Honest to blog.

Juno

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I remember a while back I made a statement about how between Seth Rogen and Judd Apatow and Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg, they were making the funniest movies in Hollywood today. At the time I didn't think of it, but I should have also added Jason Reitman's name to that list. Between his last movie, the hilarious tongue-and-cheek Thank You For Smoking, and his newest, Juno, the man knows how to direct a great movie and pick great stories to put on screen.

Juno is the story of a teenager who gets pregnant and her decision to put the child up for adoption. Fairly simple. But there are so many amazing characters in this story. The writer, Diablo Cody, has truly written a smart, funny, intelligent and touching screenplay that brings to mind some of the more well-made "teen" movies some people my age have seen in the past (The Breakfast Club, Say Anything).

Big kudos to Ellen Page for making her Juno character so realistic that I swear I've seen this kid before, albeit not necessairily pregnant, standing in front of the local convenience store. Also, Michael Cera is up to his typical awkwardness that makes his character endearing and a little bit sweet. The entire cast really is fantastic. JK Simmons, as Juno's dad, provides some big laughs.

I was really looking forward to seeing this movie, and it didn't disappoint at all. I loved everything about it. My only wish is that if filmmakers are going to continue to make movies for teens about teens, that they take a look at things like Juno and think "You know what, kids are smart. And they can "get" smart movies. Let's make a smart movie," instead of thinking "Let's make something awful like Superhero Movie... More Spoofs! More! More! More!"

See this movie. It really is fantastic.