I'm kind of amazed that no one has said 'you have to watch Looper,' yet, so i'll say it: you have to watch Looper. It's the smartest time travel movie I've ever seen.
"Anybody who claims they fully understand what’s going on in ‘Primer’ after seeing it just once is either a savant or a liar."
And funnily enough, the movie isn't really about time travel.
It's a bad sign when all of the "original" films in hollywood are just mediocre remakes of other sci-fi and anime. Same goes for Inception.
I don't think I recall it from earlier things, and I'd be happy to know about them.
Unless your meant "mise en abyme is a trope", which, well of course it is.
As far as I remember paprika only just deal with the entering someone's dreams, which is a way more broad, and thus common, topic.
But I have only seen the animation, maybe it was in the book, or I remember incorrectly?
It's the same difference as having a virus that changes behaviour (e.g. switch which hand people use best) and the black plague: while technically they may be the same thing I wouldn't equate them.
I guess this highlights how things are susceptible to interpretation, thanks for taking time to answer.
There are only seven stories, and the ancient Greeks already told them. Everything else is just a remake of something several thousand years old.
Wow. Do you hate the Harry Potter movies for not understanding magic? A movie can be smart without explicitly laying out the axioms of its magical McGuffin.
The time travel stuff is not my chief complaint, because the movie could have ultimately been enjoyable even with a stupid time travel foundation, in which case my previous comment would still be appropriate. I was merely responding to the claim (which is ridiculously common among critics) that Looper is a "smart" movie.
Go watch Primer.