Jenny Loves Movies

Ah, to live in a world where no one can tell a lie! Everyone says exactly what they think without the worry of sparing other people's feelings. There is no flattery, no deception and no fiction.

This is the world that Mark Bellison (Ricky Gervais) lives in. We follow Mark on his date with Anna (Jennifer Garner), a girl he's had a crush on since he was younger. He takes her to a restaurant that is, as he says, not that expensive because he doesn't make that much money. Anna tells him right off the bat she is not very optimistic about the date and that it will not end in sex, much less a kiss because she does not find him attractive. He is chubby and has a snub nose.

Where most guys would be like, "screw this" and leave, Mark stays because he is used to this brutal honesty - it's in people's nature!

So, after a bad date, Mark goes to work the next morning only to get fired from his job writing screenplays. It isn't really that exciting of a job anyway. Without fiction, people can only tell stories about what they know, so all movies and programs are basically about history. Mark is stuck with the 1300's when the Black Plague was going on and his boss fires him because nothing else interesting happened in this century and the plaque is too depressing.

So jobless, girlfriendless, and snub-nosed, Mark goes home to his apartment where his landlord demands $800 in rent. Mark only has $300 dollars to his name. The landlord tells him he must be out in 1 day and to use the money he has left to rent a moving truck. While at the bank, something triggers in Mark's brain and he tells the bank clerk he has $800 in his account. She believes him of course because no one can lie and gives him the money.

Mark is shocked by this new found ability and though he doesn't know where it came from, he continues to tell more lies. This gets him in trouble when, after lying to his dying mother about what wonderful things the afterlife will bring, people at the hospital overhear and wonder how Mark gained all this knowledge.

The world is now in Mark's hands as he uses his ability to lie to become rich and famous and to impress Anna, who he hopes eventually will love him for who he really is.

This movie is very light, funny and heart-warming. What I love about this movie is the dialogue that comes out of people's mouths in their normal everyday life of telling nothing but the truth. The advertisements are funny as well. A commercial advertising Coca Cola has a guy telling people to buy their product because it's famous and everyone knows it although it is basically just brown sugar water. An advertisement on the side of a bus for Pepsi reads: Pepsi, when they don't have Coke.

Jennifer Garner is very cute and sweet in her role as Anna and Ricky Gervais is hilarious and you can't help but love him. Rob Lowe is great as the conceded, snobby co-worker that thinks he's better than Mark, genetically and intelligently.

Look for Edward Norton, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Jason Bateman in hilarious cameos throughout the movie.

This isn't the best comedy in the world, but if you want a movie that's light-hearted and funny, rent this!

Stars *****

It was last summer when I had first heard about the HBO television series True Blood. My brother, who has been an extra in a couple episodes for season 2, told me about it and so did my good friend Jessica. In fact Jessica is a pretty devout fan. She was reading the books that the show was based off of, had watched season 1 when it first came out and had the theme song as her ring tone on her phone.

Being that these are two reliable sources on my decisions of what to watch, my husband and I decided to rent the first couple episodes to see what all the fuss was about. At first, I was like, holy crap this is vampire porn. The show definitely does not lack in nudity and sexual situations. However, there was something addicting about the show, and like blood to a vampire we couldn't get enough of it!

Brad and I were hooked and watched the entire season in a couple days. Yeah, we're dorks!

Each character in True Blood is unique and their storylines keep you wanting more. An insatiable thirst for more episodes. So imagine our disappointment when, HBO-less, the second season had started and we had no way of watching it. BOO!

Luckily I did find a way to watch the season 2 episodes! And I can't wait for season 3. Now, some of you are probably thinking, oh gosh, not another vampire show/movie/book series. But this isn't just any vampire series. The interesting hook in the show is that humans know about vampires. They "came out of the closet" 2 years prior after the Japanese synthesized a liquid that resembles blood so they can live peacefully among the humans and not eat them. But as in reality, the world is not a perfect place and there are some vampires that prefer the real thing.

The show centers around a Louisiana town called Bon Temps where a waitress named Sookie Stackhouse meets the first vampire to grace the town. From there, literally, all hell breaks loose.

The first season is out and from what I have read, the second season should come out in late spring. Season 3 will start this summer on HBO, so you better catch up and trust me, you will like this show!

For other great vampire movies, check out my favorites below!

Interview with a Vampire
The Lost Boys
From Dusk 'til Dawn
Bram Stokers Dracula
Blade
Blade Trinity
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
30 Days of Night

Ah, zombie movies. Gruesome, silly, addicting. Sorry, I love the movie Dawn of the Dead!
However, these movies always seem to have the same formula: someone catches this disease or virus that turns them into a flesh-eating monster and then they bite other people and create more flesh-eating monsters and then everybody is a flesh-eating monster.

Except for a select few who, somehow out of all the other people in the world, remain safe and spend the movie defending themselves and sheltering up in a mall or playground.

Hello Zombieland! Jesse Eisenberg (Adventureland) plays Columbus, a neurotic, socially awkward loner trying to survive the zombie apocalypse. He attributes his ability of staying alive to following 31 specific rules he has made up along the way. A couple include cardio (staying fit so you can out-run zombies), double-tapping (taking time to shoot a zombie twice to make sure they're dead), and beware of bathrooms (when you're the most vulnerable!). We are reminded of the rules many times throughout the movie and I took notes...just in case!

Columbus soon runs into Tallahassee (Woody Harrellson) a bad-ass zombie hater with a soft spot for Twinkies. Instead of using their real names they call each other by the cities they are from or are heading to. So off they go driving to nowhere really, Tallahassee stopping at random grocery stores trying to find himself a Twinkie. At one stop they are conned by a young woman (Emma Stone) and her little sister (Abigail Breslin) who steal their vehicle and guns. They see these two girls later in the movie and they all decide to road trip together, their destination - Pacific Playground, duh! Because that's where you go in a zombie movie, an amusement park or a mall.

But all movie cliches aside, Zombieland is great entertainment! It's not your typical zombie horror-flick. Instead it provides a lighter, slapstick humor take on the genre. Eisenberg and Harrellson have great comedic chemistry. Stone plays her role as a sexy/kick-ass con effortlessly. Breslin is good too, surprisingly, since she usually acts in more dramatic roles.

My favorite part is when the foursome are looking for a place to crash in Hollywood and decide on Bill Murray's mansion and find that he is still alive! They hang out with him, watch Ghostbusters and play with proton packs. Probably the best cameo in movie history!

Watch it!

Stars *****

When Valentine's Day comes around there are many movies to put you in the mood for love! Everyone has their favorites, but here are a couple of mine!

My number one pick is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The first time I watched this movie I didn't like it. Brad, my husband, loved it. So I thought I'd watch it again and after the second viewing I fell in love!

After a man named Joel (Jim Carrey) finds out on Valentine's Day that his girlfriend Clementine (Kate Winslet) has gone through a procedure that erases memories of him out of her mind, he decides to erase his memories of her as well. While his memories are being erased, he realizes he still loves Clementine and doesn't want to forget her. He then tries to hide her away in his other memories so that she won't be completely erased. While this is going on the workers conducting the procedure are dealing with love problems of their own. Jim Carrey never disappoints when he takes on a more serious role (see Truman Show), and Kate Winslet is lovable and fun as the quirky, impulsive Clementine. I love this movie for its originality and realness. I love how we can follow Joel through his sub-conscious in the memories where he and Clementine were once so happy to be together and how though their relationship didn't turn out well in the end, he still cherishes those good times. The title of the film comes from the poem "Eloisa to Abelard" by Alexander Pope, which Kirsten Dunst's character reads to her crush, the doctor who made erasing memories possible.

If this movie doesn't strike your fancy, here are a couple that might fit your style!

Happy Valentine's Day!

When I first saw this movie was coming out, I thought what I always think about sequels, "Oh crap not another one." And then I saw Christian Bale was in it, so of course, I had to see it. I LOVE Christian Bale. But, I cannot go into that right now because this is supposed to be about the movie.

Anyway, I am a huge fan of the James Cameron Terminator series, which includes 1 and 2. The third one I have not seen and really don't think I need to. This fourth Terminator movie was directed by McG who is best known for directing the latest Charlie's Angels movies and producing one of my favorite shows, Supernatural.

In this installment, the dreaded future that the Conners were trying to prevent in the first couple movies is happening. Skynet and the machines have taken over the globe and The Resistance (group of human warriors) is trying to stop them with John Conner as the leader. Conner is trying to find a way to stop the machines while also trying to find Kyle Reese who we found out after the first Terminator movie is Conner's father. Also introduced in this story is a terminator that looks like a human but does not realize he is a machine - he still thinks he's human. He is trying to help Reese find Conner and later finds out interesting information about himself! So everyone is running around trying not to get killed by the machines and looking around for everyone else. Pretty good time!

I thought the movie was fantastic. It keeps you involved, the action sequences and visual effects are great and most of the actors are top notch, especially Sam Worthington as the human-ish terminator and Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese. Christian Bale is always great in my book, but Bryce Dallas Howard seems miscast and is just kind of there in her role as Conner's wife. Anyway, what I liked the most about this film is how it ties in with what happened in the first couple films and how everything comes full circle. However, if you have not seen the first two films, you may be kind of lost as to what is going on, so I recommend renting them first.

Stars *****