2021, 10:00:24 AM
Also have a look at 12:01, a short film based on a short story which arguably provided the template for the whole 'genre'.

Don't watch the full-length remake, which is shite.

greenman

Quote from: rude soil on April 12, 2021, 10:46:36 PM
My ideas for future comedy time loop films:

1. The same as this film but
Spoiler alert
when the couple get out at the end
[close]
they don't have the memories of being together. The last five minutes of the film is the small talk they have with each other at future weddings.
2. The same as this film but Sarah escapes the time loop when she gets hit by the lorry after they have sex. A Sarah still exists in Nyles universe but she's not a part of the time loop. So there's a time loop loop where Nyles brings Sarah into the time loop -> They fall in love -> Sarah leaves his universe -> repeat.
3. Groundhog Day

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind arguably did the first already.

I spose you could argue this ending up pretty much a direct lift from Groundhog Day despite some hints earlier it may take things in a different direction but it managed to pull it off pretty well, not as good as the original perhaps being IMHO a bit too dependant on twists over just building drama but still better than most copy cats.

Shaky

Quote from: notjosh on April 13, 2021, 10:00:24 AM
Also have a look at 12:01, a short film based on a short story which arguably provided the template for the whole 'genre'.

Yeah, watched this again recently and it's still brilliant. Genuinely disturbing as well.

rude soil

Also, I think this is the first film appearance of Conner O'Malley (Joe Pera + Youtube).

dissolute ocelot

Just watched this and found it a bit disappointing. Maybe part of the problem was starting long after the time loop began, rather than providing the run-up, combined with Samberg's nonchalance. It was all just too blasé, like nothing really mattered. There was stuff about the characters' back stories that was mentioned but not properly explored, like how Sarah
Spoiler alert
was fucking the groom
[close]
and more generally her relationship with her sister, and Nyles' (Samberg) relationship with his girlfriend. Not that I want a big emotional scene where everything is set right and everyone resolves to be a good person and get married immediately, but it would be better to have more of a sense of who all these people are and what their relationship is, and it's nice to see dicks get their comeuppance in more than a half second long way. And also the ending -
Spoiler alert
the fact that the scheme of blowing themselves up worked
[close]
- also make it seem very easy and pat and trivial, barely more than a sitcom episode.

Even Happy Death Day 2U which was also a bit sitcommy (compared to the emotional scenes, horror, and jokes of the original) had a bit more plot to it. Happy Death Day also had an urgency where she couldn't just loop forever which added something to the formula. Here, Simmons is fun, and there are amusing bits, but for me it wasn't overall particularly funny either (I don't mind Samberg, and like Brooklyn-99, but equally I'm not his biggest fan). Still, passes 90 minute amiably.

greenman

Quote from: dissolute ocelot on April 14, 2021, 11:50:52 AM
Just watched this and found it a bit disappointing. Maybe part of the problem was starting long after the time loop began, rather than providing the run-up, combined with Samberg's nonchalance. It was all just too blasé, like nothing really mattered. There was stuff about the characters' back stories that was mentioned but not properly explored, like how Sarah
Spoiler alert
was fucking the groom
[close]
and more generally her relationship with her sister, and Nyles' (Samberg) relationship with his girlfriend. Not that I want a big emotional scene where everything is set right and everyone resolves to be a good person and get married immediately, but it would be better to have more of a sense of who all these people are and what their relationship is, and it's nice to see dicks get their comeuppance in more than a half second long way. And also the ending -
Spoiler alert
the fact that the scheme of blowing themselves up worked
[close]
- also make it seem very easy and pat and trivial, barely more than a sitcom episode.

I suspect idea for the whole thing might have been going back to the original Groundhog Day script that jumps into Phil already trapped in the loop.

I thought it could have followed up a bit more on the idea Samberg has been in the loop so long he's almost forgotten his past life, they could have played up a bit more than really he's justified in being scared to leave as its all he's known for so long. That would have been something a bit different to Groundhog Day and indeed something people have often mentioned, that Phil would not find it easy to adjust back to a normal life.

phantom_power

I think that would be difficult to do in the light comedy that this film generally is. There are lots of things you could do with the premise but I think in the genre this film is meant to be in it does a pretty good job of distinguishing itself. I liked that it started well into the plot rather than having a load of set-up. We know how these things work now. And having other people join the loop was interesting as well