Looper

[Reel]

sounds like the worst movie ever made.

i can't stand when people don't react naturally to knocks.

especially in rian johnson movies, which always suck.

So, what do you think our gang sign should be?


I'm still on the fence about Johnson, having only seen this of his 3 films and really not getting it on the first go. I witnessed a very carefully crafted and constructed film before my eyes, but didn't see much of myself in it. Another contentless criticism, I suppose, but to really break down this film I have to at least feel like I grasp it, and I don't. Now that I'm obligated to try to understand this hella complex plot for me to even make a fair assessment of the film is what irks me about Johnson. With movies like this, it seems there are people who are in the know and those that aren't, and I'm like Mrs. Parker in Friday- I just don't know. Rian Johnson came out of nowhere for me, hadn't heard of the motherfucker and only seen his Breaking Bad episodes ( it's cool how people either love or hate 'Fly' ) and I don't particularly like ANY of the the three leads in this as actors, what provoked me to see it was all the buzz and *spoiler warnings* surrounding any kind of discussion about it, but it didn't live up to that  hype.  Nevertheless, I can't stop thinking about 'Looper', I might have to give it that next go.

[RegularKarate]

how is it "hella complex"?

The only thing that's hard to understand is the theory of time travel because it's not possible. Everything you need to know in the movie is very clearly explained.

[socketlevel]

About Paul Dano's yelp, same unanimous reaction by the audience at my screening.

That whole scene was a bit mishandled, from him knocking on the window till the end.

totally agree, the entire scene felt like a different movie. almost like it was from a film that was a noir spoof not a noir homage.

In every scene dano was a part of, I pictured him on the set awkwardly hitting on a girl at craft services, then cut to two minutes later he's in front of the camera and Rian says "Ok, remember you're crazy, and... Action!"

that about sums up his entire performance.

[HeywoodRFloyd]

almost like it was from a film that was a noir spoof not a noir homage.

I'm glad you said this because I thought the exact same thing, it definitely felt like a noir spoof

Looper was my first Rian Johnson film, I watched Brick a couple of days after I watched Looper, I didn't like Brick at all, so essentially I don't really understand the buzz surrounding him pre-Looper release, maybe I might have to watch Brothers Bloom.

Nevertheless, I can't stop thinking about 'Looper', I might have to give it that next go.

Same here, it's been stuck in my head for the past week, no idea why, I understood the film completely the first go-round.

[polkablues]

It's odd to me that Rian Johnson has become such a polarizing filmmaker; all of his movies have seemed to me to be total crowd-pleasers.  I guess that says more about my understanding of crowds than anything else.

[socketlevel]

I didn't like Brick at all, so essentially I don't really understand the buzz surrounding him pre-Looper release, maybe I might have to watch Brothers Bloom.

Amen. I'm with you on this, few are. Brick was a little too nerdy for me, and i guess i just didn't buy into the gimmick. and really that gimmick is all the film is about and most definitely will polarize people. even assuming i did buy into it, then go one step further and if you remove it, making the dialog contemporary, the movie falls apart. so ya it's kinda shit.

Bloom is his best film, really touched my heart. I'd check it out. In many ways the Brothers Bloom is the film that wes anderson should be making. it's quirky in a similar way but always has one foot in reality.

It's odd to me that Rian Johnson has become such a polarizing filmmaker; all of his movies have seemed to me to be total crowd-pleasers.  I guess that says more about my understanding of crowds than anything else.

Was this in response to our conversation? I give it a solid B, my gripe wasn't enough to ruin the enjoyment. It was a crowd pleaser, just not quite as big as the hype.

[Frederico Fellini]

"Sometimes your best friend.... turns out to be YOU"

[The Ultimate Badass]

More dumb-as-shit scifi. The whole movie is predicated on future gangsters being in possession of fantastic time traveling devices and utilizing them to send people they murder back to the past to be disposed of. Why is this exactly? Couldn't future gangsters just dispose of their murder victims conventionally, say, by dissolving them in vats of acid, or any other one of a myriad of ways to make them disappear? Using a time machine just seems like extreme overkill. Also, if a future gangster were to happen to be in possession of a time machine, there are probably a million more profitable ways to use such a technology.

Anyway, once you get past past the premise the plot is formulaic, predictable and boring. The positive buzz for this one is puzzling to me. Even the action sequences are dull.

[polkablues]

They explained all that literally three or four times in the movie.

[pete]

I don't understand why you would go see the movie after hating a premise that fervently. I don't know, maybe you have a point, but I just think "More dumb-as-shit scifi" is a clumsily written sentence, and this is coming from someone who's full of those.

[jenkins]

would be an interesting group therapy type conversation, if we chatted about how i 10% like this movie, 90% don't like this movie, think it's "master craftsmanship" in ways that i see as dirty and cheap, similar to how sometimes people talk about movies i like, as to say the reasons i don't like it are kinda baby, but i'm being a big baby, because i sure don't overall like this movie

[polkablues]

It's not your fault.