Jennifer's Body review

In 2007 there were two main female talents that became overnight successes. One was a Megan Fox due to the massive success of 'Transformers' and her being nearly absurdly hot. The second was a former stripper turned Oscar winning writer of a multi-award winning dramedy about teen pregnancy called 'Juno', Diablo Cody. Speed it up two years and we find them together for B-horror comedy in the vein of many 80's horror films involving hot girls, blood and guts.

"Jennifer's Body" is a near perfect double feature sister to Sam Raimi's "Drag Me to Hell" from earlier this year. Both films are filled with horror nods, laughs and know how to clock in around 100 minutes so we never get overwrought with the absurdities. However I say NEAR perfect because "Jennifer's Body" has a flaw. Not something so bad as to make the movie bad, it's actually a solidly fun horror comedy. The flaw is that it's only a solidly fun horror comedy. Throughout almost every frame there is an infinite amount of potential. It has moments that strike me of "An American Werewolf in London" in it's dark humor and horror mixture. It has emo boy's ripped limb from limb and even a stabbing with the murders joyfully singing Rick Springfield. That's funny stuff. But it's not as great as I feel it could be.

Right off the bat this isn't a normal horror or horror comedy, it's a character piece. On the one end is Megan Fox as Jennifer Check and on the other is Amanda Seyfried as her BFF Needy Lesnicky. A good healthy portion of the movie contains their dynamic together before and after things start to get nasty. And it's all interesting. Needy isn't the hapless nerdy girl in school most movies would make her out to be. She has a fairly long term boyfriend, steady friendships and is simply normal. She's not pushed at lunch or made fun of for the purposes of making us feel sorry for her, she's just normal. Jennifer on the hand had been drooled over for years by every guy in school and knows it and likes it. It's part of her world. Within that world however lays the insecurities of the popular hot chick. They must be the best looking girl in the room. They must be able to have any man they want wrapped around their finger. They must be the alpha. And while Needy and Jennifer's friendship is good, there is still some of that within it all. Which is simply how it is in life and Cody knows how to draw out those tiny details and make them part of the grand scheme.

Diablo Cody knows her horror also. I urge people to read some of her interviews where she's talked about horror films and what not. She's got good taste and she writes quite well to boot. Hopefully one day she'll take up the director's chair.... which I feel perhaps she should. This is definitely her story, dialogue and characters created to a tee. She makes you care for the big and small characters while still knowing how to place ones in for scare-humor fun like J.K. Simmons as the one handed teacher. It's cheesy and hilarious for those familiar with the 'Juno'/'Thank You for Smoking'/Jason Reitman clan. I will say some of her quirky, teen dialogue was toned down, but not on a 'I'm trying to appease my critics' level. Beyond that it's also well acted out by everyone big and small.

Fox has needed something to show case more than just her looks and while she definitely gets to do that in spades here , she also delivers Cody's words perfectly. Fox's caviler attitude plays into the character and when certain moments come up her timing and pitch are spot on. Amanda Seyfried from 'Mama Mia!' also knows how to land her pieces. She never plays Needy like the wimpy nerd friend. She takes many different, fairly logical as well as movie logical paths during the rough parts of the film that seem to point to her best friend killing and eating boys. And while a lot of that IS movie logic, it's funny and somewhat plausible to what a real friend might do. In fact seeing her in this makes me really disappointed she couldn't join Zack Snyder's female cast of "Sucker Punch". Seyfried honestly is beginning to strike me as someone who will become a name and a face in the film world, especially if she continues picking diverse roles. Also I can't forget the highly underused Adam Brody as a lead singer and agent of Satan who's fantastically menacing and funny at the same time. I really wish he got more roles like this that show him off this well.

Okay enough pussy-footing around, here's my beef. This could've been a 100 proof awesome horror flick that I would scream to the heavens see it, BUT the movie tends to settle. What I mean is it's never super gory. It never launches into scare mode and it never causes tearful laughter. And constantly this is a possibility in the film. I would've loved to have seen an overly violent feasting for a few frames instead of an aftermath shot and Megan Fox taking a couple of sips of blood. I would have loved to hear Fox and Seyfried have a full blown, uncut conversation in Cody speak. Hell she even seems like the type who might toss in a layer of self parody with it. But these things never happen. Who's to blame? I don't really know. Director Karyn Kusama of 'Girlfight' and the out and out awful 'Aeon Flux' did what I'd say is her best work yet, but it still left a lot to be desired. This is why I think Cody should start (if she hasn't) mulling over the prospect of directing her own scripts. I could easily see this film being amazing under her eye.

But I mean don't get wrong the film is fun and more than earns it's passing grade as far as these types of films go, but it could've been a big deal picture. Every year horror films come out in early fall, staying away from the far over the hill 'Saw' pictures (which I pray every night stop getting made) Halloween release date and I always find one or two that could directly fight 'Saw', but never come out even near the same time which baffles me. After six crappy yet sadly mildly successful films I would think someone could destroy it on it's opening weekend and end this horrid cycle of regurgitated, mindless torture porn. I think in it's current state "Jennifer's Body" could've taken on Jigsaw... or Rip off Jigsaw or whatever the hell he is at this point and faired well, but I know if it were more over the top... it would have fucking killed it. End of story.

"Jennifer's Body" *** out of ****


SIDE NOTE! I'm an idiot. In 2007 there were THREE main female talents that came about. The third was 'Juno' star Ellen Page, however I'll talk more about that in a few weeks when I see her new film "Whip It".

MOVIES THE WORLD HATES, BUT I ENJOY PRESENTS... Robert Rodriguez's THE FACULTY

I've been toying with the idea of this blog section for a while. A nice way to display things I like that the vast populous will more than likely disagree with me on. So I've made this series I like to call "MOVIE'S THE WORLD HATE, BUT I ENJOY PRESENTS...".

I'm making it for two reasons. The first is to talk about some movies people don't discuss much, usually due to their distaste towards them or because they're for the most part forgotten. But are films that... yes I enjoy flaws and all and every film I talk about in this series is an imperfect film to me. The second reason is to show that you can say you like any piece of work so long as you can justify it to yourself and at least put up a good fight to others.

If I met someone that told me that "The Love Guru" was their favorite movie, I would tell them I definitly wasn't a fan of it but if they can gave me somewhat of an understandable reasoning then so be it more power to em', I guess I'll get it. On the flip side this can also validate those who think I really have little to no good taste and this is just a way for me to publicly stick my foot in my mouth. That might happen too so you should continuously read to find out!

Anyways I'm starting off on my current phase of horror films, more specifically B & C grade horror films. Upon it's Christmas release (something I don't understand, then again QT's "Jackie Brown" came out the same day which made even less sense) Rodriguez's ode to the science fiction "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" type pictures, "The Faculty" fell on deaf ears. Also at this time he wasn't known as visionary director Robert Rodriguez, he was simply the dude who made "Desperado" and "From Dusk Till Dawn". Oh how times have dramatically changed. With a screenplay by "Se7en" and "Scream" scribe Kevin Williamson as well it seems as if something just ain't right in the water. Here's two guys with good track lists and a fairly simply type movie so what's wrong?

THE FLAW(S)
Williamson's dialogue in "The Faculty" is somewhat dumbed down. Now I'm saying that in comparison to "Se7en", but that's something understandable. Besides the crowd this is aiming for is the "Scream" loving crowd, but it's a little dumbed down from that as well. At the same time he doesn't make these stereotype teenagers idiots. They are kids who've read books and seen movies and have enough wits about themselves to survive on more than just luck (which they have some of that too).

Another note is that this both is and isn't a Rodriguez film. Just as David Fincher's "Panic Room" is and isn't a Fincher film. Remember the style of old Rodriguez differs from the style of the new. Yes they both aim for lower budget costs and employ several acts of visually trickery of the special effect and in camera type, but back in the 90's he was still working his way up the ladder. So with that there is some sketchy as hell CGI in the movie. Not completely God awful stuff. I'll say it's still better then what was in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine", but for that time it still wasn't quite up to snuff some of the time. A lot of his style then was changing and molding more and more just as it did in "From Dusk Till Dawn" which I love, but is also a very imperfect film. Also this was made for a teen audience. Where as his last horror fair was made for the more... devoted R-rated audience. "The Faculty" was for "Scream" fans and kids who would and could sneak into it's auditorium from whatever they were seeing as a rouse.

The biggest factor in that plan however is this, if that teen crowd doesn't find it in it's first week... they probably aren't going to find it at all. And a Christmas day release isn't going to help you any. It doesn't matter what critics say because if it makes money then it wins no matter what. Years later it's a film on DVD that's remembered more for it's butchering on basic cable rather than for anything else. Critics didn't loving it so it didn't have that to fall back on and the people didn't come. And then it was lost in the shuffle of things.

WHY I LIKE IT
Is there a layer of biases in favor it? A little, but not much. I first saw "The Faculty" when my mother rented it on VHS (remember those?) not too long after it hit video stores. Around this time movies were starting to sink in and I was getting ever more interested in their creation. Horror later became my segway into that world. Speed up to now and I've just re-watched the DVD that I bought of it yesterday and that nostalgia is still there, but there's more. Having learned names and faces I respect things like the casting choices of fairly unknowns mixed with actors and actress' who's status was at the time wavering. Back then Elijah Wood was known for "Flipper" and "The Good Son" for the most part. Now he's the main character of one of the most respected film trilogies of all time. Josh Hartnett was almost a complete nobody and now he's a full blown star. Jordana Brewster has two 'Fast and Furious' films under her belt and Clea Duvall is quite a prominate character actress for film and television.

Couple that with the likes of Salma Hayek, Jon Stewart, Famke Janssen, Robert Patrick and yes the glory that is Ain't it Cool News creator Harry Knowles as teachers. Back then I couldn't have given two fucks, but now I'm like that's the coolest teaching staff ever. Not unlike Rodriguez's awesome "Planet Terror" police force of Kyle Reese, Sex Machine and the original El Mariachi. I love that kind of shit in movies.

And yes I'm a sucker for science fiction. Most stuff at least can hold my interest for it's duration which is more than what I could say for other genre pictures. It's got a strong character push that yes has some dunder headed talking at times, but their actions and some conversations are more intelligent then the average high school horror flick. I love KNB's make up effects of giant parasite shape shifters and skin burrowers. And I love Rodriguez's small odes to "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and "John Carpenter's The Thing" that he seamlessly lays in here.

FINAL CALL
"The Faculty" is what it is. It's a Rodriguez/Williamson teen horror flick. It's soundtrack fits into the many of the other 90's films in this same genre, but I feel it knows what it is and what it's doing. The film never aspires to reach great heights in the cinema stratosphere nor would I ever think it would. The curse of B-movies, especially horror and science fiction horror B-movies is that success may never happen with the majority, but for that minority whom personally seek it out you are something special to.

Gamer review

I think prison films of the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's in the conventional sense of prison have died. Today we have several examples of the future where we as society have traveled back mentally to the days of gladiators and chosen death row inmates to be them. Both version's of 'Death Race' involved this. 'The Condemned' did as well and now we have 'Gamer' from Neveldine/Taylor the creators of the 'Crank' series. 'Gamer' chooses to look at it was an interactive piece to combine an ala gory of society AND youth going down the moral toilet. They ain't wrong, anyone who plays online games can attest to that. However let's face it, this isn't a film too concerned with making a statement as much as it is with delivering booms and bangs as a late summer treat. And it does so quite well.

Personally I find the two film makers fascinating. In interviews they often appear with beers in hand and seem about as down to Earth as one could get in terms of general care for what they do. I mean they care, but they don't like use thinking they care. Because that's not cool. What is cool is the fact that on all three of their directed features they attempt to try something visually new. On 'Gamer' it was the introduction of the RED cameras which was something that would take out certain special effect processing steps. It also has great resolution and generally delivers pretty shots. At the same time these guys come from the world of skating videos so they try to give an up close look at action and edit faster for the most kinetic feel. 'Gamer' does deliver some very impressive action sequences that never go on too long or too short and never seem lifted from other films.

In these sequences Gerard Bulter's character Kable seems right at home. Butler is a gruff looking guy who is perfect for these sort of roles, but never forget he does have acting chops. He didn't start off in action films like '300'. He just fits the bill. 'Dexter' star Michael C. Hall plays the bizarre billionaire Ken Castle who created the real world interactive phenomenon Slayers as well as another which is a real life version of the 'Second Life' called Society. After seeing both I'm still debating which one is scarier. Kable's main motivation for enduring the 28 rounds he must survive to escape the game and prison is to see his wife and daughter again on the outside. Little does he know a group called Humanz led by Ludacris is attempting to help him break free to do this and stop Castle who is bringing the world down piece by piece.

Then again all this you might be able to summarize from the trailer. I hate when that happens. The major flaw in 'Gamer' lays in it's vibe I guess you could say. It's supposed to be serious and it is serious, but it often times lacks that serious punch needed. Granted there's humor, Castle is a very over the top villain and Hall plays it off well, but it's something that Neveldine & Taylor haven't got nailed down yet. Second is the final act which feels like a sweep. Everything cleared up quickly and that's that. It's a pisser because we know it'll happen, but you want just a bit more before hitting those credits.

Something I did remember though is that this is actually only their second film. "Crank 2: High Voltage" was made after this one, but got released before as "Gamer" kept being tossed around the Lionsgate roster. What this means is that a lot of things seems tested. Like in 'Crank' the camera styles change throughout the film, flow ranges from super fast to almost too slow from time to time, but it's still entertaining. This does the same thing sort of. In 'Crank 2' it's like 'Evil Dead 2', everything is done one way, it's fast, has attitude and knows where it's going and how to handle itself. It's still a film experience I love and the DVD is just as fantastic and funny. 'Gamer' is alright, but it's a test film and it feels like it.

As it stands I don't feel I can quite recommend, but I can't say don't give it a matinée watch or a DVD rental. It'll be interesting when Neveldine & Taylor hit the real event movie mainstream. Them directing and writing 'Jonah Hex' almost happened, but instead just their script is being used. For action fans I think they are the next big name to come out of the genre and one of the ones to continuously look out for in the future. They haven't hit their stride just yet, but I feel it's coming.

"Gamer" ** 1/2 out of ****

Best Films of the Summer

Sadly enough I didn't see nearly as many summer flicks as I usually do and I missed a few that I was really excited for like "The Hurt Locker" and "(500) Days of Summer", but at the same time there was a ton of really, really impressive and fun summer films that I did see. Some bigger than others, but equally great. Now instead of doing a list, I've decided to just do as I did with my worst list and discuss the ones I loved the most. Oh... and there's more than three.

I'll begin with the first great summer film I saw and that was "Star Trek". This is real sci-fi adventure. Not action or any other sub genre, this is the real deal. J.J. Abrams proves AGAIN why he is considered one of the most impressive and original talents in Hollywood, by taking something like this franchise and not just giving it a face lift but giving it enough pop for both older and newer audiences. His casting choices were perfect, effects were dramatic and Michael Giacchino's score is PERFECT for this film. Definitely one of the best this year.

Next is Sam Raimi's more than impressive directorial return to horror. "Drag Me to Hell" marked the "Spider-Man" franchise's director's first horror picture since "Army of Darkness" in 1991 and this is about as perfect a Raimi film as it can get. Allison Lohman's main character development is great to see as she goes from sheepish office girl, to curse fighting badass. Also this film is tearfully funny. It's clear that Raimi has NOT lost his touch by any means and it just makes us long for an "Evil Dead 4" or some more of his brand of horror-humor. Definitely one of the best PG-13 horror films I've seen in recent memory.

Michael Mann's "Public Enemies" is probably his strongest film in his digital film making portfolio. Johnny Depp and Marion Colliard's performances are flawless in their realism. The film itself is a mix of crystal clear digital picture and very gritty and intense photography by Dante Spanotti (a Mann alumni from "The Last of the Mohican's", "Heat" and "The Insider") . All wrapped up in a great epic crime drama that's up among the most impressive gangster pictures of the 2000's.

The final few are ones I've talked about extensively since starting the site. The first being Judd Apatow's dramedy "Funny People" that show cased a slew of great performances. Among them Adam Sandler's somewhat self-reflective lead character that shows he can still be funny and can be dramatic and believable. Then there's the sci-fi thriller "District 9" which invokes the spirit of an independent film mixed with James Cameron's "Aliens". And finally the center piece to it all, Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds", a masterwork that's far better than I could've imagined and with far more layers then I expected.

So now we await to see what the fall and winter bring us this year. A lot of really impressive comedies are coming up by a lot of big names. I think the Oscar race this year will be interesting with 10 Best Picture spots open, it's very possible that a film that doesn't come out between November and January could get in for change. And who knows what other surprises lay in wait. Till next time guys.

Worst Films of the Summer

Usually I get to this a lot sooner, but seeing EVERYTHING didn't come quite as easy to me as it has in the past few years. So while I did option out of seeing junk for the sake of seeing junk like "Night at the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian" I did still endure some crap. Partly because of the notion that it could be enjoyable, and then a few that I hoped would be enjoyable... but weren't.
Happily enough there's only three this time around and that IS something I am happy about. So used am I to talking about the shitty shit I watched and spending so little time talking about just the good stuff, and now I can.


So first up is Harold Ramis' almost painfully unfunny "Year One". I can't lie I say that I absolutely hated this film, but I came pretty close. The story followed Jack Black and Michael Cera playing Jack Black and Michael Cera just in mediocre customs and wigs. Then to top it off you had a ton of very shallow attempts at biblical humor as the story transcends from something about cavemen (or rather Roland Emmerich's concept of rasta-cavemen) to this qusi-religious crap heap. I'm not saying the bible can't be used for comedy, but it was done very poorly here. Another sad piece of it is that it's the first Apatow production I can honestly say I did not like. And that's dating all the way back to "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy". I mean I even liked "Drillbit Taylor" which everyone seemed to dislike. But at least "Year One" began mildly clever, it's just a shame it ended with a series of poo, fart and pee jokes that weren't even somewhat smirk inducing.

Next on the downward slope is a very tough pick, but one I will stand by. "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" is a picture I can say I hate. I really hate it. I hate that they took something with potential and good characters and turned it into pure garbage. Even worst I can't blame the film makers, I have to once again blame FOX. FOX stepped in, turned into a soft PG-13, had it run for around 90 minutes and made sure it was edited in an highly kinetic fashion to mask just how bad a story it is. And it is a horrible story. The thing has more holes than a slain gangster's caddy and a slew of awful CGI work that's almost cartoony. Less I try to forget some of the performances and even the really uneventful action sequences. Urgh... I'm just giving myself a headache about this crap now. Time to move on.

Finally the crown jewel of poop. A film that I thought wasn't as bad as "... Wolverine", but due to the disappointment factor, poor action, poor CGI, poor writing, poor direction and poor acting by a very well versed cast, the winner of worst summer film for me is "Terminator Salvation". I am a big fan of the first two films and even a moderate fan of the third. I'm not in love with "The Sarah Conner Chronicles", but it works in its own teenager-y way. However McG's... thing... no. Christian Bale as John Conner, seems like a great idea. Instead he's crunches the scenery constantly and gets to a point where he doesn't even seem to care what's going on. Sam Worthington was built up to be a big deal in this film as well, and while he didn't suck he also wasn't mind blowing. Since the films release he has discussed it and talked about how the script really wasn't that good, but it was a good career move for him. And he's absolutely correct, and I'm glad to see he's aware of these things. The action was incredibly stale and tried far too many times to try and be "Children of Men". Danny Elfman's very un-"Terminator" score was also a huge let down. You know what... I'm done. Harry Knowles said it best, "fuck this movie".

Soon I'll begin work on a Best of the Summer column which will be much happier.

Brian De Palma's BLOW OUT

Lately I've been in a real mood for very stylized film making. I think "Inglourious Basterds" had something to do with it, but then again these feelings come in waves so who can really say. In any case over the weekend I finally sat through all of Brian De Palma's "Body Double" which in a lot ways had elements I liked, but together and done in the fashion it was done I really didn't like it.

However it did have me longing for one of his films I don't own on DVD and that's "Blow Out" with John Travolta and Nancy Allen. So being broke and not having the time to find a proper download for it I watched a few Scorsese pictures, realized that I actually really dug "Gangs of New York" and that I should watch "Cape Fear" more often. But now with my computer set up and a few extra hours I did re-watch the entire film and reaffirmed how great a thriller it is. More specifically it's my kind of thriller.

"Blow Out" follows Jack, a sound designer for low budget horror flicks in Philadelphia. One night he's out on a bridge recording some sounds when he records the sound of a car blowing a tire, hitting a street lamp and plummeting into the lake. He rushes to the lake and manages to save a woman from the back seat. The male driver however was already deceased. Nothing too out of the ordinary right? That would be the case if it weren't for the very bizarre line of questioning from the police, followed by a conversation with a political candidates manager. The other person in the car you see is the senator who was set to run for president. Jack is very good at his job and listens to that tape again and again and again until he is convinced that there was indeed a blow out... one that was caused by a gun shot a few seconds before. The rest of the film deals with Jack searching out the truth, trying to convince people to help and believe him including Sally (Nancy Allen) who he saved from the car.

Sally's place in this story is something out of the ordinary, but it's not my place to discuss that. De Palma is a huge Alfred Hitchcock fan, and in most of his 70's and 80's work that is something that's pretty easy to spot. I've always looked at it as Hitchcockian with flash. A lot of the performances he achieves are mocked after Janet Leigh's work with Hitchcock, while still being very with the times. I love Travolta in the film as he's never quite Jimmy Stewart in "Rear Window" or quite the paranoid theorist running around like a mad man... well at least not till later. For the most part he's just frustrated, but very smart. He keeps a level head and thinks his way around these situations.

It's political, it's big and it's frantic. "Blow Out" builds up strong and finishes stronger like a great thriller should. That De Palma flash is in almost every single frame and the very matter-of-fact conversations never dull in it's crisp format. If you like thrillers and films that have got that sort of old school, new school vibe then rent it, buy it, download, whatever. "Blow Out" is a great flick.

The Boondock Saints return...

Sorry I've been neglecting any film news, but school and setting up my own personal computer has been getting in the way. First off I want to say that this weekend I will HOPEFULLY (fingers double and triple crossed) get to see the new Mike Judge film "Extract" with Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis and Ben Affleck as well as Gerard Butler in "Gamer" from Nevledine/Taylor the team that brought you "Crank" and "Crank: High Voltage". Two films I have a strong taste for due to their ridiculously high level of over the top action, style and 80's action hero characters put into absurd situations for our entertainment. Which leads me to my post. Ten years ago "The Boondock Saints" was released in a small number of theaters and had a short run. However as a DVD it did gangbusters and... somehow became a cult classic. Now writer/director Troy Duffy has returned with most of the original cast for a... sequel.

If you can't tell this isn't making me jump for joy. There's a lot of films and filmmakers out there that took things from Tarantino that they loved and thats cool. When I saw Joe Carnahan's "Smokin' Aces" I called it his version of "Kill Bill" and I loved every second of it. I even enjoyed "Lucky Number Slevin" to an extent. But "The Boondock Saints" remains one of my least favorite films of all time because of just how many rips it pulls. By the end of the film I had compiled a list of films, directors and characters it ripped off. Tarantino (of course), but then the musical styles of Guy Ritchie, the likable anti-heroes of Robert Rodriguez, the likable villians of Michael Mann, the slow-mo of John Woo (without the proper gun play however), the aged hitman of a few Luc Besson pictures, the attempts at "surprise" violence of Scorsese and De Niro directed films and last but not least the Oliver Stone "Natural Born Killers" rip at the end which sent me into a rage.

Yes there is very, very few things I liked about the first film. Having seen the trailer for it's sequel due in theaters the day before Halloween, meaning it'll be this shit and "Saw VI" facing off... I know I won't be that weekend, I can say I'm still not impressed and when and if I see it I hope Duffy does something worth while and at least slightly original this time around.

Here's the trailer...