Sorry, folks. Gonna have to go with a fneh here.
This is the type of fneh where the contributions of Michael Cera, Jason Bateman, J.K. Simmons, Allison Janney and everyone else in the cast were just totally offset by how annoying Ellen Page was.
Not that she didn't do a good job of acting. I just found the character to be highly annoying.
Anyway, fneh.
Bonus fneh! Black Snake Moan was also fneh! Great potential in the concept, terrible execution.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Juno
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20 comments:
Why?! Why are you CONSTANTLY breaking my heart?
Hey, that's interesting... I saw it last night, and you're 100% incorrect.
Weird, right?
That you're so wrong about this?
Like, totally wrong?
Weird.
i enjoyed the movie, but found myself hating the writer. you could tell that "juno" was the girl that SHE really wishes she was in high school (perhaps minus the preggers part). so, yes, i can totally see where Geoff is coming from
I think you missed the point entirely. You're not supposed to like Juno. She's one of those unaffected hipster types that finds her humanity. George Michael even tells her she's a bitch. Did you miss that scene? The one guy that actually relates to her, Michael Bluth, turns out to be a douche.
Also, is there something wrong with stylized dialogue assigned to VERY realistic characters? Methinks not.
I'm with Alex. You're just wrong.
Nah, I'm right.
I think you spelled "wrong" incorrectly.
Shut up.
You shut up.
No you.
You first.
The first five minutes of that movie are unbearable, and the soundtrack is (minus the Kinks and Belle and Sebastian, of course) pretty annoying, and employed in that Wes Anderson sledgehammer manner (EVERY! SCENE! MUST! HAVE! A! SONG! LISTEN! NOW!) that directors simply need to stop using (see "Junebug" or "In the Bedroom" for effective ways to use silence). However, by the end of the movie I was genuinely moved, and the acting is pretty remarkable by all parties. I'd see it again, but I'd go make a drink during the first five minutes, and I'd try to block out the musically incompetent-cum-cool stylings of the Moldy Peaches and offshoots. It's certainly not a bad movie, and I'd even say it's a good one, but it has its flaws.
I like Andrew's well-balanced take on the movie. Go Team Missel.
I fall on the side of liking the movie, but I also had problems with the first few minutes and with the overusage of music (though my problem was with the general saturation and not w/The Moldy Peaches, whom I find genuinely endearing, if a bit misused here).
After the first 10 minutes, I was afraid the whole movie would be an overwritten mess of hipsterness and cuteness, but the movie calmed down and revealed that it's really just Juno who talks like that, and I definitely knew people in high school that tried to posture themselves in similar ways. If everybody in the film spoke in such a "written" way, it would have been awful, but it's really mostly just her and her friend.*
Other than that, I thought it was pretty great, and I was definitely moved by the end.
*As much as I love Rainn Wilson, his scene at the beginning couldn't have done more to damage the movie. He's the only other person in the movie that talks in Junospeak, and the fact that it comes so early in the film was just a big fricking mistake. Boo. That, and the opening credits sequence was a total misfire.
For the record, and not to destroy any jokes that may or may not be above, I, in reality, mostly agree with Andrew and Jerf.
I agree with everything everyone has said. EVER! I enjoyed the movie, but way does it deserve an oscar.
It reminded me a lot of Ghost World, but I thought that movie was more successful in balancing the main character's disaffectation with the rest of the world, making her endearing without overdoing the whole quirky dialogue/music, etc.
I think I watched that with Andrew. What do you think?
PS.
Will there be Blood?
Yes, there was. And it was amazing.
1) Yes, Mr. Kansy, we did see "Ghost World" together, and I think it is a better movie than "Juno" in almost every way. It's more...I don't know, grown up?
2) Jerf's analysis is spot-on. Rainn Wilson's scene is probably the worst first scene of a movie that, on the whole, turns out to be good, EVER. It's amazing that the creative team behind the movie didn't figure out how awful and off-putting that scene is before the film's release.
3) The Aimee Mann song "Ghost World" is also great.
4) "If you like the blues, you'll love BLUESHAMMER!"
"I think you missed the point entirely. You're not supposed to like Juno."
well, then i think you missed MY point - if i don't like the main character, i'm gonna have a hard time giving a shit about the movie. i HIGHLY doubt i was supposed to dislike Juno. as i said, i think Juno is who Diablo Cody REALLY wishes she was in high school....and i doubt that she wanted to be hated.
Oh man, most recent anonymous. You said it perfectly.
Also, even if she is supposed to be disliked, that doesn't mean I have to like her and the movie regardless. She annoyed me. Game set match.
That said, I did generally enjoy the movie and really only fnehed and subsequently dug my heels in for entertainment value. I liked every other actor in the flick (including Jennifer Garner whom I forgot to mention and did a great job in a thankless role). I basically agree with Andrew and Jeff's trajectory, it just took me a little longer to start getting over "God, banana, shut your freaking gob!" Cringe.
Do none of you fellas remember what it was like to be a teenage girl? That's how we spoke! And Diablo Cody rules. Her memoir about stripping ('Candy Girl') is not to be missed. Speaking as an ex-'exotic movement technician' myself - it was spot on, she's spot on and I hope she gets a statue.
20th comment!
RAINN WILSON'S DIALOGUE = FLAMES ON OPTIMUS!!
There. No you're officially an AICN Talkback.
Are you happy now?
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