Not About the Capital of Alaska

Mrs. Bartender and I saw Juno last night, and I hate to use the word delightful, but it works here. It is an excellent film without any pretensions that is extremely funny and still touching. If I am making it sound like a chick flick, it's not. The cast is outstanding--Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jason Bateman (yes, both Michael Bluth and George-Michael are in the film but not in any scenes together), Jennifer Garner, J.K. Simmons, and Alison Janney all deserve a lot of praise. I have seen the film compared to Knocked Up, but that is not fair. Although both are about single women who get pregnant after a single sexual encounter, this is the much more mature film (even if the pregnant female in it is 16). Its humor is in a much different vein than the Apatow flick, and it is much more real. I highly recommend it.

I also note that a number of interesting films have come out of late. (No surprise as it is the holiday season.) I hope to see at lesat two in the next week, but we will see. I assure you that Walk Hard will be one of them, but I also want to see some of the (somewhat) more serious fare, e.g., Charlie Wilson's War, Sweeney Todd, The Savages, and American Gangster. (Already saw the outstanding No Country for Old Men.)

And happy holidays to all. See you in 2008 although I may make a cameo over the next 10 days.