Juno & Into The Wild I watched two great movies in the last week. I don't believe they are out yet in the UK, but I properly recommend them. Juno is the kind of film that you want to tell everyone to go and see but describing it sounds a little sappy. 20-year old Ellen Page’s performance is truly divine in her role as a 16-year old free-spirited tom boy, who falls pregnant after more than a fumble on a chair with her dopey best friend from school.

The film is laugh out loud funny and the script delivers razor sharp lines from start to finish as we watch how Juno and her family cope with the bombshell and simultaneously how potential adoptive parents, one being Jennifer Garner, deal with their own changing situation too. It is a true gem.

There was another stand out performance from 22-year old Emile Hirsch playing Alex in Into The Wild. A true story about a bright college graduate, who couldn't wait to get away from his parents hypocrisy. He gives his colleage fund to Oxfam and flees civilization for the wilds of America culminating in the untouched haven of Alaska. Desperate for solitude Alex finally reaches his destination but in a desperate conclusion he realises that this idealism is not everything.

Hirsch is a revelation whose charisma and determination as Alex knows no bounds. The film is based on a book by Jon Krakauer and directed by Sean Penn with some fine performances also from Hal Holbrook, Vince Vaughan and William Hurt.  ¶ 12:32