JUNO

Continuing the Sneaky Cheetah's not that impressive quest to see every Oscar Nominated film before the awards show!

Juno is nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Ellen Page), and Best Original Screenplay.

What a refreshing breath of fresh air is Juno in this Oscar season filled with mostly depressing films. It's a simple enough story. 16 year old Juno gets preggers, but decides to not abort the baby. She finds the seemingly perfect couple to adopt the baby, but they maybe not so perfect after all. A short plot summery, but this film is not about plot. It's about characters. Juno spouts whip-smart dialogue and oozes sarcasm, expressing herself as unique in thought and appearance. But that exterior occasionally cracks and we see Juno still has the worries of an average 16 year old, a tribute to the acting of Ellen Page. I first noticed Page in X3 when she stole every scene she was in. The Oscar nomination is well deserved. It's a shame more of this cast didn't receive Supporting nods, especially Allison Janney as Juno's step mom and J.K. Simmons as her dad. Michael Cera pretty much rehashes his character from Superbad, that's fine by me. The adoptive parents to-be are played by Jennifer Garner (as Vanessa) and Jason Bateman (as Mark). The plot twists as former rocker Mark becomes closer to Juno and realizes that he's traded in his coolness to start a family with Vanessa. Hmmm.... a musician give up the life to start a family and maybe regrets it and wonders if he's ready to give up his youth? Why does that strike a chord with me.....

Also snubbed is the music. Maybe this is on a technicality, like the songs were written way before the film and only songs written expressly for the film can get the Oscar nomination. But music plays a big part, especially the songs by The Moldy Peaches that are sprinkled throughout the film. The closing scene featuring the Peaches "Anyone Else But You" is a pure moment of cinematic joy that ends the film on a perfect note.

Anyway, there's too many interesting think happening in this film for me to further extrapolate on. You should see this. Now. You will enjoy it. Writer Diablo Cody will take the screenwriting Oscar home, it's how they reward the small film that honestly has no shot in the Picture, Director, and Actress categories. But honestly, it's my number one, most fav film of 2007. Fo' Shizz!

The Sneaky Cheetah's Grade: A

It's all rookie nominees for Juno, so let's welcome Director Jason Reitman (son of Ivan), Actress Ellen Page, Screenwriter Diablo Cody, and producers Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick, and Russell Smith to the Big Show!