Honest to blog...

There are about 10 movies out right now that I really want to see, but I was able to catch 2 of them this week. The last time I did movie reviews it took me such a long time to write so I'm aiming for short & sweet this time.

Juno

What a cute movie. It's a nice break away from the condemnation and criticisms of teen pregnancy - not that I'm actually condoning it but I'm just saying it's something different from what we get shoved through our ears everyday (Jamie Lynn Spears anyone?). As a viewer, watching Juno's situation unfold with a more intimate perspective challenges some of the stereotypes that some people may have toward teen pregnancy in general; that could be a good or bad thing, depending how you look at it, but I left the movie thinking about totally unexpected things. Optomistic thoughts of family values, life, & love from a teenage pregnancy story probably don't sound like they should mesh together, but that's what I got out of it. A couple things that could have improved were the lines or dialogue that I felt were "trying" too hard to be quirky or hip. Take the title of this entry for example... Other than that, I would recommend anyone to see this movie. A-.

Cloverfield

A picture from Cloverfield Clues & 1-18-08.com

The best way to enjoy this movie is to either: A) Come into the movie with no greater expectations besides wanting to see a solid monster movie, or B) Read and follow up on all of the outside information about this movie on the internet if you want a backstory (you won't get much from the movie). With that said, the marketing from this movie was AMAZING. You can find most of the links from the movie's viral campaigns at Cloverfield Clues - it includes "news" reports that cover events that culminate into the NYC attack, sites of companies that are relevant to the backstory of the monster, and myspaces of the characters in the movie. Even the comments that they leave each other lead up to what happens in the movie. JJ Abrams' team definitely went all out for this one. As for the actual movie, watching it was an experience in itself. Take some Dramamine before you go if you get motion sickness really easily or you just might puke. It was also really intense; I reacted alot to what was happening in the movie either with some face gesture or "omg" like I was a witness to some disaster unfolding in front of me. In summary, as first said, I think you can only really enjoy the movie coming into it with these specific mindsets. If you have been following the marketing campaigns, the movie will most likely validate your efforts. If you don't know anything about it, don't expect too many explanations but rather just go for the movie experience. B-.

Looking forward to: There Will Be Blood, No Country for Old Men, The Orphanage, Atonement, & more