tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post5047434224572857042..comments2024-03-24T13:26:57.317-07:00Comments on Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule: THE PERSONAL MELODIES AT THE TOP OF NICK AND NORA'S INFINITE PLAYLISTDennis Cozzaliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-14891008090603798472009-02-17T02:44:00.000-08:002009-02-17T02:44:00.000-08:00I've just bought it about ten minutes ago after re...I've just bought it about ten minutes ago after reading this endorsment from you, Dennis.Ali Arikanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02293558856795196349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-78647157927857274532009-02-11T17:53:00.000-08:002009-02-11T17:53:00.000-08:00Two words: Say Anything.Two words: Say Anything.WelcometoLAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05490618592042119755noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-19690690448609155842009-02-11T14:52:00.000-08:002009-02-11T14:52:00.000-08:00"I can think of several good teenager movies, but ..."I can think of several good teenager movies, but I can't think of one that fits that question except maybe Nick and Nora..."<BR/><BR/>I think that's it, Jonathan. I could think of plenty of good movies about teens, and in those movies they are always observed interacting with pop music and culture, but I couldn't think of another one that precisely gets at what that interaction means to them, or to one specific couple, the way this movie seems to. That's part of why I think it's rather special. <BR/><BR/>I also think you're right about pegging the real start of the "modern" teen movies to films like <I>Foxes</I> and <I>Little Darlings</I>, both of which predated John Hughes (the filmmaker) by four years or so. I think Hughes made a better example for me off the top of my head because his movies really grabbed their intended demographic by their perms and leg warmers and Members Only jackets and said, "Look, this is who you are," and said demographic responded in numbers that far outweighed the box-office take of the earlier films. But pegged to either 1980 or 1984, the movies about teens that came after never looked the same again, for better and worse.<BR/><BR/>Kevin: I swear, I hadn't even thought of the appropriateness of posting about this movie for Valentine's Day until you mentioned it. My heart is even softer than I thought!<BR/><BR/>Chris: "It felt... sincere and sentimental and (to these adult eyes, at least) very reminiscent of those late teens/early 20's awkward fumblings with the opposite sex."<BR/><BR/>That's exactly why I think the movie ultimately won me over-- not because it was necessarily <I>true</I> to any certain experience (at least as I lived it), but because it wasn't afraid to be sentimental about that experience of discovering love for the first time, that the whole notion of falling in love wasn't coated in a thick veneer of irony meant to distance us while we're indulging in our fantasies of what it's like. It captured that heady feeling of fumbling about with your feelings without condescending to that experience, and in doing so somehow managed to seem clear-headed about it at the same time. That's quite a balancing act, I'd say. And to be honest, I did see a little bit of my wife and me in Nick and Nora, though my tastes run more to classic rock and other offenses against art-- my wife is much more Nora than I am Nick.<BR/><BR/>Robert: I faced this very situation when my soon-to-be-wife moved in with me. She was allergic, but she took the plunge and after a while developed a resistance of sorts to the dangers presented by my short-haired cat Lumpy. It was quite a heroic feat, I thought, and a nice measure of personal sacrifice on her part. Years later I gave her a long-haired kitty kat when she was pregnant, her allergies inflamed all over again, and she's never shaken them again since. A beautiful sacrifice for love, yes. But she did ultimately make the right call? I'd like to think she did, but it sounds like another poll question to me! :)Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-210599914487600462009-02-11T14:28:00.000-08:002009-02-11T14:28:00.000-08:00What other movies do you think do justice, as I th...<I>What other movies do you think do justice, as I think this one does, to the experience of being a teenager in love, that best incorporates the importance of pop culture and defining one's own response to it as a character trait that might open, or keep closed, the door to romance? </I><BR/><BR/>Can't think of one. I can think of several good teenager movies, but I can't think of one that fits that question except maybe <B>Nick and Nora</B> which I haven't seen. <BR/><BR/>I'm assuming with your reference to the summer of 77 you're speaking of <B>Star Wars</B> and I know what you mean but speaking just of teenage movies, movies about teens in other words, I consider Jodie Foster and Tatum O'Neal with <B>Foxes</B> and <B>Little Darlings</B> to be the true start of the teenage movie era. In other words, the prior teen movies (Gidget, Andy Hardy, etc) all portrayed teens as adults would like them to be (Andy Hardy) or as befuddled and foolishly amusing (Gidget, Frankie and Annette) until Foster and O'Neal, and I suppose Kristy McNichol to a degree, made movies, very bad ones to be sure, about teens that normal teens would recognize.Greghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05730146625671701859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-47622393931363318342009-02-11T12:50:00.000-08:002009-02-11T12:50:00.000-08:00Hmmm. I'll have to check this out now. I was a l...Hmmm. I'll have to check this out now. I was a little unsure about this film, but you are about the third reliable source now that states the film is a pleasant surprise. I especially relate to this comment:<BR/><BR/>"There is little suspense generated over whether or not Nick and Nora will eventually realize the degree to which they are mutually attracted, but then in a movie like this it’s almost always more about the journey to discovery than what happens when the couple in question finally gets there, and when that journey is rendered with the kind of believable, character-driven humor in evidence here audiences tend to forgive the obviousness of the narrative trajectory more easily than when they’re beaten into submission, as in, say, the average Kate Hudson-Matthew McConaughey rom-com. "<BR/><BR/><BR/>I think this is why I enjoyed "Almost Famous" so much. The viewer is led to believe that eventually Penny and William will end up together, happily ever after. However, I like the fact that Crowe doesn't give into the convention so easily, and because of that "Almost Famous" is a film that is entirely about the "journey", as you put it. <BR/><BR/>These are the kind of romantic comedies I can handle. Your recommendation for "Nick and Norah" couldn't come at better time -- seeing how it's Valentine's Day this weekend. I may have to submit this suggestion to the fiance; besides it sounds a lot more appropriate than our previous choices of "W." and "Lakeview Terrace". Happy Valentines Day indeed!<BR/><BR/>Great stuff, Dennis.Kevin J. Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17275402809912728035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-52835124840633727752009-02-11T12:27:00.000-08:002009-02-11T12:27:00.000-08:00Going to have think about that questions a bit, bu...Going to have think about that questions a bit, but just wanted to say that in an odd coincidence, my wife and I just watched <I>Nick and Norah</I> last night and loved it. It felt like the anti-<I>Juno</I> to me: sincere and sentimental and (to these adult eyes, at least ) very reminiscent of those late teens/early 20's awkward fumblings with the opposite sex.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13600990166210022027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-42473129829043259702009-02-10T23:37:00.000-08:002009-02-10T23:37:00.000-08:00Once I was trying to adopt a stray cat from one of...Once I was trying to adopt a stray cat from one of those obsessive animal lover groups who submit you to a Spanish Inquisition by questionnaire before they let you have one of their charges. One of the questions was, if you started dating someone and you found out they were allergic to cats, what would you do? I never faced the problem in life, but it certainly would be a dilemma.Robert Fiorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06357467040644448167noreply@blogger.com