Thursdays 2
Live. Doc. Repeat: Time Travel Cinema
Programmed by Henry Lewis
This series takes a closer look at time travel with films filled with time machines, time paradoxes, dwarvish time bandits, and your usual time traveling assassins. Through a mix of time-bending (and mind-bending) plots, the films explore the human desire to fix and redo the mistakes of the past, raising themes of free will and regret. But the biggest questions are about figuring out the mechanics and logic of time travel—and that's definitely most of the fun.
1/5/2017 @ 10:00 PM
Looper
(Rian Johnson, 2012) · A neo-noir science fiction thriller by the writer-director of cult favorite Brick and the next Star Wars movie, Looper is set in a future where hitmen called "loopers" utilize time travel to erase their targets from history. Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt both star as Joe, one such looper, at different stages of his life. When the future Joe is sent back in time to be killed and "close the loop," Joe must change his past to save his future.
runtime: 119m format: 35mm
1/12/2017 @ 9:45 PM
Time Bandits
(Terry Gilliam, 1981) · From the minds that brought us Monty Python, Time Bandits is the first film in Terry Gilliam's "Trilogy of Imagination". When a band of treasure-seeking dwarves spill out of 11-year-old Kevin's wardrobe, he is whisked into a journey that takes him across time. Told through the eyes of a child, Time Bandits creates a unique and hilarious world of time travel and fantasy that is both thought-provoking and a pleasure to watch.
runtime: 110m format: DCP
1/19/2017 @ 9:45 PM
Back to the Future
(Robert Zemeckis, 1985) · Few movies are able to balance science fiction, action, comedy, and romance quite as well as Back to the Future. A quintessential product of the 80s that still holds up against the science fiction comedies of today, Back to the Future follows Marty McFly as he is sent back in time and accidentally interferes with his parents' relationship. Both hilarious and thrilling, Back to the Future cultivates an undeniable spirit of adventure that stands the test of time.
runtime: 116m format: 35mm
1/26/2017 @ 9:45 PM
Back to the Future II
(Robert Zemeckis, 1989) · When Marty McFly travels to 2015 to save his future children, he creates a chain of events that leads him to return to 1955 without interfering with his trip from the original movie. Between the wacky depictions of a futuristic 2015 (self-tying shoes! The Cubs win the World Series!) and the complex interweaving plot lines that are a staple of the time travel genre, Back to the Future II proves to be just as entertaining as the first.
runtime: 108m format: DCP
2/2/2017 @ 10:00 PM
Edge of Tomorrow
(Doug Liman, 2014) · In a future where the Earth has been invaded by aliens, untested soldier Bill Cage (Tom Cruise) is thrown into a bitter battle for survival, only to end up stuck in a Groundhog Day-esque time loop where he cannot die. Trained by a badass sergeant (Emily Blunt), Cage learns to fight so he can end the war and see tomorrow. Also known by its tagline "Live. Die. Repeat.", Edge of Tomorrow is an action-packed sci-fi thriller that plays like an engrossing video game.
runtime: 113m format: 35mm
2/9/2017 @ 9:45 PM
About Time
(Richard Curtis, 2013) · When a young man (Domhnall Gleeson) discovers he has the ability to go back in time, he innocently uses it in the quest for love. Unfortunately, changing the past is not as simple as he thinks, and soon he must face the consequences of his actions. From the writer-director of Love Actually, About Time is a "beautifully filmed and unabashedly sincere" romantic comedy that explores young love, regret, and the desire to fix our past mistakes.
runtime: 123m format: 35mm
2/16/2017 @ 9:45 PM
12 Monkeys
(Terry Gilliam, 1995) · Directed by Terry Gilliam and based on the acclaimed short film "La Jetée", 12 Monkeys is a strange and thrilling exploration of (in)sanity and inevitability. Set in a post-apocalyptic winter wasteland, a convict is sent back in time to uncover the origins of the virus that wiped out humanity. Starring Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, and Brad Pitt (who was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance), 12 Monkeys is "a celebration of madness and doom."
runtime: 129m format: 35mm
2/23/2017 @ 9:45 PM
Primer
(Shane Carruth, 2004) · The movie that launched writer, director, producer, editor, and composer Shane Carruth's career, Primer is a low budget science fiction drama that doesn't sacrifice scientific integrity for the sake of understandability. With a degree in Mathematics, Carruth creates a narrative known for its experimental plot structure and complex technical dialogue. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize (Sundance), Primer is the perfect film for "viewers ready for a cerebral challenge".
runtime: 77m format: Digital
3/2/2017 @ 9:30 PM
Timecrimes
(Nacho Vigalondo, 2007) · When strange events start occurring around Hector's house in the Spanish countryside, he decides to investigate and stumbles above a time machine. This triggers a series of unforeseeable consequences that Hector desperately tries to keep under control with the help (or hindrance and confusion) of time travel. Timecrimes is a well-crafted thriller with its fair share of twists and turns that keep viewers on the edge of their seats.
runtime: 92m format: 35mm
3/9/2017 @ 9:45 PM
The Terminator
(James Cameron, 1984) · Sarah Connor's life is forever changed when a cyborg assassin (Arnold Schwarzenegger) appears, sent back in time to kill her unborn son, the future leader of the human resistance. Boasting impressive action sequences and iconic one-liners, Cameron's second feature after Piranha II: Flying Killers established fame for both himself and Schwarzenegger, who masters a chillingly robotic lack of emotion in his mission to ruin humanity as the Terminator.
runtime: 108m format: 35mm
