2024 - HERE, today gone tomorrow

Took me all night to think of that title which is probably more time spent on that then on the script for this film.  The most depressing aspect of this film is the ongoing downhill slide of the career of the director Robert Zemeckis.  At one time he was a reliable provider of entertaining films like Used Cars, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Romancing the Stone, Back to the Future and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

 

But into the 1990's Zemeckis began to embrace cutting edge film technology.  The flaw of this approach was a failure to see the weaknesses in the scripts and stories at the expense of the visual effects he loaded his films up with.  This resulted in some disappointing films like, Forrest Gump, A Christmas Carol, Pinocchio, Welcome to Marwin and the very strange Beowulf.  Here almost seems like a summation of the worst aspects of his film making style.  Interesting and sometimes amazing technical achievements and a complete failure in the storytelling department. 

 

Here isn't the worst film I've seen but for all it's razzle dazzle special effects junk it's bad.  The decision to shoot with only one camera angle robbed Zemeckis of his ability to edit the film, use the tools of the close up, the pan, the moving camera and the long shot.  Having the actors walk towards the camera appeared to be the solution for the close up but that came off like a poor 3-D gimmick.  For all the special effects of traveling through time to different eras using split screens and what not it just became a cheap gimmick.

The de-ageing software used to create younger versions of Tom Hanks and Robin Wright still has a long way to go, they look like cartoon versions of their younger selves.  It sure didn't help their performances. It's like watching an animated versions of themselves, exaggerated and ridiculous.  In fact the whole film has a weird phony look to it.  Zemeckis and his team should have spent more time on the characters and less time in the computer rendering department.

At the time of release this film was understandably clobbered by the critics.  If this is the future of film, the viewer should prepare for a wave of very mediocre AI films.

Written by Eric Roth and Robert Zemeckis, the running time is 104 minutes.

1980 - USED CARS, Robert Zemeckis best film

This is one funny black comedy.  The film which was written by Robert Zemeckis and his writing partner Robert Gale centers around the battle between two very sleazy used car dealers.  If the film wasn't so likeable and funny I hate to think how it could have turned out.

 

Kurt Russell is the lead salesman going to war against Jack Warden. Russell is ably assisted by Gerritt Graham and Frank McRae.  Also in some crazy casting choices, Al (Grandpa) Lewis shows up as a judge,  Dub Taylor is a slimy politician and blink and you'll miss him,  everyone's genre favorite actor Dick Miller.

 

This is probably the best film Robert Zemeckis made.  His career has seemed to degenerate into a series of overblown special effects films lacking the wit and fun that he brought to this film.

Running time 113 minutes.

1988 - WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT, still looks pretty good.

An almost 25 year old film, technically this film still looks very impressive.  Who Framed Roger Rabbit has very good period detail and is a very well made film.

The integration of the cartoon characters with the live actors reached a new level of technical achievement with the camera actually moving around instead of the usual locked down single angle setup which had been the standard practice.  The actors were carefully cast, this was not a star vehicle the cartoon characters were the stars. 

If the story isn't exactly falling down funny it is clever and stays very true to 40's cartoon conventions and cliches, (pianos being dropped on people, characters running into walls etc).  

Although this was a Walt Disney production, animator Richard Williams was hired by the producer Steven Spielberg.  Williams despised the Disney corporation and refused to work at the studio so the animation was done in England. 

Written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman, the running time is 104 minutes.