atonement

atonement

Directed by	Joe Wright
Produced by	Tim Bevan Eric Fellner Paul Webster
Written by	Novel: Ian McEwan Screenplay: Christopher Hampton
Starring	James McAvoy Keira Knightley
Music by	Dario Marianelli
Cinematography	Seamus McGarvey
Editing by	Paul Tothill

another academy award nominee is atonement, based on the novel of the same title written by ian mcewan. the film is composed of four parts which corresponds the four parts of the novel. briony tallis a girl of thirteen and an aspiring writer misinterprets things that she sees as something else. the sexual tensions between her sister cecilia and robbie, the housekeeper's son is misinterpreted by briony as sexual aggressions of robby. with things briony witnessed between her sister and robby led briony to conclude that robbie is a sex maniac.

and when during a search for their lost cousins briony witnessed her cousin lola being raped, briony accused robbie as the assailant. robbie is imprisoned because of briony's testimony.

four years later, war came and the movie forwarded, robbie was released from prison on the condition that he would enlist in the army. he was reunited with cecilia and made a promise that he would return to her. briony, meanwhile, joined the nursing corps as a penance for what she's done. she has been trying to reach her sister but her sister wouldn't reply to her letters. she's also continued writing her stories.

in france, robbiue finally reached dunkirk beach, and waits to be evacuated to england. the scene in dunkirk beach is the one long scene i really liked in the movie. it is a one really long "tuhog" which showcased soldiers waiting to be evacuated. there are parts of the scene where they are killing horses for food, and soldiers doing this and that to spend time while waiting for their rescue.

the "atonement" part comes in the last part of the movie, where vanessa redgrave plays an aged briony, she's became a very successful writer and is about to release her novel which is entitled "atonement". it is the story of what happened between her, her sister and robbie. she announced that this would be her last novel as she's retiring, but this was the very first story she has ever written.

the movie is one of the movies that are vying for the oscars, and like most of its co-nominees is based on a novel. i think that this movie has a strong chance in winning the best picture award owing to the "period feel" of the movie, and extravagant war scenes reminiscent of some wwII epics.

JUNO

Directed by	Jason Reitman
Produced by	John Malkovich
Written by	Diablo Cody
Starring	Ellen Page Michael Cera Jennifer Garner Jason Bateman Olivia Thirlby Allison Janney J.K. Simmons
Music by	Mateo Messina
Cinematography	Eric Steelberg
Editing by	Dana E. Glauberman

"...it started with a chair...."
JUNO, the academy award nominee movie from the direction of Jason Reitman and written by Diablo Cody (Brooke Busey-Hunt) is a simple story of a teener going through an unplanned pregnancy. Ellen Page stars as the title role, and she's pretty convincing. i know for sure that this movie wouldn't win the Oscar for best picture, as the academy favors glamorous films, but this movie would be a refreshing experience for any movie goer.
the charm of the movie is that it's a simple story, of which any teener might relate to. not only teeners but every woman, or any person for that matter. the movie speaks of being responsible, the value of having a family, of loving and being loved by a person for what they really are, no matter what.

the sharptongued JUNO found out that she's pregnant by her geeky friend Bleeker, she's planning on having an abortion but she backed off and decided to continue the pregnancy and give her child for adoption. the scene where JUNO is about to enter the abortion clinic and was encountered by her asian classmate Su Chin protesting solely against abortion is kinda funny... "babies want to get borned.."

the characters in the movie are stereotypes and not stereotypes at the same time. i mean that the characters are stereotypes in a sense that they are presented as characters that would normally appear in a teen flick but they behave differently, or is it maybe my cultural upbringing is different from the cultural aspects of the movie. nonetheless, i applaud the movie for having parents that treat their children as human beings capable of making their own decisions.

if this movie were only made in the philippines then the story would have a different feel, i'm sure that a teener announcing an unplanned pregnancy would earn shrieks from the parents and a heart attack apiece. the step mother role gives a new light to step mothers, yeah i know that "madrasta" shed new light to step mother's but i think that allisson janney did great. i particularly like the scene in the ultrasound clinic where allison janney tongue lashed the ultrasound technician, "you's the dick,bren..",said juno.

the soundtrack is also good, mostly songs by kimya dawson and her band moldy peaches. the anti folk rock melodies gave the movie a rather anti-teen flick track of songs.

the dialogue is rather natural, although i have a hard time figuring out what they say because i am not that aware of american teen slang, so it helped that i watched it with subtitles.

the movie might hit the phillipines late february or early march, and if my predictions are correct they might not last long in theaters if they ever hit our shore, but i recommend that you watch it. and bring a lot of orange tictacs.