Is this the Juno thread?

I feel like half the people posting in this thread take a bad way, way, way too personally. I mean, jesus, don't watch it if it's going to give you an anger aneurysm.

the aneurysm almost happened after the movie, dude.

I just don't see the point in getting so worked up over a shitty movie. I usually just shrug and regret the two hours I wasted, I don't spend weeks feeling angry over it.

Maybe if a person didn't have every other person in their life spend the weeks and weeks asking you, enthusiastically, "have you seen Juno yet?!"

Everyone I know who saw Juno is on the backlash bandwagon, so I get to be the one who sheepishly says "I kinda dug it but I understand the criticism I guess" because it's too slight to defend with any vigor.

People are hating this movie for the rong reasons. They're getting worked up about the "issue" of abortion, when the movie isn't a morality tale or an after-school special. It's a comedy about a singular person in an individual situation. Then they're mad because of all the "indie signifiers", because they are still under the delusion that they somehow possess the magic key to jaded enlightenment and non-mainstream culture, as if these music / artists / or ideals will never cross over. Like, "Hey, other assholes are listening to MY MUSIC, and to add insult to injury, they're thriftshopping too!" Get over it. I don't hear clear arguements against the script, performances, production, etc.

And so, I ask again, what exactly is the bar for Teen Dramedy if not Juno?

I thought it was a nice little movie but it would never have occurred to me that it would be Oscar nomination material.

And so, I ask again, what exactly is the bar for Teen Dramedy if not Juno?

That Hannah Montana/Jonas brothers concert movie. And I'm fine with that.

Also, in my day, we had Good Burger.

Get over it. I don't hear clear arguements against the script, performances, production, etc.

Dude, have you read this thread at all?

how do you separate the script and the movie, espesh in something like juno

Oh, I'll argue against the script, homeskillet.

I'm fo shizz up the spout about the script as well.

And so, I ask again, what exactly is the bar for Teen Dramedy if not Juno?

I'd go with "Freaks & Geeks."

Also, has this already been linked to?:

http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/20583820.html#cutid1

("pages" from "'Diablo Cody''s next script"; couple of laughs)

i dunno, i think the entire problem with the movie was the script

yes that fake script was already linked and yes stripper devil is the whole problem with Juno.

To top Juno it's genre we've been offered Good Burger, Freaks & Geeks, and Hannah Montana.

Mmkay.

isn't the genre 'decent but not outstanding story marketed as a quirky little indie outsider in a transparent attempt to excuse literary preciousness and myriad dramatic shortcomings?'

see also: wes anderson, sophia coppela

To top Juno it's genre we've been offered Good Burger, Freaks & Geeks, and Hannah Montana.

Mmkay.

-- Bobbi Peru, Saturday, February 23, 2008 6:24 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Link

Would agree with all three of these.

Plus, y'know, heathersghostworldadvdboxsetofdaria etc etcetc

Daria had a much better soundtrack as well, they played that "You're Never There" tune by Cake once.

Seek:the tracey fragments by bruce mcdonald(hardcore logo) w ellen page..its really great..link still live http://www.videofactor.com/traceyfragments.html

Funniest teen movies were the 80s ones like Ferris Bueller and Heathers.

Ferris' shower speech is 10x cooler/wittier than anything Juno comes out with.

he had better taste in music too.

he had a cabaret voltaire poster in his room!

Again, Juno defender here, but I pity the fool who prefers it to Freaks and Geeks.

Heathers was satire. Ferris Bueller was comedy.
Freaks & Geeks has dramatic elements, but is way over rated.
Overall I'd go with Ghost World, too, for teen drama.

Satire isn't comedy?

I originally asked what the bar for teenage "dramedy" was (drama / comedy), and I don't believe that Heathers or Ferris Beuller would qualify in the drama department. Is all.

teenagers aren't allowed to go to the bar

congrats to news international for winning the independent spirit awards last night.

I think the people are overhating "Juno" here (myself included) because this movie is the ultimate "mainstream" indie icon. And a lot of it is just hate by association (for instance, I live in Canada and it reminds me of all these bands who appear on the cover the weekly music mags and then I feel like throwing up). It just feels so tired and so old for 2008. It's really not that bad otherwise, it just came out at a very wrong time.

it isn't -- nor has it ever been -- indie. it is a $7.5 million dollar film cannily (and heavily) marketed at probably much more than twice that budget.

You cruel cynic.

yeah, i guess i could see it as the movie equivalent of the strokes.

Remy, I think that's part of the problem people have with it, though. In its mass-market designs, it represents the oversaturation of a particular "indie" aesthetic that had started to grow stale by the end of the 1990s but somehow took on a new place by being subsumed into the mainstream in the early-to-mid 2000s with Seth Cohen wearing ringer tees on The O.C. and Modest Mouse in car commercials and such.

"took on a new life," I meant. It's late.

it IS late.

i didn't completely hate this but I don't get either the glowing praise or the bile thrown at it.

i understand, jaymc, and i think that hatin' for indie fakiness is a silly reason for antipathy when there are other, more legit things to dislike in the story and horrible dialogue

I like films like this for never playing anyone as being 'totally unsympathetic' or 'all loveable', although you always suspect the motive and/or outcome.

Fact is, the 'worst' thing never happens, which is more like real life and less like movies.

i think that hatin' for indie fakiness is a silly reason for antipathy when there are other, more legit things to dislike in the story and horrible dialogue

dude, this has been made abundantly clear in this thread.

Yeah, I can live with the indie signifiers, the biggest problem was the over-written dialogue and the irrititatingly quirky characters. However, I don't think Juno is a bad movie, just that it isn't worthy of all the praise when better movies about similar themes (like Ghost World or Saved!) exist. It's kinda like Lost in Translation in that sense: an okay semi-indie, semi-Hollywood film that is for some reason lifted into the stature of a masterpiece.

Basically they talk like indier versions of the characters in Dawson's Creek.

presumably Dawson's Creek was easier to handle (I freely confess to watching much of its first 2 seasons) bcz it was 1) free and 2) just TV.

And even Joey Potter knew better than to go around calling people "home skillet".

well i think this film is much worse than lost in translation, which I guess people here hate, and I can understand the criticisms, but you have to admit LiT LOOKED wonderful, it's a very lush film. there is nothing particularly striking about how Juno looks, it's a plot and story driven film. it's alright.

Lost in Translation is a much better movie, in part because Coppola understood that dialogue is not essential.

Lost in Translation is a much worse movie, in part because Coppola thinks long silences suffice to express depth of feeling.

haha, I think you're both kind of otm. She understands that silence is sometimes better than dialogue, but hasn't quite figured out what to do with the silence.

supreme teen dramedy: crazy/beautiful (repping for that one 'til I die)

Lost in TranslationNo Country For Old Men is a much worse movie, in part because CoppolaMcCarthy thinks long silences suffice to express depth of feeling.