My Week In Movies - Dead Bodies

Jennifer's Body (2009)[R] Every once in a while I'll watch a horror (or more often a semi-horror) movie and remember why I don't watch horror movies often. This hell-bent high school horror/"comedy" was written by Diablo Cody, who gave us the wonderfully charming Juno. The comedy aspect of this dud is when Cody uses her trademark high school dialogue in situations that involve satanic sacrifice and demonic possession. It doesn't work. After sitting through an hour of lame fake scares and low grade teen angst drama, the climax of this film just comes off as dopey. Anyone looking for a good scare will be very disappointed and anyone looking for a few laughs will be equally let down.




Extract (2009)[R] Another massive let down from a gifted filmmaker. Mike Judge is responsible for three very funny films: Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, Office Space, and Idiocracy. My hopes were a little high on his fourth movie especially since it didn't do well at the box office - I assumed the general public just didn't "get it". Well, I didn't get it either. Extract stars Jason Bateman as the owner of a flavor extract company who is unhappy in his marriage, so he hires someone to have an affair with his wife so that he won't feel guilty cheating on his wife. Haven't we seen stories similar to this a million times!? There's also a subplot about one of Bateman's employee's suing the company over workman's comp. Just plain not funny! There's supposedly some social commentary/satire hidden in this flick...but I couldn't "extract" it...get it!? See what I did there!?

American Pie Presents The Book of Love (2009) [UR] Believe it or not, this was my first foray into the world of American Pie made-for-DVD sequels. For those of you that lost track, Book of Love is the fourth DVD sequel making it part 7 in the overall franchise! I gotta say this about the movie, it is easily the most well-produced direct-to-DVD movie I have ever seen. The production values across the board are on par with any Hollywood blockbuster. The plot, of course, is minimal at best. Three friends stumble upon a legendary book full of notes on how to hook up with girls at their school. There's an attempt at some heart here...and the characters aren't all just two dimensional idiots. There's also the trademark American Pie gross-out scenes, which aren't quite as gross as I think they'd like to be, but the film doesn't push them in your face as aggressively as other comedies of it's type. This movie also boasts a great collection of cameos which I'd love to give away...but I won't! Overall, an enjoyable modern day teenage sex comedy that makes me wonder if I've missed anything in American Pies 4 - 6.

Up (2009)[PG] I'm happy to say that I didn't cry at the beginning or the end on this second viewing of the Pixar masterpiece. Read my original write-up from 7/5/09.