devgibbs Reviews

See You Yesterday (2019)

Spoilers YOU need to understand this film

[10/10 · 7 June 2024]

Every review here got it wrong. They didn't pay attention to the details.

MJF sets up the Premise. "If time travel were possible, it would be the greatest ethical and philosophical conundrum of the modern age. If you had that kind of power, what would you do? What would you change?" That's incredibly deep, but everyone got caught up in "Great Scott!" and missed the whole point of the movie.

Time Travel always has movie rules. Forget reality and other movies. The starting rules here are that CJ can go back in time a maximum of one day for 10 minutes.

Part of life in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, is a recent police shooting of Frances Pierre and CJ has his name on the tip of her tongue. She's knows what life is like here and she's angry. Calvin is seething and purposefully defiant. The whole neighborhood is dealing with the reality of recent events and the world they live in. In fact, there's rioting, just like George Floyd in 2020. Except this movie was made in 2019... Talk about time travel! Or... it's inevitable, trading the Calvins for the Sebastians.

So... what do you change if you're CJ? Kill Hitler? Win the lottery? Both common time travel themes. But what actually affects her daily life most? Hmm.

And remember, CJ can't go back farther than a day. So she has to act quickly when it matters. Not for broken arms. That moment is gone.

It's now the 4th of July and an unarmed Calvin is killed by the police. The funeral takes more than a day. CJ can't save her brother, until in a low-key eureka moment CJ invents a way to amp up her time machine to travel back in time up to a week, maybe.

The newspaper gives the details. The shooting was four days ago. The robbery happened at 5:35 p.m. Still a 10 minute window of opportunity. Off to the garage, where the computers and laptops and VR headsets and tools come in handy to upgrade the backpacks. Success!

No, wait. Failure! Too late! Or one black man is saved only for another to die. It doesn't matter who. It's inevitable. If not them, then George Floyd or Calvin or Sebastian or insert name here.

Time for a second upgrade. A quantum circuit board with obscene energy capacity to splice time and create a virtual reset of all previous time jumps into the same day.

Failure and more death. One backpack is destroyed. Another funeral. Calvin can feel his karma. He is meant to die, to be a martyr. CJ isn't the hero, he is.

How can CJ save Sebastian? And Calvin too? The remaining backpack isn't traveling well. Time for a third upgrade. More VR in the garage. The garage! Pay attention!

Success! Let's go Sebastian! 7:45 min to get to Calvin and save him too! This rescue scene actually takes 5 min of film time. But oh, no! Failure again! The scene is cut as this dynamic duo jump from the ground and run from the police right before their 10 min window closes and they're back in the garage.

CJ catches Sebastian up on what he's missed while dead, and unsurprisingly, Sebastian has lost his interest in time travel and saving another man's life, only to lose his own.

But not CJ! Did you miss it? She will die trying! She tricks Sebastian, locking him out of the garage, and disappears into yesterday, technically 4 yesterdays.

The garage door opens in a plume of smoke. The lab is destroyed! The computers, the VR, even the backpacks are a broken mess. It will definitely take longer than a week to repair all the equipment.

So, yes, there is no 3rd act, but all the clues are there. Do you want to see CJ die? She is not the martyr or the hero. She's the scientist observer turned meddler, about to meddle for the last time. This version of CJ is on a one-time, no more redos, suicide mission. This timeline will no longer have time travel because she's learned her lesson and the equipment is now completely destroyed.

She is going to take a bullet. There is no other way because someone always dies and she's a future version of herself.

Do you really need to see her run to the bodega and get shot? When Sebastian died, Calvin survived. So future CJ has got to go.

Watch it twice! You're welcome.

Shorts (2009)

Through the Eyes of a Child

[7/10 · 11 November 2009]

I saw this with my son (10) and his friend. I expected to fall asleep because of the poor reviews on IMDb, but to my happy surprise it awoke the inner child in me. The wishes were plausible for children and the FX were enjoyable. The two kids with me complained that they would have had better wishes than in the movie or about this and that, but they barely moved a muscle while it was playing, didn't ask for popcorn or snacks.

Overall, this is a great family film in the Disney vein of talking Herbie cars and other implausibilities that I loved as a child and am glad I saw with my child. Better than Spy Kids 2 or 3D, Shark Boy and Lava Girl.

The Girl of Your Dreams (1998)

A Spanish History Lesson

[8/10 · 26 August 2007]

Two years ago, the European Union was voting on its Constitution. While in Madrid, I asked a friend why Europe had finally decided to unify when Hitler wanted the very same thing and failed. He said, "You can't force people, but you can pretend to give them a choice and they will go with the flow." That is what "The Girl of My Dreams" is about. Made in 1998, joining the soon-to-be-formed EU was topical. Is this movie a warning by contrasting present with past? Was Spain once again going with the flow? Although the flow in 1940 Spain was Franco or death and unlike the fall of Nazism, Franco's regime lasted 40 years. What most people don't realize about Franco's Spain is how in-bed the dictator was with the Nazis, despite his neutrality. Over 10,000 Spaniards were sent to Nazi concentration camps. Survivors and their families are now attempting to repatriate, hoping to receive social security. And now, we learn from this movie that Spanish cinema became a small part of the Nazi propaganda machine. What other movie has given us this Spanish perspective? A troupe of Spanish actors head to Germany in a co-production effort, which has failure written all over it. The set and extras are sub-par until Goebbels gets involved and falls for Macarena (Penelope Cruz). Although Goebbels was a mastermind, a monster and a womanizer, I can believe he would fall for such a beautiful woman. He too was human.

The naive troupe soon learns first hand the horrors of Nazism. Spain is known for its gypsies and its persecutions of its natives and the gypsies and Jews are the extras in the movie. The comparison is not lost on Macarena. Her sympathy for Václav Passer, the Russian Jew, is a parallel of her father's plight. How could she not empathize? How could they not save each other? Any other ending would be tragic.

Maybe Francoism isn't so bad after all, they think. All of them desperately want to go home. Throughout the troupe acts like Spaniards. To the untrained eye, the viewer may think they are being trite or ridiculous, acting out a farce. I disagree. These are Spaniards being Spanish in a German world. There is a crucial scene where the troupe sits around a table and swears allegiance to Franco, but in name only. Their body language says otherwise, which you'll miss if you're reading subtitles.

The subtitles don't do justice to the dialogue or the actors. The ensemble cast is a who's who of Spanish cinema. And Penelope is affecting an Andalucian accent that is a joy to listen to. This is a very funny film with dark overtones, much like "Life is Beautiful," although not so tragic and yet the comedy works. Also, there are nods to great films and period pieces. Don't be fooled, dear reader, in thinking Spanish cinema is so trite as to try and rip off "Casablanca." (How could anyone think that? It's called a "nod".) Not to mention, how else do you escape Goebbels? The only way to watch this film, if you are not fluent in Spanish, is to watch it twice, once for the dialogue, once for the acting. Penelope has powerful scenes where her body language and tone should not be eclipsed by understanding her words. Goebbels doesn't speak Spanish but understands perfectly, which shows what a monster he is. Don't let his limp fool you.

Give the movie a chance, and if you are disappointed, it's not the movie's fault. You missed something crucial and historic. Go back and watch it again.