Juno

reviewed by Chrystal Vible

The film Juno caught my attention as I stumbled across an article which featured ex-stripper, blogger turned screenwriter, Diablo Cody – who was first discovered by an agent on her personal blog, “The Pussy Ranch.” After landing her first book deal, her agent urged her to write a screenplay and – for the price of countless hours spent sitting in Target – Juno materialized.

It’s the story of non-conformant 16-year-old Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page), a high school girl who gets pregnant after having sex with her pasty-legged, track-shorts wearing boyfriend, Bleeker (Michael Cera). Rather than aborting, she decides to find adoptive parents, as she sacrifices her petite frame in exchange for the nickname “cautionary whale.” Juno gets to know the perfect looking couple from the local Penny Saver, but, more deeply, she tries to figure out whether or not it’s possible for two people to really love each other. In the end it turns out that what seemed to be so perfect, wasn’t so perfect after all, but she learns that maybe life doesn’t have to be.

The film expresses the counter-Hollywood truth that life and love are flawed and full of pain, but beauty emerges through the struggle of human relationship. The film is carried along by quirkiness and Ellen Page’s never-ending string of witty one-liners. By the end, her previously one-dimensional comedic character gains depth and complexity and viewers are left wondering what those tears are doing rolling down their cheeks.

If you don’t run to the theatres, rent it on a rainy day: the script is clever and the soundtrack, with its pseudo-folk, is really catchy.

There Will Be Blood

reviewed by Mason Judy

There Will Be Blood is a film that can be quickly assessed as brilliant by its individual elements. Released late in 2007, it has already received wide acclaim and academy hype. It is directed, produced and written by Paul Thomas Anderson, of Magnolia and Punch Drunk Love fame, and carried by the performance of Daniel Day-Lewis. Jonny Greenwood, lead guitarist of Radiohead, composes the score. The film is loosely based on the book Oil! by Upton Sinclair. Though it is through the beauty of film that the synthesis of these creative elements can take place to make a truly prolific piece of art.

Set in varying times through the early 1900s, There Will Be Blood focuses on Daniel Plainview (Day-Lewis), an oil prospector in the southwestern United States. The majority of the movie takes place in the town of Little Boston where Plainview leases vast amounts of land from the residents. Day-Lewis’ character appears in the outset of the film as an ambitious businessman but as more layers are revealed as a complex agent of greed and hatred. There is tension in the film between this harbinger of manic capitalism and the young preacher Eli Sunday (Paul Dano) as the voice of religiosity. Faith in God is held by the weak and is held at bay by the strong arm of fiscal power.

Anderson utilizes other religious symbols and portrays how warped facets of humanity can become in the wake of economic gain. The score by Greenwood is both driving and jarring and causes tension that is almost omnipresent in the film, which is intriguing but at times too overwhelming an element. There Will Be Blood brings to the screen visual richness that can be immediately enjoyed and deeper questions to be pondered, which is certainly a general attribute to any great film.

I Am Legend (2007)

reviewed by Kenji Skulstad

I’ll admit, I chose to see I Am Legend largely because of the six-minute Dark Knight trailer (which, by the way, was delectable). I was pleasantly surprised to find that I Am Legend was more than watching Will Smith play Resident Evil on a big screen. (The film’s premise is that the world has become infected with a cancer-cure that mutates and creates vampire/mutants).
Will Smith delivers a solid performance as Lieutenant Colonel Robert Neville, especially considering he is the sole performer for 99 per cent of the film. His life is a sad routine that seems to be without end. He is a little crazy, talking to mannequins, but the routine helps keep him from descending fully into madness.

The film stays on this point, showing the intertwining nature of reality: Neville is crazy, but his insanity is what keeps him from going crazy. The saddest moments of the film are also the most comical, such as when Neville finds a mannequin displaced and kills it, losing a friend in the process.

The film is surprisingly thoughtful, though some of the ideas aren’t fully developed. This creates mystery and tension, but ultimately left me waiting for the DVD’s deleted scenes. Watch I Am Legend and consider the portrayal of God, life, and science with your friends after.