Friday, May 1, 2009

Choose Your Own Adventureland


So, this post has been awhile in the making. I saw Adventureland last month and really, really liked it. It was very unexpected. Written and directed by Greg Mottola, most famously and awesomely known for directing Superbad, you'd think it would be a nonstop boob and dick fest, but it wasn't like that at all. There were some funny parts, but mostly it was about relationships and shitty situations and life. It was very real for a moment there.

First of all, it's set in the late 80s in Pittsburgh, providing the perfect backdrop of depressed desperation which is pervasive throughout the movie. 80s = automatic win.

Adventureland is a poignant, coming of age story about a recent college graduate named James (loveably awkward Jesse Eisenberg) whose parents, hard up on times, rescind his summer Europe vacation graduation present. Instead, he gets a nowhere job at a local decrepit theme park where, as always, there are a bunch of lowlifes and eccentrics hanging about. Amongst his zany co-workers is Em, a ray of light in the despondent universe of the Adventureland theme park. She is played beautifully by Kristen Stewart.

I am so team Kristen right now. Not only is she Bella Swan in Twilight, but she was so convincingly emo and flawed in this movie that you couldn't help but fall in love with her. You could totally see her appeal to James here (he's saving the damsel), even though she was having an affair with perennial scuzzbucket Ryan Reynolds. She picks great roles, everything from quirky independents to blockbuster vampire flicks which portends to a great career, if she wants it. And I think she's got this really anti-Hollywood thing going on. She's open with her honesty and frank rejection of any of the set 'starlet rules,' and she's not afraid to say what's on her mind. Plus her boyfriend is hot.

The best thing about this movie was the soundtrack. I love mainstream 80s music, I am actually obsessed with it, and almost every time I heard a familiar opening riff during the movie, I died a little bit more inside...of happiness.

Yo La Tengo did the scoring of the movie, which is another total win.

Stand outs include:

Modern Love by David Bowie
Rock Me Amadeus by Falco
Looking for A Kiss by New York Dolls
Hot Blooded by Foreigner
Pale Blue Eyes by the Velvet Underground
Don't Dream it's Over by Crowded House (!!!)
Let the Music Play by Shannon
I Want Action by Poison
Satellite of Love by Lou Reed
Point of No Return by Expose
Obsession by Animotion
Your Love by The Outfield (!!!)
Just Like Heaven by the Cure (my favorite song ever)
Breaking the Law by Judas Priest
Here I Go Again by Whitesnake
Don't Change by INXS

Soundtrack also includes Wang Chung, The Replacements, Rush, the Stones.

This is going to be a big movie weekend, I'm probably going to be seeing Wolverine and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (don't judge). I doubt those soundtracks will be as good as this movie's was, and I definitely recommend checking it out.

Oh, and Kristen Stewart, along with my current obsession Robert Pattinson and future obsession--when he turns 18--Taylor Lautner, is one of People's 100 Most Beautiful this year. I'm sure she's just thrilled about that. Yeah, she really seems to be the type of person who really gives a shit about meaningless lists and celebrity pandering.

I'm still probably going to buy the magazine though. I'm just sayin'.

1 comment:

  1. That movie was so painfully awkward. There were so many moments where I wanted to die that kid was so awkward. One good thing about missing the 80s, is that we aren't 42 today!

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