Finally saw Juno
...and I have to say, I think it deserves the hype.
I read screenwriter Diablo Cody's book last year, and hoped Juno would be as funny, touching and cool. Done, done and done.
Cody and actress Ellen Page both richly deserve their Golden Globe nominations. I loved that quiet, almost zen-like hilarity Michael Cera brought to Arrested Development and it's back (along with Jason Bateman's on-the-edge placidity) in Juno. Also, The West Wing's Allison Janney and J. K. Simmons (a sociopathic white supremicist on Oz and J. Jonah Jameson in the Spider-Man films)?
Sold.
Also, I have almost the entire soundtrack stuck in my head. Sonic Youth, The Kinks, The Moldy Peaches, Belle & Sebastian, The Velvet Underground and Cat Power. Yeah -- I'm going to actually go out and buy this one.
Comments (2)
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The movie would rank #1 among Greensboro film critics in 2007 (Mike Compton voted it #1, and Glen Baity and I gave it number 2), but there are some people out there who strangely hate this film a lot.
Some have called it 'snarky,' but I mean it's about a modern teenage girl. What is the main character supposed to be like? Laura Ingalls Wilder? However, the most telling criticism is when someone accuses Ellen Page's character of being 'too intelligent/witty for her age/gender.' What a horribly pig-headed thing for anyone to say.
And you're right about the soundtrack. Mike and I plan on playing four songs from the movie this Thursday as part of our 'Juno Spectacular.' Easily the best compilation of licensed movie music since Wes Anderson's Rushmore.
Posted on January 7, 2008 8:46 AM
Of course the movie was a little surreal - mostly for the sake of humor. But so are John Hughes movies, and they too are somehow more real than movies that try to treat teenagers more "realistically."
I knew girls like Juno in high school. But I knew very few people like any of the characters in our culture's favorite high school movies.
Posted on January 7, 2008 11:24 AM