Everything I love about everything.
—DiB
I’m kind of a Bruce Willis nerd. Growing up I watched Moonlighting every week and saw Die Hard when it was first released, so the man can do no wrong as far as I’m concerned. Levitt looks interesting and I’m a fan of the time travel paradox films like Primer so this one has me hooked. Hopefully it delivers as a solid action film, since most made these days are shite.
Also a big fan of Brick, though not so much Brothers Bloom.
Anticipating this so much. The trailer itself (the choice of music, the editing, etc.) is pretty generic but I have faith that this movie will deliver the goods.
@HoL – I’m with you. Really like Brick, not so much Brothers Bloom.
Not really into the young Bruce Willis make-up, but I’ve been waiting for this since it was announced and this should hopefully be awesome. While The Brothers Bloom was a bit too precious, it had its moments and leaves me (along with Brick) more interested in this movie than I would be if I only saw the trailer (which looks pretty generic).
I like Brick (it made honorable mention on my 2005 Top 10 list), even though I’m not much of a fan. Looper looks good on paper, but this trailer seems to tell otherwise.
What with the title and all, I had assumed it would’ve been about Levitt being a golf caddy in an Ellroy-esque type of story (as Johnson claimed influence from Dashiell Hammett on Brick), but this is pretty intriguing too.
Not a fan of either of his films but the trailer for this new one at least looks interesting.
That actually surprises me, Santino, I’d figure you for a Rian Johnson fan. Oh well, taste.
—PolarisDiB
Well, it’s beautiful, particularly in regards to the eloquent way it seems to articulate freewill, responsibility, and letting go of things—and how these are either challenged or invigorated by one’s mortality.
The tonal focus of Brick, along with the violent pathos of Brothers Bloom’s final act. And Emily Blunt occasionally sounding like Patti Smith.
I’ve had difficulty finding flaws.
dada: Agreed. I also love how it links emotional bond with violence, how both men are only driven to kill because it’s the only way for everything to end, until the final act of course.
There’s a flaw that bothers me, however, and that is I don’t think it links enough the kid Rainmaker’s abilities to what he was going to be, and this is what made the older character’s plight to be less affecting.
I loved the film. Definitely one of the best I’ve seen all year, and the first mainstream film of the year to top Cabin In The Woods.
As for ‘flaws’, there aren’t any storytelling flaws. As a geek however I must object to the choice of Timecop for their selection of model for their time travel physics. (I suppose I should be glad the two touching each other didn’t cause them to explode).
There were a few oddities in regards to any time travel story. Like, if these gangsters are such badass time travellers, why didn’t they carefully study the past and prepare for any threat to their possible future? Why wasn’t there a badass time traveler waiting there to stop futuredude’s gun rampage? Also, if it’s so hard to dispose of bodies in the future, why were they so reckless as to kill futuredude’s girlfriend? If disposing of bodies is impossible in the future why do they so arbitrarily throw around lethal force? And for that matter why don’t they kill them in the present then send their bodies back to the ice age? Seems a lot safer.
But other than the zillion holes that can be poked into the premise, there were no storytelling flaws. :)
i thought the title of this thread was: RIAN JOHNSON IS BLACK!
I just came back from this movie. I liked it, and probably would have liked it more if I didn’t see it with the single worst audience I’ve watched a movie with in recent memory. Jesus Christ. That heavily detracted from my overall enjoyment, so I am saddened by this. I’m not even sure if I should rate this movie. Those fucking people kept ripping me away from the screen and putting me into a state of frustration and borderline “GET THE HELL OUT FOOL!!!”.
I really like Rian Johnson. I can tell he is a fan of filmmaking and is ecstatic to have the opportunity to tell his stories.
What else has Rian Johnson made? I’ve never heard of him before.
What were these “Jesus Christ” worthy audience doing LOVEROFLECINEMA?
It was a very spiritual film, but also extremely ambiguous. I love that. And the performance by the little boy — Pierce Gagnon — was astounding.
@Deft
(packed audience)
One woman behind me was coughing loudly every 20 seconds. I kid you not, whenever she coughed I missed about a sentence of dialogue.
A man in front of me was a damn commentator. During the montage of killings in the beginning, he went “oh” “aw” “ga fucking za”. And he would even say exactly what the character did. Example: the guy implodes when the kid goes ape-shit, he says “wow he just blew that guy up!”. Of course, this guy will never be as bad as the jackass when I saw Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. That guy said stuff like “whoa, great cast” whenever they’d fish.
A woman in front of me ruined some of the most intense moments. When it was revealed that Bruce Willis’ character would be after the children and it did the heart-stopping close up on his gun, she said very audibly “NO”! My dad made me chuckle by saying “I don’t think she understands he can’t hear her”. Being the itchy guy I am, when she said that I looked down at her head in disgust which distracted me from whatever happened during that moment.
Then other people started coughing, and others laughed too long when a brief funny was said, and they ate EVERY LITTLE THING the kid did up. The slow motion of him falling down the stairs was dwarfed by the sound of their fucking gasps…
To top it off, they were squeamish to violence. I was surprised by how everyone in the movie seemed to pop whenever they’d get shot. When bits of matter flew about, in unison they said “ew”. I can’t deny people the movie going experience, but hush the fuck up.
Jirin—The excellent Brick and the mediocre Brothers Bloom.
Man, I don’t want to spoil anything, I just want to say that the movie is great. It’s pretty much the Sci-Fi Neo-Noir I’ve been waiting for since Blade Runner and Dark City, IMO, just with a touch of Primer and Timecrimes. :)
That child was excellent. He had some serious Kevin moments, and he was creepily brilliant even before we find out more about him.
jirin: There were definitely no storytelling flaws indeed.
lol@ LOVER. You don’t seem to be a fan of the cinema experience! It might not be coincidence that Emily Blunt is in both of the films you’re talking about having audience trouble. Though, i have to salute the man for saying “whoa great cast” as their is no way i could watch that film after watching the documentary film “The Reluctant Revolutionary” (set in Yemen).
I mean thought Looper was a good film for sure, but i almost laughed at some of the antics of the kid who seems to have come in from some horror film, i mean that shot of Willis and Blunt hanging in the air like David Blaine after his failed sham stunt was cringe worthy, but yes the audience lapped it all up.
Another positive from your audience reactions is at least not everybody is desensitized by the sight of blood, and maybe this means (from your other examples mentioned also) that they were actively emotionally involved in this sci-fi film, something which Inception completely failed at.I think you gotta embrace the audience and be one with them rather then being supercilious about them, that will allow you to roll with the punches and maintain focus on a film in the future.
@Deft
You’re probably right. I really agree when you say that the kid had moments that looked like they were from some horror movie. Personally, I would’ve preferred the kid looking scared of his ability rather than going into some Dragon Ball Z mode.
I will never be able to roll with the punches when it comes to coughing. Especially loud coughing. Everything else… I should try and be more tolerant. Thanks for the advice :)
Probably the second best film I’ve seen this year; really enjoyed this and I see it having a lot of replay value. Very impressed by JGL’s performance. My only real hesitation is the presence of TK in the film – I was expecting harder sci-fi.
//I loved the film. Definitely one of the best I’ve seen all year, and the first mainstream film of the year to top Cabin In The Woods//
Ok…now I"m really really intrigued to see this…..
@LOVER
lol yea “Dragon Ball Z mode” is the perfect way to describe it. It’s a shame really, i don’t see the whole TK presence in the film a useful addition, but rather a superfluous way to create some Inception like visuals which just detract from the drama, despite one moment of effective usage when trying to escape in the car.
One more little time travel issue.
(Spoilers)
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If the Rainmaker became evil because Willis killed his mother, how the f did he become evil the first time around, when he successfully killed his future self?!
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(/Spoilers)
@Deft
It’s a shame really, i don’t see the whole TK presence in the film a useful addition, but rather a superfluous way to create some Inception like visuals which just detract from the drama, despite one moment of effective usage when trying to escape in the car.
That’s what I thought, but considering how surprisingly thoughtful other parts are I began thinking this: the future is so tired that even an exciting discovery like TK can become as shoulder-shrugging as balancing a quarter on your nose. But then again I can’t hold too much stock in this theory considering how big of a deal it becomes in the finale.
Duncan Gray
Thoughts?