Film Looper

[L2R]

lol the moderator is biased! wait is this the presidential debate thread?

/deja vu

 

[P A]

Lol

 

[Kenickie]

so i watched this last night and was shockingly impressed. better than inception. this film flew under the radar for PB and i and i'm relieved it did. we had no expectations and were delightfully surprised. i went to work this afternoon and ALL of my coworkers on my shift had seen it last night as well, independently of each other. we spent all shift talking about it. only a good movie could make an 8 hour shift fly by. highly recommend. for me, only comes in second to A Separation for best movie i've seen all year (2012).

 

[Belisarius]

^
As I far as I can recall, it's the only movie I've watched three times in the theaters--twice of those in first-run. It's haunting, intricate, and perfect, with elements that resonate with me especially well for personal reasons; it's the a film you can smack people who say good SF cinema is dead with over the head.

 

[23536]

I took a time travel course in college. Based on what I learned there, this film gets a bunch of things wrong. I loved it and esp. Emily Blunt's character, but you're not gonna start losing limbs if somebody hacks at your past self. Among other stuff.

 

[P A]

I took a time travel course in college. Based on what I learned there, this film gets a bunch of things wrong.

Lolwut? What school is this and where do I sign up? Here I am stuck in vector spaces and analysis and someone, somewhere, is taking a course in time travel? Balderdash!

I loved it and esp. Emily Blunt's character, but you're not gonna start losing limbs if somebody hacks at your past self. Among other stuff.

Again, I don't think Looper took itself seriously enough to consider the many bizarre (and sometimes nonsensical) philosophical implications of time travel. The way I saw it, it's M.O. was to sidestep any plot element that could get in the way of the drama and shooting and explosions. More than anything, I consider this movie to be more of a cleverly conceived, old-fashioned action picture with a futuristic aesthetic. As is usual with these sorts of films, there is very little 'science' indeed. As is unusual with these sorts of films, there isn't very much CG-cartoon nonsense, hackneyed storytelling, laser blasters, or Colin Farrell.

 

[23536]

Lolwut? What school is this and where do I sign up? Here I am stuck in vector spaces and analysis and someone, somewhere, is taking a course in time travel? Balderdash!

Vector spaces = Calc 3?

It's a Philosophy of Time course. They have it everywhere. It disappointed a bit because it was light on the physics. The professor wanted to take it deeper, but the class couldn't handle the depth. She would casually put an integral on the board and students would ask what the funny S meant. The stars are not for man.

One of the things that every time travel narrative seems to get wrong is the impenetrability of specific futures. Once an individual travels to the past, there is no way he can affect his own cells, other than through direct physical force. If a memory is to disappear, it is because something acts on his actual neurons, not because something affects the neurons of his past self. The same goes for limbs of course.

I think it's sometimes referred to as the grandfather paradox. If you travel to the past and murder one of your grandfathers as a child, you will not cease to exist!

 

[Belisarius]

In my op, nobody knows how time travel would work, which is why it's such a great SF topic--"handwavium" aside.

 

[LOGan1314]

I am VERY happy to see that all of yall agree, this was a quality movie in the time of sub-par, remake bullshit.

This movie actually bombed in the box office (barely broke even with money made and money spent), but I fucking loved it.

The eye-drop drug, the plot, everything was ORIGINAL, great movie my favorite of the year next to Django and Moonrise Kingdom.

 

[MrGrunge]

Just saw it. I had heard a lot of positive opinions on the film and I was in a Sci Fi mood so I decided to give it a go.

I'm not sure if I enjoyed it - the word would be "underwhelmed", I suppose. On one hand it's stylish and cool and has all the polish of a movie made in 2012, but that's about all I got from it. My biggest gripe is that I hated pretty much every character, Emily Blunt being the sexy exception.

I also have a number of problems with the plot (in regards to the Time Travel mechanics), but I'd need to watch the movie again in order flesh them out enough for discussion and I'd rather not sit through it again.

 

[Belisarius]

A little drunken late-night surfing turned up this article on on io9, and--PA, hot-damn if you got the PKD vibe without reading this or some other article interviewing Johnson. Observe:

Looper started out as a three-page script that Johnson wrote for a short film, years ago. It was very voiceover-driven, and was essentially the opening monologue of the film, followed by a foot chase through the city after Joe's older self appears, while the voiceover continues and Joe talks about the moral conundrum he's facing. "At some point, I will put the [script] on the Internet," said Johnson. "I won't put it up now, because it does spoil the ending." A lot of the basic themes are there, but not the second half of the movie.

"When I wrote that short, it was right when I had discovered Philip K. Dick, and I was in the middle of blowing through all his works, so my was kind of steeped in that," said Johnson.

link: http://io9.com/5944681/the-insane-things-joseph-gordon+levitt-did-to-become-bruce-willis-in-looper

For the record, the article is worth reading for other insights it gives into the characters and plot.

 

[P A]

PA, hot-damn if you got the PKD vibe without reading this or some other article interviewing Johnson.

Before today, I solemnly swear that I had never read any piece of journalistic literature that either features or mentions a Rian Johnson. The first I heard about him (and his nice films) was related to me by a poster featuring Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt torso-to-torso.

[also, anyone who liked Looper and/or enjoys Joe Levitt and/or likes to watch well-made, low-budget independent films should check out Brick]