Teen Movies

In the last couple o weeks, I have seen Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, Sex Drive, and The Wackness.

I'll talk about the other two in a bit, but I'll start off by saying that Sex Drive was funnier than I expected. It is not some near classic like Superbad, but it is vulgar and funny and immature. It is a teen sex comedy, and as a teen sex comedy it is a teen sex comedy. It does what it is supposed to do. And I liked it. And Seth Green was in it. And Cyclops.

So it was a good movie. But The Wackness and Nick and Norah's... were more than just good. Maybe because they were movies about more than just raunchy comedy. They were (and are, I guess) movies about young love, music and New York.

I don't know if New York can ever live up to all the movies I've seen about it. But especially these most recent films. The Wackness and Infinite Playlist love New York. Two different New Yorks, true, but both are full of love.

The Wackness is a period piece. It takes place in 1994. New York was undergoing some massive changes, so the movie told me. The new mayor was cracking down on all of New York's seedy glory, and a new wave of hip hop was starting to bubble up. The crime crack down doesn't really play that big a role, but plays a huge role at the same time. Our lead doesn't get busted for dealing (spoiler?) but every scene of him dealing has an added edge because there is a chance that he might.

Our lead is a troubled youth. His home life ain't so crash hot, he doesn't really have any friends, he don't got much but his pot and his music. He's seeing a shrink. A shrink that has plenty of his own problems. They bond over pot, over music, and over the urge to get laid.

This is a nice looking film, washed out loveliness. And the soundtrack was stellar. That was around the last time I was actually in to the hip hop scene, so it ws filled with music I had forgotten I loved.

I didn't like The Wackness as much as N&NIP, but that opinion might change by tomorrow. They are two side of a coin. New York is beautiful (and seamy) and filled with great music (Indie or hip hop) and full of people falling in (and out) of love. And having their hearts broken.

And both films have mix tapes/CDs playing a big part in how their lead characters connect. I miss that. I miss agonizing how to best distill my essence, my mood, my me into 12 or so songs. It was an ephemeral art that I fear is already lost. We all carry all our music on us now. And I know I spend more time skipping past songs than actually listening.

How do I give my music to you? A playlist? It doesn't seem the same.

It's not the same.