Hello,
So this past weekend David and I got to experience a real dream come true -- we got to attend the world premiere for the Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist movie at the Toronto Film Festival!  The city was crawling with movie stars and glamour for so many exciting movie events going on at once, but of course, we cared most about our little slice of it...
Luckily, we had seen the movie a few weeks ahead of the official premiere, by which I mean lucky for the people sitting ahead of us in the theater at the premiere, because I think I would have thrown up from anxiety on them if I hadn't known what to expect.  Luckily even more, we LOVE this movie.  Honestly, seeing it was one of the highlights of my professional career.  I felt so proud to be associated with this movie in any small way.  Because, setting aside our link to it and having everything to do with the great director and cast, it's just a real "feel good" movie in the best sense.  It's funny, sweet, romantic, real and yet dreamy -- exactly the reasons we go to the movies in the first place.  You leave it with a smile on your face and a song in your heart.
Is the movie different from the book?  Of course it is.  But I was surprised myself to discover I wouldn't want it any other way.  Plot-wise the movie is different from the book (Nick & Norah's friends have bigger story lines), but the spirit of the book is intact, and that, for real, was most important to us.  I think that's the single hardest aspect to capture in an adaptation, but this movie pulled it off beautifully.  (I admit to not just being thrilled about this, but relieved!)  Why I like the differences from the book to the movie are that they allow the book to always remain the book.  Sometimes I think when adaptations are produced too literally, they can have a sterile quality, but this movie felt very alive and real -- completely recognizable to the book, and yet its own independent being (and if you know how I feel about the cupcake vs. cake issue from the CC books, you understand why this matters a lot to me).
The actors, of course, are all way better-looking than I imagined the characters in the book, but they all suit the roles beautifully in personality and make each character their own.  I love that Michael Cera's Nick is a bit darker than earlier characters he's played, and that he's not the lovable dork who doesn't think he can get the girl -- he's a guy that's obsessing over the wrong ex-girlfriend, maybe, but he's already loved and lost the hot girl, and now can move on to trying a more mature relationship with a new girl, Norah.  Which brings me to Kat Dennings.  If you don't completely fall in love with her as Norah, I kind of want to start a fight with you.  Check out this link to see a great tribute to her that no less than the New York Times said about her portrayal of Norah.  The supporting actors -- Ari Graynor as Caroline, Jay Baruchel as Tal, Alexis Dziena as Tris, Rafi Gavron as Dev, Aaron Yoo as Thom, and Jonathan B. Wright as "Lethario" -- are all terrific, very fun and endearing (well, maybe Tal isn't endearing, but he's certainly funny to watch).  They're the kinds of friends you'd want to spend your Manhattan all-nighter with, for sure.  Even one traipsing after a drunk girl.
I know a lot of you have seen the trailers and commercials for the movie, and have spoken up (quite vocally!) to me and David about the fact that in the movie version it's Norah who asks Nick to be her 5-minute boyfriend and not the other way around.  But you know what?  It works.  Totally.  I seriously have no problem with that change -- I actually like it.  (Go, Norah!)  And it's one of those changes that speaks to what I said earlier -- it allows the movie to breathe on its own outside of the book, and keeps the book always ours (meaning yours, mine and David's).  As a movie moment, it works beautifully.  It's almost as cool as the YUGO.  ;>
The movie premiere itself was great fun, seeing as how I managed not to throw up on anyone during it.  People had told me the movie would be a different experience watching it with a live audience (the first time we saw it was in a small screening room) and that was really true.  It was so thrilling to hear all the laughter and sighing and happy reactions from the crowd.  Probably you'd like to see my photos from the event, but guess who was dumb enough not to bring a camera with a flash?  Um, yeah, that would be me.  So meantime, here's a photo borrowed from David of us dressed up all fancy at the premiere.

If you want to see better, actually professional photos of the Beautiful Actor People from the premiere events, check out this link from gettyimages.com (if the link doesn't work, go to that site and do a search on the movie or actors' names).  The Los Angeles Times also ran a lovely piece about Michael and Kat and their wonderful chemistry -- you can read it here.
I think that's all I have to say about the movie for now.  It arrives in theaters on October 3, and I can't wait to hear what you think about it!  There are also lots of cool cameos in there, and, okay, this is actually the most important part:  The music is awesome.  I hope you enjoy the Nick & Norah movie experience as much as we did!
Til opening day...
Cheers and lots of love,
Rachel

P.S.!  Updated to add:  New trailer (includes one of my favorite bits, Norah's "I am not jealous!" rant).