Wordiezett So much average

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

chaos-rampant If the premise of this little 25 minute short about a meek office worker caught in a time loop, doomed to live again and again the same one hour, sounds all too familiar, it's because it is. Harold Ramis had no moral qualms in practically lifting it wholesale and turning it into GROUNDHOG DAY three years later. But can anyone really blame him when that one is a modern classic of sorts and 12.01 is nothing more than a curio and a missed opportunity? That director Jonathan Heap's career sunk after this Oscar nominated short in a string of half-cooked, average action flicks reveals a lot of what is wrong with this one. Someone had the epiphany of the time loop idea but didn't really know what to do with it. Apart from the central premise, Ramis lifted quite a few things more: the protagonist trying to do the right thing, committing suicide in an effort to escape the loop, being angry, resigned etc. But he also wove the idea in the context of a meaningful story. 12.01 gets caught in the usual ludicrous sci-fi mumbo-jumbo trying to explain the loop, at parts it's clumsy, awkward, and shot in a very bland 80's way. It never really convinces it's anything else than a framework for a great gimmick. But it still has a great idea and you can't take that away from it. It just goes to show that the first flash of inspiration is only the tip of the iceberg.

ackstasis Imagine that, for some inexplicable reason, the entire Universe has been set to a continuous time loop. As soon as the specified time is over, everything in the Universe is reversed back to where it was, the loop restarts, and nobody even realises that this is happening over and over and over again… except for you. If, in your mind's eye, you've already formulated a mental image of a frustrated-looking Bill Murray and a cute little groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil, then you can be forgiven for the oversight. I am not referring to the hit 1993 film 'Groundhog Day,' but to a fascinating short film from three years earlier entitled '12:01 PM.''12:01 PM' is based on a short story of the same name, written by Richard A. Lupoff and published in the December 1973 edition of 'The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.' The film stars Kurtwood Smith as Myron Castleman, a meek office worker who finds himself stuck in the aforementioned predicament. However, unlike Bill Murray, Myron is only afforded 59 minutes at a time before the inevitable loop repeats itself. Desperate to uncover an explanation for the maddening phenomenon, he eventually seeks the help of a physicist, Prof. Nathan Rosenbluth (Don Amendolia), who had predicted the "time bounce."Stunningly acted by Smith, and astoundingly clever and original in its execution, '12:01 PM' is an intriguing science-fiction short, sometimes funny and sometimes terrifying. In 1993, it was remade as a feature-length television movie (called '12:01'), starring Jonathan Silverman and Jeremy Piven. 'Groundhog Day' was also released that same year, and it could be argued that Harold Ramis and his team stole the film's general concept, but Jonathon Heap and Richard A. Lupoff ultimately decided not to pursue legal action.

Richard McLaughlin This guy has shown up in so many things and perhaps best known from "That 70s Show", but if you ever saw 12:01 PM, you would have a new appreciation for his talent. This short is extremely well written about the frustrations of going through a time loop over and over for an endless eternity. In the process, he experiences so many things that we may take for granted. During one of his hours, he falls in love with a young lady in the park, then as his hours begins anew, she no longer knows him. During another hour, he helps needy person who others prefer to torment. Then during yet another, he sees a newspaper with an article that a scientist predicted this might happen. He calls him to discuss it, learns a little, then on the next loop he rushes to see him. When he finds that there is nothing he can do, he realizes there is no way out of his situation, so he wrestles a gun from a security guard and blows his own brains out only to find himself standing back on that same corner at the end of the hour as he has and always will. Kurtwood Smith delivers the pain and frustration like no one else could. This short made me a big fan of his. If you get a chance, watch this short! It's truly a 10.

flipcritic A more realistic portrayal of spending an eternity in a repetitious cycle, as compared to "Groundhog Day" and other films of its kind. The thought of being in this situation is absolutely horrifying. Excellent performance by Kurtwood Smith.