Smart genre is what I aspire to write, so this is all good news for me! British film critic Mark Kermode has often expounded the theory that, since major studio releases stand or fall on their stars, special effects and marketing campaign, not the story, there's absolutely no reason not to make them as smart and inventive as possible - since intelligence wouldn't put off the people who are going to see them anyway, but will attract people who otherwise wouldn't see them. (only he explains it better)

What I liked about Looper is that it's what myself (and just about everyone I know) always finds satisfying -- a high concept film pushed through a low budget filter. (Not that $30 million is technically a low budget, but that it takes what's good about lower budget films -- smaller moments, interesting characters, darker tone, expecting the audience to think and not just spoon feeding them -- and runs with this despite the higher concept.)

It's the best of both worlds in one movie -- high concept, but better filmmaking, the kind of filmmaking that happens when you don't just throw money at a production and except that to stand-in for real creativity.

The screenplay for "Looper", from a casting standpoint, gives actors a lot to get excited about with 3 really well-written characters snatched up by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis and Emily Blunt -leading to 3 Hercules-strong performances. Emily Blunt and Bruce Willis have both said they believe "Looper" is the best movie they have been in, and JGL said he feels he disappears into the role better than he ever has. "Looper", just as an idea, had me all-in. But it exceeds beyond the average high-concept story because Rian Johnson remembered to populate it with engaging characters.

I heard a great interview on KRCW's "The Business" with Looper's Director. The Hollywood-China connection really helped with green lighting this film. Financing was easier and circumnavigating around the film import restriction into china really helped. The screenplay was built for a global audience with a modification of changing the original location of france to china. I'm glad that this independent movie is succeeding outside the normal Studio channels. It could be a template to filmmakers who want to get original stories made with medium sized budgets without having to go through the risk-averse studios. http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/tb/tb121001the_hollywood-china_