![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Play Through the Night
Apr. 15th, 2009 08:44 amToday promises to be really slow. I'm going to see about getting some job apps out in the meantime. This weather sucks too much for me to get any good shots.
Cinema
"Adventureland" is a little too hip for its carnie theme
James recently became a college graduate and just finished college losing his girlfriend, but winning the hopes of moving to New York with his college buddy Eric. When he finds out that his parents have to cut their losses, however, he attempts to find a job to compensate for this. Unfortunately, since he never worked in a real job, his only choice is to work under Adventureland, a ghetto theme park that will accept anyone. So with his wits and a gift baggy of weed from Eric, he attempts to endure through his summer.
Greg Mottola based this movie on his own summer experiences, and there is certainly a ring of truth behind it. Getting work even with limited experience is rough, and I doubt Pittsburgh is much of an exception. That said, for a movie that touts its roots with films like Superbad, it really does not seem to exhibit anything remotely similar. It wasn't exactly Apatow-esque comedy here since James is not so much a loser, as he is someone who seems to be better than everyone else. From the way he seems to give off a style of hipster dialogue compared to the rest of the characters, save the beautiful love interest, Emily.
The only flaw we have from James is not a very attractive guy, and yet they cast the most gorgeous woman possible for the love interest, even more than the well-touted hot chick, Lori P., whom everyone in the amusement park has a thing for. With all this around, it feels more like the film is made to be self-serving towards the director's own sense of superiority than anything else, and he's not willing to show much beyond that. James' experience does not really change him outside of the fact that he wants to lose his virginity with the love interest. Adventureland brought nothing great to him, and even his friends that he made seem to have a transitory quality to them that lead to you feeling like he's going to ditch them, despite the fact that his other buddy there is a very high-minded individual.
I can't stand movies where I feel like nothing really happens, and this is one of them. Even the humor is very spotty and the trailer already shows off 80% of the jokes. The rest of the 20% are crotch-punching gags with Tommy Frigo and hipster "I'm too good for you"-type wordplay.
Cinema
"Adventureland" is a little too hip for its carnie theme
James recently became a college graduate and just finished college losing his girlfriend, but winning the hopes of moving to New York with his college buddy Eric. When he finds out that his parents have to cut their losses, however, he attempts to find a job to compensate for this. Unfortunately, since he never worked in a real job, his only choice is to work under Adventureland, a ghetto theme park that will accept anyone. So with his wits and a gift baggy of weed from Eric, he attempts to endure through his summer.
Greg Mottola based this movie on his own summer experiences, and there is certainly a ring of truth behind it. Getting work even with limited experience is rough, and I doubt Pittsburgh is much of an exception. That said, for a movie that touts its roots with films like Superbad, it really does not seem to exhibit anything remotely similar. It wasn't exactly Apatow-esque comedy here since James is not so much a loser, as he is someone who seems to be better than everyone else. From the way he seems to give off a style of hipster dialogue compared to the rest of the characters, save the beautiful love interest, Emily.
The only flaw we have from James is not a very attractive guy, and yet they cast the most gorgeous woman possible for the love interest, even more than the well-touted hot chick, Lori P., whom everyone in the amusement park has a thing for. With all this around, it feels more like the film is made to be self-serving towards the director's own sense of superiority than anything else, and he's not willing to show much beyond that. James' experience does not really change him outside of the fact that he wants to lose his virginity with the love interest. Adventureland brought nothing great to him, and even his friends that he made seem to have a transitory quality to them that lead to you feeling like he's going to ditch them, despite the fact that his other buddy there is a very high-minded individual.
I can't stand movies where I feel like nothing really happens, and this is one of them. Even the humor is very spotty and the trailer already shows off 80% of the jokes. The rest of the 20% are crotch-punching gags with Tommy Frigo and hipster "I'm too good for you"-type wordplay.
