Time After Time
1979
San Francisco, California
Nicholas Meyer
Sci-Fi Thriller
What’s it all about: A children’s movie about a time-traveling prostitute killer. David Warner reimagines Jack the Ripper as an intense hippie and disco swinger. Malcolm McDowell may actually be Kate McKinnon visiting from the future.
First Encounter: HBO as a child; Candotti’s first viewing
Prostitute Index: high
Death By: Jack the Ripper
Relics: Mickey Mouse phone; sitting with strangers at McDonald’s; “dike” “gypped” and “rape” in casual dialogue; daily newspaper as plot device
Hoops: the female lead pointing out that she’s an independent woman; a hero and villain who play chess; running over a garbage can at the end of a driveway; arriving somewhere by streetcar in San Francisco
Heartthrob: Shirley Marchant
Pass/Fails the Test of Time: Mary Steenburgen
LoFi Magic: glass elevator chase scene; 1D special effects for time travel
Makes me want to: visit San Francisco when nobody’s around
Candotti take: One looks like Javier Bardem in a blonde wig. Javier Biden. The other looks like young Sting escaping LiveAid in the 80s to come back to the 70s wearing a mustache, trying to solve another problem with another prostitute.
Worth a watch/rewatch: Yes
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