Not just a city in Alaska anymore

It's a good thing I haven't yet written up my summary of the movies I've seen this year, because tonight I saw Juno, which is (a) fantastic and (b) definitely one of the best movies of the year. I especially recommend this film to Lemming, who was formerly my usual "date" (well, only because neither of us could do better) for such indie fare. We've both moved on since then. :)

This film is a so-called "coming of age story" involving awkward teenagers, and like Rushmore and Thumbsucker (and unlike Napoleon Dynamite, which was ok but extremely overrated), this one is spot on. In fact, I definitely like this movie better than Thumbsucker overall and I might even like it as much as Rushmore (we'll see what I think after more time passes), which is very high praise indeed. The dialogue and acting are both fantastic, and the music complements the film extremely well (and has some very amusing lyrics --- including the songs that play during the credits, so I suggest you stay to listen to them).

The main player in the film ("Juno") previously starred as Kitty Pryde in the X-Men films, and the some of the other people are also very familiar: Jason Bateman from Arrested Development (and, back in the day, Silver Spoons), one of the kids from Arrested Development (and Superbad), and the guy who starred as Julian Jamieson in the Spiderman films (he played the father). There were a huge number of priceless lines in this film, which resonates with me a great deal. (I have a very soft spot for witticisms and snarkiness.) It certainly helps that the main character is someone who is going through something very serious but nevertheless maintains a sense of humor and is always making lots of snarky, tactless comments. I approve!

Here is one of my favorite lines:

Vanessa Loring: Your parents are probably wondering where you are.

Juno MacGuff: Nah... I mean, I'm already pregnant, so what other kind of shenanigans could I get into?


Here's another one:

Juno MacGuff: You should've gone to China, you know, 'cause I hear they give away babies like free iPods. You know, they pretty much just put them in those t-shirt guns and shoot them out at sporting events.


As I mentioned above, this is clearly one of the best films this year. Go see it!