Nostalgia
afflicts all of us occasionally. Sometimes we even feel it for an era we never
experienced. I’m a fan of ‘40s noir, for example, and “miss” aspects of that
decade in America (not the reprehensible aspects, of course) even though it was
before I was born. Woody Allen explored the same idea in Midnight in Paris in which a 21st century young man is
transported to the 1920s Paris of Hemingway, the Fitzgeralds, and Gertrude
Stein. The feeling has more force, however, with regard to events we have
experienced. I suffered (which is to say enjoyed) three nostalgia attacks of
the latter kind this month. I recommend all three to varying degrees. For
readers much younger than I, the three sources perhaps still can trigger
nostalgia in the former way.
****
****
Bad Times at the El Royale (2018)
Bad Times at the
El Royale,
directed by Drew Goddard (The Cabin in
the Woods), is set (mostly) in 1969. Since Goddard was born in 1975, his
nostalgia for the ‘60s has the one-step-removed nature of mine for the ‘40s.
Nonetheless, he not only gets small details right, he more importantly gets the
feel right, which most modern takes on the decade do not.
The
El Royale Hotel/Motel straddles the California/Nevada border. In the 1950s it had
been kitschy but fashionable and drew celebrity guests. By 1969, however, it
has sunk from tawdry to tatty. The hotel has lost its casino license and nearly
all of its customers. The clerk seems surprised when any show up at all. The several
that show up on a single day prove more than he can handle. Jeff Bridges is an ex-con
posing as a priest. He had buried money from a robbery under the floorboards of
one of the rooms back in the 1950s. After Dakota Johnson checks in, she drags
into her room a younger woman (Cailee Spaeny) whom she appears to be holding hostage,
but things are not quite what they seem. Nor is the young woman. Another guest
is Cynthia Arivo who has plans to be a solo singer after previously singing
Motown backup. Chris Hemsworth (not a guest per
se, but present in the film) is a dangerous cult-leader with charisma that
Charlie Manson could only wish to have. A fellow who appears to be an obnoxious
salesman is actually (not a spoiler: it is an early reveal) an FBI agent; the
hotel, it turns out, has been designed to surveil on guests with microphones
and one-way mirrors. The clerk, who has assisted with the surveillance, is a
troubled man.
Bad Times at the
El Royale
unfolds leisurely for 2 hours and 21 minutes. This is not from sloppy editing
however. Goddard wants us to understand the characters. We do, and we empathize
with several of them even though all are morally compromised to varying degrees.
The presentation is nonlinear: we get backstories for the characters in
flashbacks and overlapping perspectives. Suspense interspersed by moments of violence
throughout the movie keep it from dragging. Everything is helped by a
first rate cast.
This
movie is surely not for everyone – definitely not for anyone with only a 5
minute attention span – but it has something to offer for viewers with a tad
more patience.
****
****
Blues
guitarist/singer/songwriter Samantha Fish still is more up-and-comer than
veteran, but she is close to the border. Her style is retro in a good way,
which is why audiences at her live shows are a jumble of ages from Generation Z
to… well… me. She performs a lot of original material, but her choice of covers
tells the tale. On her recent cover album Chills
and Fever (which followed the Wild
Heart album containing 10 originals) the title track was a hit for Tom
Jones in 1964, “Either Way I Lose” was a Nina Simone number, “He Did It” was
Jackie DeShannon, “Hello Stanger” was Barbara Lewis, Little Baby
was recorded by the Bristols, and so on. The sound may be throwback, but it
works.
Her
act is worth catching live, which is what I did last week at Sony Hall in New
York City. It was a sold out show and one of her usual fine performances with
an opening by Jonathan Long. The one drawback was the 7:00 PM time, which on a
weekday in NYC is a nightmare for traffic. By the time I got to the theater after
battling rush hour and parking delays, all
seats were taken and there was standing room only. That was fine for me, but
I’m glad I went alone and didn’t have to worry about an unhappy companion. One
cranky patron groused as he passed by me en
route to the exit, “I want to be comfortable!” It was the minority view,
however, and if Samantha comes to your town I recommend dropping in and staying, whether in
a seat or on your feet.
****
****
After the Saucers Landed by Douglas Lain
The
year is 1992 – an alternative 1992 in which Pleideans (as Lain chooses to spell
Pleiadeans: probably just so he could snicker at someone who corrected the
spelling for fictional entities) had landed the previous year. Their appearance
and that of their ships are simultaneously reassuring and disappointing.
Straight out of 50s-70s B movies, they are attractive Nordics in sequined
jumpsuits who spout New Age philosophy. They shake hands with George H. W. Bush
on the White House lawn. Ultimately, after the initial surprise wears off, the
aliens don’t seem very interesting and so most people don’t take much interest
in them. The Pleideans hint, however, that perhaps earthlings themselves
determined the alien appearance and influenced the presentation of their philosphy.
The novel is full of affectionate pop culture references from the last half of
the 20th century, and most especially from the 90s.
I
expected rather less of this book than it turned out to have. I expected lightweight
absurdist humor and a parody of old cheesy scifi, but while there is some of
that I mostly got metafiction. The parody, to the extent there is parody, is of
current academic notions about culture in general.
The
narrator of the novel is professor of English Brian Johnson, who both made and
damaged his career by collaborating with UFO researcher Harold Flint. All their
previous work seems to have been made meaningless when the saucers land. Brian
renews his interest and tries to reengage Harold, however, when a Pleidean
woman named Asket assumes the persona of his wife Virginia. All the Pleideans,
it seems, are able to assume other identities and actually to switch bodies.
Identity, Asket explains, is just a matter of thought. The universe is
“imaginary.” Brian begins to believe there something dangerous in the
Pleideans’ airy message. He fears for his own identity.
After the Saucers
Landed
does have a plot. There is a story arc from a start to a finish, but along the
way there is much philosophizing of the sort one is likely to hear most often in a college
dorm – especially if enhanced by certain herbal applications. If you don’t mind this (or
might even be nostalgic for it), Lain’s book will be enjoyable enough. Besides,
the 90s were a good decade even in an alternate universe.
Trailer for Bad Times at the El Royale
I've not seen El Royale though from the trailer seems like a film influenced by the Coen brothers, which I tend to enjoy. The reviews have been a bit mixed, and that's probably due to the length, etc. Here lately my cable has been offering a freebie of premium channels to induce one to perhaps subscribe. I assume Netflix is giving all that a run for the money. At any rate I won't subscribe, but I appreciate the freebie. Many of the films I've seen before or have no interest however. As Bruce Springsteen sang: 57 Channels and Nothings On. :) But I have seen some pretty good film.
ReplyDeleteIf going into Dallas wasn't such a chore, and my vision wasn't acting up so badly at night, I might try and do more concerts over there, but yeah, I really need to get another eye exam (plus I have cataracts too) plus it is a heck of an effort.
The attention to detail in the film is astonishing – and so natural to the setting that it is easy to miss. Except for a couple of wide outside shots to establish the authenticity of the location (for which an actual motel was used) Goddard built a 60,000-square-foot motel on the sound stage with the desired floor plan and complete with a parking lot so the shooting could be seamless. If this hadn’t been mentioned in the DVD’s extra features I’d never have guessed. Even little things such as the key rings (shaped like California or Nevada depending on which side of the line the rooms are) were custom made for the set. The film is noir, and the 60s were the last decade in which you can place a noir film without it being “neo-noir.” If you like the genre you’ll probably like this example of it. If you are neutral about the genre, you might find it a bit long. The soundtrack is great.
DeleteYes, I’m less motivated to make those efforts than I used to be, too.