Daylight Streaming Time

Because daylight saving is still a thing, time will be on everyone's mind this weekend when an hour of sleep disappears into the ether on Sunday morning. Technology has more or less eliminated the need to set clocks forward or backward when the biannual time changes occur, so the mnemonics to spring forward and fall back have become quaint reminders of an era when human memory still mattered. Despite the fact that only the most dedicated horologists wind their own clocks anymore, time still remains a fascinating subject. The same advances in science that have given us self-adjusting clocks have only deepened the mysterious nature of time. In honor of both the senseless American ritual of losing 60 minutes of our weekend and the uncanny physics and metaphysics of time, here are some recommendations for time-related movies that range from the silly to the profound to the disturbing... or somewhere in between all these.

12 Monkeys - With apologies to Rian Johnson and prosthetically enhanced Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Terry Gilliam's dark sci-fi thriller remains the best Bruce Willis time travel movie to date. The cult favorite also spawned a recent TV series for anyone looking to binge on the apocalyptic futility of time as a dimension. (Starz; series on Hulu)

Timecrimes - Spanish director Nacho Vigalondo's lo-fi time travel thriller playfully deconstructs the chaotic nature of time travel and loops without special effects or CGI graphics. (Shudder; Amazon via Shudder; Tubi)

Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel - British pub culture and time travel go together like beer and skittles. Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg's Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy never covered the topic of time travel, but if it had, it would look something like Gareth Carrivick's anarchic comedy. (Amazon; HBO)

Arrival - Denis Villeneuve seems intent on becoming Hollywood's sci-fi maestro. This 2016 sci-fi drama cleverly merges the alien invasion movie with a philosophical reflection on the flow of time. (Hulu; Amazon)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Director Michel Gondry and writer Charlie Kaufman's high concept comedy plays more on the relationship between time and memory and, well, relationships than the physical qualities of time itself. (Netflix)

About Time - We'll know time travel is for real when someone alters the thread to have Hugh Grant appear in this charming British romantic comedy from writer-director Richard Curtis. (HBO)

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure - Thankfully, time travelers keep sneaking into Hollywood meetings every time they try to reboot this classic. (Hulu; Amazon)