My not entirely rational crush on Ellen Page

I have a confession to make:

I hated Juno.

And this is not because it came out the same year as Knocked Up, which I liked so much better -- and not because it received the critical praise and Academy Award nominations I thought should have gone to Knocked Up.

No, I genuinely didn't like it. I thought that the politics of Juno were pretty squarely pro-life (in a way they were not in Knocked Up) and I was surprised more critics didn't dwell on that. I thought the writing was too precious. And I was bored by the end. I couldn't figure out why this movie was such a big hit.

However, I will confess that I do have a crush on Ellen Page.

Maybe it's because I used to date a girl who looked exactly like her. (No joke. She would hate it when people would tell her this, but it's true. She had the exact same coloring, hair and eyes. Moreover, they both shared a helpless puppy dog look to them, that makes you want to take them home and care for them.)

So I went to see Page's new movie Whip It on Friday. And I can report that it was not that bad (in a cheesy, predictable, coming-of-age sort of way). Worth the extravagant ticket price? Maybe not. But I've seen much worse.

Moreover, I was relieved that Page didn't play the part of Bliss, a girl from a small town in Texas, in the wiseguy cooler-than-thou way she played Juno. Instead she goes for simple and sweet. And when she does so, she's far more likable.

Let's hope she keeps it up.

Sorry, bud

Obviously, I was pretty excited to see Pineapple Express.

And, truthfully, even though this doesn't diminish the great Seth Rogen in my eyes, Pineapple Express is (you'll pardon the expression) a fairly half-baked effort.

I did laugh a number of times. And James Franco gave a really endearing performance as a gentle fool/pot dealer.

And when Rogen and Franco are simply sitting around the apartment, gabbing, the movie is hilarious. One of Rogen's real talents is the way he turns a phrase; the way his mind wanders into the oddest places. And -- wouldn't you know it! -- he has a great partner in Franco. When they talk about some super-duper-mind-blowing-hair-curling grass (the eponymous Pineapple Express) Franco says that smoking it is a little like "killing a unicorn."

Who comes up with such a formulation? (There's a kind of genius to it!)

The problem comes when the filmmakers try to flip a stoner comedy into a stoner/action movie. (Which, I'm sure, had to be their pitch before the execs.)

About a third of the way in, the movie becomes over-plotted and really tiresome. Characters sort of just vanish and plot lines go astray. (What Rosie Perez is doing in this movie, I have no idea.)

One of the reasons why Knocked Up was such a great movie, in my mind, was because it didn't try to do too much. It started out with a very basic premise, and let itself unfold. It sparkled through the force of the personalities on screen. (Not just Rogen, but Paul Rudd, the slobby roommates and especially Katherine Heigl.)

And this isn't to say Pineapple Express is a disaster; it isn't. But it isn't Knocked Up, either.