Fourteen years ago, Andrew Niccol made a class-conscious science fiction allegory with Gattaca, which envisioned a future divided between those who've been genetically modified and those who haven't.  His next class-conscious sci-fi tale is In Time, and it'll be arriving theatrically in less than two weeks.  It's set in a near future where nobody ages past 25, but from that point on, they're living on borrowed time within a system that has replaced money with time.  The poor die young, the rich life forever. 

All this conceptual information is conveyed in one of two new clips from the film.  In the first, Justin Timberlake gambles with Vincent Kartheiser, who spouts a whole lot of on-the-nose information, and in the second, Timberlake kidnaps Amanda Seyfried, punches a bunch of nameless guards, and gets into a car chase.  Basically, the two clips form a comprehensive two-part argument to see the movie, first with the concept and second with the promise of action.

Just a few days ago, 20th Century Fox released a trailer for In Time online, putting the oh-so attractive cast front and center and allowing us to glory in the genetic magnificence that produces good-looking people like Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Olivia Wilde, and Cillian Murphy.  While it was a solid trailer, it subsequently disappeared without a trace.

Good news, though, as it has been replaced by an even better trailer that more effectively lays out the rules of writer-director Andrew Niccol's clever riff on Logan's Run.  Basically, in his future, nobody ages above 25 years old, but all time after that has to be earned like a currency, meaning that the rich essentially live forever at their physical peak while the poor die early. 

At San Diego Comic-Con last week, 20th Century Fox rolled out the first trailer for the science fiction actioner In Time, starring Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried.  The trailer laid out the concept of a future in which money has been replaced by units of time, so after the age of 25, the time-rich can live forever, while everyone else scrabbles and works to make enough time to stay alive.  Timberlake's normal guy character stumbles into a possession of an ungodly amount of time and ends up on the run, and a new trailer released today contains plenty of action, while introducing Olivia Wilde as Timberlake's mother and the weirdness of everyone having little green clocks on their forearms.

Here in the dog days of summer, one needs no reminder of film's unique ability to provide captivating escapism.  What is less evident during these months of spectacle, however, is the potential of movies to viscerally depict abhorrent real-world issues with an urgency and emotional whallop not always possible in other media.  During an exclusive edit bay visit, IAR was shown Street, an independently-financed film which depicts the all-too-common plight of teenage homelessness and drug addiction in America.  Writer-director York Shackleton's ambition to realistically depict the abhorrent circumstances endured by one teenage runaway is likely to elicit both admiration and controversy.

Fox Searchlight has released the first teaser trailer for Darren Aronofsky’s upcoming Black Swan, starring Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel. Check it out and let us know what you think...

Synopsis: BLACK SWAN follows the story of Nina (Portman), a ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life, like all those in her profession, is completely consumed with dance. She lives with her retired ballerina mother Erica (Barbara Hershey) who zealously supports her daughter’s professional ambition. When artistic director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) decides to replace prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre (Winona Ryder) for the opening production of their new season, Swan Lake, Nina is his first choice. But Nina has competition: a new dancer, Lily (Kunis), who impresses Leroy as well. Swan Lake requires a dancer who can play both the White Swan with innocence and grace, and the Black Swan, who represents guile and sensuality. Nina fits the White Swan role perfectly but Lily is the personification of the Black Swan. As the two young dancers expand their rivalry into a twisted friendship, Nina begins to get more in touch with her dark side with a recklessness that threatens to destroy her.