JENNIFER'S BODY.

Ever since I first saw trailers for this movie, I wondered how this movie couldn't be fun. It just seemed like, at least on some level, there was no way this movie could disappoint. And I'm glad to say I wasn't. Jennifer (Megan Fox) and Needy (Amanda Seyfried) have been BFFs since the sandbox, even though Jennifer is the super hot popular girl who goes after lead singers, while Needy is the dorky girl who gets the drummer--Chip (Johnny Simmons), to be exact, the only one of the bunch who hasn't liked Jennifer from the get-go. And when an up-and-coming band, guy-liner and all, come to their small town, Jennifer tries to sex up the lead singer, Nikolai (Adam Brody). But after a fire burns down the bar where they're playing, the band takes Jennifer away to "safety." But when she returns, something is different about her, guys start dying, and Needy is totally freaked out.

The movie is more like a comedy with horror qualities than straight-up horror. Yes, there's the dark atmosphere, the tense moments, the bloody kills, and the scary music. But in between all that (and sometimes at the same time as all that), there's the comedy and wit that only Diablo Cody could write. She still uses her made up lingo that no teenager would ever say, but it isn't as prevalent nor as indiscernible as it was in Juno. It's thankfully used sparingly this time around, and you can actually see them using some of these terms... at least in a "best friend code" kind of way (Needy and Jennifer are the only two to use them, and moreso Jennifer). Though of course, the humor is dark as night (a sex scene juxtaposed with a murder in a comic fashion, or Adam Brody's complete lack of caring for the exploding bar or people running around on fire).

The story is entertaining, too. There are things that, at first, don't make sense, but when things are explained, you're like "Oh, okay then." And the beginning is a bit too slow. If there was any major negative to the movie, it's that it takes way too long to get rolling. I'm assuming it's to set up the relationship between the characters before the pace picks up, but there were other littler things that they could have trimmed down on--I don't think we needed to hear about 2 full minutes of the band doing their song before the fire started, for instance. You can also easily tell Diablo Cody was inspired by watching The Exorcist at like 3 in the morning, but I don't think that's a bad thing.

I also liked the way the movie showed the bond between Needy and Jennifer. There was nothing ever specific said about this bond they had, but the times when Needy just knew what was happening with her friend or who she was with... which all leads up to a pretty cool and imaginative final battle sequence. I can also say I was pleasantly surprised at the ending. For a mostly predictable movie, the ending was a nice little bit that makes me want some kind of sequel or spin-off (television or otherwise). If she works it right, Diablo Cody could make up her own Buffy-esque universe with her witty humor, unique language, and demon mythology.

But what's a review about a movie with Megan Fox without bringing up the acting? Believe it or not, she did pretty decently in this one. I'd equate it to Paris Hilton's performance in Repo! The Genetic Opera: she's just playing an exaggerated, crazy form of herself. She's supposed to be the hot girl everybody wants... just add the whole "demon that eats flesh to survive" thing, and you've got it down. Amanda Seyfried was pretty good in her role, too, and she handled the voice-over narration nicely (voice-over narration can fail so easily with the wrong person). And Adam Brody was funny with his role. But I want to, of course, give a shout-out to the one actor I didn't list in my summary: J.K. Simmons. He plays what seems to be the only teacher in the school, and he's quirky to boot. But I don't think it's possible to hate a J.K. Simmons role.

Overall, it's a really entertaining movie, one that I wouldn't mind seeing again (and again after that). I do love a good horror/comedy, though it's hard for them to find a good balance. I think this one did. I would have liked to see some actual nudity considering the movie has strong sexual themes (which makes sense with the type of demon it deals with), though we get none from either lead actress (or anybody else). It was all tease. But mostly, I have no real over-arching problems with the film. It was fun, entertaining, funny, and spooky at times. And the first time Demon-Jennifer smiles with the bloody mouth, it's freaking creepy. So if you're a fan of horror/comedies, I do give this one a recommendation.

Royale With Cheese

(P.S. I know, I might get flak for such a high score for this movie, and I might dip in reputation... but hey, I score based on entertainment value and I was entertained, so I'm not apologizing).

BURN AFTER READING.

So I finally got around to seeing this movie, and I now know why they didn’t show really any plot within the trailer. It’s best summarized in the last couple lines of the film, but I won’t write them here, because it’s one of the biggest laughs of the movie. So instead, I’ll try to do my best here. Osborne Cox (John Malkovich) quits his job at the CIA after they start to screw him over and decides to write his memoirs instead, but this doesn’t bode well with his wife, Katie (Tilda Swinton). Katie is an austere hardass who just so happens to be having an affair with the highly paranoid Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney), who is also married and having numerous affairs with other women. Katie starts to file for divorce against Osborne and pressures Harry into doing the same with his wife so they can be together. Enter Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand), a woman with low self-esteem who works at a gym and wants to get four different cosmetic surgeries, but just doesn’t have the money to pay for it. And then a disc that includes copies of Osborne’s memoir notes shows up at the gym, wherein Linda and her friend/co-worker Chad (Brad Pitt), a goofy and rather innocent ‘good Samaritan’, think they could get some kind of reward for returning what looks to be highly confidential information. But things get mixed up and everything begins to spiral down and become chaotic, causing bad things to happen to pretty much everybody.

The movie starts off rather slow. For about the first twenty or so minutes, I would figure, everything seems slightly random and unimportant. I wasn’t sure what to make of the movie, especially when it would use highly over-dramatic music for scenes about practically nothing. But the movie really starts to pick up once Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt are introduced. I would say that they were the highlight of the movie (specifically Brad Pitt). The only character I liked better than Pitt’s was JK Simmons’, but he was only in the movie for two scenes (though those two scenes were basically two of the best/funniest scenes in the movie). And the humor itself was randomly dispersed throughout, so it wasn’t non-stop laughter, but there were a good amount of laugh-out-loud moments.

The two best things about the movie, I would say, were the acting and the camera work. The acting from everybody was top notch, which is expected from such high-caliber actors and actresses. The underdog of the acting scene of the movie, however, was Richard Jenkins, who I don’t believe was even promoted to being in the movie, even though he has a rather big role. His character was rather heartbreaking, really. His and Brad Pitt’s character can really be seen as the two ‘innocents’ of the film (even though Pitt was involved in blackmail schemes, the quality of his character wasn’t even remotely malignant). And as I mentioned, the camera work was great. There were some really fun angles and shots that caught my attention as I was watching. Though this is a Coen Brothers’ movie, so that is expected.

There isn’t much else to discuss about the film. Those are all my positive and negative comments about it. I think the beginning could have been done a bit better, but the second half of the movie is just superb and really funny. There should have been more JK Simmons, though. Similar to my biggest complaint about No Country For Old Men, I would have almost complained about it having some anti-climactic moments (for not showing huge events and just ‘telling’ about it instead, especially at the end), but the only times that happened, it was ‘told’ during a JK Simmons scene, which really redeemed the quality of the effect. Otherwise, that’s all I have for you.

A Keanu 'Whoa'