juno Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Cinematical Seven: Pretentious Teenagers We Love
Filed under: Fandom », Cinematical Seven », Lists »
Pretentiousness is a universally-loathed quality in the movies, as in life, but in Miguel Arteta's Youth in Revolt, it's fully embraced in the form of 16-year-old hero Nick Twisp (Michael Cera) and his Francophile gal pal, Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday). Their pretensions come from their own personal tastes (he loves Frank Sinatra, she Jean-Paul Belmondo) but they're also the tools with which the teens get what they want out of life – Nick uses his alter ego, Francois Dillinger, to win Sheeni's love, and Sheeni obsesses over running away to Paris as a way out of the rural California trailer park she calls home. Still, their self-serious discussions of Tokyo Story, Serge Gainsbourg, futurist percussive poetry, and Camus made my head ache with hipster overload. I already live in L.A., home of American Apparel and, I'm sure, one of the biggest per-capita consumers of PBR in the nation, and sometimes enough is enough.
But while Nick Twisp and Sheeni Saunders may be the most annoyingly pretentious movie teens in recent memory, they're not alone. Plenty of affected youngsters have come before them (not coincidentally, there was a boom of cinematic pretension in the last ten years, a decade that also saw the rise of the hipster IRL). Check out seven of my favorites, and feel free to tell me how pretentious this list is in the comments below.
Max Fischer, Rushmore (1998)
Fifteen-year-old Max Fischer is Rushmore Academy's worst student, mostly because he's more concerned with arts and leisure activities than studying. But for all of his cultured posturing, Max's preternatural air is also a defense mechanism against the harsh reality that he's just a barber's son, and Ms. Cross would rather date Bill Murray and Luke Wilson.
Cinematical Seven: Non-Dysfunctional Movie Families
Filed under: Animation », Classics », Music & Musicals », Family Films », Cinematical Seven »
A few years ago, I wrote a Cinematical Seven on my favorite dysfunctional families in films. Everyone has a crazy messed-up movie family they love, whether it's the Hoovers in Little Miss Sunshine or the Bullocks in My Man Godfrey or the Corleones in the Godfather saga. I thought that this year, it would be fun to make a list of families that got along, worked together, and supported one another. You know, happy families ... but not dull, one-dimensional bundles of endless cheer.
It's a lot more difficult to find seven movies with happy-but-not-sappy families than it is to find the screwed-up kind, especially if you are looking for something more interesting than the Cleavers. Since I'm visiting my relatives for the Thanksgiving holidays, I asked them for suggestions. They were all very helpful, and I'm sorry I couldn't include all the suggestions, which ranged from The Thin Man to The Sound of Music to The Hills Have Eyes. Let me know what else we missed in the comments.
From Page to Screen: 'Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist', Part 2
Filed under: Comedy », Casting », From Page to Screen »
In interviews, Michael Cera has been ambivalent about his newfound fame. He's even expressed gentle skepticism regarding the Arrested Development movie everyone's buzzing about. I'm sure he has legitimate personal reasons to be concerned about his celebrity – it can't be easy for someone who doesn't have a huge personality, and who isn't a natural attention hog. But we fans and viewers also have reasons to worry. Foremost among them is the concern that Cera's popularity could drive him to roles where his talents are wasted. Indeed, as this fall's Nick & Norah's Inifinite Playlist demonstrated, it's already begun to happen. For the first time in the comic's career, his presence hurt the project instead of helping it.
In my first go-round with Nick & Norah, after reading the book and before seeing the film, I was optimistic that the role of Nick was just the opportunity for Cera to expand his range – play a character who is a little more confident, a little less tentative and hesitant. Sadly, that's not what happened. Instead, some subtle differences aside, Cera transplanted his (very funny) stock character from Arrested Development, Superbad and Juno into a story where that character wasn't needed, or welcome. In the process, he turned what could have been a sweet, moving romance into a tepid, if still amusing, teen comedy.
Jason Reitman Picks His Next Juno
Filed under: Comedy », Casting », Deals », Newsstand »
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What does last year's most talked-about teen flick have in common with this year's most talked-about pre-teen flick? Here's a hint: A director and an actress. Yes, Juno director Jason Reitman has finally chosen the female lead for his follow-up flick Up in the Air -- based on Walter Kim's (Thumbsucker) 2001 novel -- and he's chosen none other than Anna Kendrick. Who? Oh wait, I forgot to put this next to her name: Twilight actress Anna Kendrick.The Hollywood Reporter tells us that Kendrick, who played one of Bella's friends in the poetic vamp tale, beat out other actresses like Emily Blunt and Juno herself, Ellen Page. Go figure! In the film, Kendrick will play "a young woman who finds herself pulled into the orbit of a "career transition counselor" (i.e. professional firer) careening through the airless world of business travel." Oh, and that "career transition counselor" will be played by George Clooney. I haven't seen Twilight, but Kendrick was excellent in the small indie Rocket Science, and from what I remember she's got a sort of Emma Stone thing going on. Ya know, cute, girl-next-door-but-intelligent kinda personality. I dig her. Paramount will shovel it into theaters, but there's currently no word on a release date.
Fan Made: Hilarious 'Juneau' Poster
Filed under: Comedy », Fandom », Politics »
... and speaking of pregnant girls ...
I probably don't have to explain this poster too much, since, ya know, all anyone has been talking about for the past couple days is how Governor Sarah Palin's 17-year-old daughter was knocked up. The Juneau stands, of course, for Juneau, Alaska, which makes this whole thing that much easier to spoof. And how can you not love that tagline ... "A comedy about running for president ...and the bumps along the way." (It's a joke! Lighten up Pubs and enjoy your convention!) The poster, however, is slightly behind the ball -- from what I understand, we do know who the babydaddy is; he has curly hair and looks like every single male lacrosse player I've ever met. They play lacrosse in Alaska? Right on! We here at Cinematical wish these two younger-than-they-should-be parents a long and prosperous life together. (And let us know when we should start blaming the film Juno for this pregnancy. Damn you Hollywood! You done it again!)
Update: Thanks to Goss for pointing us toward two more funny posters, located in the gallery below.
[Thanks Kevin and Goss]
Clooney Will Headline Jason Reitman's 'Up in the Air'
Filed under: Comedy », Casting »
For the longest time -- until earlier this week, in fact -- I was convinced that Jason Reitman's next directing project was Diablo Cody's horror flick Jennifer's Body. Maybe that's because at a Team Juno roundtable interview last year, the two of them talked about it like it was their project (which it is, sort of -- Reitman's producing). Anyway, it's actually Karyn "Aeon Flux" Kusama who is directing Cody's follow-up, while Reitman is moving on to helm an adaptation of Walter Kirn's Up in the Air.I strongly recommend the novel, which is a terrific satire about a perpetually transitory businessman obsessed with collecting a million frequent flyer miles. I liked it better than Kirn's more popular Thumbsucker which was already adapted into a film. The movie could be very funny in the hands of a guy like Reitman -- sharp and insightful. It should be closer in tone to Thank You for Smoking than to Juno.
Reitman has already shifted the project into a higher gear by setting his sights on George Clooney, who's in talks to star as the narcissistic protagonist. While I'm pretty sure the character is quite a bit younger than the actor, Clooney has precisely the effortless comic chops this project needs. His profile won't hurt, either.
Cinematical Seven: More Than One Woman ... (The Bechdel Rule)
Filed under: Comedy », Gay & Lesbian », Independent », Cinematical Seven »
The other day, a blog entry from the cinetrix about "The Rule" evoked a flood of memories from my love-movies-hate-the-patriarchy college days. In 1989, my then-roommate's then-girlfriend showed me a comic strip from the series Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel. The strip was called "The Rule" and it was about a character who explained that she only went to movies that met three criteria:
1. Two of the characters had to be women --
2. Who talked with each other --
3. About something other than a man.
Read the original strip for yourself. At the time, "The Rule" had a big impact on my life -- it explained a lot about what I found lacking in movies. I wanted to watch strong action heroines, but I also wanted to see movies with women who talked about ordinary stuff that didn't involve boyfriends or husbands.
Teen Choice Awards Offer Chance to Laugh at Teens' Poor Taste
Filed under: Awards », Fandom »
Oh, teenagers. We grown-ups might mock you for your questionable taste in entertainment, fashion, and slang terms, but secretly we remember that we were once just like you. Some of us legitimately thought, back in the days of our own youth, that Gremlins was the greatest film ever made. So who are we to laugh at you when you vote Step Up 2 to the Streets (pictured) best movie drama of the year? You'll be embarrassed by that decision years from now, and you'll make fun of the teenagers who, in the year 2018, are selecting Saw XV: Still Sawin' as best drama. The 10th annual Teen Choice Awards were held last night in L.A. and will be televised tonight on Fox. Miley Cyrus was the host, and early word is that she managed to stay clothed the entire time. As mentioned, Step Up 2 the Streets won the award for "choice movie drama." (They say "choice" instead of "best," perhaps as an acknowledgment that no one really thinks this movie is the best; it's simply the one they've chosen.) The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian won for choice movie action-adventure, and Juno won choice movie comedy.
The rest of the movie-related awards, courtesy of the Associated Press, are after the jump. Should we have given a spoiler warning? Are the people watching the show tonight hoping to be surprised by the results? We face ethical dilemmas like this when awards shows are pre-taped. Anyway, the winners:
R-Rated Comedies Fare Poorly at the Box Office
Filed under: Comedy », Horror », New Releases », Box Office », Distribution », Exhibition »
According to a report conducted by Nielsen PreView published today in The Hollywood Reporter, R-rated comedies don't do so hot at the box office. The timing of these findings seems odd, considering that Step Brothers made a solid $30 million last weekend, while analysts are predicting that another summer comedy slapped with the restricted label, Tropic Thunder, will collect at least that much. Right in the middle of those two releases comes Pineapple Express, which, like Step Brothers and Tropic Thunder, has a built-in core audience interested in raunchy masculine humor. The findings of this report suggest that larger audiences don't want to attend R-rated movies, but it's sort of a pointless observation because R-rated comedies are only made for people who want to see them. Everyone else can check out You Don't Mess with the Zohan.
Of course, there is the occasional R-rated comedy with cross-over appeal, such as Knocked Up, but studios are probably hesitant to make many of those when a safely PG-13 Juno will suffice. Anyway, it's usually not difficult for Hollywood movies to trim a few vulgarities or the fleeting shot of exposed skin in order to knock down the rating a notch and maximize turnout. Horror films are a different story: They usually make bank with the R-rating intact.
Speaking to the 18 and over audience here: Do ratings play any role in the movies you choose to see?
From Page to Screen: 'Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist'
Filed under: Comedy », Independent », From Page to Screen »
I think that everyone who loves Michael Cera's comedy – and that should be practically everyone – is a little worried about Michael Cera. Because even as Arrested Development becomes legend, Superbad wins over every twentysomething in sight, and Juno charms the pants off the entire nation, the hushed, often unspoken question is: how long can he milk this? Cera's shtick is killer, but it's also ultra-specific – he's the shy, unprepossessing, painfully awkward adolescent, a nice guy who's self-aware enough to get embarrassed but not confident enough to avoid it.
Cera is so good at playing this part in a way that's both touching and hysterical that it's propelled him to stardom. For me to say that I haven't enjoyed any of the incarnations of George Michael Bluth that he's given us over the past couple years would be a bald-faced lie. Indeed, I think the character he's crafted is one of the most impressive comic achievements of my adult lifetime. But even as I relish it, I start to fidget, because I can sense exasperation and annoyance threatening from just around the bend. Oh, maybe not mine – I could watch Cera do this forever, I tell myself – but certainly other people will soon lose patience and turn on the guy. One-trick pony, they'll yell. Do something else.
'Big Top Pee-Wee': The Original Benicio Del Toro Wolfman
Spin-ematical: New on DVD and Blu-ray for 2/9
Watch This: Brilliant Oscar-Nominated Short 'Logorama'
Chris Nolan to Lead 'Superman' Reboot!?
Tim Robbins Joins 'The Green Lantern'
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