PeterSollett Tagged Articles at Cinematical
TIFF Review: Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
Filed under: Comedy », Sony », Sony Classics », Theatrical Reviews », Festival Reports », Toronto International Film Festival »
Starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is a light, slight, fleet-footed teen comedy of romance and indie rock; there are logic holes in it, and lulls, and moments that seem devoid of sense, to be sure, but there are also moments in where Cera or Dennings will smile and your momentary doubts and disagreements are washed away and your head is filled with a sense of gladness, not despair, that you're watching our young, happy hipster heroes on screen. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist combines the shaggy-dog sprawl of an early John Hughes film with the blunt talk and softly-rounded feelings of the Apatow comedies, and if it did not have leads as charismatic and tonally correct as Cera and Dennings, it would be very close to dead in the water; however, since it does, it isn't.
Taking place in some movie version of Manhattan where parking is always immediately available and everyone over 25 has, apparently, been executed Logan's Run-style, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist begins as Nick (Cera) is trying, and failing, to get over his breakup with the tedious-yet-tempting, hot-yet-hateful Tris (Alexis Dzienia), leaving lengthy messages on her phone and exquisitely sequenced mix discs at her door. Tris laughingly discards Nick's most recent effort into the trash at school; sarcastic-but-sweet Norah (Kat Dennings) retrieves it, as she's done for several of Nick's discarded offerings: "He makes the best mixes ever." The fact that Nick's latest effort is labeled "The Road to Closure, Vol. 12" tells you that Nick has strong feelings, and, in this case, weak vocabulary skills.
A Poster for 'Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist'
Filed under: Toronto International Film Festival », Posters »
It's been fun getting just about a superhero movie a week for the past couple of months; really, it has. And of course, everything has been building to The Dark Knight, which we'll finally get to see at various points next week. I dig it, but I'd be lying if I wasn't looking forward to the fall. Specifically the Toronto Film Festival. And more specifically still, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, Michael Cera's follow-up to last year's overwhelmingly successful one-two of Superbad and Juno. (It's also director Peter Sollett's follow-up to the underseen Raising Victor Vargas). It looks fantastic, and perfect for Cera, who continues to transplant his schtick into different genres and contexts. MTV Movies has Nick & Norah's new poster, which is perfect, and sweet, and makes me want to give the movie a hug. It's pitched as a love story set in the cinematically underrepresented hipster music scene, and the poster encapsulates that to a T. (It also, for better or worse, just takes a still from the film that was released back in January). I wouldn't dare call myself a hipster, but I've dipped my toes in that world, and I'd love to see a smart movie about it. Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist premieres at Toronto in preparation for an October 3rd release.
Come to think of it, I think I'll take on the novel by Rachel Cohn and David Leviathan in my From Page to Screen column next week. Hope you'll check it out.
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