unknown sci-fi movie

February 27, 2006 6:01 PM

Moviefilter time: Does somebody know the name of this sci-fi-ish movie that Roger Ebert reviewed a couple years ago?

From what I remember of the plot, 2 or 3 guys make some sort of machine, but neither of them really understands it. And apparently future versions of themselves show up at some point and other strange occurrences. Eventually, the inventors get very paranoid and antics ensue. Roger Ebert reviewed it in 2004 or early 2005 but I know I'll never find it. Anyone know this movie? It sounds really interesting.

posted by Slimemonster to media & arts (22 comments total)

Primer
posted by Faint of Butt at 6:06 PM on February 27, 2006

Primer
posted by frogan at 6:07 PM on February 27, 2006

Damn, beat me to it. ;-)
posted by frogan at 6:07 PM on February 27, 2006

very good, guys. Is it any good?
posted by Slimemonster at 6:29 PM on February 27, 2006

I don't know. Never seen it.
posted by Faint of Butt at 6:30 PM on February 27, 2006

It's excellent. Hard to follow near the end, but compelling nonetheless — highly recommended.
posted by IshmaelGraves at 6:30 PM on February 27, 2006

You also might hate it. It's one of those movies that people write web pages about to explain.
posted by smackfu at 6:37 PM on February 27, 2006

Loved it, though I agree it has some problems with clarity towards the end. No problems with self-consistency, though, which makes it unique among time travel movies, I think.
posted by mr_roboto at 6:41 PM on February 27, 2006

It's excellent. Hard to follow near the end, but compelling nonetheless

If you haven't already seen it, check out the wonderfully complex Primer Timeline.

*Obvious spoiler warning*
posted by saraswati at 6:41 PM on February 27, 2006

On preview, I just provided an example of what smackfu said :)
posted by saraswati at 6:41 PM on February 27, 2006

I saw it and neither loved nor hated it. It gets pretty complicated, there's a ton of dialogue and you'll want to rewatch a lot of it. For some reason, I remember turning the subtitles on (I think one of the few characters mumbles a lot).

A friend of mine saw it in the theater and proclaimed it to be one of the worst movies he's ever seen. YMMV.
posted by hooray at 6:46 PM on February 27, 2006

Thank you ever so much for bringing this film to my attention.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 6:57 PM on February 27, 2006

It was an interesting idea for a movie but poorly executed IMO. I really wanted to like it though!
posted by apple scruff at 7:31 PM on February 27, 2006

I took my wife to see this movie while it was in theaters. She still hasn't forgiven me. I liked it though ...
posted by roue at 7:33 PM on February 27, 2006

I absolutely loved it. And yes, I needed several hours on the internet afterwards to truly understand it — but it was an enjoyable mindpuzzle even without doing the research.

It's really well done — absolutely bare-bones and believable. Great sci-fi.
posted by rafter at 7:39 PM on February 27, 2006

See also: Ebert's review
posted by hooray at 7:39 PM on February 27, 2006

Since the question has been answered...

No problems with self-consistency, though, which makes it unique among time travel movies, I think.

How about Terminator 1? (Not T2, obviously.)
posted by Aknaton at 8:12 PM on February 27, 2006

God, I saw the movie, and it took me an hour and a half to comprehend that frickin' timeline that saraswati posted.
posted by lunalaguna at 9:51 PM on February 27, 2006

Do not miss the commentary tracks on the DVD.
posted by kindall at 10:20 PM on February 27, 2006

Primer is an awesome film. But to fully appreciate it you need to watch it once and then a second time with commentary. Not so much for the writer/director to explain what's going on (although he does some of that) but to also appreciate how much of a low budget (yet good looking) film that it is.
posted by dgeiser13 at 5:21 AM on February 28, 2006

Carruth made that movie for $8K. The actors who are offscreen are his crew. Read an interview or two with him - put in the proper context, Primer is an astounding achievement considering what he was up against.
posted by TeamBilly at 6:54 AM on February 28, 2006

I just watched it last night after reading this thread (I'd never heard of it before), and I thought it was fabulous. Well paced, well shot, good dialogue and an engaging storyline.
posted by OmieWise at 6:03 AM on March 2, 2006