Since the dawn of computer-animated feature films more than a decade ago, the Walt Disney Corporation has been a big, juicy target for upstart animation studios looking to eschew the tradition of fairytale cartoons. No irony is lost on the fact that it was Disney’s partnership with the fledgling Pixar group that launched such films into the stratosphere. It seems oddly appropriate, then, that Disney’s latest foray into film amination, the charming Enchanted, perfects the send-up to their own tried and true stories.

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One of the most dangerous games a movie studio can play with its consumers is the game of expectations. Too often, studios overhype films that are undeserving of a cent of marketing. Other times, there’s so little buzz surrounding a film that it catches viewers by surprise. Entering into the latter camp is director Jason Reitman’s second offering, the sweetly sardonic Juno. Delivering everything its hype promised and still keeping a few tricks up its sleeve, this candid but sly comedy is one of the year’s most satisfying experiences.

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It took six days before the local media owned up to their completely unnecessary sensationalizing of the ‘07 Bonnie and Clyde story, but when the Inquirer did so, courtesy of an editorial from columnist Monica Yant Kinney, they hit the nail on the head:

“This story would be nothing without the photos,” a local TV reporter mentions as we wait, pathetically, in the lobby of the Criminal Justice Center for a glimpse of the parents who created celebrity train-wreck Jocelyn Kirsch.

Indeed, for a week now, Kirsch’s surgically-enhanced mug has enjoyed an almost uninterrupted stay on philly.com’s home page, thanks in no small part to a library of alternately salacious and stupid pictures of her that the media has uncovered. And the deluge of self-congratulatory schadenfreude from the local papers is exhausting.

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For as head-scratchingly complex as No Country for Old Men is – it’s a classic Coen brothers film, for sure – it’s also remarkably simple, much like the western Texas landscape that in which it resides. Utilizing a straightforward narrative triangle based on its three focal characters and basing the action on the primal drive of a chase movie, the film forms a foundation so strong that it affords the Coens the opportunity to add their trademark flourishes. Add in a trio of top-level performances and you have a landmark in a pair of writing and directing résumés with few blemishes in the first place.

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Okay, so I failed at the stated objective of NaBloPoMo. But just because I couldn’t post thirty times in thirty days doesn’t mean the project wasn’t a success. I matched my monthly all-time high in posts with 24 and found some good reasons to keep blogging. Many thanks to those who continue to read.