Monday, July 06, 2009

Pieces of Jennifer's Body

I think the NY Post is rather insane to suggest that Jennifer's Body is going to be the next Heathers. I suspect, though I'm always willing to be wrong, that the edge will feel a little processed. Here's the red band trailer if you're dying to see Megan Fox cuss and devour young boys.



People always forget that Heathers wasn't really riffing on or leapfrogging off of other movies (2007's Teeth beat Jennifer's Body to this satiric punch, I'm guessing). It was just this wonderfully twisted new thing -- it debuted shortly after the John Hughes craze but it didn't feel like a product of, evolutionary step from or satire of. And people also forget that Heathers was largely unanticipated before its release and then thoroughly ignored for awhile. It barely made a million dollars in its theatrical release though I'm proud to report that I contributed my $6 or $7 at that time (or whatever it was they were charging. Today I paid $12.50 to see a movie I didn't really want to see. The cinema is doomed).

My point is this: movies that are trying to be cult movies never feel quite right. Cult movies have to earn it. Showgirls and The Big Lebowski weren't trying to be cult movies. They were just trying to be Showgirls and The Big Lebowski, you know?

But then again this film could be fun. Amanda Seyfried is always a pleasure to look upon. And, at the very least, it's sort of cute (I know they're probably hoping for subversive but I choose my own adjectives) to have Megan Fox turn on the very boys onscreen that she turns on offscreen, if you know what I mean. Plus every couple of years someone has to try and add a new classic "mean girl" to the huge gallery of high school bitches the cinema has offered up over the years, some portrayed more sympathetically than others of course.


One final note. I always assumed this film's title was based on the great Hole tune "Jennifer's Body" but on the soundtrack credit that ends the trailer there's no Hole or Courtney Love mentioned. What gives?

24 comments:

Unknown said...

I don't know that movies can't try to be cult movies.

I feel better knowing Rocky Horror, Pee Wee's Big Adventure, and This is Spinal Tap were trying to be cult movies.

Mike said...

I read the script, the gist of what was on the page seems to be in the Trailer. To me it seemed like she was trying to cross Heathers with Ginger Snaps....it should be an entertaining movie, I think it is harder to pull off intentional camp than some people might think.

Wayne B said...

Do I smell a Top 10 High School Mean Girls list coming?

Anonymous said...

I'd feel better if I didn't have a dislike of Megan Fox. And am totally with you. Cult movies can't try to be just that, look at last year's Repo: The Genetic Opera for a prime example.

What's interesting to me here is the director, Karyn Kusama. She did Girlfight (Yay) and Aeon Flux (Oh no!).

rosengje said...

I think paying $12.50 to see Cheri at the Angelika impacted my enjoyment of the movie. In other news: yay! You liked The Hurt Locker!

Joe Shetina said...

I'm not exactly on the Diablo Cody bandwagon. I enjoyed Juno but it wasn't in my top ten or anything.

I do enjoy United States of Tara though.

Still have to see Heathers. I've heard very good things.

Rufus!Rufus!Rufus! said...

Megan Fox is SOOOOOOOOO not hot!

Completely off-topic: the Oscar Youtube channel just uploaded Julie Christie's Oscar win. She has got to be the most beautiful and charming woman that ever lived. Who's with me?

TheMedwenitsch said...

Haha, the trailer really made me wanna see this movie now!
looks kind of like... classic-trash-bitch-horror-high-school-genre...
yeah!

Notas Sobre Creación Cultural e Imaginarios Sociales said...

Wouldn't it have been more effective to have Amanda play the demon harboring/boy murdering girl?
We ALL know Megan Fox does that in her free time. Can't be much of a stretch for her.

Rich Aunt Pennybags said...

To me it seemed like she was trying to cross Heathers with Ginger Snaps....

I was thinking almost the same thing except I was going for Diablo Cody crossing Heathers with Species. Ginger Snaps works too. The Faculty would work too because its another one of those beautiful girl seduces man but really turns out to be the enemy movies, was set in high school, and the du jour screenwriter of the time wrote it.

Ryan Ray said...

I'm fairly certain the title is lifted from that song, but it's strange it wouldn't be played in the movie

Juno101 said...

I want to see this movie so bad, this is going to be the shizz. I loved Juno and I love diablo Cody's style. I'm excited. The plot seems dumb but I'm sure I'll enjoy it a lot.

Glenn Dunks said...

Marsha Mason, I'd hazard a guess and say those movies were definitely made with the intention of becoming hits and making their producers money. "Rocky Horror" only became successful once it hit the midnight movie circuit because it flopped elsewhere.

I've said this for a long time. If you're trying to be cult then you're generally a bit shit. Repo! The Genetic Opera had words like "instant cult hit!" written all over it, but that means that they were deliberately trying to make a bad movie and that's just stupid.

Anonymous said...

wow. i really wanna see this? I hope that is not a bad thing :P. Amanda Seyfried looks RELALY good and the screenplay souns great. I expect this WILL be a cult film

Catherine said...

I think I would be really interested in this film, if anyone but Megan Fox played the lead. Love the high-school trope, love Ginger Snaps, love Amanda Seyfried's dorky glasses (and her in general, really), love the use of The Waitress's song. Don't love Foxy, though.

We'll see.

Andrew David said...

Ahaha I love your rows of movie mean girls.

"Billy... Billy... Billy... I hate Carrie White"

karaokequeen said...

Love the collection of mean girls, too, but who's the actress and what's the movie that's third (from the left) in the top row?

Same question for first girl in the second row. It's Parker Posey, right? But what's the movie - is it "Dazed and Confused"?

Nick M. said...

Putting the actual quality of the Jawbreaker aside, Rose McGowen should be included in that photo collage of high school bitch-queens.

NATHANIEL R said...

top row:
Chris from Carrie, Heather Duke from Heathers, Rizzo from Grease, Regina George from Mean Girls

bottom row:
Darla from Dazed and Confused, Hilary from Saved!, Amber from Hairspray, and whatshername from Jennifer's Body

jan said...

Has anyone seen the pics of Megan Fox SAT NEXT TO Cate Blanchett at an Armani Fashion show, that would just be as bad as Lindsay Lohan in a film with Meryl Streep...wait, that already happened.

Ryan said...

Who's the first lady in the photo montage? I know the other 7.

I don't really have a strong opinion on Megan Fox one way or the other, but that was a great trailer to "Jennifer's Body." Very 90's-ish. I look forward to seeing it.

Anonymous said...

Wait a minute, why are you putting Big Lebowski and Showgirls in the same bag? Because one is clearly cult because is bad, the other cult because it's good.

NATHANIEL R said...

i actually think Showgirls is good if you read it as a satire of garish American ideals and dreams.

Anonymous said...

Um the star of the film is Amanda Seyfried. It should be obvious to anyone who's read the synopsis.