Like George Costanza, I need to go into a film fresh. Months ago, when I started hearing buzz about "Juno", I shut myself off from all Juno-related press. I've been avoiding reviews, articles, interviews and everything else that accompanies a film's release.
Since I've been in the cold, everything in this entry has likely be written elsewhere by others. I wouldn't know, I still haven't read a review of "Juno". I have seen the movie, finally, and the first thing that struck me is how Canadian a film it is.
Here's the Juno Canadiana I detected:
- Juno was directed by Jason Reitman, Montreal-born son of Ivan Reitman, a.k.a. the keynote speaker at my commencement ceremony at Convocation Hall
- Juno's star and soul belongs to Halifax-born Ellen Page
- Ellen Page's love interest in Juno is Michael Cera who hails from Brampton
- Juno makes me think of our Canadian Grammy Awards
- Juno was filmed in British Columbia
- The jock in the high school hallways is a guy I recognize from "Degrassi: The Next Generation"
- During the opening credits, there were several maple leaves and that wasn't a coincidence
In addition to all this Canadiana, there was a great shout out to "Arrested Development". During the past month I've re-watched all 53 episodes of "Arrested Development" in sequence. Just about every night I watched at least one episode, often two and sometimes three. As a result, I've spent a lot of time thinking about "Arrested Development" so when I see a film co-starring both George Michael Bluth and Michael Bluth, it's natural I'm going to be looking for allusions to the best comedy you didn't watch.
J.K. Simmons, a man I know best from his role as Vernon Schillinger in "Oz" but also a one-time guest star on "Arrested Development", had the honours. His line "I'm not ready to be a Pop Pop" was a clear allusion to "Arrested Development". "Pop Pop" was the term of endearment George Michael and Maeby used for their grandfather, George Bluth Sr., played by the always awesome Jeffrey Tambor.
It's also a great movie, by the way...
This has nothing to do with Canadiana but it's interesting. Did you remember the Chemistry Teacher? Well it's our good friend Cut Chemist, who was a member of the group, Jurassic 5. I thought that was pretty interesting.