What are you watching right now?

[alkanto]

Oh, I would watch the crap out of that

But still, I don't think Dredd just appeals to me that much at all. Not my type of movie, really....

[DoctorDodge]

Shame. Like I said before, definitely one of the best comic book movies of last year, up there with Dark Knight Rises and Avengers.

Btw, did anyone else watch Utopia last night? Because bloody hell, that was just one of the darkest and strangest opening eps I've seen in quite a while. It's one of those shows where you're not entirely sure what's going on, but it's so well-made that you just don't care and ultimately want to watch more. Especially worth it for the characters, Wilson Wilson and Grant in particular.

[Yaksha]

Watched the first couple episodes of Arrow. Holy shit, that's how you do Green Arrow. I love this damn show. The cast is amazing. (Dodge, John Barrowman is in it) And I like how they are protraying the Oliver Queen character. Really good start let's see them keep it up.

[DoctorDodge]

WRN: Looper. It's ok so far. Will rate after I finish.

[Jean]

watching: Le Temps de loup. The worst Haneke I've ever seen.

[alkanto]

Black Books. I forgot how funny and absurd this show was.

[Jean]

watching: Caché

[Ka-mai]

WRN: Looper. It's ok so far. Will rate after I finish.

Basically the only thing I liked about that movie was watching Joseph Gordon-Levitt act like Bruce Willis. And Paul Dano.

Spoiler:

That scene where his body is slowly disappearing was so incredibly disturbing. Unfortunately it was pretty much the most interesting thing that happened.

I don't like time travel movies that don't address paradoxes. If Joe kills his young self, his old self can't go back... etc. And if they dismember young Paul Dano, old Paul Dano can't run away from him as an adult. Uuuugh. I know Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was not the best movie, and maybe not the best book depending on who you ask, but the time travel made sense and fit into the plot. That's more of what I like to see.

[DoctorDodge]

Agreed on preferring time travel when it makes sense. I'd love to be able to write a time travel story myself, with cause and effect and stuff like that. I think, oddly enough, some of the best use of time travel I've seen was sitcom Red Dwarf. Hell, it even resolved one of the biggest cliffhangers of the show by applying extreme time travel logic to it!

[fernandito]

Sarah - no film really addresses time traveling paradoxes in the way that you want them to, it would be a futile attempt anyway ... like I said, the grandfather paradox is virtually unsolveabale.

Take Terminator 2 for instance - how can John Connor be the leader of the resistance if he isn't born til Kyle Reese goes back in time to impregnante Sarah? You just have to suspend belief even further and accept that the timeline is altered in some way.

[pathoftheturtle]

I'm watching "Continuum" now. Interesting so far. Not sure what convention they're basing it on regarding timestream elasticity.

[Bev Vincent]

I'm watching Justified (current season) and the first season of Borgen, the Danish political series.

[DoctorDodge]

Sarah - no film really addresses time traveling paradoxes in the way that you want them to, it would be a futile attempt anyway ... like I said, the grandfather paradox is virtually unsolveabale.

Take Terminator 2 for instance - how can John Connor be the leader of the resistance if he isn't born til Kyle Reese goes back in time to impregnante Sarah? You just have to suspend belief even further and accept that the timeline is altered in some way.

Oh, as far as time travel mythology goes, that one makes sense, to a degree. To quote Lost, with Terminator 1 at least, the rule is, "Whatever happened, happened." Reese was always meant to go back in time, he was always meant to meet Sarah, the discovery of time travel was always meant to happen. In other words, it's a genuine neat little loop with enough logic to make it work, so long as you add Fate to the equation. It's only with the sequels that it starts to get a little messy, but since T2 is so fucking awesome, I can forgive that.

With Looper, I definitely agree with Sarah: the time travel mechanics don't work so well.

Spoiler:

The ending implies that the Rainmaker's mother was always meant to be killed by older Joe...even though we had already seen that Older Joe had already changed history/future whatever when he stopped his younger self from killing his older self, as was established in timeline A. The changing history of Looper is what makes the ending a little "off": old Joe was dead in timeline A, so how could he have killed the Rainmaker's mother and thus created the Rainmaker?

So I do like Looper, but yeah, I was just a bit unimpressed with the time travel mechanics, especially the ending. That's why I only enjoyed it as a character piece. (And yes, I do take this time travel stuff very seriously, it's something I really want to explore in a short story or novel someday.)

[fernandito]

So who created the original John Connor that sent Reese back in time? Couldn't we just apply the "always meant to" ideology to Looper as well?

Need to watch it again though, I don't remember the intricacies of the plot so clearly.

[fernandito]

I had actually bookmarked a discussion on IMDB about the ending back when the film first came out. Here is a post that stood out to me.

Spoiler:

Joe wasn't psychic though (in regards to him believing that he was the SOLE cause of Cid becoming the Rainmaker). It wasn't him literally seeing into the future. He just saw with his own eyes what was about to happen (his future self about to shoot Sara) and made an educated guess as to what that would lead to and what would eventually lead him back there 30 years from that moment. But how does he know for sure that his mother's death is exactly what led Cid to becoming the Rainmaker? It could have been some other traumatic event in Cid's life that sent him over the edge. I have no problem in believing what happened at the end of the movie is what actually happens, but I still believe a part of the story is left up for interpretation.

Yes, I believe what was "explained word for word" at the end is what is going to happen, but you have to take into account that Joe doesn't actually know that THAT is in fact what made Cid the Rainmaker, but it's what he believes did. He didn't literally see into the future like a crystal ball. It was more of a prediction. With his own eyes, he saw what was about to happen and connected the dots. It was an epiphany or a realization. So, he made an instinctive judgment call. He knew that as long as he doesn't exist in the future, he could never come back to the past to kill Sara, and he believed that Sara's now present guidance would lead Cid down a different path, one that doesn't end in him becoming the Rainmaker. It's what Joe believed, and it's what the director wanted us, the audience, to believe. Or is it? Because what's to say that even with Sara's guidance now present in Cid's life, he doesn't still end up becoming the Rainmaker?

It's really just a debating point, for me at least. Because I personally loved the ending. It gave me chills, the fact that a man could believe in something to the point where he would take his own life to ultimately make the kid's life turn out better.

[DoctorDodge]

Ah, that's a good point about the ending of Looper.

As for the Grandfather paradox and what's flexible and what's fate in time travel...this is why I'm really eager for you to get back to Who really soon, as the series 5 finale is full of 'em, not to mention that series 6's overall theme is fate and about choosing between trying to change it or face it.

Btw, WRN: Breaking Bad, S3 E10: Fly.

[Ricky]

Ohh, that was a good ep., James. I just finished Season 4 last (or the week before last?) week. Walt.

[DoctorDodge]

I loved the ending of season 3. It really represents a clear image of Walter crossing the moral event horizon, imo. I'm eager to see what happens next in season 4, especially after that cliffhanger. Normally, I like to wait a month or so before watching the next season, but I think it might only be a couple of weeks this time. Really eager to see just how much darker Walter is going to get.

[fernandito]

Ohhhh, you have no idea ...

[Heather19]

Anyone watch that new show The Americans last night?

[pathoftheturtle]

No, I missed it, but -- Ach! -- just the thought, that they are now setting historical dramas in periods that I clearly remember experiencing.

[Heather19]

I thought it was pretty good. Let me know if you watch it.

[DoctorDodge]

No, I missed it, but -- Ach! -- just the thought, that they are now setting historical dramas in periods that I clearly remember experiencing.

Don't feel too bad: there's a historical drama on now that I can clearly remember experiencing: My Mad Fat Diary. I don't know much about it, but it's set in Britain in the mid-90s. The Britpop soundtrack is pretty much the only reason why I might check it out.

[alkanto]

Watching my way through DW season 5 again. I love them so much...and I want a Rory. I really want a Rory.

[Melike]

Watching my way through DW season 5 again. I love them so much...and I want a Rory. I really want a Rory.

Season 5 is my first Who watch.