I’ve been ranting and raving about Jason Reitman’s new film, Juno. You’ve probably already heard me claim that it’s the best film of the year so far, or even “this year’s Little Miss Sunshine”. That the script, soundtrack, and performances are all top notch. And now you can see the film for yourself (or at least the trailer). While the trailer gives you a good idea what the movie is about (and even features some of the aforementioned great tunes), I think it undersells the film quite a bit (compared to my obvious oversell).

"Ellen Page stars as Juno (also the film’s title), a whip-smart teen confronting an unplanned pregnancy by her classmate Bleeker (Michael Cera). With the help of her hot best friend Leah (Olivia Thirlby), Juno finds her unborn child a “perfect” set of parents: an affluent suburban couple, Mark and Vanessa (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner), longing to adopt. Luckily, Juno has the total support of her parents (JK Simmons and Allison Janney) as she faces some tough decisions, flirts with adulthood and ultimately figures out where she belongs."

“Juno” seems to be like a younger version of “Knocked Up,” except less cynical and with more pathos — the laughs seems to be sweeter. Plus, the solutions are realistic and it looks like the pain is real...c’mon, how many hundreds of movies in the world have dealt with pregnancy? Call it a ripoff of “A Summer Place (1959)” then!!!

Not only is Juno one of the best movies of the year, but it also has one of the best movie soundtracks of the last five years. It’s kind of like a Wes Anderson film in the way that it will expose you to a whole new compilation of music (and more specifically Kimya Dawson’s indie folk punk tunes). Yes, the music tends to skew to a younger audience, so if you’re over 40 this might not be your thing. I’m not sure is Wes Anderson’s soundtracks are a good comparison, Garden State might be a better example.

The director Jason Reitman said that Ellen Page had a lot to do with the sound of the film.

“At one point, I asked Ellen Page before we started shooting, ‘what do you think Juno listens to?’ And she said ‘The Moldy Peaches’. She went on my computer, played the songs, and I fell in love with it. Diablo and I discussed putting a Moldy Peaches song in it where the characters would sing to each other. I got in touch with Kimya Dawson of The Moldy Peaches and she started sending me her work, which was beautiful, and that became a lot of the soundtrack.”

Singer/Songwriter Kimya Dawson writes the following on her live journal:

“Some of those songs were recorded in my bed in Bedford Hills, under the covers, on the 4-track. And when people were coming up to me telling me I did a great job it felt weird because I didn’t do a job. I wrote a bunch of crap when my heart was hurting. Everyone else had to do a job. The songs were already there. Just floating around in space. I didn’t do anything specifically FOR the movie. Except record some instrumental versions of a couple songs that only have two chords. That was easy. so, yeah…”



“Anyone Else But You”
Performed by The Moldy Peaches
ALSO performed by Ellen Page and Michael Cera

“Tire Swing”
“My Rollercoaster”
“So Nice So Smart”
“I Like Giants”
“Reminders of Then”
“12/26″
“Loose Lips”
Written and Performed by Kimya Dawson

“Tree Hugger”
“Sleep”
Performed by Kimya Dawson and Antsy Pants

“Once I Loved”
Performed by Astrud Gilberto

“All I Want Is You”
Written and Performed by: Barry Louis Polisar

“Besame Mucho”
Performed by: Trio Los Panchos

“A Well Respected Man”
Performed by The Kinks

“Doll Parts”
Written by Courtney Love
Preformed by ??????

“I’m Sticking With You”
Preformed by The Velvet Underground

“Dearest”
Performed by Buddy Holly

“Why Bother”
Performed by tHe drop

“Superstar”
Performed by Sonic Youth

“Piazza, New York Catcher”
“Expectations”
Performed by Belle & Sebastian

“All the Young Dudes”
Performed by Mott The Hoople

“Sea of Love”
Performed by Cat Power

“Vampire”
Performed by Antsy Pants