Michael Cera was one of this movie's highlights, so I'm okay with the shirt thing, but nothing...nothing compares to...


Yes, my shirt says "I Am McLovin". And yes, I look like McLovin meets Harry Potter

For a second, I thought that actually was a picture of McLovin' .

The only complaint I have about Juno, and it hardly counts as a complaint, is that I wish it were longer. I wanted to spend more time with these people.

How beautiful was movie? Rather than Juno being villified or punished for getting pregnant, it is treated as another part of life by caring, compassionate, wonderful people. And she comes out the other side smarter, wiser, more mature, yet the same. Her life goes on just as it had been. I hope people can take the message of Juno to heart. This is a tender, understanding, humanist film, with a wonderful cast that reminded me what the word ensemble means.

When the movie ended about an hour ago, I was really not impressed. Thinking about it longer however I see that my only real gripe is that I don't believe Diablo Cody has ever been, or ever seen a teen interacting. I could not buy those scenes at all. However for the most part it is mistake free. Ellen Page didn't floor me with her acting, no one really did but as an ensemble cast it worked well. B+

Juno was the best comedy of the year
Superbad was the funniest

There's no other word to describe Juno but perfection. It's the kind of heartwarming, funny, quirky film that manages to get everything right. I loved the screenplay although I was a little put off by it at first. Ellen Page was extraordinary. I didn't believe for a second that she was acting (and maybe that is her in real life?) and there were a few parts of pure brilliance. The scene with her and Michael Cera in her hospital bed was heartbreaking and raw. She has proved that Hard Candy was no fluke...this is the performance that will make her a star. The supporting actors are all quite excellent as well. I fell in love with Garner here. She deserves an Oscar nomination, I feel. Janney, Simmons, Cera, and Bateman were all excellent as well. Janney stole every scene she was in, and completely owned the ultrasound scene. It was overall a wonderful movie, probably the best of the year. 2007 is quickly turning into one of the best years for movies. Both this and Once have received A+'s from me, my first two in I don't know how long.

A+

btw...did no one else find Janney's characters insults in the ultrasound scene really, really mean-spirited? I was like, totally not okay with that.

Saw this tonight... The final ten minutes or so are absolutely perfect. That final shot is one for the books.

Other than that, it's merely pretty good. Occasionally hilarious, often forced ("Honest to blog?" made me want to crawl under my seat and hide, and the name dropping of Argento and Thundercats is just too much to bear). The first half or so of the movie just tries wayyyy too hard to be as hip as possible. Jason Reitman still has yet to convince me as a full fledge filmmaker. I think he has a nice handle and understanding of timing and works well with his actors, but his visual sensibility is rather derivative, and he seems to have a difficult time maintaining highs and minimizing lows. The reason Thank You For Smoking struggled is because it was wildly uneven, and while Juno is an improvement, it still has some of the same issues. The acting is uniformly excellent, minus a stiff as a board Jennifer Garner, who probably couldn't emote if you dangled a dying infant in front of her. I think the film handles the abortion issue about as well as something of its type could, but I'm still waiting for a Hollywood film to suck it up and have the balls to address this topic in a more realistic manner, but I digress.

I absolutely agree with everything that you wrote.

The film is just so sweet and beautiful and it does such an amazing job at making the characters so lovable. Ellen Page is great and really has the best performance I've seen this year(or last), granted I haven't seen too many films yet.

Heh.

I really don't get the Garner hate a lot of people have.

I mean, there are a lot of people who seem to flat-out hate everything she does. I'm not sure I really get it.

I thought she was wonderful in Juno.

I thought she was really good in Juno. Outside 13 Going on 30, it's the only time I think she's given a truly good performance. But she definitely can act, it just isn't always obvious.

Jennifer Garner was excellent in Juno. Easily her best performance to date.

I enjoyed it, the last third is the best part.

I liked it. I really liked the film. It's very funny, heartfelt and for the most part smart. That saying, I highly believe this is the most overrated film entering the awards season. It's a very good film, it's just not great. I won't remember very much about the film until the DVD comes out. A few things bugged me. Let me start with the smallest.

The first five minutes reminded me way too much of Napoeleon Dynamite - Loyal said it himself a couple of posts ago. I kind of like that film, but it's another film that I find vastly overrated and I didn't want Juno to turn into another one of those films. Those first five minutes really bugged the shit out me. Thankfully in the long run, the film is much better than Dynamite, but it got off on the very wrong foot with me.

Second. Even though I said the film is smart, I don't think it's as smart as the film might want you to think it is. Or let me rephrase that. The film thinks it's witty in some places, when it's not really. The way Juno talks in some scenes made me just want to wring her fucking neck. It's not that she's unlikeable, it's just that in some of the words she says like with the slang, you can tell that it's not really Juno saying it, but the screenwriter Diablo Cody sitting back in her chair laughing at how good her dialogue is, thinking that it's smart and witty. That immediately took the effect out of it in some of the scenes in which we get to know Juno. The screenplay as a whole is very good, but people need to calm down when they say it's the smartest and most clever on the year. If you want that, look no further than Superbad.

Third. The Mark/Juno thing doesn't work at all. It gives the film a very creepy vibe that the film doesn't really need. Yes I know without that whole thing, it wouldn't make Mark a very interesting character at all, but it doesn't work.

Fourth. Juno's attitude about the whole pregnancy kind of bugged me. I did not feel for one second that she wanted the kid at all. Yes I understand the whole reasoning that she came up with for herself, and that proved that Juno is in fact a very mature girl who is only trying to do what's best for the child, but it's not like she went "Wait a minute, maybe I want it." She literally says in the film (and I'm paraphrasing) "If I had it my way, I'd give it to you right now, but we should probably wait until it doesn't look like a Sea Monkey". There are glimpses I guess that make you think she wants it, but she really doesn't. She's just eager to give it away and that never really fluxuates throughout the film. I wouldn't say as a whole, but I'd say in some parts it makes Juno kind of unlikeable.

However, the film's positives very much outway the negatives. The acting is about as great as you could ask for. I really enjoyed Ellen Page's performance. In this somewhat weak year when it comes to performances, she should easily win the Oscar. I haven't seen Atonement yet, but Kiera Knightley would have to come up with some pretty special in order to surpass Page, and based off of the commercials that's not going to happen. I also really liked Michael Cera. I think it's a slight problem that he kind of pops in and out throughout most of the time, but he gives another good performance here. J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney are the standouts for me. Every scene they're in they manage to steal it. The one-on-one conversation between Juno and her father is damn good and Simmons makes it work. And the scene with the ultrasound involving Janney is right on the money.

So on the whole, I don't think Juno is the film everyone is cracking it up to be. It's very good, but it's not special. The performances are special and they should be seen and the film is very funny, but I really think the screenplay lets the film down in some places.

A-

This is one of those films that I saw purely based on its hype, otherwise I'd have no interest in at all. And most of the time, it doesn't work out well (see Napoleon Dynamite). I heard that comparison thrown out a few times, too, so I was definitely concerned.

But, I actually really enjoyed it (and thank Godddd, it's nothing like Napoleon Dynamite).

The dialogue isn't really all that realistic, but yeah, I wasn't bothered. It's often hilarious. Ellen Page just nails this role, giving one of the best female performances of the year (it's been a weak year for the ladies, by the way). Michael Cera is perfect as well. Like, he doesn't even have to speak and he makes the whole audience giggle at his awkwardness. But he's also hilarious (the conversation between him and Juno at the locker = priceless). J.K. Simmons and Jason Bateman are also quite good. Jennifer Garner...is not. I'm sorry (and I know Michael's watching this thread like a hawk, waiting for another Garner attack), but she's just not good at all. She's creepy. And I don't think that's the point of her character; I understand she's supposed to be nervous and anxious and all, but creepy? Don't think so. Doesn't work at all. Otherwise, great performances all around (wish there was more Dwight, though!).

The film is really funny. Best comedy of the year? Nah, and that's just because we've had some strong teen comedies this year (Superbad and Knocked Up), but that doesn't take away from the fact that it's a great time. And it kicks Little Miss Sunshine's ass all over the place. And Sideways. Yeeeah. And it tackles the teen pregnancy topic pretty well, I thought. The final act really is quality, but everything leading up to it is still excellent. Definitely one of the better films I've seen this year.

***½

i felt the same way about the ultrasound lady's commentary.

me too, actually. it wasn't showy, and i'm thankful for it. very appropriate and well done.

Who cares if she didn't really want the kid herself? She knew it would be a bad idea. If I were a girl and got pregnant I'm sure I wouldn't want it, at least not at first. But then they say you eventually become attached to what is growing inside you, and Juno obviously did. That's why it ended up being kind of hard for her. She was just smart enough to know not to get too attached, especially since she already promised the baby to someone else. I was glad she didn't change her mind and decide to keep the kid, ruining her life. Plus it would have been sad had she done that to Garner's character. If I were a girl and got pregnant I'd probably just have an abortion. I'm mixed on abortions, but I wouldn't want a kid, and wouldn't even want to go through the labor part to give it up for adoption becase it would hurt like hell. Plus you'd risk getting attached. Thankfully I'm not a girl. If I were I'd just have had my tubes tied as soon as I could and then I wouldn't have to worry about it. Some people don't want kids. That doesn't mean they're a bad person. I think Juno did end up sort of wanting it, but knew she couldn't back out and that it wouldn't be in her best interest or her child's.

No. The ultra-sound lady totally over-stepped her bounds. She was asking for it.

Besides the scene where she was trying to get the baby to kick, I actually thought Garner did a fanatasitc job.

As for the film:

Like most, I was let done. It just seemed like nothing more special than your typical teen comedy, it was good, maybe even slightly great, but nothing close to outstanding like many critics have claimed it to be. The lead actress was easily the best part of the show, while felt the dad was the funniest.

A-

Bleeker: And Blair Witch Project was about to come on Starz, and you were like, "I haven't seen this in forever" and you wanted to watch it, but then you were like "Oh no, we should just make out instead. La la la."

To...what? Giving it an A- doesn't exactly constitute "coming around" to your "meh" opinion.

Personally, when I got to the end of Jmart007's review I was surprised to see he had given it an A-. His review sounded like a B or B+ tops to me.