Episode 52 : Educating Jennifer's Box
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Time to mix things up. Think of this as a rebirth. Or, at least, an attempt at getting podcasts and reviews out a bit more regularly. The first solo outing sees Scott Morris bust out some undiluted truth on Jennifer's Body, Law Abiding Citizen, An Education and The Box. It's only mildly disastrous, so that's a bonus.
Jennifer's Body overcomes a misleading trailer to provide an amusing horror pastiche, after a sacrifice to Satan gone wrong turns Megan Fox into a literally man-eating succubus. With some witty lines that are genuinely amusing and fit the tone of the piece perfectly from Juno writer Diablo Cody and fun performances all round, Jennifer's Body turns out to be substantially better than I'd expected.
Law Abiding Citizen sees Gerard Butler attempt to bring down what he sees as a corrupt, failed system in one of the more preposterous thillers of the year, with Jamie Foxx out to stop him. An entertaining, scenery-chewing turn from Butler makes this film a lot more fun that it has any right to be, although it's not what I'd call 'good' in any traditional sense.
An Education is a coming of age tale, albeit one drenched with a coating of nostalgia for an era I can't really comment on. While it's certainly not the most narratively driven work you'll find in the cinema at the moment, as a character and a period piece there's certainly nothing around at the moment that touches it, and it makes a reasonable case for including itself in the films of the year lists.
The Box sees Richard Kelly attempt his now familiar brand of bamboozlery, but we're not buying this time round. As it turns out, the main problem with The Box doesn't stem from Kelly's now characteristic refusal to explain himself to anyone, it's just that this time round he's made an extraordinarily dull film that's just too boring to even begin to contemplate on a superficial level, let alone anything deeper.
That's enough for now. Drew should be back soon with his take on Avatar and Where The Wild Things Are, and the gang will be reunited soon for their Review of The Year. Until then, take care of yourself, and each other.