Shane Life

I’ve had the good fortune of 3 separate birthday celebrations this year, one with Alli’s family on the day before my birthday, one with just Alli on Friday, then the final one with my family on Saturday.

Each birthday celebration involved me picking the food (2 times out of 3: barbecue) and picking the movie.

National Treasure: Book of Secrets

Last Saturday, we ventured out into the cold Iowa weather to see National Treasure: Book of Secrets. Of all the “holiday” movies that are released, this was one that I was really looking forward to. I liked the previous movie a lot. It was very Dan Brown meets Indiana Jones…how can you go wrong with that?

Look, it’s not going to win any awards, but it was a lot of fun. Lots of action and a decent (albeit unrealistic) story. If you can suspend belief a little (think Transformers), you’ll enjoy this movie.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Sweeney Todd is one of the most well-reviewed films of the year. That should have been my first clue. A couple years back, I went picked a well-reviewed movie (Sideways) for my birthday and it sucked.

Sweeney Todd benefits from Johnny Depp, who is one of the best actors around. But the story is just so dark and evil and it’s so drearily filmed by crazy Tim Burton that it can’t recover. Oftentimes something as dark as this movie is balanced by humor or at least some sort of redeeming ending. Not so much here.

Now, I’ve never seen the staged musical. Now that I’ve seen the movie, I have absolutely no desire to do so. I might suggest this to people who like Tim Burton, but for those of you who look for at least something positive in your movie-going experience, I’d steer clear of Sweeney Todd.

Juno

Finally a movie both well-reviewed and good. Juno is the latest film by Jason Reitman, director Ivan Reitman’s son and the director of the very underrated tobacco company satire, Thank You for Smoking.

The independent film centers around the title character, played beautifully by Ellen Page, a 16-year-old high school girl who gets pregnant by her best friend who is played by George Michael Bluth himself, Michael Cera.

The dialogue is witty and sharp, written smartly by newcomer Diablo Cody. Ellen Page shines in this movie, but is surrounded by a lot of terrific supporting players like Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner as the to-be adoptive parents of Juno’s unborn child and J.K. Simmons and Alison Janney as Juno’s dad and stepmom.

Of all the movies I saw for my birthday, Juno was by far the best. It was heartfelt in the same way as last year’s indie darling, Little Miss Sunshine, but it was funnier. I found myself laughing aloud on more than one occasion during the movie. Even stuck in the 2nd row of the theater, it was a joy to watch.

Tonight, we’re going to check out Atonement. I’ll let you know what I think.