FOT Forum
The Best Show on WFMU => Dear Tom => Topic started by: Matt on December 19, 2007, 04:46:59 PM
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I couldn't find a direct link to the article, so I'll cut-and-paste it here:
By now, there have been enough comedies about pregnant teens that it could almost become a subgenre in itself. While "Juno" is not exactly novel in its subject matter—it holds a similar acerbic wit to two previous movies of its ilk, 1998's "The Opposite of Sex" and 2004's "Saved!"—it plays its familiar cards just right. Sweet without being mushy, very funny without needless over-the-top histrionics, and smart enough in its story turns and characterizations to put to shame most dumbed-down Hollywood filmmaking, "Juno" is 92 minutes of unforced, undemanding bliss.
Ellen Page (2006's "Hard Candy"), racking up quite an exemplary résumé for herself, is perfectly cast as 16-year-old Juno MacGuff, a self-deprecating know-it-all who finds that there's a lot she doesn't know when she gets pregnant. Well aware that she and the would-be father, classmate and best friend Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera), are ill-equipped to even consider raising a child, Juno comes clean to patient father Mac (J.K. Simmons) and dog-loving stepmother Bren (Allison Janney) and then promptly announces that she wants to give the baby up for adoption. The prospective parents she chooses are Vanessa (Jennifer Garner) and Mark Loring (Jason Bateman), a well-off married couple who, at least in Vanessa's case, are delighted yet learned enough in adoption matters to not get their hopes up. As Juno's first trimester becomes her second, and then her third, she faces some tough decisions when she learns that Mark isn't as gung-ho about be a father or a husband as he initially let on.
Nicely directed by Jason Reitman (2006's "Thank You for Smoking"), "Juno" is light on plot but plentiful in moments of keen human observation. The screenplay by former stripper Diablo Cody is impressive for a first-time writer, and is destined to make her a hot commodity. The characters she has created are not types, but clearly defined and fleshed-out individuals, and the dialogue she has written for them pops with electricity and bite. Cody sprinkles in a fair share of pop-culture references, but they derive naturally rather than as a ploy for being hip, and there are some clever barbs directed at, of all people, Diana Ross and Soupy Sales. A few side details threaten to become overly precious, such as Juno's hamburger phone and preference toward blue raspberry Slushies, but they hold no bearing on the film's all-important heart.
There are times when the viewer can sense manipulative story developments are only a stone's throw from revealing themselves, but these predictable and condescending episodes refreshingly never take place as expected. The film is too intelligent for that, and so, when Juno starts hanging out with Mark while Vanessa is out of the house, trading music and watching Herschell Gordon's "The Wizard of Gore," what one thinks is going to happen goes in a different and altogether more organic direction. The tone of "Juno" is light and playful, but not above the reality of its situations. When it ventures into darker contemplative areas, the drama within these characters' lives and circumstances rings as true as the underlying humor does. It helps that writer Diablo Cody obviously loves her characters as much as the audience grows to. Kudos, too, for penning a teenage girl who shares a solid relationship with her parental figures, rather than a pent-up and angry one.
Ellen Page is a one-of-a-kind young actress who, like many of the roles she portrays, seems to be wise beyond her years. She is not a model or a stick figure or a blonde bimbo, but an earthy, somewhat quirky, beauty whose presence onscreen is invaluable. Sarcastic without being bratty, honest without being snooty, worldly but not without a speck of naiveté, Page turns Juno into a lovely, rough-around-the-edges original. As Paulie Bleeker, Michael Cera portrays what feels like an extension of the character he recently played to much acclaim in "Superbad." Cera's awkward adorability is just that, and it will be interesting to see the trajectory of his acting career as he branches out into different kinds of parts. Supporting performances are strong across the board, from Jennifer Garner's (2007's "The Kingdom") vulnerable Vanessa, so impassioned about finally becoming a mother, to Jason Bateman's (2007's "The Ex") stunted Mark, clinging to a probably fruitless dream of emulating the rockers he has grown up to adore, to J.K. Simmons (2007's "Spider-Man III") and Allison Janney (2007's "Hairspray"), warm and relatable as Juno's dad and stepmom.
Scored to a compilation of deliciously peculiar but catchily melodic songs by Kimya Dawson and Matt Messina—they are as close as the film gets to a Greek chorus—"Juno" is a comfortable, likable, down-home slice-of-life. The love story that evolves between Juno and Paulie could have afforded a few more scenes to display exactly what it is each of them see in the other, but then again, both characters are innately good kids impossible not to be endeared by. As the simple story of a young woman coming of age in ways that she never could have envisioned for herself, "Juno" is authentic and, oh, so winning.
Three out of four stars!
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Finally, someone has the guts to stick it to Soupy Sales.
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Phantom Hugger, you stole a variation on my zing!
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Another "Can we stop?" is people using the word "delicious" to describe anything other than food. It kinda gives me the creeps.
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Diablo Cody... currently in POLE position among screenwriters.
(you see, like the stripper pole.)
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Another "Can we stop?" is people using the word "delicious" to describe anything other than food. It kinda gives me the creeps.
THANK YOU
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Another "Can we stop?" is people using the word "delicious" to describe anything other than food. It kinda gives me the creeps.
THANK YOU
I agree, but I must admit that this film looks appetizing.
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"Juno looks like a snack, but turns out to be a full meal!"
-- Jonathan Rosenbaum
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They better give Herschell Gordon Lewis his money! I once met him and his lovely ex-wife, now-friend Yvonne. They're adorable.
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In further Juno news, the soundtrack to the film is the #1 album on iTunes.
Who knew the people were so hungry for Mott the Hoople and Belle & Sebastian?
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I feel sick after reading that movie boy review. really, sick.
I saw No Country three times, and each time, the Juno trailer was there. Yuck. I was happy when Tom bitched about it. I get so mad when I read movie reviews. Really, really mad. Same with record reviews. Especially when reviewers write "sophomore offering" rather than "second record" or "second cd". I think, "who do they think they're fooling!"... I may even agree with them as far as liking what they like (NOT movie boy, though) but their pretentious writing style always infuriates me. I don't have a job as a reviewer in a magazine or newspaper, so I always try to think, "well, I think I could do their job, but if I had to review movies each week, what would I do..."... But for chrissakes. Do they HAVE to have a positive, snarky spin on every movie that comes out? And are puns necessary all the time in the title? (I'm a fan of puns by the way)... I mean Juno is so clearly terrible, to anyone with a brain powerful enough to work a fork lift (my job) let alone someone writing a movie review... or are journalism students trained to write exaggerated, witty interpretations of pop culture nonsense like Juno in college/university journalism/writing classes? Fail them, Jasongrote, ...nah just give them a low C (splash of cold water on the face) so they might shape up a bit before going off feeling so all powerful when getting a job at a weekly newspaper in the midwest, snickering to themselves when proofreading their childish banter.
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I saw it yesterday - I enjoyed it, but the dialogue made me want to drink bleach.
Honest to blog.
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I saw it yesterday - I enjoyed it, but the dialogue made me want to drink bleach.
Honest to blog.
Shut yer gob, samir!
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or are journalism students trained to write exaggerated, witty interpretations of pop culture nonsense like Juno in college/university journalism/writing classes? Fail them, Jasongrote, ...
I would blame their writing for school papers (plus years worth of uncritically and enthusiastically reading shitty magazines), but really there's a deep media-criticism can of worms here that would take me months to explicate and would probably bore the crap out of us all. But on occasion I will have a journalism student in my composition class and it's a headache for us both. The student typically thinks their work is excellent, and I have a hell of a time trying to get them to actually make their ideas more rather than less complicated. I try to reeducate rather than just fail them, but I'll be the first to admit that the skills I emphasize won't go far towards getting them jobs in the media, unless they want to do long-form journalism for Harper's or Vanity Fair or something, which does not describe most 19-year-olds.
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Do a lot of them want to be anchormen? My father had a lot of students with that ambition--and he retired twenty years ago.
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i saw this turd despite tom's warnings. never again will i second guess the great mr. scharpling.
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i don't know. there were things i didn't like about it, but i still appreciate it as a lighthearted cute film.
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Do a lot of them want to be anchormen? My father had a lot of students with that ambition--and he retired twenty years ago.
I would imagine that, if not for the Will Ferrell movie, most of my students would probably think "anchorman" was a nautical term. Actually, we should pitch this thread as the next whoever-is-the-big-SNL-star-of-the-moment movie - a weirdo 19-year-old who wants to be a TV anchorperson.
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I used "anchormen" advisedly: the students with that ambition were exclusively male (I don't know from what equivalent delusion the girls suffered). They couldn't read, write, or speak clearly, but they were convinced their dreams would come true. Because they wanted them to.
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Well, that certainly hasn't changed, this being America and all.
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I used "anchormen" advisedly: the students with that ambition were exclusively male (I don't know from what equivalent delusion the girls suffered). They couldn't read, write, or speak clearly, but they were convinced their dreams would come true. Because they wanted them to.
"I don't know how to put this but I'm kind of a big deal."
-- Ron Burgundy
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Real (http://themovieboy.com/)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2150/2170636085_745eb1d63d.jpg?v=0)
Daniel Radcliffe has no business being mentioned alongside such legends as Daniel Day Lewis and Denzel Whitaker.
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Real (http://themovieboy.com/)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2150/2170636085_745eb1d63d.jpg?v=0)
Daniel Radcliffe has no business being mentioned alongside such legends as Daniel Day Lewis and Denzel Whitaker.
Did you see his Top 10 of 2007? Bridge to Terabithia takes the top spot, trouncing other worthy entries Mr. Brooks (#10), The Invisible (#8) and Enchanted (#7).
I'll let others discover the joy of the Movie Boy's Top 10 of 2007 write-ups for themselves, but allow me to relate one choice quote: "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a literal title that doesn't leave much room for interpretation, and that is why it was perfectly named." Huh?
Well, okay - one more: "A fascinating and thoroughly unsettling psychological exploration into the mind of a serial killer, Mr. Brooks could well be the smartest, most astute thriller of its kind in several years, ranking up there alongside 2003's Monster and 1999's The Talented Mr. Ripley." Ew, boy. Did he see the same Mr. Brooks that I saw? For that matter, did he see the same Monster that I saw?
And, because I'm a weak man, here's another - a strong contender for the Most Boring And Redundant Sentence Ever Written In The Name Of Film Criticism award: "No Country for Old Men was a brilliant potboiler, but what lingered long after was its searing exploration into the vulnerability of man."
Oh, Movie Boy, will you ever win?
(http://msbands.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/ist2_108434_answer_is_no.jpg)
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Also - and this is just a pet peeve of mine - I hate it when film reviewers, when presenting their Top 10 lists of the year, include an "Honorable Mention" category that lists pretty much every other film released in that year. Needless to say, the Movie Boy is guilty of this charge.
What, you couldn't whittle it down to less than 25 movies? What is this, Mardi Gras?
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Yeah, what about that list of actors? He could've saved himself some time by doing this:
Best Actors
EVERYBODY
And Holy Moly, Denzel Whitaker...
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The Movie Boy and I agree on the year's worst film. I'm ashamed.
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Yeah, what about that list of actors? He could've saved himself some time by doing this:
Best Actors
EVERYBODY
And Holy Moly, Denzel Whitaker...
The Movie Boy sounds like he's from Newbridge
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Well, these guys liked it:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZPF7DdVrwI[/youtube]
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I watched Juno tonight against Tom's admonitions, and I'm glad I did. I tend to agree with Tom about most movies (yeah, I realize I'm obligated to do whatever he tells me to -- go ahead, excommunicate me, whatever) but didn't this time. It greatly exceeded my (admittedly reduced) expectations. So sue me.
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I watched Juno tonight against Tom's admonitions, and I'm glad I did. I tend to agree with Tom about most movies (yeah, I realize I'm obligated to do whatever he tells me to -- go ahead, excommunicate me, whatever) but didn't this time. It greatly exceeded my (admittedly reduced) expectations. So sue me.
You're officially kicked out of the Tombies.
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You mean the Tumbies?
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Swag to die for:
(http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/1051/junohamburgertop33ef0f3cf9.th.jpg) (http://img341.imageshack.us/my.php?image=junohamburgertop33ef0f3cf9.jpg)
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I get so mad when I read movie reviews. Really, really mad. Same with record reviews. Especially when reviewers write "sophomore offering" rather than "second record" or "second cd". I think, "who do they think they're fooling!"... I may even agree with them as far as liking what they like (NOT movie boy, though) but their pretentious writing style always infuriates me.
Speaking of which, here's a nice dose of nausea for you:
"The sky's always yellow around Gang Gang Dance--even when their vaguely mystical music veers dangerously close to hippie drum-circle nonsense, violence is brewing close at hand. The New York quartet's latest album, last year's Hillulah (Social Registry), could be the sound track to a momentous and dreadful trek, maybe to meet a holy recluse or get crucified. Liz Bougatsos processes her wounded, wondering vocals with distortion, turning them into a sort of exhausted, delirious sickbed wail. And the songs always seem to be taking a turn for the worse: plastic-bucket busker's drums accelerate into a bass-heavy flutter like a muffled death-metal blastbeat, or lonely sonar pings dilate into possessed warning sirens. Eventually all the little snatches of instrumental strangeness get funneled into a tornado of noise, with bits of keyboards or drums spilling out of it and smashing to the earth--and then out of nowhere the whole thing clicks over into a disco track. Of course, Hillulah is edited down from a heap of live material recorded in 2003 and 2004, so it doesn't give much clue as to what Gang Gang Dance will sound like here and now--they're consistently weird, though, so there's basically no risk you'll be bored. The band might also be selling advance copies of their artsy DVD, Retina Riddim, which is due early next year."
-Liz Armstrong of the Chicago Reader
I really don't think it gets any more pretentious than that.
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Uh-oh. (http://www.nerve.com/CS/blogs/screengrab/archive/2008/02/07/screengrab-speculation-who-is-diablo-cody-really.aspx)
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Juno game in talks for Wii. (http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/07/dice-08-quirky-indie-hit-juno-to-birth-a-game/)
::gags::
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From that link:
During a panel at the D.I.C.E. Summit in Las Vegas, "intellectual-property migration specialist" (they have those?) Keith Boesky said, "People are making a game based on Juno just to cater to the [casual] market." While he didn't specify anything at all about the game, another panelist was Minho Kim – director of operations at free-to-play, microtransaction-driven game pub Nexon America – leading GameSpot to wonder aloud "if it would follow Nexon's free-to-play business model." Just brainstorming here, but the property seems ripe for microtransactions ... just look at all those layers. Jeans and a skirt? Cha-ching!
... :'(
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Juno game in talks for Wii. (http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/07/dice-08-quirky-indie-hit-juno-to-birth-a-game/)
::gags::
Finally, a video game with dialogue more convoluted and ridiculous than Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (http://zanyvgquotes.com/castlevaniasotn/index.html)!
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Finally, a video game with dialogue more convoluted and ridiculous than Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (http://zanyvgquotes.com/castlevaniasotn/index.html)!
Woah woah hey..
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Finally a show I would watch! (http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TVGuide-Editors-Blog/Ausiello-Report/7th-Heaven-Creator/800032694)
"Fifteen-year-old Amy Nicholson, pregnant after having one uncomfortable sexual encounter with the school's Don Juan, Ricky, tries to figure out a way to deal with her dilemma, as all around her peers face the reality of their own sexual (or non-sexual) choices. Unable to face her loving but "nice" middle class parents, Amy confides in her best friends, Lauren and Madison, who are supportive but not too helpful, and struggles to deal with her feelings for Ricky at the same time she's being wooed by the sweet and possibly smitten Ben."
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I went to see this movie last weekend after getting really baked. It wasn't that bad until I started to regain my senses and realized that I just wasted a night
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I get so mad when I read movie reviews. Really, really mad. Same with record reviews. Especially when reviewers write "sophomore offering" rather than "second record" or "second cd". I think, "who do they think they're fooling!"... I may even agree with them as far as liking what they like (NOT movie boy, though) but their pretentious writing style always infuriates me.
Speaking of which, here's a nice dose of nausea for you:
"The sky's always yellow around Gang Gang Dance--even when their vaguely mystical music veers dangerously close to hippie drum-circle nonsense, violence is brewing close at hand. T
-Liz Armstrong of the Chicago Reader
Hey! What's wrong with hippie drum circles? That lady needs to loosen up.
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Uh-oh. (http://www.nerve.com/CS/blogs/screengrab/archive/2008/02/07/screengrab-speculation-who-is-diablo-cody-really.aspx)
oh, this article is most delicious. It's like the writer is channeling Tom. "Both former strippers", hahaha.
I saw this movie at a late night screening filled with an audience around Juno's age or a little older. There were lots of laughs but no one seemed to get the Soupy Sales, Sonic Youth, or Diana Ross references. I guess The Melvins are the big cred reference. I doubt anyone in the audience knew who they were either.
thought the writing and acting were great, but there wasn't much to listen to, or look at, so I'm not sure why it would be nominated for best picture.
I was going to wait to rent Juno but I've actually seen two of the films nominated for best picture, TWBB and NCFOM (strange for me) so I'm thinking of watching the Oscars this year and want to have a sense of the other films. Don't think I'll make it to Atonement or Michael Clayton, though.
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Juno is playing everywhere. It wont quit. I really wanted to see There Will Be Blood the other night, but the theatre didn't have it. It had all these awful movies like "Fool's Gold", "The Eye", and "Step Up 2 The Streets". I considered Juno for a solid 2 seconds and then remembered I could barely get through the previews in the theaters before biting my own arm.
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Juno is playing everywhere. It wont quit. I really wanted to see There Will Be Blood the other night, but the theatre didn't have it. It had all these awful movies like "Fool's Gold", "The Eye", and "Step Up 2 The Streets". I considered Juno for a solid 2 seconds and then remembered I could barely get through the previews in the theaters before biting my own arm.
I think it might still be playing at the Vista if I'm not mistaken.
There Will Be Blood I mean
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Juno is playing everywhere. It wont quit. I really wanted to see There Will Be Blood the other night, but the theatre didn't have it. It had all these awful movies like "Fool's Gold", "The Eye", and "Step Up 2 The Streets". I considered Juno for a solid 2 seconds and then remembered I could barely get through the previews in the theaters before biting my own arm.
I saw the Juno preview at Before The Devil Knows You're Dead* at BAM, and the oldish Brooklyn Heights crowd was laughing really loudly. I responded with an audible, Tom-style "really?"
*Incidentally, a horrible movie and the first I walked out of since Mad Love in like 1994 - I mean, we all love Sidney Lumet, but c'mon, guys.
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http://carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/juno-how-to-stir-up-the-homestretch/