Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Palm Springs


Max Barbakow’s Palm Springs is a blatant Ground Hog Day rip- off. “I thought everything I will ever feel so I will never feel anything again,” says Nyles (Andy Samberg). He and Sarah (Christin Milloti) are caught in a “time loop” in which “this is today and tomorrow will be today.” Most of the action takes place at the wedding of Tala (Camila Mendes), Sarah’s younger sister whose husband to be, Abe (Tyler Hoechin), is already cheating. Palm Springs uses its futuristic conceit in the service of farce. Nyles and Sarah who fall in love want to escape the universe they’re in not only because of the nauseating déjà vu but because it’s so materialistic and fraudulent. In this sense they're a satiric trope of Winston Smith and Julia from l984 who form a bond based on trying to escape another form of tyranny.The other source of the humor will ring a bell with most viewers. The hyperbole nails the deadening routine of everyday life. The problem, as the old adage goes, you can write about boredom, but you don’t want to be boring. The same goes for movies. The art of a creating a film about unutterable repetition and entrapment lies in finding another dimension or piece of poetry that provides the cathartic release. For instance here are the last lines of Waiting for GodotVladimir: Well, shall we go? Estragon: Yes, let’s go. They do not move. Talk abou deja vu, act two ends with the same identical lines and stage direction as act one.

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