When I started writing this website oh so many Moons and marriage proposals ago, I had seen four Kristen Stewart movies. I had seen these four in this chronological order: Panic Room, Into the Wild, Twilight and Jumper. Yes, in fact I will count Kristen’s 17 seconds or so in Jumper as a “Kristen Stewart movie” I have seen. I sat through that garbage and it will count for the record. Since the start of this website, I have increased my Kristen Stewart movie viewing by 50%. I saw Twilight: New Moon en los teatros. And last night(!), I watched the famed, the lauded, the film that I have been told I need to watch over and over for the best understanding of Kristen Stewart’s adult acting experience: Adventureland.

Naturally, I have some thoughts on the movie.

I was pretty excited to see Adventureland. First and foremost, I wanted to see this movie in the theaters when it came out originally, but never got around to it. Well before I knew of Kristen Stewart and her want…. or should I say “well before I knew I knew of Kristen Stewart and her want” because technically we know of Kristen Stewart’s want whether we actively know it or not. Intrinsically we all know of Kristen Stewart’s want. It is like faith in God or a God like being. Or a feeling of everything getting better, evolving. Hegel believed that as time passed we are all progressing to a higher goal. Some believe that from order we are turning to chaos. As time continues we are breaking down and everything will collapse. Some just believe in time itself. We are simply being pulled through existence from a beginning to an end. No matter what one believes, we all feel something. We all can feel that something is out there that we cannot touch, taste, hear or see, but it is ever present and we continue to fill our lungs with air for it and, of course, that is like Kristen Stewart’s want.

I did want to see the movie. I never saw it. I put it on my Netflix queue and it finally arrived on Monday. Outside of wanting to see it just because it looked interesting, I began to want to see it to see Kristen Stewart in it. For better or for worse, I am thoroughly intrigued by Kristen Stewart’s film career now. This led me into a movie theater with screaming females which certainly was an experience in its own right. Now it has led me to Adventureland. I was severely curious to see how she would act in a movie without vampires, immortal love, werewolves, and half naked men every 10 seconds.

So what did I think of Kristen Stewart in Adventureland?

She wants it.

Holy fuck! Kristen Stewart wants it! I am not making this shit up people. Does it at all surprise you that she wants it as much as she does? Honestly, at some point I feel like I’m going to be wrong. She definitely wants it, but come on. How could she want it this much and all the time, too? It is mind boggling. I still cannot come to grips with the extent that her want reaches. Every time I see she has a new photoshoot or is a new movie or on TV, I fully expect to see her in it and not wanting it. I know it is blasphemy! But how can a mortal man be expected to understand the infinite? I am just a man! A hu-man! I do doubt the want sometimes.

Why? Because nothing lasts in this world. We all eventually die and things whither and crumble. Eventually mountains will erode and there will be nothing more than a dirt mound. The polar ice caps will melt and animals will go extinct. Stars will burn out and super nova and black hole. Everyone else in this world does want, but they stop. They stop wanting it because it is too tiresome. They stop wanting because they don’t have the time. They stop wanting it because there are just things they do not want. There are periods of “non-want” for everyone. There is an idea of finality. There simply is an end… to most things. And Kristen Stewart’s want is not one of them.  

I turn on the movie. I watch Jesse Eisenberg and his woes. He gets a job at an amusement park. He is given the task to handle the horse race game. He has a little funny scene where he announces the horse race and…

SHE FUCKING WANTS IT!

I bet the director, Greg Mottola, only told her to laugh. I bet Greg only told her to appear interested. I bet Greg mentioned that the shot would only last for a second. And I bet Greg was fucking blown away by the want. He had to have known about the want because he had seen her before that shot. I imagine Kristen went through some casting audition to get the part. I bet Greg saw Kristen at the audition and thought her want was because she was auditioning. A high amount of want is not surprising at an audition. Auditions are highly stressful and they have little time to impress these directors. He hires her and the next time he sees her is on set doing a table read most likely. Again, she wants it. She’s young and the table reads are anxiety driven because the cast is meeting for the first time et cetera. Now it’s time to film. Greg sees that she keeps showing up wanting it, but she’s young and he is misinterpreting her want as youthful energy.

First scene. All you have to do is pretend you are some girl who works at a shitty amusement park, who gets shitty pay, lives a fairly shitty life, and some new guy just did something mildly amusing and you are right there to hear it, so you laugh. Ok? Go.

BOOM! WANT IN YOUR FACE! IN YO’ FACE, SON! ALL OVER IT!

As for the rest of the movie, SHE WANTS IT! Every scene Kristen wanted it. Or should I say “wants it”? Because this want is not past tense. This want is like light. It doesn’t disappear. It just keeps traveling through space. The want Kristen exudes in each scene did not stop when Greg said cut nor does it stop when the scene ends. It exists as an entity in your life now that will remain in your consciousness forever. It will forever pervert your views on life similar to seeing a homeless man masturbate on a subway train. You can’t unsee her want. You can’t unexperience her want. You can’t ever wash yourself clean of homeless men shaking hands with their “little homeless man” inside their sweatpants. You are changed forever.

I was thinking this movie would change my opinion on Kristen as an actress and/or her career. It didn’t. I thought Kristen was the “girl who wanted it in the trailer park” in Into the Wild followed by the “girl who wanted it in the woods” in Twilight. And in Adventureland, Kristen is the “girl who wanted it in 1987 Pittsburgh”. If that was what Greg was intending then he got it with both barrels. I kind of think that is what he was looking for considering the majority of the scenes Kristen is in she is making out with either Jesse Eisenberg or Ryan Reynolds.

Kristen Stewart kisses a lot.

I have seen six movies that Kristen Stewart is in and I have seen her kiss 5 different dudes. I have not seen The Cake Eaters or The Yellow Handkerchief, but I’m pretty sure I have seen still shots of her kissing guys in those movies as well. I am fairly confident in saying that I believe Kristen Stewart has kissed more guys on screen than years that she has lived on this Earth. Or at least it is pretty fucking close. She is a stripper in Welcome to the Rileys so I’ll be surprised if she doesn’t kiss something in that. So I’m at 8, right? I need another 11. Either way, people have her kissing a lot. She is kissing up a storm in Adventureland. She does a lot more forehead rubbing in the Twilights, but she does some full on kissin’ and dry humping in this movie in more than half of her scenes.

As for the guys she is kissing, I’m not sold on Ryan Reynolds. I really feel like he was miscast. I like Ryan Reynolds. I like Ryan Reynolds when he uses his strengths of being quick, funny, generally likeable and energetic. In this movie he is slow, monotone, laid back, and he does not strike me as a particularly handyman. A maintenance man is dirty. Not unwashed, but not enough time between one dirty project to another to have time to wash. He looks clean throughout the whole movie. Also, he is supposed to be emotionally dirty because he is cheating on his wife, but he doesn’t strike me that way either. We only see his wife for a total of 5 seconds and she doesn’t leave much of an impression. Really I feel like Ryan underplays the role which I think is what Greg Mottola must have been going for because everyone really underplays their roles. A lot of that has to do with pacing and this had a slow pace.

Also, Kristen Stewart wants out of her clothes in this movie pretty badly. She strips down a few times in the movie. I think one reason could be she is wearing the same clothes over and over so they might stink or she is thoroughly bored with the clothes. She wears a Lou Reed t-shirt several times, a Husker Du t-shirt once, the amusement park t-shirt a bunch, the Vietnam jacket a bunch and a wife-beater. Outside of work t-shirt, she is almost always in that wife beater. She loves that wife beater. The Lou Reed t-shirt and the Husker Du t-shirt play into the best part of the movie which is the soundtrack. They did a great job with the soundtrack. A nice helping of The Replacements, Judas Priest, The Rolling Stones et cetera.

Outside of Kristen, her want, her hurricane of kissing and quick, but nice ass shot, what did I learn from Adventureland?

Drunk driving and weed are the bestest.

There are a lot of scenes in this movie where people are driving and in all of them the driver is “impaired” in someway or another. By far the majority of the driving scenes have the driver straight-up drunk. Kristen drives Jesse home and they are drinking rum together. She literally is drinking rum, kicks him out of the car, and then drives away. There is tons of implied drinking and driving also. Jesse’s father is a drunk and keeps a bottle of booze in the car by the driver’s seat. It is not a small bottle either. It is a full size bottle of bourbon. I don’t understand how it took that long for them to find it because it wasn’t exactly hidden. There is even one scene where a kid says he is high on cough medicine and he is, of course, the driver. But almost always the people are drunk on booze driving.

There is a drunk driving accident in the movie. It isn’t even that bad of an accident. Jesse gets all heart broken for really no reason. He “cheats” on Kristen by going on a date with some other girl where he kisses her and squeezes a single boob. He tells Kristen. She feels the need to break-up with Ryan Reynolds. Jesse finds out about Ryan and Kristen being together and freaks out. He confronts her and cries immediately for no reason, she cries back and they stomp away. Jesse gets drunk and then eventually gets in the car accident. Ok, I’m not saying you should drunk drive, but I’m pretty sure it was the emotional break-up/cry/angry driving that sent him into that tree and not the booze. The booze didn’t help per say, but you shouldn’t be driving while crying like a nancy boy anyway. And Jesse doesn’t get banged up in the accident either so drunk driving ain’t so bad according to 1987 Pittsburgh and Greg Mottola. The rest of the people who are not drunk while driving are at least stoned, which leads me to weed.

Marijuana will bring you friends, happiness and get you laid

That’s what I have learned. And you don’t even need much of it. At the beginning of the movie, Jesse’s college friend, Eric, gives him like 20 pre-rolled joints for free. Just for the hell of it. Just out of the kindness of Eric’s heart. This weed not only makes him the most popular guy at the amusement park, but it also garners the love of two different women. He gets two separate dates out of flimsy sandwich bag of weed. And these two girls? Great looking. Both are great looking. They’re the best looking girls at least within driving distance. Can you believe that? What a simpler time 1987 was and how I wish I wasn’t 4 when it happened?

The movie and Greg Mottola try to portray Eric as a bad guy in the end. He screws over Jesse by deciding to go to Harvard instead of Colombia. This screws up Jesse’s plan of living in NYC with Eric and his initial hope of going to Colombia (which was already being destroyed by his parents). But Eric gave him that pot. So Eric gave him what could have eventually led him to sleeping with both Kristen Stewart and the other town hottie, Lisa P. Jesse messed up the Lisa P situation where as he does end up sexing Kristen Stewart. So Eric got him laid. I don’t think Eric is a bad guy. He is the damn HERO of this movie! And what is Eric’s final decision? To better himself by going to Harvard business school? What a fucking bastard!?! Jesse is a cry baby meanwhile Eric is a great man.

So, I really disagree with Greg Mottola and how he is trying to portray some characters in this movie. I feel like he wrongly labels characters like Lisa P, Jesse’s dad, and Eric, as mentioned, as bad people. I’ve taken care of Eric and his superhero like abilities with his cornucopia of weed which he gives to Jesse. As far as, Lisa P and Jesse’s dad, I feel like Jesse is more to blame for any of their problems than they are.

Lisa P is supposed to be the typical gossipy, hot, stupid girl. She really doesn’t do anything that bad in the movie and I blame Jesse for telling her his “secret” than her telling everyone else. You have to know that if you want something to stay a secret then you don’t tell anyone and especially not gossipy co-workers. I blame Jesse. Also, Lisa P. doesn’t come across that stupid for “the stupid girl”. So her big “stupid” moment is that when she is stoned she isn’t paying 100% attention to Jesse and his lame ass story of Charles Dickens writing travel books about prison. Who cares? Jesse was mumbling anyway. Speak up kid! What was that? Travel books? What does Lisa what to talk about? Speed boats and sail boats. Not a bad subject. Why? Because they are stoned and standing in front of a store that has paintings of speed boats and sail boats. I feel like Lisa P’s topic of conversation is a little more appropriate than Jesse trying to sound smart because he knows a bit of trivia about Dickens. Fuck Jesse. Lisa P is an angel who just loves to dance with her nearly indentity-less black friend, likes to get high and drink when not at work, is a virgin, wants a nice guy, and has a great ass. Leave Lisa P alone!

As for Jesse’s father. He is a prolific drunk driver. I’m not condoning this. His dad is going through major problems at work and is coping by heavily drinking all the time. This is completely understandable. It is not the best remedy to the situation, but it is understandable. There are no scenes where he is even a bad drunk. He is mellow, doesn’t yell or smack his wife. He’s just drunk. He also is completely coherent. They try to peg the dad as the bad guy for having the bottle of booze in the car that Jesse drinks from when he crashes the car. I’m not pro having a bottle of bourbon in the car. I’m not pro having a bottle of bourbon in the car that you drink from when driving. But Jesse’s dad wasn’t the one who got in the accident. Also Jesse’s dad didn’t force the booze down Jesse’s throat at gun point. That was Jesse’s decision, that was Jesse’s bad driving and that was Jesse crying like a little girl. So leave Jesse’s dad alone.

In conclusion, the movie was pretty good. I liked it a ton more than Twilight, but Into the Wild still is much better. I don’t think Greg Mottola did the best job with it and it certainly could have been better executed. It felt sort of poorly designed. It seemed like there was a lot cut out and it really didn’t have much of an identity much like Lisa P’s dance partner. It was fighting with itself to be a comedy and a drama and a coming of age tale. I walked away from the movie feeling how I walked into the movie that Kristen Stewart could be used a lot better. And that chick wants it.

And Adventureland provided me with a very entertaining moment of trivia – The character Em nervously touches/fixes her hair 55 times throughout the course of the movie. Thank you IMDB. Thank you.

Se estrenó hace poco en España Adventureland, película escrita y dirigida por Greg Mottola, el director de Superbad (o como se le ocurrió a un visionario de la traducción, Supersalidos). La vi hace un tiempo en dvd (aquí se estrenó en abril), y me gustó bastante.

James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg, Zombieland y The Squid and the Whale) es un chaval que, en 1987, se prepara para pasar un verano en Europa antes de irse a Nueva York a estudiar periodismo. Sin embargo, su padre pierde su trabajo, y tiene que pasar el verano trabajando en Adventureland, un parque temático en su ciudad, Pittsburgh. Allí conoce a Emily Levin (Kristen Stewart, convertida en una estrella gracias a la saga de los vampiros titilantes), de la que se acaba enamorando en breve. El problema es que él es virgen (lo que le provoca bastante ansiedad) y ella está liada con un hombre casado. La situación, por tanto, se complica.

Más refinada que Superbad (aunque tambíen menos graciosa), las dos películas, junto a otras joyas como Forgetting Sarah Marshall, pueden englobarse en la nueva ola de comedias cuyo campeón es Judd Apatow y que combinan con soltura el humor más cafre con un finísimo retrato generacional. Puede que muchos de sus personajes masculinos estén tan salidos como los de las comedias de derribo ochenteras (o nuestra españolada de toda la vida), pero también tienen miedos e inseguridades con respecto al sexo (abundan los vírgenes), además de una ristra de neuras de todo tipo.

No sé si el hecho de que los protagonisats masculinos de comedias románticas presenten características que antes estaban reservadas para las protagonistas femeninas (enamoradizos, neuróticos, acojonados frente al sexo) hasta el punto de que a veces se inviertan los roles (ver por ejemplo, (500) Days of Summer)  es una señal de que los hombres han cambiado, o de que simplemente son más honrados a la hora de contar sus miserias en una película.

This movie wasn’t terrible, it was just somewhat forgettable. The movie is filled with modern cliché’s (including the leads, a self-destructive wild girl and an awkward guy). They really should have made it more of a comedy like the trailer suggested and less of a teen romance (which oddly doesn’t revolve around teenagers). The only thing that it has going for it is at this point in my life I can relate to the fact that graduating college isn’t really all it’s cracked up to be. Teenagers are led to believe that after getting their degree in whatever they might find interesting, no matter how useless, that there are nothing but open doors ahead of them. This obviously is about as far from the truth as possible, even more so today than in the late 80s when this movie is set. So while I could easily relate to the idea of needing to find yourself after graduating from school, and even all the cliché girl issues, from a more unbiased standpoint this movie just didn’t have a lot to offer. If it had more dick and fart jokes like the trailer suggested, the fact that the plot wasn’t very engaging could more easily have been overlooked.

Location: Kitchen/Dining Room/Living Room Area of Scott Village Building D Apartment 103. Omaha, Nebraska.

- No puedo, estoy atrapado aquí

- De todos modos ¿Qué sentido tiene ser escritor o artista? Herman Melville escribió Moby Dick y murió tan pobre y desconocido que en su obituario lo llamaron Henry Melville. ¿Para qué luchar? Igual olvidarán nuestros nombres. Sé que Em volvió a New York…

- Ojalá todo hubiera sido distinto. Debí… no lo sé. Tú historia de Herman Melville es una estupidez.

- Es verdad, lo llamaron Henry.

- No, quiero decir que escribió una novela alegórica de 700 páginas sobre la industria ballenera, fue un hombre apasionado. Cuando me muera ojalá me llamen Henry.

- Si, soñar no cuesta nada.

Adventureland (Greg Mottola, 2009)

Cuando a James, recién graduado en el Insituto, con novia, aunque virgen, con un verano por delante en el que recorrer Europa, y una próxima carrera de Periodismo en Columbia, le digan sus padres que debe cambiar sus prometedores planes  y darse de frente con la realidad, olvidarse del viaje, olvidarse de su novia que le dejó y ponerse a currar en un parque de atracciones tan cochambroso como ruinoso, comenzará a sumergirse, para su desgracia, en la espiral de la derrota.

Entre atracciones, niños farragosos y adultos capullos, conocerá a un sinfín de personajes, de emergentes derrotados como él, entre los que aparecerá el amor de su vida, Em.

‘Adventureland’ habla del incipiente amor entre un chaval, James, que desea abalanzarse sobre los brazos de una chica, Em, a la que la vida había desorientado pero que, al fin, le ha puesto en su camino. Son historias comunes las de todos los chavales. Aventuras, como las de Em con Connell, noches de fiesta de verano en la piscina, inquietudes culturales y sexuales, que resolver con Joel o LisaP, borracheras y trastadas, todo con lo que finiquitar el paso por la adolescencia y encaminarse hacia la adultez, donde esperan otro tipo de menesteres, ya no encaminados a encontrar el camino, sino más bien a sobrevivir en él. Pero eso corresponde a otras películas. Ésta nos ha retratado la primera parte, y lo ha hecho a lo grande. Peliculón.

The PC has been out of pocket lately, working on lesson plans, taking a hubristic stab at a Dostoevsky-meets-McCarthy-meets-O’Connor novel, and just generally neglecting to review films. However, he has been watching movies and so would like offer a quick run-down of what he has seen (complete with ratings). He apologizes in advance for the lack of detail, but figures this is the best way to catch up:

1. Two Lovers (dir. James Gray, 2008): 4.5/5
2. We Own the Night (dir. James Gray, 2007): 3.5/5
3. The Yards (dir. James Gray, 2000): 4.5/5 (In general, Gray seems to borrow a lot from Scorsese, but that’s a good thing)
4. Henry Poole Is Here (dir. Mark Pellington, 2008): 3.5/5
5. Frozen River (dir. Courtney Hunt, 2008): 4.5/5 (Amazing performance here from Melissa Leo)
6. Eastern Promises (dir. David Cronenberg, 2007): 5/5 (Interesting, well-acted, and surprisingly underrated)
7. Adventureland (dir. Greg Mottola, 2009): 4/5
8. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (dir. Sidney Lumet, 2007): 4.5/5
9. In Bruges (dir. Martin McDonagh, 2008): 4/ 5
10. Mongol (dir. Sergei Bodrov, 2008): 4/ 5

ADVENTURELAND (estreno 27 de noviembre)

Género: Comedia
Producción: EEUU
Director: Greg Mottola
Intérpretes: Jesse Eisenberg y Ryan Reynolds

Sinopsis:   Bienvenidos a Adventureland, donde el peor trabajo que uno se pueda imaginar está a punto de marcar para siempre un verano que lo cambiará todo. El director y autor del reciente éxito Supersalidos Greg Mottola, vuelve con una comedia hilarante y humana, semi autobiográfica, acerca de un joven serio y buen estudiante, cuya nueva “carrera” lo lleva a la aventura más salvaje de su vida: un viaje donde hay niños molestos, compañeros de trabajo angustiados y un vertiginoso triángulo amoroso. Un autodenominado “divertido” parque de diversiones de moda en Pennsylvania, ‘Adventureland’, se convierte en la pesadilla de James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg), recientemente graduado de la universidad. Sus planes eran pasar el verano de viaje por Europa, en una experiencia que le cambiaría la vida y lo iniciaría en la vida adulta. Pero su familia es víctima de la recesión económica de mediados de los años ‘80, bajo el gobierno de Ronald Reagan, y el único viaje de vacaciones que James puede hacer es pasar un verano como empleado -con un salario mínimo- en un parque de diversiones, a cargo de un juego tan desastroso que nadie puede siquiera ganarse el panda gigante de peluche. Sin embargo, Adventureland no es lo que parece. Detrás del empalagoso aroma de algodón de azúcar, las canciones de un disco rayado y los visitantes casi patológicos, existe un mundo de amigos inadaptados, sueños ocultos y los increíbles encuentros después del trabajo con Em Lewin (Kristen Stewart), una encantadora niña de lengua afilada. Y cuando James encuentra con dificultad el valor para pelear por Em, el resultado es un salvajemente divertido, sincero e inesperado encuentro con la “verdadera vida adulta”. Más información.

"You're under arrest. No, really you are. Stop laughing!"

(Columbia) Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Seth Rogen, Bill Hader, Martha MacIsaac, Emma Stone, Aviva, Joe Lo Truglio, Kevin Corrigan, Marcella Lentz-Pope, Roger Iwata, Carla Gallo. Directed by Greg Mottola.

One of the hottest names in comedy in  is Judd Apatow, who is a producer on Superbad. Better still, the writer and one of the stars is another hot name, Seth Rogen (who starred in Apatow’s Knocked Up).

It is the waning days of their senior year and best friends Seth (Hill) and Evan (Cera) have passed through their high school years unremarkably, not cool enough to hang with the “A” crowd and as a result, score with the girls, but not quite dorky enough to be all-out geeks. There is a little tension in the air between them, however; Evan has been accepted to Dartmouth whereas Seth, who is not quite as smart as his friend, could only get into a state college.

They are going through their last weeks being put upon by jocks and wishing they could go to one last party, when they are invited to one by Jules (Stone), one of the cooler girls in school. The problem is that Seth has bragged that they have a fake ID and can get liquor for the party, so Jules is expecting them to. Making things worse, Becca (MacIasaac), a girl Evan has had a crush on, like, forever, is expecting him at the party too.

They might be okay though; their truly dorky friend Fogell (Mintz-Plasse) has gotten himself a fake ID which labels him a 25-year-old organ donor from Hawaii named McLovin (no first name). Seth is pulling his naturally curly hair out by the roots, but Fogell – er, McLovin – is confident. He goes into a liquor store, gets the items on the list provided by Seth and Evan, brings the bottles to the front counter – and gets cold-cocked by a robber.

The case is being investigated by two cops you won’t ever want to see pull you over – Slater (Hader) and Michaels (Rogen). They convince Fogell that they’ll drop him off wherever he wants to go and that they believe he’s a 25-year-old organ donor from Hawaii named McLovin. This forces Seth and Evan to improvise, leading them to the party from Hell. In the meantime, Fogell goes on a ridealong that makes “Cops” look like the “Donna Reed Show”.

This isn’t for the sensitive or the easily offended. The humor can be crude and sophomoric, and four letter words are used with great abandon. That said, this is easily one of the funniest movies of recent years. Some of the gags and jokes were laugh-out-loud, fall-out-of-your-seat, pee-your-pants funny.

The young actors do some really good work here. Mintz-Plasse, who looks like what Stewie from “The Family Guy” might look like when he grows up, is memorable as Fogell, getting not only the smarts right but also the awkwardness and false bravado letter perfect. It’s hard to believe he was only 17 years old at the time of filming. Hill has a great deal of potential, but he was unfocused at times and I wound up kind of getting sick of his character after awhile. MacIsaac is cute, sexy and does one of the better drunk seduction scenes you will ever witness.

Superbad was something of a surprise hit – although in all honesty Columbia’s publicity department pushed it hard. If you can get past the swearing and bodily fluids, you’re probably going to dig it big time. If not, well, there are reruns of I Love Lucy on TV Land that will suit you better.

WHY RENT THIS: Laugh-out-loud funny. Genuinely “gets” teenagers. Walks thin line between sentimentality and maudlin without falling off the rope.

WHY RENT SOMETHING ELSE: Extremely crude and sophomoric. Final third drags in places.

FAMILY MATTERS: Are you kidding? This is crude, lewd, rude and proud to be that way. Lots of filthy language, plenty of sexual situations and the unrated cut on the DVD is even farther afield than the theatrical release. Not for the kids in any way shape or form even though some of the more mature boys will want to see it.

TRIVIAL PURSUITS: The lead roles were named for co-writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.

NOTABLE DVD EXTRAS: There are plenty in the extended unrated 2-disc DVD edition. There is a practical joke played on Jonah Hill as well as a faux documentary on actor Michael Cera, a staged interview in which Hill loses it during an interview with a snooty British interview, improvs done in the police cruiser with “special guest stars” including Justin Long, Chris Kattan, Jane Lynch and Kristen Wiig, as well as the traditional Apatow feature “Line-o-rama” in which lines of dialogue from the film are read by different actors.

FINAL RATING: 8/10

TOMORROW: Angels and Demons

I’ve seen a sudden increase in the blog visits in light of the previous Essay on Masculinity post – I think my 12 readers like the Chuck P. narrative – anyways . . . I know I’ve been disregarding this blog for a while, but my reader(s) have taken second slot in light of university admissions, and scholarship shit. Hopefully in a couple of months, the haze will die down a bit.

I digress.

Let It Be Album Cover

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been listening to what I’ve been told is an Indie-Alternative Rock album which fucking defined the 80s. While art-popper REM was breaking out to the college masses; The Replacements were making some of the most influential alt-rock/pop of the 80s. Despite appearing on Saturday Night Live and later on, getting signed by a major music record label, The Replacements never caught on.

An Amazon Reviewer who happened to grow up in the 80s said that depending on which night you saw The Replacements, they were the best band or they were the worst band. Never did a band fall from grace as fast as The Replacements did when they broke up on the 4th of July, 1991 at a WXRT concert. He states,

If I remember correctly, after playing for about a half hour, members of the band started snapping at each other, and eventually Westerberg threw up his hands and stalked off the stage. And the Replacements were history.

Along with Husker Du, The Replacements defined the 80s Alt-scene – the influence of which spilled into succeeding generations – Colin Meloy of The Decemberists, REM, Actress Winona Ryder and countless other rockers and social personas have pinpointed that no band has captured the very essence of angst as Paul Westerberg did on Let It Be.

To get it straight, Paul Westerberg is a horrible singer the way Bob Dylan was a horrible singer. Their lyrics; timely instrumental additions made their music.

The album opens up with the track that best defines The Replacements: I Will Dare – the story of what seems to be a relationship-phobic kid that’s willing to take a chance if you’re willing to take one too.
I think Black Diamond is the weakest track on Let It Be – while managing to stay true to the original Paul Stanley, Kiss release, it doesn’t add much weight of its own.
Tales of sexual ambiguity in Androgynous; insecurities seemingly trivial and the sexual come with the delivery of a stand-up comedian in Gary’s Got a Boner and Tommy’s Getting His Tonsil’s Out! The latter of which was about late Tommy Stinson’s fear of the dentist. Unsatisfied – a moving relationship song on the album was what introduced me to The Replacements as I was watching Greg Mottola’s spectacular Adventureland.

– A Spectacular Performance of “Bastards of Young” off their album “Tim”. Bastards of Young was featured in Adventureland as well.

If you’ve ever liked a Green Day album or a Good Charlotte track or anything to do with the alt-rock scene, this is for you. This is your adolescece in 33 mintues, 51 seconds. Good old-fashioned college rock – cum teen-angst cum classic rock. Undefinable, eternal – if not in your collection, then through Simple Plan or Bowling for Soup or whatever mainstream  garbage you listen to.

Megaupload Link! : http://www.megaupload.com/?d=EGH2UAVB – But I prefer you buy this one

A partir da segunda metade da década de 1980, o diretor norte-americano John Hughes estabeleceu novos parâmetros para a comédia adolescente, um gênero àquela altura esgotado pelo hedonismo desenfreado (e de qualidade duvidosa) de O Clube dos Cafajestes, Porky’s, A Última Festa de Solteiro e outros menos cotados. Criou um novo nicho de mercado, com títulos como O Clube dos Cinco, A Garota de Rosa Shocking, e é claro, o pai deles, Curtindo a Vida Adoidado. Diferentemente de seus antecessores, os personagens de Hughes não estavam interessados apenas em afogar o ganso e encher a cara, a lá John Belushi.

Bons intérpretes, diálogos afiados, situações mais verossímeis, próximas do universo dos jovens, tudo isso embalado ao som de uma trilha sonora com o melhor do pop da época: ingredientes que transformaram Hughes na maior referência do gênero, apesar de eventuais escorregadelas no campo fácil dos clichês, como o da mocinha pobre apaixonada pelo janota riquinho. E ainda que tenha entrado em franca decadência após o sucesso da série Esqueceram de Mim no início dos 90, a influência do estilo de Hughes permaneceu. As comédias voltadas para o público jovem realizadas nas décadas seguintes continuaram rezando pela sua cartilha: Ela é demais, Dez coisas que eu odeio sobre você, Mal posso esperar, todas copiavam desbragadamente seus filmes. O êxito nas bilheterias provou que a fórmula ainda funcionava. John Hughes morreu esse ano, sem que se pudesse apontar um substituto à sua altura.  Greg Mottola, o cidadão alopécico da foto, é quem está aos poucos se credenciando como o sujeito mais indicado pra ocupar o trono vago.

O último trabalho de Mottola, Adventureland, é um bildungsroman da melhor qualidade, ambientado nos mesmos anos 80 que Hughes retratou tão bem em sua obra. James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) termina o colegial, e como presente de formatura, planeja conhecer a Europa, antes de ingressar na faculdade em Nova York. Para seu infortúnio, entretanto, o pai é rebaixado no emprego, passando a receber um salário bem menor. O sonho de ir ao Velho Mundo escorre pelo ralo, e Brennan se vê obrigado a arrumar um trabalho para tentar garantir pelo menos a ida à Grande Maçã.

O tal emprego é no parque de diversões que dá título à fita, administrado por Bill Hader e Kristen Wiig (comediantes impagáveis egressos do Saturday Night Live). O nome Adventureland acaba funcionando como uma metáfora: ao trocar a adolescência pelo mundo adulto, Brennan se lança em um território estranho, repleto de possibilidades e descobertas. Enquanto é obrigado a escutar trocentas vezes por dia a infame Rock me Amadeus nos auto-falantes do parque, o rapaz forma novos laços de amizade, encara responsabilidades e dilemas bem diversos daqueles experimentados em sua vida anterior, e como não poderia deixar de ser, é premiado com a chegada do primeiro amor.

Mottola leva uma grande vantagem sobre Hughes: seus personagens e as situações por eles vividas não são tão pasteurizados, folhetinescos. Trazem consigo maior carga de sinceridade e guardam uma proximidade com o real com a qual o criador do Ferris Bueller sequer sonharia. O universo de Mottola é bem mais honesto. Em Superbad, um projeto pessoal/autobiográfico escrito por Seth Rogen, o ator-fetiche do Judd Apatow, já era possível divisar o talento do diretor, tanto na maneira como a história era conduzida como no desempenho extraído dos protagonistas. Um pequeno grande filme. Já Adventureland, escrito e dirigido por ele, é uma obra mais autoral. E o cara não faz feio, superando com folga as expectativas. Para que não reste nenhuma dúvida quanto ao seu talento como diretor de elenco, o cara consegue arrancar boas atuações até mesmo dos insuportáveis Kristen Stewart e Ryan Reynolds. Uma proeza e tanto! O protagonista  Jesse Eisenberg, que este ano também emplacou o ótimo Zombieland, é um Michael Cera menos efeminado e um nome promissor na indústria.

Confira aqui o trailer de Adventureland, que pelo que ouvi falar, recebeu aqui no Brasil o inacreditável título de Férias Frustradas de Verão. Teriam os nobres responsáveis pela distribuição julgado uma estratégia inteligente associar o lançamento às infames comédias estreladas por Chevy Chase? Vai saber o que essa gente tem na cabeça!

O Rei Hughes está morto. Longa vida ao rei Mottola?

(500) Dias Com Ela
(500 days with summer , dir.: marc webb – 2009)

Como indie tenta ser daquela criatividade óbvia: os dias que aparecem na tela acabam por atrapalhar; as resoluções pretensas menos óbvias também. Pelo menos não abusa da música. Mas mostra sua independência em cenas destrambelhadas que dão vida ao filme, como a canção no meio da rua e (sim!) o passarinho azul. Os atores principais são cativantes, o que já daria de cara algum êxito para qualquer romance. Bonitinho e ordinário, muito mais o primeiro.

Férias Frustradas de Verão
(adventureland , dir.: greg mottola – 2009)

Tem a marca dos filmes que te pegam mais fundo: é praticamente impossível não ficar até os últimos créditos. Passa o filme todo em uma fotografia de verão, sempre pôr -do-sol, nostálgico, nos levando a um certo lugar óbvio. Que bom que muda. Feel-good romance. Greg Mottola já tinha sido tão lírico na amizade de Superbad, volta igualmente bem em uma história de amor de verão.

Diário de Uma Paixão
(the notebook , dir.: nick cassavetes – 2004)

Ao longo da projeção oscila entre o exagero plástico e o acerto no mais simples. Um ponto positivo é que parece fugir de reviravoltas, para sempre anunciá-las antes. Os momentos finais perdem um pouco pelo brusco das ações do diretor, mas é muito bonito, a cena dos cinco minutos é emocionante, embora bem pouco aproveitada. Assim como o final parece revigorante, mesmo que clichê.

Simplesmente Amor
(love actually , dir.: richard curtis – 2003)

O mais óbvio seria dizer construção sátira, mas acredito muito mais em desconstrução. Trabalha para compor o que mais buscamos nos mais clichês romances e ainda se situa em um momento de clara sensibilidade mundial. Prova de que funciona é uma cena absurdamente calculada que se torna a melhor coisa do filme.

Oggi Parker Posey (1968) compie 41 anni. Basta dare un’occhiata alla sua filmografia per capire come negli anni ‘90 la ragazza di Baltimora abbia avuto un rapporto viscerale con il cinema indipendente del suo Paese, partecipando a vari film culto di quell’onda proveniente dal Sundance Film Festival; non a caso il Time la incoronò “La regina degli indipendenti”. Tra i registi con cui ha collaborato ci sono Richard Linklater, Greg Mottola, Hal Hartley, Jill Sprecher, Mark Waters e Gregg Araki. Tra i film in questione – vari hanno vinto premi in festival cinematografici statunitensi ed europei – consiglio, in ordine di preferenza, L’amante in città, Suburbia (in italiano Benvenuti a Suburbia), Clockwatchers, La casa del sì e La follia di Henry. Tutti film all’epoca trasmessi a più riprese da Tele+.

Parker Posey

Adventureland, c’est la bonne surprise de notre dernière soirée films. On s’attendait à un teen movie habituel, bourré de cornichonneries, blagues salaces, gags débiles et autres jeunes gens à moitié à poil. Au lieu de cela on s’est retrouvés plongés dans notre jeunesse (d’accord, la musique aide beaucoup) et nous n’avons pas fait que rire (ou alors jaune) durant les 107 minutes de film. Jesse Eisenberg, l’acteur principal, s’en sort plutôt bien pour jouer un ado de 18-19 ans alors qu’il en a déjà 26 et Kristen Stewart, du haut de ses seulement (!) 19 ans, apporte une profondeur et une attirance certaines à son personnage de fille un peu paumée/un peu dangereuse. On a envie de la suivre et être avec elle, même si on sait qu’on la perdra un jour, comme dans Into the wild. Les autres personnages caractérisent très bien le genre de personnes qui gravitent presque toujours autour de nous à cet âge : le beau gosse cool et plus vieux, la super bimbo qui fait craquer tous les mecs, le copain plutôt débile et lourd mais serviable, le pote super doué mais moche, …
C’est donc un 8,5/10 pour cette réalisation de Greg Mottola et même si ce ne sera pas dans le même genre, on attend déjà avec impatience son prochain film Paul. Vu qu’il y a Simon Pegg dedans, ce sera sûrement tout bon (on a adoré Run fatboy run, Hot fuzz, Big nothing, Shaun of the dead, …).

Le site de Paul, prévu en 2010 : What is Paul ?

Le site de Simon Pegg

Adventureland (2009)
★★★ / ★★★★

This 80’s-inspired coming-of-age comedy-drama about James Brennan, played by Jesse Eisenberg, who was forced to work on a theme park after his parents (Jack Gilpin and Wendie Malick) revealed to him that they were having pecuniary issues. He also had to sacrifice his trip to Europe, a graduation present that he was obviously looking forward to. What I loved about “Adventureland” was it managed to focus the spotlight on James’ journey to maturity no matter how painful some realizations ended up being. The colorful characters from the theme park, including his romantic interest (Kristen Stewart), and the comedy felt secondary to journey. It was a nice change from typical teen comedies of today. I also really liked the music that were featured. It feels like once in a blue moon that I actually am familiar with 85-90% of the soundtrack. (Mainly because my parents are big on music of the 1980’s and I grew up listening to such.) Written and directed by Greg Mottola (“Superbad”), this film managed to paint all of its characters with a certain sadness which happened to unconsciously come out whenever they interacted with each other. Motolla actually gave his characters a chance to talk about their dreams, insecurities, and the things that were going on at home instead of just giving the audiences easy (and uninsightful) slapstick comedy. The only thing that did not quite work for me was Ryan Reynolds’ character and his relationship with James’ romantic interest. Not only did Reynolds and Stewart have too many scenes together, but the relationship somewhat felt forced. If I look back on the picture and not think about the scenes that mainly involved those two characters, pretty much everything else would have been the same. Having said that, this is still a strong movie about a college graduate who, through trials of hardwork and heartbreak in the theme park, actually learned more about himself and about life than if he had gone to Europe. And that’s a nice message for those who cannot quite leave their hometowns because of their many responsibilities or for whatever reason.

Working at a amusement park isn’t so bad after all.

Unable to afford the European vacation he’d dreamed of, recent college grad James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) reluctantly takes a gig at a local amusement park, only to learn that the dead-end job is, in fact, excellent preparation for the real world. He soon falls in love with a a wild child named Em (Kristen Stewart).

Adventureland is from writer and director Greg Mottola, who also directed the super hit Superbad, and as you can see there are many similarities. Jesse Eisenberg played a very awkward kid looking for reason, and a lot of topics on drugs and drinking. Though this one seems to score a lot more with me.

The film is a lot more mature than Superbad and that it provides better insight of a coming-of-age teen. The very first half of this film is actually really funny and interesting. I was interested in these characters in where they went and what happened to them, provided with a arsenal of laughs. Though as it started to go on it started to really whine down the humor and its character insight and focus more on the relationship between Eisenberg and Stewart.

The problem I had with this film is not so much of the movie as it is the trailers. The trailers had it out to look as if it was a summer crazy teen movie, but however it’s not. It was advertised as a hilarious slapstick and that’s kind of expecting from this movie, but I didn’t. I was expecting to have my gut full of laughter like Superbad, but didn’t which is what kind of ruined this film for me in the end.

Lastly, I didn’t understand how Stewart’s character fell for Eisenberg’s. He is really awkward and really geeky while she is pretty wild and full of fun, and I just don’t see how they can fall for one another. But I guess that’s why they call it cinema.

The humor in this is not like Superbad. It doesn’t have much gross-out humor and less profanity. This features a lighter tone that is aimed towards the teens but also can work with the parents. Its wise and very realistic appeals to all and can make anybody watching this film laugh.

The ensemble cast is probably the best picked I have seen in awhile. To say Eisenberg is doing a Cera is underestimating him and his talent, and in all Eisenberg gives a wonderful and strong lead performance. I liked how all the smaller characters were very developed in this as well. Lots of the smaller characters steal the show and just add the comedic factor to this movie.

The soundtrack is one of the main reasons I enjoyed this film. There are many touching and great moments caught on camera that have great songs overplaying everything else and make me feel the emotion coming off the screen.

Consensus: A realistic screenplay, well-acted ensemble, and rocking 80’s soundtrack makes this film a very funny but touching coming-of-age movie.

8.5/10=Matinee!!

Adventureland, 2009 – Direção:Greg Mottola – Elenco: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds.

Nem vou falar muito sobre Adventureland. Não vou porque é um filme feito pra ser visto e não falado, ou lido, ou comentado. É um filme. Uma mídia, um meio de comunicação. Um meio de Mottola expressar o que sentiu e o que muitos jovens sentem. Mottola é tão ligado ao mundo adolescente, que se juntarmos superbad e adventureland podemos até dizer (não completamente, é claro) que ambos traduzem o que a juventude contemporânea sente. E é um filme tão pessoal, que acaba por cativar diversos jovens, e mais ainda os que estão passando por essa grande fase de transição que o filme nos mostra.

Seja lá o que for, o filme é honesto, e isso é um adjetivo que mais uso pra definir Mottola e suas obras. Ele não está nem ai em mostrar o que passou, o que sentiu, o porquê de ter sofrido, as barras mais pesadas que teve que superar. E tudo isso é tão real que convence a quase todos que assistem seus filmes a gostarem deles e provavelmente se apaixonarem.

Em Adventureland ele apenas nos traz a um mundo real que nós vivemos e não nos livra de todas as coisas que acontecem de fato na realidade. Os namoros que não funcionam, os garotos que são tímidos e não conseguem falar com garotas, garotas que passam por momentos difíceis e ficam confusas em relação a tudo, pessoas que dão oportunidades para jovens que precisam. Paes que compreendem os filhos e conversam com eles e muito mais. Só que o lucro maior do filme está situado em um ponto chave: os sentimentos. Os sentimentos são jogados aqui de uma forma tão maravilhosa que nem consigo definir o que acho deles.

Nós não precisamos de uma narração em off pra sabermos o que os personagens estão sentindo, sentem ou já sentiram. A direção sempre foda de Mottola consegue mostrar isso no jeito que conduz os atores e seus olhares, expressões, ações e tudo mais. Cada sentimento de insegurança, desprezo, tristeza, dor, decepção, esperança, amor é sentido por quem vê ao filme. Isso é cinema, é uma mídia visual, audiovisual pra ser mais especifico nos dias de hoje. Em um livro necessitamos da narração para sabermos o que os personagens pensam e/ou sentem. No cinema não. Não precisamos disso necessariamente. Também não precisamos de áudio. Precisamos de um cara inspirado que sabe fazer com que uma história ordinária da vida de alguns jovens se torne algo cativante e significativo para milhões que estão por ai com dúvidas, inseguranças, paixões, esperanças, e não sabem como ou o que fazer nessas horas.

Fechando. O filme mais romanticamente honesto em muito tempo. Um filme. Uma mídia. Vários sentimentos. Várias questões. Mottola!

5/5

Starring:Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Ryan Reynolds

Director:Greg Mottola

Writer:Greg Mottola

Cinematography: Terry Stacey

Original Score: Brian Kenny

Running Time:107 Mins.

Do not let the poster caption “From the director of Superbad” fool you, this is mis-marketing of the worst kind, should the cinema be full of noisy teens expecting innumerable “fucks! and Apatow flavoured humour you might well want to tell them otherwise, because Adventureland is a much more subtle flavour of comedy, and one which requires a little more thought and heart invested in it.

That Greg Mottola directed Superbadis quite frankly neither here nor there, in fact aside from his knack for expert casting and the presence of Bill Hader there is next to no cross-over, true Jesse Eisenberg has lazily been compared to Superbad’s Michael Cera, in the awkward fumbling teen role, but Eisenberg has been around far longer and had this character type down to a T when The Squid and The Whale came out, he simply takes his character stock and is now placed in a situation where that is fully suited and turns up his likeability factor to 100%.

It is he who really sells Adventurelandfor all those guys (and girls) who have yearned for that “special girl (or guy)” in their youth and come to realise that special person might just be as flawed as you, yet there is something there, something great that you love. It sounds mushy, it isn’t and handled with such a deft hand as Mottola (from his own script based on his own teen experiences) this is as warm a film as you will see all year. Beneath this central conceit of “young love” lie a number of other more comedic issues which not only compliment the central story but feel at one with it.

Hader, Wiig and Reynolds are all uniformly great and Reynolds shows that without the constant mugging he seems to have long left behind he can really show some proper acting chops, especially given the character he plays here. With their handful of scenes Hader and Wiig bring the big laughs, not entirely out of character for them but playing these roles so well you can’t complain that they continue down that route. This leaves Kristin Stewart (as Eisenberg’s love interest) to complete the line up, known largely now for her role as Bella Swann in Twilight she pulls away from the moodiness displayed there, yet somehow similar stubborn traits shine through, and where she could have become annoying, it is against Eisenberg that she thaws and you can’t help but warm to her character, especially given her more cynical world view is one many teens (and past teens) are likely to share.

Aside from character music plays a huge part here, and set in the 80’s Mottola had a great smorgasbord of song choices, thankfully sidestepping the populist choices, aside from Rock Me Amadeus which is an intentional faux pas, he assembles a great soft rock collection and touched a nerve that made me go back and listen to some of the older classics, one scene that uses Tears For Fears whilst fireworks go off is both touching and nostalgic.

And in this lies the film’s key strength, the story and concepts have universal appeal, everyone was a teenager once and the feelings that Eisenberg et al have here really never go away, any relationship begins just as hopefully, seeing the beauty before you discover the imperfections and begin to love that person for those imperfections, deep, not at all, easy to watch and even better to take in, and will leave you pondering your own life past and present as well as getting that fuzzy glow very few films can manage to entice.

VERDICT

Adentureland is quite simply fantastic, and fantastically simple, a straightforward(ish) story about young love and growing up, with a subtle and very funny level of humour interspersed for good measure. 

I seriously had way too many ideas for the title of this post, that I had to just go with the titles of the movies. So, yeah; OBSERVE AND REPORT and ADVENTURELAND. Both movies are comedies that really go down different roads to that almost take them out of that one genre of movie. OBSERVE AND REPORT, gets so dark and brutal that I almost feel like it goes into horror; and ADVENTURELAND ventures into pretty heavy dramatic territory with it’s themes and character relationships. But, I spent a great deal of time laughing at both, and feel they’re fully worth seeing, so that leads us to me writing about them (and not very well, I see). The kind of funny connection between these two movies, is 2007’s SUPERBAD – which is also a great comedy – written and directed by Greg Mottola, and featured Seth Rogen in a police uniform. Don’t worry, you’ll get the connection in a few minutes.

So, OBSERVE AND REPORT is the story of Ronnie Barnhardt, the head of security in the mall that the majority of the movie takes place. He’s a disturbed man, like “taking medication” disturbed (not that there’s anything wrong with that) who takes his position a little too seriously (not that unusual) and is just a little too obsessive about things he comes into contact with; namely Brandi, the make-up counter girl (played by Anna Faris), or becoming a police officer like his nemesis in the movie, Detective Harrison (Ray Liotta). For the first part, Ronnie gets his in with Brandi after she’s been flashed by a guy who has been running around the mall’s parking lot flashing people. This seems like it’s going to be the crux of the movie, this is also when we’re introduced to Detective Harrison, who Ronnie sees as invading his turf and just not knowing how to do his job.

After another plot thread develops where someone is breaking into stores and robbing them, after hours in the mall, Ronnie decides he wants to try and become a police officer. He goes into an office, gets the applications, gives a couple runs through an obstacle course (amazingly, tearing people to the side and running the course pretty well – considering we’re talking about pre-slimmed down Seth Rogen here), and going on a ‘Ride-along’ with Detective Harrison. Harrison takes Ronnie to the worst part of town – a street corner called the crossroads, and tells Ronnie to take a walk around. When he gets out of the car, Harrison takes off; only to then have Ronnie be approached by some kids offering him crack and the kid’s father (played in a cameo role by Danny McBride) come up and threaten Ronnie. Ronnie incapacitates – and from a line of dialogue, kills – McBride’s character and about five other guys.

During this time Ronnie’s feeling pretty good about himself. So, he manages to finagle a date with Brandi – who seemingly forgets and shows up in a car full of guys dropping her off at her place – and they go out, get lots of drinks, share Ronnie’s medication, and wind up in an awkward and much-discussed situation. Needless to say this is as far as their relationship ever gets.

Ronnie has some subordinates in his security guard detail. A pair of Asian twins played by John and Matt Yuan, jerry-curled, Latino Dennis (an unrecognizable Michael Pena), and new recruit Charles played by Jesse Plemons. For the role of Ronnie, Seth Rogen seemed to have actually put on a few pounds, shaved his trademark messy “jew-fro” and turned down the cute and cuddly for the more threatening and psychotic. There was a joke his character made in THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN about Steve Carell’s character being a serial killer. Well, Ronnie fits that mold to a “T”, in this movie. his mother (Celia Weston) is always drunk, encourages Ronnie before his date with the story of her and Ronnie’s father’s first date (she says something like, “I knew he was special and that I was going to fuck him.” To which Ronnie says he hopes that’ll happen for him. (Whether he means the someone special thing, or just having sex, who knows; and I would doubt that he’d be as thoughtful to consider the former.)

The movie takes some very dark turns, which is kind of the stock in trade that writer/director Jody Hill, seems to enjoy. There’s a moment that seems to be a nod to the South Korean movie OLDBOY, the fight I already mentioned with the drug dealers, but there’s another one with a pack of skateboarding kids that just gets brutal, and then there’s the more explicit moments. Whether it’s the questionable date rape scene (is it, isn’t it? I’m not arguing either way.), and the streaker, who in the climax to the movie we get to see running through the halls of the mall, in full glory, and then the way that chase ends really kind of sucks all the air out of the theater (although, you’re going to now be watching this at home, I’d think). But, as dark as it gets, there’s a lot of humor too. Aziz Ansari has a couple of scenes, as a kiosk employee selling those skin creams that come from like the Dead Sea or something. (He gets probably one of my favorite lines in the movie, and it refers to Chik-Fil-A.) There’s also a whole other sub-plot with a cinnamon-shop with a girl that’s got a cast on her leg, Nell (played by Collette Wolfe) and is constantly hounded by her manager, played by Patton Oswalt.

Overall, it’s a great, and funny movie. Just expect there to be some moments that might cause you to pause and reconsider what you’re seeing. But, I have to imagine that it’s a more fulfilling experience than the previous mall cop movie, about that guy Paul Blart. (No I haven’t seen it, yes I’m blindly casting aspersions at it. Don’t make me go all Ronnie Barnhardt on you!)

ADVENTURELAND, the not quite latest movie starring Jesse Eisenberg (see ZOMBIELAND – not a sequel, but both take place in a themepark, only one has zombies – for that honor), Kristen Stewart, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig and Ryan Reynolds. Much like OBSERVE AND REPORT, this is a movie that was marketed on the back of it’s sister movies SUPERBAD, and other Judd Apatow-related movies, but in reality it ventures off that side-splittingly funny track and heads down some pretty serious subject matter – along with also having some really funny stuff in it.

Jesse Eisenberg plays James Brennan, a kid who just graduated from high school and is supposed to be heading off to Europe for the summer before heading to Columbia in the fall. When his parents, tell him that James’ father is being transferred to Pittsburgh (my home town, woot!), and basaically down-sized in his company; he has to give up his hopes for Europe and find a job to pay his own way into college. James has no skills to speak of and isn’t “even qualified for manual labor” as he says in one scene. So, he goes with a job offered via a friend, named Frigo, at Adventureland – the local theme park. It’s here he meets the people in charge, married couple Bobby (Bill Hader, rocking a monster mustache) and Paulette (Kristen Wiig, being hilarious by not really doing much at all). They assign James to work Games, where he meets and befriends Joel (played by Martin Starr, who is probably more famous as the bearded friend of Seth Rogen’s in KNOCKED UP), and is also introduced to Em, who is played by Kristen Stewart – in a role quite the opposite of her now more notorious character Bella in the TWILIGHT series. Opposite, in that Em is far more developed, mature and an actual woman who makes mistakes and is fallible without being a caricature.

The movie follows these people through their summer of 1987, working at the theme park, their nights afterward partying and drinking and having (or trying to have) sex. As with any movie set during the summer when kids are away from their parents, Adventureland has it’s own idyllic idols that each sex admires, envies or just lusts after. For the girls it’s the park’s maintenance man Connell (Ryan Reynolds), who is married but is known to have wandering eyes, and an available room in his mom’s basement. For the guys it’s Lisa P. (Margarita Levieva), a young girl who seemingly likes to act like she’s mature and sexually open, but really just likes to taunt the boys with her looks and Madonna-lite dance moves. Needless to say, James winds up falling for Em, and we get some hijinks related to his awkwardness in trying to woo her. (Like the swimming scene that leads to him being pointed out for having an erection – this also..ahem..comes up again later.) Then there’s the added complication of both of our young lovers being chosen by the “desirable ones”, for their own little escapades.

The major reason why this movie works is Jesse Eisenberg. He’s believable as the bumbling geek, who tries to be cool, but also doesn’t mind being different. He looks authentic in his nervousness and bumbling way of delivering lines, and doesn’t seem as goofy as certain other actors that get compared to Eisenberg a lot. But, the supporting cast also helps. Stewart, in this movie shows us again why she’s one of the best young actors right now, with the role of Em, and all the reasons that I’ve stated on why this character is appealing, engaging and in the end sympathetic. But, it’s mostly in the rest of the cast that the humor really comes from. Starr is brilliant as the iconoclastic, intellectual – who in one scene is told by a girl she can’t see him because he’s jewish, to which he responds, “but I’m an atheist, maybe more of a pragmatic nihilist I guess or an existential pagan if you will…” So, that’s the kind of high-level humor to expect from Martin Starr – and it works. Hader and Wiig, co-stars on the current run of SNL, work fantastic together. There’s a scene from the trailer – that I’m sure will be in the one posted below – where Hader is announcing the horse race game, and we see Paulette mouthing the same words that Bobby is yelling out. Then she says, “this is how we met”.

Overall, though it’s a strong contender for picking up where the recently departed John Hughes left off. It’s full of real people, with problems, wants and needs, and the characters learning their way in the world instead of it just seeming scripted and telling us the same story we’ve seen a million times. So, do yourself a favor and go see it. It’s one of those movies – like 500 DAYS OF SUMMER and THE BROTHERS BLOOM – that makes 2009 a great year for small, romantic movies that tread on a slightly different path.

And I feel like I’d be remiss in not mentioning that this movie was shot in Pittsburgh – as I did mention, actually – but that the theme park that stands in for Adventureland, is Pittsburgh’s own local theme park called Kennywood. And this movie really makes me want to go. And you should all come here and enjoy that too.

Dir. Greg Mottola
(2009, R, 107 min)
★ ★ ★ ½

The director of Adventureland is Greg Mottola, who previously presided over Superbad, and thankfully he seems to have mellowed since that venture. The previous, Judd Apatow-produced film was written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and this film Mottola wrote himself, inspired by his own experience working at a Long Island amusement park in his youth. It’s a warmer and more humane film. It doesn’t contain many belly laughs but isn’t aiming for them; it’s a low-key affair in muted, naturalistic tones. It surprises with its maturity.

Jesse Eisenberg (The Squid and the Whale) stars as James Brennan, a recent college grad who takes romance so seriously that he tells people he got his heart broken after he’s dumped by a girl he’d been seeing for eleven days. When plans for a European vacation fall through, the under-qualified James — he majored in comparative literature and Renaissance studies — is forced to take a job at a local amusement park in Pittsburgh, where he meets Em Lewin, a girl more troubled than he thinks she is. Em is played by Kristen Stewart, most famous for Twilight but probably more notable for her strong work in The Cake Eaters and Into the Wild. She is so poised and natural on screen it’s hard to believe she’s only nineteen-years-old — seventeen when Adventureland was filmed. She’s on her way to becoming a major star.

There’s a love triangle of sorts with a cad named Connell, played by Ryan Reynolds. From the point of view of the park’s young employees, he’s a mysterious rock-god, a confident older man who oozes chick-magnet cool. He has a band! He played with Lou Reed (or so he claims)! Pull back from the insulated world of these star-struck kids and reality sets in; we realize he’s something much sadder: an emotionally stunted lech still working as an amusement park mechanic in his 30s and cheating on his wife with whichever teenage girls are naive enough — or damaged enough — to buy what he’s selling. Reynolds, usually cast as loveable goof-balls, acquits himself well as the smarmy Connell, capturing his low-rent suavity and revealing underneath the rudderless loser who would be nothing if he didn’t have these kids to impress. He’s having an affair with Em; that he romances her in his mother’s basement tells you all you need to know about him.

The film takes place in the 1980s and includes abundant period detail. I can’t judge the veracity of the specific details — I didn’t come of age until the ‘90s — but Mottola employs them with a sense of lived-in authenticity. The film feels like it’s of a time, and not just parodying the familiar conventions of an era. It makes us fondly remember times when music not only spoke to us but for us, which all of us have no matter which decade we grew up in. I’m twenty-five, only a few years older than the characters in this film, but still I thought of the good old days.