“Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist” (½) is infinitely taken with itself, its cuteness (Michael Cera, OMG, you want to slap the boy), its music (ironically, the one tune that jumps off the screen is Hot Chocolate's three-decades-old “You Sexy Thing”) and how cool New York City is at night (except for street denizen Andy Samberg with the aggressive hots for Cera).

Cera was perfect as Ellen Page's high school boyfriend and the father of her child in “Juno,” but that film was written by Diablo Cody, who won an Oscar for it. He was also charming as Jonah Hill's sweet best friend in “Superbad,” but that was written by pals Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who knew the subject matter intimately.

“Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist” director Peter Sollett and screenwriter Lorene Scafaria don't have a generational clue, relying on drunk-girl humor – Ari Graynor dumped in the grossest of public toilet scenes – gay sex jokes (Cera is the only straight member of his rock band) and Cera's beat-up yellow Yugo, mistaken often for a taxi (laughing yet?).

LECTURE HALL

Spike Lee's “Miracle at St. Anna” (½) is a plodding, point-your-finger lesson to the white man about how blacks suffered in World War II, and to this day. Problem is, Lee can't tell a story. His movie meanders into subplots, some ludicrous (a little boy attaching himself to a huge black soldier he calls “my chocolate bar”), others poorly written (a two-man competition to seduce a lonely Italian woman). “Miracle at St. Anna” is less than miraculous.

'BATTLE' FATIGUE

“Battle in Seattle” () is battle weary, the languorous filmmakers droopy in depicting something so important, the protests at the 1999 World Trade Organization meeting.

Filmed in a pseudo-documentary style by first-time director Stuart Townsend and starring his real-life companion, Charlize Theron, the movie has the feel of something seen before, like “Chicago 10,” which focused on events at the tumultuous 1968 Democratic National Convention.

In both films, there's this refrain: “The whole world is watching.” The whole world won't be watching “Battle in Seattle.”

SEPTEMBER NIGHTS

Provocative, most: A 13-year-old, Lebanese-American girl comes of age emotionally and sexually; tough and disturbing, “Towelhead.”

Performances, best: Rachel McAdams, Michael Peña and Tim Robbins, wounded soldiers on a 30-day leave, take to the road, “The Lucky Ones.”

Performance, scariest: Samuel L. Jackson, hard-nosed L.A. cop who doesn't appreciate the interracial couple who've moved in next door, “Lakeview Terrace.”

Family affair: Director Clark Gregg guides his father-in-law, Oscar winner Joel Grey, 76, in the provocative “Choke.” Gregg is married to Jennifer Grey (“Dirty Dancing”).

Embarrassing, most: Acting icons Robert De Niro, 65, and Al Pacino, 68, washed-up New York City detectives on the prowl for a serial killer, ridiculous “Righteous Kill.”

Funniest, most: Frosted-haired Brad Pitt, a blast as a thick-headed health club trainer who gets in over his head with the CIA, “Burn After Reading.”