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In Time starring Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried & Cillain Murphy: Fast, Fun, Romantic

Posted on February 18, 2013 Written by ripitup

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In Time -Justin Timberlake- Amanda Seyfried
In Time starring Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried & Cillain Murphy. A 2011 film. Written & directed by Andrew Niccol. Image via northernarizonanews.com

 

Jerry Maguire might have had Dorothy Boyd from hello; Andrew Niccol got me from Gattaca. He then got me again with Lord of War, with bigger impact. And while Just in Time isn’t as painfully effective and emotionally disturbing as Lord of War or as highly rated as Gattaca,  it doesn’t lack in the entertainment department. It also has a lot to show about societies and human nature.

Let’s go over the plot before I list why it is good entertainment:

Will (Justin Timberlake) lives in a world where time is the only currency. Keep getting it, and you might as well be immortal. Unless someone kills you, you’re golden – if you are rich. Oh, and you stop aging at 25. One can argue that at least you get to die pretty regardless of how.

But just like in the world there are different classes classified as zones. One of the unluckiest is where Will has lived his whole life. His father has died when he was a kid, and it is just him and his mother (Olivia Wilde) working hard, barely making through each day.

But when, in a twist of fate, Will saves the life of the suicidal rich (and old) man Henry Hamilton (Matt Bomer), he awards him his time. Unfortunately, his mother dies, which sends Will on a quest of revenge instead of living a happy, long life with his mom.

He does, however, enjoy a few perks before he can figure out a plan, including having met and attracted the beautiful & rebellious daughter, Sylvia (Amanda Seyfried), of the wealthy Peter Weis (Vincent Kartheiser). But before he gets to live life to the fullest for a little more, the time-keepers are on to him-thinking he has murdered Henry.

Time-keepers are the cops of this world, ensuring the balance. Unfortunately, led by Raymond Leon (Cillian Murphy), they are more concerned about the balance than justice. Making it his sole mission to catch Will, he leaves the young man no choice but to go on the run, taking Sylvia hostage.

While Sylvia hates her situation at first, she teams up with Will when she realizes that he only wants to live a normal (mortal) life and help out as many under-privileged and overworked people as he can.

But unfortunately, Raymond isn’t their only obstacle: “crime” boss Fortis (Alex Pettyfer) is after them, hell-bent on getting the reward put on their heads…

The good, and the better

For an action/sci-fi film with romantic elements, it is not a shallow ride at all. This is not Fast and Furious (though I do appreciate that series’ entertainment value). It tackles immortality, unfair distribution of income, friendship, morality, doing things by the book vs. doing the right thing, greed, love and beyond. It just does it at a satisfying speed, with enough decent one-liners and a good cast.

Who doesn’t want to be immortal, stuck at the beautiful (apparent) age of 25? I know I would. I also wouldn’t mind stopping aging now at 28, or 10,20,30 years later.  The issue here is how you get the “immortality”. You have as many years as your money can afford. Sure, you can die if someone kills you or you kill yourself. But watch your diet and you’re golden. But would you want to earn those years through the lives of others?

Everyone automatically gets a year after 25. Work, steal, borrow…if you can’t collect time one way or the other, you are dead as soon as time runs out.

The rich are afraid to be reckless and impulsive. The poor barely see the next day. It’s unfair, just like the real world. Money can’t buy happiness (for some), but it sure improves your living conditions.

Crime rate is higher in the ghettos, and the rich are well-protected.

It’s a little look into our world, with a twist on our genetics and the replacement currency.

Niccol is great at looking into human nature, and combining a few different natures in his films. He gives us the good, the bad and the grey (Timekeeper Raymond, Will’s best friend). He can shock and entertain as much as he wants. He doesn’t have a problem a set of famous and capable actors.

Yes, I loved Lord of War, despite it was an emotionally disturbing and thought-provoking experience. I loved Gattaca for it was a great sci-fi with substance about how far we can go with genetics and In Time is the movie to remind you that you don’t have forever. But even if you could, you need to be able to more than just breathe and look nice to feel alive.

I want to see it again, but I’m torn. Maybe I should cash in those 109 minutes for a different experience. I mean I don’t live forever right?

 

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: Alex Pettyfer, Amanda Seyfried, andrew niccol, Cillain Murphy, gattaca, In time, in time 2011 movie, in time cast, in time movie, in time movie review, justin timberalake in time, justin timberlake, lord of war, matt bomer, vincent kartheiser

Friends with Benefits starring Justin Timberlake & Mila Kunis

Posted on December 26, 2011 Written by ripitup

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Friends-with-Benefits-movie-poster-(2011)
Friends with Benefits movie poster via posters555.com

 

Premise

Jamie (Mila Kunis) is a successful executive recruiter from New York. Dylan (Justin Timberlake) is a successful blog’s art director from LA. When GQ wants an art director, Jamie knows that Dylan is the guy. When he comes to New York, she dazzles him with the city and he can’t say no to such a terrific job offer.

Being new to New York, and seeing how fun Jamie is, Dylan wants to keep hanging out with her. But because they were both recently dumped (Jamie for being too romantic, and Dylan for not being emotionally available), they opt for being really good friends instead of trying to date. And then when they both miss dating and sex, they come up with the idea of having sex, as friends.

Friends with Benefits- Mila Kunis with Justin Timberlake

They think they figured out how to prevent all awkwardness, and for a while, they do have a great time as friends with benefits. Their friendship even survives the attempts of dating others. But real problems start when they will have to face that they might mean a little more to each other than just friends who hang around a lot…

 

Why should you see this movie?

  • Friends with Benefits is a lot of fun! I never thought I’d laugh at a Justin Timberlake movie so much. I always thought I could only handle him in small dozes (like in The Social Network).

 

Well, I’ve got to hand it to him- he made a great couple with Mila Kunis: they were both hilarious, entertaining, sweet and entirely likeable.

 

  • This romantic comedy has the right combo: 70%comedy, 30% romance.

 

  • It makes fun of romantic comedy clichés, but it is smart enough to abide by the clichés the romcom audience wants, especially our happy ending.

 

  • The supporting cast has Jenna Elfman (our very own Dharma from Dharma and Greg) and Bryan Greenberg  (One Tree Hill, Prime) and Patricia Clarkson (Married Life, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Cairo Time).

 

 

  • There are cameos by Emma Stone and Andy Samberg- they are the ones who dump Timberlake and Kunis in the beginning of the movie.

 

  • Kunis’ Jamie is a big romantic comedy fan, and her favorite movie is the fake movie starring Jason Segel and Rashida Jones. And Rashida Jones, Jason Segel and Any Samberg did star in an actual romantic comedy (well, a bromance) together called I Love You Man.

 

Segel also co-starred with Mila Kunis in the romcom Forgetting Sarah Marshall. She played the love interest and the movie was written by Segel.

 

  • Hawaii Five O’s nerdy medical examiner Masi Oka makes a cameo as a plane passenger sitting next to Timberlake’s Dylan.

 

  • It really is funny and romantic. And the sex scenes are hilarious.

 

Rated at 6.6 on IMDB. See it if you like your modern romantic comedies.

Friends with Benefits scene- Mila Kunis with Justin Timberlake
Friends with Benefits- Mila Kunis with Justin Timberlake. Image via moviecarpet.com

 

Entertainment References:

Poking fun at other romcoms and pop culture in general, the movie has some familiar references:

 

  • Dylan accuses Jamie of acting out a scene from Will and Grace, referring to the airport scene where they first meet. She’s on the conveyor belt, looking for the sign with Dylan’s name on it.

 

  • Dylan starts humming the Semisonic song Closing time when they are having sex for the first time. He insists the song belongs to 3rd Eye Blind, a popular 90s modern rock band that got a lot of radioplay during the same period as Semisonic. He later says that the lyrics are meaningful, and jokes about 3rd Eye Blind being poetic. In the end, he admits that the song is Semisonic’s.

 

3rd Eye Blind is the band that sang “Semi-Charmed Life”, How’s It Gonna Be” and “Jumper.”

 

  • Patricia Clarkson’s Lorna wants to have a mother-daughter getaway, and she says it will be just like a Nora Ephron movie. Nora Ephron is the screenwriter of the Meg Ryan movies You’ve Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally.

 

  • In the beginning of the movie, right after Jamie was dumped by her boyfriend (Andy Samberg), she is complaining about romcoms to her friend. They pass by the DVD poster for The Ugly Truth, a romantic comedy starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler. She shouts: “Shut up, Katherine Heigl, you stupid liar!

 

 

  • After Jamie and Dylan decide to stop having sex and going back to being friends, Dylan decides that he will talk to the pretty girl they see. The girl is reading a book, and Jamie comments that it is probably a book  by Nicholas Sparks, the bestselling author of The Notebook, Message in a Bottle and A Walk to Remember.

 

  • Before her boyfriend broke up with her, she was waiting for him to see Pretty Woman again. Pretty Woman stars Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, and is one of the most famous romantic comedies of all time.

 

 

  • Emma Stone starred in the 2010 comedy Easy A, directed by Friends with Benefits director Will Gluck. Her sexually liberal mother with a happy past was also played by Patricia Clarkson.

 

  • Both lead character say that they want to be like George Clooney after they are dumped.

Jamie says “I’m just gonna shut myself down emotionally. Like George Clooney.”

Dylan says “I just want to work and f***. Like George Clooney.”

 

Also on Mila Kunis

Forgetting Sarah Marshall starring Jason Segel, Mila Kunis, Russell Brand & Kristen Bell

The Black Swan starring Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis & Vincent Cassel

 

Also on Justin Timberlake

The Social Network starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield & Justin Timberlake

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: andy samberg, buy friends with benefits dvd, comedy, easy a, easy a movie, emma stone, forgetting sarah marshall mila kunis, friends with benefits, friends with benefits cast, friends with benefits dvd, friends with benefits movie, friends with benefits on amazon, justin timberlake, justin timberlake in the social network, justin timberlake movies, Mila Kunis, mila kunis black swan, mila kunis movies, movies, Patricia Clarkson, romance, will gluck

Coming Soon:Bad Teacher starring Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel & Justin Timberlake

Posted on March 13, 2011 Written by ripitup

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Bad Teacher starring Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel & Justin Timberlake
Bad Teacher starring Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel & Justin Timberlake. Coming in June.

Bad Teacher is a summer comedy that will start hitting the theaters at the end of June. So let’s see what it’s all about:

Cameron Diaz is in fact a ridiculously inappropriate junior high teacher who values only herself and money. She believes she’s too good for the school’s gym teacher Jason Segel and when she begins her man hunt, she goes after the new instructor Justin Timberlake. Of course judging by his ex, she believes that she can only get him after a major boob surgery. So she decides to go after the bonus too, a reward given to the best teacher. But she now has to win over Lucy Punch, who is.. well, a  better teacher.

Can she win the money and the guy?

**

Bad Teacher looks entertaining but I’m not sure it is funny enough. It’s a fun premise but a movie has to be really, really funny when it’s centered on characters that you don’t care about at all. And while gorgeous, Cameron Diaz doesn’t play a likable character.

I really enjoyed Jason Segel in Forgettting Sarah Marshall and I love you, Man but he doesn’t seem to have enough punch lines here. He only made me giggle when he called his student  “Hey, Twilight” . Well, the kid’s hair is very Twilight’s Edward Cullen-ish.

Oh, and I am not ready to embrace Justin Timberlake as a leading actor yet. Yes, he is an OK actor and his acting hurts less than his music, but the lead? I guess the writers thought it would be a fun touch casting him as the guy Cameron strives to get, as Cameron already got Justin – from 2003 to 2006. They dated for 3 years. The attraction to Justin is something I’ll never get, as I like my men (and my male celebrities) tall, well-built & manly.

Directed by Lawrence Kasdan’s son Jake Kasdan. Written by Gene Stupnitsky, Lee & Eisenberg, whose credits writing credits include (American) The Office series and the Jack Black comedy Year One.

Let’s see if this is a good movie with a mediocre trailer. The trailer is available on imdb.com

 

Other Cameron Diaz Movies & Posts:

Knight and Day starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz

The Box starring Cameron Diaz, James Marsden and Frank Langella

My Sister’s Keeper starring Cameron Diaz, Jason Patrick & Abigail Breslin

4 Good Movies with Awesome Soundtracks: Shoot ‘em up, Jerry Maguire, Reality Bites and Vanilla Sky

10 FUNNIEST MOVIES EVER: Laugh Till Your Ribs Hurt

Cameron Diaz Trivia

Other Jason Segel Movies & Series:

Forgetting Sarah Marshall starring (&written by Jason Segel)

How I Met Your Mother – Comedy Series

I Love You Man starring Jason Segel & Paul Rudd

Other Justin Timberlake Movies:
The Social Network starring Jesse Eisenberg. Featuring Justin Timberlake

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: bad teacher, bad teacher movie, Cameron Diaz, cameron diaz and justin timberlake jake kasdan, cameron diaz justin timberlake, cameron diaz movies, comedy, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, forgetting sarah marshall movie, Gene Stupnitsky, I Love You Man, Jason Segel, jason segel movies, justin timberlake, justin timberlake cameron diaz, justin timberlake the social network, Lee Eisenberg, movies

The Social Network starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake and Armie Hammer

Posted on October 21, 2010 Written by ripitup

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The Social Network starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake and Armie Hammer
The Social Network starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake and Armie Hammer. A David Fincher Film.

The Makers and The Actors

The Social Network tells the story of Facebook. When I saw the trailer, I wasn’t all that impressed. I didn’t think watching the movie would be any more fun than reading a well-written non-fiction book about how Facebook started and became this huge phenomenon. But I had an invitation to see the movie, and I was a little intrigued. I mean, David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button…) was directing it.

When the opening credits rolled, I was even more intrigued. It was co-produced by the Oscar-winner producer Scott Rudin (No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood, The Truman Show…). The executive producer was (twice) Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey (American Beauty, The Usual Suspects, The Life of David Gale, Pay it Forward, 21…). The music was composed by Trent Reznor- a.k.a Nine Inch Nails, an industrial/electronic rock/metal singer/band. I really like Jesse Eisenberg’s acting (The Squid and The Whale, The Hunting Party). And among all these credentials, there was Justin Timberlake as an actor, in a Fincher movie. Well, as annoyed as I am by him as a singer, he doesn’t bug me much as an actor.

The Plot

Right after the opening scene, we are told most of the story in flashbacks as the present time is split between the two lawsuits Mark is facing. One from former best friend Eduardo and from two other Harvard students he was supposed to do business with. Both lawsuits are currently being handled in meetings with the lawyers.

Harvard undergrad, computer programmer Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) is a very smart, talkative and arrogant young man with less than impressive social or romantic skills. It is these qualities that get him dumped by his girlfriend Erica (Rooney Mara). So he gets drunk, blogs rudely about her and gets the idea to compare all the university girls he can find the pictures of in the internet, makes into a website called Face Mash and sends it to other male students. His helper is his best friend, Harvard Economics undergrad Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield).

This ends up crashing Harvard’s servers, giving Jesse a bad name academically and well, among girls. But two Harvard students – rich, successful and athletic Winklevoss twins Cameron and Tyler (both played by Armie Hammer) are impressed with what Mark is capable of. They, along with their best friend and business partner Divya (Max Minghella) offer him a gig. They want to create a social network for Harvard students. They have the idea, plans and the means and they need the creative programming of Mark. He accepts, but he already has a bigger idea on his own. A much better enhanced network, better than Friendster and Myspace. He needs the funding of Eduardo, so he offers him a partnership and makes him the CFO. He delays meetings with the Winklevosses and buries himself in making The Facebook (it had a “the” in the beginning)It becomes a huge hit, pissing off the Winklessvoss twins and Divya. They try to agree on an action to take and in the mean time, Eduardo and Mark are enjoying a popularity they never had before. They even enhance the network by integrating a couple of other universities. So Eduardo wants to monetize the popularity but Mark isn’t sure yet. This difference in opinion will only get more complicated as Napster’s inventor Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) loves the idea and meets them. Mark is fascinated by Sean’s reputation and attitude, while Eduardo hates his guts from the very beginning.

From then on, we see how The Facebook becomes Facebook, becomes bigger with Sean’s connections and eventually ruining the friendship of Eduardo and Mark, as the lawyers of each party try to prove their client has the right to the riches of this network, which has become universal in the process…

The result:

Well, it is pretty outstanding. It is a dialogue-heavy drama, yet the characters and their lines are intruging, interesting and everything happens so fast, you don’t get the chance to get bored even for a second during the movie’s 2 hours. The acting is just right and I have to say even Timberlake makes a decent Sean. It is a drama with its quite quirky funny moments and entertaining events. It is a must-see. While I wouldn’t go as far as to land the movie in IMDB’s top 250 films ever made, I have to say it has to be one of the best true events-based stories ever written and made. It was based on Ben Mezrich’s book The Accidental Billionaires and adapted to the screen by Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, Charlie Wilson’s War, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, The West Wing, The American President, Malice…), another influential name in the movie credits.

If you have anything to do with internet – it doesn’t matter whether you are a social media enthusiast, internet marketer, business owner, entrepreneur or you just like to use Facebook, see this movie. If you are a Fincher fan, see what he can do with this kind of story.

7.8 on IMDB. (updated on January 1st, 2015.)

Favorite Lines:

Gage (lawyer of Winklevosses) : Mr. Zuckerberg, do I have your full attention?
Mark Zuckerberg: [stares out the window] No.
Gage:  Do you think I deserve it?
Mark Zuckerberg: [looks at the lawyer] What?
Gage: Do you think I deserve your full attention?
Mark Zuckerberg: I had to swear an oath before we began this deposition, and I don’t want to perjure myself, so I have a legal obligation to say no.
Gage: Okay – no. You don’t think I deserve your attention.
Mark Zuckerberg: I think if your clients want to sit on my shoulders and call themselves tall, they have the right to give it a try – but there’s no requirement that I enjoy sitting here listening to people lie. You have part of my attention – you have the minimum amount. The rest of my attention is back at the offices of Facebook, where my colleagues and I are doing things that no one in this room, including and especially your clients, are intellectually or creatively capable of doing.
[pauses]
Mark Zuckerberg: Did I adequately answer your condescending question?

**

Other Jesse Eisenberg Movies

Cursed starring Christina Ricci, Joshua Jackson & Jesse Eisenberg

The Hunting Party starring Richard Gere, Terrence Howard and Jesse Eisenberg

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: aaron sorkin, andrew garfield, armie hammer, ben mezrich, David Fincher, drama, Eduardo salverin, Facebook, jesse eisenberg, justin timberlake, Kevin Spacey, Mark Zuckerberg, Max Minghella, movies, rooney mara, scott rudin, the accidental billionaires, the social network, the social network movie, trent reznor, winklevoss

In the mood for a fun romcom novel?

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