Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist is a movie I was really looking forward to. Being a huge Arrested Development fan, I’ve always been on the lookout for Michael Cera and have really enjoyed his roles in Superbad and Juno. Now there’s another movie starring Cera and it has something to do about music. I know it came out a while ago, but I’m just now getting to it on my Netflix list.
While on the surface, the story of some teenagers (I’m pretty sure they’re supposed to be high school students) driving around all night trying to find where their elusive, favorite band is going to be playing in New York City might sound cool, I was a little disturbed by the sub plot. You know, their seemingly alcoholic friend, Caroline (Ari Graynor) who is so drunk she has no idea where she is or what happened to her. She was initially handed off to some friends of friends but then came to in the back of a van and “escaped” her kidnappers. You see, she heard the other occupants in the van talking about a song and assumed she was about to be date-raped. So while this funny, teen-romance comedy is taking place Nick (Michael Cera) and Norah (Kat Dennings from 40 Year Old Virgin) are also trying to find Caroline. They’re essentially chasing her around town to all of her “favorite puking places” and eventually meet up with her by the end of the film.
I feel weird saying it, but I must be getting old. I’ve never really been bothered by these more “sophisticated” teen comedies before, but this time I really just felt out of my element. While there were some funny moments, the whole situation just seemed a little ridiculous. Is this just because I’m not 17 years old anymore?
I was also expecting some awesome music to be had but I must have missed it or just had too high of expectations. Has anyone else seen this flick? I’d really like some feedback here. Was I just not in the mood and need to give this a 2nd chance?
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I had high hopes for this movie. It just looked so “feel good.” That’s probably why I was disappointed with it. The cast was promising touting big names like Robin Williams, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Keri Russell, and the talented Freddie Highmore. It also looked like it could be good like the popular indie flick Once.
I think the hardest aspect for me to buy in to was the magical realism portrayed in the story. You have a very musically talented man and woman who fall in love and “make a baby” one fateful night. The girl’s father decides she doesn’t need a child because she has her career as a cheloist. So the baby boy is given up for adoption and has been living in an orphanage. So one day the boy is exposed to music and he turns into Mozart on steroids. He believes the music he creates will bring his parents back together and reunite them as a family. That’s what made me roll my eyes at this movie.
Performances were ok. Everything seems very much like a Charles Dickens’ story. Highmore did pretty well and the music was interesting. You have to remember though, that musicals rarely float my boat. They’re just not my thing. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t get into the story very well. I’d be interested to see what other think. I’m kinda feeling like maybe the movie wasn’t so cheesy, but just not my style as with Across the Universe. I’d love to hear any thoughts anyone else has.
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When I heard that Judd Apatow was involved in writing this script, I was immediately interested. Another selling point for me was Will Ferrell was not starring as the lead. It’s not that I don’t like the man’s work, it’s just that I’ve reached my limit of seeing him play the ridiculous roles for a while. Stranger than Fiction was definitely a breath of fresh air, however, for some reason I’m really looking forward to Step Brothers. Which leads me to John C. Reilly, who starred as Dewey Cox.
If you didn’t already know, this movie is somewhat a parody of 
Walk the Line, the story of Johnny Cash, with plenty of extra things thrown in. There are also a slew of cameos by many, many actors playing famous musicians and whatnot. I’m pretty sure Reilly did his singing. I can’t vouch for that, but if anybody knows anything about that I’d love to know. I thought he did a fine job in the role.
While I can’t say I fell in love with this film, I can definitely say that I loved many small parts. The Beetles scene was one of my favorites, along with the running sink joke. Jack White was also hilarious as Elvis. Other than that, I’m not sure I have much more to say about this film. It kind of falls into the category of fluff entertainment for me, yet not quite good enough to inspire multiple, future watchings. I’d love to hear what you thought of it.
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Ever wanted to be a rock star? Being a fan of the video game, Guitar Hero, I must recommend Air Guitar Nation to anyone else who likes the game, likes rock music, and likes documentaries. I would have to call this riveting, fun, hilarious, and amazing.
If you didn’t know, there are international air guitar championships. Seriously, this is a real thing. People get up on stage from around the world and are judged on how well they can mime being a rock star. This documentary follows the story of David S. Jung, otherwise known as C-Diddy, as he competes in the first ever U.S competition and World competition in 2003. The real drama stems from another contestant, Dan Crane aka Bjorn Turoque. This guy just won’t quit.
You also learn a little history about this little-known sport and we find out it’s all based on love and world peace. Those are two concepts hard to disagree with. I highly recommend this film and can honestly say this is one I could watch over and over. If you watch this and are interested in learning more, here are links to The US Air Guitar Championships and C-Diddy’s website.
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I have to admit that I kind of wrote this movie off at first. I don’t even know why. I think it’s because I have an aversion to hip hop music and its culture. I would like to say in my defense though that Dave Chappelle has helped to open my eyes to worthwhile things in this area of my life. I’ve also made some buddies on the web like Reel Fanatic who have assured me this movie was worth checking out. So I put it on my Netflix list.
I just finished watching this film and I was most definitely surprised. This was a good movie about the struggle of trying to work your way up in life. Written and directed by Craig Brewer, who also wrote and directed Black Snake Moan, Hustle & Flow tries to give us a peak into the life of someone who’s not privileged; someone who has a dream. Terrence Howard, who has done an amazing job in everything I’ve seen him in, really sells the character of DJay, a pimp who has a dream to rap. Here’s a man having a mid-life crisis that decides he needs to do something with his life.
Rounding out the cast are DJ Qualls (Road Trip), Anthony Anderson (Romeo Must Die, and The Departed), Taraji P. Henson (Smokin Aces) and Taryn Manning (Cold Mountain). Ludacris played “Skinny Black”, the rapper that has already made it big, and Isaac Hayes plays a club owner.
I’ve been gaining more and more respect for Qualls and Anderson. At one point in the movie Qualls comments on a chain worn by the character DJay. I thought it was kind of funny since they pretty much have the same name. I don’t know if I’ll ever see Delta Farce, but he’s definitely not been typecast after his role in Road Trip. Anderson has also proved himself not to be just a loud, bumbling fool that I saw in Romeo Must Die. I’m also starting to like Ludacris. Can’t say I like his movie, but after Crash and this role, I’d say he has something going.
The music is also not that bad. I wouldn’t say I was disappointed when this won an Oscar for Original Song, I was just surprised. I think mostly because of my aforementioned general distaste for the genre, however, none of that ever really occurred to me while watching.
So I say give this movie a chance film lovers. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. I know I was.
Once Once Once. That’s all I was hearing when this film first hit the theaters. Everybody that saw it was just gushing love for this movie. Usually that kinda turns me off to something. If EVERYBODY just loves it I kinda assume there must be something not quite right with it. I guess another reason was because none of my friends whose movie opinions I unquestioningly trust, there’s about 3 in the whole world, had seen it.
This was another film Liz and I caught while in L.A. and I now know what people were gushing about. This film is pretty awesome. Nobody even has names. This is something that didn’t even dawn on me until afterwards. I have heard one complaint - this movie is made up of musicians trying too hard to be actors. I kinda see that, but I still like the movie anyways. Music/soundtrack is also available on EMusic if you’re into that sort of thing.
So story - yes, it’s about musicians. More than that though it’s about people finding each other, making friends and connecting with each other on deeper levels. It’s about poetry, life, love found and love lost. It’s about a lot of things.
I can see a lot of people not understanding this film and not finding any redeeming value because this is nowhere near blockbuster material. The people, situations, dialog and pace aren’t the contrived, fast action, anti-ADD sort of stuff that makes millions of dollars in its opening weekend.
One interesting story I heard was while filming the scene where the guy tries to steal the guitar case, nobody on the street was informed. So in one of the first takes, a good pedestrian sees the theft happen, gives the thief a first-rate shot to the nuts and retrieves the guitar case for the main character. That’s what you get for trying to invoke honest responses I guess.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - it’s always interesting to see movies, documentaries or not, made about things I’ve experienced in my lifetime. I am by no means the biggest of Metallica fans, but to say that this band hasn’t shaped my music tastes a little would be very far from the truth.
I was pretty excited and a little leery when I heard there was going to be a documentary about pretty much the biggest metal/heavy rock/etc bands of the past three decades. Yeah, I’d like to learn more about this band, but what’s the point of view going to be? Will this just be propaganda? After watching the film I have to say I loved it. Maybe it’s just that good, or maybe I got sucked in. Hard to say. I guess you’ll have to let me know what you thought of it.
One thing I was really getting annoyed with from about 1999 to 2005 is how all of a sudden everybody loved Metallica. Yeah, they were already freaking huge and popular, but I’m talking all of a sudden it was EVERYBODY. It seemed like any and every rock station was having Metallica time every night. My little brother’s friends would come over and I’d hear them start talking about how they’ve loved this band their whole lives and how the Black album is the best “first” album ever. Personally, I loved Kill em All, Ride the Lightening, Master of Puppets, …And Justice for All and Black. Load and Reload were ok. Garage Inc was cool. The Symphony album was a little overplayed and I was a bit disappointed with St. Anger. At the time I didn’t really know what to think of Jason leaving the band. I also couldn’t stand Trujillo when it was announced he was their new bass player. Looking back though, I don’t think it would have mattered who stepped in to fill those shoes.
Watching the documentary showed a bit how dysfunctional the band was or had become. My initial reaction is, “Grow Up!“. However, I don’t know if I would perform any better in their shoes. Money and power do strange things to people and I hate being in the spotlight for whatever reason. I know the documentary doesn’t show everything. It’s not like things were shown the band didn’t approve of. At the same time, it was interesting to see them acting like real people. There’s so many insane reality shows on TV that are about the farthest thing from reality.
I would pick this one up if I found it for a reasonable price. Some documentaries are cool, but it’s not like I’d ever watch it again. For some reason I feel a little personally invested in this. I’m sure all you other fans out there know what I’m talking about. I give this one two thumbs up.
If you’ve ever heard of a band called Danielson or Danielson Family, you’ll never forget those vocals. You might describe them as unique, weird, awesome, screeching, annoying, etc. All I know is that it grows on me. Another unforgettable trait of their music is the lyrics of their songs. They’re all about life, in a weird and quirky way. Some songs are hilarious and others are just plain thought provoking. If you’re interested in learning more about this band, this is the documentary to watch.
We meet Daniel Smith, founder of pre-mentioned bands, and learn about how everything started. Things are explained related to band members, who they are, are they really related, music content, costumes, etc. It was also cool to see Daniel Johnston a bit in there. Besides learning about all of the band members, there’s also a sprinkling of live footage throughout. We also learn what’s in store for the future and Smith’s current projects.
If you’re not that into music and/or don’t really like documentaries, this probably isn’t the film for you. I really enjoyed it though. Thanks for the suggestion Shorb!
I didn’t really know much about Daniel Johnston at all before seeing this documentary. The first time I saw posters for it I didn’t really know what to think. However, after hearing a rave review from Shorb, I knew I had to check it out and was so glad I did.
You probably haven’t heard of Johnston either, but I bet you’d recognize some of his influences. Daniel Johnston is a musician, performer and song writer that was a very famous nobody. I say ‘famous nobody’ because while so many knew and adored his music, he never really made it big. He’s definitely what they call a cult-classic.
One aspect I was really impressed with is how they incorporated home recordings, both audio and video, into the modern footage shot for the movie. Daniel had been documenting his own life never thinking some of it could be used later on. It’s really cool to see him in action and also hear what friends and family have to say about certain events/times. Everything blended together quite well.
I’m sure this movie would bore a lot of people, but I found it quite fascinating. Personally, I try to appreciate the arts and sometimes it’s really hard to know what to appreciate until you find out a little history behind it all.
I was immediately intrigued when I saw a trailer for this movie. I’ve always been a big fan of ‘rock and roll’ and here’s somebody who’s been dubbed THE MAYOR. Turns out it’s a documentary about a guy by the name of Rodney Bingenheimer. This guy is friends with everybody. He was around when the Beatles, Cher, Bing Crosby and Alice Cooper were making it big. He’s still around now and friends with people like Gwen Stefani and Green Day.
I had never heard of this guy before, but obviously he’s big. This is somebody that just loves the music, but hasn’t really tried to take advantage of it. They showed his home and he by no means lives large. You might think that people have been using him over the years. I’m not really sure about that, but I really felt bad for the guy. He’s a friend to so many, yet, those friends seem to not always come through for him.
He currently has/had (movie came out in 2003) a radio show where his hours were being cut. You would think somebody would snatch him up. I love listening to Alice Cooper Nights and Jonesy’s Jukebox (Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols). These are real rockers telling you stories and giving their opinions on bands that they personally know. It’s not like they’re just fans who consider themselves experts.
If you like documentaries and are a little bit interested in the music scene, I think you’ll probably find this one interesting.
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