Posts Tagged ‘transformers’

Film Review: “Jennifer’s Body”

PrintTo Hollywood’s credit, there’ve been a lot of female-focused thriller/horror films coming out lately. It’s almost as if production studios in La-La Land have suddenly realized there’s a feminine demographic they could cater to/exploit. Unfortunately for the ladies, studios still think that they can just throw anything at audiences and get away with it, which is why so many of the recent “girl power”-type films have been lousy.

The new horror/comedy Jennifer’s Body, written by Diablo Cody (instantly famous for penning the brilliant Juno) and directed by Karyn Kusama (AEon Flux and Girlfight, the latter of which bestowed upon the world the dubious gift of Michelle Rodriguez) is without a doubt the best of the bunch to come along thus far, although given its surprisingly uneven narrative, that’s not saying much.

First off, for those of you who are wondering: yes, Kusama kept in the scene where the two leads Jennifer (Megan Fox) and her oddly named best friend Needy (Amanda Seyfried) share a “controversial” lesbian kiss. It’s in close-up, it’s almost two minutes long, and for those who are attracted to such, it’s a very satisfying scene. Not since Susan Sarandon got it on with Catherine Deneuve in 1983’s The Hunger have two women looked so good together. Sorry to spoil it for you though, Fox and Seyfried only almost end up in bed together. (more…)

Sugar Water: Test Your Knowledge of Hollywood’s Creative Bankruptcy!

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The summer movie season finally begins to wind down this weekend with the release of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds. So what’s next in Hollywood’s blockbuster pipeline? Would you believe a song-and-dance remake of The Bodyguard starring Hugh Jackman and Miley Cyrus? As of July that was the case, but earlier this month a spokesperson for the Wolverine star denied he was involved in the project.

It’s just as well since “Personal Security” sounded like an April Fool’s Day joke in the first place, but these days it can be difficult to tell when Hollywood’s being serious about its various remakes (The Last Dragon, The Secret of NIMH, and even 1985’s Clue, among many others, are currently in development), sequels (a second Bull Durham, a fourth Beverly Hills Cop, a fifth Indiana Jones adventure), and adaptations of everything under the sun. (By the way, I loved that comment you left on the site that one time. In fact, that comment would make a great movie!)

Can you believe everything you read? Well, of course you can, but that doesn’t mean you should. Without consulting any sources, including all your friends who work at Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, take the quiz below and submit your answers to me via e-mail. A winner will be chosen at random and will receive a prize package that includes Hannah Montana: The Movie on Blu-ray, the first season of Peyton Place on DVD, and a free copy of Jack Wagner’s Don’t Give Up Your Day Job, recently reissued on CD by Friday Music. Hey, remember when the General Hospital star made the jump to the big screen in 1984’s Hard to Hold? Or maybe that was somebody else. Oh well, on with the quiz!

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DVD Review: “Transformers Animated: Season Two”

Transformers Animated: Season 2 (Hasbro, 2009)
purchase this DVD (Amazon)

I’ve never really been a big Transformers fan, even back in my childhood. I’ve never understood the cultural fascination with them, or how said fascination has lasted so long. They’re robots who turn into cars…wow. And when that hideous live action abortion by Michael Bay stomped its way into movie theaters back in ‘07, based on its stupefying success, I figured maybe I was the one taking crazy pills. And so it was with some trepidation that I chose to review the Transformers Animated Season 2 DVD, which compiles all the episodes which recently aired on Cartoon Network.

I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised.

Not so much that now I’m going to buy stock in Hasbro, the company which produces the toy line which incestuously pairs itself in a 69 position with this series. But I have to say that for a kids’ show that pretty much does nothing but have giant robots fighting each other and doing a lot of property damage, it’s really a quaint bit of fun.

The absolutely best thing that Hasbro did when they reinvented this series (the origins of these characters and their arc are significantly different from the show which ran from 1984-1987) is that they detached it almost completely from Michael Bay’s film–the only true connection being that the heroic Autobots and their nemeses, the Decepticons, are both searching for fragments of the Allspark, the mysterious power source which gave life to all inhabitants of their distant home world, Cybertron. (more…)