ReelGeek Goes to TIFF07

Well hello again from the internet! A couple of weeks back Toronto held its annual Toronto International Film Festival, and I went up to our neighbor to the north with a movie I worked on that was premiering. Then I was hit with the genius idea to see some films while I was there and tell you all about it! I stopped in to see a few films that might interest the Gnerd crowd. So without further ado, here’s a little rundown on the festival, and a review of the upcoming film “Juno” starring Ellen Page and Michael Cera.

So after an early morning flight and a long explanation of why I was entering Canada with a customs agent, and whether or not a tape in my possession was coming back to the states after the festival (Canada has a little-publicized overabundance of tapes clogging their major waterways, and every format is strictly regulated when entering the country) I walked out of the airport and into Toronto. If you’ve never been, well, check out another American metropolitan area, and then imagine it a lot cleaner and a bit friendlier, and that’s Toronto. It was as if someone had spread New York out a bit and then run a vacuum cleaner through it.

Toronto was a pretty laid-back film fest, from what I’ve heard from friends at the other big fests like Cannes and Sundance. There was very little overtaking of the city by the festival, and the paparazzi/legit photojournalism wasn’t super intense, though I avoided the parties so I can only really comment on the premiers, screenings, and the everyday walk through the city. Tickets are a pretty penny for seeing a film, even when you’re from New York and used to paying egregious amounts for a movie. Basically, if you plan to go up on your own, try and get in a bunch of films that don’t have distribution or are smaller foreign or documentary films. These are the ones you’ll feel okay about paying 20$ or more to see, because you won’t have to deal with all of your friends laughing at you a month later when they just snuck into the theater to see it for free. However, it’s always tempting to jump on seeing those soon-to-be big hits first. And here’s a review of one of those movies:



“Juno,” the newest film by Jason Reitman (director of “Thank You For Smoking,” son of Ivan “Ghostbusters” Reitman) is in a word, fantastic. Starring Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, Allison Janney, and JK Simmons, it’s packed with people you’ll enjoy watching for two hours. Page does a great job as Juno, an offbeat and sharp-witted 16 year old who manages to get knocked up by her close friend Bleeker, played by Michael Cera. If you think the thought of Michael Cera getting it on and then impregnating a girl is awkwardly hilarious, you’re correct, it is. Juno decides to keep her baby and adopt it out to a couple looking for a child, cue Bateman and Garner as a yuppie couple that could make Cape Cod itself barf from all the sweaters and khaki. The film basically follows Juno through her pregnancy, her strained relationship with Bleeker (Cera), and her attempt to learn more about the couple she’s going to be handing the fruit of her loins off to.

If I make the movie sound overly serious, I apologize. The film had me (and the entire audience) laughing from start to finish. First time screenwriter Diablo Cody’s dialogue is at once often honest and accurate to a 16 year old girl, and hilarious enough to match anything by Judd Apatow. If you liked “Knocked Up” or “Superbad,” you’re going to want to see “Juno.” I heard mixed things about the script/dialogue from super secret sources before the film finished, but Reitman and the actors do such a great job that it’s almost hard to understand why anyone would think twice before greenlighting a movie like this.



“Juno” is a great script, a great story, an awesome cast, and a hilarious film. The music, including Belle and Sebastian, The Velvet Underground, The Kinks, Cat Power, Sonic Youth, and a score of songs by The Moldy Peaches’ Kimya Dawson fit wonderfully. It’s a great soundtrack and compliments the music-loving Juno’s character excellently.

The only downsides are that the film can get a little too sweet at times, with some of the whimsical songs by Dawson and some kitschy little moments. But these hardly subtract from the film, and they do balance out Juno’s hard-edged outlook on life, love, and being a pregnant 16-year-old girl. Cody’s dialogue can, like I’ve mentioned, come off a bit premature for a high school girl to sound off with, but Page’s delivery manages to remove any doubt you might have that a teenager would talk like that. I recommend you all see it when it hits theaters in December. And if you want to check out the trailer, hop over to the official site.

Oh yeah, the best part of seeing it at Toronto, aside from the fact that Reitman, Cody, and the cast came out to discuss the film after the screening? These guys:



As you may or may not know, Cera’s character is a cross-country runner, and is seen wearing his outfit quite a bit. Well the film had some of the “team” show up and jog up and down the lines, talking with people waiting to go in.

That’s all for this week guys, come back to see another review and rundown from TIFF 07!

Clark Duke is a Geekanerd

If you don't know him, Clark Duke is the co-star/creator of Clark and Michael, an internet series he does with Michael Cera (Arrested Development, Superbad). He also plays the part of "Party Teenager #1" in Superbad. AND, he's like the biggest Geekanerd ever. Check it:

I recently got the Morrison New X-Men Omnibus. I had all the single issues, but it’s great to have them all in one place. This is how nerdy I am – I’ve got all four Flex Mentallo issues…hard copy. No Internet for me! That’s like the coolest thing in my collection, along with my complete run of Miracleman. That one took a while – the last six issues were impossible to find. It took me years on eBay – issue #15, the one with Kid Miracleman, that cost me like $80, but it was worth it. It was a CGC copy that I took out of the case.

Wowee! Go to Newsarama for the full interview and be awed by his great taste in current comics, and also check out our past "...Is a Geekanerd" segments.

Superbadass, Or: How I Learned to Kinda, Sorta, Not Really Stop Worrying and Love the "Vag"

Commander Ethan Segal has returned from his raid on Sony Pictures, and brought back with him a review of the highly anticipated film Superbad. Many Geekanerds died to bring us this information...

Judd Apatow is the comedic genius to beat these days. It seems like everything he touches turns to gold. While only a producer on Superbad, you can see his fingerprints all over the film (maybe not quite enough, in fact, which i will get to later). While the Willferrellowenwilsonvincevaugh

nbenstiller films seem to be on a steady decline ( Anchorman, Wedding Crashers, Blades of Glory, etc. ) Judd Apatow has taken the reigns as the King of Comedy and knocked homers with The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up. Now while it is true that Judd Apatow has many business and social connections with Willferrellowenwilsonvincevaughnbenstiller (especially the Willferrell part), i think it is still possible to separate him from the rest of that crew based on his style of comedy and lack of any of those actors in any of his own films. Also, while the improv aspects of the Willferrellowenwilsonvincevaughnbenstiller films have significantly deteriorated (I blame larger budgets) resulting in more stilted jokes, Apatow's films remain fresh and ripe with spontaneity.... and this is exactly how Superbad feels.

Hit the jump for the Good, the Bad, and the Superbad...


THE GOOD If you go to Best Buy this holiday season, you will undoubtedly see in their "Two-for-One" bins a nicely packaged uncut/special-edition/uncensored version of Superbad and Knocked Up. Because Superbad could be the Phantom Menace to Knocked Up's A New Hope (luckily in story arch only). You can just see how Seth (Jonah Hill), Evan (Michael Cera), and Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) will turn into the creators of a Flesh of the Stars website once they get a little boobs and booze experience in college. Which is definitely a good thing if you were a fan of Knocked Up (and I was), because they make a great a double-header for both story consistencies and comedic relief.

So yes, i know you've probably read through all this just to find out if the film is funny and it indeed is pretty damn hilarious. I would say that I probably laughed as consistently and heartily as when I saw Knocked Up. The humor, like I mentioned before, is very akin to Apatow's previous films and relies heavily on witty (and graphic) dialogue. While it does have many slapstick moments, which are necessary for any high school romp, it doesn't abuse them.

THE BAD Although humor is pervasive throughout most of the film, the middle definitely lags both in plot and laughs. This is where Apatow's Midas touch could have come in handy. While Knocked Up was north of the two hour mark, it never felt slow or redundant. Superbad on the other hand suffers from a lack of motion in the beginning of the second hour. You feel like the characters are getting nowhere fast and the jokes aren't helping. Luckily this doesn't last too long, and you almost forget about it by the conclusion of the film. The film also falls victim to some bad editing. A few times when the film is ramping up for a big joke or just when it should be light hearted, you feel a weight in mood that is unnecessary and distracting. Only seeing it once, it was hard for me to discern whether it was the acting, pace, or music... but it was definitely noticeable. This problem mostly occurs in scenes involving the two cops, played by writer Seth Rogen and Bill Hader. For some reason many of their jokes fall flat, which is really astonishing considering Rogen played the hilarious lead in Knocked Up and you'd think he'd write himself some good lines in his own film.

THE SUPERBAD Michael Cera has got to be the hottest comedic commodity (that's a mouthful) around today. Between his roles in Arrested Development, Clark and Michael, and even his appearance in a spoof scene from Knocked Up, Cera seems to be an unstoppable force in awkward and stuttering comic genius. So for those of you worried that his acting style might get stale in any form longer than 22 minutes, fear not, because he is the best part of the movie. His character, Evan, is essentially a potty mouth version of George Michael from Arrested Development. Although he talks about sex as if he were a 12 year old, he is also considerate and mature enough to pack condoms and lube. Cera might be the most humorous, but he is almost matched by his pudgy best friend Seth, Jonah Hill. Together they make a comedic duo as memorable as Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau in Swingers. And like Vaugh/Favreau, their humorous conversations feel genuine and unrehearsed. I wouldn't be surprised if they really were best friends in real life (although i believe there is a six year age gap). If Hill were given a little more screen time he probably would have the most laughs, which is saying a lot. Finally, Fogell, the nerdiest of the three geek friends, has many memorable lines himself, although his character definitely can't carry the movie the way Cera and Hill can. He is the comic relief third wheel who ends up falling slightly short of the Cera/Hill comic mantle. He still is superbad and plays the punching bag for many of the films funniest jokes.

If I had to give the movie a rating between 1 and 5 stars, I would give it a 4. I feel like it could have possibly gotten a 5 if Apatow had actually directed it.

P.S. Make sure you stay and watch the credits... although many films put kind of lame shticks during their credits, Superbad's will definitely bring laughs.... three words.... pop... a .... cock.