Boc @ 17/9/2012 17:31

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/looper/ Quote The coolest, most-confident sci-fi flick since 2006's 'Children of Men.' OH SHIT I REALLY WANNA SEE THIS NOW

Yeah I heard good things about it a few months back. I ALMOST got tickets for its first screening at the Toronto International Film Festival last weekend or the weekend before it but those people who had the tickets were able to go for it after all. I will probably just wait for the download. I have a feeling this time travel movie will have many unbearable paradoxes.

Edit: Ohmen after reading the Rotten Tomatoes link maybe it'll be a good time travel movie afterall.

Comparing it to Children of Men is a pretty tall order. I remain skeptical for now.

I really want to see this. Partly because JGL seems like a cool dude, and also because I've heard it compared to a lot of great recent action movies like Drive, Inception and Children of Men, and much of the critical buzz has been positive. Also, word is that Rian Johnson got some time travel logistics help from Shane Carruth, of Primer fame. I don't know much about it beyond the premise, and I'm looking to avoid being too spoiled like I was for Inception.

so that was the movie skinny b referred to when i asked for a decent movie with bruce willis in it.

spot on advice i guess. i'm interested, a lot really.

Pa Hupu @ 20/9/2012 22:25

I really want to see this. Partly because JGL seems like a cool dude, and also because I've heard it compared to a lot of great recent action movies like Drive, Inception and Children of Men, and much of the critical buzz has been positive. Also, word is that Rian Johnson got some time travel logistics help from Shane Carruth, of Primer fame. I don't know much about it beyond the premise, and I'm looking to avoid being too spoiled like I was for Inception.

I'm dubious about the Carruth business. While Primer was absolutely amazing, I did wind up having to go read a guide to how the whole thing worked, because I could never figure out which copy of the guy I was actually watching. I feel deeply ashamed of that fact, and I hope that Looper will be a little less aneurysmy.

lol, I think if anyone told you they completely got Primer the first time through they'd be lying.

I doubt Looper will be that confusing though, since the time travel is more of a backdrop/plot device, whereas in Primer that's pretty much what the entire movie is ABOUT. I think he just consulted Carruth to make sure there wasn't any plot holes

Yeah, that's basically the main reason I'm convinced it won't be stupid about the obvious paradoxes in the premise.

This is getting some pretty solid early reviews. I don't think I've looked forward to a movie this much in a while. I just hope I'm not too hyped for it like I was with Inception, which totally fell short of my estimations.

Also I should see Primer.

Saw yesterday. THOUGHTS with spoilers (without specifics but be warned)

Spoiler

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It was good. I found it a very enjoyable movie. The quality was top notch for sci-fi and the plot along with certain elements and the exposition were all very captivating. I'm actually torn on the time travel thing because I think they actually make it consistent within their own universe...to a degree. By having a timescale that isn't pre-determined but rather that can evolve with conscious free will (that in turn creates probable paths to a future). I'm not sure how this bodes for both forms of an individual being in the same time and how affecting a body can definitely affect a future whereas say, killing a child will have no consequences whatsoever. It seems like both things would in theory limit the possibility of the future self arriving in the past and since letting a loop run would almost certainly prevent a timeline that resulted in the looper's travelling, I would argue that the mere act of performing this would in turn "disappear" the future looper from existence. I think the movie's main failing on the time travel issue is the body harming of a past self resulting in the future self being harmed. This is a nice gimmick which is about as useful a plot device as the TK hovering a quarter is a useful trick. Ultimately it makes a hash of the whole affair, because one could argue that such harm wouldn't be definite. Who is to say the harmed individual wouldn't have a mechanical graft attached in a possible future? It certainly wouldn't result in the future self immediately experiencing these effects. I don't actually take qualm with the issue that the effects are immediate (after all, both forms are in one stream of time. If we go with futures being possible and not certain, changing the present can ultimately effect the future form by eliminating a number of theoretical possible paths). It's just that I don't believe they would have a certain effect at all. I also don't see how killing is any more dangerous to the course of the future than maiming somebody. Either event could have critical alterations. The smallest change can echo a much larger effect. I also think that Some specifics + Abe is playing a minor time cop role but this is never explored. He's from the future and he seems adamant on pushing Joe to China. I don't know if he's in the employ of the rain maker or what but it's never explored which is kind of a shame. I feel like there's a bit of wasted potential there to be honest. Still, why he's okay with maiming a body to begin with seems a bit off with this. I guess he feels it's a safer bet than allowing a loop to run which could be more catastrophic. All in all though I found it a very enjoyable watch. It was entertaining, captivating and all in all very good sci-fi. I like it when a futurescape is more believable (comparisons of this and Children of Men come to mind though the latter is a better movie) and this movie paints a lovely, bleak but believable future. The only elements that are extremely out there are the time travel and TK stuff but the rest is fair game. And those two points being integral and intriguing mean that I can let it slide because it paints a nice universe where these elements slide into place. I also like a sci-fi that is very confident in its own universe. That sells the movie to me. Looper feels not only sure of its own universe but completely positive. There's never any doubt from these characters or anything thrown in that causes confusion or makes a passer by bat an eyelid. It's all consistent and believable. That sells a movie to me. So highly recommended with a BUT on the time travel. Since very few movies do it right, and very few movies do it better than Looper anyway, I'll give it a pass on this element and say it was a rousing success.

Saw it today. Thought it was very good!

Spoiler

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The only thing I was a little disappointed with was the time travel mechanic. I was expecting more of a Whatever Happened Happened thing but it ended up being Back to the Future-ish. I can definitely see why they did this though, since having, say, Abe and Old Joe already know for a fact what's gonna happen would probably kill any tension. Well, and Old Joe wouldn't even bother with his plan in the first place (: I really liked where it went with the Rainmaker plot (and I appreciate that the trailer gave no indication of this plot at all). It reminded me a lot of 12 Monkeys actually. I would've liked it better if it WOULD'VE ended as a complete circle though. I always like darker endings better I guess. Oh and the kid playing Baby Rainmaker was surprisingly good. If it would've been a run-of-the-mill child actor that could've easily been a cringeworthy role.

Roth @ 24/9/2012 20:43

Also I should see Primer.

Depending on your own personal ethics, it's probably much better to stream a quasi-legal version than to go to the effort of finding a legit copy. I found it interesting, but it wasn't a movie that I wanted to watch more than once.

EDIT: For frick's sake, the original structure of my first sentence was deplorable. Marking all of those essays last night must have corrupted my grammatical standards...

If you have Netflix I'm pretty sure it's on there

Saw it last night and I loved it. Solid film!