Juno and More

I've been seriously tardy with reviews lately. I saw Old Country, but before I could muster a write-up, Nilay beat me to it. Now the same thing happens with Juno. Will I ever get the jump on Nilay again? Anyway, before I post an obligatory response to Nilay's first-to-hit-the-presses Juno review, I will give you five mini-reviews for the movies I've seen but not told you about:

Dan in Real Life: One of Steve Carell's biggest gifts as an actor is his ability to produce a very honest melancholy. Fans of the Office know what I mean -- as Michael Scott, the confident but ultra-awkward division branch manager of Dunder-Mifflin, Carell exudes a touching childlike quality that shines through the offensive exterior of his character. Dan in Real life, like Little Miss Sunshine, allows Carell to hit the right notes when it comes to his sadness without depressing the audience. Juliette Binoche is radiant [but I hate using that word] throughout, and they have good chemistry. Other notes: Dane Cook is not that annoying -- his song about "pig-faced Ruthie" is the high humor point of the film; The ending is too sudden; Dan is not completely likable, so the character is very round. See it.

Live Free or Die Hard (DVD): I am a big fan of Willis and this franchise, so I'm biased, but I actually thought it was pretty good. Ridiculously unrealistic action sequences don't hurt the movie much, because John McClane actually gets seriously injured in a lot of them. Premise is pretty good (Goldfinger plus Post 9/11 world, multiplied by Sneakers, minus the Net, divided by the Speed movies), but Timothy Olyphant's villain is no Hans Gruber in terms of personality. He was basically doing his character from Deadwood - lots of shooting daggers with his eyes. Other notes: Justin Long is tolerable, but no, I will not buy a Mac; Bruce Willis in an 18-wheeler beats a U.S. Air force jet fighter every time. See it if you like this kind of thing.

The Golden Compass: My source who's read the book (soon to be movie blogger, Bree) says that they didn't leave anything really important out, but that they really had to abridge it to make it work as a film (as opposed to doing it the Peter Jackson way -- 7 hours long?). The plot is about a parallel universe in which every human has a soul called a "daemon," which takes the form of some animal and follows you around and keeps you company. Nice gimmick. Other notes: Ian McShane and Ian McKellen play polar bears that kick some serious ass; It's true -- the movie has a very anti-Catholic tone; Daniel Craig is barely in it; I love the little girl's cockney accent; monkeys can be really scary; Sam Elliot has cornered the market for the role of cowboy-out-of-place. See it, but only if you are not a Harry Potter snob.

Side note: Are there any fantasy novels that don't involve some sort of hardcore large-scale battle scenes? Someone has got to come up with something new.

Hot Rod (DVD): Dick in a Box star Andy Samberg gets together with his friends and makes a movie consisting of mildly funny physical gags sandwiched around a bunch of jokes about 80's culture. Funny enough to make it through, but not nearly as inspirational as Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (I'm being serious). Isla Fisher is invisible as the straight-woman. Other notes: How did they get Ian McShane to be in this?; Samberg is funnier on SNL; no real villain in a slapstick comedy like this is kind of brave. Don't bother seeing this, unless you are a teenage girl.

National Treasure, Book of Secrets: Nicolas Cage reprises his role as wacky American history buff/treasure hunter, who this time risks life and limb so that the memory of his great-great grandfather is not tarnished. There's not too much at stake here, so it's hard to buy all the danger being worth it. The "puzzles" are not clever. Sidekick Justin Bartha is still amusing. Other notes: Ending sequence goes on forever, but is essentially the same as the ending in the first one; Bruce Greenwood plays the president, but not JFK this time; Can you really not get any other roles, Diane Kruger? See it if you really need some bubble gum after seeing Kite Runner or some such foreign masterpiece.

And finally. . .

Juno: The title character is way too witty, a la Aaron Sorkin and Gillmore Girls, but DIablo's screenplay is very funny. Ellen Page is good, but she was way too much like her character in Hard Candy -- I need to see her do something different before I anoint her the Next Big Thing. The mellow folk soundtrack was a little too overbearing for my tastes -- even Brian DePalma and Wes Anderson couldn't make the music any more in-your-face than Reitman did here. Other notes: I needed to see why Juno felt the way she did about Cera's character, definitely not enough here; Jason Bateman was great, and his relationship with Juno made for some good drama; More Rainn Wilson, please. Go ahead and see it, but stop watching all that Juno "propaganda" first so you can enjoy it without inflated expectations.

Happy Holidays!