Diablo Cody

Ellen Page’s ‘Smart People’ Only as Scholarly as Zealous Senior in High School

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:30:45 -0700

CHICAGO – I’m flummoxed. I know “Smart People” was supposed to be comedic drama with a splash of romance. Instead, I have been misled. It’s not a comedy. It’s not a tragedy. It’s not even a tragicomedy.

“Smart People” is a blandly scripted “poor me” with an attempt at a plot and some glitzy Hollywood names thrown in for good box-office measure.

While I know this was no “Juno,” I couldn’t help cursing first-time writer Mark Poirier for not taking a much-needed page – or a full-fledged course of mentoring – from Oscar-winning “Juno” inker Diablo Cody.

Read Adam Fendelman’s full review of “Smart People” in our reviews section.

View our full “Smart People” image gallery.

“Smart People” is also a product of another newbie: first-time director Noam Murro.

Since her “Juno” stardom in 2007 – and actually her big-screen break out even before that in 2005’s “Hard Candy” – 21-year-old Ellen Page has righteously warranted her way on Hollywood’s “A” list.

My draw to “Smart People” was Page and Page alone. While she’s always a professional who crafts the best she can from the material she’s handed, an actor ultimately is a slave to his or her script. “Smart People” offensively held Page back whereas “Juno” unleashed her.

Ellen Page in “Smart People”.
Photo credit: IMDb

Thomas Haden Church and Ellen Page in “Smart People”.
Photo credit: IMDb

Read the full review…

80th Academy Awards Headlined By ‘No Country For Old Men,’ ‘There Will Be Blood,’ ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:50:43 -0700

CHICAGO – “No Country For Old Men,” “Juno,” “Once,” “Atonement,” “The Bourne Ultimatum,” “There Will Be Blood,” “Ratatouille,” “The Golden Compass,” “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” “La Vie en Rose,” “Michael Clayton” and more headlined the 80th Academy Awards on Feb. 24, 2008.

In total, “No Country For Old Men” led the pack with four Oscars followed by a surprising three for “The Bourne Ultimatum” and two for “There Will Be Blood”. A complete list of all 2008 Oscar winners at the 80th Academy Awards is found below. All image credits go to Oscar.com.

Best Picture:
Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen for “No Country For Old Men”

Best Director:
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for “No Country For Old Men”

Best Original Screenplay:
Diablo Cody for “Juno”
The HollywoodChicago.com interview with “Juno” writer Diablo Cody can be found here.

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for “No Country For Old Men”

Best Actor:
Daniel Day-Lewis for “There Will Be Blood”

Best Actress:
Marion Cotillard for “La Vie en Rose”

Best Supporting Actor:
Javier Bardem for “No Country For Old Men”

Best Supporting Actress:
Tilda Swinton for “Michael Clayton”
The HollywoodChicago.com interview with “Michael Clayton” director Tony Gilroy can be found here.

Best Art Direction:
Dante Ferretti (art direction) and Francesca Lo Schiavo (set decoration) for “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”

Best Cinematography:
Robert Elswit for “There Will Be Blood”

Best Film Editing:
Christopher Rouse for “The Bourne Ultimatum”

Best Original Song:
“Falling Slowly” from “Once” (music and lyrics by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova)
The HollywoodChicago.com interview with “Once” director John Carney and stars Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova can be found here.

Best Original Score:
Dario Marianelli for “Atonement”

Best Sound Mixing:
Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk Francis for “The Bourne Ultimatum”

Best Sound Editing:
Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg for “The Bourne Ultimatum”

Best Visual Effects:
Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood for “The Golden Compass”

Best Costume Design:
Alexandra Byrne for “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”

Best Makeup:
Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald for “La Vie en Rose”

Best Animated Feature:
Brad Bird for “Ratatouille”

Best Animated Short Film:
Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman for “Peter & the Wolf”

Best Documentary Feature:
Alex Gibney and Eva Orner for “Taxi to the Dark Side”

Best Documentary Short Subject:
Cynthia Wade and Vanessa Roth for “Freeheld”

Best Live-Action Short Film:
Philippe Pollet-Villard for “Le Mozart des Pickpockets” (“The Mozart of Pickpockets”)

Best Foreign Language Film:
Stefan Ruzowitzky for “The Counterfeiters” (Austria)

Host Jon Stewart marked one of this year’s surprise moments when he offered for “Once” co-star Marketa Irglova – initially cut off by music – to return to the stage and deliver her acceptance speech. That speech has made its way to YouTube and can be seen below.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Color-Pencil Animated Opening Credit Sequence For ‘Juno’ Surfaces Online

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 11:08:03 -0700

The color-pencil animated opening credit sequence for “Juno” has surfaced online thanks to its creator: Shadowplay Studio. I learned about this from a Dec. 27 post on /Film.

Watch the “Juno” opening sequence here!

Ellen Page and Michael Cera for “Juno” on Sept. 8, 2007.
Photo credit: WireImage.com
Since “Juno” director Jason Reitman also directed “Thank You For Smoking,” you wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Shadowplay is also responsible for creating that film’s opening titles, too.

Diablo Cody (left) and Ellen Page for “Juno” on Nov. 5, 2007.
Photo credit: WireImage.com
There’s universal agreement (as much as there can be universal agreement) that “Juno” is one of the best films of the year and perhaps the best of the independents.

Jennifer Garner for “Juno” on Sept. 8, 2007.
Photo credit: WireImage.com

Ellen Page (left) in “Juno”.
Photo credit: IMDb
Reitman says the following about the sequence in a blog post from Aug. 2007:

They were created by Shadowplay Studio, which is the same team who did the badass opening titles for “Thank You For Smoking”.

I met them back in 2000 when we both had short films playing the festival circuit. Their short (“This Guy is Falling”) was a really impressive half live-action/half animation piece they did in college.

When they did “Thank You For Smoking,” the titles were rendered on a series of computers in one of their mother’s living rooms. Now they got a fancy place in an art-deco building on Wilshire.

The “Juno” opening titles are out of control. I don’t want to give away too much, but the whole process was really labor intensive.

The Shadowplayers would have parties in which friends and family would help construct the whole thing. I can’t wait for you all to see it and then I can explain how it was done.

My interview with “Juno” star Ellen Page and “Juno” screenwriter Diablo Cody can be found here. The HollywoodChicago.com film review of “Juno” by Shane Hazen can be found here.

“Juno” screenwriter Diablo Cody.
Photo credit: WireImage.com

Ellen Page and Michael Cera in “Juno”.
Photo credit: IMDb

Jennifer Garner (left), Jason Bateman and Ellen Page in “Juno”.
Photo credit: IMDb

From left to right: J.K. Simmons, Ellen Page, Allison Janney and Jason Bateman for “Juno” on Nov. 5, 2007.
Photo credit: WireImage.com

A Metaphorical Peek Under the Skirt of ‘Jennifer’s Body’ From Screenwriter Diablo Cody

HollywoodChicago.com — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 14:29:01 -0700

On Oct. 23, we learned that “Juno” screenwriter Diablo Cody – one of Hollywood’s most rising scribe stars – got plucked by Fox Atomic for a comedic supernatural thriller entitled “Jennifer’s Body”.

“Juno” and “Jennifer’s Body” screenwriter Diablo Cody.
Photo credit: ViewImages
After reading a Sept. 20, 2007 draft of the “Jennifer’s Body” script from Cody, Peter Sciretta at /Film on Saturday published a read-worthy script review. I’ve highlighted some standout nuggets below.

Cody’s mix of razor-sharp wit, obscure pop-culture references, unique characters and ability to maneuver her way through potentially cliché situations has all of Hollywood calling her name.

I’m sure some people will see some comparisons to “Juno” especially in the characterizations and dialogue.

Anita “Needy” Lesnicki is kind of a quick-witted geek: the kind [who] uses the word “ostentatious” during … everyday conversation and dates a band geek named Chip.

Jennifer is the hotter, more popular member of the duo.

“Jennifer’s Body” is a very different [script] than “Juno”. For example, it is extremely gory.

One passage from Cody’s script describes a scene where blood and viscera [are] scattered everywhere with intestines strewn about “like party streamers”. One victim is described as looking like “lasagna with teeth”.

The main problem with “Jennifer’s Body” is that – as it begins to wind down – you realize you already know how it ends.

If I were to offer one suggestion to Fox Atomic, it would be this: begin the story at the beginning and not the ending.

It should also be noted that the screenplay is 115 pages long, which usually translates to an almost two-hour film. That might be a tad … too long for a genre film.

Read the full /Film script review here.

Interview, Part Two: Why Hollywood’s Addicted to ‘Juno’ Scribe Diablo Cody, Star Ellen Page

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 23:05:39 -0700

Editor’s note: This interview contains explicit language.
This is part two of this interview. Part one is here.
CHICAGO – The sale of Diablo Cody’s “Juno” script has become the opening of her career can of worms.

“Juno” screenwriter Diablo Cody.
Photo credit: ViewImages
In Oct. 2007, it was announced that Fox Atomic purchased Cody’s script for the comedic supernatural thriller “Jennifer’s Body”. Mason Novick and Jason Reitman are both on board as producers. Cody added: “I think [Reitman is] done with high school movies.”

While Cody has been painted with “the new Tarantino,” Page has been flattered by being likened to Meryl Streep and Audrey Hepburn.

“That seems outlandish. I don’t feel special,” Page said as if she’s not a flourishing Hollywood star. “I’m just doing what I love to do. That’s a crazy thing to think about. Having an opportunity to do this is an enormous gift. Getting all this attention just weirds me out.”

Cody laughed – and we won’t know why – except to say it was a “private joke” on the topic of Page’s modesty.

Page returned to her diffident direction: “It’s nice when people give you compliments, but it’s not always easy to take compliments. I have really awesome friends who are 10 times cooler than me doing really [amazing] things they don’t get attention for.”

Cody said maternally: “You should learn to take compliments, girlie, because you’re gonna be getting some.” Page pressed on: “I just run around for 30 days talking. Thanks, but what am I?”

Cody interrupted: “I’m sorry about this bloody rag. It’s out of control.” Cody was referencing her ever-bleeding finger in our interview.

“Juno” star Ellen Page as Kitty Pride in “X-Men: The Last Stand”.
Photo credit: EllenPage.net
Back to Page’s retiring persona, she said: “Insults are fine. I don’t care what people think of me. Criticism [usually] feels honest.” Returning to maternal mode, Cody became protective when asked for criticism on Page’s performance of her adolescent, pregnant character.

“I would criticize nothing about her,” Cody retorted. “Ellen’s one of my heroes. She’s one of my favorite actors.”

Speaking of her motherly instincts, we shifted gears and discussed that vital topic in her personal and work life. Cody is a stepmom.

“That’s very important to me,” she said. “I honestly don’t think there’s any character more vilified in folklore or film than the stepmother. The reason I have a problem with it is not just because I am one but because a very, very large percentage of American children have one.”

As for the disapproving perception often associated with a stepmom in society today, Cody said: “I don’t see how that’s sending an uplifting or healthy message to anybody to tell them they have a villain in their family or to tell them they’re abnormal or tainted.

“If I could create a positive portrayal of a relationship between a stepmother and a stepdaughter – particularly at this fraught adolescent time [in the film] – maybe that will impact somebody. I always say evil stepmothers aren’t born. They’re made. There are bitchy stepmoms out there just like there are bitchy moms.”

She continued: “As a stepmother, you feel like ‘if society’s going to treat me like a villain, I’m going to fucking act like one’. And then the cycle continues. So let’s break the cycle!”

Speaking of breaking cycles, the timing of our interview was smack dab in the middle of the current writer’s strike by the Writers Guild of America (WGA).

Diablo Cody on strike on Nov. 7, 2007 in Los Angeles.
Photo source: Diablo Cody’s “The Pussy Ranch” blog
Cody is a card-carrying member of the WGA. She supports its national exclamation aimed at awarding the same residuals to writers for online sales as others already receiving such benefits. Cody’s support of the strike, though, isn’t at all for benefits she wants personally.

“I’m very pampered as a writer. I get recognition. I’m well paid,” Cody said. “The strike benefits all of us. I’m not really supposed to be talking about it, but the new-media issue and residuals issue affect everybody. I do feel like a lot of writers get the short end of the stick in general, but not me.

“I wish every writer can have the treatment I’ve had so far in my career. I have no complaints [personally], but I have complaints on behalf of my peers.”

Beyond “Jennifer’s Body,” Cody is also in bed with Toni Collette (“The Sixth Sense”), Steven Spielberg and Showtime. She says Spielberg conceived the concept of a mom with multiple personalities and Cody pitched a story to him based on that plotline. Showtime bit and Cody says she’s looking forward to meeting with Collette.

“Slutty,” Page offered. Confused, this critic said: “Collette’s slutty?” Page purified: “No!” Cody’s media training stepped in: “That’s why you can’t just randomly say that in interviews. That’s just her all-purpose adjective. It just means ‘cool’.”

Cody has also penned a female “Superbad” screenplay she coins “Girlie Style”. As it’s a college sex comedy with female protagonists, by now the pattern has clearly emerged about her topical fixations on sex and women.

“Juno” screenwriter Diablo Cody.
Photo credit: Scott Walker
“I’m a feminist,” Cody declared. “I wish I didn’t have to be. Initially I was insulted when people would ask me about writing great roles for women. I just wanted to write great roles. I felt like I was [bowing] to the patriarchy if I just wrote ‘women’s pictures’. But now being slightly more seasoned – lightly salted…”

In reaction to being “lightly salted,” Page popped back in with a titter: “Nice. A touch of thyme! A pinch of dill!”

Cody again sported her grave hat: “I do feel like I have a responsibility to write strong roles for women because I’m seeing so many amazing actresses – or as I like to call them ‘actors’ – who are being squandered. I don’t like the term ‘actress’.”

Page concurred: “When people ask me what I’m doing and I say I’m an ‘actor,’ the old bald white man will say: ‘Oh ho ho ho. Don’t you mean actress?’”

Cody pursued: “The term ‘actress’ sounds like it’s from the silent film era. Like: ‘Actress Clara Beau!’ It’s cheesy. I say actor. In interviews like this, I find myself having to default to ‘actress’ because when I say ‘there are no good roles for actors,’ it gets misconstrued that I’m talking about men.”

Beyond talking about men, what about writing about them? Though time will be the ultimate judge, Cody asserted: “I’ll write about boys. I’m certainly not averse to it. I myself am kind of a dude, so the fact that I’m able to tap into any woman’s psyche is shocking.”

Ellen Page.
Photo credit: George Pimentel, WireImage
To conclude our interview, we returned to where it all began for Cody – blogging – and the burdens and blessings inherent in it.

“You can’t just drop your blog because something [bad happens with it],” Cody stated. “Do you have any idea what kind of shit I’ve been through in cyberspace?”

She added: “How do I deal with that? I make a lot of money and laugh. Sorry. That’s a douche bag answer. I’ve been through a lot with it, but I don’t care because it’s four people in Minnesota who are bitter and ugly. They can eat a dick. They can collectively eat a dick.”

Page related: “It’s the same with what I do. I don’t even write anything personal about myself. I just act. Hardly many people even know who I am yet, but a few do. I just get automatically judged. People are just judgmental in general.”

“The Internet gives everybody a voice. I think that’s gross. Only the most articulate members of society should be allowed to voice their opinion,” Cody said sarcastically. But she concluded seriously: “There are a lot of illiterate trolls on the Internet who can just eat a dick.”

Part one of this interview can be found here.
By Adam Fendelman
Publisher
HollywoodChicago.com

News You Need: ‘Enemies’ in Chicago, NBR Awards ‘Old Men,’ Filming ‘Freakonomics’

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 10:35:30 -0700

Mann to Ambush Depp Outside the Biograph: Michael Mann and Johnny Depp have agreed to film “Public Enemies”. It’ll be a Chicago-based film about Depression-era gangsters set in 1933 to 1934.

Depp will play John Dillinger, according to Variety. The film is slated to start shooting in Chicago on March 10, 2008.

Michael Mann.
Photo credit: IMDb
Mann wrote the script based on the book by Bryan Burroughs. Depp recently backed out of Mira Nair’s “Shantaram” due to WGA strike-related script problems.

Since 2006’s “Miami Vice,” Mann has been jumping on and off abandoned projects. “Public Enemies” sounds close in tone and period to an untitled Hollywood noir written by John Logan that stars Leonardo DiCaprio. That project fell through due to a budget climbing in excess of $100 million.

Mann also was attached to “Empire” – a media-mogul drama again written by Logan (which its proposed star, Will Smith, recently compared to “Richard III”) – along with a former Martin Scorsese project entitled “Frankie Machine”. “Frankie Machine” was due to star Robert De Niro and be rewritten by Alex Tse (“Watchmen”).

Mann was possibly to step in and direct “Edwin A. Salt,” which is a CIA thriller to star Tom Cruise.

Its original director, Terry George (“Reservation Road,” “Hotel Rwanda”), recently dropped out due to script problems. Despite the strike, Mann also wouldn’t commit without a rewrite to the screenplay by Kurt Wimmer (“Equilibrium,” “Ultraviolet”).

Depp and Mann previously almost collaborated on an adaptation of “Death of a Dissident” about the assassinated former Russian intelligence officer Alexander Litvinenko.

Mann, who was born in Chicago, previously filmed “Thief” and “Manhunter” in the Windy City.

Then the NBR Woke Up: The National Board of Review (NBR) – annually the first film awards organization announcing its prizes – has named its best film of 2007: the Coen brothers’ “No Country For Old Men”. Other awards follow.

Javier Bardem in “No Country For Old Men”.
Photo credit: IMDb
Top 10 films (in alphabetical order): “The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford,” “Atonement,” “The Bourne Ultumatum,” “Into the Wild,” “Juno,” “The Kite Runner,” “Lars and the Real Girl,” “Michael Clayton” and “Sweeney Todd”

Best actor: George Clooney, “Michael Clayton”

Best actress: Julie Christie, “Away From Her”

Best supporting actor: Casey Affleck, “The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford”

Best supporting actress: Amy Ryan, “Gone Baby Gone”

Best adapted screenplay: Joel and Ethan Coen, “No Country For Old Men”

Best original screenplay: Diablo Cody, “Juno,” and Nancy Oliver, “Lars and the Real Girl”

Best director: Tim Burton, “Sweeney Todd”

In recent days, the NBR was rumored to have ousted influential member Annette Insdorf. She’s the head of the Columbia University film department and an acclaimed scholar on Francois Truffaut and Krzystof Kieslowski.

Documentarists to Get Their ‘Freak’ On: A who’s who of documentary filmmakers will each take on the non-fiction best-seller “Freakonomics,” according to Variety.

The film has enlisted Morgan Spurlock (“Super Size Me”), Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing (“Jesus Camp”), Alex Gibney (“Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room”), Laura Poitras (“My Country My Country”), Eugene Jarecki (“Why We Fight”) and Jehane Noujaim (“Control Room”) to each direct a documentary segment on chapters in the book.

The film will be produced by Chad Troutwin and Seth Gordon (“The King of Kong”). The controversial book, which is written by University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt and New York Times journalist Steven J. Dubner, is full of lateral thinking.

It uses pop culture and data to argue (among other things) that legalized abortion might lead to a lower crime rate or that beginning drug dealers on Chicago’s south side make less money than the starting counter wage at Burger King.

The authors also maintain a blog for further debate.

Spurlock has been the talk of movie blogs recently. Speculation spread that his next film, “Where in the World is Osama bin Laden?,” actually contains an interview with bin Laden.

Morgan Spurlock.
Photo credit: Rebecca Sapp, WireImage.com
This sudden news was based on two things: first, a conveniently truncated Variety quote from June.

Most sites reported the film’s director of photography, Daniel Marracino, as saying: “We’ve definitely got the Holy Grail.” Still, the majority neglected to continue the quote: “Visually, this film is just going to be gorgeous.”

Secondly, there was a bidding war for the film at the Berlin Film Festival won by the Weinstein Company – last February. AICN alleges that the Weinstein Company spent $25 million on a 15-minute preview.

It took blogs from both The Guardian and the New York Times to debunk the rumor.

“Where in the World is Osama bin Laden?” debuts at the Sundance Film Festival in Jan. 2008. “Freakonomics” plans to shoot in the beginning of January and hopes to be completed by the summer of 2008.

By Shane Hazen
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com

International Trailer Released For 2007 Smash Hit ‘Juno’

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 18:07:03 -0700

Fox Searchlight released a second “Juno” trailer on Thursday. While the international trailer takes a different direction than the first, it still features front and center the talent in Diablo Cody’s script. I have uploaded the new trailer to YouTube and embedded it below.

The first trailer, which was released in Sept. 2007, can be seen below.

Part one of my interview with “Juno” star Ellen Page and Chicago-native screenwriter Diablo Cody can be read here. I posted on Sept. 14 that “Juno” would be one of the year’s best.

“Juno” screenwriter Diablo Cody.
Photo credit: WireImage.com
Indeed, it’s proving to be one of the year’s best and certainly one of the year’s top surprises. The film opens on Dec. 5 in limited theaters.

Ellen Page.
Photo credit: IMDb

Interview: Why Hollywood’s Enraptured With ‘Juno’ Scribe Diablo Cody, Star Ellen Page

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 12:55:39 -0700

Editor’s note: This interview contains explicit language. Due to length, it is being published as a two-part series to be concluded shortly.
Dec. 7, 2007 update: Part two can now be found here.
CHICAGO – Diablo Cody fittingly ushered in her Chicago “Juno” junket in classic Diablo Cody style: The night prior, she blogged with brevity where she’d be kicking back and when.

“Juno” screenwriter Diablo Cody.
Photo credit: WireImage.com
Though a frequenter of the German bar scene, the Red Lion in Lincoln Park was Thursday evening’s sanctuary with friends off the beaten press path. While legal in Canada at 20, “Juno” star Ellen Page wasn’t at Cody’s side until Friday.

More than most, our interview especially paid no attention to the live recorder.

Instead, the laissez-faire time morphed into a blunt and beguiling conversation replete with cunning perspective, quick-witted commentary, unexpected bloody fingers and all things “adamant” (Cody’s word of the day) and “slutty” (Page’s).

Page came forthright out of the gates about her kissing scenes with “Superbad” comic phenom Michael Cera. She said: “Yeah, there were quite a few angles and takes, so we made out a lot.” Had there been need for more kissing takes, she said: “Hey, if he wants to dish it out, I’ll take it.”

She likened Cera’s charmingly geeky and blameless character in “Juno” to someone she’d date in reality. A lightbulb came on and Page volunteered: “It’s weird. He’s similar to a very good friend of mine.” Cody knew who and had met him.

Now Cody – who loathes the label of a “stripper turned blogger turned screenwriter” (more the latter than the first) – first spoke in our interview with modesty and irony. She gave props to her Juno persona with relative awe.

“The character is semi-autobiographical even though the story’s not. I feel a definite kinship with Juno. It’s an easy character for me to write. It felt very organic. I really based her on myself as a teenager, but Juno is way cooler than me. I didn’t always have the ready response,” Cody said absolutely with ready response.

Ellen Page.
Photo credit: IMDb
She added: “I was a lot more emotional and immature. She’s a very brave, articulate young lady.”

Without needing to be prompted, Page was eager to illuminate her love for her character: “She definitely hides behind that – behind her sarcastic wit. The whole point of being an actor is learning to just be the person you’re supposed to portray. I really admired Juno and it was really easy for me to connect my heart with her heart.

“Whenever you play someone who’s honest, whole and well written, you’re going to be able to connect with them. Juno has a special place in my heart. I was obsessed with her. I read the script a couple years ago and wasn’t just interested in pursuing it. It was as if this needs to happen.”

At the time, Page had just viewed “Juno” director Jason Reitman’s “Thank You For Smoking” and was about to convene for a general meeting. One week after the meeting had been arranged, the news surfaced that Reitman would be directing “Juno”. Page says on the twist of fate: “I was in cloud nine.”

Wanting the leading gig in “Juno” was just as clear for Page as it was for Reitman. As for Cody: “The instant her name came up from the beginning of the process, I knew she’d be amazing. She’s one of the best of her generation. When Jason came on board, he was adamant about her and I was 100 percent behind him.

“In terms of casting, I put my trust in Jason as I did with many aspects of the film,” Cody said. “He was adamant about the cast he wanted.”

Cody’s one not only to think quickly before she speaks but also to listen to her own words after she does. She then discerned about herself: “I’ve used the word ‘adamant’ twice. That’s the first and second time I’ve used that word in a really long time. It feels kinda good.”

Ellen Page (left) in “Juno”.
Photo credit: IMDb
Page appreciates the fine art of fine vernacular, too, and offered: “My word that I’m using a lot lately is ‘slutty’. It’s good. It can have nothing to do with the word. If someone orders a tuna sandwich, slutty!”

With the film’s screenwriter at her side, Page was posed the question of whether she had to deliver any lines she despised.

“Honestly, no,” Page said. “There were some that felt more awkward and some I totally put my faith into Jason for it not to be ridiculous. Everything she wrote felt extremely organic to me. I didn’t speak the exact same way as Juno did when I was 16, but I did have my own specific language with friends.”

Back to Cody’s past and present, her essence today is drawn from all the good and the shameful of yesterday. While sometimes slapped with the negativities associated with a brief stint as a stripper, it’s perhaps surprising to learn she’s in fact more at odds with what has principally crafted her career.

“I tend to be somewhat ashamed of my blogging past,” Cody offered. “Blogging is vanity. It’s self-publishing. There’s no prestige in it. That’s not to say something has to be prestigious to have merit, but there’s something cheesy about being the first blogger turned screenwriter. I mind the stripper comparisons less.

“But [blogging is] where I come from. I owe my entire career to blogging. I was discovered because of the blog.”

She then interrupted herself due to a minor medical surprise: “I’m sorry. There’s blood all over my hand. I just cut myself really badly. It’s one of those small cuts that produces a ton of blood.” It’s that randomness – that quirkiness – that propels people’s growing interest in her. You never know what to expect with her.

Ellen Page and Michael Cera in “Juno”.
Photo credit: IMDb
In our Oct. 16 review on “Juno,” we wrote: “Cody is used to clever wordplay to pad earnest moments of connection and soul bearing. Formerly a brief stripper, Cody’s long-running blog gained national exposure with her memoir ‘Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper’.”

So how did Chicago-native producer Mason Novick discover Cody’s blog? Was he searching for porn?

Page silently nodded her head. Before treated with the answer from Cody, Page’s own avant-garde personality launched her into tangential narrative in response to bloody digits.

“I have scars all over my fingers because I’m a fucking klutz,” Page acknowledged. “I [recently] moved into a [new] place [and] bought nice hiking shoes. I like to hike. I was wearing them in my place. I have a really old apartment and everything’s wood.

“I totally ripped my fingers to shreds with a brand-new knife I bought. It’s the only thing I spend money on. I have used furniture and whatever, but I like cooking and good knives are important. There was blood everywhere and it had gotten all over my shoes.”

Though she seemed apologetic for divulging the glimpse into her personal life, without interruption her mind fired back to: “Oh. Porn. Mason. Searching.” Cody now dished out our answer.

“Mason has never really told me the whole story because we have an extremely professional relationship,” Cody said on reflection while staring into her past. “I believe he said he was Googling ‘pussy’ and found The Pussy Ranch,” which is the title of her current blog.

Jennifer Garner (left), Jason Bateman and Ellen Page in “Juno”.
Photo credit: IMDb
“That means vagina,” Page jested for clarification.

Cody pressed on into the story of her manufacture: “Who hasn’t Googled ‘pussy’ or ‘cock’ during a dark, lonely moment? He was probably at work, though. That’s the funny part.

“He found my blog and started reading it – shockingly. There probably wasn’t a lot of visual material for him to work with, but there was a lot of cynical blabber about the sex industry. He for some reason thought I would make a good screenwriter. I absolutely love that man.”

Cody offers her love for Novick with purely professional undertones, of course, as she has been married to Jonny Hunt for the past three years. They relocated from Chicago to Minnesota and currently reside in Los Angeles. The couple appropriately met where Cody spends much of her personal and professional time: online.

While Cody continues developing a cult following as one of today’s most promising screenwriters, being tagged “the new Tarantino” is her most prized praise yet.

“Ah hah!,” she declared with elevated volume and unadulterated pride. The meek chic geek then returned: “I wish I were that talented. I wish I had one pixel of [Quentin] Tarantino’s talent. He’s an absolute hero of mine. That [praise is] Jason Reitman’s largesse. That’s very nice of him to say. [Tarantino is] a fucking icon.”

Page interjected with sarcasm: “Who’s Quentin Tarantino? Does he go out with Oprah?”

Stay tuned for part two of this interview, which will be published shortly. “Juno” will open in limited theaters on Dec. 5.

Dec. 7, 2007 update: Part two can now be found here.
By Adam Fendelman
Publisher
HollywoodChicago.com

Chicago-Native ‘Juno’ Writer Diablo Cody Takes Stand on WGA Strike

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 19:37:59 -0700

Following the launch of the Writers Guild of America strike on Monday, “Juno” writer Diablo Cody went to work on Wednesday to fight for her work. She published the following photo on her blog.

Diablo Cody on strike on Nov. 7, 2007 in Los Angeles.
Photo source: Diablo Cody
To accompany the stark visual, she penned the following with brevity:

The gang is out in force today. Even striking can be fun when someone’s blasting “Sir Duke” and donuts abound.

The best part of this afternoon was when Jeremy Piven drove off the lot and we all screamed “PIVS! PIVS!” at him like love-struck Beatlemaniacs.

Piven was raised in Evanston (just north of downtown Chicago) and Cody is originally from Chicago. She moved early in 2007 from Minnesota to Los Angeles with her husband (Jonny Hunt).

Cody will be in Chicago on a “Juno” press junket on Nov. 16 along with “Juno” star Ellen Page. I will be interviewing them then. Stay tuned for their perspective.

Fox Atomic Plucks ‘Juno’ Writer Diablo Cody, Megan Fox For ‘Jennifer’s Body’

HollywoodChicago.com — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 10:46:22 -0700

Diablo Cody, the comedic writer behind “Juno,” and “Transformers” siren Megan Fox have both been plucked by Fox Atomic for a comedic supernatural thriller by the name of “Jennifer’s Body”.

Megan Fox (left) and Diablo Cody.
Fox photo courtesy of IMDb; Cody photo courtesy of Scott Walker
Fox Atomic bought the Cody piece last week with Fox in negotiations to star in the film. Chicago-native “Juno” producer Mason Novick, who is credited with discovering Cody, is on board to produce the film.

“Jennifer’s Body,” by the way, is a reference to a song by the band Hole. Cody’s a fan of that band. On Tuesday, Cody wrote the following on her blog in reaction to the news:

This is going to be fun. I wrote this script last summer and have been (bleep) obsessed with getting it made ever since.

Incidentally, Megan Fox is hotter than the Earth’s core. Now – Hollywood’s tiresome profusion of “girlfriend roles” be (bleep) – she’s going to literally get out there and destroy some (bleep) boys.

Scripts are a nice way to exorcise personal demons, I’d say.

Novick, who grew up in the Highland Park area of Chicago, has lived in Los Angeles for the past decade.

Cody, who is also originally from Chicago, moved early in 2007 from Minnesota to Los Angeles with her husband, Jonny Hunt, who she met on the Internet, according to an e-mail I received from him on Tuesday.

As for “Jennifer’s Body,” Hollywood Reporter adds some detail about the project.

The story, which is similar in tone to “Heathers” and “Beetlejuice,” follows a cheerleader with a perfect life. She becomes the girl from hell when she gets possessed and begins killing boys in a small town.

Her best friend must then find a way to stop her.

Fox Atomic is aiming to make the project before a possible writer’s strike. Peter Rice, who oversees both Fox Searchlight and Fox Atomic, brought [in] the project.

“Juno” is being released on Dec. 14 by Fox Searchlight. The division has high hopes for the movie.

“[Cody’s] upcoming film from our sister division, her relationship with Rice and the synergy we have with his team have given Fox Atomic a unique opportunity,” said Fox Atomic president of production Debbie Liebling, who will oversee with Jeff Arkuss.

2:42 p.m. update: I’ve corrected it above and also wanted to point it out to you here.

Shortly after this report went live, I received an e-mail from Cody’s husband, Jonny Hunt, stating that they now live in Los Angeles rather than Minnesota.