Friday, February 29, 2008

Juno (2007)



Directed by: Jason Reitman
Format: Theater
Starring: Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman
Trailer

Pending a verdict on her book Candy Girl, Diablo Cody might just be my new hero. A former stripper, Cody (that’s a nom de plume), is a year younger than me and has already won an Academy Award. She rocked out on Oscar night, looking like a tattooed Cleopatra. IMDB quotes her as saying, “If this whole writing thing doesn't work out, I'll be getting right back on the pole.” I admire her attitude and I think that the backlash against her is undeserved, but inevitable. Bottom line – she seems particularly human for Hollywood.

Like recent many, I came to know of Diablo Cody because she wrote the screenplay for the movie Juno. Several trusted friends recommended the film to me and when I heard that it stars one of my favorite new actresses, Ellen Page, I had to check it out. I even went to a late showing during the middle of the week so that I wouldn’t have to put up with irritating crowds. The experience would have been perfect if it weren’t for the $9.25 admission. (I feel a savage rant coming on about the steady decline of the movie going experience, but I’ll get back to the subject at hand.)

Juno tells the story of the title character, a high school student who finds herself dealing with an unexpected pregnancy. After flirting briefly with the idea of abortion, she decides to carry the child to term and find a suitable couple to take over. When she visits the home of Vanessa and Mark Loring, Juno chooses the couple as the ideal candidates for surrogate parenthood. All that’s left for her to do is cope with being the only pregnant girl in school, deciding what she wants from her relationship with the father, and her shifting hormones. Easy, right?

Fortunately for her, Juno has the help of a good friend and the support of a wonderful father and step-mom. She’s also got a tough hide and a sarcastic attitude. I thought that Ellen Page did a wonderful job portraying the pregnant teenager. However, I noticed certain elements of her character in Hard Candy carried over to this film. Juno is like a snippet of Hayley Stark extended over a 96 minute time frame. Maybe that’s why she was chosen for the role or maybe Page has less range than I’d hoped. Regardless of the similarity, I enjoyed each character immensely. Second to Juno, I think my favorite character in this movie might have been her boyfriend Bleeker, played by Michael Cera. He’s a little bit of an awkward dork, but he’s so genuine and good-hearted that it’s hard not to be drawn to him.

In fact, the entire film is pleasantly quirky like that, from the soundtrack to the dialogue; something like a cross between Napoleon Dynamite and Little Miss Sunshine. I wonder if the people out there, who’ve criticized Juno for its lingo, have ever listened to a group of teenagers carry on a conversation. Judging from my experience as sister to a teenaged brother, Diablo Cody captured the demographic superbly in that regard. I just wish I could get that Moldy Peaches song out of my head!

It was nice to see a film about a topic that could have easily been a heavily dramatic one, treated with a lighter touch. It’s important to remember that Juno isn’t a movie about teen pregnancy. It’s a story about a girl and how that individual experiences being a pregnant teen. So, don’t look to the film to provide poignant social commentary or moral lessons. Don’t expect a lengthy examination of the abortion issue. Just relax and let yourself fall in love with the characters.

Overall Rating: 4
Hottie Rating: 3 (I'm hot for Bleeker)

Alternate Recommendation: Little Miss Sunshine
Official Site
IMDB Page
Austin Chronicle review

***Note: If you found this review via IMDB, please let us know by leaving a comment. Thanks!***

No Country for Old Men (2007)



Directed by: Ethan and Joel Coen
Format: Theater
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Woody Harrelson, Kelly Macdonald

There was only one movie nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture this year that I actually had the chance to see prior to the ceremony. However, if I had it to do over again, I would have chosen the same film. After all, No Country for Old Men may not have been the most hyped movie of 2007, but it walked away with the most statues.

Deep in the heart of Texas, Llewelyn Moss (Brolin) is shootin’ at some food, when he catches sight of an injured dog in his scope. Following the dog’s trail of blood back to its origin, he discovers a cluster of pickup trucks and a collection of fresh corpses. It appears to be the scene of a drug deal gone sour and when Llewelyn finds a suitcase full of money, he doesn’t stick around to ask the dead any questions. He’s a clever fellow and he knows that someone will be looking for the cash. What he doesn’t know is that the “someone” is Anton Chigurh (Bardem), and Anton Chigurh isn’t exactly the most well-balanced individual in town. In fact, during one of the earliest scenes, Anton gives us a good healthy dose of just how nuts he really is. You might laugh at the haircut, but hardly any who cross paths with the man is laughing, or ever will again.

Apparently, I’m not the only one who thought that Javier Bardem played an excellent hired killer. He did, after all, earn himself an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for this role. I loved the cool brand of insanity he put forth as Anton. His character isn’t Mickey & Mallory crazy, but smooth and sinister like James Bond if he had roomed with John Wayne Gacy in college. Tommy Lee Jones plays the small town cop trying to get a handle on the madness involved with his new case. Jones is one of those actors, to me, who can be either really terrible, or fairly solid, depending on what movie he’s in. In this one, he does a good job. His character is basically just watching from the sidelines though and primarily works to help the audience glue the pieces together and reflect on the bigger picture. Harrelson appears in a brief role as Carson Wells, the second hit man sent out to recover the suitcase full of cash. But, he talks a big talk without backing it up with anything impressive. The only purpose I could see for Wells was as a foil for Chigurh; to offer up an example of another hired man for the main killer to contrast against. Although well played, I didn’t feel that Harrelson’s character was necessary. I was engrossed in Josh Brolin’s character most of all. Llewelyn had that “common man” appeal, but with an unexpected edge of cunning. So, he was easy to root for as the protagonist. Even though I thought Anton Chigurh was a force to be reckoned with, I kept hoping Moss would get the jump on him.

Ever since Raising Arizona, I’ve been enamored of the Coens’ filmmaking. As if that film isn’t already a fine example, they went on from there, directing Blood Simple, The Big Lebowski and Fargo (another Oscar winner). I could go on for ages about the other films I’ve enjoyed from their filmography. However, the Coens are not infallible. In 2000, there was O Brother, Where Art Thou? , which was thoroughly disappointing. When they fell short of the mark again in 2004 with The Ladykillers, I was beginning to think they’d lost their touch. But, then came No Country for Old Men. At last, my faith was restored! It has everything that I’d come to love from the Coens; good dialogue, interesting characters, and just a little touch of oddity. No Country also has a more ethereal theme that overlays the entire film.

Since I actually braved the theaters for this movie, I had the opportunity to judge crowd reaction to the film. During the majority of the picture, there wasn’t the usual obnoxious rustling of popcorn bags, inconsiderate glowing of cell phones or irritating chatting going on. There was only silence, as if everyone was on the edge of their seats. This tells me that the movie did a great job of holding everyone’s interest. At the conclusion of the movie, there was audibly disappointed gasping. Personally, I enjoy an open-ended finale from time to time. However, it seems that this audience (and maybe you as well) doesn’t approve of endings that don’t arrive in neatly tied-up packages.

Overall Rating
: 5
Hottie Rating: 3 (for Javier and his voice)

Alternate viewing recommendation: Miller's Crossing
Official Site
IMDB Page
San Francisco Chronicle review

***Note: If you found this review via IMDB, please let us know by leaving a comment. Thanks!***

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

The Oscar Report 2008

brown nose

After reading over and over that the 80th Academy Awards show had the smallest television audience of any in its history, I wondered if I’d been the only person watching Sunday night. Had there been another show competing for ratings? The season finale of Lost, perhaps? After some quick research on the Nielsen ratings website, I discovered something that the newspapers neglected to mention. It seems that whoever was watching television that night was watching The Oscars. It was the most watched program all week! Lost, incidentally, was in 8th place.

You can find the official Academy Awards report on the Oscar website. The results for the most sought-after “bests” are:

Best Supporting Actor – Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men)
Best Supporting Actress – Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton)
Best Actor in a Leading Role – Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood)
Best Actress in a Leading Role – Marion Cotillard (La Vie En Rose)
Best PictureNo Country for Old Men
Best Directing – Ethan and Joel Coen and Scott Rudin (No Country for Old Men)

As you can see, No Country for Old Men swept The Awards. Incidentally, it was the only movie nominated that I actually had the fortune to see beforehand. You’ll have to wait for the review to find out what I thought of it. Although, I can say that I wasn’t surprised to see the movie win.

There were a few disappointments for me this year, chief among them being the award for Best Costume Design. The nominees were Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Across the Universe, Atonement, La Vie En Rose and Sweeny Todd. Not only was my personal pick, The Golden Compass, not chosen; it wasn’t even nominated! I remember one of the aspects of the movie that made the biggest impression on me was the beautiful wardrobe. Nicole Kidman’s dresses were beyond gorgeous and Lyra’s jacket was sublime, to name only a few examples. How much imagination did it take to come up with the costume design for Atonement? Oh Please. It never fails though. Design a wardrobe for any Elizabethan/Shakespearean picture and you’re bound to land a golden boy for Best Costume. At least The Golden Compass won Best Visual Effects.

I haven’t yet seen La Vie En Rose, but I was mildly shocked to see that Marion Cotillard walked away with Best Actress. After all of the hype surrounding the movie Juno and considering how wonderful I thought she was in Hard Candy, I could hardly believe that Ellen Page didn’t score the prize. I did have to run out the very next night to catch the late showing of Juno at the theater. That’s another review I’m going to make you wait on. (wait no longer)

Another surprise was the amount of success The Bourne Ultimatum achieved. It was nominated for Best Film Editing, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing and walked away with all three Oscars. Isn’t it unusual for an action film to get much attention from The Academy?

Not surprising, however, were the musical numbers during the show. To put it bluntly, they sucked. The only performance that was borderline tolerable was the “Happy Working Song” from Enchanted. Enchanted had 3 songs nominated for Best Music (Song). Not surprising, since it was one of very few musicals out during the year. The movie didn’t, however, win for any of them. I seem to recall the musical performances at the 2007 Awards being equally dismal. These moments are definitely the best opportunities for bathroom breaks and drink refreshing.

One of the best features of The Academy Awards each year is the chance to preview gobs of movies and short films. Fresh on my list to see are: The Diving Bell & The Butterfly, Michael Clayton, There Will Be Blood and a smattering of short film and animation.

Friday, February 15, 2008

News!

This could mean quite a change in Cantonese cinema. For those of us who love horror, it's a little frightening. Will filmmakers currently producing film in China take their productions elsewhere? Judging from the article, I would say that the ban only effects video already released. However, it's bound to have a ripple effect. What do you think?