Juno...really?

I know...how far behind the times am I.  I have to admit, after the crazed reaction to Little Miss Sunshine, a film I found mildly funny, cute, and wildly over rated, I was not anxious to throw myself into another quirky little indie that could.  But, eventually, it came up on my Netflix queue, and with no ado, I watched it.

So, I guess once again, I am in the minority on this one.  All these Oscar noms and an Oscar, for the last 15 minutes of an okay film with too much over the top dialogue, an irritating central character, and point and shoot direction?

Personally, I think Ellen Page was 100 times better in Hard Candy, a film not very apt to capture the imagination of the movie going mainstream.  

 I'm left struggling with the Best Actress Oscar nomination.  The performance came down, really,  to those last 15 minutes.  Much like Keisha Castle-Hughes in Whale Rider, she was seemingly nominated for two or three scenes in a movie where she was in every scene. The talking point was  that she made the quirky dialogue work, but I beg to disagree.  Page seemed a tad forced and/or uncomfortable (not entirely her fault...I mean really a pipe?) right up until the movie took a turn for the more serious.  That would be the basement scene with Jason Bateman. ( BTW Bateman, along with the rest of the supporting cast, were the real stars of this movie.  And how perfect was Michael Cera? ) After that point...the basement scene...then, yeah, bravo for Page.  But, what about that?  Do we forget and forgive all flaws as long as the movie has a feel good teary eyed ending?    

To be sure, I am now doubly pissed off that Evan Rachel Wood was snubbed for her turn in thirteen.  Surely her last 15 minutes should have earned her the same respect?  There was no cutting away the camera in thirteen either.  Wood was kicking it for the whole movie...the whole movie, not the last sprint to the finish.  If you haven't seen thirteen, rent it for Hunter and Wood's ferocious performances.  Was Wood's character too unsympathetic?  Too real? Maybe.

 So, yes,  I'm bitter....what can I say.  I feel the same about Ellen's performance in Hard Candy...that was some real shit going on there.  Can you imagine that connecting with the heartland?  Or the Academy members? Me neither.  If you haven't seen Hard Candy, rent it.  Two characters, basically, and one setting, basically, and the director keeps you on the edge of your seat and always questioning the possible outcome.

And by the way, did anyone see or read The Savages?  Now, that was a great script.  But, not so easy to digest, and certainly a lot more uncomfortable then Juno.  

Well, they gave Jennifer Hudson an Oscar for singing a song... in the same style of the Broadway actress who originated it, I might add.  Okay, I did add.  But, seriously, wasn't she asleep at the wheel for much of that movie?  

Anyway, I digress. 

 I won't go into some of the offensive dialogue either, except to say, I adopted a child from China and they don't "shoot those babies out in t-shirt guns".  It is a long involved and difficult process.  China is too strict for Angelina even, as they don't allow you to pick one out based one whatever her criteria might be.

But that is not why I didn't like Juno.  I promise.  And if it's any consolation to die hard fans, at no point in the movie did I want to slit my wrists.  Now that movie really was "Lost In Translation"...but that's another story.