Juno

Really there is only a few months out of the year where you can go to the movies and count on seeing something decent. For me, the season started when I could fuel my Cormac McCarthy obsession with No Country For Old Men. Then Charlie Wilson's War, Sweeney Todd, There Will Be Blood - all great movies, all definitely worth checking out. Tonight I saw Juno, and it continued my streak. I would love to tell you that I saw it because I thought the trailer was appealing, or that I thought it would be a good date movie - both are true, but there was really only one reason I wanted to see it. Diablo Cody (pictured). More on her later. This was a wonderful movie. Juno, played by Ellen Page, is about as likable as it gets. Nerds will remember her as Kitty Pryde in the huge disappointment X3. And her performance is impressive. The movie is hers. I would have to check for sure, but I think she was in every scene. The plot is relatively simple - Juno is impregnated by her friend Paulie (played by Michael Cera) on a Lazy Boy in her basement - really some bad luck for the poor girl's first time. She considers abortion, in a poignant scene, but ultimately decides on adoption. This introduces the yuppie couple played by Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman who want to adopt (Juno and her best friend Leah find them in an ad in Pennysaver). Garner is surprisingly good, in a role that could have easily been cliche-filled. The movie is filled with ultra-hip references, snappy dialogue, and a smattering of hilarious supporting cast. Leah, the alpha girl has a thing for graying old men. Paulie, the jewish kid who slipped one past the goalie, spends the entire movie in 80's style jogging gear. Juno's dad and stepmother (played by CJ Cregg!) are appropriately crusty but prescient and lovable. Overall, the movie just works! I am sure it will be at the center of a bevy of award shows and critics' top ten lists, and Ellen Page is a star. The screenwriter is a woman I have had a cybercrush on for quite awhile. Diablo Cody, among other things, writes a blog called The Pussy Ranch (pretty much fell for her after that title) where she chronicled her foray into the seedy but alluring world of the strip club. Nowadays, she writes about her growing success in hollywood as a screenwriter and her seemingly endlessly hip nightlife, starfucking, etc. Not only is she smart and entertaining, she's hot in a very rockabilly, punk rock way that I find endlessly fascinating. So yeah, cybercrush. Go see Juno.