REEL CRITICS:

About 10 minutes into watching “Juno,” I fell in love with this movie for its fresh, smart-aleck humor and its characters.

Newcomer Diablo Cody has written an amazing script infused with quirky charm and dialogue that is edgy yet funny and wise. Kudos to director Jason Reitman too: There is not a single wrong note in any of the performances.

Ellen Page is a delight as Juno MacGuff, an unconventional high schooler who finds herself pregnant by her pal Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera). By the time she tells her dad and stepmother about it, Juno has already decided to give the baby up for adoption to a very photogenic couple (Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman) who placed an ad in the Pennysaver.

The film follows Juno through her entire pregnancy, with unexpected emotions and lots of little laughs along the way.

Michael Cera, recently of “Superbad,” again plays a sweet, hapless kid who is more than he seems. Allison Janney and J.K. Simmons are probably the coolest parents Juno could ever hope to have, and they toss off some of the movie’s funniest lines with deadpan aplomb.

“Juno” is like a great present — one that surprises you and can be enjoyed again and again.

Special effects set the mood in futuristic flick

“I Am Legend” is a bleak, post-apocalyptic vision of the near future.

A genetically engineered virus mutates into a toxic strain that rapidly kills humans.

The government feverishly tries to seal off New York City as its population quickly dies off.

The few who survive the virus are transformed into screaming zombie-like creatures who patrol the abandoned streets at night.

Only a single man appears to survive as a normal human being.

Will Smith is a captivating one-man show as he updates the same role played by Charlton Heston in “The Omega Man.” Smith does an outstanding acting job in a film where he is on screen by himself almost all the time.

We see other people mostly in flashback, making his faithful dog the real co-star.

But it’s the modern special effects that give eerie credibility to the stark, empty streets of Manhattan overgrown with weeds, wild animals and abandoned cars. There’s plenty of anxiety and tension as the tale unfolds. But in the end, there’s also a measure of hope in this unusual sci-fi thriller.

SUSANNE PEREZ lives in Costa Mesa and is an executive assistant for a financial services company. JOHN DEPKO is a Costa Mesa resident and a senior investigator for the Orange County public defender’s office.