This is one of those odd casting announcements that kind of comes out of left field. It might have been something that wasn’t supposed to be known yet; it might end up being a complete misunderstanding. But for the moment, it is straight from the mouth of one of the stars, so we all run with it.

While speaking to MTV recently about her upcoming movie with Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal, Brothers, Natalie Portman was prompted to talk about her upcoming role in Thor and who of the fantastic and still-growing cast she was most excited to be working with. Portman surprised the interviewer and all who have since watched the video with her response: “Well I’m really excited, Kat Dennings is going to be in it with me and she’s a good friend and an amazing actress, so I’m looking forward to that,” the actress revealed. This is not a casting announcement that had been officially made yet, so now everyone is wondering who Miss Dennings could be playing.

Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist
Directed by Peter Sollett
Starring Michael Cera, Kat Dennings, Jay Baruchel, Alexis Dziena
Rated PG-13
Release date: October 3, 2008

Some movies just stay on the screen when they are through, but Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist transcends that norm as its radiant truth and naturalistic approach cuts deep through our toughest layer of skin that isn’t penetrated very easily. The characters jump off the screen and suggest we hug them. They don’t have to ask twice. The outcome hasn’t been demonstrated since Almost Famous captivated our emotions in 2000. Each film has similar main characters. Each boy is normal in his appearance, but is thrown into a world that some rock stars and rich men would kill for. It’s with these characters that each film bases its whole premise around; simple and lovable. You can’t teach that in acting school.

There comes a time when a movie achieves intimacy with its audience, and hence, that is how it acquires greatness. First time director Peter Sollett — adapting from a Cohn and Levithan novel — creates magic. He manages to establish a strong enough bond (strongest since Brokeback Mountain) that allows us to realize what we are watching is not only comedy done to perfection, but it can also double as high end drama; almost like a monk who reaches his highest pinnacle during his religious learnings. When comedy can do this, it is hard to beat.

Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist is Michael Cera‘s follow-up to last year’s indie darling Juno. Cera plays Nick, an indie rock-loving bass player just coming off a bad breakup with he meets Norah (40-Year-Old Virgin‘s Kat Dennings). The duo embark on a journey through the night-time streets of New York City in search of a secret concert, which turns into their unlikely first date.

Not much else is known as the movie at this point — you can read the official brief synopsis here below — but the title would suggest it revolves around the music that Nick and Norah share in common.

To help promote the film, Sony’s official site for the film has a Widget Builder which allows you to not only create your own playlist, but actually PLAY the songs! Here below, you can check out the Playlist I created, which is an example of what you’ll be listening to if you hang out with me. I warn you, it’s every f’n metal! \m/\m/

A few things about creating the “My Infinite Playlist”: 1) you have to sign up at imeem.com to publish your Playlist; 2) I didn’t see a way to check which version of a song was available (so, the first time I picked “The Trooper” by Iron Maiden, it actually was NOT by Iron Maiden, to my horror, so I redid my Widget so we’ll see what happens this time; and 3) you can customize your widget with shapes, highlighting, text, video, and photos, which is a nice touch.

The site has some other cool stuff you can build as well like “My Night Out With Nick & Norah” and “My Movie Widget.” Here’s a round-up of features …