The Man Who Wasn't There

So, I'm at home today. I finally have a chance to stay home and rest, so I took it and slept in today. I was planning on going to the doctor today, but I'm actually starting to feel a little better.

I've been trying to psych myself up for my 8 week training session in Biloxi. I'm working on a list of things I'm looking forward to so that it's not all bad:

1. Visiting New Orleans
2. Taking tons of pictures
3. Eating fresh and damn good seafood
4. Kick-starting my diet again
5. Saving money with the possibility of making money

That's all I got so far. But, it's a start. The new Mars Volta album is out today. Whew! It's killer! Here's a taste:



They're unlike anything you'll ever hear. Love it. Especially like how mercurial the song is. Every time you get it pegged, it flips and changes into something else. And the technical proficiency of the band is absolutely mind-blowing.

I'm finally going to watch Blade Runner! Tally and Tyler sent the Blu Ray version to me for my birthday and I got it today. So, I think I might watch it this afternoon! Also, The Nines is out today! Excited for that one.

I mentioned that I planned to talk about Cloverfield. I guess I can, but there's no real point. It's exactly what I thought it'd be: an old school giant monster movie dressed in new, hip threads. I really like movies that focus more on the microcosm as opposed to the macrocosm and, by definition, that means that I should like Cloverfield. And I did. I also like movies where they don't spoil the mystery. We don't really need to know everything. So, it was a good movie, if one is into such things. Well done, though I do wish the camera-guy was just a little more stable with some of the shots. That said, there were some amazing moments and breathtaking camera shots where you don't even realize that what you're seeing is a green screen.

Didn't do much else this weekend. Still trying to cough out my insides get better, but that's not happening yet. I might actually go to the doctor this week. Because, seriously. Not fun.

I watched Heartbreak Kid and Eastern Promises on Saturday. Heartbreak Kid was...entertaining. It's typical Farrelly Brothers movie and if you like such things, you'll probably at least semi-enjoy this one. And if you don't, well...

Eastern Promises...good movie. Seems a lot of reviewers are flip-flopped: they either loved A History of Violence and didn't care for Eastern Promises as much; or, they were the opposite. I happened to really love A History of Violence. And while I thought Eastern Promises was a good movie that touched greatness sometimes, I wasn't as bowled over by it as some reviewers have been. Enjoyed it; wish Cronenberg would do another horror film.

We hit level five in DDO this weekend and I got access to more spells. I'm still really enjoying the game. I just wish each level had more quests/dungeons so we didn't have to do repeats unless we wanted to. That said, I'm loving the more strategic nature of the game since it feels more like a multiplayer RPG and less like a grindtastic MMO.

Age of Conan was pushed back. To May. This actually surprised me a ton when I read it yesterday. I seriously thought March was it. I'm actually a bit ambivalent about it. On one hand, I can't play it in March. On the other hand, I'll be back from my 8 week training course of hell and won't have to worry about how I'll get it. The biggest worry I have is that it's pushing close to the Warhammer Online release date. And I know some of my friends who want to play both might end up jumping ship for Warhammer Online. Which will make me a sad panda. We'll see. I actually wouldn't be surprised if Warhammer Online was pushed back to an Oct/Nov release...of course then they might be pushing up against the latest WoW expansion. It's going to be a juggling act. We'll have to see how it all plays out and where the balls fall.

Seems like Cloverfield is just the start of a new wave of cinema verite fiction. I had linked earlier to the Diary of the Dead, George Romero's next zombie film that is about a filmmaker who ends up catching on film the living dead.

Then there's The Poughkeepsie Tapes which doesn't look very good, I don't think. But again, same style.

Then there's the Spanish movie [REC] which I think looks awesome and from what I've gathered from reviewers and people who've watched it, it will be pretty damn amazing.

With the success of Cloverfield already sparking discussions about the sequel, I'm wondering if filmmakers will try to cash in on this style of filmmaking.

Saw Cloverfield Friday night. I'll write about it soon. But I wanted to post a link to this bloody disgusting.com article as it is very interesting. The origin of the Cloverfield monster is revealed...IN THE FILM!

I totally missed this key scene; and if you stay until after the credits, there's an audio portion with some additional news. All of that is in the linked article. VERY interesting!!

So the reason the US Xbox 360 owners are getting screwed on the lack of Turok demo on Xbox Live is because it is apparently an exclusive demo for the Official Xbox Magazine. The announcement was probably either a slip-up or was released too soon. The review for it came up at 7.0; they basically said it's an "old school FPS" game, with the annoyingly use check point system and a very hard difficulty level, especially with bosses where you have to learn their pattern (usually dying a few times in the process). They said those who enjoy the old school shooters will probably get more enjoyment out of the game than they did.

The Xbox Mag also has three exclusive songs for Rock Band that you can't find elsewhere. Xbox.com, additionally, accidently let slip what's probably coming to Rock Band's downloadable content roster the next two weeks. Expect an Oasis pack (with Wonderall and their other big hit) next week with a "progressive rock" pack the following week. The progressive rock pack has a Coheed and Cambria song (!), a Rush song and......a Smashing Pumpkins song? Since when is Smashing Pumpkins "progressive rock?"

Before you get too excited, though, it looks like both the Coheed and the Rush song are covers...which isn't surprising with Rush...but Coheed? That makes me a sad panda. At least it's a good song ("10 Speed (God's Blood and Burial)").

I'm glad to see Cloverfield is sitting at a nice 77% with 65 reviews so far. Means it should be a pretty good movie. I'm really excited to see it tonight. I'm dragging people to it because of my birthday. We're going to eat at Nebraska Brewing Company then it's monster-destroys-New-York-time.

I'm so glad it's a three day weekend. I just wish I could kick this cold. I haven't had a good, full night of sleep this entire week. I even took a cough suppressant last night that's supposed to work for 12 hours and I woke at 2:00, coughing and hacking up a lung. You know how you cough and cough and your chest and throat start to hurt? That's my morning.

Finally...alright Quentin. We already know you're in love with trash films, exploitative films and grindhouse pictures. We get it. But, seriously, move on. Please. I really don't think the world needs a remake of the exploitative Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!. Let's just leave the homage responsibility to the song which, surprisingly, is kind of catchy.

I'm glad I'm still under thirty! Does anyone else find this review incoherent?

"Not For Anyone Over 30" it proclaims, making me glad I'm only 27.

As the week progresses, it's getting harder and harder to get out of bed. I'm feeling like crap and have been since Monday. Drainage for the lose. It's in my chest, so I'm coughing like crazy, my nose is plugged so I can't sleep. And when I do finally start to drift to sleep, I start coughing like mad. Then there's the once-in-awhile chills. Blech. So, last night I woke up around 3:30 and it took me forever to get back to sleep. There was a point, when I was staring at my alarm as it read 4:15 that I thought about saying screw it and just get up. But I didn't.

Whine whine whine.

Cloverfield is turning into what I expected it to be: a good, fun old monster movie dressed up in hip clothes. Reviews are coming in with people giving it positives while saying it's an old film looking new and with others dogging it for being the same thing. Still looking forward to it; I think it'll be fun. Movie's at 68% with 22 reviews counted so far.

Every time I see Lisa Schwarzbaum's name, my lip curls.

Supposedly, a Turok demo is on Live. Haven't looked yet. Might check it out. Also, apparently a Devil May Cry 4 demo is also inbound, hopefully prior to the game's release. I really wish they'd release the TGS demo of Lost Odyssey.

Next week, PixelJunk Monsters will be out on the PS3's Playstation Network. I absolutely love tower defense games (like in Warcraft 3) and this game looks to mesh cute story book graphics with tower defense gameplay. I can't wait! Here's some info about it; hopefully it'll be just as addictive as the other Tower Defense games I've played. Now...to find someone else to play this with.

Now that Age of Conan looks to be really and truly sticking with its March 25th release date, my excitement is growing by the day. I really wish I were in the beta right now. I want to build cities, wage war, dismember my foes, partake in "drunkin' brawling" in the taverns and go around yelling "CROOOMMM!"

...okay, maybe not the last one.

Crazy French law that forbids booksellers from discounting books more than 5% off list price is costing Amazon.com €1,000 a day due to Amazon's free shipping.

Interesting announcements from Macworld. Nothing as spectacular as last year's iPhone announcement. But the new firmware update for iPhone is awesome.

Current Pope has reportedly said, when he was a cardinal, that the Galileo heresy trial (the one where he said the Earth revolved around the Sun) was "fair and just."

So far, the PS3 is the only future-proof Blu-Ray player, meaning that early adopters who didn't buy a PS3 are being screwed as the profile moves from 1.1 to profile 2 later this year.

The WGA announced nominees in game writing. Very curious, indeed. And not very good. The fact that it includes Dead Head Fred, Crash of the Titans (...a Crash Bandicoot game...has a meaningful story?) and completely ignores some of the tops of last year (Uncharted, Portal, Bioshock, Half Life 2 Episode 2 all come directly to mind...) makes this list less than satisfactory in my opinion.

My favorite bad ass is going to be in Super Smash Brothers Brawl. I kicked ass as Sheik and glad to see her...him......it(?) return.

Do Not Call Registry is open again. Make sure you register if you're annoyed with telemarketers calling you at 9 PM on Sunday. I know I am -_-

Not a link, but I'm really excited that this time, it doesn't look like Age of Conan is going to be pushed back further. Funcom released a press announcement detailing the contents of the Age of Conan Collector's Edition, the March 25th day is still holding and things look to be chugging forward. I've been waiting four years, give or take, to play this game. The wait is soon going to be over.

First off, I want to wish cry_gaia an amazingly awesome birthday. Enjoy your day off! :D

So, I guess Super Smash Brothers Brawl is going to be orgasmic since it's the 7th (I think) game that Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu has ever awarded a perfect score of 40. Speaking of ratings, I saw something on the RSS feeder bloody-disgusting.com (but unfortunately that site is blocked where I'm at) of a screening of Cloverfield. I went to Rotten Tomatoes to see if any reviews had been counted (this is how it ties into ratings) and discovered two things.

One, the site's gone through a redesign. Two, Cloverfield is sitting at a very puzzling -1% at the moment. I'm guessing there's some glitches that need to be worked out. I like the new site layout, though. It's very fresh.

...that wasn't a pun. I don't pun.

At any rate, the point is that the guys at bloody-disgusting both said they loved the movie. But not only that, "the usually silent press all clapped (a very rare moment)." So that's a good sign, I'd think. Unless it was a press room completely filled with fanboys and girls. But, I'm looking forward to the movie this Friday. I think it's going to be pretty darn cool.

I watched American Idol last night. Yes, I can admit it. I watched it. While also playing DDO as we tackled a quest that was not only "very long," the first quest we've done with that label, but also only had one...one rest shrine. We died so many times that, for some of us, we had a -80% XP penalty. When all was said in done, we only did that one dungeon last night and even with the -80% penalty, we still received 2,400ish XP. I can't imagine how much XP that'd be if we didn't die so much. Not that that was going to happen.

This might be Uwe Boll's last high budget movie. Yay for flops.

Myspace has the exclusive trailer for Romero's new zombie series. Haven't watched it yet; excited to, when I get home.

Final Harry Potter film could be a two-parter.

Finally, the following poster is amazingly cool:

I read an intriguing article at Ars Technica last week about music label EMI pulling support to RIAA and how this could be a domino effect for the much-maligned company. Then, I see today an article at CNET about the RIAA and what happens when they open their mouths (hint: it's not pretty).

There's also 10 interview questions with the RIAA. From going after grandmas and twelve year olds to completely ignoring the source of piracy, there's a lot to complain about.

There's even the classic example of the quote from a RIAA spokesperson who said it was the RIAA's belief that basically everyone is a thief. They didn't say that directly, of course, but they said...I dug up the quote because it's too good to pass up:

"When an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song," said Pariser, RIAA's lead counsel. Making "a copy" of a song you own is just "a nice way of saying 'steals just one copy'," according to Pariser.

All those CDs you copied to your desktop so you could listen to them on your MP3 device? Illegal, you jerks!

So, the news that EMI is pulling from the RIAA is a good thing, since the RIAA relies on the industry's financial support.

I knew there was a reason why I didn't include it in my Jan/Feb consumerism post. There was a collective groan heard around the world when this news was announced, but, honestly, are we really that surprised?

Another movie I saw last weekend was Sunshine, finally. Unlike The Orphanage, which blew my mind into little pieces and then stomped on them repeatedly, Sunshine was...good. Just good. I really love the imagery Danny Boyle injects into his films, especially the last movie (28 Days Later). Sunshine, on a purely visual level, completely obliterates most films I've seen recently. He has a way with images and Sunshine's bleak ship mixed with the brilliantly bright shots of the sun is a perfect marriage. The wayward ship, the fuzzy cameras, the...well, the things that happen at the end. It's a beautiful film to watch and its visionary direction delights the eyes and mind.

It feels a bit empty to me, though, even considering there's a lot going on and some terrific plot points. A lot of reviewers are calling it a mix of the philosophical sci-fi movies (Solaris and 2001 are usually mentioned) with "rock and roll" sensabilities. I get the latter part, but either I'm incredibly dense or the movie's not very philosophical. Either way, the subtext, if there is one, was lost on me. I want to watch it again, though, because I believe the bright and shiny images might have distracted me. There is one area, towards the end and during the crazy stuff where I could possibly see some of that philosophical stuff come to the surface...depending on how you look at it. But I can't talk about it because it is "teh spoilerz" unfortunately.

It's a fun movie. Good action, thrills and people getting angry at each other. And unlike other disaster films, it's based in quasi-fact. Danny Boyle actually met with NASA folks and a physicist Brian Cox. Using Cox's knowledge, they based the sun's death on the theory of Q-Balls...and if you can understand that wiki article beyond like the first paragraph or two, my hat's off to you.

At any rate, enjoyed it. But wasn't all gagga over it, like the Orphanage.

I guess the latest image of the Cloverfield monster is accurate. It's a fan's drawing, I guess, from after he saw the film. Looks pretty cool. Definitely doesn't look like anything I've seen before on film. I'm curious to see how it looks on the big screen this Friday.

It's always funny when you find someone who shares the same birthday as you, so happy birthday terrakazama; it sounds like your weekend was a lot of fun. :)

We're celebrating mine on Friday by me dragging people to see Cloverfield. But, officially, today I'm 27. For those not in the know, 27 feels just like 26. Now you know. And knowing is half the battle, I'm told.

You dropped $170 on Rock Band, now what? How about The Rock Band Stage Kit for another $100 that includes a synchronized light and fog show?

I did go see The Orphanage yesterday. And almost cried. I can see why Guillermo del Toro chose this director and this movie and why he helped secure the movie funding and why he believed so much in the project that he'd attach his name to it, solely to get it more attention. Guillermo thrilled me with last year's Pan's Labyrinth. That movie is probably my favorite movie out of the thousands I've seen. The Orphanage isn't as good as Pan's Labyrinth, but that's in no means a slight against it.

Much like Pan's Labyrinth was a mix of historical drama and fantasy that relied more on reality than fantasy, The Orphanage is a mix of familial drama and ghost story. It's a classy horror film that doesn't rely much at all in the way of "Boo!" scares. Instead, it focuses on this weird and horrifying dread that spreads from the first scene until the climax of the film, when all the pieces fall into place. It's also a treasure hunting story, focusing on a woman's determination to keep her family together.

It's very difficult to discuss the film outside of generalities because everything in the film is inter-connected. It begins with Laura, a young girl at an orphanage playing a game with her friends. She's quickly adopted and we flash forward to when she's married, has a kid, and has moved her family back into the orphanage where she lived so they can re-open it, at least on a smaller basis. But her kid has imaginary friends and they like to play games.

The problem with the film is that I can't discuss why I love it so much. How it sucker-punches you over and over as Laura uncovers more and more. The pieces that first time director Juan Antonio Bayona and Sergio G. Sánchez, the screenwriter, pile on, the little clues and puzzles that eventually pull together into an ending that absolutely blew me away. When everything comes together, you could hear the entire audience gasp and then there was silence as they realized the end result.

It's a thrilling movie with some genuine scares and I left the theatre much like I left the theatre after screening Pan's Labyrinth: subdued, quiet and thoughtful. It's an excellent movie that I'd recommend everyone, horror fan or no, to go out and see. It's a masterpiece.

Well, first review is in for Cloverfield. It has minor spoilers, but doesn't really ruin anything thankfully.

A few quotes:

"Having seen the film, I can tell you...[it] will knock your cinema-going mind into the floor of the theater."

"The movie is a landmark genre film. A true milestone in film."

"Folks – CLOVERFIELD is worth the obsession, worth the months I’ve had to put up with fans wondering what the hell it was – worth having to deal with reporters asking me what it was – and I didn’t know either. This is a towering movie. A complete reinvention of the disaster movie, the giant monster movie and even the love story. I absolutely love this film and the only thought I had when it was over was how I wanted to watch it 5 more times today."

High praise, indeed. But this is also the same guy who went just as insane over Hatchet, a movie I thought was okay. But not as amazingly awesome as Harry did.

At any rate, I still can't wait to see this movie next weekend!!

You know, I wonder if the internet existed en masse when Jaws was released, would people be as "omgneedtoknow" about the shark as they are about Cloverfield's monster?

I kind of feel bad for the filmmakers (though they did bring this on themselves a bit) because chances are there's no way their monster is going to be as awesome as every little internet geek boy and girl has embellished it as being in their heads.

I forgot to mention that I picked up Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law for the Nintendo Wii this week. Last month, I purchased one of the Ace Attorney games because I had never played one and needed something to compare Harvey to...well, so far (and I'm not very far in either, actually) I like Harvey better. They share a very similar structure, though the way they're handled are very different.

For one, Harvey plays like an episode of the TV show, complete with cutscenes voiced by the same actors and all the usual trimmings. Fans of the show will enjoy the game. It's of close-to-the-same caliber as the show (written by writers of the show) but there are some things that are missing. The hammer falls as jump cuts (does that make sense?) are here, but they lack the music zing and the "WHIPPA!" Lots of characters are showing up, so it works great.

One thing, though, is that the game kind of lacks the neurotic feel of the show; you know, where characters pop in and out, say things, act incredibly random, etc. That feeling is kind of missing right now. It could change...I've only finished one of the five trials and it was a short tutorial.

I'm going to hold my opinion on the difficulty. The first mission was too easy, but we'll see; it was the tutorial after all.

Things I'm looking forward to in Jan/Feb:

Stephen King's new novel

The Bedlam in Goliath by The Mars Volta

Finally seeing The Nines and Sunshine.

Trying to ignore the hype (not to mention supposed shots of the monster) and then actually seeing Cloverfield.

My brother's next fight in which he's headlining.

Lost Odyssey and Devil May Cry 4.

THE Concert of the Year which also happens to be the same day as ...another guilty musical pleasure.

So, now that New Line is moving to Blu Ray and they are starting to ramp up their HD releases (and doing a damn fine job of it, by the way), chances are we can expect to see The Lord of the Rings HD soon. I found these comparison shots from gizmodo of the DVD scans of scenes versus the HD scans of the same scenes.

Take a look:

Scenic Beauty

DVD scan / HD scan.

Hiding

DVD scan / HD scan

Very interesting. In a very nerdy addendum, fricknfrackfan, littlekfru and I have already determined that when they come out, we'll be having a very long Blu Ray marathon.

So, Yoda and Darth Vader are in Soul Calibur IV...one for PS3, one for Xbox 360. Even after the series, they are on opposing sides.

I saw mersipan in DDO yesterday and said hi, but got nothing in return. D: Sadness. I'm sure she was AFK. xD Speaking of DDO, we are taking the plunge and purchasing it. Minus a really long-ass dungeon on Monday that took a lot longer than anticipated and consequently was growing to be a tad ridiculous, we've been having a great time. Our mains are level 3, which doesn't sound like much but when you consider the max level is 14 right now, it's understandable.

I like the way they handle leveling, though. It's absolutely not grinding-centric. You don't get XP for killing creatures, only for accomplishing objectives. Though, that's not precisely true, either. During the quest instance, you gain XP for accomplishing objectives and optional objectives, but you are also rated on how you go about doing so. If you kill a ton of creatures, you'll gain a bonus percentage. If you're sneaky and don't attack creatures, you gain a bonus. If you go on a rampage and destroy boxes and crates, etc...you get a bonus. And levels are broken down into ranks, so you have that thrill of gaining levels and getting some new enhancements without actually changing the D&D rule system very much.

I really want to see The Orphanage this weekend. All of the commercials try to paint it as "the most terrifying movie. EVAR" but from what I'm reading and hearing, it's actually more similar to the kind of story being told in Pan's Labyrinth (not surprising). So while Pan's Labyrinth had fantastical (and horrific) themes, they were simply there to tell the story, instead of being the story. Likewise with The Orphanage...which makes me want to see it all the more.

I've been trying to avoid spoilers for the movie while also trying to gauge people's reactions to it, and unfortunately the review by Roger Ebert lulled me into a false sense of security in its spoiler-free moments before smacking me across the face with the spoiler wand. I've been trying to wipe the thought from my mind, but so far smacking my head against the wall has proven useless.

Everyone in the HD arena is going bozzo over Warner's announcement that they are moving to Blu-Ray Only, dropping HD-DVD like a bad habit. While it's not the nail-in-the-coffin that Blu-Ray fanboys are saying it is, it's not a good sign. Sony's camp now has practically all of the major studios backing them and it's not a great thing for HD-DVD.

Anyway, this isn't about that. New Line is part of Warner and they announced they are moving Blu-Ray only, as well. This means all their plans for HD-DVD movies are now cancelled. In fact, their first and only HD-DVD release is Pan's Labyrinth and as soon as the stock has been cleared of that HD-DVD, they aren't reprinting it. Ever.

So if you are a Pan's Labyrinth fan (and why shouldn't you be?) and have HD-DVD but no Blu-Ray, I'd recommend scooping a copy before you can't get one any longer.

High Def Digest: my go-to place for all things HD.

Saw Juno last night. First thing's first…I'm always leery when Hollywood is throwing a new hip director in our face. It always comes across as rather whorish and chances are that flavor of the month will lose the flare originally presented. Not that he or she becomes bad at his/her job, but more that Hollywood ignores him/her. Hollywood's last big "It Director" was Sofia Coppala (though, I suppose Judd Apatow can possibly fall into this category). Sofia is someone who I think has been vastly over-rated by the critics and Hollywood. Additionally, this new hip director keeps being called "The Next Tarantino." Whenever the hype hits this kind of stratosphere, I become leery.

So, we have this former blogger-turned-stripper-turned-novelist Diablo Cody (née Brook Busey) and we all know that Hollywood loves people with a story so they can sell the individual, instead of banking on the individual's talent. My cynicism was pretty high at this point. Then all the hype, the circuits, the promos, the everything with Diablo's face everywhere…it was enough to make me want to completely ignore the film. At any rate, I finally saw it last night and I really enjoyed it, overall.

Much like dj_jonny_flash had mentioned in his own post about the film, first impressions weren't the best. The whole beginning of the film felt a bit too precocious for me. I actually kind of dug the language being used and the way Ellen Page's Juno (not to mention the other characters) would indulge in this weird mix of normal teenage-isms and other witty dialogue no average teenager (or most people) would use.

For example, take this exchange between Juno and her best friend in relation to Juno telling her she's pregnant:

Leah: Yo Yo Yiggady Yo.
Juno MacGuff: I'm pregnant.
Leah: What? Honest to blog?
Juno MacGuff: This is not a food baby all right? I've taken like three pregnancy tests, and I'm forshizz up the spout.
Leah: How did you even generate enough pee for three pregnancy tests?
Juno MacGuff: I'm telling you I'm pregnant and you're acting shockingly caviler.
Leah: Is this for real?
Juno MacGuff: Yes.
Leah: Foo get Thailand!

It's funny, but the dialogue doesn't feel real. It feels witty and it works, but…it's not exactly real. It screams "see how witty I am??" But then, it all falls away. The movie grabbed me by the appearance of Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman playing a couple who have been trying to conceive and haven't had any luck. This is when the movie finds its heart and the language makes appearances but it's not as stiffly witty as it was in the beginning. It falls into a terrific rhythm that I could actually appreciate.

Honestly, Jennifer Garner proides her best performance in this role. She plays a character that you feel stand-offish to but eventually come around to. The secondary story of Jennifer/Jason's characters provides a perfect subtext to the main thrust of the story. And I was incredibly appreciative of the subtle way Diablo Cody used this story to really sell Juno's. There comes a point towards the end that is so terrific in the way that Juno learns from the Jennifer/Jason couple's mistakes and ends up deciding how to spend her life and how to not spend her life that is both poignant, subtle and perfect.

What I really appreciated at this moment was the fact it lacked a sermon. There was no "Juno: After seeing their relationship, I learned blah blah blah" it just happened. And those not paying attention won't even think of how the dichotomy really worked. In fact, it wasn't until late last night that I woke up and thought, oh that's how that worked.

Juno really surprised me. It's hilarious, poignant, touching and up-lifting all while trying desperately to not fall into sappy-eye-rollingness. It does everything it can not to be "that movie." And I can definitely appreciate that.