Sneak Peek: ‘Friends with Benefits’

Columbia Pictures gathers Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis, Bryan Greenberg and Woody Harrelson in the new off-beat romantic comedy “Friends with Benefits.”

In the film, Dylan (Timberlake) and Jamie (Kunis) certainly aren’t in a settling-down frame of mind. When New York-based executive recruiter Jamie trains her considerable headhunting skills on luring hotshot LA-based art director Dylan to take a dream job in the Big Apple, they quickly realize what kindred spirits they are. They’ve each been through so many failed relationships that they’re both ready to give up on love and focus on having fun.

So when Dylan relocates to New York and the pair start hanging out regularly, they share plenty of laughs over a twin belief that love is a myth propagated by Hollywood movies. That’s when these two begin a deliciously sexy, decidedly grown-up experiment.

Could these two fast friends – who are successful, unattached, and scornful of commitment – explore new terrain?

If they add casual “no emotions” sex to their friendship, can they avoid all the pitfalls that come with thinking about someone else as more than just a pal?

As two people weaned on the disappointing promises of romantic comedies, Dylan and Jamie shouldn’t be entirely surprised when their bold move becomes a bawdy, sexy ride into uncharted territory, exposing much more of themselves than they ever thought they’d get to see.

“Friends with Benefits” is directed and produced by Will Gluck (“Easy A”). The screenplay is by Keith Merryman & David A. Newman, along with Gluck. Story is by Harley Peyton and Keith Merryman & David A. Newman.

Opening soon across the Philippines, “Friends with Benefits” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

View the original article here

Read More

Family, friends remember fallen troops as heroes

Some had young children, wives and girlfriends. Others were just starting to make their way in the world.

2012 campaigns and the downgrade effect Nation's biggest risk factor: Slow economy Fallen SEAL was ‘willing to give his life' 9 out of 10 preschoolers' lunches reach unsafe temps NBC fixer killed by a rocket in Libya Exiled leader: Dalai Lama’s return to Tibet ‘possible’ Startup generation ready to fix economy

But the brothers, fathers, sons and uncles who died when a U.S. military helicopter was shot down in eastern Afghanistan all had something in common: a love of family and country, according to friends and family members. Those who knew them said the soldiers were aware of the dangers they faced but were dedicated to their mission — even if it meant giving their lives.

Here are the stories of some of the fallen:

____

Patrick Hamburger planned to propose to his girlfriend, but had a job to do first: a mission in Afghanistan.

The 30-year-old sergeant from Grand Island, Neb., had joined the Nebraska National Guard when he was a senior at Lincoln Southeast High School but had never been deployed, his brother Chris Hamburger told The Associated Press on Sunday.

"He didn't have to go, and he wanted to go because his group was getting deployed. He wanted to be there for them. That's him for you," Chris Hamburger said, adding that Patrick always looked out for his two younger brothers and friends.

He was also the kind of guy who helped his girlfriend raise her 13-year-old daughter from another relationship as well as the couple's own 2-year-old daughter, and planned to propose marriage when he got home, Chris Hamburger said.

Video: 30 killed in deadliest day for US in Afghanistan (on this page)

Patrick Hamburger had been in Afghanistan less than two weeks and had arrived at Forward Operating Base Shank a few days before climbing aboard the helicopter with U.S. Navy SEALs and other troops to rush to the aid of a U.S. Army Ranger unit under fire from insurgents.

"It doesn't come as a total surprise that he was trying to help people and that's how it all ended up happening," Chris Hamburger said.

___

If someone was sad, Michael Strange tried to make them smile. He loved snowboarding, surfing, scuba diving, running, and shooting guns on the range.

"He loved his friends, his family, his country; he loved making people laugh. He was one of a kind," Strange's brother, Charles Strange III, 22, said Sunday outside the family's Philadelphia home, where American flags were planted throughout the neighborhood.

Strange, 25, decided to join the military when he was still in high school, and had been in the Navy for about six years, first stationed in Hawaii and for the last two in Virginia Beach, where he became a SEAL about two years ago, his mother, Elizabeth Strange, told The Associated Press.

But he always told his family not to worry.

Interactive: Timeline: The war in Afghanistan (on this page)

"He wasn't supposed to die this young. He was supposed to be safe," Elizabeth Strange said. "And he told me that and I believed him. I shouldn't have believed him because I know better. He would say 'Mom, don't be ridiculous and worry so much. I'm safe.'"

Charles Strange said his brother loved the SEALS, especially "the competitiveness, getting in shape and running and swimming and all of that."

He also had two sisters, 21-year-old Katelyn and 7-year-old Carly, and recently became an uncle. The family last saw him in June, when he came for a weeklong visit for his birthday, his mother said. He was supposed to be back for Thanksgiving.

"It was going to be such a good time," his mother said.

____

If Elizabeth Newlun wanted to have a serious conversation with her son, John Brown, she had to shoot baskets with him.

"There's nothing athletic about me, but I realized that you have to get into other people's comfort zone to get information," said Newlun, of Rogers, Ark., explaining that her son, an Air Force technical sergeant, was a "gentle giant" who "just loved anything physical, anything athletic."

Newlun said her son played football and basketball in high school and went to John Brown University on a swimming scholarship. He had wanted to go into the medical field and become a nurse anesthetist, but decided to join the military after seeing a video of a special tactical unit, she said.

Story: SEALs killed in crash were on rescue mission

The airman was a paramedic and ready to attend to the medical needs of anyone who was rescued, his mother said.

Arkansas state Rep. Jon Woods went to high school with Brown in Siloam Springs and remembered playing basketball and watching "Saturday Night Live" on the weekends.

"When you think of what the ideal model of a soldier would be, he would be it," said Woods. "He could run all day."

___

Aaron Carson Vaughn was a man of deep faith, insisting to his family that he didn't fear his job as a Navy SEAL "because he knew where he was going" when he died.

"Aaron was a Christian and he's with Jesus today," Geneva Vaughn of Union City, Tenn., told The Associated Press on Saturday. "He told us when we saw him last November that he wasn't afraid ... he said, 'Granny, don't worry about me.'"

"He was a tough warrior, but he was a gentle man."

Video: Fallen SEAL was ‘willing to give his life' (on this page)

Geneva Vaughn said her grandson, 30, joined the SEALS straight out of boot camp and was already a decorated fighter when he was asked by the Navy to return stateside to become an instructor. But he applied to SEAL Team 6 after two years, earning his way onto the squad in 2010.

He asked the military to return him to combat and shipped out just six weeks before he was killed, Vaughn said.

Story: Navy SEAL’s widow: ‘We were blessed to be together’

"He was doing what he loved to do and he was a true warrior," Geneva Vaughn said.

Aaron Vaughn leaves behind his wife, Kimberly, and two children, 2-year-old son Reagan and 2-month-old daughter Chamberlyn.

___

Robert James Reeves and Jonas Kelsall had been childhood friends in Shreveport, La., where they played soccer together and graduated from Caddo Magnet High School, Kelsall's father, John, told The Times of Shreveport and KLSA-TV.

Both joined the military after graduation, though the 32-year-old Reeves spent a year at Louisiana State University first, his father, Jim Reeves, told the newspaper.

Reeves became a SEAL in 1999 and served on SEAL Team 6, his father said. During his many deployments, he earned four Bronze Stars and other honors.

Kelsall, 33, was one of the first members of SEAL Team 7, his father said.

He trained in San Diego and met his wife of three years, Victoria, when he was attending the University of Texas out of Basic Underwater Demolition training, his father said.

Reeves placed several American flags outside his home and his neighbors joined in, many decorating their homes in red, white and blue in support of the families.

___

Associated Press Writers Timberly Ross in Omaha, Neb., Chris Talbott in Nashville, Rochelle Hines in Oklahoma City and Ron Todt in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

View the original article here

Read More

Family, friends say goodbye to Winehouse

LONDON — Mitch Winehouse said "good night, my angel, sleep tight" to his daughter, singer Amy Winehouse, at the conclusion of a memorial service for the late singer Tuesday in London.

The service, which included prayers in English and Hebrew, as well as Mitch Winehouse's eulogy, ended with a rendition of the Carole King song, "So Far Away."

"Mitch was funny, he told some great stories from childhood about how headstrong she was, and clearly the family and friends recognized the stories and laughed along," family spokesman Chris Goodman said. "He stressed so many times she was happier now than she had ever been and he spoke about her boyfriend and paid tribute to a lot of people in her life."

Don't miss these Entertainment stories Summer's funniest movie moments After years where the biggest laugh comes when you see the concession prices, 2011 has actually been a decent year for movie comedies. Here are the highlights.

Gene Simmons finally pops the question Dude, you could own 'Big Lebowski' bungalow Leighton Meester, mom suing one another James Franco checks back into 'GH'

Mitch Winehouse told mourners that his late daughter had recently found love and had beaten her drug dependency three years before her death, but he admitted she was still struggling to control her drinking after several weeks of abstinence.

"She said, 'Dad I've had enough of drinking, I can't stand the look on your and the family's faces anymore.'" Mitch Winehouse said.

He said Amy had been playing her drums and singing in the home the night before her death.

"But knowing she wasn't depressed, knowing she passed away, knowing she passed away happy, it makes us all feel better," he said, adding that he hopes to set up an Amy Winehouse Foundation that would help people beat substance abuse.

Family friend Alfie Ezekiel, 55, said the service had been a "joyful" celebration of the singer's life.

"Mitch gave a very good eulogy and he managed to get through it very well, considering," he said.

Among the guests at the service were stylist Alex Foden, who has been credited with creating Winehouse's trademark beehive hairdo, producer Mark Ronson and singer Kelly Osbourne, who wore her hair in a beehive style in honor of the late singer.

Story: Winehouse's phone was hacked, reporter claims

Photographers and a few fans lined the lane outside the Edgwarebury Cemetery, where the service was held. After the service, which was led by Rabbi Frank Hellner, Winehouse's body was taken to Golders Green Crematorium.

Several mourners, including Ronson — who co-produced Winehouse's breakthrough album "Back to Black" — looked emotional as they left the red brick structure, which has seen the cremations of thousands of ordinary Londoners and many celebrities, including psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, comedian Peter Sellers and drummer Keith Moon of The Who.

The family was then due to hold two days of shiva, a Jewish traditional period of mourning.

The soul diva, who had battled alcohol and drug addiction, was found dead Saturday at her London home. She was 27.

An autopsy held Monday failed to determine the cause of the singer's death. Police are awaiting the results of toxicology tests, which will take two to four weeks.

Story: Winehouse autopsy did not establish cause of death

On Monday the singer's father, mother and brother visited the house where she died, thanking mourners who had left flowers and cards.

Mitch Winehouse said "Amy was about one thing and that was love."

"Her whole life was devoted to her family and her friends and to you guys as well," he told fans.

Winehouse released only two albums in her short career — winning five Grammy awards for the second, "Back to Black" — and often made headlines because of drug and alcohol abuse, eating disorders, destructive relationships and abortive performances.

Story: Fame 'consumed' Amy Winehouse, source says

Since her death, her records have re-entered album charts around the world, and tributes have poured in from fans and fellow musicians.

George Michael called her "the most soulful vocalist this country has ever seen," and soul singer Adele said she "paved the way for artists like me and made people excited about British music again."

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

View the original article here

Read More

Circle of friends

20 July 2011 Last updated at 14:53 GMT By Tom de Castella BBC News Magazine The much-hyped arrival of the Google+ social networking site throws open the debate on the difference between friends and acquaintances. So where is the line?

"If a man does not make new acquaintance as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left alone," said Samuel Johnson. "A man should keep his friendships in constant repair."

The comment takes on new meaning in the Facebook era when it's common for people to have hundreds of "friends". But they're not friends in the conventional sense.

The main novelty of Google+ is that it requires users to arrange their contacts in different categories or "circles". A new member is given the default settings of Friends, Family or Acquaintance and encouraged to create new circles under headings of their own choosing.

Facebook aficionados would point out that it has always been possible to create groups on Facebook, but some can find it slightly fiddly. Google+ seems to push the user down this route so that they target messages at particular contacts.

"I can see the logic of Google's split. Friends and family are quite insulated groups from each other, who you relate to in different ways," says Prof Robin Dunbar, author of How Many Friends Does One Person Need?

He argues that beyond a core group of 150 people - made up of "intimates", family members, and friends - what one is really talking about are "nodding acquaintances".

Continue reading the main story

One list is for people I can tolerate talking to. The other is for people who can fall down a well.”

End Quote Caitlin Moran, Times columnist The phone-hacking scandal, with its nexus of journalists, media owners, politicians and police officers, has thrown a spotlight on the dividing line.

John Yates, who this week resigned as assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, referred to former News of the World executive Neil Wallis as a "friend" but not a "bosom buddy". David Cameron has been happy to call his former media adviser Andy Coulson a "friend". But some feel the need to offer a qualification.

Jeff Jarvis, who writes the BuzzMachine blog, says the distinction between an acquaintance or friend doesn't matter online. "Acquaintance is just a label. I don't use it."

The circles on Google+ are just modern day mailing lists, he says. He organises his Google+ contacts into circles labelled things like "Germany", "World" or "Celebrity".

He argues it's about relevance rather than privacy or intimacy. "The idea you can use these sites as a vault for your private thoughts is absurd. If you have a secret, leave it in your head."

The different social networks overlap but prioritise different things. Indeed Facebook already allows users to put people into groups, it's just a "pain" doing so, says Jarvis. Facebook is for maintaining relationships, Twitter for broadcasting, Tumblr for quotations and Google+ for sharing, he believes.

Facebook allows people to have thousands of friends

Times columnist Caitlin Moran is an early adopter of Google+. She has never been a fan of Facebook - "too slow" - and although previously enthusiastic about Twitter says it has become too nasty. "Twitter is like a pub full of people shouting. Google+ is more like withdrawing to the smoking room with friends."

Moran has eschewed Google+'s ability to have numerous different circles in favour of a clear distinction. After importing contacts from her existing social networks she set up two circles. "One is for people I can tolerate talking to. The other is for everyone else who can fall down a well."

But in the Facebook age, it's easy to get confused about friendship, says Gladeana McMahon, the former GMTV life coach. "A friend is someone you've got a regular relationship with now or in the past. You keep in contact and are involved in their life."

On the other hand, an acquaintance is someone you've met but not had the chance to develop a friendship with. It may turn into friendship. But often it will never go further than a brief hello.

You can create worthwhile relationships online, she says. If they're meaningful they will probably move into the "real" world but it's also possible to have a modern version of the "pen pal" arrangement using Facebook or Skype to talk to someone you'll never meet in the flesh.

But social networks will never be able to understand the multiplicity of human relationships, she warns. "One thing that will never fit into a box is a human being."

Jarvis says that Mark Zuckerberg grasped this point. The Facebook creator believes that people each have one authentic identity rather than different selves. In interviews for Jarvis's forthcoming book Public Parts, Zuckerberg told him that it was becoming impossible for people to maintain separate identities.

Continue reading the main story

Cicero's On Friendship (44 BC)

• "A friend is, as it were, a second self"

• "The shifts of Fortune test the reliability of friends"

• "Friendship makes prosperity more shining and lessens adversity by dividing and sharing it"

• "Many pecks of salt must be eaten before the duties of friendship can be discharged"

Essentially our work, home, recreational and family selves are one and the same. If you bump into your lawyer at the supermarket at the weekend, he may be wearing shorts and be with his child. He is a complete person not just someone you know from work, Jarvis argues.

Dunbar, professor of evolutionary anthropology at Oxford University, says that may work while you're at university. But by the end of one's twenties it's no longer tenable. Not only do we see people in different contexts, like work or leisure. We also have friends scattered around the world who don't necessarily mix or interact.

And then there's how we communicate online. Status updates on Facebook are often banal, he says. "You write 'I had Weetabix for breakfast', which your best friend may care about but not many others will."

This is because people don't change the way they converse online. Research has shown that they behave as if they are addressing a maximum of three other people, even though a post may go out to hundreds.

And social networking friendships demand a huge amount of work if they are to be maintained. Otherwise they will wither in a matter of months once emotional closeness is lost, Dunbar says. When it comes to using technology with our closest friends, it is texts not websites that count, he argues.

Research carried out by one of his post doctoral students involving 30 Sheffield sixth formers showed that 85% of the texts they sent were going to one of two people - usually a boyfriend or girlfriend and a best mate. It illustrates that there are things we still want to share with only our nearest and dearest, he says.

But as Oscar Wilde reminds us, friendship mixed with human nature can be a prickly business. "Anybody can sympathise with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathise with a friend's success." Or, for that matter, their choice of breakfast.

View the original article here

Read More