Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (2008, Peter Sollett)

OMG I totally forgot I watched this until Katy mentioned it today at dinner. Had Shocktober on the mind, I guess. So yeah, there were two new movies playing that I badly wanted to see, couldn’t decide between them, so Katy decided we’d see this instead. A harmless flick about being super-fuckin-cool kids in New York City. See, they don’t seem cool – the Michael-Cera-talkin’ nervous kid (aptly played by Michael Cera) and the shy girl who everyone uses because of her famous dad – but they are cool because they’ve got their own scene and they totally dig each other and they like the same music.

Music: the movie’s got music on the brain. Nick’s in a band and makes killer mix CDs, Norah (Kat Dennings, principal’s daughter in Charlie Bartlett) likes his band, and her dad owns Electric Lady Studios… but we see about a minute of live rock ‘n’ roll, and all the other music we hear is way in the background. Juno showcased music much better than this movie did. So we turn instead to plot, and it’s alright, a long night in the city during which N&N get together, part, then get together again. And there’s a drunk friend, two gay dudes with a van, an awful ex-girlfriend (Lolita from Broken Flowers!), an ex-boyfriend, a very drunk friend who gets lost (she was in Game 6 – anyone remember Game 6?) and a cameo by John Cho (and I didn’t recognize Devendra Banhart). Katy liked it despite the vomiting and the long-lasting chewing-gum running joke.