For those Prepared to Rock - Juno Review
As a huge Arrested Development fan, I couldn't miss the new Micheal Cera and Jason Bateman flick. Mostly for Micheal Cera, I intentionally missed the last Jason Bateman flick, because it looked stupid. I judge quickly based on previews.
The previews for Juno were fantastic. Perhaps the preview gave away too much, but I still knew I needed to see this movie. So I did.
What struck me, besides the pithy smart dialog and Micheal Cera's ridiculously short shorts, was the sound track. I was reminded of a 4th grade choral class for a few of the songs, I later found out it was the innocent-sounding maturely intuitive musical styling of Kimya Dawson. You might know her from the Moldy Peaches, she's also joined forces with Ben Kweller, They Might be Giants, and The Mountain Goats. According to Wikipedia she's a leading force in the Anti-Folk movement. (Note to self - research Anti-Folk, how could anyone have anything against folk music, it's so ... harmless.)
Anyway so between her solo pieces, like the politically upbeat/depressing lyrically "Loose Lips", and the child like silliness of her band Antsy Pants's "I'm a Vampire."
The soundtrack is warmly comforting with a few Belle and Sebastian songs sprinkled into these bizarre children's songs with adult sentiment.
However the songs that really haunts me as I go about my daily tasks is the one from the opening credits, charming banjo joy with simply delightful love promises that will never be a reality. "All I want is You," by Barry Louis Polisar, starts a capella, "If I were a flower, going wild and free, all I want is you to be my sweet honey bee." So simple and so fun, it makes me want to puck up a guitar and learn to play. Actually most of the songs on this Soundtrack make me want to learn to play guitar... maybe it's because Ellen Page's character Juno, plays guitar and in the end her and Bleaker (Cera) sit together and play and sing "You're a part time lover and a full time friend, the monkey on your back is the latest trend," so effing cute. That was in the movie earlier and is "Anyone Else but You," by the Moldy Peaches. Do you see a theme? I do.
As for the movie, two wild thumbs up. I cried both times I saw it and begged my husband to let me have a baby, or adopt a baby, or get a kitten.
We agreed on a kitten. So, if you know of a nice little house in Arcata that is less than 800 a month with a dishwasher and wash/dryer hook ups that allows one tiny adorable kitten - let me know.
