Happy Here and Now

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  October 14, 2009

  jimrin

  Interesting story about trying to find someone you love.

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  September 12, 2009

  WitchfulThinking

  

  Liane Balaban

  ...( read more)> - Happy Here And Now
  
  Happy Here and Now 2002.
  
  Written and directed by Michael Almereyda
  
  With Clarence Williams III, David Arquette (who co-produced), Ally Sheedy, former super model Shalom Harlow, model Gloria Reuben, Karl Geary and rhythm and blues star Ernie K-Doe.
  
  Happy Here and Now is a surrealistic satire in which a young woman tries to find her missing sister by investigating eccentric New Orleans characters who are entangled in a web of cyber-intrigue.
  
  This movie is unusual in its story telling structure. It guides us through a netherworld of oddball people, their weird behavior and strange gadgets via a series of vignettes that are ultimately connected.
  
  In this quirky odyssey, Canadian actress Liane Balaban plays Amelia. She has come to New Orleans to locate a missing sister who has erased every trace of herself. Clarence Williams III plays a limping ex CIA agent with an unexplained leg wound that just won't heal.
  
  Williams forensically dissects the sister's laptop hard drive. He finds traces of cryptic conversations held online with a poetic but sinister misfit (Karl Geary). The stranger uses a special technology to change his real-time appearance and country of origin on webcam-conference.
  
  Amelia attempts to determine the presence of a connection between the late night Internet chats and her sister's disappearance. She does so with Thomas' assistance by contacting Greary's puzzling character and conducting a fresh set of webcam conversations. What are his motives, what is he truly capable of? Why does he change his appearance and answer questions with questions?
  
  Did this enigmatic stranger lure Amelia's sister to her fate in a snuff film? Amelia must figure out how to trace and outwit him by playing a game of deception online.
  
  Throughout her quest for answers, Amelia encounters a cascade of artistic dilettantes. One of several exceptions is the real-life Ernie K-Doe, famous for his 1961 number one hit, "Mother-in -Law," who appears as himself in his actual New Orleans club.
  
  Nearly all of the characters are in some way unknowingly interconnected via a subplot orchestrated by David Arquette's character, Eddie Mars. Mars is a creatively misguided, self-employed exterminator who entwines the protagonists via a film project. It is a soft-porn, direct-to-digital Internet film about a time traveling Nicola Tesla. (And there might be some termites and a spherical fire breaking out in a space station, he hasn't decided yet.))
  
  is a dream-like atmosphere piece which artfully combines unusual visual and acoustic elements. It highlights a smattering of New Orleans lore and culture. Thomas' character weaves a narrative of local lore as the camera pans by local cemeteries, barbecue joints, The Napoleon House, and a few other unconventional landmarks. We get a nice sample of New Orleans homes and interiors, blues clubs, fauna, and steamy avenues by streetlight. Odd characters such as man wearing Napoleonic clothing wander the streets.
  
  The conclusion, while not a blockbuster of revelation, amusingly ties all of the characters and vignettes together.
  
  The film is open-ended as to its message. Enthusiasts of movies that conclude with a concrete sense of finality should look to Happy Here and Now as being a piece that is intended to inspire the imagination.
  
  The film features musician, performance artist and electronics whiz "Quintron" (Robert Rolston's stage name) as himself. Quintron has distinguished himself in arcane circles for among other things, inventing clever but peculiar electronic musical instruments. One of his Tesla coils is featured in the film.
  
  "Strange by even its director's ultra-eccentric standards, Happy Here and Now takes Michael Almereyda's usual reality-blurring, video-mediated experimentation to what the f*** new levels..." -David Ng, The Village Voice, December 6, 2005
  
  MGM DVD.

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  August 31, 2009

  sleepykiss

  Started out promising with some interesting character studies & great shots of the real New Orleans pre-Katrina, but not much of a story. Just as I became interested in the characters, it ended. See Ally Sheedy in HIGH ART for her best performance yet.

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• Ally Sheedy
• Clarence Williams III
• David Arquette
• Gloria Reuben
• Isabel Gillies
• Josephine Martin
• Karl Geary
• Liane Balaban
• Nic Ratner

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• Which word is missing that will complete these 5 movie titles? _____ Feet (2006) _____ Gilmore (1996) _____ Here and Now (2005) Girl _____ (1965) Samuel Beckett's _____ Days (1980)   Answer »

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