Never saw Juno... From what I can tell it's ten pounds of horsehit in a five pound bag, and all these people who've been very moved by it's compelling depictions of deep human feeling ought to be ashamed of themselves for buying tickets.

But OTOH, that's what Hollywood is for. This person wouldn't be regarded as such a daring rebel if the whole town & industry weren't so insular and presumptive. She deserves success no less than any of the rest of 'em.

Comments like the above drive me crazy. How can you trash a movie you haven't seen because you don't like the hype about the screenwriter? That's pathetic. See the movie, then condemn it if you wish, maybe it won't be your cup of tea. Or maybe you'll realize what many people have, this is a gem of a film, with great performances and writing that is fresh and unique. I read her memoir as well. There are many who are just jealous that she won an Oscar for her first screenplay, many frustrated writers who can't get over the unfairness of it all. Well, get over it. The girl can write. Juno has done so well because of incredible word of mouth. People really like this movie.

Apparently Ms. Cody's publicist is now a regular reader here.

How can you trash a movie you haven't seen because you don't like the hype about the screenwriter?

It's super-easy. Check it out: Juno? Nome thanks!

Ms. Cody is well - known around town here as being quite the poseur, which helped immeasurably in getting her script read in the first place. Poor trust - fund girl who seeks attention by scandalizing tight - ass parents back home via her stipper act...for a grand total of 6 months. Oooh, what a rebel - pathetic. But she's much richer than me now, so there!

Trust fund, huh? But I thought she was poor white cybertrash! What with writing the script at a Starbucks inside a Super Target. You mean it's all just an act?

Oh no, no doubt the act is real - after all, just look at the accompanying pic here. What man wouldn't shell out serious payola for a pole dance from that hotty, eh? I said, eh? Hello, is this thing working? Hello?

> How can you trash a movie
> you haven't seen because you
> don't like the hype about the
> screenwriter?

Because in my work as a video editor at several Los Angeles-based entertainment television networks, I've watched the press kit for that movie dozens of times. I can quote whole scenes of dialog for you, duplicating pauses, mispronunciations, even blinking eyelids. I've similarly memorized junket interviews with the cast and producers. And merely as a civilian, I've read a goddamn truckload of reviews.

That, and I'm almost fifty. It's not possible that Hollywood could offer any surprises.

Juno is a movie -

1. Wherein a typical family tragedy is buried under a truckload of one-liners, jokes that Letterman (Letterman!) would pass on because they're not mean enough.

2. Wherein a girl presumably born during Clinton's first term makes jokes about Soupy Sales, a comedian unheard of since the Johnson administration...

3. Wherein everything meaningful about such a family nightmare is choked in typical Disneyland anodynes. The daughter tells her father she's pregnant, then confesses that "I don't know what kind of girl I am." But her father, suddenly on the hook for another generation of humanity, doesn't think to say 'You're not a girl anymore at all' and instead tells her "You need to find someone who just loves you for being you."

4. Wherein the feelings of the squeamish, lily-white and twitchy cineplex audience are sheltered even from considerations of teenage eroticism by the hiring of the most sexless, round-featured, slow-eyed actress you could imagine.

> I read her memoir as well.

The woman is not yet 30 but is writing memoirs? Did Treach cover this? Golly, do you suppose she burned any bridges by telling the truth, or did she hold some stuff back for the next one?

> People really like this movie.

People are full of shit. Hollywood is an enabler.

> Juno? Nome thanks!

A three-word review; you've raised the stakes. Somebody tell Welch, it's not like he's got anything else going on this year.....

"Ju? No."

Maybe she can use some of those Juno dollars to get a haircut that doesn't look like she fell headfirst through a glass door