Over the years, Andrew Niccol has proven himself to be a more-than-capable director of commercially risky films interested in the idea of “identity”.  More of than not, these are sci-fi films (in the cases of Gattaca and S1m0ne), but sometimes they’re borderline dark-comedies (as in The Truman Show and The Terminal) and sometimes they’re just the second-best thing Nic Cage has done in ten years (Lord of War).  Niccol’s latest film—In Time—seeks to turn Justin Timberlake into the star of an action/sci-fi hybrid.  Does he pull it off?  Should you pick up In Time on Blu-ray?  Find out after the jump, folks.

As the 84th Academy Awards move closer, we’re starting to get a better sense of how things will pan out. We recently shared the 39 songs that will contend for the Best Original Song category, and now the Academy has announced the 97 original scores eligible for the Best Original Score award. AMPAS is notoriously picky when it comes to eligibility in this category, and as we feared the scores for both Drive and Attack the Block have been deemed ineligible. Also disappointing is the ineligibility of Alexandre Desplat’s mesmerizing score for The Tree of Life.

While it’s upsetting to see some of the year’s best work side-lined, there’s plenty to be happy about. I was a huge fan of Howard Shore’s work in Hugo and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s score for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, as well as The Chemical Brothers’ brilliant work in the criminally underseen Hanna. Hit the jump for the full list, as well as who I think will make the cut.

Dreamworks Animation’s Puss in Boots was poised to have a killer weekend, but Snowtober had other plans. The 3D Shrek spinoff still claimed the top spot with $34 million, but a freak snowstorm in the Northeast and Halloween weekend led to this weekend being fairly soft overall. Despite all the snow, Puss still managed to earn the record for Halloween weekend, narrowly beating out 2006’s Saw III which took in $33.6 million. The sci-fi actioner In Time opened to an as expected $12 million, while the weekend’s other wide release The Rum Diary made a mere $5 million. Hit the jump for more. [Update: The post has been updated with analysis on the full top ten.]

Today is a good day. The Cardinals are World Series champions, trick r’ treaters will soon be out in full force, and I’ve got a night of horror films to look forward to. Once a year, my fiancée agrees to watch a few pics of the scary variety (or at least Halloween themed ones, i.e. Ernest Scared Stupid) with me in the hopes that I won’t ask her to partake in them again until the following Halloween weekend. Last year’s highlights included Drag Me to Hell and Trick r’ Treat. This year is shaping up to be Tobe Hooper-heavy with Poltergeist and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre possibly making the cut. Like I said, today is a good day.

Before you dive into whatever Halloween festivities may await you, I hope you’ll take a few minutes and check out what this week’s “Top 5″ has to offer. In this installment you’ll find the first trailer for Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace 3D, a new trailer for Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, and interviews for this weekend’s openers In Time, Anonymous and The Rum Diary. Hit the jump for a brief recap and link to each.

No surprises here, Dreamworks Puss in Boots took the top spot at Friday’s box office with an estimated $9.6 million from 3,952 locations.  The spinoff to Shrek – the most profitable animated franchise of all time – is poised to take in $35 million by Sunday: enough to give the 3D title the new Halloween-weekend record.  That means that, after breaking its own records last weekend, the holiday’s only scary movie, Paranormal Activity 3, will fall to second place.  Sci-fi newcomer In Time took third on Friday with an estimated $4.3 million and is expected to top out in the low teens for the weekend.  Meanwhile, The Rum Diary debuted in what looks like fourth place with $1.8 million from 2,272 locations.  The film had to share that estimate with Footloose, but is expected to come in slightly higher by Sunday with a weekend total of $7 million.  Details and analysis tomorrow.

[Disclaimer: When I use the word "time" (or any variation thereof) figuratively, I'm not trying to make a pun.  It's just a common and useful word for our vernacular.]

Andrew Niccol‘s In Time has the opportunity to take its solid sci-fi concept and thoughtfully explore social and existential issues.  Unfortunately, the movie skips along the surface, making its obvious points repeatedly and with decreasing clarity.  While the need to make a smart sci-fi concept palatable to the masses is understandable, Niccol takes his appropriate action coating and runs it into the ground.  In Time has so many things it wants to be and to say, but it ends up tripping over the words after the first few sentences.

Press conferences can be a difficult affair – a bunch of journalist packed together in a room, most hesitant to ask questions (they’re saving them up for their one-on-ones), the others not having the good sense to be hesitant in their question-asking prowess. Some of the worst inquiries imaginable have been uttered during the course of a junket. At the Contagion event awhile back, some intrepid reporter asked Matt Damon which character he most easily identified with – Jason Bourne or his family-man character in the film. I mean – really? All this however, does create a much looser vibe. Actors/filmmakers seem to actively await the next idiot question asked and a palpable sense of disdain drips in the air.

Case in point: The In Time press conference. Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Vincent Kartheiser, Matt Bomer and writer/director Andrew Niccol all were ready to pounce/tear at any and all questions asked. Topics ranged from parallels between Occupy Wall Street and the film to why there aren’t any cell phones in the picture to what’s it like to run in high heels (directed at Seyfried, of course). For all this and more, hit the jump.

In Time wears its satire on its sleeve. I don’t think I’m being particularly observant when I say that the whole “those-with-time vs. those-without-time” serves as a parallel to the growing wealth divide in the country. It’s pretty implicitly stated within the runtime. That a film about youth (surrogates: Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried) revolting against the wealthy upper class is coming out in the wake of the Occupy Wall Street movement(s) feels particularly timely or, if you’re cynical, opportune. It’s hard to look past that this film admonishing multi-billion dollar corporations is at the same time funded by the very beast it calls afoul.

In the following exclusive interview with writer/director Andrew Niccol (Gattaca), he speaks about the parallels between In Time and current events, discloses how he convinced a multi-billion dollar studio to fund a film highly critical of multi-billion dollar corporations and plays coy (sort of) on the fairly radical ideas the film advocates. Niccol’s also briefly touched on adapting the upcoming Stephenie Meyer’s novel The Host for the big-screen. For all this and more, hit the jump.

In last week’s “Top 5″, I painfully admitted to not having seen either Moneyball or 50/50. Moreover, I put my credentials as “mildly credible film blogger” up as collateral in the case that I hadn’t checked both out by this week. Sadly, I’ll have to forfeit my title as I’ve only managed to catch 50/50 so far. On the bright side, I thought that film was great and is definitely one of my favorites of the year thus far. As for Moneyball, well there’s always this week.

In spite of my lack of mild credibility, I hope you’ll still choose to check out this week’s “Top 5″ where you’ll find new hi-res images from The Avengers, the return of Arrested Development, our In Time set visit coverage, and interviews for George Clooney’s political drama The Ides of March and Shawn Levy’s robot boxing extravaganza Real Steel. Hit the jump for a brief recap and link to each.

Earlier this year, I got to visit the set of In Time, the new sci-fi thriller from writer/director Andrew Niccol (Gattaca, The Truman Show). While it was exciting to be on a film set and watch stunt work and interview stars Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried, the real highlight of the day was seeing nine-time Oscar nominated cinematographer Roger Deakins working with digital for the first time.

Deakins used the Arriflex ALEXA camera system to shoot In Time, and camera’s capabilities seem almost as futuristic as the film’s settings.  Read on to learn about how a modern master is pushing the technological envelope.

A massive Brinks truck careens around a corner in LA’s fashion district, destroying the quiet of the mid-January afternoon. The armored car accelerates to full speed, blasting through a floor-to-ceiling sheet glass window and into the center of a bank. Wood, plaster and shards of glass spray across the floor. As the dust settles, writer/director Andrew Niccol (Gattaca, Lord of War) yells, “Cut!” Later in the afternoon, Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried pull open the bank’s vault and pass out strange silver rectangles embedded with digital clocks to a swarming crowd of extras. Timberlake yells, encouraging the mob to act quickly, but take as much time as they need. Welcome to the world of In Time.

While visiting the set of the film, which hits theaters October 28, I got to participate in group interviews with Niccol, producer Eric Newman, Timberlake and Seyfried, learn about the film’s unique high-concept, and watch nine-time Oscar nominated cinematographer, Roger Deakins, as he shot his first film on digital.  Read on for a write up of the set visit and the 20 things to know about the film.

Earlier this year I was invited to the set of Andrew Niccol’s (Gattaca, The Truman Show) new Sci-Fi thriller, In Time. The film, which details the lives of a pair of Bonnie and Clyde style bandits in a world where time literally is money, stars Justin Timberlake (The Social Network) and Amanda Seyfried (Mean Girls) and hits theaters October 28.

While visiting the set I got to chat with Niccol and producer Eric Newman about how the film began life as part of Gattaca, how the technology of the future world works, the look of the film, casting Justin Timberlake, the philosophy of the film, and much more.  Read on for the full interview.

An international trailer for writer/director Andrew Niccol’s (Gattaca) sci-fi/thriller In Time is now available online. Starring Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy, and Olivia Wilde, the film is set in the “near future” when time is used as currency and people only live until they’re 25 unless they acquire more of it. As the story goes, Will Salas (Timberlake) is accused of a murder he didn’t commit and goes on the run with Sylvia Weis (Seyfried) in an attempt to stay alive.

I’m a shameless fan of Niccol’s so I’ll most likely be checking this one out. That said, based on what I’ve seen from the film thus far, the action seems to fall a little flat while the sci-fi elements and explicit social commentary keep me interested. Check out the international trailer for yourself after the jump. In Time opens on October 28th.

New posters have gone online for American Reunion, Carnage, In Time, and Drive.  I love the one for American Reunion because the tagline hints it will be the last one.  There’s also the French poster for Carnage which does a solid job of showing that the film is a comedy first and a drama second (I know it’s tough to wrap your mind around a Roman Polanski comedy, but try).  There’s an awkward embrace between stars Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried in the UK In Time poster.  Finally, there are two more posters for Drive.  They both just re-appropriate still images from the movie, but I got no complaints.  I can’t wait to see the movie again.

Hit the jump to check out the posters.  American Reunion opens April 6, 2012.  Carnage opens this December.  In Time opens October 28th.  Drive opens September 16th.

I thought we had already covered this trailer for In Time so I put off writing it up.  I could have sworn there was a new trailer released only a week ago, and I was right.  But this is a new trailer!  It’s pretty similar to the old trailer!  It hits you with a cool sci-fi premise (there’s a future where everyone lives until their 25 unless they have more time so time is used as currency) and then aims for broader appeal by selling an action flick where Justin Timberlake is on the run with Amanda Seyfried as his hostage/protection from evil rich people and the cops.  I really want In Time to work as smart sci-fi and not just as the premise for a standard action movie. Adam liked what he saw at the film’s Comic-Con presentation so that’s a good sign.

Hit the jump to check out the new-ish trailer.  The film also stars Cillian Murphy, Vincent Kartheiser, Alex Pettyfer, Johnny Galecki, and Olivia Wilde.  In Time opens October 28th.