Junebug:
I don’t recall why I added this movie to my Netflix queue. The director and writer have few previous credits in that category. I see that Amy Adams was nominated for an Academy Award and I sometimes peruse previous years award nominees to see if there’s a movie that looks interesting to me. But usually the Academy Award nominees are lower on my list than other film awards and I really was unfamiliar with her or the rest of the actors. That’s not saying a lot because, though I love films, I’m not one who really keeps up with any particular actor’s body of work. Regardless, I loved “Junebug”. I would say its sort of in the vein of Thomas Wolfe’s “You Can’t Go Home Again” except I …uhhhh… never actually finished reading “You Can’t Go Home Again”. Let’s just say that its sort of a modern “You Can’t Go Home Again – AND – You Never Really leave Home” tale. There is not a single role in the film in which the actor’s portrayal didn’t resonate with me. I think the implications of the ending are easily missed. I look forward to discussing that with someone… ahem.. <looking at you>
Movie Review: “Junebug”
Published April 4, 2008 Reviews 9 CommentsTags: Films, Literature, Movies, Netflix, The South, Thomas Wolfe
“Look Homeward, Angel” was OK, but not his best work; he hadn’t really artistically matured by that time, but you could sense that he would be a very good writer if he did. By the time he completed “You Can’t Go Home Again,” he really had found his voice and I enjoyed that one quite a bit. There was a bit of a Faulknerian element to it, but just the slightest bit in his descriptives. I wouldn’t say he was derivative of him, though. Kerouac referred to Wolfe from time to time, and I think you could make an argument for some Wolfian influence in JK’s first, “The Town and The City.”
Just one reader’s opinion/observations.
Uhhh KK … I believe the blog was a movie review. But if I ever manage to finish reading “You Can’t Go Home Again” (Or any other book “classic” with little print and big words) I’ll be sure to remember your opinion. And by remember I mean ignore… and by opinion I mean ramblings. Nice ascot though.
Seriously – Mr KK is an intelligent dude and extremely literate. I myself am a self diagnosed ADHD dyslexic reader. I love to read, but it sometimes takes supreme effort to get through “serious” literature. Someday I’ll try to document what I have made it through. Shouldn’t be that long a list.
Dear Mr. Curmudgeousness,
Perhaps you’d like to kiss my ascot. But I digest. I don’t think your list of “serious” literature should include the novelizations of such classics as “Caddyshack” and “Porky’s II.” Yes, yes, I fully understand that the blog posting was in essence a movie review. I’m very familiar with movie reviews, and believe me, I know one when I …. are you going to finish that cruller?
Few people know that “Porky’s II” is actually a modern adaptation of “War and Peace”, least of all those eggheads who have read “War and Peace”.
Quite a coincidence. I used to have lunch at Warren Pizza right over on B Street. By the way, I know my little photo icon thingie looks blank, but that’s actually a photo of me in direct sunlight. Natural light! Get it off me!
Nice tan
Yeah, you can see it in my pic there.
OK, I have now watched “Junebug,” or I should say I made to the 33:00 minute mark before declaring “Done.” I can say without reservation that this is the worst movie I’ve seen since that movie with that one guy where that thing happened.
KK – I stopped reading your comment at about the fourth word. But I can say unequivocally its the worst comment of the comments I didn’t finish reading.
I will say this in its favor: I was surprised to hear a snippet of the Shostakovich Piano Trio in the soundtrack. Bravo.