Juno (2007)

By now, everyone has seen Juno. If, for some reason, you've been living under a rock or in the penal system for the last five years, congratulations on your good behavior! Now go see Juno.

Ellen Page is one of the best actresses to come out of Hollywood in recent years. She's like a tiny Meryl Streep. Michael Cera I couldn't give less of a damn about, but everyone else in the movie is great. I think it helps that no one looks perfect; they actually look like they characters they're supposed to be playing.

Seriously, Cera plays the exact same character in everything he does. He needs to shake it up a little bit, maybe get fat or something.

I digress. A hitherto-unknown woman named Diablo Cody wrote the screenplay and won an Oscar for it. It was one of the few times the Academy and the public were on the same page. I haven't seen her follow-up attempt, Jennifer's Body, but I heard it fell a little short of Oscar material. It's hard to get lightning to strike twice.

I bought it a while ago but hadn't actually watched it since the theatrical release. I think I was worried that it wouldn't be as good, that I had hyped it up in my mind in the intervening two years. It was extremely popular for a while there and most things that are that popular tend to be worth very little in the long run. Happily, it is an excellent film on its own merits and well worth multiple viewings.