Jennifer's Body (d. Karen Kusama)I missed a good chunk of Jennifer's Body's first reel, so I think it would be dubious of me to assign it a star rating; nevertheless, it would have to be a hell of a redeeming opening for me to consider going higher than *. Why is Karen Kusama directing a movie this high-profile after the hard flop of Aeon Flux when Joe Dante's reduced to "Goosebumps"-style kiddie fare after the comparatively-revered Looney Tunes: Back in Action? Kusama again shows a special talent for blurring that fine line between camp and ineptitude (see: step-printed flashbacks to little girls playing with Barbies), and Megan Fox, the sex object from the Uncanny Valley, delivers some lines so sluggishly I felt bad for keeping her up. (Attention tit fiends: the paparazzi captured more skin with their zoom lenses on the set of this film than actually made it onto the screen.) I hope Walter or Ian tackles it in general release--it could really use the new asshole--but in the meantime I recommend Glenn Kenny's take for his articulation of the Diablo Cody Problem. ????/4
My Toxic Baby (d. Min Sook Lee)This one's a documentary, only 45 minutes long, and scheduled to air on Canadian TV in the coming weeks. It's nightmarish, but not for the same reason it intends. Director and narrator Min Sook Lee is a new mother growing increasingly paranoid about the invisible threats to her daughter; in the film's best sequence, she invites a toy tester into her home to check for lead and soon has him scanning her whole kitchen for traces of the stuff. (Cut to: hubby tearing out the cupboards.) The punchline is that a tox screen reveals her daughter is practically antiseptic, though Lee's closing voiceover suggests she won't be satisfied until the kid's fitted for a Hazmat suit. Setting out to enlighten and inform her fellow parents, Lee instead captured the onset of OCD from the eye of the storm. Also: Pox Parties? Ick. ***/4
6 comments:
I'm disappointed Jennifer's Body appears to be terrible. The trailer looked like good fun (with Fox just asked to play a monstrous exaggeration of her own screen person), and the premise looked entertaining with scope for subtext. I wasn't a fan of Juno, but I'd hoped Diablo Cody's style would click with a zany horror. Looking forward to an expanded review down the line.
Did you by any chance see Un Prophete? Caught a screening last night and was blown away.
@Anon: Sadly, no, but now I'm going to keep a special eye out for it.
Sorry for the off-topic comment, but just wanted to say how saddened I was to hear about The Swayze finally losing his bout with pancreatic cancer.
Pity that the last 2 roles I saw him in had the almighty Bodhi play world class sleazeballs (Donnie Darko, Keeping Mum).
The chicks can keep Ghost and Dirty Dancing. I'll always have Road House and Point Break.
RIP Dalton.
I haven't seen this Jennifer's body yet, but it looks nice :)And I guess I didn't realize that Aeon Flux was that big a flop - I personally enjoyed it premature ejaculation cure
She is so beautiful - I thought this would actually be good.
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