One of the best bets for cinema viewing this week is Juno, the winner of this year’s Oscar for best original screenplay (penned by former stripper Diablo Cody). It was also a nominee for best picture and best director.

Juno is story of a too-cool-for-school teenage girl, effervescently portrayed by Oscar-nominee Ellen Page, who is impregnated by her indecisive boyfriend (Michael Cera). After informing her parents (JK Simmons and Allison Janney), who take the news well and are supportive, Juno ponders giving the baby up for adoption. Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner portray the prospective "childless wingnuts".

Critics adore Juno, "the kind of movie all indie comedies wish they could be: light and lovable, perhaps a bit too pleased with the cleverness of its dialogue, but a small charmer nonetheless", says the Associated Press' Christy Lemire. It has a 93% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Also worth noting this week is Wonderful Town, the acclaimed solo directorial debut of US-schooled independent filmmaker Aditya Assarat.

Set in the sleepy, small isolated town of Takua Pa, Phuket Province, the protagonist is young architect Ton (Supphasit Kansen), who arrives to supervise the construction of a beach resort.

Damage from the 2004 tsunami still lingers, and it's in this ominous atmosphere that Ton begins a tentative romance with Na (Anchalee Saisoontorm), the pretty, sensitive proprietor of his hotel.

This is the first film in the Directors’ Screen series, and will show at 7.30pm daily until June 11 at SF World Cinema at CentralWorld. It has English subtitles.

Also opening

• 21 -- Under tutelage from their maths professor (Kevin Spacey), six college students come up with a system to beat the Las Vegas casinos at blackjack. It works, until one of the genius cheats (Jim Sturgess, from Across the Universe) gets cocky and is caught by a casino security chief (Laurence Fishburne). Loosely based on a true story of the MIT Blackjack Team, this Hollywoodized version is described as breezy and slick, but, like after a night of striking out at the card tables, you feel a little empty afterwards. It has an underwhelming 31% rotten rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Not very good odds.
• Penelope -- A wealthy family’s daughter (Christina Ricci, also starring in Speed Racer) is afflicted by a disfiguring family curse, which can only be broken when she is loved by one of her own kind. Despite the attention of a handsome young man (James McAvoy), she runs away and is befriended by a free spirit (Reese Witherspoon). "The whole beauty lies within thing is the movie's timeworn message, but it unfolds in such an original and unassuming fashion that Penelope feels springtime fresh, says AP critic David Germain. Other critics are snorting however, giving Penelope a 53% rotten score at Rotten Tomatoes.
• Never Back Down -- This is for Mixed Martial Arts as Step Up 2: The Streets was for dancing. The cliched story is about a "new kid in town with a troubled past" (Sean Faris) who at first refuses to fight, but is eventually goaded into throwing down with the local bully. Djimon Hounsou co-stars as the spiritual mentor. Never Back Down has a 25% rotten rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Too bad this isn't Redbelt.
• Memory -- Ananda Everingham, in one of at least seven films he's featured in this year, stars as psychiatrist Krit who is looking after a troubled little girl and finds himself falling dangerously in love with the girl’s overprotective mother, Ing-orn (Mai Charoenpura). From AG Entertainment, it apparently does not have English subtitles, like the company's previous release, Orahun Summer. Hope none of the other Thai studios follow this trend, though if they do, I guess don't have a right to complain.