Juno

[Winnow]

Anyone seen this?

It's about a "smart" high school girl that gets pregnant and then looks for good parents that want to adopt.

That in itself doesn't sound too good but check out the trailer here: (upper right pull down menu/video)

http://www.foxsearchlight.com/juno/

I recognized:

Actress who played Kitty Pryde in X-Men 3 (plays lead role: Juno) (also played the psycho chick in Hard Candy)
One of the Actors from Superbad (the fat guy's best friend) (Michael Cera for those that actually know his name)
Dwight Schrute from The Office!
The Principal lady from 10 Things I Hate About You
Jennifer Gardner
Jason Bateman
JJ Jamison from the Spiderman movies

Looks good!

[Hesten]

Havent seen it yet, and doubt it'll be in danish theaters, but ill get it on DVD.

Ellen Page is quite the actress, and im really looking forward to seeing her work the next few years, shes an rising star. Just a little irritating reading interviews with her, shes smart as hell, but seem to always go straight at the feminist angle, that bothers me a bit. But ill basically see a movie just if shes in it, that show it must have some quality

[Sheryl]

i had exactly zero interest in seeing this movie, but ended up caving into peer pressure and going last night.

i loved it (and consequently ate a bit of crow for being such a shit about not wanting to go in the first place). i suck at movie reviews, but it was funny and sweet and just different. almost like a cross between knocked up and napolean dynamite. it's not the same old cookie cutter pregnant teen movie like i expected. i would have known better had i realized this movie is from the same guy who did "thank you for smoking." the characters are very interesting and the movie actually makes you give a damn about them while delivering a lot of laughs along the way.

definitely not a chick flick either, the guys in our party enjoyed it just as much as the girls did.

[Nick]

I liked Thank you for smoking and I also like Michael Cera so this is now on my list of films to watch next time I binge on dvds/torrents.

[Sylvus]

I'm supposed to see this with my girlfriend on Saturday.

Question: is it going to discourage her from having unprotected sex with me?

Maybe we should go see AvP-R instead...

[Tyek]

What should prevent you from having unprotected sex is the cost of raising kids!!!

[Winnow]

A month later I finally got to see Juno. (I don't like going to the movies much anymore and a nice screener finally popped up on the newsgroups)

Sheryl's description above is spot on so go read that again.

I seem to like movies that aren't overly dramatic and Juno is an outstanding movie where you don't necessarily need to hate anyone in the movie for it to work. The humor is on the kinder/gentler side.

Ellen Page is pretty much a one woman show in this with many small supporting roles. She's heading for a Natalie Portman type career.

92/100 (Saturday afternoon/Sunday type movie)

[Leonaerd]

Good in a relaxing kind of way. Brings up some plausible social / economic / political tensions but doesn't get preachy. Not a movie that aims to win an oscar, but worth seeing.

[Sylvus]

I really liked it, it was funny.

[Show]

I totally thought Mark and Juno were going to hook up for a while, and it was kind of tripping me out

[Leonaerd]

I really liked it, it was funny.

[Show]

I totally thought Mark and Juno were going to hook up for a while, and it was kind of tripping me out

[Show]

Yeah, that issue had a very awkward appeal to it, not unlike The Office. I remember the key part when he told Juno he was moving out was when he said "I thought you would support this decision," or something similar. But Juno didn't really confront him from there and I was kind of bummed.

[Winnow]

I really liked it, it was funny.

[Show]

I totally thought Mark and Juno were going to hook up for a while, and it was kind of tripping me out

[Show]

Yeah, that issue had a very awkward appeal to it, not unlike The Office. I remember the key part when he told Juno he was moving out was when he said "I thought you would support this decision," or something similar. But Juno didn't really confront him from there and I was kind of bummed.

[Show]

When Juno slapped on the lipstick before going to see him, I thought the movie might take a turn toward the ugly side of things but fortunately that didn't happen.

In case you missed the comic book reference in the movie:

[Spang]

[Show]

I can't wait to watch this film, so I can read all these spoiler messages!

[Leonaerd]

[Show]

I can't wait to watch this film, so I can read all these spoiler messages!

[Show]

The real question is: are you going to read this sentence before or after the movie?

[Spang]

[Show]

before

[Leonaerd]

[Show]

before

cheater

[Sartori]

Finally went to see this. Definitely funny and poignant with interesting characters, music, and dialogue. Ellen steals the show like Winnow said, but the rest of the characters are mostly likeable. Worth watching for sure!

[Winnow]

More people should watch this movie so I'm bumping this to get the name back in your heads!

[Spang]

Waiting for the DVD!

[Winnow]

http://www.themovieblog.com/2008/02/can ... he-process

Canadian Awards “The Genies” Snub Juno and Make A Joke of Itself In The Process

Canada rules. I love Canada and I love being a Canadian. Having said that, some of the world’s greatest stupidity comes from Canada too. Take for example the snubbing the Genies have bestowed upon Juno.

It was just proclaimed that Juno is not eligable for the Genie awards because even though Ellen Page and Michael Cera are Canadian, director Jason Reitman is Canadian, it was filmed in Canada and had pretty much all Canadian crew and cast…. the Genies have decided Juno isn’t Canadian enough.

The rules of the Genies dictate that what makes a movie “Canadian”, is where the money comes from to make it. That makes sense that to a degree, but only to a point.

Jason Reitman expresses his disbelief this way (from the good folks over at Cinematical):

Reitman says: “how are we not eligible for a Genie when David Cronenberg’s film about Russians living in London shot in England with a British crew and British cast is eligible? I’m sorry, but somebody is going to have to explain that to me; I don’t get it.” Well, I get it, but it’s a massively flawed rationale — as Etan Vlessing says: “Leave it to other awards shows to honor filmmaking excellence, whatever its origins. The Genies celebrate government support.”

This is nothing short of a giant humiliation and a black eye on the Genies. Shame on them… shame on them. As a Canadian film blogger, I’ll tell you right now I am humiliated that my own country’s awards show is pulling stupidity like this. I am ashamed of the Genies and we won’t be giving it any coverage here.

eh?

[Spang]

Now I can finally read those spoiler messages!

Also, great fucking flick!

[Spang]

Furthermore, this is a great Mother's Day movie!

[Drolgin Steingrinder]

It's a fun movie, but it's a trend I'm a little bit concerned with. What's with the recent glorification of young mothers in (american) popular media? A paranoic might consider where the funding for this is coming from...

[Fairweather Pure]

It's a fun movie, but it's a trend I'm a little bit concerned with. What's with the recent glorification of young mothers in (american) popular media? A paranoic might consider where the funding for this is coming from...

In the 80's, a pregnant teen movie would've been an after school special with huge amounts of drama, "whoa is me", angry parents, and overall angst. I think Juno is an example of social commentary in a lot of different ways. Everything from the parent's reaction to a teen that refuses to play the victim, but instead takes on all the responsibility and finds a mutually beneficial solution to her pregnancy. It's a movie that shows how far we've come in the past 20 years when addressing teen pregnancy, and even teenagers in general.

Even the right is touting it as decent moral movie simply becasue Juno did not take the easy way out and get an abortion.

[Drolgin Steingrinder]

It's a fun movie, but it's a trend I'm a little bit concerned with. What's with the recent glorification of young mothers in (american) popular media? A paranoic might consider where the funding for this is coming from...

In the 80's, a pregnant teen movie would've been an after school special with huge amounts of drama, "whoa is me", angry parents, and overall angst. I think Juno is an example of social commentary in a lot of different ways. Everything from the parent's reaction to a teen that refuses to play the victim, but instead takes on all the responsibility and finds a mutually beneficial solution to her pregnancy. It's a movie that shows how far we've come in the past 20 years when addressing teen pregnancy, and even teenagers in general.

Even the right is touting it as decent moral movie simply becasue Juno did not take the easy way out and get an abortion.

I guess you're right - I've just had my fill of docu-soaps portraying stupid 16 year old girls with babies as heroic because they didn't take the easy way out.

[Fairweather Pure]

Well, that's another difference in the film IMO. Juno is far from a stupid teenage girl. I also like the fact that the movie showed her initiating the sex. It's one of the many subtle things in this movie that gets aways from the "all teenage girls that get pregnant are stupid and/or accidental victims".

[Lalanae]

It's a movie that shows how far we've come in the past 20 years when addressing teen pregnancy, and even teenagers in general.

It's hardly grounded in reality. Everything is too "light-hearted" as expected from a comedy. The gravity of being pregnant when you are a teen is immense and you don't get any of that from the film. Her parents reaction is certainly not anywhere near how most people would react. I wouldn't exactly call it social commentary. Its just a silly movie.

[Boogahz]

It's a movie that shows how far we've come in the past 20 years when addressing teen pregnancy, and even teenagers in general.

It's hardly grounded in reality. Everything is too "light-hearted" as expected from a comedy. The gravity of being pregnant when you are a teen is immense and you don't get any of that from the film. Her parents reaction is certainly not anywhere near how most people would react. I wouldn't exactly call it social commentary. Its just a silly movie.

Fair doesn't live in reality though

[Fairweather Pure]

It's a movie that shows how far we've come in the past 20 years when addressing teen pregnancy, and even teenagers in general.

It's hardly grounded in reality. Everything is too "light-hearted" as expected from a comedy. The gravity of being pregnant when you are a teen is immense and you don't get any of that from the film. Her parents reaction is certainly not anywhere near how most people would react. I wouldn't exactly call it social commentary. Its just a silly movie.

I beg to differ. Several of my friends had younger sisters that all got knocked up at 16ish. Seriously, 3 of them were all preggers within months of each other, all the same age. Two of the families took an extremely light hearted approach to the situation, while the other demonized thier daughter. The two bounced back and have gone on to college, careers, and marriage. I haven't heard from the demonized one in years, but last I knew she was thrice divorced with 4 kids, no job, and still not talking to her parents 10+ years after the fact.

My point is, there are plenty of people and situations that mirror events from this movie that have simply never been seen in a major motion picture, much less an Academy Award winner. Teen pregnancy is not all doom and gloom, and it's certianly not the end of the world. Everything is only as big a deal as you make of it. Juno chose to deal with the issue instead of standing like a deer in the headlights for 9 months thinking about how she ruined her life (and being reminded daily by dissappointed parents). I believe that same "spirit" was also a huge difference in how each of my friend's sisters turned out.

The gravity you are attributing to teen pregnancy is mostly felt by those that are going to keep the baby and have little to no emotional/financial suport from thier social network. I don't think that teens who offer thier baby up for adoption, such as Juno, or get an abortion, would experiance the same long term complications that keeping the baby would include.

I just find it odd that you don't think there are people who actually live and behave in ways similar to the movie. I knew a "Juno" in high school. I think most people can link some of her character elements to eclectic friends.

At the end of the day, it's just a movie. You either connect with it because it shares your experiances, or you don't.

[Sylvus]

The bottom line is that for some people (perhaps a majority) teen pregnancy will ruin their lives and for others it will end up being a positive thing. Pretty much everything a teen is bombarded with is that it's the end of your life, a terrible thing, etc. My best friend's mom got pregnant for his brother when she was 15. My mom got pregnant for my brother when she was 18. In both cases, it led to the parents of the babies getting married; my friend's parents have been married for 30+ years and my parents have been married for 38. While I certainly would never encourage a teen to get pregnant, it's not always the worst thing that could ever happen, and it's somewhat refreshing to see it presented from the other side for once. If everyone is always taught that it's the worst thing in the world, there's probably some amount (albeit small) of self-fulfilling prophecy there.

In a nutshell, I'd prefer no teenagers got pregnant. But since it's going to happen, I'd rather they went into it with a positive attitude instead of a negative one.

[Kilmoll the Sexy]

So your friend's mom would have been really young when you were teens.....did you ever hit it?

[Winnow]

Stifler's mom!

I thought Juno was an outstanding movie. Some Midwest people are kooky like in that movie in a Fargo kind of way. They took some liberties in the movie because you need to in order to make a movie more entertaining but overall I see no problem with the scenario of the movie being valid.

[Fairweather Pure]

So your friend's mom would have been really young when you were teens.....did you ever hit it?

Nope. They had crushes on me when we were younger though, one tried to pursue it at one point, but it wasn't going to happen. They all seemed like sisters to me. I took a couple of lamaze classes with one of them, but that was just to help support her, nothing romantic.

One was really ugly, one was ok, and the other was hot. Two middle class and one lower class. None were my cup of tea.

Edit: Bah, that was to Sylvus. Sorry, it was a quick read while my daughter was distracting me!