Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Welp, went and threw down the $12 to see Deeg and Norah's Infinite Playlist the other day.  Before I get into that, can we just acknowledge the absurdity of paying $12 to see a movie.  Paying that much to see a movie kind of immediately launches you into the realm of feeling like a dope, but what are you gonna do?  I miss $2 movies at the Tivioli and La Grange.  wtf mate?  How can there not be a single place in all of Manhattan showing a movie for less than that??  I guess there probably is, I just need to find it... But wouldn't everyone go there then??  I sense some price fixing...grrrr

All price issues aside, N&N's was an above average film.  Like Dwight Schrute's assessment of Michael Scott's breath, it was "good not great."  I'm going to give it 3.8/5 stars.  Then again, the bar must be pretty low since the last movie I saw was Pride and Glory (would probably give that 2.8 sh'mons).

A quick plot chop:  Nick's girlfriend has broken up with him roughly a month ago, and he's been in a funk ever since.  He's in a band with 2 or 3 other guys (all gay) called the Jerkoffs.  They all love emo-indie-slightly punk-music.  Nick makes some crazy good mixes for his ex to try to win her back.  Nora (Nick's ex's friend who doesn't know Nick) also loves emo-indie-slightly punk-music.  Their paths cross one fateful night as they all go out in New York city to find the legendary indie band of all time, which is playing at a secret location that they must figure out.  The hilarity and wild adventures ensue.

Matthew Deeg-I mean Michael Cera was solid in his role as Nick.  He provided pretty much exactly what I think most of us in the audience were hoping for in that awkward, polite, innocent, but witty style that he has perfected and somehow made "cool."  I would say much of the strength of this film came from the awkward moments and interchanges between Nick and the other characters that made it all seem more realistic.  However, this awkwardness/realness did have its drawbacks as it also had the effect of creating a more stilted story.  Without those cliche moments and exchanges I wasn't really able to fall into any kind of a comfortable rhythm while watching.  I have no idea if that makes any sense, but that's the best way I know how to describe it.

As the name of the movie would hint at, another cool aspect of it was the music.  Although I will say that I was slightly disappointed with it overall (I think because I had really high expectations for being completely blown away by the songs, which I was by some, not all), the music was quite good and for the most part really helped the story along.  I was extremely pleased to hear The National (one of my faves, although even though it was in the movie it's not on the soundtrack.  Also, in case you're interested (you're probably not), the National also got some love recently in 'Battle In Seattle', which, if you haven't seen, I highly recommend checking out--maybe I'll write a lil ditty about that too..) get some love, as well as Vampire Weekend, and a song I liked by We Are Scientists called "After Hours."

The movie was also mostly shot in the Big Apple (slap chopay!), which was cool, even though I still have pretty much no idea where anything was as I'm still learning the big city and working 60-70 hours a week isn't helping my social life much...

Kat Dennings was definitely believable as Norah.  Although there were certain scenes that I felt like she could've been much better in...  I don't really know what else to say about that, probably because I'm not a movie reviewer (I can hear everyone now, "Wait, hold the phone! You mean to tell me that this guy doesn't review movies for a living?!?!  Wow, he sure is amazing at it-he should quit his day job and take over for Ebert and Roeper!")

Bottom line:  If you've got the $12, or even if you're like me and really don't, and you're under 35, I would recommend seeing this movie.  It has some really funny moments, it's well shot and acted, and the plot-line is interesting.  If you enjoyed Michael Cera in Superbad and Juno, definitely check it out.  Plus, it's way better than Pride and Glory, so it's got that goin' for it, which is nice.