Talk about a letdown.

You have Diablo Cody, the creator of cult favourite Juno, which just won her the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay (and also the award-winning TV show The United States of Tara).  You have Amanda Seyfried, the up-and-coming star of Mean Girls and Mamma Mia!.  You have director Karyn Kusama, who was at the helm for Æon Flux (I know), but also the critically acclaimed Girl Fight.  And of course, there’s Megan Fox, who is widely regarded as the most desirable woman on the freaking planet.

On paper, Jennifer’s Body looks like a sure winner.  But somehow, the film received a lukewarm reception and totally bombed out.  It will go straight to DVD in Australia early next year.

After seeing it, I can kinda understand why.

As per usual, I’m not revealing the any more of the plot than necessary.  Just know it is set in a high school and is a horror comedy about two teenage girls.  One good thing is that the previews are somewhat misleading and don’t give away too much.

In a way, I can see where the movie was coming from.  At its heart, Jennifer’s Body is a very dark black comedy which pays tribute to the old school horror movies (and has a certain 80s feel to it).  There are parts that are genuinely funny if you appreciate dark humour (I certainly do), and there are a couple of scenes which may give you a fright, or at least make you cringe in disgust.

However, watching it, I got the distinct feeling that Cody deliberately set out to make a ‘cult’ movie – and that just doesn’t work.  Movies are given the distinguished ‘cult’ status by the fans.  When you try too hard to make a film quirky and wacky, it just gets weird – but without the accompanying unintended laughs.  There were so many WTF moments in Jennifer’s Body, but they weren’t necessarily good WTF moments.  Don’t get me wrong, Cody is a skilled screenwriter who writes witty, crisp dialogue and creates great characters, but it feels all too polished and packaged.

It’s a difficult film to rate because it has some great elements to it.  It’s sexy, hip and stylish and knows how to manipulate the audience, especially teenage boys (whom they probably thought would flock to see Fox and Seyfried get it on).  The performances are solid, especially Seyfried, who manages to pull off an ‘average’ teenage girl convincingly.  And Megan Fox surprised me with her acting ability.  Yes, she was playing a skanky, bitchy slut of a girl so it might not have been a stretch for her (think Eminem in 8 Mile), but she was actually very good.

On the other hand, Jennifer’s Body just wasn’t that enjoyable.  There are solid moments but it’s not particularly scary nor particularly funny.  It was a little all over the place (though this was probably intentional).  It’s unfortunate because I think they had something going here with the premise and the concept, but the pieces just didn’t fit together for some reason.

2.5 stars out of 5!

Title: Jennifer’s Body
Starring: Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried
Running time: 102 min.
Release date: December 29, 2009 (DVD)
MPAA: Rated R for sexuality, bloody violence, language and brief drug use
Studio: 20th Century Fox
ASIN: B002USF1WC
Review source: Click Communications
Rating: B-

Why this didn’t do much better at the box office I have no idea.  Jennifer’s Body, written by Diablo Cody [Juno], spoofs horror films in a blatantly feminist manner. Jennifer [Megan Fox] has a life-changing experience after hooking up with the lead singer in a rock band. That same night that entire club burns to the ground, reminiscent of The Station Nightclub fire five years ago in Providence, RI. Many local high school teens and members of the small town die in the blaze. Jennifer arrives at the house of her straight-edged best friend Needy [Amanda Seyfried] all bloodied and acting strange. She even projectile vomits a black spiky substance. After that night, Jennifer is happier than ever before while everyone else remains in mourning over the tragedy. She starts a killing spree where she lures boys—first the popular guy on the football team—to isolated spots and then kills them, ripping them apart. Jennifer’s Body isn’t scary because the audience knows Jennifer’s m.o from the beginning. It’s gory and a bit creepy and bizarre. What is motivating Jennifer? What is making her act in this manner? My guess was not what it ended up being at all. [“She’s eating boys. They, like, make her really pretty and glowy and her hair looks amazing. And then when she’s hungry, she’s weak and cranky and ugly. I mean ugly for her.”] Jennifer’s Body is symbolic of feminist revenge on all the men who treat women like crap: the popular guys, the guys who just want sex, the guys who say mean things about women etc. Jennifer is wiping them out one by one. Cody refrains from the precocious dialogue here, suiting it more to this film. She has a few weird phrases [“It’s freak-tarded.” and “You make me all wetty.”]. She’s done a commendable job in tackling this male-dominated genre with a thoughtful, clever script that may not have been perfectly executed and for that she deserves a ton of credit.

It’s a shame that Jennifer’s Body isn’t being released on DVD until December 29,* because I would’ve bought it for myself and as a Christmas gift for someone else.  The movie was tragically underpromoted, people.  Tragically underpromoted.  It was also treated rather unfairly by critics, might I add.

Jennifer’s Body is ridiculous, campy, and rife with Diablo Cody-esque (or should I say Juno-esque?) dialogue.  Thing is, it’s also funny, smart, women-centered.  I loved it.  My brother—Mr. I Hate Watching Movies—loved it.  Cody set out to make a more female-empowering take on the cheesy slasher genre that would appeal to both sexes, and she succeeded.  It’s awesome.

Yet here we are at the end of 2009, with all those “Best of 2009″ lists being published, and the campy horror film getting all the love is Sam Raimi’s racist, sexist, vulgar (not to mention horribly stupid and boring) Drag Me to Hell.

I had the “pleasure” of seeing Drag Me To Hell in a packed theatre.  I saw it at the dollar movies late this summer.  When the end credits started to roll, the audience collectively laughed in shocked disbelief.  As people began to trickle out, all you could hear was, “I want my dollar back,” “That was stupid,” and “That’s two hours of my life I’ll never get back.”  This?  This is “real America’s” reaction to that piece of crap movie.

Jennifer’s Body never even made it to the dollar movie theatre.  Hell, it barely had a chance to stay in first run theatres.  This is depressing, because it would’ve had an audience there.  It would’ve (and should’ve) had a full house on dollar theatre opening weekend.

But no.  We’re comparing apples and oranges here, aren’t we?  Sam Raimi has given us Spider-Man and Evil Dead.  He’s a bonafide genius, so Drag Me to Hell is genius.  The movie isn’t racist or sexist; the problem is that complainers aren’t smart enough to get the jokes.  Whereas Diablo Cody gave us Juno, which was just a successful girl movie.  Ew, girl movies.

Eyeroll.

Anyway, back to those Best of ‘09 lists: If some unknown person besides the Evil Dead guy had attempted Drag Me to Hell, the movie would have likely gone straight to DVD.  I’m not saying Jennifer’s Body was a Top 10 type of movie (unless you’re listing Top 10 Fun Popcorn Movies).  However, if you’re going to embrace camp in your list, at least pick a campy movie that isn’t a steaming pile of shit.

*Whip It is another movie I’m sad to see not getting released on DVD during the holiday season.

Megan Fox (on left) portrays a girl who is transformed into a succubus in the new movie "Jennifer's Body." Is it a case of art imitating life?

Last night I watched the post-Transformers Megan Fox stardom vehicle known as Jennifer’s Body. I had heard some interesting things about this horror-comedy movie wherein Megan Fox becomes a blood-drinking succubus.

One of the things I had read about the movie was that Megan Fox proved that she was more than just eye candy. She could actually act people said. The other aspect of this movie that was interesting to me was that the movie was written by Diablo Cody. She is famous for writing the movie Juno–which I hated with a passion. She won an academy award for Juno so I wanted to give her another chance and see if it was just that one specific movie I would hate. Before I comment on these two topics though, I should give you a little synopsis of the plot of Jennifer’s Body.

The movie begins and we learn that the protagonist of our story, a girl named “Needy” is in prison because of some recent transgressions. We will learn about these transgressions through her subsequent narration. The first thing we find out is that the story takes place in a small, remote town known as “Devil’s Kettle.” The Devil’s Kettle is actually a mysterious waterfall that is unique because it drains into a whirlpool at its base– and even scientists can’t figure out where the water goes.

We find out that Needy has been best friends with another girl since childhood who is gorgeous, has big boobs, and through every possible distinction has a polar opposite personality to that of Needy. This is Jennifer, played as you can probably guess by Megan Fox.

One night the two friends decide to go to a bar to hear a rock band that Jennifer likes. She makes it no question that she wants to have sex with the lead singer of the band. Despite some ominous signs, like a freakish fire burning down the bar and killing several people inside, Jennifer leaves the bar hastily with the band in their van. Later that night Jennifer makes her way back to Needy’s house, covered in blood and looking evil. She’s been transformed into some kind of a zombie/vampire/werewolf creature that we later find out is technically a “succubus.” Jennifer then launches a blood sucking rampage upon the teenage boys of Devil’s Kettle.

This is the basic plot of Jennifer’s Body, and if you think I’ve given away secrets to the plot, don’t worry– all of these events take place fairly early on in the movie. So is Megan Fox any good in this movie? Well, my feeling is that she was competent in taking on a fairly easy role. In other words, she’s definitely not incompetent, but I think we’ll need a couple more performances before we can really decide if she’s more than just a pretty face. It doesn’t really help that she was clearly cast in the movie to capitalize on her sex appeal and girl-of-the-moment fame.

As for the quality of the movie itself, I didn’t find Diablo Cody’s writing as obnoxious as it was in Juno.  Nonetheless, the movie is not really worth recommending. The main problems with the movie as I see them are 1) its poor editing and 2) its poor articulation of a conceptual message. This is the rare movie that has a big budget feel where the editing of scene transitions just seems amateurish. The scenes seem so internally choppy at times that I wonder if the director often just took one or two takes for moments in the movie that seemed less important to the story and then used this footage for the final product. Some of the best jokes in the movie are muted too quickly because of this shoddy editing.

As for the conceptual messaging of the movie, if Diablo Cody thinks that basically telling us that being a nerd is better than being hot, then I doubt she’s going to be writing the scripts for too many more movies. I really couldn’t interpret the movie in any other way: the boys get eaten up by a hot succubus and the nerdy girl known as “Needy” eventually perseveres and becomes empowered. This isn’t necessarily a bad message, but it is not executed well enough in this movie to make it seem meaningful.

I should also make note that the teenage boys in the film are also portrayed in only two ways: as easily manipulated sensitive types or self-centered jerks. The only adult male in the movie is a professor. He shows up in only a few short scenes, and without any explanation has a hook for a hand. WTF?

One final thought I should make is that if there’s ever any missed opportunity in Jennifer’s Body, it’s the weak utilization of the Devil’s Kettle waterfall. It does play into the plot of the movie, but this rather original and creative idea is mostly wasted. If you take the time to watch this movie you will see what I mean. What a shame.

List time is upon us on The Movie Overdose! Tom and Sam kick it off with their favourite actors, actresses, supporting performances, directors and sequences of the year. Not before, however, they whisk themselves back to the Mercury in 1937 for Me and Orson Welles, talk about a live-action Nutcracker, what the future holds for Spiderman 4, Jennifer’s Body, The Barbarian Invasions and Steven Seagal: Lawman.

Download The Movie Overdose Episode 45

Email us, tweet us, Facebook us, subscribe to us… do anything you want to us with the links on the left.

List time is upon us on The Movie Overdose! Tom and Sam kick it off with their favourite actors, actresses, supporting performances, directors and sequences of the year. Not before, however, they whisk themselves back to the Mercury in 1937 for Me and Orson Welles, talk about a live-action Nutcracker, what the future holds for Spiderman 4, Jennifer’s Body, The Barbarian Invasions and Steven Seagal: Lawman.

Download The Movie Overdose Episode 45

Email us, tweet us, Facebook us, subscribe to us… do anything you want to us with the links on the left.

Jennifer’s Body Review

There are three things that are completely unwelcome in horror films: voiceover narration, a rawkin’ soundtrack and witty teen dialogue. There are three things this film has in abundance: voiceover narration, a rawkin’ soundtrack and witty teen dialogue.

Coming off the back of the critically acclaimed Juno, a witty teen story about a witty teen with buckets of witty teen dialogue (are you seeing a trend here?), scriptwriter Diablo Cody has set about crafting a teen horror to prove her range of writing prowess. In addition, Megan Fox wants to prove herself as more than just the atypical sexy female lead in shitty movies. What a shame she’s chosen to play an atypical sexy female lead in a shitty movie.

The town of Devil’s Kettle is rocked to its core when a fire burns down their only bar and kills everyone inside. But it’s only a diversion – travelling band Low Shoulder started the fire in order to snare virgin Jennifer (Fox) and sacrifice her to the devil. Unfortunately for the town, Jennifer is not a virgin (no, duh?) and a succubus takes over her body, forcing her to feast on the flesh of boys to stay young and pretty. This means it’s all up to her best friend Needy (Amanda Seyfried – Lily Kane in Veronica Mars, the greatest TV show of all time) to send the bitch back to hell before her own boyfriend falls under the demon’s sexual spell.

Let’s get one thing out of the way first: Jennifer’s Body is complete and utter bullshit. It’s hard to pick out a single point for any kind of praise, so it’s probably best just to say that the dialogue – when not doing its best to halt the tension – is pretty good. You see, the issue with dialogue in horror films is because suspense is wordless. That slow skin-crawling feeling of fear and dread is not caused by watching teens be witty at each other and speak in such self-referential terms your parents will get confused. The defining moments of any horror film you can think of will, nine times out of ten, be purely visual in nature. Therefore a film that attempts to crowd practically every scene with dialogue in place of genuine tension will be shooting itself in the foot.

The CGI is atrocious, the acting is awful (with the exception of Amanda Seyfried), the story is abysmal, the horror is absent and the only reason anyone would seriously watch this is because Megan Fox’s character is a slutty nymphomaniac who plays tonsil tennis with Needy. It’s such a pathetic attempt to try and lure dumb teenage boys and their dads into seeing a shitty film that it’s genuinely insulting. It’s like the filmmakers actually loathe their audience.

If that’s not enough to put you off watching Jennifer’s Body then you may need your head examined. But you can’t say you weren’t warned – after all, it’s a movie as dumb and easily manipulated as Megan Fox’s own fan base.

1 star

I watched Jennifer’s Body a couple of days ago and I think I can do a decent review of this movie since I neither hate nor love it with every fiber of my being. You see, when I love a movie or book so much I tend to gush and rave with so much ardour that I alienate decent readers. I don’t agree when some of the faults the movie and/or book has are brought to light and I sometimes pout and don’t talk for weeks. Yes. I’m a 6-year-old hiding in a 25-year-old body. It gets crowded – what with a skinny girl here as well – but we make it fit.

And when I hate a book or a film, I’m also merciless in my persecution. For one, my time – which is known to be one of the most important things in the world – is wasted and second I’m a sore loser.

When I read Frankenstein for the first time, my mother had to get a gag order – a literal one. She ordered my sister to put a gag on me when in the house ’cause she couldn’t endure listening to me rant about that stupid excuse for a man, Hector Frankenstein. Don’t get me wrong. The book’s fine. It was just that stupid, weak, little punk Hector that got me so pissed off I almost threw the book away. Which is something you don’t do if you’ve spent money on one.

Alas, I digress. As usual. Anyway, Jennifer’s Body.

Jennifer’s Body is, I believe, Diablo Cody’s second job writing a screenplay for a movie. The first and one of the most awesome pieces of art was Juno, a comedy about teenage pregnancy and awesome music. Jennifer’s Body has a decent soundtrack and some bits of the beloved quirky, sometimes politically incorrect slides that Cody employed in Juno but almost none of the charm.

Jennifer’s Body stars Megan Fox as Jennifer and Amanda Seyfried as Jennifer’s best friend – the aptly named, Needy. Jennifer and Needy are friends even though Jennifer is like the hottest girl in school and Needy is, well, nerdy. She even has glasses to support it. We understand why they’re friends because they’ve been pals since they were little and according to Needy’s narration, sandbox love never dies. Needy always does what Jennifer wants because, according to her they like the same things, but we all know it’s because she still can’t believe her luck that Jennifer is still talking to her. We know why Jennifer still talks to Needy, not because of some childhood sentiment, but because like other self-absorbed people, she needs to have somebody to admire her.

Anyway, the main idea of the movie is that Jennifer eats boys. This happens because she is offered by some gay, emo-loving posers (aka modern rock stars) to the Devil as a sacrifice, thinking she is a virgin. She isn’t, duh, so the spell kinda backfires and now the devil resides in her needing sustenance and the appetite preferred is boys.

If you went to the cinemas hoping to watch another Juno-like presentation, there might be a need to choose another movie in the lineup. Jennifer’s Body is nothing like Juno. The comedy is few and far between. There’s not a touching moment that makes you tear up, and the lines that Diablo used in her Oscar-winning first film do not appear in this movie. Oh wait, they do. Sort of like a cheap knock-off.

However, it is gory, sexy, and has so many shots of Megan Fox either out of her clothes or about to remove them that you don’t really care if she says nothing. Which is a pity because she delivers her line, almost all of them cheesy, with the air of someone who thinks they’re cheesy but knows she can get away with them anyway. She makes Jennifer seem like a real person. And I would expect that after watching the movie, her boyfriend, that undeserving Brian Austin Green, might have been a bit leery going home with her.

Anyway, my recommendation is if you’re a Fox fan, go for it. If you’re a Cody fan, lower your expectations. And if you like to see gay emo-loving posers get what’s coming to them, stay until the end of the movie. You’d be very much satisfied.

Oh, and P.S. There’s a bit of a girl-on-girl scenario that might not be okay for the faint of heart.

Not Seen The Body!

haduhhh, sebuah film yang dibintangi megan fox (mungkin debut dia kali ya bermain sendiri tanpa shia di transformers) entahlah, sebuah film dimana yang lucunya dibuat oleh orang yang membuat Juno juga yaitu diablo cody, wow, dia mengambil langkah besar dalam membuat suatu film yang genrenya beda dari yang biasa dia buat (setahu saya loh) karena Juno merupakan film percintaan remaja ringan yang menurut saya bagus dan sukses besar dalam pencapaiannya, tapi mari kita lihat dulu apa yang disajikan di jennifer’s body?

selain banyak rumor bahwa di film ini anda akan melihat megan fox topless, haha mimpilah, karena hal tersebut tidak ada dari awal sampai akhir film, yang ada hanyalah film pembunuhan berantai yang dilakukan oleh si jennifer alias megan fox sendiri, karena apa? karena dia bukanlah manusia biasa lagi, dikarenakan suatu “hal” (“hal” disini menurut saya cukup konyol dan bolehlah dibilang berbeda untuk menjadi suatu sumber masalah yang dimana menjadi inti cerita film ini) jennifer menjadi buas dan gemar membunuh para laki laki di sekolahnya, hal tersebut kemudian disadari oleh sahabat karibnya sendiri yaitu needy yang diperankan oleh amanda seyfried yang menurut saya aktingnya lebih bagus dari megan fox sendiri, well, mungkin anda bisa menebak akhir dari film ini.

ya, film yang bermodalkan artis cantik megan fox dan rumor topless nya memang benar benar taktik marketing yang bagus, walaupun begitu, film ini ya bisa dibilang dengan film film remaja yang mengangkat isu pembunuhan lainnya, hanya saja disini diablo cody menyuguhkannya dengan berbeda, tapi mungkin hanya untuk hiburan sesaat saja untuk saya, well yang bagus dari film ini mungkin hanyalah soundtracknya yang terbilang mantap menurut saya, dan ending film yang digambarkan dalam credit title yang unik, ya cukuplah untuk film pengantar tidur.

This movie had the pedigree to be a classic. Diablo Cody, one of the most celebrated screenwriters working Hollywood teams with the hottest new Hollywood actress Megan Fox for a new take on high school. The pedigree maybe was there but the ingredients didn’t amount to much.

Megan Fox plays Jennifer, the most popular girl at the small town of Devil’s Kettle’s high school. She’s beautiful, popular and a heartbreaker. Her best friend Needy (Amanda Seyfried) idolizes her and fantasizes about what it would be like to be her.

One night Jennifer and Needy sneak out to see Jennifer’s new favorite band, Low Shoulder. Immediately Jennifer falls for the band’s lead singer (The OC’s Adam Brody dressed in gothic eyeliner). Thinking she’s a virgin, the band kidnaps Jennifer and plans on sacrificing her to Satan in exchange for fame and fortune.

What they don’t is this girl ain’t no virgin!

Jennifer transforms into a “succubus”, a girl who must feed on men to maintain her beauty and stamina. Basically she becomes like a female praying mantis. She mates then eats her man.

You have Diablo Cody’s snappy dialogue, interesting characters, a charismatic leading lady, her stable and underrated best friend and oodles of in jokes. So what is exactly at fault? I’d have to say the director.

Karyn Kusama (Girlfight & Aeon Flux) drowns in this film. You can tell in almost every scene she is in way over her head. She is no Kathyrn Bigelow. She has the same problem she had here as she had in Aeon Flux. She doesn’t know how to tell more than one story at a time. Also she doesn’t know how to let snappy dialogue flow.

For example the whole angle of the indie band being “Creed” or “Maroon 5″ is hysterical with a soulless lead singer who would do anything for money and a career is a priceless satire of pop culture except Kusama never lets the movie go that far. You have just a sliver of it. The jokes about indie rock bands in this movie (pardon the pun!) rock!

Then there is the whole tagline for the film about “She’s evil… and not just high school evil.” That is a perfect satire of elitist popular high school chicks but the film barely goes there too. It could have been as classic as “Jawbreaker” or “Heathers” but it crashes and burns.

What is left when you don’t let the satire bloom is basically a soulless horror movie where your lead actress eats men. The gore is there but the humor isn’t.

Megan Fox has gotten a lot of flack for being as soulless as her character in this movie. If you ignore her real self and just watch her in this movie you can see why she is so popular and I am not just talking about her beauty. She can act. She’s got sexy, charismatic, psychotic and tormented down pack. But she does need to work on sympathetic and confused. Amanda Seyfried does out act her in this movie but you can see that Megan has evolved from being a one-look wonder in Transformers.

Jennifer’s Body had so much potential.

2 out of 5

So Says the Soothsayer

My script review here won’t be a long thing with a plot summary, etc. I just need to blow off some steam.

Since I now have a part-time income and the last 6 months of my life have had no entertainment value, I decided to sign up for Netflix again. [For some reason I didn't want to restart my Blockbuster account.] These DVD rental websites love to recommend films based on your viewing habits and movie ratings. One film that keeps showing up on my recommendation page is Juno. I’ve resisted seeing this film based on the preconceived notion that I wouldn’t like a film about a pregnant high school girl who seems to have this witty turn of phrase spewing out of her mouth every other sentence.

After the 100th time of seeing this recommendation, I thought I’d hunt down the script and read it. A few places I stalk on the internet indicated that this is a good script read. And then there is all this hoopla about the writer, Diablo Cody. It was time to find out what this fuckin’ little script is all about.

After reading the script, the answer to that is nothing.

The only thing I enjoyed about this script was seeing it was only 94 pages long. Is the “something fresh and new in Hollywood” nonchalant and shallow? Sure this is a comedy-esque film but there still needs to be a character who is relatable, someone to root for, someone you want to see overcome an obstacle. The only thing I wanted was to close my eyes and pretend Juno was never fictionally born.

Characters: The characters were just that, characters. They were shells of what a writer thinks people should be like in a movie.

Story: I’m not sure anything really happened. The story points seemed to be forced together like puzzle pieces that sort of, kind of, look like they go together but don’t….so you beat them into place. There was no reason for Juno to change. There were no outside forces making her grow or learn anything. She just – “oh, brain spark, I’m going to do something different now.”

Voice Over: There was a little bit of voice over. But the little was too much. In my new trek into reading/studying/writing scripts, I hear writing experts say, “Voice over is for weak writers who can’t write an in-depth story.” This script was the first time I’ve seen that to be true.

Supposed to be funny?: The use of the line “pregnant? just like our moms and teachers!” wasn’t funny the first time so why repeat it 3 or 4 times?

Dialogue: This dialogue was reported to make everyone fantasy orgasm at its amazingness. “Milktate” was the best you could do? I didn’t see anything impressive about the language spoken by Juno. The Coen brothers know a thing or two about how people speak.

But with all the negativity noted above, I didn’t necessarily HATE the script. It wasn’t like “oh god, I can’t read another ten words”. It was readable. I just didn’t care where it went. It felt small screen, not silver screen. I hope the cast was able to give life to these lifeless stick figures Diablo drew up.

Grab the script: Juno

.

In college I could take a tune deeper than the next girl, but something happened to this ability after working in the industry.  People often say if you work in an industry that you become numb to it, but I tend to think if you’re in something every single day you become numb to it anyway.  Maybe it was the Phish‘ers sitting with their oversized beanies, patchouli stench, and communal joint, that got me thinking of musical depth, or perhaps it was my second-hand high that just set me into an astral thought.

Maybe it’s Jeff Buckley’s secret chord, but I’m present.  My new therapist, yes I’m working on another book.  This has become my rite-of-passage during the write-myself-into-therapy seasons.  Luckily, this season was quality over quantity so it takes much less longevity to tattoo into my soul.  The new Psychiatric buzz is ‘disassociation‘, so I’m quite pleased that the tag was placed upfront.  I simply don’t have time to be looking up diagnosis codes in the DSM,  I really don’t.  Nonetheless, my therapist…we’ll call her Spinner (due to confidentiality I’m not allowed to use her real name.  You understand.)…Spinner told me I was damn lucky to have a writing outlet otherwise I would be a multiple.  We’re talking United States of Tara.  I wish I would have known this years ago because I could have been Diablo-fucking-Cody!  Smart bitch, stealing my could be story.  I think Spinner and I connected enough that I’ll be seeing her steadily, and she’s been in it so long that she’s heard it all so my shock-value dilvulges only made her fingers shimmy in delight.  I must be secretly narcissistic too because she suggested someone write a book about me.  Hey, she’s the professional, not me.

Jeff Buckley’s voice makes me feel refined and appreciative of the vocal instrument, and for many years I have to admit to vocal discrimination; the voice is NOT an instrument.  I’ve long since changed my tune, though I still sing out of key; always a backup but never lead. 

The Phishers, tonight at Madison, reminded me of myself and a few good hippies I met at school; the Carols, Matts, Michals, Buddhas, and Melissa.  I still listen to the music; just a little lower decibel, manifactured not natural additives, and on mute.  The real experience is catching the wave of feeling long enough to remember the view.

Jennifer’s Body (2009)
★★★ / ★★★★

I decided to see this horror-comedy about demonic possession and female sexuality not because of Megan Fox but because it stars Amanda Seyfried (“Mean Girls,” “Mamma Mia!”) and it was written by Diablo Cody (“Juno” and columnist on “Entertainment Weekly”). Seyfried must defend her town from a man-hungry Fox after an emo band (led by Adam Brody) who dabbles with the occult kidnaps her. At the same time, she must deal with her sometimes jealous boyfriend (Johnny Simmons) because he thinks there’s something unhealthy about his girlfriend’s relationship with Jennifer. The set-up is very simple and very clean but the journey to the finish was quite rough and sometimes unconventional (but in a good way). Apart from the whippersnapper and often downright clever and funny dialogue, “Jennifer’s Body” reminded me of the horror movies from the 1980s because it had a certain B-movie quality to it. Not to mention that the climax happened during a school dance. At times, it did surprise me because it offered certain insight regarding the dynamics between best friends; how one needs the other in order to feel better about herself, which begs the question on whether they were truly friends or if they were more like “frenemies.” The movie straddles that line really well so then there was this constant conflict between the two best friends even before Fox was turned into a demon. But the star here is not Fox (or her body), but Seyfried. She was able to be this character who was kind of a loser but a great person at heart, be sensitive and tough all at once. One main concern about this movie is that audiences will simply choose not to see it because they either hate Megan Fox for whatever reason (I think she’s one of the worst actresses in Hollywood right now but that’s not news) or label it as another “Juno” because of the modern pop culture dialogue. It’s really more than that because it’s a horror-comedy with a brain, which is very unlike straight (supposed) horror movies like Rob Zombie’s “Halloween II” or Patrick Lussier’s horrid “My Bloody Valentine.” If I were to throw out one major problem I had with this movie, I say it wasn’t scary enough to truly make classic horror fans to be impressed with it. Nevertheless, I still think “Jennifer’s Body,” directed by Karyn Kusama, is a good popcorn flick that lives up to its first line: Hell is a teenage girl.

A movie’s soundtrack can have an impact on how it is perceived. It can enhance the atmosphere of the movie whether it be romance, action, suspense or whatever. It can work the opposite way too. Adam, for example, is a nice film but the use of sentimental music obviously tries to create a strong emotional reaction. Then sometimes you watch a great movie and love it that much more because of its soundtrack. Here are some of my top pairing for great movie/music.

Garden State

~ Large’s Ark

The Film:

Written, directed and starring Scrubs‘ Zach Braff, Garden State follows the television semi-famous actor Andrew Largeman (Braff) and his return to his home and estranged family for his mother’s funeral. Andrew goes through life in a lithium-induced state as a result of his psychiatrist father, Gideon Largeman (Ian Holme), who blames Andrew for putting his mother in a wheelchair when he was a child. Soon after his arrival, Andrew meets Sam (Natalie Portman) and the two strike up an unusual friendship. Sam is a happy, quirky, emotional and compulsive liar who counterbalances Andrew’s somewhat monotonous self. Taking inspiration from her, Andrew decides to give up taking his medicine (i.e. lithium). Along the way he reconnects with old friends and acquaintances. One such friend, gravedigger Mark (Peter Sarsgaard), then takes Andrew and Sam along on a journey to find an elusive object of great interest to Andrew. It’s a great story with excellent characters and actors.

The Soundtrack

Zac Braff wrote the majority of the movie while still in college. What’s interesting in this movie is that he also wrote the music into script. When he sent the script to people he also sent a CD containing the songs that would be in the movie in the order that they appeared. This careful planning is evident in the way the music flows well into the narrative. It includes songs by The Shins, Zero 7, Coldplay, Nick Drake and Frou Frou amongst others.

*Spoiler* And here’s the final scene, which is also a great use of music to aid the narrative.

~~~

Rushmore

~ She was my Rushmore

The Film:

Directed by Wes Anderson, Rushmore follows Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman), a 15 year old scholarship boy who lives for his private school Rushmore Academy. He imagines himself as the top student when in fact he’s just getting by. However, he is king of extracurricular activities and spends most of his times in the various clubs he either leads or creates; he also writes and directs plays. Then comes Ms Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams), Rushmore’s elementary school teacher and Max falls in love with her. Max befriends his classmate’s father Herman Blume (Bill Murray), an unhappy industrialist whom Max sees as a mentor. Max enlists Herman’s help to make Ms Cross fall for him. Things go wrong when Herman ends up falling in love with Ms Cross too. This unusual love triangle begins to pits friend against friend in the hopes of getting Ms Cross. Pure Wes Anderson quirkiness.

The Soundtrack:

Consists of musicians such as The Kinks, Rolling Stones, John Lennon, The Who, The Faces, Cat Stevens and Donovan amongst others. Not only are these great musicians in and of themselves, the song choices and how they are layered into the narrative is great. Click here for a list of videos on YouTube for Rushmore. Here’s an example of how well music is handled in the film:

And while I’m not very familiar with all the musicians in the soundtrack, I think the movie is improved with them.

~~~

(500) Days of Summer

~Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love. Girl doesn’t.

The Film:

Music video director Marc Webb makes his feature length directorial debut with this awesomely beautiful film. It stars the talented Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the boy who believes in true love and Zooey Deschanel who doesn’t. It’s the classic boy meet girl story with no real new material but it is all executed so well, the acting is fantastic and the end product is magnificent. The emotions really do resonate with anyone whether they’d had a bad break-up, can’t get over someone or whether an unrequited love is all you have. Great film.

You can read more details in my review.

The Soundtrack

With much experience behind him, Marc Webb has done a fantastic job in combining narrative and music in 500 Days. Not only does it reflect the mood of the scenes, it also enhances it by adding a sometimes quirky (see video below), sometimes poignant undertone, but always great. Artists such as Regina Spektor, The Temper Trap, The Smiths, Simon and Garfunkle, Wolfmother and Feist can be found on the soundtrack.

Here’s a YouTube video where you can preview the soundtrack.

~~~

24 Hour Party People

~The unbelievably true story of one man, one movement, the music and madness that was Manchester.

The Film:

This movie is more of a biopic/fictional documentary focusing on the music mogul Tony Wilson and the time in Manchester when punk came into the scene. It’s directed by Michael Winterbottom and stars Steve Coogan and many others playing music legends. The movie chronicles not only Wilson’s attempts at creating a culture in Manchester, but also the origins and outcomes of some of the most influential British bands such as Joy Division (which went on to become New Order), The Sex Pistols and The Happy Mondays. It parodies some events and breaks the fourth wall quite often but it all works and creates a great portrayal of the time.

The Soundtrack:

This movie is made for lovers of original punk and British music. Not only does the movie showcase some of the best music of the time (Joy Division!), it also gives insight into the bands, their members and how they dealt with their growing influence on the music scene. Therefore, the soundtrack is basically a sort of time capsule consisting of iconic music and bands.

It was by watching this movie that I came to know about Joy Division, which quickly became one of my favourite bands.

~~~

Juno

~A comedy about growing up… and the bumps along the way.

The Film:

Directed by Jason Reitman and written by Diablo Cody, it stars Ellen Page, Michael Cera (along with Arrested Development co-star Jason Bateman) and Jennifer Garner. The movie follows Juno MacGuff and her unplanned pregnancy and subsequent search for affluent adoptive parents for her baby. Chances are you’ve seen the film so you know it’s not as dramatic as that, though it is emotional. The quirkiness of the characters, the development and characterisation of Juno, the humour and the writing are all great. Michael Cera still wasn’t so typecast into the dorky, awkward, almost Woody Allen Jr type of character he has now; he was still high from Arrested Development. And Ellen page’s acting was fantastic, well worth the Oscar nomination. A lot of the praise should also go to Diablo Cody for the way she wrote the script, and Reitman’ directing.

The Soundtrack:

This movie has a really unique soundtrack that reflects the emotions and atmosphere of the movie. In this interview Ellen Page talks about the music of Juno. She mentions the music has a youthful and quirky feel to it but it’s also heartfelt so there is a balance there. This balance is something the movie does really well too. There are a lot of Indie artists in this soundtrack, which again reinforces the alternative personality of Juno. It’s a fantastic movie.

I’ve obsessed over this soundtrack. I hadn’t heard of Kimya Dawson, Antsy Pants, Belle and Sebastian or The Moldy Peaches before Juno and I’m so glad I know them now. My favourite band in the soundtrack is Belle and Sebastian.

~~~

Other notable movies/soundtrack combinations are:

• Once (a great low budget movie revolving around two unnamed characters who love music; a sleeper hit; won Oscar for Best Song)
• Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain (quirky love story with a beautiful look; originally Naomi Watts was set to play Amelie)
• Whip It (another great performance from Ellen Page but not at all like in Juno; a funny/offbeat coming of age; Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut)
• Little Miss Sunshine (proof of Murphy’s Law; quirky characters with a real emotional undertone; Oscar nominated for Best Picture)

Ich weiss auch nicht, nicht nur das ich das starke Gefuehl eines deja vus hatte, nachdem ich Jennifers Body gesehen habe, ich begann auch ernsthaft an Hollywood zu zweife(ln, dem einzigen Ort, an dem meiner Meinung nach noch irgendeine Welt in Ordnung geschrieben werden kann.
oder lieber eins nach dem anderen?
Vielleicht kommen ja Fragen auf, wie: Worum gehts eigentlich in dem Film und wen interessierts?
Also der Film, in dem es um ein Maedchen geht, das Jungs aufisst. Nicht mehr, das wars.Zwar wird dann noch hergebetet, warum sie denn Jungs isst (so unfassbar bloede, dass es nicht mehr witzig ist: eine Rockband will Erfolg und entscheidet sich eine Jungfrau fuer Satan zu opfern, besagte Jungfrau erfuellt aber das Anforderungsprofil nicht und ersteht wieder auf, als Goettin oder Zombie oder Lesbe man weiss es nicht).
So ist das. Und so lang koennen 90 Minuten sein, weil man ja weiss was passiert, und wann es passiert und man ertappt sich dabei dem Film als einzigem Schauwert anzurechnen, dass er einen aeusserst erotischen Frauenkuss innehat. (wie einst Eiskalte Engel was dessen einzige Daseinsberechtigung war) Aber selbst der ist so voellig belanglos, das der Spass daran vergeht, eigentlich ist er nicht nur belanglos, sondern auch voellig unlogisch und unrhytmisch in die Handlung integriert, das man sich waehrend der wenigen bisexuellen Sekunden fragt: warum?
Und auch sonst wandelt der Film auf ausgelatschten Pfaden, die seit Freitag der 13. und oder Halloween stark frequentiert wurden. Das alles waere wiederum auch nicht so schlimm, wenn nicht erstens, die Selbstironie der Filmmannschaft voellig fehlen wuerde und zweitens die Erwartungen dadurch geschuert wurden, das Diablo Cody das Drehbuch schrieb (wie auch das zum hervorragenden Juno).
Aber man wird eben nicht nur enttaeuscht, das wird man ja immer wenn man amerikanische Grossproduktionen konsumiert in denen ueber Sex palavert wird, und gedated und was auch immer nur im rechten Moment sich doch zu true love can wait zu bekennen, man wird vor den unschuldigen Kopf gestossen.

Andererseits erinnert mich der Film an einen anderen Teeniehorrorfilm mit uebernatuerlichen Elementen, der allerdings schon ein paar Jahre auf dem Buckel hat: die Killerhand.
Und wenn ich den sehe, dann finde ich meinen Gleuben wieder, dass es doch Regisseure gibt und eben diese auch ihr Handwerk beherrschen. Denn in die Killerhand geht es um genau denselben Kaese wie in Jennifers Body: Junge ist faul und kifft den ganzen Tag, der Teufel ergreift Besitz von seiner rechten Hand und mordet damit, Junge hack Hand ab, Hand mordet weiter (inklusive der Band The Offspring) bis Druidin mit Dolch kommt und Hand zurueck in die Hoelle schickt,dann Druidensex.
Voellig abstrus, voellig uebertrieben, aber, und das ist der Punkt, mit einem tief verankerten Bewusstsein fuer die eigene Albernheit. Und deswegen kriegt der Held auch die Kurve quasi gar nicht und toetet mal eben seine besten Freunde, die aber als nette Zombies wiederkehren. Und er kriegt das Maedchen von nebenan (Jessica Alba). All das passiert, vor unseren klischee-gewoehnten Augen und es ist okay, weil keiner erwartet das wir den Film fuer eine Goldene Palme vorschlagen. Stattdessen schreit uns der Film entgegen, lacht ueber mich, nehmt mich in den Arm und habt euch lieb und so weiter.
Jennifers Body hingegen macht nicht nur nichts richtig sondern macht im eigentlichen Sinne gar nichts. Nichts neues, nichts Gutes, nichts gewagtes, nichts Nettes.
Und dann noch die allgegenwaertige Megan Fox, die noch einmal was genau gemacht hat um ein Filmstar zu sein? In Transformers 2.Hauptrolle, zumindest 2. menschliche Hauptrolle. Meine Guete. Die neue Angelina Jolie, ist die alte nicht erst Mitte dreissig? Ist das schon halbtot? Scheint so. Und selbst wenn, was ist das fuer ein Titel “neue Angelina Jolie”? Was hat die Jolie fuer einen Beitrag zur Welt des Films beigetragen? Leere. Und Wanted. Bewsifuehrung beendet.
Aber wenn diese junge Frau Fox das will dann will sie das und sollte vielleicht drueber nachdenken auch im richtigen Leben Jungs zu essen.

Jennifer’s Body is a movie written by Diablo Cody, who is talk of the town with her anti-abortion smash hit Juno!  The problem here is that Maxim jizzlobber Megan Fox is no Ellen Page. (By the way, Ellen Page should send a gift basket to Janeane Garofalo’s cave thanking her for the act.  It’ll make her feel special!) I mention Cody and Fox early because I am looking to repossess the money I lost for the ticket.

Megan Fox is Jennifer Check, a cheerleader who has no problem with the male persuasion in high school.  Her childhood best friend “Needy” Lesnicky, played by Amanda Seyfried, is the stereotypical nerd that follows Jennifer in a trance.  You can tell she’s a nerd because she wears the ugliest, most dated glasses ever; the type of eye wear popular during the JFK era.  The reason this pisses me off so much is because Amanda is quite beautiful in her own right, but I guess for the sake of the role; she has to play second fiddle to the mountain of talent that is Megan Fox.  After all, men enjoy her magazine spreads.

The movie takes place in the fictional town of Devil’s Kettle.  This is where the mayhem takes place, or so I thought.  Jennifer is the head cheerleader of course, and Needy is strangely connected to her because of their childhood friendship.  Aside from this, it’s hard to fathom why anyone would want to hang out with this Jennifer persona.  She is cunty squared, and very cognizant of her beauty at all time.  In any decent horror film, this character type would be tagged as Jason and Freddy slop during the first act.  No luck here!

Jennifer asks Needy if she’d like to go to this redneck bar to watch this band Low Shoulder from the city because she thinks the lead singer is hot.  Needy has plans with her boyfriend, but after a creepy glance from Jennifer; her plans change.  It is never explained why Jennifer has this power over Needy.  Be prepared for more unexplained bullshit…

At the bar, Jennifer takes a liking to the lead singer setting up and introduces herself with ugly Needy in tow.  After the singer dismisses her to get a couple of shots, they play the “who’s the virgin” game musing about which girl still has her cherry.  Needy overhears this and tells the band to kiss off and tries to warn Jennifer of their douche-ness, but that gets squashed as the band begins to play.  We are forced to listen to this shitty song that sends Jennifer into a trance.  During this scene, an amp cord starts a fire that decimates the bar in a matter of minutes.  Apparently, they never heard of Great White…

Outside of the bar, Needy tries to shake Jennifer out of her trance but the lead singer interrupts suggesting they take refuge in their rickety band van.  Their roadie is The Flash, by the way.  Needy declines the offer because she wishes to stay in shock after seeing people burned beyond recognition, you know: a normal reaction!  Jennifer would rather depart with the band.

Needy goes home and chronicles the tragedy to her boyfriend as the door knocks.  All of the motions that go into finding out who’s at the door are present and done according to horror movie standard.  Nobody is at the door upon inspection, and the leaky faucet drowns out all other noise until Needy turns it off.  A bloody and battered Jennifer appears from behind to scare Needy, rummages through her fridge and vomits black death all over the kitchen floor before leaving the scene.  No wonder why everyone likes her!

At this juncture, Jennifer goes on a small killing spree targeting the cornerstones of a high school setting such as the football star and the mascara wearing outcast.  Needy goes into Sherlock mode for the rest of the movie; trying to figure out why her friend is acting differently, even though her personality didn’t change at all.  It would have made more sense if she was in full demon mode at the start of the movie.  Alas, we could only talk about what could have been…

Jennifer’s Body is labeled as a black comedy/horror, but it doesn’t come close to either.  The glaring omission of law enforcement denies this as a traditional horror.  Not only that, but the town of Devil’s Kettle seem to press on without resistance.  After finding a mutilated body with a few organs missing; you would expect the town to be swarming with homicide investigators.  Instead, we see candlelight vigils.  Another staple in the horror genre would be a viable monster to handle the workload.  In this film, Jennifer does not display any type of qualities seen in the famous forefathers of gore.  I know her special power is seduction, and that would be highly interesting if it was fully realized.  That premise would require a major transformation from high school girl to demon.  However, the “transformation”, if you want to call it that, is not revealed until the latter part of the movie.  If you get that far into this abomination, rest assured it will only piss you off even more because you sat there waiting for it.  (This does qualify as the most unintentionally hilarious moment of the movie.  Make sure to cover yourself with a plastic blanket to shield the fire-hose of piss sprayed on you by everyone involved with the story.)

It is easy to riff on Megan Fox for this movie because of her publicized melee with Transformers director Michael Bay.  She doesn’t make a case for herself here with the “more acting, less special effects” statement that sparked the feud.  Notwithstanding her weakness as an actress, the main culprit is Diablo Cody.  The story itself is quite laughable.  Cody attempts her high school rhetoric prevalent in Juno to try and save face, but it falls flat.  The only saving grace is to cater to the guys who dig Megan Fox and wish to see her in a semi-nude scene.  Sorry fellas, no luck here!  Or maybe you’re the type who enjoys a graphic death scene or two.  Move along!

What you can expect from Jennifer’s Body is a complete bomb.  It is a masterpiece because it is so dismal, so uninteresting that it amazes me that anyone who was behind this project felt satisfied with the final product.  The Twilight fools?  Guys who follow Megan Fox’s pictorial career?  Horror enthusiasts?  All walks of life were shunned in the making of this movie.  Utter disregard for the audience is the sole reason why Misanthropic Theater salutes this film as a standout in the field of the unwatchable.

WARNING: Use whatever necessary to numb yourself before viewing this work of art.

Megan Fox in a main role of an evil demon – when this happens, I obviously can’t think straight. I am one of the people, who adores Megan Fox, watches everything she is in, having secretly fantasies with her, hating the person Brian Austin Green for dating her (but I like him as an actor). I am one of the people who thinks she is living sex and far beyond. Am I a cliché now? Well, not when I can say that most of the projects with Megan Fox are mostly average. Transformers is still story trash (the second movie was boring), she wasn’t that funny in the 35th season opener of the NBC comedy Saturday Night Live, and even Jennifer’s Body is not really a milestone in the history of non-serious horror comedies. But Jennifer’s Body is one thing: a crappy and funny movie from the vomit scene until the end.
Cheerleader Jennifer (Megan Fox) and dorky geek Needy (Amanda Seyfried) are BFFs for years and inseparable, though they have nothing in common. After a fire in a local bar, where some high school students lost their lives, Jennifer disappears with a rock band (in which Adam Brody is the lead singer) and comes back to Needy with blood all over her body. This is the beginning of something really bloody and deathly: Jennifer mysteriously gains a lot of appetite for human blood in male high school students. As Needy finds out that Jennifer is possessed by a demon, she has to find a way to stop her friend’s bloodthirsty rampage before it reaches her own boyfriend Chip (Johnny Simmons).

One thing is for sure and everybody should know it before watching: Jennifer’s Body doesn’t take itself seriously and is just a vehicle for a hot cheerleader being possessed, killing boys, still looking sexy and having a light lesbian scene between Amanda Seyfried and Megan Fox, so men’s hearts are pounding until their chests explode. The movie isn’t good for anything else. It seems that 80 per cent of the movie goers had completely different expectations, especially with Diablo Cody being responsible for the screenplay, who won an Academy Award for Juno two years back. And the only result of having different expectations is that they find Jennifer’s Body bad. But it isn’t. Seriously. And I don’t say that, because I have *insert a word* fantasies about Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried together on one bed.
The dialogs are funny as hell. Some examples? Jennifer about Needy’s breasts: “These are like smart bombs, you point them in the right direction and shit gets real.” Jennifer after being stabbed by Needy and bleeding out of the wound hole: “Got a tampon?” And, especially, after being stabbed by Needy: “Oww, my tit.” To which Needy responds: “No, your heart.” There are more example and I was laughing hilariously in most of the scenes – not only because of the funny dialogs, but some scenes were so ridiculous that it must have been on purpose to do them that shitty. But there lies the biggest problem of the movie: It doesn’t know if it wants to be a comical horror movie, a spoof of all the satanic rituals gone wrong, a funny movie with Megan Fox in it, or was it just a rip-off of Cruel Intentions (and I am only taking about the lesbian kiss scene)? Somehow the movie wants to be all of it, and this is what doesn’t let the movie work properly. At least the movie isn’t trying to be sophisticated or complex and is instead supposed to be a fun movie for the side; not important for the studio to make money with (the production only cost 16 million Dollar), not a breakthrough for all of the actors, and all in all a supposed-to-be fun project with no intentions to become a cult hit.

 The actors are clearly having fun in their roles. Megan Fox plays her sex card and shows once again her erotic side. She is the star of the movie, but her opposite part played by Amanda Seyfried holds her own. While Fox’s Jennifer doesn’t hide her sexual side and wants to have everything she can get (including the buddy-like Adam Brody, who might be a great guy to hang out with, when he is not about to sacrifice you for a demonic ritual), Seyfried’s Needy hides her beauty behind her gawky side and shows that she has
 nothing in common with Jennifer. Megan Fox took charge of her character and played with it, her acting is creative, and she even becomes a wreck when she has to be, and wanders completely outside of her sexy side. Jennifer’s friendship with Needy is completely believable, and every shitty small town somewhere in the middle of the United States’ nowhere. And Amanda Seyfried shows again that she is underrated in Hollywood and definitely can act. And Diablo Cody didn’t overwrite Needy’s goofy side, which lets everybody believe that she is not the one in high school, who doesn’t talk to people and vice versa, because she is not the ugly one in here. Johnny Simmons gives a sweet boyfriend for Seyfried, only his dying scene was way too wound up. I really had to laugh at its incredibly stupid scene, which looks like this wasn’t on purpose. This scene was the low-point of the movie.
Adam Brody had, like I said already, fun in his role. He stabs Jennifer like… a hundred times, with a smile on his face, and before the ritual he picks out the words for the ritual, which he found easily on the internet – hilarious.
Kyle Gallner makes a good stand as well, getting eaten by Jennifer, and shows like Seyfried, that he is worthy to look for in future projects.

The rest of the movie is typical basic: Jennifer’s Body is sexy, but doesn’t show much sex; Megan Fox eats people, but there isn’t much blood. Disgusting scenes are barely in the movie, at the utmost the vomiting scene might me the most disturbing scene (but this was too funny for me to be disturbing – I was mentally screaming WTF and had big eyes). Karyn Kusama’s movie is not too long, and not too short, and after her miserable Æon Flux she shows that she actually can direct a movie.
And when you don’t see the real purpose of the movie when you read the outlined plot (loser indie band tries to get fame and fortune by sacrificing a virgin to the devil, only their virgin isn’t one and transforms into a flesh eating demon) and you still expecting a clever (or trashy) horror movie, then you don’t know jack.
Jennifer’s Body is no masterpiece, but fun all the way. And I was entertained.

Juno (2008) es la segunda película de Jason Reitman. La primera fue la sátira anti consumista Thank you for smoking (2005), sobre un vocero tabacalero (Aaron Eckhart) que instaba a la gente a fumar y defendía con argumentos bizarros pero contundentes el consumo del cigarrillo.

Juno, bautizada en nuestro medio con el obvio título de Embarazada por accidente (pero es el de la televisión pagada que la exhibe como Juno: Crecer, correr y tropezar) viene con algunos premios internacionales a cuestas (incluyendo el del Oscar al mejor guión original para Diablo Cody), a más de cientos de artículos a favor y en contra del tema del aborto.

Hay que decirlo de entrada: Juno McGuff (llamada así porque Juno es la diosa de la maternidad en la mitología romana) es una chica que tiene un embarazo no planificado y que en la antesala del aborto decide tener a su crío. Coincidencialmente se encuentra con un par de padres infértiles (Jason Bateman y Jennifer Garner) que deciden “comprarle el producto” que lleva en sus entrañas.

El filme toca en clave de comedia negra (Juno es uno de los personajes adolescentes más sarcásticos que ha dado la historia del cine gringo) el tema de la madre subrogante o si quieren una variación inteligente del vientre de alquiler (casi pongo “del arquitecto”).

La actriz canadiense Ellen Paige es el espectáculo más grande de este pequeño filme. Esta adolescente —a quien vimos previamente en Hard candy (2005) como la chica que tortura a un acosador sexual de adolesentes— realmente vale la nominación que la Academia le endosara en el año 2008. Con solo veinte años y dos filmes a cuestas ya se perfila como una de las actrices más promisorias de su promoción. Y no lo digo yo. Lo dice Roger Ebert, el pontífice de la crítica norteamericana del Chicago Sun. El personaje de Juno es una adolescente ingeniosa, de mentalidad rápida, asertiva, poco convencional, excéntrica, socarrona y con una panza muy grande.

La segunda persona responsable de la calidad de Juno (aunque debería ser la primera) es Diablo Cody (seudónimo de Brook Busey), ex stripper, ex operadora de una línea caliente (1-800-SEX). Gracias a Diablo (vaya nombrecito) tenemos un guión celestial (oscarizado) en el que el humor fluye de manera natural, primero como una teenage movie (película de adolescentes) y termina como una deformada screwball comedy (el futuro padre subrogante se enrola sentimentalmente con Juno).

Otro responsable de la frescura de este relato poco convencional de un tema tan manido es su director. Hijo de Ivan Reitman (director de Cazafantasmas, Un detective en el kínder, Gemelos, Junior y Seis días y siete noches), Jason fue un privilegiado que creció en el mundo de la producción cinematográfica. Siempre estuvo en el set de los filmes de su padre e incluso de niño apareció fugazmente en Cazafantasmas. Después de graduarse en la Universidad de Southern California como director de cine (¿de qué más se va a graduar sino de cineasta?), se lanzó a hacer cortometrajes para finalmente debutar con Thank you for smoking.

Escenas memorables: la forma en que la joven le cuenta a sus padres que va a tener un hijo. El momento en que descubre que está embarazada. Y el giro final tan súbito e imprevisto.

Es lo menos que se puede decir sobre esta pequeña película.

XD es que no puedo dejar de recordar las declaraciones de la sexy Megan, alegando que TODAS las mujeres piensan que es una zorra solo porque es bonita y por el cuerpo de tentacion que tiene, pues para que vean que ella es una actriz seria y dama de sociedad, salieron a la luz las fotos que realizo para el New York Times Magazine, abriendo las piernas como es su costumbre y dejando ver un poco de su vajay yay!! claro Megan, despues de esto NADIE creera que eres una puta… bitch please!

click en las pics para agrandar

]]> http://billsquire.com/2009/11/20/maybe-we-should-be-watching-leno-2/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:17:03 +0000 Bill Squire http://billsquire.com/2009/11/20/maybe-we-should-be-watching-leno-2/

I just saw this on punchlinemagazine.com and Norton really cracked me up.