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| Primer; Anyone here seen it? | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Aug 8 2010, 06:06 PM (329 Views) | |
| Aqua Letifer | Aug 8 2010, 06:06 PM Post #1 |
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ZOOOOOM!
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One of my favorite sci fi movies of all time now. No intergalactic wars, no crazysick futuristic technology, no Orwellian government takeovers. Just a couple of engineering guys screwing around in their garage, who stumbled across something very interesting. Highly recommend. |
| I cite irreconcilable differences. | |
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| George K | Aug 8 2010, 06:07 PM Post #2 |
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Finally
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I watched (or tried to watch) it about 6 months ago. Plot is hard to follow - too much geektalk, and it jumps around, just a bit too much. I suppose I should give it a second chance. Have you seen "Moon?" |
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A guide to GKSR: Click "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08 Nothing is as effective as homeopathy. I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles. - Klaus, 4/29/18 | |
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| George K | Aug 8 2010, 06:14 PM Post #3 |
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Finally
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One reviewer said that "anybody who claims [to] fully understand what's going on in Primer after seeing it just once is either a savant or a liar." |
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A guide to GKSR: Click "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08 Nothing is as effective as homeopathy. I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles. - Klaus, 4/29/18 | |
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| Aqua Letifer | Aug 8 2010, 06:26 PM Post #4 |
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ZOOOOOM!
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I have! I was a fan of everything up until the very end. Overall though it was pretty good.
Quite true, it's very open ended. But in my opinion they give you just enough to not be completely lost, and you can fill in whatever else you want as an explanation. The geek talk is heavy, true (especially in the beginning, but it levels out), but it makes more sense the more you watch. |
| I cite irreconcilable differences. | |
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| The 89th Key | Aug 9 2010, 06:09 AM Post #5 |
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*added to Netflix |
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| Qaanaaq-Liaaq | Aug 9 2010, 06:13 AM Post #6 |
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Senior Carp
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There was a topic posted here a few years ago concerning the movie “Primer”. http://s10.zetaboards.com/The_New_Coffee_Room/topic/346149/1/ My favorite line in Primer is when one of the main characters says something like “I haven’t eaten since later this afternoon”. I was able to follow most of it. The plot takes a strange twist about two-thirds of the way into it. It was the house party scene with a gun toting man. That’s where I lost it. It’s incomprehensible. Failsafe is the time machine. As I remember the machine would only allow them to travel through time from a couple of hours from the present. That's why they stayed in a motel room. They wanted to avoid running into their multiple self. I saw “Primer” at the Chicago International Film Festival a few years ago. The theater was packed. The movie’s director had an audience Q & A after the showing. Strangely enough, nobody asked him about the house party scene. I was going to ask him why he chose “Primer” as the film’s title. It doesn’t seem like the word “Primer” is relevant to the film. Time ran out though and he didn’t get to my question. Time travel is one of my favorite sci-fi genres. I recommend “Timecrimes” another time travel movie. It’s more understandable. Like Primer, it deals with multiple selves living in different time periods by about an hour apart. Hector, the main character became Hector 1 and Hector 2. Wait until you see the co-starring girl in the movie. She’s a knock out brunette. She carries half the movie. In Spanish subtitled in English. |
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| Horace | Aug 9 2010, 06:26 AM Post #7 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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I've never liked logic puzzles masquerading as movie plots. Sometimes I get the feeling that people enjoy movies like Primer or Memento more because they feel they have accomplished something cool just by understanding what went on, rather than anything intrinsic to the movie. |
| As a good person, I implore you to do as I, a good person, do. Be good. Do NOT be bad. If you see bad, end bad. End it in yourself, and end it in others. By any means necessary, the good must conquer the bad. Good people know this. Do you know this? Are you good? | |
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| Luke's Dad | Aug 9 2010, 06:51 AM Post #8 |
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Emperor Pengin
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Time travel has always been one of my least favorite SciFi plots or devices, except for when it's relativistic time travel. For instance, I liked the way they used it for Mazer Rackham in Ender's Game. I also liked how Relativity along with Suspended Animation is used in The Island. But jumping around to fix paradoxes and problems in the past? Not my cup of tea. |
| The problem with having an open mind is that people keep trying to put things in it. | |
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| Aqua Letifer | Aug 9 2010, 06:58 AM Post #9 |
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ZOOOOOM!
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I personally don't like movies, TV shows etc. that use paper-thin plots and watered down characters. I mean you're sitting there in a chair, being entertained by moving pictures on a screen. Just about any other form of entertainment is going to be more productive than watching a TV show or movie. I don't watch a lot of television. In fact I don't remember the last time I turned mine on. But on the off chance I walk into the living room and my roommate is watching something I'm astounded at how ****ing stupid prime time television has become. |
| I cite irreconcilable differences. | |
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| Aqua Letifer | Aug 9 2010, 06:58 AM Post #10 |
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ZOOOOOM!
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Don't pick this movie up.
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| I cite irreconcilable differences. | |
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| Horace | Aug 9 2010, 07:22 AM Post #11 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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The kind of "plot depth" generated by logical puzzles and paradoxes is pretty paper-thin, IMO. As far as characterization goes, Primer and Memento had little to none of it. I think someone once re-spliced Memento to make the scenes in chronological order. It became obvious what a mediocre movie it was outside of the backwards time conceit. To whatever extent there's a difference between clever and good, logic puzzle movies definitely fall on the clever side rather than the good side. |
| As a good person, I implore you to do as I, a good person, do. Be good. Do NOT be bad. If you see bad, end bad. End it in yourself, and end it in others. By any means necessary, the good must conquer the bad. Good people know this. Do you know this? Are you good? | |
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| Horace | Aug 9 2010, 07:24 AM Post #12 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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+1. Anybody who watched Star Trek: TNG without becoming sick of time travel is a heck of a lot more patient than I am. |
| As a good person, I implore you to do as I, a good person, do. Be good. Do NOT be bad. If you see bad, end bad. End it in yourself, and end it in others. By any means necessary, the good must conquer the bad. Good people know this. Do you know this? Are you good? | |
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| The 89th Key | Aug 9 2010, 07:29 AM Post #13 |
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You keep talking like that and I'll send *you* back to the future!
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| Luke's Dad | Aug 9 2010, 07:38 AM Post #14 |
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Emperor Pengin
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Heh. I'll take it back. Back to the Future was fun. |
| The problem with having an open mind is that people keep trying to put things in it. | |
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| Aqua Letifer | Aug 9 2010, 07:40 AM Post #15 |
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ZOOOOOM!
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This is how the vast majority of science fiction is written these days. The idea is more important than the human element. If you're looking for good science fiction that also has well-rounded characters, pick up some Ray Bradbury or Robert Stevenson maybe but you're not ever going to find it in theatres or on the Sci-Fi channel. For me it's not about feeling cool for figuring something out. I even said in the beginning that I think Primer in particular is open-ended and there's room for interpretation. I'm just not entertained by **** like The Bachelorette or American Idol. |
| I cite irreconcilable differences. | |
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