Saturday, September 13, 2008
Michael Cera (Comfort me) video
"The actors, of course, are all way better-looking than I imagined the characters in the book, but they all suit the roles beautifully in personality and make each character their own. I love that Michael Cera's Nick is a bit darker than earlier characters he's played, and that he's not the lovable dork who doesn't think he can get the girl -- he's a guy that's obsessing over the wrong ex-girlfriend, maybe, but he's already loved and lost the hot girl, and now can move on to trying a more mature relationship with a new girl, Norah. Which brings me to Kat Dennings. If you don't completely fall in love with her as Norah, I kind of want to start a fight with you". Source: blog.myspace.com
Indie girls, Acid songs
"There is, then, something unintentionally ironic about the word “infinite” in the film’s title. That word is supposed to imply, I guess, that that magical moment can go on forever—that the point in time where one is so in love that one just wants to make mix tapes for the other person doesn’t have to fade. There’s another word for being stuck infinitely in the same place. That word is hell. [...] Because despite Norah finally finding a guy that will bring her to orgasm and despite Nick finding a girl who will listen to and appreciate his mix tapes and despite Caroline’s relief that this time when she woke up from passing out the strange guys in the van she found herself in were not trying to rape her and despite the glee of an auditorium full of fans who would give their right pinkie to share a vomit flavored wad of gum with Kat Dennings or Michael Cera there was a sheen of sadness that permeated from the very pores of this film".Source: lookingcloser.wordpress.com
Michael Cera in "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist".
''I don't really think of it as a movie about being a teenager,'' says Cera, whose character, Nick, is a Yugo-driving aspiring rocker recently dumped by his girlfriend (Alexis Dziena). ''It's just about that feeling you get when you meet someone you like one night, and how you run the risk of easily losing touch with them forever.'' Dennings agrees. ''Yeah, there's always that threat in this movie,'' she says. ''They don't know each other's last names, and might not even meet again on Facebook!''Source: www.ew.com
Kat Dennings with guitar.
"Femme fatale Jenny Lewis has never sounded so passionate and her songs never so hard-hitting and acerbic as on her aptly titled solo disk Acid Tongue. The album follows 2006’s Rabbit Fur Coat (which Spin named among the best albums of that year) and a series of acclaimed albums with indie rock fave Rilo Kiley". Source: indiepassion.blogspot.com
Jenny Lewis with Jake.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Top 10 Young Actors - Most Anticipated Roles
"In preparation for our upcoming Top 50 Hottest Young Actors list, we have made the rounds of upcoming movie listings and selected the 10 young actors with the most exciting and challenging roles:
Jake Gyllenhaal - two upcoming roles: as Tommy Cahill in Brothers and as Prince Dastan in Prince of Persia.
Based on Susan Bier’s film, also entitled Brothers, Jake Gyllenhaal plays Tommy Cahill, the brother of Sam Cahill (played by Tobey Maguire). Tobey’s character is a soldier who goes missing in Afghanistan, and Jake’s character tries to comfort his older brother's wife Grace (played by Natalie Portman) and her children.
The original Bier film is a drama about a UN-soldier who is in a helicopter crash somewhere in Afghanistan and is believed to be dead. His wife and younger brother both deeply mourn him, but eventually finds comfort in each other's company, leading to the two of them falling in love. Months later, the soldier reappears alive but deeply traumatized.
In Prince of Persia, based on the 2003 video game of the same name, Jake plays the title role. The film is directed by Mike Newell and also stars Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley and Alfred Molina. Filming is taking place in the United Kingdom and Morocco. As Prince Dastan, Gyllenhaal is a 6th century prince
of Persia who teams up with Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton) to rescue the Sands of Time, a gift from the gods that controls time, from the hands of the villainous nobleman, Nizam (Ben Kingsley)".
Joseph Gordon-Levitt - He has about seven upcoming projects, all of them very exciting and diverse, so we choose three that really excite us. Joe Levitt is always an indie player, and we based our choices on that premise…
In The Frog King, Joe plays a struggling writer toiling away at his publishing house job who tries to keep the one good thing in his life -- his relationship with his girlfriend -- from going wrong. The film is based on Adam Davies’ book The Frog King.
500 Days of Summer tells the story of the relationship between 
Summer (played by Zooey Deschanel), who doesn't believe in true love and Tom (Gordon-Levitt), described as a hopeless romantic, who falls in love with her. Over a span of 500 days, it is told from the perspective of Tom, who is influenced by pop music and who breaks out into song throughout the movie.
He’s also slated to play Cobra Commander in GI Joe and one supporting role in Killshot (with Mikey Rourke, among others), but I would think his role (rumored) in Akira would be just as exciting, if not one of the three most exciting. It would be the first time that Joe gets to work with Leonardo DiCaprio.
Paul Dano - After Little Miss Sunshine and There Will Be Blood, you wouldn’t expect Paul Dano to go anywhere but up! With six new films coming his way, we took an immediate liking to two of them:
In Gigantic, he plays Brian, a depressed mattress salesman whose quest to adopt a Chinese baby is sidetracked when he falls for Happy (played by Zooey Deschanel). What makes this role so cool is that Dano will act alongside John Goodman, Ed Asner and Jane Alexander. Ed Asner will play Dano's pot-smoking, gangsta rap-loving father, and Jane Alexander is to be his long-suffering mother. John Goodman will play Zooey's brilliant, domineering dad.
In another cool new project for Dano, he’ll be reunited with his L.I.E. co-star Brian Cox, only this time it’s not a serious drama but a comedy for the duo called The Good Heart.
Shia LaBeouf - The Big Studios’ favorite young actor LaBeouf stars in the $100 million DreamWorks production of the thriller called Eagle Eye.
Shia plays one of the two strangers (the other is played by Michelle Monaghan) who become the pawns of a mysterious woman they have never met, but who seems to know their every move. Realizing they are being used to further her plot for a political assassination, they must work together to outwit the woman before she has them killed.
The movie is the follow-up to the big box office winner Disturbia, directed by D.J. Caruso.
Universal, on the other hand, cast Shia in the upcoming Neil Burger thriller called Dark Fields. Based on the novel by Alan Glynn, Dark Fields tells the story of:
… an intellectual slacker and former cocaine addict now is eking out a living as a copywriter for a small publishing house. Through a bizarre series of coincidences, Eddie finds himself in possession of MTD-48, a drug that has some curious effects. On his first trip, Eddie discovers that the drug boosts the intellect, making him far smarter - but also faster, more intuitive, and more charismatic. [...] However, like all drugs, MDT-48 has its downside, including lethal withdrawal symptoms and terrifying side-effects that can render a user homicidal. If this were not enough, the drug itself is both created and distributed by a shadowy corporation worthy of Pynchonian paranoia, and it isn't too long before Eddie begins to suspect that he didn't just "find" MDT-48 after all".
Source: themovie-fanatic.com
Jake Gyllenhaal - two upcoming roles: as Tommy Cahill in Brothers and as Prince Dastan in Prince of Persia.Based on Susan Bier’s film, also entitled Brothers, Jake Gyllenhaal plays Tommy Cahill, the brother of Sam Cahill (played by Tobey Maguire). Tobey’s character is a soldier who goes missing in Afghanistan, and Jake’s character tries to comfort his older brother's wife Grace (played by Natalie Portman) and her children.
The original Bier film is a drama about a UN-soldier who is in a helicopter crash somewhere in Afghanistan and is believed to be dead. His wife and younger brother both deeply mourn him, but eventually finds comfort in each other's company, leading to the two of them falling in love. Months later, the soldier reappears alive but deeply traumatized.
In Prince of Persia, based on the 2003 video game of the same name, Jake plays the title role. The film is directed by Mike Newell and also stars Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley and Alfred Molina. Filming is taking place in the United Kingdom and Morocco. As Prince Dastan, Gyllenhaal is a 6th century prince
of Persia who teams up with Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton) to rescue the Sands of Time, a gift from the gods that controls time, from the hands of the villainous nobleman, Nizam (Ben Kingsley)".
Joseph Gordon-Levitt - He has about seven upcoming projects, all of them very exciting and diverse, so we choose three that really excite us. Joe Levitt is always an indie player, and we based our choices on that premise…In The Frog King, Joe plays a struggling writer toiling away at his publishing house job who tries to keep the one good thing in his life -- his relationship with his girlfriend -- from going wrong. The film is based on Adam Davies’ book The Frog King.
500 Days of Summer tells the story of the relationship between 
Summer (played by Zooey Deschanel), who doesn't believe in true love and Tom (Gordon-Levitt), described as a hopeless romantic, who falls in love with her. Over a span of 500 days, it is told from the perspective of Tom, who is influenced by pop music and who breaks out into song throughout the movie.He’s also slated to play Cobra Commander in GI Joe and one supporting role in Killshot (with Mikey Rourke, among others), but I would think his role (rumored) in Akira would be just as exciting, if not one of the three most exciting. It would be the first time that Joe gets to work with Leonardo DiCaprio.
Paul Dano - After Little Miss Sunshine and There Will Be Blood, you wouldn’t expect Paul Dano to go anywhere but up! With six new films coming his way, we took an immediate liking to two of them:In Gigantic, he plays Brian, a depressed mattress salesman whose quest to adopt a Chinese baby is sidetracked when he falls for Happy (played by Zooey Deschanel). What makes this role so cool is that Dano will act alongside John Goodman, Ed Asner and Jane Alexander. Ed Asner will play Dano's pot-smoking, gangsta rap-loving father, and Jane Alexander is to be his long-suffering mother. John Goodman will play Zooey's brilliant, domineering dad.
In another cool new project for Dano, he’ll be reunited with his L.I.E. co-star Brian Cox, only this time it’s not a serious drama but a comedy for the duo called The Good Heart. 
Shia LaBeouf - The Big Studios’ favorite young actor LaBeouf stars in the $100 million DreamWorks production of the thriller called Eagle Eye.Shia plays one of the two strangers (the other is played by Michelle Monaghan) who become the pawns of a mysterious woman they have never met, but who seems to know their every move. Realizing they are being used to further her plot for a political assassination, they must work together to outwit the woman before she has them killed.
The movie is the follow-up to the big box office winner Disturbia, directed by D.J. Caruso.
Universal, on the other hand, cast Shia in the upcoming Neil Burger thriller called Dark Fields. Based on the novel by Alan Glynn, Dark Fields tells the story of:… an intellectual slacker and former cocaine addict now is eking out a living as a copywriter for a small publishing house. Through a bizarre series of coincidences, Eddie finds himself in possession of MTD-48, a drug that has some curious effects. On his first trip, Eddie discovers that the drug boosts the intellect, making him far smarter - but also faster, more intuitive, and more charismatic. [...] However, like all drugs, MDT-48 has its downside, including lethal withdrawal symptoms and terrifying side-effects that can render a user homicidal. If this were not enough, the drug itself is both created and distributed by a shadowy corporation worthy of Pynchonian paranoia, and it isn't too long before Eddie begins to suspect that he didn't just "find" MDT-48 after all".
Source: themovie-fanatic.com
The Brothers Bloom and Nick & Norah at TIFF
Kat Dennings and Michael Cera at the premiere of "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist" at TIFF.
Rafi Gavron, writer Rachel Cohn, Michael Cera and director Peter Sollett.
"Nick & Norah' Infinite Playlist" screenwriter Lorene Scafaria, Rachel Cohn and Kat Dennings.
Jay Baruchel and Kat Dennings.
Ari Graynor, Caroline in "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist".
Michael Cera smirks.
Rian Johnson, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel Weisz and Adrian Brody,"The Brothers Bloom" TIFF Premiere.
Mark Ruffalo and Rachel Weisz.
Rian Johnson dancing with Rachel Weisz.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Book Review: "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist"
"Everyone in this room is connected, except Norah - she’s the kind of statue they don’t ever make, a statue of someone totally defeated".Norah Silverberg meets Nick O'Leary at a club in downtown Manhattan. Nick is stuck in his usual emo-depressed state due to his recent break-up with Tris, who had inspired him to write beautiful songs. Norah comes from a bad relationship with a very politically-oriented boyfriend, Tal, whom she's dumped about five times in the last three years.
Nick can't stand the idea of confronting his ex-sexpot Tris approaching him with a new boyfriend, so he turns to this girl Norah, whom Nick had been contemplating previously at the bar, and asks her if she'll concede to be his five-minutes girlfriend. Norah concurs to it only because she wants to check out Nick's straightness as a confirmation of her earlier analysis of this attractive musician from Hoboken (who auto-describes himself as a random bassist in an average queercore band) and to peeve Tris, her mate in the Sacred Heart school.
Nick's bandmates are gay and ironic, Dev from a town in Jersey called Lodi (idol in reverse) and Thom from South Orange. Nora's best friend Caroline is feisty, with the long caramel hair, the big cherry Tootsie Pop lips and a promiscuous behaviour.
The story of Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist belongs to the young adult genre, although its appeal is universal, since it explores the search for real sensations and everlasting nights in a mix-tape narrative allegory. It's told from alternative simultaneous views by the writers Rachel Cohn (Gingerbread, Cupcake, You Know Where to Find Me), Norah's bi-polar voice, and David Levithan (Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List, Realm of Possibility, Boy Meets Boy) who adopts shy Nick's voice. In the first chapters we can receive a wrong impression by the characters, because the first brushes are a bit harsh, in an intoxicated atmosphere of clubs crowded with frantic doped teenagers, and the boy and girl could come off as self-absorbed and narcissist music geeks.
"Sweat, malice, and hunger pour from me" are some of Nick's first thoughts on set. After their concert, he only can think of Tris' infidelities: "Three weeks, two days, and twenty-three hours ago. And she’s already with someone else. All of the songs I wrote in my head were for her, and now I can’t stop them from playing". These constant negative thoughts turn Nick more broken and void by the minute. It's almost as if initially Nick and Norah were written as two obsessed indie passengers whose purpose is to fill their null soundtracks of their respective mute lives.
"He’s working the ironic punk boy–Johnny Cash angle too hard to be a ’mo. Jersey-boy bassist with Astor Place hair who wears torn-up, bleach-stained black jeans and a faded black T-shirt" is the accurate analysis of Nick by Norah's intensely radiographic girly mind. Her boyfriend Tal and best friend Caroline have made her believe she's possibly frigid and she expresses her fear of being the Tin-Woman in a exhaustive series of internal monologues throughout the novel. She is horribly confused expressing her sexuality with boys, auto-defining herself as a "horrid bitch from the planet Schizophrenia", although she's actually a Jewish valedictorian princess from Englewood Cliffs, a record company CEO's spoiled daughter. Norah had only kissed Tal and Becca Weiner from summer camp until this Saturday. Norah is a lonely creature who only trusts her archive of My So-Called Life episodes as a guide to her romance record.
(We must remember that romance heroines in the literature were princesses, duchesses, or other ladies of the court; "Romance" originally referred to the vernacular French language called romanz. In the 12th century, literature written down in romance was intended to distinguish from official Latin literature. So we could say this romance genre started as an alternative variety, the same "indie" stream Nick and Norah try to rout out.)
Norah often feels trapped because she's hesitating applying for Brown University and her undesired future with Tal, who made her awful playlists filled with YMA Sumac crap and belittled her on a regular basis.
The descriptions of the concerts, mosh pits, communal hardcore energy, and reactions of the underground punk scene are realistically dirty and deafening, allowing us feel the giddiness of sliding into a gigantic pulsating wave from a loud station, fulminating our ears and shrinking our stomachs. I liked the references to random Weezer fans, the hint of dialogue from the film Heathers and memorabilia of rock classics — not very beloved by Norah — as the Beatles, Patti Smith or Lou Reed.
Cohn and Levithan avoid gracefully ribald situations typical of punchy punky teen romance scenarios. Instead, they pen a wonderful vérité representational portrait of insecure personalities plagued with low-esteem and erotical euphony.
In chapter three Nick's romantic side unfolds: "When Tris passes by me it's like the world is no longer 3-D. The third dimension falls away, then the second, and all I'm left with is one dimension, and that dimension is her".
In chapter seven, Nick confesses: "I am liking Norah". "I'm liking that I have to earn her smiles and laughs".
There are various passages that are of high erotic voltage (being the most graphic the intimacy they find in the hotel Marriott's ice-room), with fervid advances between Norah and Nick, as in a scene in the small room to the side of the Ladies Room, which is probably one of the saddest make-outs I've ever read. Nick stops Norah's lustful inexperienced flirting and he realizes he just can't do it (despite his heat) because he sees the unsmiling look in Norah's eyes.
Feeling rebuked by Nick, Norah distances herself from him, misunderstanding his reaction, and looks for advice from Tris. Caroline would have tipped her but she's too drunk (Drunkzilla) and taken care by Nick's gang. The track on list now could be appropriately "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" (The Smiths), as Nick broods: "Fuck her for getting in that cab. Fuck her for fucking with my mind. Fuck her for not knowing what she wants. Fuck her for dragging me into it. Fuck her for being such a fantastic kisser. Fuck her for ruining my favorite band. If I had my guitar, I might be able to make some change. But instead all I have are the songs crashing together in my head. They’re all sad. They’re all bitter. And they’re all that I have".
Norah is also falling apart inside the taxi at the moment the station plays a Merle Haggard break-up ballad. "Happy endings don't happen" - she resents, while an equally tortured Nick is regretting his lack of confidence: "It's not enough to be sitting alone on a sidewalk writing a song for a girl if you don't have the guts to at least try talking to her again". But an amusing phone call will change the separated route of our protagonists, when they meet again in an Ukrainian afterhours restaurant in the East Village, Veselka. In this place both play to have a "formal" first date, eating borscht, confessing their shared fondness of B-sides tracks and the obscure band "Where's Fluffy?".
Thereafter, Nick begins to see Tris as a past girlfriend, a Hot Topic mall hussy who wears slutty short leather skirts, mass-produced “vintage” Ramones T-shirts, yellow leggings and who likes to be a party girl. He's wised up after getting over Tris' betrayal. It's relevant that later Tris is humanized to the point that the readers begin to care about her real intentions and discover she's not the groupie-fatale epiphyte they think. She tries her best to not cause more pain. "I want to — but I can’t — hate her", Norah discloses.
Norah's impressed with the explanation Nick offers her about her Tikkun Olan conversation, and his straight-edge philosophy totally clicks with her: "...the real punk goes down now with a straight edge: no alcohol, no drugs, no cigarettes, no skanks. The real punk now is the only punk left after all the madness: the music, the message".
The intertwined descriptive style of Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist never loses its consciousness of the occlusive threats around the night in N.Y., but manages to wrap them with sunny smiles. On the edge of Times Square the rain lightens Nick and Norah's hearts: "she is so fucking beautiful, the way her mouth is uncertain about whether or not to smile".
Instants so lyrical as this one fixate us in such a hypnotic state we won't see the train coming into the subway, or the turnstiles. We're wandering, just as Nick and Norah, walking down Seventh Avenue, not knowing if we’re going to the subway or walking all the way back to the Lower East Side...
Published today in blogcritics.org
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