Timberlake in Futuristic Immortality Movie

Shooting began a few days ago on Andrew Niccol's (Gattaca, Lord of War) latest film, which was originally titled I'm.Mortal and is now called, well, Now. Starring Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried (what isn't she in?), the premise makes for an engaging thriller:

Timberlake and Seyfried filming a scene

From IMDb:

"In the not-too-distant future the aging gene has been switched off. To avoid overpopulation, time has become the currency and the way people pay for luxuries and necessities. The rich can live forever, while the rest try to negotiate for their immortality. A poor young man who comes into a fortune of time, though too late to help his mother from dying. He ends up on the run from a corrupt police force known as 'time keepers'."

Gattaca addressed eugenics and genetic discrimination in the near future. The concepts were thought-provoking; the film was also visually striking so we're thrilled to hear Niccol is teaming up for the first time with one of our favorite cinematographers, Roger Deakins (Shawshank Redemption, The Assassination of Jesse James, Barton Fink). Deakins has shot well over 50 films (including almost all Coen Bros. movies), but he hasn't done much sci-fi. Add to that Timberlake's last album was called FutureSex/LoveSounds and we're definitely looking forward to seeing what this new collaborative team does together.

Gabe on Blade Runner

Blade Runner is one of Trevin's favorite movies. It's not as liked by his dad Gabe, or mom Lynne. Some very good observations are made by Mr. and Mrs. Matcek, including the heavy use of gigantic fans and what weather is like in the future.

Enjoy.

ACLU Study Looks at Human Rights in the Future

"Sometimes, science fiction isn't as futuristic as we might think." 

That's the conclusion of Humanoid Rights, a recent article from American Prospect on a 2002 study by analyst Jay Stanley for the ACLU. Titled Technology, Liberties, and The Future, the report was never released to the public. Stanley drew "insights from scientists, legal scholars, and political theorists, gaming out the ACLU's possible response to everything from cloning to artificial intelligence to genetic splicing to nanotechnology." He also found inspiration from the film world, citing Gattaca, Blade Runner, 1984 and many others.

In the same article, journalist Adam Serwer recounts past court cases, showing how technology has been discussed in the courtroom and how dangerously close we've come to gene patenting. The dialogue could have been lifted from a sci-fi movie:

Chris Hansen, an ACLU staff attorney, balked. "What?" he said. "You're telling me ... the U.S. patent office is granting patents on human genes?"

"Chris," Simoncelli explained, "it's been going on for about 20 years."