Todd Recommends...

I finally got a chance to watch Primer.

I first heard of the movie through http://www.independentbands.com/. It was released in 2004 and was written, produced, directed and funded by Shane Carruth. If that name sounds familiar, it's because he's the brother of Caleb Carruth, who used to be in a band called "Shane and Caleb." Caleb eventually left that group to do some solo stuff and then later founded independentbands.com. The "Shane" of "Shane and Caleb" found another Shane and became Shane & Shane.

Exhausted yet?

Primer went on to win the 2004 Grand Jury Prize at the acclaimed Sundance Film Festival (among other prizes and nominations.) But what seemed to make this film such a standout was it's humble funding - the movie was shot, edited and produced for $7000.

I had forgotten about it, but last week I noticed it was available through our Netflix Online deal. (So a few days ago, I fired it up and I've been watching it in pieces this week.)

Let me first say that this is really one of the most suspenseful movies I've seen in a long while. It's not scary, but there definitely is a sense that something much bigger is going on. Initially, I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't some sort of "big reveal" at the end. But it was so intriguing that I couldn't dislike it.

I did a little research and soon discovered that there are thousands of theories about this film - its timeline and storyline and characters are still widely debated four years later!

If you dig sci-fi and like movies that leave you with more questions than answers, you should give Primer a try.