Bad Teacher (2011)

Film of 2012 #41

Cameron Diaz as a teacher, I know that I would have enjoyed that when I was at school and how she goes about teaching her students works for me to begin with and I know that I would have learned lots from her. This is comedy with several good jokes going on in it and there were several good laughs with Cameron Diaz trying to get the money, however she can to have a b**b job and to then woo the rich teacher in this case played by Justin Timberlake. And you have her battles with the well liked Miss Squirrel who is also competing for the affections of Justin. 

This is a grown up coming of age and works quite well in the world where nobody wants to grow up and you have seen the basic story told so many times before, the difference in this film is that it is not portrayed by teeneagers. There is a nice scene when you have Cameron Diaz explaining something to a pupil and the light comes on in her eyes about her own situation. The real issue with the film is that it is not total slap stick so it borders on the unrealistic but reality and there were a lot of things that do not jar well with this and there is an obvious ending that has questionable morality. 

Overall this is a light hearted comedy played well by the main characters and shows how someone will go as far as they can to get what they think that they want and it shows their coming of age. This is a hard film to recomend it is a weak 3 star for me some of the jokes are worth a giggle and if you saw it on, it is worth seeing but will not be a great miss if you do not see it. 

In Time (2011)

Film of 2012 #8
No Spoilers

Finally got to catch up with the Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfreid Sci-Fi film based on the idea that we have to earn time to survive, the concept is baffling and you should not try and figure out why they got there, simply go with it and how it works, I thought of it simply as an alternative world and it works really well. It is slightly confusing as at 25 years old people stop ageing and look like that forever more, so you have a situation when a 25 year old man shows you his Mother-in-Law, Wife and Daughter and they are all played by 25 year old actresses makes an interesting looking film.

I have to say that the setting is used really well with Justin Timberlake as a man living literally day to day, it is easy to see that there is social commentary with the differences between the rich and the poor and what that can really mean in real terms to people and I have to say that I was captivated by that idea. The main premise of the idea though is that if you are robbed of all of your time you will be timed out and die.

With a solid performance from the 2 main leads and Cillian Murphy as the time cop you have some really good tense scenes and with the threat of time running out on them down to the last few seconds it is an interesting film. I would say that if you like science fiction or fantasy then it is well worth seeing, one of the best films I have seen this years so far a solid 4 stars from me.

Friends With Benefits (2011) Trailer

I saw this trailer in front of Horrible Bosses and I have to say that while it falls into the category of romantic Comedy while not the sort of film that I would normally like it did look funny. You have Mila Kunis from Black Swan and Justin Timberlake from the Social Network and pop star status who are friends and decide to try and introduce a sex without emotion relationship into there friendship and shenanigans ensue.

I have to say that I think I have where the story goes figured out but you never know I might be wrong and it certainly looks like it will be interesting to see how they do get where they are going.

Sure my better half will want to see this so will possibly end up at the Cinema to see it and I am sure that I will enjoy the film on the big screen, Mila Kunis is certainly not a hardship to watch.

UK Release Date - 9th September 2011