The 2011 thriller “In Time” tells the dystopian science fiction story of a world where time means everything.

Social classes are not determined by income, but by the amount of time a person can live. The humans are genetically engineered to stop aging when they turn 25. At that point, their clocks begin ticking and they must earn or steal more time to stay alive. Lower classes work menial jobs for pay in days, while the upper class hoards centuries. Gangsters prey on the weak to steal their time. “Timekeepers’” or law enforcement’s primary concern is to make sure the “wrong people” – the lower class – never have too much time.

Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) is from “the ghetto,” where people live hour to hour. He meets Henry Hamilton (Matt Bomer) in a bar flashing around a wealth of time – 100 years. After Will rescues him from gangsters, Hamilton gives Will his entire store of time. Sadly, Will can’t get home in time to prevent his mother (Olivia Wilde) from “clocking out.” In retaliation, Will travels to the top “time zone” on a mission to take as much time from the wealthy as he can.

However, possessing time that you didn’t earn is illegal. Timekeeper Leon (Cillian Murphy) catches up with Will and takes back what time he’s managed to accumulate. To avoid capture, Will takes wealthy Sylvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried) hostage and goes back to the ghetto. He realizes it’s not enough to take time from the wealthy, he needs to redistribute the time to the poor. Sylvia falls in love with Will and joins him on a crime spree to spread the wealth of time around as much as they can before they are caught…or their own clocks run out.

We’re lead to believe that a small portion – the one percent? – of the population not only controls the vast majority of wealth, but is actively engaged in preventing the 99 percent from ever progressing outside of their “time zone” by strategically raising taxes and interest rates whenever people start accumulating too much time.

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Quick note: For the sake of this review it’s important to explain the world in which “In Time” takes place. The film itself provides details but “The Minutes,” a special feature included with the Blu-ray/DVD set, is all about the origins of this society, so some things you read here come from that.

Director Andrew Niccol’s “In Time” opens with  a lot of promise and no small amount of tension, thanks to a terrific premise. Unfortunately, the narrative sputters and misfires in the second-half, but as a political allegory, by design or accident, we are treated to a damning look at what our culture and country might look like should Obama and his fellow leftists continue to prevail.

The year is 2161 and some years ago, due to fear of over-population, scientists not only discovered a genetic cure for aging, they implanted a clock in the forearm of every newborn that counts down the years, hours, minutes, and seconds you have left before you die. No one ages a day after they turn twenty-five, but once that birthday hits, you’re given a year to live. That is, unless you’re able to earn more time. Where Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) lives, a working class ghetto called Dayton,  your choices are limited to manual labor, begging, and crime.

Will’s not alone, either. In Dayton, the average person won’t survive the day unless they can earn more time. Here, a cup of coffee costs you four minutes, a bus ride two hours, and the rent a couple of weeks. Time is this nation’s currency, and with the cost of living always going up, it’s a hand-to-mouth existence for the half-million or so residents who live with their mortality constantly hanging over them and in the knowledge that something as mundane as missing a bus can mean you count down to zero and die on the spot.

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Will Gluck is a filmmaker who’s only half clever who thinks he’s too clever by half. His characters are so prone to winking at the camera one could be forgiven for thinking that Morse Code is involved, and the constant admission that the movies are adhering to formula while gently ridiculing it doesn’t prove insightful.

Nonetheless, “Friends with Benefits” is the superior film this year about two attractive people that decide to give consequence-free coitus a try. The first, “No Strings Attached,” was unwatchable, vulgar trash starring Natalie Portman as the world’s least convincing adult (her Oscar was basically for playing a child) and Ashton Kutcher, the world’s least anything (his finest work remains as the abused casino patron in “Reindeer Games”).

Directed by the once competent Ivan Reitman, the film wholly lacked charm, believable characters, and decency. Gluck, director of “Fired Up!” and “Easy A,” is at times able to surmount his own smugness as a filmmaker and thus come out with a perfectly serviceable romantic comedy, albeit one not deserving of much more praise than that.

“Friends with Benefits” features better and even more attractive talent in the form of Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake, who make the premise work because they actually have chemistry in the friend mode.

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MSNBC:

Justin Timberlake kept his promise — and so did his “Friends with Benefits” co-star, Mila Kunis.

Kunis accompanied Sgt. Scott Moore to the Marine Corps Ball on Friday night in Greenville, N.C., according to several local news reports in Greenville.

The actress arrived into the Pitt-Greenville Airport around 2:30 p.m. local time on Friday and was quickly whisked to the Greenville Convention Center, the site of the ball.

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People:

This summer, Justin Timberlake accepted a servicewoman’s invitation to attend the Instructor Battalion Marine Corps Ball, and Saturday he made good on that promise.

“What I didn’t know was how moved I would be by the whole experience,” Timberlake, 30, posted afterwards on his website.

Politico:

“To all of you that serve every day for us… Ensuring our freedom, I say: My deepest gratitude to you. I’ve met so many of my heroes… From Michael Jordan to Michael Jackson. And, nothing makes me feel more honor and pride than when I get to meet one of you. Last night changed my life and I will never forget it,”

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“I wasted time, and now doth time waste me.” Shakespeare’s words ring literally true in Andrew Niccol’s cinematic marriage of ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ with ‘Robin Hood.’

‘In Time’ takes place in a future where physical aging has been genetically altered to end at 25. At that time, a year begins to count down on your arm. When your time runs out, you die. If you can earn or steal more time, you can extend your life infinitely. In this world, people are divided in time zones based on their wealth, and Timekeepers – half cop, half agents of order – ensure that no one breaks the rules and advances illegally.

Justin Timberlake plays Will, a struggling factory worker who has been gifted over a century of time by Henry (Matt Bomer), a man who has grown tired of living. With his new wealth and knowledge, Will goes to New Greenwich, the lap of luxury, intent on stealing time from the wealthy to distribute to the masses – time that has been stolen from them through manipulated markets that ensure the rich earn more time while the poor continually struggle to make it through each day. There, he meets Sylvia (Amanda Seyfried), the daughter of Philippe (‘Mad Men’s’ Vincent Kartheiser), who owns an eternity of time. When Timekeepers track Will to New Greenwich and try to arrest him for supposedly stealing the minutes and murdering Henry, he kidnaps Sylvia and goes on the run, racing against not only the Timekeepers but a dwindling clock.

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As predicted, Paranormal Activity 3 scared up a huge opening last week. This week, it’s animated fare that looks to grab the top spot while Justin Timberlake and Johnny Depp headline also-rans.

This weekend’s predictions and revenue results go as follows:

1. Puss In Boots ($37 million) – Opening the film now is kind of a head scratcher. A large family film just before Halloween that’s not connected to the holiday? Family Halloween activities this weekend will definitely cut into the flick’s overall gross. Look for Rango-like results here because of this.

2. Paranormal Activity 3 ($24 million) – This film will be helped much by Halloween activities this weekend, especially the later evening showings. Expect a very strong second coming and even more money in the franchise’s already impressive bank. (more…)

The minds behind ‘In Time’ couldn’t have known that class warfare proponents, from bedraggled Occupy Wall Street types to a President eager to alienate those sharing his tax bracket, would be all the rage when the film hit theaters.

The science fiction thriller adds a Marxist polish to a tale owing plenty to both ‘Logan’s Run’ and ‘Bonnie and Clyde.’ And while the premise teases the kind of dystopian future seen in sci-fi classics like ‘Blade Runner,”In Time’ ends up with precious little to share beyond its pretty leads.

Justin Timberlake stars as Will Salas, a blue-collar type in an alternative America where people only live to be 25. After that, you have to earn every second of your existence. Time is the coin of this realm, and a person’s wealth status is displayed in green glowing digits on their forearm. Thus, folks like Will literally live paycheck to paycheck, while the rich exist in walled-off communities where they’re guaranteed immortality.

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It’s been six years since Andrew Niccol seated himself in a director’s chair; after the powerful Gattaca (1997), misfire S1m0ne (2002), and sleeper Lord of War (2005), the inventive writer is headed back to the big screen with another original sci-fi concept, In Time. A couple trailers have already dropped; this sizzle reel does a good job introducing the heady premise without giving away exactly where the story will go (I hope).

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The biggest reason I’m pulling for the film is Andrew Niccol’s name. In a market full of adaptations, remakes, reboots, prequels, sequels, and any combination of those categories, Niccol remains committed to telling original stories through the medium of film. Both Gattaca and The Truman Show had all the qualities of great literature, yet video was an absolutely integral element of their storytelling. Barring Sucker Punch (haven’t seen it), the last time Hollywood offered a completely original blockbuster like this was Inception, and I welcome any attempts to make it the rule and no longer the exception.

The Brave New World-esque universe he’s created here is intriguing, and the concept of a world where every action you take temporarily staves off death shows he’s exploring weighty themes through speculative fiction, not just “ooh shiny future stuff!” sci-fi. It appears Niccol’s taken a far more action-oriented approach than his earlier films, so it’ll be interesting to see how well he does. He’s recruited cinematographer and longtime Coen brothers collaborator Roger Deakins, and most of the action shots appear wide and/or steady, so I’m not worried about the kind of shaky-cam anarchy common to untested action directors (I’m looking at you, Marc Forster). (more…)

In the same week that a trailer for a reboot of the “Spider-Man” franchise was released, a franchise that had its last outing in theaters a mere four years ago, a new movie arrived in theaters about two friends who decide to have casual sex. “Friends with Benefits,” starring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis, was released last Friday only a few months after the release of “No String Attached,” which featured Kunis’s former co-stars Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman. Both the new “Spider-Man” franchise and “Friends” seem unnecessary but despite my doubts, “Friends” is a definite improvement over “Strings” and is well worth seeing.

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As the story begins, Dylan (Timberlake) and Jamie (Kunis) are being dumped by their respective partners. Dylan’s heart is crushed by his John Mayer-loving girlfriend Kayla (Emma Stone) while Jamie is discarded by her dopey boyfriend Quincy (Andy Sandberg). Dylan and Jamie eventually meet each other when Dylan flies to New York City for a job interview with GQ that head-hunter Jamie has set up. After Jamie shows him the pleasures of the Big Apple, Dylan accepts the job as Art Director.

Soon enough, Dylan and Jamie become close friends and start talking about relationships together. One night, they are watching a by-the-book romantic comedy and they start making fun of how unrealistic it is. The two make fun of the clichés and pop music montages that often plague romantic comedies today. (more…)

With eight “Harry Potter” movies, four “Pirates” films, three “Transformers” and two “Hangover” flicks clogging the Hollywood distribution pipeline over the last few years, and “reboots” of movies like “Spider-Man” that are less than a decade old, it might seem that nothing original is coming out of La La Land these days. And this weekend might appear to offer up the most ridiculous example of repetitive thinking yet, when “Friends With Benefits” hits theaters a mere six months after another comedy about hot young twentysomethings hoping to score without emotional or legal commitments, “No Strings Attached.” 

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Now, consider that “No Strings Attached” was originally titled “Friends With Benefits,” and that each of the films stars one of the lead actresses from “Black Swan” – with Natalie Portman in “Strings” and Mila Kunis in “Friends” – and one might even wonder why the competing studios that released these films aren’t suing each other for copyright infringement. 

And yet, against all expectations, “Friends” proves itself to not only be the vastly superior of the two films, but also one of the best romantic comedies – period – to come out in the last few years. It’s a terrific, witty, sexy, and genuinely appealing film that should not only be a big hit but might wind up on my end of year mix list of the best brainy art-house films and crowd-pleasing popcorn flicks. 

“Friends” benefits from the beginning from the fact its other star is Justin Timberlake, the pop-music wunderkind who’s proven himself to be one hell of a comedic talent in his surprising switch to comedic acting on “SNL” and in his charismatic drama turn in “The Social Network.” As Dylan, a magazine art director who’s recruited to take over GQ magazine’s creative approach by headhunter Jamie (Kunis), he at first displays just the right amount of cocky charm to win her over along with the audience. 

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Thanks to Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis this has turned into one terrific story and an opportunity to finally write a series of positive posts about Hollywood in the tradition of the original Hollywood Canteen, an organization created by Bette Davis, John Garfield and others with the idea being to boost troop morale with a special place just for them where they could mingle with the stars. The price of admission: a uniform.

Not only have Timberlake and Kunis graciously accepted these charming invitations from two United States Marines, they’ve done so with class. Hopefully, this will start to spread and after ten long years of war some others in Tinseltown might decide to put aside partisan politics and show a similar graciousness to the men and women who make their artistic freedom possible. Which isn’t to say that some like Gary Sinise haven’t been there from the beginning.

The Daily Mail:

In a twist straight out of a fairy tale, Justin Timberlake has accepted a servicewoman’s invitation to the Marine Corps Ball. …

‘I’ll tell you what, I accept,’ the 30-year-old told reporters at a junket in Cancun, Mexico today of Kelsey De Santis’s request that he accompany her to the Washington, D.C. ball.

‘But not because she shouted out one of my songs, which I do love,’ he joked, De Santis referenced his hit Cry Me A River in her video invite.

‘And not because she had all those beefcake military guys behind her to intimidate me.’

The reason, Timberlake asserted is: ‘I don’t get asked out. Ever. So I was very flattered by that.’

‘If my schedule works out to do it, I’d love to do it. It’s an honour.’

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Fox News:

Sgt. Scott Moore, of the 3rd Battalion 2nd Marines in Musa Qala, Afghanistan, last week set up a YouTube page and posted a video asking the “Friends With Benefits” star to accompany him to the Marine Corps Ball on November 18th in Greenville, North Carolina. …

After questioning her publicist if she knew about the invitation, the clearly flattered 27-year-old actress agreed.

“I’ll go, I’ll do it for you,” she said, turning to [Justin] Timberlake. “Are you going to come?”

“They don’t want me! They want you,” Timberlake responded. “You need to do it for your country.”

Kunis nodded.

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In the new film “Bad Teacher,” it’s obvious that Elizabeth Halsey (Cameron Diaz) is a terrible educator. She runs away from crying students, smokes marijuana in the school’s parking lot and doesn’t even decorate her classroom. That’s right. In an elementary school where teachers often decorate their desks so much that the students don’t even know where to put their homework assignments, Elizabeth chooses to leave her desk bare. Worst of all, she says things like “in some ways, movies are the new books” and proceeds to show films to her students on a daily basis.

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As “Teacher” begins, Halsey is saying goodbye to the elementary school that she has taught at for one year. The other faculty members give her a party to say goodbye, but Halsey can’t wait to leave so she can start living off her fiance’s money. However, when she arrives home, her fiance is waiting there with his mother (always a bad sign) and the mother/son duo soon call off the engagement. A few miserable months later, Halsey returns to the classroom where her students have nothing to fear except for the wrath of their professor.

While showing her class well-known films like “Dangerous Minds” and “Stand by Me,” Halsey focuses on one thing: earning or stealing enough money to buy breast implants so she can find a new man to take care of her. When someone informs her how profitable the school car wash is, Halsey jumps to the chance to wash cars in a way that might make Paris Hilton blush. Unfortunately for her, Halsey’s goals for stealing money on this and other occasions are undermined by Amy Squirrel (Lucy Punch), a teacher so unabashedly peppy that her students seem embarrassed for her. As the story continues, Scott Delacorte (Justin Timberlake), who says he’s pro-choice on everything except abortion, gets hired as a substitute teacher and Squirrel and Halsey begin fighting over him. In the meantime, the gym teacher (Jason Segel) desperately wants Halsey to go out with him.

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The one (and only, I’m afraid) good thing that can be said about Bad Teacher is that it has some wonderfully pungent lines. My hopes were certainly raised when Cameron Diaz’ character stormed into her fiancé’s house yelling “Get yourself hard, ‘cause I’m gonna suck your dick like I’m mad at it!” All right!

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Unfortunately, the rest of the movie speed-races downhill. The usually appealing stars—Diaz, Jason Segel, Justin Timberlake, and the great Lucy Punch—are sadly miscast. And the ill-shaped script—by two writers whose only previous feature credit is the woeful Year One—constitutes an affront to the gods of plausibility.

Diaz plays Elizabeth Halsey, a hot-tramp teacher at an Illinois middle school. Elizabeth arrives in her classroom in tight red sheath dresses, stiletto heels, and impenetrable black shades to hide her hangover eyes. She keeps bottles of minibar liquor in a desk drawer and smokes pot in the parking lot outside. She’s hostile and insulting to her fellow teachers, and her classes consist of screening DVDs for her puzzled students of old movies related to the subject of education. (We see her starting off with Stand and Deliver.) Her only goal in life is to snag a rich man to support her; so when her wealthy fiancé understandably dumps her, she decides that her sole hope of corralling a well-heeled husband is to purchase “a new pair of tits.”

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The shrewd picnic basket-stealing “Yogi Bear” often likes to say that he’s smarter than the average bear. With his sly plans, goofy wit and ability to speak fluent English, he is undoubtedly more intelligent than the typical forest animal. Unfortunately, the new movie “Yogi Bear” doesn’t measure up to his intellect and is just another bland family-friendly film that features potty jokes and a few funny lines.

YouTube

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The story begins with Yogi Bear (voiced by Dan Akroyd) planning to steal a picnic basket from an unassuming family. His sidekick Boo Boo (voiced by Justin Timberlake) stands at his side watching the master at work.  Yogi’s basket-stealing ploy doesn’t work as well as Yogi planned but this gives the filmmakers the opportunity to show off the film’s 3D effects.

When the food ends up flying into the air, audiences see the snacks and drinks up close and in slow motion — and in 3D. It’s a fun scene to watch and one of the best aspects of the film is actually its use of 3D graphics. Instead of simply showing objects flying towards the audience, “Yogi Bear” appreciates the technology and shows how neat  it can be, especially for young people.

As the story continues, a documentarian named Rachel (Anna Faris) visits Jellystone Park, the home of Yogi Bear. With support from Park Ranger Smith (Tom Cavanagh), Rachel films the adventures of Yogi and Boo Boo. However, a corrupt politician soon arrives to cause trouble. (more…)

After seeing “The Social Network,” it’s easy to dislike Mark Zuckerberg.

Still in his 20’s, Zuckerberg is the billionaire creator of Facebook, a massively popular website that has changed how people use the Internet. “The Social Network” chronicles the creation of Facebook and the success of  Zuckerberg (played by Jesse Eisenberg). Leaving aside its harsh treatment of its lead character, “Network” is still one of the best films of the year.

“The Social Network” tells the story of a young man disillusioned by rejection and unwavering in his determination to become successful. The film begins in a bar with a conversation between Zuckerberg and his then-girlfriend. After comparing dating Zuckerberg to dating a Stairmaster, she breaks up with him. He is shocked by her cold rejection and carelessly apologizes to win her back. When that proves unsuccessful, he takes his frustrations to the Internet calling her a “bitch” on his blog. As he drinks in his dorm room that night, he single-handedly creates a website where Harvard students can judge the attractiveness of school’s female population.

After his website proves successful in a matter of hours, Zuckerberg becomes well-known on campus. He then begins work on a new social website that will eventually become known as Facebook. The battle over who invented Facebook lies at the heart of “The Social Network.” (more…)

“The Social Network” wastes no time in getting started. The film opens in the fall of 2003 with future Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg), a 19 year-old Harvard student, simmering with resentment over the insecurity he feels in his relationship with the pretty young co-ed sitting directly across from him in a crowded campus bar. Using a brilliant mind and monotone voice perpetually set on superior/ironic, he methodically attempts to cut her to pieces; his controlled hostility bubbling through in the form of insults wrapped in innuendo just innocent-sounding enough to allow Zuckerberg to claim any rise on her part is an overreaction – which is also part of his cruel game. The girl about to become The One Who Got Away might attend a lesser college, but she’s no dummy and breaks up with him on the spot. Angry, humiliated, but always the narcissist, Zuckerberg marches back to his dorm, pops open a few beers, and does what bitter losers do in our Internet age: humiliates her in front of the world online.

Emboldened by alcohol and a vengeance fueled by his own palpable sense of inadequacy, Zuckerberg then goes on to use his impressive computer hacking skills, and those of his more level-headed best and only friend Eduardo (Andrew Garfield), to humiliate most every girl on campus through the creation of a website that ranks their attractiveness using sorority photographs. A small Harvard scandal erupts but this only ends up being the first sordid step towards what will eventually become the multi-billion dollar sensation we know today as Facebook.

Directed with skill and precision by David Fincher and impressively scripted by “West Wing” creator Aaron Sorkin, “The Social Network” is tightly told, well paced, and quite brilliantly structured with a story that unfolds through the inter-cutting of two different lawsuit depositions and flashbacks. The acting is impeccable, especially Eisenberg’s performance as the world’s youngest up and coming billionaire and Justin Timberlake as Napster founder Sean Parker, a craven party-boy genius whose unerring sense of the big picture is frequently undone by a dark nihilistic streak. His Svengali-like influence on Zuckerberg, who like himself is driven beyond reason to settle old scores, real or imagined, will prove the old adage about gaining the world at the cost of your soul. (more…)

The recent fracas at the American Music Awards is yet another reason why I am glad I don’t go in for the mutual admiration society gatherings known as awards shows.

American Idol runner up Adam Lambert, one of the performers during the live East Coast broadcast, shocked viewers with his “pelvic-thrust[ing] … four-minute, S&M-themed routine, taking time out from singing to grope a female dancer, kiss a male musician and, most shockingly, shove a male dancer’s face into his crotch, in an act that simulated fellatio.”

Nothing like watching a little simulated fellatio to round out an evening with the family. Pass the popcorn!

Sources from the AMA claimed that those dance moves had not been part of the rehearsal, and the West Coast version of the show was edited to delete the scene. Now there’s the real scandal: trying to protect children who might be watching. If it’s good enough for the likes of the celebs in the AMA audience, it should be good enough for your 10 year old. (more…)

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