REVIEW: Paradise [2013]

“Why twitter with Satan when you can friend with God?” My first trip to the Toronto International Film Festival had me arriving at the box office with vouchers and no clue about what to see. Ready for anything, my friend and I took a chance on Juno based solely on our enjoying Thank You for Smoking and our intrigue in Ellen Page’s follow up to her fantastic turn in Hard Candy. It was a great choice: funny, fresh, contemporary, and accompanied by a Q&A with director Jason Reitman and first-time…

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REVIEW: Young Adult [2011]

“Mad Love, Buddy” And the award for movie with the worst message for young adults is Young Adult. Bravo Diablo Cody for what appears to be a cathartic foray into justifying arrogance, shallowness, and alcoholism as signs of great artistic talent rather than portraying them as glaring issues needing work, help, and maturity. Kudos for hiding a dark cesspool of angry depressive horrors beneath the sheen of a light-hearted coming home to romance the now married ex-boyfriend comedy and for allowing horrible monsters to become more horrible. Thanks for at…

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TIFF09 REVIEW: Up in the Air [2009]

“I’m like my mother, I stereotype—it’s faster” I’ll get it out right now: I have a soft spot for director Jason Reitman. I felt his debut Thank You for Smoking lived up to expectations and his sophomore effort Juno was my first ever screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, allowing me to experience something fresh and unique before becoming a breakout phenomenon. So, on the basis of nostalgia, as well as talent, my friend and I had to see if he could finish out the hat trick with Up…

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TIFF07 REVIEW: Juno [2007]

“It all started with a chair” It’s a good feeling when you can walk out of your very first Toronto Film Festival showing thinking, “Wow, that was great.” The screening was for Juno, the sophomore effort from director Jason Reitman. Let’s just say that the proverbial slump is nowhere to be seen. I enjoyed Thank You For Smoking immensely, however, the ending couldn’t hold the tone he had set up from the start. With Juno, I kept waiting for the same pitfall, but thankfully it never showed face. As Reitman…

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