Back to the Future (1985, PG)

*Premise spoilers.*

Confession time: I had never seen this movie before. There’s a huge swathe of cultural touchstone films that were just a little before my time that I’ve never gotten around to. The Back to the Future trilogy was one of them, along with movies like Indiana Jones, Jaws, and nearly every John Hughes movie. At any rate, I’m starting to rectify at least one of those today.

Marty is perplexed when his friend, the eccentric scientist Doc Brown, insists on meeting him in a parking lot at 1:00 in the morning. It turns out, Doc has invented the first time machine! The initial tests are disrupted in a serious way, and Marty is forced to flee, inadvertently using the time machine to send himself back to the 1950s. One well-meaning mishap later, and he’s left scrambling to help his teenage parents fall in love to ensure his own birth.

I had a lot of fun here. The film shows its age in a number of ways—from the endearing but hokey-looking practical effects to the love interest who feels like she exists purely to be Marty’s girlfriend—but it takes a tried-and-true time travel premise and packages it in an easy, entertaining story for mass appeal. The “make one mistake in the past and you might never be born!” scenario is a classic, along with Marty having to seek out help from the 1950s Doc, who’s eager to pitch in but adamant that Marty not give him any information about the future.

It's a (very light) sci-fi story, but it’s also a story about Marty and his family. Back in his own time, he’s been trying to figure out how to take up space for himself and go after what he wants. He feels very misunderstood, including by his parents. When he travels to the ‘50s and meets his parents’ younger selves, he gains a whole new perspective on them. He learns things about them that he’d never known before and connects with them in new ways—seeing his vibrant young mother makes him long to prevent her sadness and apathy in the future, and as an aspiring musician, he’s floored to discover that his young father writes sci-fi stories.

All in all, the film has a strong blend of comedy, action, suspense, and romance. It spins a fun yarn, led by its likable everyman and his kooky mentor. Michael J. Fox is terrific as Marty, veering easily from perplexed to panicked to empathetic to full of misguided confidence as the plot demands. It’s amusing to watch him “invent” the skateboard in the ‘50s or realize with horror that his young mother has a crush on him. Meanwhile, Christopher Lloyd is pretty much in his quintessential role here as Doc, full of energy, nonsense, and offbeat warmth. He and Fox make a fantastic duo together, to the point that you nearly forget to wonder why this teenage boy is friends with this old man. Marty’s parents are nicely played by Lea Thompson and Crispin Glover—in the opening scenes, I was really confused when I realized Glover was playing Marty’s dad, since he wouldn’t have been nearly old enough in 1985, but then I twigged that the old-age makeup in the present meant the grown-up characters would be played by the same actors in the ‘50s.

One final note: it’s been a while since I watched a film that highlights the weirdness of the pre-PG-13 era. This is a PG-rated film with an attempted rape scene, yikes!

Warnings

Sexual references, violence (including attempted rape,) language (more than you’d hear in a PG-rated movie today, curses like “asshole” and “son of a bitch,”) drinking/smoking/drug references, and a cheap “Arab menace” plot device.

Other Doctor Lives / The Book of Rannells: Big Mouth: Season 6, Episode 5 – “Andrew’s Gonna Touch a Boob Tonight” (2022)

 

Like I said earlier, it took me more than one episode to realize that Peter Capaldi was in this season of Big Mouth. After watching this one, I was looking on IMDb to see who voiced one of the other characters and was pretty stunned to see Capaldi’s name attached to Seamus—I hadn’t recognized his voice at all!

In this episode, three of the boys are looking to make big moves, as they all detail in song (naturally.) I’d thought Nick was over idealizing his dad’s toxically masculine past, but apparently not—he makes a plan to go to Staten Island to meet his “real man” of a grandpa. Andrew is thrilled when his girlfriend Bernie comes to town for dinner, because, as per the episode title, “Andrew’s gonna touch a boob tonight!” And Jay goes all out for his and Matthew’s one-month anniversary.

Despite the shallow set-up, Andrew’s storyline is pretty good. I love that Bernie is just as eager as he is, and Kristen Schaal’s delivery is great as she wonders when they can “move it upstairs and mammogram each other raw.” But while the night doesn’t go as planned, it’s not the usual disaster of Andrew’s own making. Instead, there’s a lot going on over dinner that, impossible as it may seem, takes precedence over boob-touching, no matter how much he might wish otherwise.

While previous Jay-and-Matthew plots have been from a little more Matthew’s perspective, this one squarely follows Jay. In a way, that’s nice, because we get a little more about how he actually feels about Matthew. As his sex cushions advise him on his anniversary plans, Jay says, “Ooh, I really don’t think he’s a fuck fort kind of guy. He’s, like, super fancy and clean.” It’s been obvious throughout the series that Jay really isn’t used to people caring about him, and that comes out here in his desire to impress Matthew. Also, his reaction to Matthew giving him a present is hilarious.

But as a result, Matthew is again more reactive in the plot, by turns charmed by Jay’s efforts and weirded out by certain developments over the course of the evening. While I always wish for more for him, Andrew Rannells simply does not give bad line readings. I love when Jay exclaims, “Oh my god! Did you get me a gay present?”, and Matthew replies, “Uh, just a regular present.” And as things get increasingly bonkers, his reactions are fantastic. I know that a lot of voice acting these days is all recorded separately, but you can really feel the chemistry, both romantic and comedic, between Rannells and Jay Mantzoukas.

After getting a quick glimpse of him in flashbacks in episode 2, this episode gives us our proper introduction to Nick’s paternal grandpa Seamus—or as Rick puts it, “I can’t believe we’re gonna meet the penis that made your dad!” This show has always beaten the drum in opposition to toxic masculinity, so it’s no surprise that things do not go the way Nick was hoping.

At first, Seamus seems like everything Nick wants, brash and macho and swaggering. But as Nick spends time in his grandpa’s moldering wreck of a home, it isn’t long before 1) he realizes this is not the kind of life he wants for himself and 2) Seamus mocks him cruelly for it. It all gets pretty gross, emotionally as well as physically.

Like I said, I didn’t recognize Peter Capaldi’s voice at all, which was impressive. In my experience, his characters pretty much always sound like him, accent work notwithstanding. The Scottishness is cranked up to eleven here, and he has a haggard quality in his voice, a mean old man running on bluster and spite. Everything we’ve seen so far of this character is horrible, but Capaldi does have a few good line readings in here. I especially liked, “You have a gun? Shoot me in the teat! I won’t feel a thing!” (I swear it makes sense in context,) and, “Well, I’ll be a dad of a bitch.”

Favorite Characters: Vel Sartha (Andor)

*Vel-related spoilers.*

Another day, another favorite character from Andor. However long it takes before we get season 2, I swear there’s enough to keep me talking until then. Vel is such a neat character because of the layers that get peeled back on her over the course of the season.

When Luthen drops off Cassian on Aldhani, having gotten him to agree to a one-off Rebel mission, Vel is the one heading the operation. She’s aggravated with Luthen for dumping a new person in their lap at the last minute, but she goes along with it, defending Cassian against the rest of the group’s suspicions.

We soon learn that, for all of Vel’s hard edges and commanding nature, she’s never actually done anything like this before. Politics are one thing, physically infiltrating and robbing an Imperial outpost is quite another. Like the others in the group, she’s rich in ideals but lacking in experience and knowhow. She’s focused enough on the greater good that, when she recognizes Cassian’s skill and knowledge, she allows him to take on a key role in the mission, despite his own cynicism about the cause. She’s not above letting personal issues distract her—she steps in real quick when she thinks Cassian is getting too friendly with Cinta—but overall, the mission comes before anything else.

When it comes time for the heist, Vel’s careful planning and drills pay off tactically, but taking the leap and really doing it is still difficult. I love the long, tense “now or never” moment when all the Rebels are waiting for Vel to take them past the point of no return. People on the comms are urging her to push forward, and beside her, Cinta is waiting, but for a moment, Vel is paralyzed and can’t bring herself to act.

Once she does take that step forward, we simultaneously see how capably she steps up and how terrified she is the whole time. As they take an officer and his family hostage, that commanding nature comes to the fore, but we can feel the undercurrent of “oh my god, what am I doing?” running through it. From the moment she and Cinta part ways to play their individual roles, there’s a piece of Vel that’s continually worried about her lover’s safety and wanting to check in and make sure she’s okay.

The first time we see Vel post-Aldhani, I had to do a double take. I’d gotten used to seeing her in Aldhani shepherd gear, practical clothes for rough living among the elements. Unglamorous and ready for action. By contrast, back on Coruscant, I hardly recognized her in her stylish ensemble complete with jewelry and flowing hair. She looks like she’s attempting to be undercover, but this is the sort of society she actually comes from, a wealthy young woman who’s decided to be part of something bigger. While Mon Mothma—who’s later revealed to be her cousin(!)—is at this point aiding the Rebellion by funding it, hosting lavish parties and schmoozing the galaxy’s elites to bankroll the Empire’s future downfall, Vel took the route of becoming an on-the-ground Rebel herself, fighting for the cause.

The contrast is fascinating. Is Vel a bored rich girl who’s essentially roleplaying as a Rebel? Does she want to have her cake and eat it too, going off on exciting missions and then returning home to her pampered life? Or is she really playing an act in the world she comes from, making appearances to preserve her cover while longing to get back to what really matters? Over the course of the season, she variously serves as a foil for Cassian, Mon Mothma, and Cinta, each time providing us important information about those characters while also deepening our understanding of her.

What’s next for Vel? I’m eager to find out!