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Looper (dir. Rian Johnson; Gordon-Levitt, Willis)
- Thread starter Expendable.
- Start date
- Status
Vermillion
Banned
Did anyone notice the toy on Cid's shelf after his first freak out when his mom was hugging him? It looks exactly like the guys that kill Loopers.
fantastic movie. Glad I didn't come into this thread or have any knowledge other than the trailer. Trailer does a fantastic job of giving you an interesting premise, and thats it. It doesn't tell the entire movie, so you actually have something to go in and discover for yourself.
Tone was interesting, some dark humor alongside the fairly dry tone.
Special effects were just weird. I didn't realise what they'd done at first, I was just like 'oh he's doing that Bruce Willis smirk', then I realised he was doing it with Bruce Willis' own lips and it freaked me out a bit. Its pretty subtle though and works well.
Not sure whats up with his eyebrows though. About halfway through the movie they seem to go really dark.
Also, quick question that confused me
Tone was interesting, some dark humor alongside the fairly dry tone.
Special effects were just weird. I didn't realise what they'd done at first, I was just like 'oh he's doing that Bruce Willis smirk', then I realised he was doing it with Bruce Willis' own lips and it freaked me out a bit. Its pretty subtle though and works well.
Not sure whats up with his eyebrows though. About halfway through the movie they seem to go really dark.
Also, quick question that confused me
After Bruce Willis initially escapes, there is a montage where he gets shot, then the young version lives out his 30 years before being sent back. is that just timey wimey paradox that I shouldn't worry about?
that is the history of the old joe who gets married and escapes.
if it makes more sense, you could put that montage at the very beginning of the movie, all the way until he gets in the time machine, and then some point later in the movie he shows up in front of young joe.
if it makes more sense, you could put that montage at the very beginning of the movie, all the way until he gets in the time machine, and then some point later in the movie he shows up in front of young joe.
I thought that was terrible to be honest, like, what changed from the first time he shot himself to the second time? nothing at all, there was no reason for anything different to happen, I think a better way of doing it (though still illogical) would be to make it so the first time bruce saw his old self, but didnt turn around to shield himself, and so the second time around he learned his lesson, and turned around this time
You can affect the future - cutting causes future scars. Except when you can't affect the future - Joe killing himself should mean Cid and Emily never met him and the other kids never died.
Also, why would super powered Rain Maker murder mutant care so much about covering up mob killings via such a convoluted method? Isn't he rampaging through cities in the future causing all kinds of mayhem? Film was dumb as a bag of hammers.
Also, why would super powered Rain Maker murder mutant care so much about covering up mob killings via such a convoluted method? Isn't he rampaging through cities in the future causing all kinds of mayhem? Film was dumb as a bag of hammers.
Yes, I still really don't buy Joe's choice. But what DID really work for me this time was
Joe discovering that Cid was the Rainmaker, resolving on the spot to kill him, only to find a scared, shaking, blood-soaked little kid hiding in the cornfields and being unable to do it. I love the idea that it doesn't matter who someone may or may not grow up to be, nothing justified murdering an innocent child.
Old Joe had already killed the kids in the timeline when Young Joe killed himself to erradicate Old Joe.
Time Travelling is a guarded "secret" in the sense that the general populace is told it's basically fatal. The Rainmaker continued to keep the lid tight on the fact that travelling was going on while "closing the loops" because if it got out that time travelling was possible and not-so-dangerous at all, people opposed to him would seek him out in the past, just like Old Joe ends up trying to do, to kill him before he could take over in the future.
Time Travelling is a guarded "secret" in the sense that the general populace is told it's basically fatal. The Rainmaker continued to keep the lid tight on the fact that travelling was going on while "closing the loops" because if it got out that time travelling was possible and not-so-dangerous at all, people opposed to him would seek him out in the past, just like Old Joe ends up trying to do, to kill him before he could take over in the future.
When Joe killed himself Old Joe had already killed the kids. Eliminating Joe from the timeline doesn't eradicate the impact he's already had on it. This is the film's well-established time travel logic. It being different from that of other texts doesn't make it wrong by default because time travel is a fantasy concept and it can work however a piece wants it to.
And to answer why the Rain Maker would want to cover up the killings with looping: uh, he didn't. The reason the practice of looping was ending was because the Rain Maker was taking over and he didn't want loopers anymore. I don't know that it's fair to call the film dumb as a bag of hammers when you missed actual facts stated in the film.
And to answer why the Rain Maker would want to cover up the killings with looping: uh, he didn't. The reason the practice of looping was ending was because the Rain Maker was taking over and he didn't want loopers anymore. I don't know that it's fair to call the film dumb as a bag of hammers when you missed actual facts stated in the film.
Tony Rocky Horror
Member
For fucks sake. This won't be in cinemas in The Netherlands until.. november.. 29th.
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electroshockwave
Member
Isn't that exactly what happened?
Expendable.
Member
Okay. I need someone to straighten this out for me:
After Old Joe kills the first kid he starts seeing visions of being in his bed with his wife. And then, unless I'm crazy, there is the sound of a baby crying.
The reason I think I am crazy is because the implication this would be that him killing that first kid someone meant he was able to have a kid in the new future timeline, but that makes zero sense.
So did anyone else hear that? It is obviously also possible there was a baby out in the theater hall or something.
The reason I think I am crazy is because the implication this would be that him killing that first kid someone meant he was able to have a kid in the new future timeline, but that makes zero sense.
So did anyone else hear that? It is obviously also possible there was a baby out in the theater hall or something.
timetokill
Banned
Absolutely loved this movie, just saw it last night. I like that they
put in the movie to "not think too much about the time travel stuff" and "IT DOESN'T MATTER"
How would they get the payment (gold and silver) then?
Expendable.
Member
Hey, I don't agree with the thing...just passing it along.
I definitely heard that. And the way they look down and smile is heavily implying that.
I think that making that change was just altering his future a little bit. Maybe he felt so terrible about it later that he needed to have his own or something. I don't know.
MAYBE KILLING THE KID TIME-TRAVELED HIM TO THE FUTURE WHERE HE LATER BECOMES THE RAINMAKER
yeah I mean this has been suggested a lot but it's still pretty ridiculous. for one the furnace has to be on. we also don't know exactly how precise the time travel is when it comes to landing them in specific places. maybe it can be exact when the destination is, say, an open field, but in a tight space it's not as precise.
basically, I find people who find "plot holes" like that annoying because 1) they don't understand that a plot hole is a logical contradiction, not a possible path separate from the premise that would completely remove any attempt at drama ("Why didn't the Indians just shoot the horses?" "If the Indians had done that, they would have stopped the picture." John Ford) and 2) because they just fucking HAVE to use memespeak and organization.
edit: for the record I know you don't agree w/it expendable. this isn't a response to you, just to the image
yeah you hear a baby but I didn't really know what to make of it. just treated it as Old Joe realizing that him wanting to have had kids so badly with his wife and killing a child to save his wife aren't exactly compatible. of course, he keeps going anyway because he's a self-obsessed narrow-minded asshole.
well, there wouldn't be loopers at all in this (ridiculous) scenario.
Joe Shlabotnik
Banned
The point is the criminals in the future shouldn't need Loopers at all.
But this is probably fanwankable by assuming the spacetime destinations for time travel are very limited.
Ah I see. It seems I misinterpreted the payment from the movie. I assumed Abe and his mob took a cut of whatever the Looper would bring back after the kill.
hm I don't know if they directly got a portion of the silver or whatever but all we are saying here is that in this hypothetical situation where (instead of setting up the looper system) they just send people directly into furnaces in the past, you don't have loopers or even abe and most of the past mob. you have maybe a handful of people making sure furnaces are on, and probably not even that.
but again, this is a ridiculous idea
I really wanted to like this movie. I enjoyed the first half, and I could half-forgive the silliness of
, but the movie lost me with the 1. lack of commitment to keeping the time travel semi-logical, and 2. the latter half of the movie, where
.
A time-travel manhunt was what I signed up to watch, based on the trailer, and instead I got what felt like a Syfy special. If the movie had presented the time travel as other-worldly (think Frequency) I would be able to forgive its illogical time travel mechanics; but the manner in which the movie presents its science of time travel demands a logical explanation for it existence and function.
affecting the future Seth
telekinesis and a child to save became the focus of the plot
A time-travel manhunt was what I signed up to watch, based on the trailer, and instead I got what felt like a Syfy special. If the movie had presented the time travel as other-worldly (think Frequency) I would be able to forgive its illogical time travel mechanics; but the manner in which the movie presents its science of time travel demands a logical explanation for it existence and function.
That's bizarre. Marketing is what informs the majority of people about the existence of something.
lol that's called bait and switch.
informing about the existence =/= informing a critical opinion. movies are art and basing your evaluation of those works off commercials is doing yourself an film culture a disservice
I have to assume you're just teasing me now, because you're not being sensible.
K
kittens
Unconfirmed Member
I'm one of those people who pays zero attention to upcoming film releases, hears about things from word of mouth (including GAF), and then ends up seeing the film totally blind.
That's what I'm doing tomorrow with Looper. I know nothing about the movie except that it has Jason Gordon-Levitt in it, it has something to do with time travel, and all my friends love it.
I'm excited.
That's what I'm doing tomorrow with Looper. I know nothing about the movie except that it has Jason Gordon-Levitt in it, it has something to do with time travel, and all my friends love it.
I'm excited.
no, I'm being completely sensible. a competent viewer of anything should be able to judge a work separate from the context of marketing. expectations will inevitably seep into the reactions of any viewer, but an entire critical opinion consisting of "I went in expecting Movie A and all deviations from that pre-set template I had in my head are flaws" isn't much of anything.
even beyond the ongoing use of the contradictory term "instant classic", I don't know that we'll ever be able to call this a cult classic. Had positive reactions upon release both critically and commercially. Cult classics begin as the opposite.
I thought it was good but has problems.
Mainly because of how it doesn't define its rules well enough, so the more you think about it the more it does your head in with the paradoxes. Bruce Willis actually says that in the film, but that doesn't help
Some great scenes though, and loved the whole style of it like Brick. Thought they bungled the ending a bit though, and it also opens up more problems with the rest of the film and how they treat time-travel. So overall good, worth seeing, makes you think in a good way unlike Prometheus, but wasn't as impressed as I was with Brick.
Mainly because of how it doesn't define its rules well enough, so the more you think about it the more it does your head in with the paradoxes. Bruce Willis actually says that in the film, but that doesn't help
Some great scenes though, and loved the whole style of it like Brick. Thought they bungled the ending a bit though, and it also opens up more problems with the rest of the film and how they treat time-travel. So overall good, worth seeing, makes you think in a good way unlike Prometheus, but wasn't as impressed as I was with Brick.
Lion Heart
Banned
I still don't know if I enjoyed this or TDKR more, Looper just has the huge advantage of being completely under the radar with no set expectations and blowing me away. Its The Grey of 2012.
My only issues are the underutilized or at least overtly teased scenes of the future earth, I wanted to know more about the world in the 40's/70's. That and I'm still not satisfied with the reasoning behind having people kill their future selves instead of random assassins.
My only issues are the underutilized or at least overtly teased scenes of the future earth, I wanted to know more about the world in the 40's/70's. That and I'm still not satisfied with the reasoning behind having people kill their future selves instead of random assassins.
Heh I think The Grey is The Grey of 2012. Came out in January
Ruthless_Barbarian
Member
I tried to like this movie, but I couldn't.
HIGH DEF JEFF
Banned
I've never walked out of a movie and it's rare for me to consider doing it...Looper made me consider doing it. That last hour, on the farm, was one of the most boring stretches of any movie I've ever seen.
HIGH DEF JEFF
Banned
Ah, opinions.
Expendable.
Member
You were bored by Looper yet found Red Hook Summer enthralling? Yikes.
He's being very sensible.
One thing I liked about this movie was the lack of handholding.
When
Paul Dano's older self started losing limbs, it wasn't built up to it just started happening and fuck me was it powerful
I'll write a full review up soon and post the link in here.
HIGH DEF JEFF
Banned
That's right.
And I also thought The Master was the best thing I've seen this year. Don't spend too much time worrying about what I like, you have a blog to run.
And I also thought The Master was the best thing I've seen this year. Don't spend too much time worrying about what I like, you have a blog to run.
Expendable.
Member
Alright, we're all good then.
A great scene, but like a lot of the film if you think about it too much it falls apart. With what they did with the ending it just highlights it more, as he was being mutilated he would have just disappeared because he would never have ended up in that place. Especially with having no feet for the last 30 years
The film is too sloppy with its rules, with paradoxes a plenty. It only works if you don't think about it too much, but is a film that asks you to think about it.
Frustrating.
A great scene, but like a lot of the film if you think about it too much it falls apart. With what they did with the ending it just highlights it more, as he was being mutilated he would have just disappeared because he would never have ended up in that place. Especially with having no feet for the last 30 years
The film is too sloppy with its rules, with paradoxes a plenty. It only works if you don't think about it too much, but is a film that asks you to think about it.
Frustrating.
This, of course, assumes that he would have decided for some different reason to hold off from shooting a guy who wouldn't be able to yell or sing, unbag him, and then allow that mutilated version of himself to crawl off.
He was also pretty stupid, so I won't entirely dismiss that possibility.
He was also pretty stupid, so I won't entirely dismiss that possibility.
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