Juno - Jason Reitman

Sometimes, the way I rate a movie has nothing to do with academic standards or production values. My gut and my throat are the indicators. Yup... When I really like a film, I get overwhelmed and this funky feeling -similar to the butterfly flutter you get when you are "in love"- takes over.

This happened with Juno.

Juno is the story of a courageous high-schooler who goes through teenage pregnancy without loosing her cool (well, only when Pauly Bleeker decides to go to prom with someone else). And let me tell you, I relate. It resonates. It made me laugh and cry. I'm still trying to figure out what made it exactly... Luckily, I never went through teenage pregnancy, nor any of my friends, but Diablo Cody (the former stripper, now author) hit on the spot. I never expected the next Jason Reitman's film to be like this. After the frivolous Thank you for smoking, he picked a good fresh script, a cool, young Canadian actress (Ellen Page) the cute/femenine geek of the year (Michael Cera) and a great soundtrack.

So yeah, probably the songs were cued during the "you should cry moments" and certain characters ended up being pretty well fleshed (check out Jen Garner... she does a good job).

So, the soundtrack (expect cutsey pastoral songs for girls and boys wearing cozy sweaters)
lots of Kimya Dawson www.KimyaDawson.com
Belle and Sebastians
The Moldy Peaches
Cat Power
Antsy Pants
Sonic Youth
Velvet Underground

*Will be out in stores till Jan 8.