Looper

[Gianakin_]

If I had my pick, it would be Batman. Going back to Brick, Rian proved he has the noir sensibilities for the character, and his last two films have been colorful enough to show he wouldn't shy away from the more fantastical side of Batman's universe.

Granted, I'm sure he could rock The Flash or Justice League too, and I'd rejoice if he took either gig ('cause you know he's gonna get offers), but I really think he's exactly the guy Batman needs to take things in a different direction than Nolan while not totally alienating the fans of Nolan's world.

Very well said. Brick showcased he can do noir and atmosphere, Looper proved he can handle a bigger budget brilliantly. The Brothers Bloom showed... that everyone deserves a second chance.

 

[johnrain]

Why didn't Joe just call CPS on the kid?

 

[Kane52630]

Because he didn't want them killed? lol

 

[flickchick85]

Very well said.

Thanks!

Brick showcased he can do noir and atmosphere, Looper proved he can handle a bigger budget brilliantly. The Brothers Bloom showed... that everyone deserves a second chance.

But hey now! The Brothers Bloom was sweet, charming, entertaining, and filled with clever moments and dialogue. His weakest film, sure, but hardly a disaster in need of a "second chance," imo.

 

[CGHulk]

 

[PSYLENTGuardian]

That's brilliant

 

[Liam_H]

A lot of people have brought up the fact that if they can zap them back anywhere why not just drop them into an active volcano or something.

 

[Chrisbarnes182]

 

[terry78]

I think Rian answered that question on AICN or something, like the machine is set to a predetermined point that can't be changed.

 

[marvelman2006]

I think Rian answered that question on AICN or something, like the machine is set to a predetermined point that can't be changed.

Yeah I wondered it at first and his explanation makes sense but how is it predetermined? Joes friend when he was faced when his future self it was somewhere in an abandoned building. So do they hire loopers for certain destinations?

 

[PWN3R]

It's a concept movie. Buy into it, and you'll enjoy yourself. If you start picking it apart, of course there's bound to be some oddities. That's why I love the diner scene. It's basically Rian Johnson telling the audience to **** and watch. t:

 

[redhawk23]

^ I totally agree. Anyways the "being fixed" to a point thing doesn't make sense because that same spot in Kansas is in a different spot in space every single minute. Earth spins, moves around the Sun, Solar system moves, universe expands. The usual time travel problem.

 

[vanson]

It's a concept movie. Buy into it, and you'll enjoy yourself. If you start picking it apart, of course there's bound to be some oddities. That's why I love the diner scene. It's basically Rian Johnson telling the audience to **** and watch. t:

its basically a serious version of this scene:

[YT]x8w95xIdH4o[/YT]

;-)

 

[terry78]

I knew what it was before I even clicked. Haha.

 

[vanson]

I knew what it was before I even clicked. Haha.

 

[chaseter]

They probably have Loopers to make 100% sure the people die. If the machine fugged up or changed and one guy missed the volcano, he could change everything. The Loopers I guess could then report the missing target and everyone goes on the hunt. You still need a person to make sure the target is dead.

 

[Visceral]

I think the moral of this movie's story can be summed up in one phrase:

A selfish action begets an endless cycle of death, violence and destruction, but a selfless act can break it.

How did Olivia state it in Tron Legacy? Removing Oneself from the equation.

JGL's story arch is one from selfishness to self sacrifice.

 

[chamber-music]

Shades of other popular time travel films like The Terminator and Frequency run throughout Looper,also a dash of
X-men is put into the mix.

I also liked Jeff Daniels moments as Joe's boss, a lieutenant in the Looper organization he expertly channels
The Dude character from The Big Lebowski

It reminded me of Terminator, The Jacket, Minority Report, Akira and Twelve Monkeys which Bruce Willis also starred in.

I always used to get Jeff Daniels and Jeff Bridges mixed up myself t:

 

[elgaz]

Saw the film tonight and really enjoyed it. It was very original; it's been a while since I saw a good time-travel film which really made me think hard about it.

I thought JGL channelled a young Bruce Willis very well. The prosthetics were great too - at times I really forgot it was the fairly young and innocent JGL under there.

Some thoughts -

Spoiler

Whilst the film's premise is about loopers travelling back from 30 years in the future, the film was ultimately not really about time travel - it was about Joe's progression from someone who was self absorbed to someone who ended up sacrificing his own life so that a small boy could have the chance to grow up good instead of bad.

What I found really interesting was how the film changed the characters behaviours and motivations depending on how events unfolded and affect their timeline in the longterm. For example ........ in the timeline presented to us in the film, the JGL version of Joe is initially very self absorbed and focused solely on how he's going to enjoy his life - as he tells his older self in no uncertain terms in the cafe scene. The Bruce Willis version of Joe, on the other hand, chides him for being so self-absorbed and talks of how his wife eventually saved him and made him a better person.

Yet within a matter of days - the roles are reversed as the timeline unfolds differently to how the Bruce Willis version remembered it. Young Joe becomes someone who will sacrifice his own life for Cid, whilst old Joe becomes a man who will kill a child just so he can have his precious life back. Old Joe effectively becomes the villain. This reversal of roles and deliberate misdirection of sorts really enhanced my interest as the film went on.

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned in the thread yet, but did anyone else think that that Cid may ultimately grow up to be the person who builds the time machine? I'm probably clutching at straws, but I thought the scene where Cid is in the kitchen wiring up the frog beepers was some kind of foreshadowing of him having being some kind of electronic genius.

The timeline has obviously changed now that Joe killed himself, but in the original timeline - where old Joe kills Cid's mother - he could grow up and build the time machine as a way to right wrongs in the past.

 

[DOO BEE]

it is TIME TRAVEL. you are forgetting the SPACE part of it.
the machine in the future is located in a certain TIME and SPACE
sending it back in time while the SPACE stays the same.
so where the object sits in SPACE in the future will fall in SPACE of the past
the machine navigation system is at question.
questioning its SPACE objective is tricky
but the machine is a TIME machine.... already the film is something where you sit back and enjoy

i loved the movie. was great. these technicalities can be hard to get ones head around, but you just throw it all out of the window

i did when i was kid watching Dr. Who re-runs and Back to the Future.

 

[venus_ice]

GUYS! Rian recorded an in-theare commentary track. http://loopermovie.tumblr.com/post/32950683762/our-in-theater-commentary-track-is-up-i-recorded

Our In-Theater Commentary Track is up!
I recorded a commentary track to be downloaded, put on an ipod and listened to in the theater as you’re watching Looper. This is an odd thing I tried with Bloom, and have gotten a few requests for it again, so here it is. It is totally different from the commentary track that will be on the Blu/DVD, a bit more technical and detailed. Needless to say, this is NOT to be listened to on a first viewing, or before you’ve seen the film. Also, please work it so that a glowing screening is never out of your pocket during the movie.
Listen to the introduction before heading to the theater, it has instructions. And lemme know how it works.
Go HERE to download the in-theater commentary track for Looper! (the “download” button is the little down arrow on the toolbar)
​

Go see it again and listen to this throughout t:

 

[vanson]

i am really tempted to do that really cool idea

 

[elgaz]

it is TIME TRAVEL. you are forgetting the SPACE part of it.
the machine in the future is located in a certain TIME and SPACE
sending it back in time while the SPACE stays the same.
so where the object sits in SPACE in the future will fall in SPACE of the past
the machine navigation system is at question.
questioning its SPACE objective is tricky
but the machine is a TIME machine.... already the film is something where you sit back and enjoy

i loved the movie. was great. these technicalities can be hard to get ones head around, but you just throw it all out of the window

i did when i was kid watching Dr. Who re-runs and Back to the Future.

Until Stephen Hawking or some other genius scientist can come up with a plausible explanation for how time travel would ever actually work (forgetting the multiple realities escape clause..........) ....................... there is never, ever going to be a time-travel film which isn't flawed in some respect.

Time-travel is paradoxical. Scientists make sense of it by theorising that there may be alternate universes for each possible outcome of any situation, thereby circumventing the paradox. But it's all theory. For all we know, this is the one and only universe and nature simply will not allow time travel to ever happen.

But anyway, that's a discussion for another day. I love sci-fi, and I've always had a particular interest in time travel films, but sometimes you just have to switch off and ignore some of the technicalities as you say. Scientists don't yet have an answer for it, so I'm sure that Hollywood filmmakers don't either. Looper was nevertheless very enjoyable for me

 

[TruerToTheCore]

I drank a few beers before watching this one. I liked it somewhat. They even made the "protagonist waiting for something" thing work which is usually the death sentence for most movies. But I think the time travel logic applied to the movie was a little bit... don't know... messed up. At least Bruce Willis was actually giving a damn again.

7/10

 

[ThePhantasm]

Saw it today. Loved it!