Lots of buzz in the last year for this film. Juno is the story of a 16-year-old girl (Juno) and the effect her pregnancy has on her life. We get to know Juno’s family, friends, and the couple who will adopt her baby.

With an armful of glowing reviews and award nominations, Juno went into my DVD player with the weight of my high expectations. The good news is that some of them were met. The bad news is that some weren’t. Let’s address the bad news first.

First up is the faux-stop-animation title sequence. I LOVED the feel of the them. They were a great way to set a tone for Juno, but much as I did when I watched Superbad, I felt that they could have been used to greater effect. We got the hand-drawn heading of the sections, but I expected that Juno or Paulie would be an artist, making the drawings more relevant.

A bigger problem was 20 minutes of “Hey, look how quirky and in your face Juno is! She’s quirky, isn’t she? ISN’T SHE!?!” that started the film. Honestly, it was so over-the-top with the hamburger phone and the hoodie and the shiznit-remarking and the pipe and the moving the recliner and . . . I wanted to punch somebody. They just tried way too hard, even down to her name. Fortunately, after the first twenty minutes they eased up a little bit and the film got exponentially better.

Once we get past the set up of super-quirky Juno, the film really takes off. Ellen Page (above, with baby’ daddy Michael Cera) is quite talented, and ably heads the cast. Her transition from pre-pregnancy childhood to maturity is flawed, making it more real than I’ve grown to expect from most films. Writer Diablo Cody presents Juno with choices and decisions that aren’t neat and tidy, then explores some of the effects of those decisions.

One avenue that I wish had been explored more fully was Paulie Bleeker’s reaction to the news of Juno’s pregnancy. He just kind of goes along with whatever decisions Juno makes and doesn’t really give it much more thought. As always, I wish Cera had more to do in Juno.

On the other hand, by leaving Paulie’s point of view unaddressed, the film stays firmly focused on the female character, a phenomenon that’s sadly under-represented in cinema.

I also liked Jennifer Garner’s and Jason Bateman’s performances (above) in Juno as Vanessa and Mark Loring, the couple who wanted to adopt Juno’s baby. Looking back at it, it’s pretty obvious from the beginning that their situation was something less than the perfection that they tried to project with their McMansion (Thank you to director Jason Reitman for including that. I hate those stupid houses, devoid of any life or character.).

It was sad to watch Mark realize that he was living the wrong life, and to watch Vanessa try to convince him to hold it together. Juno’s final solution surprised me, and I’m not sure if I agree with it in general, but in her case, it was the right decision. One stellar piece of direction showed up in that section, specifically when Juno pulled off the highway.

So overall, Juno is a good film. Not Oscar-worthy, but good. I’m not sure why it got the Oscar nominations, other than possibly for the scene I just mentioned. Whatever the reason, I’m glad a film like this got some extra attention, if for no other reason than to get me to see it.

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Dear Christian Radio Station K-LOVE,

So I was helping clean up after my church's Good Friday service and somebody put K-LOVE on the sound system. I don't generally listen to your station, mostly because the song list isn't quite to my taste, but you know, whatever.

Around 8:30 or so, your DJ person came in from a song and said, "Happy Good Friday!"

Seriously K-LOVE? I can understand non-Christians not knowing that that phrasing isn't optimal and that it could be considered mildly offensive. I can even understand some less observant Christians making the mistake. But we're talking about someone who has secured a position as an on-air personality at one of the big name Christian music stations.

Anyway, it's not like I'm SO! VERY! OFFENDED! or anything, but it will make me think twice when I go spinning through the radio dial.

Rock on,
Matt

Fair warning: This will be a rough review. All I ask is that you at least read the last sentence before you start sending me hate mail.

The Neverending Story SUCKS. It's the suckiest suck that ever sucked. There are just so many problems and unanswered questions that I don't know where to begin. Let's start off with Bastion's dad, played by TV's Gerald McRaney. Am I supposed to want to punch him? The boy's mother JUST DIED and he's being a total dick to him! Give the kid a break, Major Dad!

That creepy guy in the bookstore-- what was up with him? I mean, I get that he wanted Bastion to take the book, but who was he? Did he have some other purpose? If so, what was it? And if not, if he was just hanging out until some downtrodden kid who was being chased by bullies who also likes to read happened to stop in without parental supervision . . . man, I don't think I could handle that.

Why does the school have a big attic that's so easy to break into? Bastion knew right where to look for the key to the attic, so is this his regular thing? Why would the attic of a school, which I have enough of a problem with anyway, have a big mattress in it? Why did nobody notice that Bastion never showed up to class?

Okay, on to The Neverending Story within The Neverending Story. We start out meeting a small group of characters who are introduced and treated like they will be major characters, then . . . nothing. The bat guy and the snail rider just disappear for the rest of the movie after being given fifteen minutes of introduction! We're quickly escorted to the Department of Moving Things Along, where we find out about the Empress being sick or whatever and how the world going to die unless Atreyu goes on this big quest and blah blah blah.

We meet Atreyu (above, on his dog-dragon thing) who manages to get his horse killed on the way to the wise old sneezing turtle who serves no purpose whatsoever. Atreyu meets the dog-dragon thing and some green-screened in miniature people who bicker about magic. They, of course, disappear after Atreyu heads for the statues that shoot lasers out of their eyes (below, sponsored by Jugs magazine. You're welcome, boys!), which you'd think would be an exciting scene, but not in The Neverending Story! No sir!

It's clear that the producers were going for a Lord of the Rings type film with the big multi-stage quest and lessons to help Bastion with his feelings and such, but it just failed on every single level. For one thing, it's lacking in any resolution. The big ending is that Bastion gives the oddly-lipped Empress a new name (which reminds me, what is the Empress's new name? The Internet tells me that it's "Moonchild" but I can't for the life of me figure out why Bastion would name her that.), saving the world and becoming its god, in the process erasing everything that I just suffered through. Guh?!?

And then Bastion uses his newfound authority to hunt down and exact revenge on the bullies who were chasing him when he hid in creepy guy's bookstore. I--

. . .

Y'know, I'd've totally dug this movie when I was ten.

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