For the Movie Reviewing Record…

I watched Changeling and Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist earlier this fall.

I found Angelina Jolie to be tremendous in the Clint Eastwood-directed drama, which tells the inspired-by-true-events story of Christine Collins, a woman in 1920s Los Angeles desperate to find out what happened to her kidnapped son, and the police department who tried to pass another boy as hers.

As it has become obvious from all the awards attention that Jolie is enjoying, Changeling probably will score her a second Oscar nomination, and while I think it’s most deserved, I also think her turn in last year’s A Mighty Heart was stronger and should’ve done the trick then.

Changeling was a little too uneven for my taste, but Jolie shone through, especially because she had a mostly all-male supporting cast (John Malkovich, Jeffrey Donovan, and Michael Kelly) that elevated the material and her work.

Now, for the thoroughly enjoyable Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist....

I really wish more people had seen this movie. Michael Cera is a leading man’s leading man – he’s young, yes, but he’s soulful, and funny, and charming. He so should’ve gotten a Golden Globe nomination.

And his co-star, Kat Dennings, is effortlessly appealing.

It would be difficult for anyone to steal screen time from either, but someone did, and that was newcomer Ari Graynor who, as Norah’s boozy BFF Caroline, pranced around the movie chewing a piece of gum that wouldn’t quit, and proved that she’s definitely a star on the rise. (It’s what she does with that gum. To get it, rent the DVD ASAP.)

Photos: Screenhead.com (Changeling); LATimes.com (Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist).