“Adventureland” vs. “State of Play” - Which is Style & Which is Substance?

Agent 5150’s DVD reviews of the week feature a film about corporate & military corruption leaching into the highest levels of our government and a flick about college students working in dead-end summer jobs who like to smoke pot. Guess which one has more to say about life?

That’s right - “Adventureland” is your winner. A John Hughes-style romp with heart and brains to spare, “Adventureland” stars little-known Jesse Eisenberg as a Michael Cera clone (albeit with a bit more wit and good looks than Hollywood’s resident nerd of the moment) who needs to pick up some quick cash in order to move to New York and attend grad school at Columbia University back in 1987 when it was moderately affordable. With a college degree under his belt, he’s actually overqualified for most menial jobs (does that sound familiar in reference to today’s world or what?), so he stumbles into a gig working the midway at Adventureland, a Pittsburgh amusement park that’s run by a likeable but borderline psychotic couple (SNL’s Bill Hader & Kristen Wiig). Love enters the picture (as it always does in a movie like this) when Kristen Stewart appears, and the rest of the film is essentially an endearingly awkward mating dance. All the usual lessons from 80s teen flicks are present…don’t overanalyze the events of your life, don’t pass up the sure thing in love for the pipe dream, etc…but the movie comes off as anything but stale and recycled. 3 wistful Eddies…

On the other hand, “State of Play” is a fairly formulaic paranoid thriller based on the BBC miniseries of the same name. Given it boasts an Oscar-pedigreed cast featuring Russell Crowe, Helen Mirren, and Ben Affleck, one would expect greatness…or at least something new and different. Instead, we get the typical ‘you can’t trust anyone’ spiel. The performances in “State of Play” aren’t really inspired, either; Crowe and Affleck are competent but unremarkable as a reporter and Congressman (respectively) while Mirren is much too abrasive as Crowe’s newspaper editor. Meanwhile, Robin Wright Penn and Rachel McAdams are stuck in two thankless female ‘sidekick’ roles - Wright Penn as the woman who puts a wedge between Crowe & Affleck, McAdams as the novice blogger who plays Gal Friday to Crowe’s Crusoe. I’ll reluctantly give “State of Play” a weak 2 ½ Eddies…

In the end, I guess I would much rather frolic in “Adventureland” than stumble around in “State of Play”…

Playing Catch Up!!!

Sorry for being incommunicado for so long, kids. Inspiration, that fickle muse, took a major siesta for a few weeks behind Agent 5150’s back; however, the mojo has returned so here are some entertainment nuggets that cover the last half of August 2009. The obvious starting point is the big news that broke yesterday…

1) Disney buys Marvel: Well, we all thought Wal-Mart would eventually take over the world, but it looks the Mouse House will have something to say about that before all is said and done. As a former comic book geek, I am deeply saddened by this news. You already need a sizeable loan to buy a handful of comic books each week (they currently average $3.99 an issue!), but Disney will surely figure out a way to extort more money out of the unwashed masses still living in their parents’ basement. Cynical? No, realistic…just look at how the price of admission to Disney’s theme parks has escalated over the last few decades. Outside of any major university, I defy you to find me a business entity with a higher year-to-year percentage increase in prices. Let’s just hope that Disney doesn’t castrate Marvel like they did ESPN…I mean, does Mickey really want to screw around with the guys to my right?

2) New Collective Soul: I’m still not sure if their latest effort is technically another self-titled affair (following the 1995 classic that featured “December” & “The World I Know”) or if it’s called “Rabbit”, but this new album simply rocks. Easily their best CD/MP3 since “Disciplined Breakdown”, “Rabbit” has but one misfire…the sappy, generic “You”; the remaining ten tracks range from blistering arena rock (“Welcome All Again”) to goofball party tunes (“Fuzzy”, “Lighten Up”) to tender personal disclosures (“Hymn For My Father”) to new-classic behemoths (“Dig”, “My Days”). Ed Roland and company are in top form here…like The Cars in the 70s and 80s, Collective Soul are underrated troubadours for the 90s and 00s who are never ‘hit-and-miss’ like their peers (sorry Pearl Jam fans, but “No Code” sucked and “Riot Act” wasn’t much better!). 3 ½ Eddies for “Rabbit”…

3) Quick Hit DVD Reviews: Agent 5150 has actually been able to catch a few flicks recently in between lawn mowing marathons and mass resume mailings. Let’s get up to speed, shall we?

“Push” is fun junk food for the brain, a decent ‘X-Men’ rip-off that’s actually just as good as the summer blockbuster “Wolverine”…2 ½ Eddies.

“Gran Torino” closes the book on Clint Eastwood’s ‘Dirty Harry’ persona like “Pale Rider” did for ‘The Man With No Name’. Yes, I know in both cases the main characters are technically different from the classic personalities they represent, but the similarities are just too striking to ignore. That being said, “Gran Torino” feels a bit manipulative on an emotional level, and Eastwood explores themes he’s already covered over and over and over again…3 Eddies.

“Killshot” stars Mickey Rourke and Diane Lane in an Elmore Leonard adaptation that surprisingly only saw a limited U.S. theatrical release earlier this year despite Rourke’s presence hot on the heels of “The Wrestler”. Maybe that’s because the flick is average at best - not much charm or humor in this crime drama…2 Eddies.

“Yes Man” once again shows that Jim Carrey is slightly ahead of Adam Sandler in the battle to claim the title of ‘Hollywood’s King of the Moderately Amusing Movie’. Very similar in tone to “Liar Liar”, “Yes Man” is a tolerable comedy with just enough sweetness to make it digestible…2 ½ Eddies.

“Horsemen” is a straight-to-DVD thriller starring Dennis Quaid that doesn’t try very hard to hide the fact that it’s a mirror image of “Seven”. Still, “Horsemen” manages to weave its disturbing little spell fairly well - Quaid plays haggard and obsessive with a nice edge, and the overwrought ending doesn’t sink things completely…2 ½ Eddies.

Finally, “I Love You, Man” is an overrated buddy comedy about grown men trying to find buddies. Paul Rudd is a bit too nerdy here; also, a little less gay innuendo and a little more nastiness in the script could have made “I Love You, Man” much, much better…2 ½ Eddies.

That’s it for now, people…wake me up when September ends. Just kidding…I’ll be back atcha in a week or so. And please forgive me for the lame but appropriate use of your song title, Green Day…