Jennifer's Body
...or a bad title. That could kill a show pretty quick.
I originally thought Jennifer's Body was a pretty lame movie title. Then I realized this week when you say something along the lines of "I wanna see Jennifer's Body tonight" it doesnt sound like you're headed to the movies, or at least thats not your endgame. Just now IMDB trivia told me that the title is prolly a reference to a Courtney Love song. I still think its a fairly lame title, but not as lame as I thought two days ago.
Initial impressions going into the theater. Premise looked kinda lame. I cant stand Megan Fox. Horror movies rarely do it for me. Buuut, Diablo Cody is a rock star with a pen (or more likely a laptop) so off to the theater I went. Was still apprehensive because it is on the opposite end of the spectrum from Juno, but from reading Cody's column in EW I know that she knows her stuff when it comes to movies, horror in particular.
Thoughts after seeing it. Its kind of a strange little movie, in that it doesnt actually fit in with its closest genre. Its billed as a horror, but it doesnt take itself seriously as one. Kinda like how Scream is a horror flick thats a parody of horror flicks, but not nearly as effective. Except for a sequence toward the beginning, I didnt really find it too scary. But as far as that bit, Megan Fox with a blood soaked smile is _seriously_ spooky. But I really dont think they were actually aiming for scared silly.
I did really like the characters, well the main characters who werent Jennifer (Fox). Amanda Seyfried was actually really good as the dorky bff Needy (short for Anita). The movie was ultimately more about her, or at least her character arc was far more intense, and Seyfried handled it really well. I also totally fell in love with her boyfriend Chip, played by Johnny Simmons. I actually spent a fair amount of time playing "where have I seen that cute guy before". The answer for those of you playing as well, Johnny Simmons was in Evan Almighty. And the good-looking goth boy Colin was played by Kyle Gallner who is Bart aka The Flash on Smallville. It also took me a while to recognize Adam Brody playing lead singer of the indie band. Was also pleasantly surprised as always to see JK Simmons. And thankfully it was a somewhat different role for him, which was a rather nice change. And yes, I know Im always hating on Megan Fox. I just dont think that girl can act. Luckily for her, there wasnt much acting invovled for this role, but she did remind me why I dont hang out with girls much.
And of course, excellent dialogue. Not quite up to the legendary constantly quotable status of Juno's dialogue, but it was actually just the right level for this. The Cody-esque dialogue came out a bit forced for Fox, but rolled right off the tongue for our other two leads. And while this movie will not come anywhere near the vicinity of nabbing Cody another Oscar, I still stand behind my previous statement that she is a rock star writer. Speaking of rock, the soundtrack was pretty bangin' too. I've already IMDB-ed the songs and added a few to my download list.
Overall, fun but faintly flawed. I think the near empty theater (there were maybe 5 other people there total) definitely contributed positively to the whole experience. I think this is one of those thats gonna be great to watch while drunk at 2 am.
I originally thought Jennifer's Body was a pretty lame movie title. Then I realized this week when you say something along the lines of "I wanna see Jennifer's Body tonight" it doesnt sound like you're headed to the movies, or at least thats not your endgame. Just now IMDB trivia told me that the title is prolly a reference to a Courtney Love song. I still think its a fairly lame title, but not as lame as I thought two days ago.
Initial impressions going into the theater. Premise looked kinda lame. I cant stand Megan Fox. Horror movies rarely do it for me. Buuut, Diablo Cody is a rock star with a pen (or more likely a laptop) so off to the theater I went. Was still apprehensive because it is on the opposite end of the spectrum from Juno, but from reading Cody's column in EW I know that she knows her stuff when it comes to movies, horror in particular.
Thoughts after seeing it. Its kind of a strange little movie, in that it doesnt actually fit in with its closest genre. Its billed as a horror, but it doesnt take itself seriously as one. Kinda like how Scream is a horror flick thats a parody of horror flicks, but not nearly as effective. Except for a sequence toward the beginning, I didnt really find it too scary. But as far as that bit, Megan Fox with a blood soaked smile is _seriously_ spooky. But I really dont think they were actually aiming for scared silly.
I did really like the characters, well the main characters who werent Jennifer (Fox). Amanda Seyfried was actually really good as the dorky bff Needy (short for Anita). The movie was ultimately more about her, or at least her character arc was far more intense, and Seyfried handled it really well. I also totally fell in love with her boyfriend Chip, played by Johnny Simmons. I actually spent a fair amount of time playing "where have I seen that cute guy before". The answer for those of you playing as well, Johnny Simmons was in Evan Almighty. And the good-looking goth boy Colin was played by Kyle Gallner who is Bart aka The Flash on Smallville. It also took me a while to recognize Adam Brody playing lead singer of the indie band. Was also pleasantly surprised as always to see JK Simmons. And thankfully it was a somewhat different role for him, which was a rather nice change. And yes, I know Im always hating on Megan Fox. I just dont think that girl can act. Luckily for her, there wasnt much acting invovled for this role, but she did remind me why I dont hang out with girls much.
And of course, excellent dialogue. Not quite up to the legendary constantly quotable status of Juno's dialogue, but it was actually just the right level for this. The Cody-esque dialogue came out a bit forced for Fox, but rolled right off the tongue for our other two leads. And while this movie will not come anywhere near the vicinity of nabbing Cody another Oscar, I still stand behind my previous statement that she is a rock star writer. Speaking of rock, the soundtrack was pretty bangin' too. I've already IMDB-ed the songs and added a few to my download list.
Overall, fun but faintly flawed. I think the near empty theater (there were maybe 5 other people there total) definitely contributed positively to the whole experience. I think this is one of those thats gonna be great to watch while drunk at 2 am.