See This...

It was one of those weekends...not much to do...no real plans...so I caught up on my Nexflix, cleared out the DVR and went to the movies. Pretty much the perfect weekend. I saw 2 of the 5 movies I've most been looking forward to - Atonement and Juno.

I feel I can't tell you much about the plot of Atonement without giving away serious plot points...I didn't know much about the story going in and I think it helped my enjoyment of the film. Just know, it's a drama set before and during WWII about love and loss and all those great and important themes that make films worth watching. What is really amazing and wonderful about Atonement, however, is not so much the story or the performances (which are all great), but the look of the film. It is absolutely gorgeous. Much like director Joe Wright's Pride and Prejudice, England appears other worldly...like what I imagine heaven would look like. Kiera Knightly is gorgeous (the now (semi) famous green dress she wears in the film should be, like, put in the Museum of Really Beautiful Things (it's in DC, I swear)). James McAvoy is gorgeous. Even the war is gorgeous. I just wanted to sit in the theater and live in that world forever. Also amazing was the music. Never before have a seen a film where the music was so perfect at setting mood and ambiance. It should totally win the GG for best score.

I suppose my only problem with Atonement is it didn't stay with me like I thought it would. I didn't find myself really thinking about it afterward. It ended and I moved on...unlike some of the other great films I've seen this year which made me think on them for hours after they ended. I think my hopes were a little too high and it was impossible for the movie to live up to them...except for that dress...it is still the loveliest thing ever.


And then there was Juno, which spent about 30 minutes being a bit too quirky (seriously. Who still uses novelty hamburger phones?) and finally grooved into a very sweet and funny comedy about a 16 year-old girl who gets pregnant because she is bored and decides to have sex with her best friend. Ellen Page, who plays the title character, is bloody fantastic (it really has been a good year for young actresses). She is so funny and smart...her relationship with George Michael Bluth...I mean, err, Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera) is really adorable. They are smitten with each other, but her sass gets in the way of any real relationship (what young girl hasn't treated a boy like crap as a defense mechanism? Hell, I still do it and I'm 29!). As much as I liked Juno, I couldn't help but think about Waitress, a superior unwanted pregnancy movie released earlier this year and now on DVD. I think my preference for the latter has everything to do with my age. Juno is about a high school girl where Waitress is about an unhappy 20 something. Obviously, I have more in common with Keri Russell's waitress then some Iggy and the Stooges loving 16-year-old. Both are definitely worth seeing, but I think Waitress should receive the same love as Juno this award season. Guess Keri Russell shoulda had a hamburger phone.