Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Michael Cera plays pretty much the same character he played in Juno -- and that's pleasant enough. Kat Dennings is okay as his new love interest, and Alexis Dziena is plain awful as his old flame. But maybe that's what the script called for. Who knows? I'm in the wrong age demographic for a peripatetic, all night high school chase from night spot to night spot in search of a particular band that the kids all love. And the music, for me, held zero appeal. Still the premise is mildly interesting and Cera, though reprising Juno, is again rather charming. If this movie is supposed to be in the same league with Juno, however, it flunks calculus; hell, it flunks arithmetic. It's neither sweet (in fact, with the passed-out drunk girl who is Kat Dennings' pal, it's rather disgusting in part), nor is it in any way compelling. I'll go again with mildly interesting for adults. Perhaps another demographic will find it wildly funny and love the music.

When I was in Maryland to see my sister's firstborn get baptized, we both decided to see this movie when I was there. This was a nicely cutting edge teenage romantic comedy about two strangers played by Michael Cera and Kat Dennings who find out about their similarities only after their friends accidentally put them together. Cera still is pining for an ex he puts a mixed CD for while Dennings is friends with that ex. Michael's character is also a member of a band whose other members are gay while Kat's character has a girlfriend who likes to drink. And all this happens while Cera and Dennings and their friends ride around New York City all night looking for their favorite indie band. Plenty of sweet and funny (and a little gross) moments abound and while my sister and I might have a little problem with a sex scene with the leads, the romance was good enough to overcome that. So on that note, I recommend Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. P.S. There are cameos of a couple of current SNLers I pleasantly noticed right away...

Because this movie was absolutely nothing like the book. The plot was completely changed, the relationship between the main characters was flipped, and the whole story just played out WRONG. The casting choices, in my opinion, could have been better. I am a huge fan of the novel, and I was really disappointed. And, to yessdanc's comment, if THEY knew anything, they'd know that the screenwriter did not choose the character's names; Rachel Cohn and David Levithan did. If you read Cohn's website, you'd learn that she intentionally chose the names of the characters to pay tribute to the movie. "I wanted to write about two New Jersey, straight-edge characters named Nick and Norah (after the Thin Man movies)..." "...we weren't trying to write an updated Thin Man (though the temptation to put a dog named Asta in our book was certainly there). Mostly what we both always liked from the original books/movies was the warm and fun banter between Nick & Nora Charles, and we hoped to somehow infuse that spirit into our teen characters."

I've seen a ton of romantic comedies, some are good, some are awful; very few are really really good.... You guessed it... wow! Did we love this: smart, dippy, cutting, funny in all shades of funny, sweet romantic with a down low low-fi edge, up to date and even occasionally over the top this was far and away our favorite romantic comedy of the year and I'm giving it a solid ten in its genre. Need to go on a date movie? This is your bucket of chicken - I promise you'll leave feeling lighter and curly wurly. Very well directed by Peter Sollett it really brings an affection to its making and he's a name to look out for if you ask us... All in all kind of our bag through and through... go see...

'Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist' turned out to be a sweet and cool surprise. I was just expecting another usual teen flick and while the main storyline does follow the formula, its the treatment that appealed. The director really shows that even though there is a physical attraction between the two leads, they also have characteristics that repel each other. But, what really brings these two people closer is their passionate liking for music. Both have the same taste and the best parts of the films are the sequences where the two talk about their favourite songs and singers. The movie pretty much takes place during an entire night and Sollett's portrayal of night in the city is amusing and exciting. Lighting is cleverly used and the yellow tinted colour adds more excitement into the night. With the exception of that Spice Girls track, I like the soundtrack. Michael Cera and Kat Dennings suit their parts wonderfully. They maintain a good chemistry (even though their love scene looks a little awkward). Aaron Yu, Rafi Gavron and Jonathan Wright provide some fun comic relief as Nick's friends/bandmembers. Ari Graynor is hilarious. I like the title of this movie and how the movie stays true to it. It's a charming little film that is perhaps best enjoyed at night.