Oy, Spring

Umfh. My head is in a drowsy fog and at the same time, swelling inside like it might explode. The loverly flowers and blooming trees, the sparkling this and pretty colored that - they are all killing my ALLERGIES!! My head is a sinus fountain with pressure and fuzz simultaneously. Anyone else experiencing the onslaught of Springtime? Not that I'm complaining, just a little mild suffering.

I wanted to alert you to some delightful movies I have watched in the last week:

1) Juno -
This is a great film about a saucy but endearing teen - very modern, very hip in a not-hip way - who gets pregnant and how she deals with it. Most of the film centers around her giving the baby up for adoption and the complicated, interesting couple who become the "chosen parents." All the characters in this film are well-developed, quirky and intriguing. Prepare for major rewindability - there are lines you will want to hear three or four times. It's a very Millennium teen pregnancy movie, not the teen pregnancy of yesteryear. They do a great job of developing the young mom's changing emotions, her needs and desires for her life, and the beautiful way adoption can turn out. Not to mention the delight of seeing Jason Bateman and Michael Cera (who star together in Arrested Development, most insane TV show of all time) plus the great Allison Janney. I loved it.

2) Dan in Real Life -
Well, if you love Steve Carell as Michael in the TV hit, The Office, you're in for a treat. He's his cute, lovable self but without the assholery you see on the show. He's actually more real - you get the feeling the actor may be more like Dan than Michael. Dan is a single dad raising three precocious and sweet girls. He hasn't been in love in quite some time, having lost his wife to illness. Much of the movie gives you a raw, fresh look at dating as an adult - it's hard and often painful. Dan has a cloak of depression hanging over him like nobody's business, and yet he keeps on keeping on. This movie is VERY real life. Add in a crazy nutso family full of love (reminiscent of Home for the Holidays or maybe The Family Stone, but without the edge), and a pinch of twisted up complicated romance (lots of good tension and a feeling of will it-won't it happen??). Great movie. Sweet and redemptive and not at all sappy. Cool interrelationships throughout.

Let me know if you like these. I certainly did!

~Allison