Entertainment

Last night we decided to stay up late and take advantage of being in a major metropolitan area with grand-babysitters.  We went to see Juno (2007,PG-13) (ScreenIt! review).  From Wikipedia:

Juno is a Golden Globe-nominated 2007 comedy film from Fox Searchlight, starring Ellen Page as the titular character, a sharp-tongued teen confronting an unplanned pregnancy by her classmate Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera).

It was fantastic.  Lots of laughs and a variety of good messages.  The film's namesake channels Sarah Silverman a little too much (the witty snarkiness, not the gross-out), but I was very glad that the film didn't go for the cliche car accident that I kept expecting (when you see it coming, don't worry cause it ain't).

I give it 5 out of 5.

A couple of the TV picks from The Week magazine for next week:

Hard as Nails
Justin Fatica, an unordained Catholic preacher in upstate New York, has drawn attention and aroused controversy with his Hard as Nails youth ministry. This lively profile captures the 28-year-old firebrand as he employs his attention-grabbing techniques, which include haranguing troubled teenagers and having them haul wooden crosses. Monday, Dec. 17, at 8 p.m., HBO

 

In God’s Name
French filmmakers Jules and Gedeon Naudet survived the collapse of the World Trade Center, an experience they chronicled in the Emmy- and Peabody-winning film 9/11. Since then, the two brothers have traveled the world seeking perspective from spiritual leaders on such issues as intolerance, terrorism, and war. This documentary features interviews with an array of religious leaders, including Pope Benedict XVI, the Dalai Lama, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, as well as their counterparts among Jews, Hindus, Muslims both Shiite and Sunni, Sikhs, Shintoists, Lutherans, Baptists, and Russian Orthodox—faiths whose combined followers number more than 4 billion. The film presents a unique opportunity to meet 12 people of extraordinary influence and hear their insights into the very meaning of life. Sunday, Dec. 23, at 9 p.m., CBS

A few weeks back I watched Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006,PG-13) (ScreenIt! Review).  From ScreenIt!:

A NASCAR racer must contend with his fall from the top of the sport at the hands of a foreign driver.

I was surprised when I realized that I had been watching for quite a while before noticing tat the "foreign driver" was Sacha Baron Cohen.  The film was quirky enough to be kinda funny despite a tame storyline.  I give it 3 out of 5.

Last weekend we finished watching The Da Vinci Code (2006,PG-13) (ScreenIt! Review).  From ScreenIt!:

An American professor of religious symbology reluctantly teams up with a French police cryptologist as they try to solve a murder that may lead to the greatest religious cover-up of all time.

We didn't care for it at all and took several weeks to make it through.  It just seemed boring and kind of stuffy/stale which was a bit of a surprise since we had heard from friends that it was good.

I give it 2 out of 5.

One of the advantages of a writers' strike is that you get a chance to clean out some of the DVR backlog.  Tonight I watched Syriana (2005,R) (ScreenIt! Review).  From ScreenIt!:

The complex paths of disparate individuals eventually converge as the U.S. government and a corporate oil giant position themselves in response to an Arab Gulf State seeking to realign its oil ties and business.

The multiple plot lines were a challenge to follow, but I enjoyed it and thought that the treatment of petroleum politics had the ring of truth.  I give it 4 out of 5.