JUNO

Despite an uneven start, where every word of dialogue is drenched in geek-cool, Juno soon shapes up to be a more than hilarious charmer, with enough character, integrity and emotional weight to knock you off guard. Sensibly shifting to a less over-worked approach after the opening credits, we see a film that's as concerned with character and plot as it is clever lines.

Apart from the aforementioned opening wobble, not a second is wasted, and every performance is pitch perfect. I'd be tempted to say you wont be seeing a better performance on the big screen from anyone in it, but Ellen Page's casting in Sam Raimi's “Drag Me To Hell”, and the slither of possibility of Michael Cera and Jason Bateman reuniting in an Arrested Development spin-off lay that thought quickly to waste.

But until that day, this is the best place to catch Cera's awkward shyness (now perfected it to an untouchable level), Jennifer Garner as a controlling suburbanite who you actually care for, Bateman as a sell-out musician who still harbours big dreams, and JK Simmons' salt-of-the-earth father, who is clearly the mould from with his little girl was formed. And that's all before we see just why Ellen Paige's Juno is really worthy of that Oscar.

Directed with a gentle touch, Jason Reitman leaves the screen for his actors to fill, allowing their performance and the script to shine through. Much has been made of Cody Diablo's past and sudden transformation, but if she pulls another one like this out the bag, my guess is people won't be caring about her past employment, and just looking to her next work. A special note for the super-cool soundtrack, which crams so many tracks in, it's almost absurd, seemingly transforming every scene - but super-cool is what they are, and it would be churlish to complain.

Alongside Sideways and Garden State, Juno is a gem of American Bohemian Indie movies (as I have decided to succinctly name the genre). Warm-hearted, sarcastic and nearly too smart for its own good, Juno beats off strong competition from Knocked Up for best pregnancy related comedy of the millennium, and shows the same knack for not damning characters that made Apatow's movie the unexpected darling of 2007.

 

ADVANCE WARS : DARK CONFLICT

Welcome to the Dark Days, the new, metaphorical and questioning form of Advance Wars. Where bouncy happy troopers once stood on a colourful field of grass and tarmac now stand brown survivors on rubble and charred earth.

The change in vehicles (some added, some removed) has affected the gameplay only for the better, and now the balance is so perfect that the realms of strategic possibilities are so wide, that the amount of different plans you can conceive can be daunting. But the standards remain unchanged. Turn-based strategy that starts simple and grows ever more complex, Advance Wars has always been a standard of how to do the genre right, and the newest addition only reinforces that.

Multiplayer, now finally implemented the way it always should have been, is a great diversion (if you can find someone good enough to play), but the real meat is the single-player. The main campaign (gargantuan) has a pace and learning curve so perfect it might as well be circular, while the “Trial” (a sterner test of your strategic clout) maps allow old hands to take on the harder stuff earlier on, and both are damn near perfectly designed.

While the game mechanics and balance are better than ever, the change in style and tone has damaged the series so dramatically that I genuinely found it more difficult to play through. While the art style is still attractive, the sombre atmosphere and general lack of fun in the proceedings is so detrimental that I just wanted to return to the Jake & Sam's friendly fireworks version of war, and clock up those still remaining medals…

 

Your friend with style - the MockTurtle.

 

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