Juno (Jason Reitman, 2007)

[domino harvey]

the trailer finally surfaces

[quote="Roger Ebert"]I don't know when I've heard a standing ovation so long, loud and warm as the one after Jason Reitman's “Juno,â€

[Cronenfly]

I don't know about this...Thank You for Smoking was a big letdown, and the trailer looks too cutesy/knowingly and annoyingly eccentric in that oh- so-popular indie style of today (re: Little Miss Sunshine, Garden State, etc): the sheer mention of Junebug in Ebert's blurb makes me want to run away. That said, I'd love to be proven wrong, especially with regards to the talent involved (Page, Simmons, Cera, Bateman, Rainn Wilson: the list goes on).

[Antoine Doinel]

I liked but didn't love Thank You For Smoking (I wished it had been even more cutting satirically), but I did really like Little Miss Sunshine. The cast here looks incredible but the line at the end of the trailer ("Find someone who loves you for who you are") made me cringe a little.

Anyway, anything with Michael Cera, Jason Bateman and Rainn Wilson will have my ass in the seat.

[domino harvey]

What exactly is wrong with being reminded of Junebug?

I think the trailer is deceiving but also revealing. Surely they're trying to sell this to the mumblecore crowd, but look how awkwardly what they show fits into that mold. Advance word is all around stellar and I think with a cast this great, very little can sway my already preexisting excitement over this project.

[Antoine Doinel]

What exactly is wrong with being reminded of Junebug?

Agreed.

[portnoy]

This movie is okay.

Finely wrought characters, well-earned emotion, a surprisingly uninflected directorial effort on Reitman's part - but it's just not funny for me at all. I didn't laugh once. I smiled a few times, but the way the audience I saw it was busting a gut, I would've hoped it could've been funnier. The comedy is mostly overwritten one-liners by the title character - she's like Enid from Ghost World's less embittered little sister, but also not as funny.

I dunno - I need to see this again to really say for sure how I feel. Part of my experience was wrecked by having to watch the obnoxious Reitman and writer Diablo Cody introduce it.

[Cronenfly]

What exactly is wrong with being reminded of Junebug?

Agreed.

Personal taste: it was a film that did nothing for me, and it looks like this is about halfway between Junebug and Little Miss Sunshine, which, conceptually, makes me think that, especially in Reitman's hands, it won't be that great. However, I'll still do my best to go in with an open mind, and I'd love to be wrong.

[Antoine Doinel]

Juno has been awarded best film at the Rome Film Festival.

[margot]

I'll honestly just see anything Ellen Page is in at this point.

[Andre Jurieu]

Juno has been awarded best film at the Rome Film Festival.

I have to say, out of all the movies that were screened at the festival, Juno probably received the best "buzz" from all the critics/industry screening at TIFF (though I was unable to catch it). It seemed to be a real crowd-pleaser. Then again, people also seemed to love Lars and the Real Girls.

[Antoine Doinel]

New poster.

[domino harvey]

Oh man, the Little Miss Sunshine-evoking silhouettes in the bottom corner are killing me.

[rs98762001]

Despite the game performances, this is just wretched. One of the most contrivedly quirky and precious films I've ever seen, it makes the awful Little Miss Sunshine look natural and honest in comparison. Transparent and predictable, it's so mainstream it wouldn't surprise me at all if it became a sleeper hit- after all, that's clearly what the writer and director were gunning for right from the start. Oh yeah, it also has perhaps the worst soundtrack of all time (except for two selections from the Kinks and Mott the Hoople, neither of which are exactly trail-blazing in themselves). Avoid like the plague.

[justeleblanc]

I must agree, the film is a cheap attempt to cash in on the favorite aesthetics of today's teenagers and college students. Beyond that it's bad.

And something that just irks me, for a film that is all about people who are supposedly branded as "uncool" by the norm and how they are in fact the "cool" ones, it spent a lot of time judging other characters for their quirks, neuroses, and insecurities. Maybe it's just a matter of who I was identifying with.

[Magic Hate Ball]

The trailer I saw was pretty cute, but after reading the "IT'S REALLY GOOD TRUST ME IT'S GOOD" description I'm really wary of it.

Then again, people also seemed to love Lars and the Real Girls.

There's a sequel out already?

[jbeall]

And something that just irks me, for a film that is all about people who are supposedly branded as "uncool" by the norm and how they are in fact the "cool" ones, it spent a lot of time judging other characters for their quirks, neuroses, and insecurities. Maybe it's just a matter of who I was identifying with.

In other words, you're saying it's like a Kevin Smith movie?

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Wes Anderson/Kubrick font on the poster, it's even used in the same way Wes Anderson does. First name appears normal, last name is all capitalized.

Futura is the font, I belive. Extra bold.

[justeleblanc]

I haven't thought of it in terms of Kevin Smith. I never get the impression that he's trying too hard, whereas Diablo Cody very much is.

[rs98762001]

I haven't thought of it in terms of Kevin Smith. I never get the impression that he's trying too hard, whereas Diablo Cody very much is.

That pretty much sums up Juno. Trying way too fucking hard.

[jbeall]

I haven't thought of it in terms of Kevin Smith. I never get the impression that he's trying too hard, whereas Diablo Cody very much is.

Yeah, and it's funny how KS makes fun of people who actually try hard. I was just being tongue-in-cheek, but I've always been irritated by the fact that Smith can only be warm toward slackers and stoners at the expense of everybody who isn't one.

Maaaaybe I'll get it from Netflix, but based on the last couple of assessments, I definitely won't be seeing it anytime soon.

[Noir of the Night]

This movie looks like a calamity.

[Antoine Doinel]

Interview with Ellen Page and soundtrack track listing here.

[LeeB.Sims]

I saw the theatrical trailer this weekend and was tickled pink at how good this looks. The script sounds hilarious and yes, there are a lot of one-liners, but that's pretty much all you get in a trailer.

I have to say that the overwhelming amount of griping and moaning about how “annoyingly quirky and trying to be too indie like This Film or That Filmâ€

[Jeff]

[quote="LeeB.Sims"]I have to say that the overwhelming amount of griping and moaning about how “annoyingly quirky and trying to be too indie like This Film or That Filmâ€

[justeleblanc]

I don't think there's anything wrong in criticizing a film that tries to hard to appeal to a certain demographic, when in the process it chooses catchy over genuine. Now whether or not Juno actually does that is another story, but that was my criticism of it, and I think that criticism is entirely fair.

It may also depend where you set the bar. Out of respect of all those filmmakers who have told terrific coming of age stories set in high school, I really feel the need to bash those that seem to only cash in on trends. It's that subversive cute thing again. When will it just die?