Hacker Cinema
Predestination
2014 · Film · 98 min
Directed by Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
Predestination chronicles the life of a Temporal Agent sent on an intricate series of time-travel journeys designed to prevent future killers from committing their crimes. Now, on his final assignment, the Agent must stop the one criminal that has eluded him throughout time and prevent a devastating attack in which thousands of lives will be lost.
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21 comments on Hacker News
Makes me think of this Asimov classic where you really can change the past
https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.526852/mode/2up
where it makes sense because people established an orthogonal dimension of time and this movie
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predestination_(film)
based on another Heinlein classic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%27%E2%80%94All_You_Zombies%E2%80%94%27
where you can't because it's all just a knot.
Most 'time loops' in science fiction might better be described as time knots.
I think of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predestination_(film) which is much more complicated than the usual time travel scenario; presumably the protagonist leaves but doesn't really enter since the protagonist is their own mother and father (the matter that makes them up does enter since they eat and breathe the way everybody else does; thinking the story through I'd think if I was going to have such a miraculous and singular existence I'd rather be a fantastic creature of some kind [dragon?] as opposed to a relatively boring intersex person capable of both reproductive roles)
Also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_Eternity which tames the complexity of time travel by presupposing 'eternity' has a second time dimension, making large-scale engineering of history practical. 'Eternity' itself owes it's existence to a time loop which is ultimately broken by the protagonist.
It's a nice list. I've only seen a few of the movies on there. Offhand, that includes "Hotel Artemis", "Vision Quest", "Moon", "Automata", "It Follows", "Omega Doom", "Predestination", "Cube", and "Freejack". But quite a few more look very interesting and will be going on my personal "to watch" list. Thanks for sharing!
Some that haven’t been mentioned yet: Matinee, The First Great Train Robbery, Dave, Ghibli movies (Laputa, Mononoke, Totoro, Kiki, …), Mad Max 2, Nightmare Before Christmas, Edge of Tomorrow, Tremors, Godzilla Minus One, Watchmen, The Fly, Dark City, Passengers, Predestination, Strange Days, WarGames, Tron, Timecrimes, Sneakers, The Frighteners.
My agent will call your agent about the movie rights. I think we can safely leave the final twist details to JJ Abrams.
A predestination rewatch has been on my mind for some weeks now, I know how I'll spend the evening :].
There is a disturbance in references in this movie
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predestination_(film)
based on the Heinlein short
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_You_Zombies
If it is than that's not a neat "recursion" with nesting but more of a spaghetti code paradox.
Another example is the prevalence of fractals in all forms
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractal
these are motifs in nature (plant and animal structural systems not to mention hydrogeological) and seem to be common to the psychedelic drug experience but they do appear in an occasional movie set or image montage and become a theme in literature from time to time.
Curated list of favorite underrated movies:
#1 pick for HN Crowd: The Man From Earth // must see, especially if you like philosophical movies (don't recommend the sequel by the way)
Runner's Up:
Being There // absolute classic and must see for every person, at least once
Peaceful Warrior
The Lion In Winter // one of the best dramas ever made, and unbeatable cast with young Anthony Hopkins
Predestination // incredible drama about time travel paradoxes
The Interview // Hugo Weaving
Vitus // amazing story about a piano prodigy who fakes losing his talents to have a normal life
The Perverts Guide to Cinema // documentary, Slavoj Zizek's tour de force psychoanalysis of cinema as an art form; addressing the philosophical and psychological question of whether cinema (and other art forms) fulfil your desires, or rather teach/train you both to desire (and what you should desire), thus the sensationalistic and polemical invocation of it as "perverted"
Le Professionnel (French film, not to be confused with the one with Natalie Portman)
Revolver // Guy Ritchie's quote "It took me three years to write this film whereas Snatch took me three months". It is a masterwork metaphor about the ego, ego death, consciousness, meditation, spirituality, and the nature of reality. Recommend reading an interpretation of the film either before or after viewing to better appreciate what is happening in the story as it is most metaphorical.
Rest of the List: The Big Kahuna, Tao of Steve, Crazy Stupid Love, Megamind, Eyes Wide Shut, Dead Poet's Society, Before Sunset, Gambit, Five Minutes of Heaven, Temple Grandin, Croupier, The Good Guy, 3 Idiots, Limitless, Drive, Whiplash
I love this. Super old school sci-fi-tech madness. Reminded me of an Outer Limits TV show episode.
It's also very similar to what happens in the movie Predestination.
I get the sense that you would like some adult themes, but not too slow?
Top of my mind (and in no specific order) would be:
- Dark City
- The Thirteenth Floor
- City of the Lost Children
- Tron (original and maybe new one)
- Interstellar
- Inception
- A Clockwork Orange
- Her (very relevant to our times)
- Dune (2021 version)
- Brazil
- The Martian
- Children of Men
- Edge of Tomorrow (most like Marvelverse on this list but still very good)
- Moon
- Twelve Monkeys
- Upgrade
- The Fifth Element
- Contact
- Okja
- District 9
- Predestination (very relevant to our times)
- Serenity (but might need some prep from the tv show before watching)
- World on a Wire
- The Abyss
- Minority Report (very relevant in our times)
- The Fly
- Videodrome
- Equilibrium
- Strange Days
- The Andromeda Strain (relevant after Covid)
- eXistenZ (trippy but I loved it when it came out and was only around your sons age)
- In Time (interesting class dynamics on display)
- Enemy Mine
- Franklyn (some interesting takes on mental illness)
- The Arrival
> He found 2001: space odyssey kind of slow and tedious
So do most adults. That and bladerunner are probably the two slowest sci fi movies in the canon (i love them, but they are high effort watches). Maybe literally anything else.
That said, i'd suggest trying to find out what aspect of the books he reads that he likes and go from there. We all read books for different things, and it helps to know what parts the kid likes.
Maybe the expanse tv show is a safe bet (i thought it was better than the books, but that is just me)
If he really likes the unitended technical consequences aspect of asimov, primer might be good, although the plot is very complicated. Predestination is also good.
Interstellar has one, but for that topic I'd suggest Predestination: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predestination_(film)
I'd also suggest watching it before reading that plot synopsis.
+1 for Edge of Tomorrow!
As a Cruise film, it may fall off many people's radars, but it's got some really well worked out trippy stuff in there.
But I'm a sucker for non-completely-dumb time travel stuff. If you are too, be sure to check out Tenet and Predestination, if you haven't watched them already.
Both are well done, evoke consistent atmospheres, and didn't get the attention they deserve. Predestination is more physical in a Cronenbergian sense, while Tenet is pure Nolan administered intravenously.
Predestination was a trip, I recommend it for anyone looking for an interesting weird movie.
I had no idea it was based on a Heinlein story.
The movie "Predestination" with Ethan Hawke is based on this story.
The film Predestination also deals with this paradox.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2397535/
[1] Predestination is a good Time Travelling Film, similar to the plot you describe.
[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2397535/
Yeah but there is a good way to pull it off, and there is a bad way to do it. E.g. the Room also has the premise that it is SO much more about than what is on the surface, but we all know that's a delusion and that the Room is a shallow piece of movie. M. Drive doesn't give that impression, we're left with "wait... what was this about?" feeling which, to me, means it's a great movie. If I left the movie with "this doesn't make any sense, someone must have had a stroke editing this movie" then it would be bad. I think Predestination is an example of movie that is done in a similar vein but is significantly worse (than M. Drive) as in if you hold it to some scrutiny it's clear there is no deeper meaning and it's just intended to be "mind-blowing" or whatever it means.
Another example is David Fincher's 1997 movie The Game.
Many directors tried this, yet none pulled it off like David Lynch. IMHO.
Just my 2 cents. I'm a movie layman.
Until reading this, I had no idea the film Predestination was based on a Heinlein short.
12 Monkeys - Travelling back in time to try and track the outbreak of a virus that wipes out most of humanity.
The Abyss - Survival and discovery on a deep water mining platform.
Apollo 13 - Look at the rescue efforts of this historical NASA moon mission. (Does it count as sci-fi?)
The Dish - Also not quite sci-fi, but a comedy about Australia's involvement in the first moon landing.
Battle for Terra - Surprisingly good animated movie about invading aliens.
District 9 - Alien refugee camp in Johannesburg.
Gravity - Astronaut stranded in orbit, trying to get back to Earth.
The Martian - Survival and rescue of a lone astronaut stranded on Mars.
Moon - After a serious accident, a solitary worker on the Moon discovers a conspiracy.
Oblivion - A veteran assigned to extract Earth's remaining resources begins to question what he knows about his mission and himself.
Predator - The classic that launched the franchise.
Predestination - Faithful adaptation of Heinlein's short story, "All You Zombies."
The Prestige - Some minor sci-fi elements. At the end of the Nineteenth Century in London, two stage magicians engage in a battle to create the ultimate illusion whilst sacrificing everything they have to outwit the other.
Source Code - Using limited time-travel to try and get information to stop a second, larger terrorist attack.
WALL E - In the distant future, a small waste-collecting robot inadvertently embarks on a space journey that will ultimately decide the fate of mankind.
For those unaware, "All You Zombies..." is a fantastic short story by Robert Heinlein about time travel that was adapted into the 2014 film Predestination (fairly well, too, considering the source material.)
An even better (although quite contrived) example is given in the movie "Predestination":
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2397535/
Alternatively, read the short story "All you Zombies" by Robert A. Heinlein, on which most of the movie is based:
http://emilkirkegaard.dk/en/wp-content/uploads/Robert-A.-Heinlein-All-You-Zombies.pdf