Day: December 23, 2007

And I loved the soundtrack, too.

So maybe Juno tries a little too hard, is a little too deliberately quirky and off in its rhythms, but it’s undeniably sweet and touching — and, I think it’s safe to say, one of the best films I’ve seen this year. It says something about a film when I’m genuinely sorry to leave its characters behind when it’s over.

Here’s Scott Tobias on the movie:

[Jennifer] Garner, in particular, has found the right role to capitalize on her high-strung, hyper-driven screen persona; her excitement over being a mother would be overbearing if it weren’t also so heartbreakingly sincere. That’s Juno‘s appeal in a nutshell: It comes off as calculatedly irreverent at times, and its Wes Anderson-isms are too precious by half, but its sweetness is genuine and next-to-impossible to resist.

It’s not a perfect film, no matter what Roger Ebert may say about it…but then again, neither are Wes Anderson movies.

I really loved it. But then, I really loved I Am Legend and would put both on my best of the year list. So take that for what you will.

Dooced over Dilbert?

Uh oh. I have a Dilbert desk calendar at work* and a few of the cartoons taped up in my cubicle. Does this mean I should be worried?

A Fort Madison man who posted a “Dilbert” comic strip on an office bulletin board has lost his job for implying his bosses were a bunch of “drunken lemurs.”

Of course, it’s not quite as clear-cut as “man posts cute cartoon, gets fired for it.” I’m not sure the casino was justified in firing him, but I also don’t think I would post any of the cartoons I’ve saved to a shared office bulletin board — much less a cartoon like this, which is clearly critical of management. Steward posted the cartoon “shortly after company officials announced that the casino would be closing and 170 workers could be laid off,” and it’s not hard to see his doing so as a direct response to that.

Ask yourself this: if Steward had, in conversation, called management “drunken lemurs,” or if he had posted an anonymous opinion to the company bulletin board to the same effect — essentially if the whole cartoon was taken out of the equation — would management be justified in firing him? Maybe, maybe not, but I think it definitely seems like they had cause to be upset with him. It seems like it goes beyond cutting out a Dilbert cartoon, taping it to the wall, and getting fired because somebody objected.

Original link via Mark Evanier.

* Well, I guess had, since when I get back to the office it will be out of date and finished.