About Time Finds The Romance In Time Travel: Today In Science & Science Fiction

By David Wharton | Updated

This article is more than 2 years old

About TimeThere have been some great time travel stories that also involved strong romantic elements. There was the playwright who fell in love with a woman in a painting, then traveled back to her era, only to lose her in tragic fashion. There was the soldier in a desperate future war, pining for the woman he was destined to travel back and save. There was the weatherman who was kind of a dick, but who found his kinder side and the love of his life on a day he repeated over and over and over. Last year Richard Curtis added another entry to the genre, About Time, which hits Blu-Ray, DVD, and digital today.

About Time is the tale of a bloke named Tim (Domhnall Gleeson) who, on his 21st birthday, discovers he can travel in time. His father (Bill Nighy) soon reveals that it’s not just him — it’s a talent all the men of his family possess. After a few experiments trying to set right what once went wrong, he realizes it’s not the all-purpose fixer-upper ability you might think. Some things just aren’t meant to happen, no matter what you do. Tim eventually falls for the lovely Mary (Rachel McAdams) and continues to use his powers to shape his own history, with some good results and some not so good. One of the most entertaining parts of a time travel story is exploring the notions of causality and unexpected consequences, and About Time has a lot of fun with this, in among all the lovey-dovey stuff.

I’m not typically a rom-com kind of person, but Richard Curtis’ flicks are often the exception, and I particularly like Love Actually and The Boat That Rocked/Pirate Radio. If you’re a Curtis fan or you’re just looking for a romantic movie that won’t make you want to shellac your own eyeballs, give About Time a shot.

Today in TV

Face Off (Syfy, 9/8c) — “Guitar Gods”

The artists work in teams to create rockers who are literally at one with their electric guitars.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC, 8/7c) — “T.R.A.C.K.S.”

A mysterious train proves dangerous for Agent Coulson and the team as they pursue the Clairvoyant.

Person of Interest (CBS, 10/9c) — “Provenance”

Reese rejoins Finch in New York, but when the team receives the number of a highly skilled antiquities thief, a surprising turn of events finds them planning a heist which could land them all in jail.

Today in Home Video

Code Red (DVD)

In World War II, Stalin created a top secret nerve gas, which went missing shortly after the Battle of Stalingrad. Over seventy years later, the horrific biochemical weapon resurfaces in modern day Bulgaria, turning the local inhabitants into frenzied mutants and causing the dead to rise from the grave. Amidst the chaos, US Special Forces Captain John McGahey (Paul Logan) and NATO Doctor Ana Bennett (Manal El-Feitury) must escape the infected zone before the Code Red alert is raised and everything is destroyed. Now it s survival at all costs…

Hawking (DVD)

Hawking features exclusive access to Hawking’s life story, told largely in his own words. It includes dramatic accounts of his life from childhood through university, intimate footage of Hawking today, including his home routine and his work life at the University of Cambridge*archival footage and candid insights from family members, friends and colleagues. Computer-generated imagery (CGI) illustrates some of Hawking’s remarkable discoveries, such as the nature of black holes and the Big Bang Theory.