There’s also a version (the Saga) that’s combined so that it runs in chronological order.

One is great and Two is even better. DeNiro as the Don in his younger days — the story of his rise to power in Little Italy in the 20s…fantastic.

As for Three…well see the first two and then see three, so you know who is who. I can’t even count how many times I’ve seen the first two…in whole or in bits (when it comes on Tv — well…I should knit more. Sometimes I just listen to the dialogue while doing chores!)

As for Goodfellas, Ray Liotta and Lorraine Bracco were really wonderful — they all were…what a movie.

Sadly, I’ve only seen parts of Goodfellas, but I never got around to seeing it from start to finish, but very much want to. With that said, I have yet to see any of the Godfather movies which is a big shock to a lot of people that know me and my love of cinema. It’s not like I avoid these movies on purpose, I just never think about it until I see it’s coming on TV… And I don’t want to watch it on TV because it’s censored and has commercials. But one night, I will sit down and have a gangster night, or weekend if I can’t finish it all in one sitting.

Blue Velvet I’ve heard of, but not sure if I wanna travel down David Lynch’s strange road. Mulholland Drive is the only movie from him I’ve seen and that in itself was just weird. I understood what was going on after someone explained it, but overall, I probably wouldn’t want to see it again.

And Juno… I liked the characters and their quirkiness with interesting dialogues. Not the best movie in the world and I wasn’t all that impressed either, but it entertained me.

It’s like watching a car-crash…you know you shouldn’t watch it, but you can’t help yourself. I have a morbid fascination watching these sociopathic gangsters self-destruct.

Yes…Joe Pesci makes the movie! (One of the worst bad-ass characters, ever!)

You can almost see the same movie again, if you watch “Casino” (though it’s not quite as good).

As a well studied screenwriter I find the Juno script to be a by-the-book cookie cut script, which is fine, that’s how you make a sale and become rich and famous. It is a financial endeavor more than it is an honest heartfelt creative endeavor.

For me personally, the Juno characters are monodimensional and the story is too simple to excite me. The characters’ voices were that of an older person trying to be young and funny, and didn’t sound like real teenagers to me.

That said, almost everyone I know really liked it.

Winning Best Original Screenplay I think is more of a popularity contest: Does this movie make me feel good? Do I like it? And does not mean that the script itself is original or unique or groundbreaking, rather that the script was written from scratch (not an adaptation of something else).

Juno was not my pick of the year because I need something more experimental and mysterious to fulfill me, but it was a lot of other people’s favorite movie, and therefore deserved its win because it was successful in entertaining.

Here is what I did write about Juno, if you missed it:
http://www.screenwritingforhollywood.com/weird-stuff/what-you-dont-know-about-juno

What I liked most about Juno was the filmmakers’ addition of the creative comic-looking opening credits scene of her walking drinking milk.

– Ellen Wilson — I strongly agree with your fine pinpointed reasons how Juno could have been much better.

– SizzlyP — When Pesci shoots the kid in GoodFellas is so disturbing! In my mind, I had melded that scene with the “You think I’m funny?” scene, but watching the movie recently, they are far apart. My mind had lumped all his crazy actions together.

Her one flaw could have been her attraction the the married guy, and then when her step mom says something about boundaries and you don’t know how it is between married people – now THAT could have been a moment. It was too much of a merry-go-round for me. The trajedy/comedy could have been stepped up a bit.

Otherwise, yeah, the acting was very good within the context of the script.

I will have to read the interview with Cody Diablo in Writer’s Digest to shed some light on her thinking process.

I wasn’t sure what to make of Juno either. I liked it quite a bit, and yet I was surprised by the message. (Was there no contraception available in their town or do teenagers still believe in magic?!)

This a list to save for when the snow flies here in the east…off to the video store (or we’ll take it along on our VHS yard sale walks.)

Juno was great not just because of the story, but because of Ellen Page’s excellent performance and how she can play the roles of women who are 5 years younger than her. Other examples of her works are Hard Candy and The Tracey Fragments (which is an artsy movie….you need to be in an artsy mood to really appreciate it).