FINALLY - Juno!

I'm getting over a cold, and I've felt like crap for several days in a row. I haven't been writing, and that makes me feel even more like crap.

But I decided yesterday that I was going to do something positive in the midst of all this goopy, sniffly, coughy crud, so I hit the matinee of Juno, knowing that very few people would likely be there (indeed, there were only 2, and they sat in the wheelchair area) and that I'd finally get to sate my curiosity about Diablo Cody's first screenplay and Ellen Page's first role outside of that spandex-clad spin in X-men 3.

I was really, really, REALLY impressed.

The story was adorable and endearing. The characters were real, resilient, and easy to sympathize with. The dialogue was quirky and unique.

I have to say that Cody has a way of writing dialogue that I would liken to Q. Tarantino or Kevin Smith. I admire it a lot. It differs from the way most people speak, but it's so effective and powerful (and downright entertaining) that you don't care.

I probably pay more attention to dialogue than a lot of folks. Speech is my strength as a writer (I credit my theatre/acting background and intense vocabulary study for the ACTs) and my primary interest when I tell a story. I spend a lot of time alone and NOT speaking to others, so that when I do finally emerge from my cocoon and interact with the general populace, I feel a heightened sensitivity to words and tone.

Some of my fave movies for dialogue: Dogma, Shirley Valentine (although that's mostly monologue, but it's still speech), Ghostbusters, Pulp Fiction, Resevoir Dogs, Jacki Brown, Firefly (series)/Serendipity, While You Were Sleeping, and Stranger Than Fiction.

Some of my fave authors: Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Jennifer Crusie, Christopher Moore, and Janet Evanovich (has anyone on the planet ever made better use of the word "Babe"???)

So how about you? If you make a habit of studying/paying attention to dialogue, what has been a movie/book/author that's impressed you?