Amanda Seyfried

Jennifer’s got a smokin’ Body but no soul

  • Title: Jennifer’s Body
  • IMDB: link

jennifers-body-posterHere’s what I learned from Jennifer’s Body.

1) Academy Award nominated screenwriters are just as good at writing mediocre horror flicks as everyone else.

2) People should really stop giving Æon Flux director Karyn Kusama work.

And 3) Asked to do some real acting, and without Michael Bay’s lascivious ogling lens, Megan Fox (who isn’t allowed to straddle motorcycles in cut-offs here) isn’t nearly the same sexy siren her fans drooled over in the Transformers franchise.

The film isn’t awful, but it wastes what little it brings to the table by serving up a lukewarm TV dinner that fails to satisfy. Jennifer’s Body makes several errors on it’s way to Best Buy’s DVD bargain bin, some of which I’ve summarized below.

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Mamma Mia!

  • Title: Mamma Mia!
  • IMDB: link

The British stage show based on Swedish pop music comes to American theaters.  Well, you don’t see that every week.  The long-running international musical has made more than a few quid since its premiere in London in 1999.  Just how successful?  It’s the 17th longest running Broadway show of all-time (beating out little muscials like Sound of Music, The Music Man, and My Fair Lady).  It’s been adapted in eleven different languages and has grosssed and estimated $2 billion worldwide.

On a small Greek island Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is preparing for her wedding to Sky (Dominic Cooper), but something is missing.  Sophie has been raised on the island by her loving mother Donna (Meryl Streep), former lead singer of Donna and the Dynamos who now owns and runs a small villa on the island.  Sophie loves her mother and her life, but she has always been kept in the dark about the identity of her father.

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Veronica Mars Survives Senior Year

  • Title: Veronica Mars – The Complete Second Season
  • tv.com: link

With Nancy Drew opening on Friday I thought it would be a good time to look back at the coolest teen private eye of the new millennium…

“Just when I think I’m out, they pull me back in!”

veronica-mars-dvd-season-2After solving Lily’s (Amanda Seyfried) murder, Veronica (Kristen Bell) tries her hand at a more normal life, but her reputation, skills, the needs of her friends, and a bus she should have been on going over a cliff compel her to return to the P.I. game.

The first season hinged on slowly giving us glimpses at the old Vernoica through Lily’s eyes as Vernoica fought to discover who killed her best friend.  With this case solved there is something missing from the framework of the story, though the fallout from the first season will be dealt with over the course of season two.

My other complaint with the second season is the abscence of Wallace (Percy Diggs III) for a handful of episodes.  What makes the series work are the relationships between the characters, and Veronica without her Watson is a real bummer.  Once Wallace returns, with new baggage for Veronica to help him through, the season picks right back up through the revelations of the final episode.

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