Results tagged “Megan Fox” from Modern Mythology

Actress Megan Fox, left, and writer Diablo Cody pose at the premiere of Fox Searchlight's "Juno" at the Village Theater in Los Angeles, California in 2007. Fox stars in "Jennifer's Body" -- screenplay by Cody. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

CHRISTY LEMIRE
AP Movie Critic

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- "Jennifer's Body," the second screenplay from Diablo Cody following her Oscar-winning debut smash "Juno," is so chock full of her quirky trademarks, it almost plays like a parody of something she'd write.

The self-consciously clever dialogue, the gratuitous pop-culture references, the made-up phrases intended to convey a specific high school ethos -- they're all there. Even though fembot Megan Fox is an excellent fit to spit out these witty quips, it's all so familiar, it makes you wonder whether Cody has any other weapons in her arsenal.

Part of the allure of the Showtime series Cody created, "The United States of Tara" -- beyond the versatility of its fabulous star, Toni Collette -- is the humor she finds in everyday suburbia, the reality and the absurdity. And that's actually the best part of "Jennifer's Body," too.

Never mind that it's a mash-up of horror flick and teen comedy: When her characters are talking about regular stuff like toxic female friendships, awkward adolescent sex and high-school dances, it's funny in a relatable way. It's when Cody tries too hard to dazzle us that she loses her footing; meanwhile, director Karyn Kusama ("Girlfight," ''Aeon Flux") struggles in her own way to find the right tone amid these two divergent genres.

The result: "Jennifer's Body" is never scary and it's only sporadically amusing.

Fox is a great choice, though, to play Jennifer, the queen bee who longs to flee the small town of Devil's Kettle. Here, the "Transformers" star gets to show what she can do when given the chance to speak, and not just run from angry, shape-shifting trucks in a tight denim miniskirt. Granted, playing a sexy, popular cheerleader probably wasn't a huge stretch for her, but hey -- it works.

One night, after attending a concert by her favorite band that goes disastrously awry, Jennifer seems ... different. This is immediately obvious to her childhood best friend, the nerdy Needy (Amanda Seyfried, rendered vaguely mousy beneath glasses and stringy hair). But eventually the whole town realizes something is wrong when boys' bodies start turning up bloodied and eviscerated.

Jennifer, meanwhile, is more radiant and confident than ever -- and strangely indifferent to the campus-wide catharsis in which everyone else is wallowing, a group-think phenomenon that was parodied so well in "Heathers" and the recent "World's Greatest Dad."

Trouble is, we all know what the deal is. There's no mystery to engage us, no real frights to jolt us, just a waiting game until the rest of the town catches onto Jennifer's homicidal tendencies. The explanation of what's gotten into Jennifer, courtesy of the band's lead singer (Adam Brody in eye liner), provides a good little dig at the posers who populate indie rock.

Seyfried, with her petite frame and big eyes, is a great choice to play an unlikely heroine who finds unexpected inner strength. The interaction Needy has with her shy, sweet boyfriend (Chip Simmons) helps provide the film with some substance. But then the much-hyped make-out session between Needy and Jennifer comes out of nowhere, feels wedged-in and provides no insight on the intensity of high-school girls' relationships, as Cody has said she intended.

Instead, like the rest of the movie, it's just not as hot as it could have been.

"Jennifer's Body," a 20th Century Fox release, runs 100 minutes. Two stars out of four.

On Saturday Megan Fox (Mikaela Banes in the "Transformers" film series) will log onto Xbox LIVE to play "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen The Game."

Fox should be on the scene around 3 p.m. Pacific.  Don't get too excited yet, Xbox fans.  You have to be (don't laugh) an Xbox LIVE Gold Member and those who are not would have to upgrade their accounts.  After all that you have to send a friend request 30 minutes before the gaming begins.

More details on how to do that are available at the Xbox Web site.

Game time, once again, is Saturday Aug. 29 at 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.


Photo By Jason Merritt/Getty Images

Entertainment Weekly did a series of interviews and panels last weekend during the San Diego Comic-Con.  This one with Megan Fox, writer Diablo Cody ("Juno") and director Karyn Kusama ("Girlfight") was particularly candid.

OK, it was Fox who had the most to say -- surprised?

Megan Fox and Josh Brolin from "Jonah Hex" appear at the Warners booth to the delight of crowd of fans. Robert Meeks/Press-Telegram

And here I thought the convention would be less crowded Friday than it's been in the past -- silly me.

I'll sum it up the way Geoffrey's Comic Book Clubbers Marcus and Soyini stated it ealier today while we fought through other Con-goers filling the Convention Center's upper floors:

MARCUS: "You think there's even more people than last year?"

SOYINI: "I don't know -- after a while there's so many I just stop counting."

 

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Friday at the San Diego Comic-Con has become as well-frequented as the Saturdays were three years ago. There's little distinction anymore.  Now I'm concerned Saturday will be even more crowded.

An announcement that cast members were appearing from the comic book-adapted supernatural western "Jonah Hex" caused a big traffic jam around the Warner Bros. booth. Alright, let me set that straight: The announcement that MEGAN FOX would be at the booth caused a small traffic jam not unlike Robert Downey Jr.'s when he appeared for "Iron Man" two years ago.

Security urged people to take their pictures and move on, but they may have well been blowing kisses at a tank to stop it from rolling. That crowd around "The Fox" and Josh Brolin's sudden appearance was a juggernaut.  I stayed on the outer layer of those folks just to stay alive (see video).

 

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BOOM! Studios, the comics publisher with comics writer extraordinaire Mark Waid as its Editor-in-Chief, announced additional publications of licensed properties "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" A Hardcover edition for Sheep encompassing the first four issues.

Also, "Jennifer's Body," "Die Hard: Year One" and "28 Days Later" will be part of the BOOM! family as well. The "28 Days" seems particularly interesting as it focuses on thhe machete-wielding Selena portrayed by Naomie Harris.

The most grateful cheers from the audience came for the BOOM! Kids comic series "The Muppets Show." A title that is gaining quite an appreciative fanbase.

 

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Of all the interesting costumed guests and professionals walking the exhibit hall, it was little old un-costumed me who got grabbed for a pic. "Oy!" I heard and as I turned to respond, a guy in a funny hat wraps his arm over my shoulder, points the camera at both of us, cheeses and takes a photograph. "Cheers!" he said as he hopped back to join his friends.

I slinked away wondering if I'm a funnier picture to put on Flickr than that shirtless Wolverine Guy making the rounds today? Or the stilted monster?  I'm flattered, but I looked at myself carefully in every reflective surface I walked by for at least 30 minutes after.

I have my take on Saturday at the Comic-Con and a bit on the Eisner Awards ("The comic book Oscars") winners later.

 

This is the red band trailer for "Jennifer's Body" starring Megan Fox. It's a humorous horror about a possessed cheerleader (Fox) who kills boys at her high school. The film is written by Diablo Cody and directed by Karyn Kusama ("Girlfight").

The trailer looks a bit more horror than humor -- which is cool with me. You might get the same vibe from the trailer until you catch that Diablo Cody dialogue.

Oh yeah, WARNING: Once again, this is a red band trailer so there's some rough language and a little gore.

So check out the early release of the trailer for "Jennifer's Body."  It's Fox, it's Cody and it's all EVIL.

US film director and executive producer Michael Bay, right, US actress Megan Fox, center, and US actor Shia Labeouf, left, arrive for the German premiere of their movie 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen', in Berlin, Germany, on Sunday, June 14, 2009. (AP Photo/Maya Hitij)

CHRISTY LEMIRE
AP Movie Critic

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A joyless cacophony, an insistent and seemingly endless onslaught, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," director Michael Bay's follow-up to the 2007 smash "Transformers" plays more like a parody of a Bay movie.

You name it, it gets shot up, blown up or otherwise obliterated in a massive fiery ball, from suburban homes and cars to aircraft carriers and even an Egyptian pyramid. Along the way, our sense of sanity and humanity also get destroyed, as we feel as if we are being held captive by these walking, talking, shape-shifting robots -- both the good guys and the bad.

The Autobots and Decepticons aren't the only ones assaulting us in their epic battle: Regular people are just as obnoxious -- probably more so -- with their nonstop yelling and yammering. Everyone is overcaffeinated, everyone screams their lines, perhaps so they can hear each other over the explosions and the thunderous score.

Who knows, and more importantly, who cares? It is impossible to become emotionally invested in the Transformers, cool-looking as they may be when the movie settles down for a rare moment (the work of the venerable Industrial Light & Magic), because it's impossible to tell who's doing what to whom. It's all one messy amalgamation of twisted steel and shattered glass, accompanied by generic crunching and shrieking sounds. The only robots with any discernible personality traits, aside from bravery or antagonism, are the Autobot twins, Mudflap and Skids. These are shockingly crass and unfortunate black stereotypes, jive-talking fools who can't read and bumble their way from one mishap to the next. They are Jar Jar Binks in car form.

After only an hour, it all feels boring and numbingly repetitive, and one glance and the watch tells you you've got another solid hour and a half to go.

What's that, you say? You want to know what the "Transformers" sequel is about? How quaint. Basically, it follows the further adventures of plucky, young Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf, seriously straining his likability), who is yet again stuck in the middle of the eternal fight between the noble Autobots and the evil Decepticons.

The mythology is much more dense than that, though, as we learn from several self-serious, expository speeches delivered by Autobot leader Optimus Prime (voiced as always by Peter Cullen), Decepticon leader Megatron (Hugo Weaving) -- oh yes, he's back -- and the elderly Brit, Jetfire (Mark Ryan). Something about millennia of history and oppression, and capturing the energy of the sun. (Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman returned to write the script, along with Ehren Kruger, inspired by the Hasbro Transformer toys and the animated '80s TV show.)

Megan Fox is also back as Sam's impossibly hot girlfriend, Mikaela, with whom he hopes to maintain a long-distance relationship as he heads off to college. (The first time we see her, it's from behind in a pair a Daisy Duke shorts as she's bent over a motorcycle seat; this, and running across the desert while maintaining perfect lip gloss, are all she's asked to do.) Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson also provide eye candy as commanders of a secret team that works alongside the Autobots to hunt down any remaining Decepticons; this requires them to look hot in camouflage as they squint pensively into the sunset.

Laughs are unusual in this brawny endeavor, but if anyone gets them, it's John Turturro as a former secret agent who gets hauled back into the fray. You'll feel as if you've been dragged in, too.

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," a DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures release, is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action violence, language, some crude and sexual material, and brief drug material. Running time: 150 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.

Megan Fox may not be wowing fans with her recent interview comments or recent (unintentional) snub of a young fan with a flower, but we all need to remember it's us against the Decepticons and she's on our side.

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" opens Wednesday. 

Wolverine avoids the swine flu outbreak

I should say avoid the POSSIBILITY of swine flu.  20th Century Fox decides to skip the Mexico premiere of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine."  People magazine has more.

Barack is the mightiest there is

Rich Johnston over at Lying in the Gutters has some art from Devil's Due Publishing's "Barack the Barbarian." Click stage right to see a larger image.  More info at MTV Splashpage.

Back to Wolverine again

Sci Fi Wire reports on easter eggs in the upcoming X-Men Origins film.  Some people may be like "Robert, stop, I don't wanna know!" But did you think there would be a superhero flick without an easter egg at the end? It's like de rigeur in all the finer comic flicks now.

Megan Fox is our friend

SuperheroHype.com had some pics of Megan Fox on the set of the upcoming "Jonah Hex" film. I honestly wasn't sure when this film was happening, but I guess it's on now. If you want to see more of the images you have to catch them over there.

I believe everyone is a geek about something.

Seriously. Whether it's Hot Wheels, Barbie Dolls, Fantasy Football or the occasional designer accessory, it's gotta be something.

I had a colleague spend twenty minutes trying to apologize to me for referring to me as a geek and I did not think to let him off the hook by telling him "it's cool, we're all in that camp in some form or another."

Megan Fox is a cool geek because she gave the answer I could not articulate. Her geek cred isn't bestowed by her appearance in films involving fantasy or the supernatural like "The Transformers" or the upcoming Diablo Cody film "Jennifer's Body." She gets props because she's a fan of the kind of movies she is in.

In an article in last month's GQ magazine the reporter spent time with Fox at the San Diego Comic-Con and tossed out a wrong-headed dismissal of the fans who packed the convention hall.

Fox seems in her element here: She marvels for nearly ten minutes over comic legend Michael Turner's Batman sketches and, at one point, scolds me for an offhand comment about the nerds being out in full force.

"They're not nerds," she said. "They're just passionate."

You tell him Megan.

If you can get past the image of the actress on the cover in a bikini teasing you, check out the article. But no matter what, proudly remember her response and my suggestion that everyone is a geek about something.

Now I'll have to figure how many comics I have to hock to get that $125 Jonathan Richards hat on page 244.