Palm Springs đ´
Happy Monday! I hope you had a terrific weekend.
Todayâs movie is Palm Springs (2020)âstreaming on Hulu. I was fortunate enough to see this Lonely Island-produced romantic comedyâs world premiere at this yearâs Sundance Film Festival in January (in another world). Hulu and indie distributor Neon nabbed distribution rights for a record-breaking $17.5 million. It became the highest acquisition from Sundance by just $0.69âand thatâs no joke.
Hereâs what itâs about: When carefree Nyles (Andy Samberg) and reluctant maid of honor Sarah (Christin Millioti) have a chance encounter at a Palm Springs wedding, they donât realize that their one-night stand is going to be a lot longer than they thought. [Trailer // 90 mins]
Why you should watch it: The time loop movie has been done countless times across multiple genresâmost famously the Bill Murray comedy Groundhog Day. Itâs a genre in and of itself that seems like it couldnât be made new again. However, director Max Barbakow finds something fresh with Palm Springs. While the movie is certainly a playful romp, it has an engrossing plot and complete character arcs that are made even more interesting by the time loop.
As the movie trudges forward through multiple upbeat montages, it takes time to slow down and spend real time getting to know Nyles and Sarah. Not only is it hilarious with rarely a minute without a joke, it never gets repetitive or boring. Which is a feat considering the entire plot is about a single day repeating over and over again. Itâs not surprising this sold for such a large sum because this feels like a classic broad romantic comedy in the making. For all its ridiculousness and trademark Lonely Island shenanigans, the movie has a strong beating heart. [Full review]
đş Palm Springs is streaming exclusively on Hulu.
Pair it with đˇ
Set it Up: In a play on the classic The Parent Trap formula, Set it Up follows two burnt-out assistants (Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell) who hatch a plan to get their respective bosses (Lucy Liu and Taye Diggs) off their backs by getting them to fall in love with each other. Of course, that takes a lot of time, energy, and dollar slices of pizza â all the necessary elements to fall in love. [Where to watch]
Make this week a life-changing one.
See you Thursday â
Karl (@karl_delo)