Juno (2007)

Directed by Jason Reitman



Verdict: One of the most original films of recent times. It tackles a difficult subject with comedy and is both hilarious and heart-wrenching. Diablo Cody writes the most unique script of the 21st century in a film characterised by zingy dialogue, stand out acting and emotive camera shots. Great movie.

Juno’s script, by Diablo Cody, was what inspired me to work in film. That’s probably not the norm. I’m guessing a lot of people are spurred on by films considered a little bit more high-brow than Juno. But the absolutely brilliant writing of this script inspired me, and made me want to write for the screen. The script is probably the best thing about this film; which is no mean feat considering Reitman directs a film shot in beautiful colours and with innovative shots, and who can forget the outstanding Ellen Page as pregnant teen Juno?

It’s a theme which has almost been done to death in Hollywood – pregnancy. In that sense Juno isn’t a particularly unique film. It’s the edgy way it broaches the subject that separates it from so many dull rom-coms about surprise knock-ups (see if you can decipher what I’m referring to…).
I’m going on a lot about the script. But it’s hard not to. Let’s look at the opening exchanges between Juno and the utterly fascinating shopkeeper:

“Back for another test?”
“I think the first one was defective. The plus sign looks more like a division symbol, so I remain unconvinced.”
“Third test today, mama bear. Your eggo is preggo, no doubt about it. It's really easy to tell. Is your nipples real brown? Yeah, maybe your little boyfriend's got mutant sperms; knocked you up twice.”
“Silencio, old man! Look, I just drank my weight in Sunny D and I got to go pronto.”
“Well, you know where the lavatory is. And pay for that pee stick when you're done. Don't think it's yours just 'cause you marked it with your urine….
What's the prognosis, fertile Myrtle? Minus or plus?”
“I don't know. It's not seasoned yet.”
“Take some of these.”
“No, there it is. God, that little pink plus sign is so unholy.”
“That ain't no Etch A Sketch. This is one doodle that can't be un-did, home skillet.”

I mean, come on. That’s absolute genius. The entire film comes up with incredible sayings that just have to be integrated into my everyday speech.


Aside from the script, there is some pretty brilliant acting in Juno. Page, in her breakout role, completely owns the screen like a seasoned pro. For most of the film she is utterly hilarious in a unique dead-pan, verging-on-crazy style. She shows her true acting credentials in the scenes just after Mark admits he doesn’t want a baby and after she gives up said baby, however. Her change in emotions is heartbreakingly realistic and adds a new dimension to the previously comedic role, and rightly was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. The supporting cast are no less impressive either; Michael Cera is always is nails-on-blackboard awkward and utterly adorable, Jennifer Garner is both irritating as hell and totally endearing, and Allison Janney and J.K Simmons for me steal the show as Juno’s oddball parents.

Reitman’s directing is, on examination, much more emotive and reflective than it first appears. The entire make-up of the film is striking – the usages of colour, lighting and sound all lend to the emotional rollercoaster of both the audience and the titular character. The opening sequence interspersed with cartoon-like graphics of Juno is beautifully done and opens up nicely onto the lawn with the infamous armchair.

Juno's soundtrack is one of the most indie, unusual and beautiful in years, and enjoyed correspoinding success. Many of the songs are performed by the brilliant Kimya Dawson, and the entire soundtrack has a positive, edgy, not run-of-the-mill feel to it, that complements the message and performances of the film beautifully.

The film received both negative and positive attention for its treatment of the topic of abortion. It’s hard to say on which side (pro-life or pro-choice) the film comes down on; Juno eventually decides against an abortion and later implies to her step-mother that she never even considered the option, which suggests a pro-life stance. On the other hand Su Chin, Juno’s classmate who pickets outside the abortion clinic is a caricature figure – with her incorrect language and childlike demeanour. I think this ambiguity was a terribly smart choice on the part of script-writer and director, and allowed for the film to be seen as a sweet and edgy comedy, rather than a political tool.

For me Juno is an intelligent, funny and emotional film that stays with you for one reason or another. But I have a feeling it’s like Marmite – you either love it or loathe it. I definitely love it.

Independence Day (1996)

Directed by: Roland Emmerich

Verdict: One of the best action movies out there, definitely the best of the alien v human genre, if insulting to any extra-terrestrial life-forms that may be out there. Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum on fine form in a movie full of huge graphics and stand out acting performances, all things considered…

I’ve got to defend this movie. It never pretended to be anything other than it was – an alien-smashing, White House-exploding masterpiece of the trashy action genre. In saying that, it does perhaps go a little too far sometimes – the idea that this ‘far more advanced’ (according to the brilliant Dr Oaken) alien species could be undone by a simple computer virus is, ridiculously enough, one of the more unbelievable elements of the film. But let’s get that out of the way.

I first watched Independence Day when I was six years old, and it’s stayed with me ever since. I’ve watched it upwards of fifty times and can pretty much quote it word for word. There’s nothing self-assuming or arrogant about this movie. Emmerich’s great strength in this motion picture was combining moments of comedy (pretty much all of Randy Quaid’s performance as Russell Casse, the engagement ring scene between Jimmy and Steve) with moments of action-movie poignancy (‘Is mommy sleeping now?’ *sob*).

Not without good reason Independence Day won the 1996 Academy Award for Visual Effects. There are some scenes of exploding buildings that still hold up (no pun intended) against the high-end CGI of today. I personally think the White House explosion scene is brilliantly executed, looks pretty realistic and acts as the catalyst for the major death and destruction to begin. Classic.

The cast itself is pretty epic. Granted, it was really this role that catapulted one Will Smith into mega-stardom, but he was still a pretty famous guy at this point. Actors of the calibre of Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum were in this movie, which is a fact many overlook merely because it has aliens shooting stuff everywhere. And I mean, these were pretty classy aliens; they could control minds and everything.

I really do think this is a superior alien-American heroes-action-destruction movie. Honestly I do. It has everything one could ask for, apart from… intellect? There’s romance, action, comedy, brilliant visuals; it has everything. It even has a subtle commentary on social divides – Jimmy tells Steve he’ll never fly a spaceship if he marries a stripper… Then later in the movie Steve marries a stripper and immediately afterwards flies a spaceship. It truly is uplifting stuff.

And of course, who can forget probably the greatest monologue in movie history by President Whitmore (Pullman). Okay, maybe not the greatest, but it’s pretty darn good. It’s got to be at least up there with Samuel L Jackson’s epic Biblical speech in Pulp Fiction, Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men, and the legendary Napalm monologue from Robert Duvall in Apocalypse Now. Right? “Today, we celebrate… our Independence Day!” It may sound cheesy and somewhat predictable given the movies title and the huge graphics that come up each day to remind us that it is, in fact, July 4th. However, even now when I watch the movie 15 years after my first viewing, that speech still makes my hairs stand on end. It’s a great piece of script-writing by Dean Devlin & Emmerich and a great piece of acting from Pullman.

Before I sign off, just one piece of negativity (where would we be without it?). At the end, when Steve and David return from space where they have defeated a whole fleet of alien ships with a virus, their loved ones and the president are coming out to meet them in a jeep. Which they promptly stop a good 100 metres away from the heroes and proceed to run all the way to them. No sane person does this. That’s all.

Overall, I love Independence Day. It’s a great feel-good movie and as a film student, it’s definitely my No 1 guilty pleasure.

Melancholia (2011)

Directed by: Lars Von Trier

Verdict: One of the most visually stunning films I’ve ever seen. However I felt way more emotional about the visual and aesthetic aspects of the film, rather than the characters, who were often difficult to empathise with. However, maybe the potential lack of audience engagement forms part of the film’s narrative.

After all the press attention the film received after Von Trier’s controversial comments at Cannes, I knew it would be bizarre, and probably provocative. After having seen it, I can now manage to get past some of the crazy things the director said in various press conferences. He should stick to making absolutely brilliant films like this.

The opening sequence of Melancholia is comprised of a series of super-slow motion shots of various scenes we see later in the film, and other evocative shots. The enhanced quality and colour of the shots is utterly exquisite and demonstrates in just a few short moments that Von Trier is a film-maker at the top of his game.

Kirsten Dunst won the Best Actress prize at Cannes this year for her role as Justine, a bride who is struck down by melancholia on the day of her wedding. Dunst is indeed brilliant in this role, perfectly capturing the fluctuation of moods and emotions of those who suffer from this affliction. Her performance perhaps stands out as she is usually seen in more upbeat and sunny roles – something which makes Justine an even greater achievement.

In my opinion however, the real star of the film is Charlotte Gainsbourg, who plays Justine’s sister Claire. I’ve seen a lot of negative reviews of Gainsbourg’s performance, with one user ‘paulo’ on timeout.com saying ‘Gainsbourg is poor but it’s hard for her not to be with the lines she’s been given.’ For me, this is missing Von Trier’s point in a big way. The climax of the film pits the two sisters against each other at a moment when they are at their most unified. Justine’s state of total calm and detachment opposes Claire’s desperation to save her son and her own existence. Their clash personifies the imminent clash of Earth and Melancholia, a perfect metaphor used by Von Trier. For me, Gainsbourg uses body language, facial expressions and implied emotions to imply the angst a mother feels at knowing her son will never grow up.

The strongest human reaction I felt was when John (an unemotional Kiefer Sutherland), Claire’s husband suddenly kills himself off screen. Not that you didn’t see it coming. It would take the world’s greatest optimist, or the world’s biggest idiot to not expect Melancholia to come back and clobber Earth. We saw it foreshadowed in the opening montage, and what is a Von Trier film without great catastrophe and violence? Nonetheless, I felt the whole sub-plot of John’s assurance they were safe and his subsequent despair and suicide was well dealt with, on the whole. Claire’s restrained reaction however was not in keeping with her actions throughout the film, and after the discovery of John’s body was built up for so long the fall-out from it was virtually non-existent.

On the whole the human interest aspect of the narrative of Melancholia is patchy at best. The first chapter of the film is an outsider’s view of melancholia as a condition and how it affects the sufferer. The sub-plot of family feuds at a wedding is an often amusing side-track that adds little to the emotional message of the film. The second chapter focusses not only on how the condition affects those around the sufferer, but adds the impending collision of planets metaphor to the mix. The focus is mostly on Claire and her hysteria, with occasional cross-reference and comparison with Justine’s calm and collectedness.

Von Trier has said he was inspired to make this film after noticing how depressed people often react calmly in the most desperate and traumatic of situations. Though that is explicitly noticeable in the film, I’m not sure if the underlying message comes through. The main attraction of the film is its aesthetics. It’s a visual triumph that some may say champions style over substance. Whatever the case, I thoroughly enjoyed watching Melancholia and was left stunned for hours afterwards. It’s the mark of a good film – and indeed every Von Trier masterpiece – that it sparks discussion and argument. Whatever people’s conclusions I doubt many can say this isn’t a beautiful piece of art that impacts everyone.