Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008)

Nick (Michael Cera) is a high school guy who is infatuated with an ex-girlfriend, Tris (Alexis Dziena). He keeps trying to win her back by making mix-tapes and she keeps tossing them. One of her high school friends, Norah (Kat Dennings), keeps retrieving them and wondering why Tris won't have anything to do with a guy who could make such an awesome mix-tape. Tris ruthlessly teases Norah about not having a boyfriend so Norah lies and says she does have a boyfriend. She grabs the nearest guy at the time and tells him to act like her boyfriend. Unfortunately, she grabs Nick, Tris's ex. Thrown together in a strange circumstance, they end up spending all evening trying to find a band they both love as well as locate Norah's drunk best friend, Caroline (Ari Graynor) who has gone MIA.

Kat Dennings and Michael Cera

I read and re-read that synopsis and I swear it doesn't sound that interesting. I must tell you though that this was such a funny, sweet and adorable movie. It kinda reminded me of "Say Anything" without all the tension and drama. I think it is because of the theme of music as a secondary character in both movies and also because Kat Dennings could totally be Ione Skye and Michael Cera could totally be John Cusack. It is a great little film without the raunchiness of a lot of recent comedies, but also not sappy as most chick flicks. It is just a lot of fun.

As for the performances, all of the performances were great. Michael Cera is just so totally adorable and Kat Dennings is perfect as a beauty with brains that somehow guys don't seem to see how awesome she is. I don't know how anyone could miss that. All the secondary characters are great as well, especially Ari Graynor as the drunk girl. They all work to make the movie more interesting.

Personally, I loved seeing mix tapes still being used as a relationship tool as portrayed in this movie. Now, the younger generation has their fancy iTunes and it is easy to make a mix tape, er CD. They don't even have to work hard to produce one. Even though they have it easy, I am STILL glad to see it in use. :-) I can't be the only one with a serious love for this? Right? There was such an art to the mix tape and we all believed that if the mix tape was good enough, it would surely convey all our love to the recipient and they would have no choice but to love us back. *sigh* Follies of youth. I loved the nostalgia the film gave me.

Some of my favorite quotes are as follows:

Tris tormenting Norah, "You could totally have better luck with college guys. That's when guys really get into stuff like how smart a girl is, you know? It's not all about looks."

Thom, Nick's friend, pulls Norah into the van and gives her an underwire bra so she can change out of the sports bra the she is wearing for some inexplicable reason. He says, "Nicky is definitely worth the underwire."

There wasn't anything that I didn't enjoy about this movie. The script was comical, all the actors were great and it was very entertaining. I loved the use of "Nick and Norah" for the names, even if Norah wasn't spelt correctly. :-) Of course, there were a few parts that I had a hard time believing, like Caroline not using her cell phone to try to call for help. Or that a high school boy would walk away from a hot girl like Tris when she is doing a sexy dance for him. Horomones would have shut his brain down quicker than he could have said "Norah". Those few areas where suspension of disbelief didn't work certainly didn't hurt the film though. I highly recommend it when you are in the mood for something light and funny. It is definitely a fun one.

Rocket Science (2007)

This is a story about a young boy with a stuttering problem finding his voice, who knew it would be the voice of anger and revenge? 15-year-old Hal Hefner (Reece Thompson) is an outsider both at home and at school. He has a terrible stutter and doesn't know how to overcome it and find a way to fit in somewhere. He meets and falls in love with the star of the high school debate team, Ginny Reyerson (Anna Kendrick), and even joins the team due to his crush's urging. All is bound to not go well, especially with her intense drive to win and his intense love for her.

Reece Thompson and Anna Kendrick in ye olde cheese wagon

Everything about this movie is completely irreverent - the characters, the story and even the music. Have I mentioned how I love irreverent? Plus, all of the young actors are amazingly good and the script is pretty darn tight too. At first, the story is hard to follow, then you think it might be meandering, but once the surprise "evil plot" in the film is uncovered you realize the story has all been leading up to the unveiling. Very cool.

I love the conversation that is taking place in the scene the above picture is taken from. Ginny is telling Hal about how she was identified a few years ago as having debate potential and as such, she must strive to ferret out other folks that have similar talent and she believes Hal is such a person. She sums it up with, "I ferreted you".

The downside of this is that even though this is completely original and not predictable, about halfway through I had the eerie feeling I was sitting through a Wes Anderson film. I don't think that is really the fault of the writer/director Jeffrey Blitz. I doubt that he sat down with the idea of ripping off a Wes Anderson film, but yet, it is unmistakable how similar it is to the feeling of "Rushmore" or "Royal Tenenbaums".

Overall I would say this is very quirky, very irreverent and funny so your funny bone definitely needs to lean in the quirky/irreverent direction to appreciate this one. Needless to say, if you like Wes Anderson films, you will love this one.

Smart People (2008)

Dennis Quaid is Lawrence Wetherhold, a self-absorbed, surly professor who generally appears to hate the world. The bitterness has obvious root, the death of his wife that he hasn't been able to let go. Enter into the plot a former student and ER Doctor, Janet Hartigan (Sarah Jessica Parker), and a drifter-type adopted brother, Chuck (Thomas Haden Church). Lawrence's life and those of his kids, Vanessa (Ellen Page) and James (Ashton Holmes), are bound to take a slightly different course.

Thomas Haden Church and Ellen Page do a little bonding

When you boil it down, this movie is really about highly intelligent people that are complete emotional idiots. Every single person in this film is damaged. With some, as I said in the plot, the root of the damage is obvious. Others, you don't know how it happened, but you know the damage is there. These people get through life using their brains as a barrier so that their precious isolationism will be maintained.

The performances, as you would expect from these great actors, are good. I have such a serious fondness for all the actors in this movie. I will spotlight Ellen Page specifically because I think she has one of the most complex roles. She portrays a teenager who has somehow turned into a 40-year-old woman after the death of her mother. She is miserable, has no friends and is so completely invested in her father's life that she appears to be more of a housewife to him than a daughter. She strives for perfection in a vain attempt for her father to appreciate or recognize her. In one of the scenes, she is talking to her Uncle. She reminds him that, "You should really make your bed. It sets the tone for the day." The line alone shows how matriarchal and up-tight she has become since her mother's death. She is really in need of some chaos.

I love that the chaos she needs is injected by her adopted Uncle Chuck. I only point out the adopted fact because that well may be his saving grace in this family. He is obviously not highly intelligent, but he has what the others lack in emotional intelligence. He understands people and actually likes getting to know people. He enters the dysfunctional home and immediately understands that his niece is in the most danger of becoming a wreck of an adult. Thomas Haden Church, who is a great underrated actor, plays the part brilliantly. I like the dichotomy between Chuck and Lawrence as totally opposite brothers, but also because watching Church and Quaid act opposite each other was a cinematic treat.

One other thing I would like to note that I really like about this one is that it isn't the cliched "Here are broken people and by the end they are all fixed" kind of a movie, even though they did go for a happyish ending. The movie is much more subtle than the grand fix gesture. It is not about any of the character's massive change, but rather, about characters trying or wanting to change a little - like in real life. Most people do not go from being a curmudgeon to being the most popular guy on the street. They make small changes like trying to greet someone or smile politely when passing a stranger. Again, not a Hollywood ending and much more like the reality of every day life. I think Quaid sums it up for his character when he says, "I know I'm a miserable asshole, but I do have some hope for myself." Indeed.

I will say that I loved this movie in parts, and in concept and themes, but as a whole didn't quite love it. I think with all the beloved indie actors, the expectations were so high, I was bound to be a bit disappointed perhaps. Something didn't quite gel right for me and even though the movie was short, the plot seemed to creep along in a few places. I didn't quite buy all of the characters because they weren't developed enough. I blame most of this on the newbie director as I think with a more capable one, this movie really could have been so much better. But, I did like it and am glad I had the chance to watch it. You will like this one if you are really into character-driven independents (like myself) or are a completionist and want to see all of the work by one of the actors in this one. Otherwise, sadly, I think you will find it a bit dull so you might consider skipping it.

Purple Violets (2007)

Ed Burns wrote, directed, produced and co-starred in this movie. It has his fingerprints all over it and is typical Ed Burns fare. The focus of all of the movies he writes is on relationships - whether they be familial or romantic. He likes to explore how relationships tear apart due to external forces or how they become mended and every scenario in between. He also, almost always, makes his movie a love story to New York City. He films all his movies there and intersperses them with wonderful shots that make me wonder how I miss all that beauty when I visit there.

Patrick Wilson and Selma Blair as cooooool New Yorkers

The movie is about four people who, twelve years ago during college, were all best friends and dating. They happen to run into each other while dining at a restaurant and the history of the past relationships unfold a bit. Pretty quickly you discover that Michael Murphy (Ed Burns) and Kate Scott (Debra Messing) are no longer together and haven't spoken in 12 years because she believes he cheated on her in college and it destroyed her. You also discover that Patti Petalson (Selma Blair) and Brian Callahan (Patrick Wilson) broke up back then due to Brian going off to college in another state and Patti not wanting to have a long distance relationship.

The two women and the two men, separately, have remained best friends throughout the span of time but have not spoken to the others. Each character is pretty well developed by Burns and have their own story to unfold throughout the movie. Patti is in a loveless marriage and even though she used to be a great writer, has lost the confidence to write anymore. Brian became an author of a series of novels that amassed him and his lawyer, Michael, a great deal of money, but he is unhappy with doing that kind of fluff writing. He is also in a relationship with a young girl and soon after seeing Patti, no longer finds the young girl amusing. Kate appears to have never recovered from her heart break over Michael and is so consumed with anger towards him spends much of the movie refusing to even speak to him. Michael became a lawyer and also realized he was an alcoholic in college and for most of his 20s and went to AA to sober up. He spends much of the movie chasing Kate trying to make amends.

I see this movie as having two great strengths. The first one is the actors who deliver solid performances. Everyone in this works well as an individual and as a cohesive team. The second strength of this movie is Ed Burns. He has really seasoned as a movie maker. I don't always love his movies (I recall really hating "Sidewalks of New York"), but I can see where he has learned from his mistakes and corrected them. In this one, he really allows the characters to breathe. What I mean is, instead of trying to cover every second of the movie in dialogue, he allows the characters to have scenes where the actor conveys where they are and their emotion without overtly verbalizing it. Only the camera is there to capture their dialogue and it is all internal. I think it is scary for a director to allow that, but I love it when they give the character time to breathe. Also, I think Burns has made a consistent effort to improve the interest of his chosen shots, which I personally am a stickler for in a director. Burns usually focused on just the actors, but in this effort, he focused on a few clever or beautiful shot setups. I particularly loved one in Patti's apartment where she is arguing with her husband and the camera is at the other end of the hall, showing a wall divider between them. Shots like that speak so much to the story, saying this couple can't tear down the wall, they are completely divided, and probably will never be together as a whole again.

I have to say one negative about Ed Burns, since I just spent a paragraph talking about how he has seasoned and how he did really well in this. I always hate that all of his work has some snide air of superiority. Maybe it is just me, but I always get the feeling that he is trying to say something like "Look at me! I am esoteric! I am an intellectual!" I also get the feeling that if you say you don't like his stuff, then you are branded a Philistine. Again, it could be just me though. :-)

So to wrap this up, this was a good, sweet movie. Not a great movie, but certainly an enjoyable one to sit down and watch for an hour and a half. The main issue with it was the predictability, within 15 minutes of the movie, I was pretty darn sure I knew how this was going to play out. So there weren't really any twists or clever turns, just an exploration of the characters and their relationships. But if you sit down to a Burns film, that is pretty much what you should expect, and this is his most solid one yet.

When Did You Last See Your Father? (2007)

This movie is based off the novel by Blake Morrison about how he comes to grips from the point that he learns his Dad only has a few weeks to live. He returns to his childhood home to help his Mom care for his Dad and, in his own way, to make peace with their relationship. Blake is played by Colin Firth and his dad is played by Jim Broadbent.

Jim Broadbent and Colin Firth both give two very strong performances in "When Did You Last See Your Father?"

I really liked that this was overwhelmingly, an unsentimental film. The film established and explored Blake and his Dad's relationship through a series of flashbacks. The flashbacks followed the relationship arc with Blake as a child, believing his dad could do no wrong, to Blake as a teenager thinking he wished his father were dead. It showed the Dad as a truly flawed human being. I loved the almost constant use of mirrors and reflections from the point that Blake returned to his childhood home to be with his Dad before he died. The symbolism is obvious as he reflects over the memories of the past.

The problem with the film is that it has all been done before. That may sound callous, but this is a pretty common story without any unearthed themes. I will concede that the amazing acting by Colin Firth and Jim Broadbent does make this one top-notch from the pack. Colin plays his cards close to the vest as he typically does in roles, but he finishes with a super-emotional scene that would water the eyes of even the coldest of us all. Jim Broadbent delivers an amazing performance throughout. I have always adored him as a wonderful character actor and adore him even more after seeing this.

I would say this film is definitely worth watching for the amazing, strong performances of Broadbent and Firth. Just remember that it is a slow, emotional drama so not for the faint of heart, so to speak. Also, another reason to watch this film might be a bit personal, but I will share anyway. It is this: watching Mr. Darcy naked and, uhmm, enjoying himself in a bathtub definitely made it worthwhile. I know, I am a naughty girl :-)