One of the perks of blogging is that you occasionally get invited to film previews to blog or not blog about them as you choose. Last night I was invited to a screening of Juno the new American teen comedy starring Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jason Bateman (both from Arrested Development), Jennifer Garner, Allison Janney (The West Wing), J.K. Simmons & Olivia Thirlby.

The writer Diablo Cody is a "stripper-turned-blogger-now-turned-screenwriter" and throughout the film, there's great comic one-liners delivered in a fairly deadpan way - “honest to blog”.

The film's been drawing comparisons to Knocked Up, Little Miss Sunshine & Napoleon Dynamite. It follows 16-year-old Juno MacGuff, who gets pregnant the first time she has sex with fellow virgin Paulie Bleeker. Unable to go through with an abortion she decides to have the baby adopted and finds the "perfect couple" through some wanted ads in the local Pennysaver.

It's a very feel-good film shot in golden light and with an absolutely cracking soundtrack. All of the cast, particularly Ellen Page as Juno, deliver the goods. A stand-out performance for me was Jennifer Garner's slightly neurotic, scared, over-eager and loving adoptive-mum-to-be. Although you thought she was going to be the character you'd love to hate, she gave the role some complexity and unexpected sympathy.

Juno is out in the UK in February 2008 in the meantime you can catch a trailer here. Plus here's some reviews from other bloggers I know who were also at the screening: Route79, London Daily Photo , Sandrine

Hey my main blog, GoingUnderground's Blog has reached the finals for Best British & Irish Blog in the Bloggies.

Votes appreciated. Thanks muchly

Annie

Could you be an industry expert?

I'm often considered to be an "expert" on the Tube. I've done a number of interviews as a result of this and last week I was interviewed by the BBC for a radio feature that's due out later this summer. I can assure you that when you hear it, it was actually me. This is a very convoluted introduction to the following story, that's had me giggling for the last ten minutes.

Last week, BBC News 24 mistook a taxi driver for an music download industry expert Guy Kewney who was supposed to be talking about Apple's recent victory at the High Courts. During the live interview you can see the "rabbit in headlights" look on the cabbie's face when he realises they have the wrong guy, but like most taxi drivers, who have an opinion about everything, he carried on regardless.

The mistaken identity is made even more farcial when we learn that Guy Kewney is a slim fair haired white guy whereas the cabbie is a stocky black guy with a French accent.

Guy Kewney, was waiting in reception when he saw the taxi driver being introduced under his name. "You don't get to see my 'white, bearded, professorial' face, but you can watch the classic moment, where the cab driver realises that he is on air, and being mistaken for someone else. It's beyond classic: it's priceless. Watch his incredible recovery."

Fortunately, thanks to YouTube and that particular skill the internet has in digging up things which people would rather remain hidden, this video which the BBC would have preferred to have been buried in the graveyard of BBC Blunders forever is now being enjoyed by loads of people!

Oh Jesus, I'm one of the bloggers talking about blogging at the Apple Store Event at Regent's Street on Wednesday 5th April - Blogging De-Mystified.  I was sort of OK about this until someone at work told me that there's usually shedloads of people who come along.  Now I've been looking at the blogs of my "fellow speakers" and they're in a bit of a quandary about what to say too. 

Being asked to speak, is obviously very nice and flattering, but suddenly you have to stop and think about what you do and how to talk about something that you just sort of "do" without examining the whys and wherefores.

The great geeky science girls from Inky Circus came up with the good idea of asking their readers what to talk about.  The normally eloquent, Tom Coates (who thinks up stuff for Yahoo!) said he had no idea what to talk about!  And brill ambulance driving blogger Tom Reynolds from Random Acts of  Reality is having a bit of a "wordy struggle"

We were all asked to give a few lines about what we would be talking about, so I said:

"When de-mystfying blogging it's easier to say what it's not rather than what it is.  Hopefully this will dispel a lot of noise about blogging right now. Blogging is not going to make you rich overnight, it's not going to guarantee you a book deal, it's not going to guarantee you loads of traffic and an adoring audience.  So why do people blog?  What's the appeal?  Annie Mole will explore these issues and look at why you might want to start blogging and how you can enjoy it!"

Let's hope I manage to do it!