Trailer: Why Stop Now

Odd film I wasn’t expecting from Jesse Eisenberg, even thought I’m sure he will be great, as per usual.

Eisenberg stars as a piano prodigy who needs to get his mother, played by Melissa Leo into rehab on the day of his big audition. Things go sour once her drug dealer, played by the awful Tracy Morgan comes into the picture.

Simply for the reason of Morgan, I hate this film already, he makes everything bad.

There were mixed reviews from Sundance, and it seems like the film might jump all over the place from the trailer.

Why Stop Now hits theaters on August 17, 2012.

Synopsis:

The bittersweet story of Eli Smith, a piano prodigy, and his mother Penny who despite her cheerful, loving disposition, struggles with drug addiction. On the day of his audition for a prestigious music program, Eli’s mother plans to enter rehab, but a glitch in the system forces them to enlist the help of an unlikely ally, her drug dealer Sprinkles. Circumstances conspire that turn them into a comical yet determined band of collaborators who are forced to deal with their internal demons over the course of the day.

Trailer: To Rome With Love

Woody Allen is back, following up Midnight in Paris with a film that feels very similar.

Synopsis: “The film is comprised of four separate vignettes and tells the story of a number of people in Italy—some American, some Italian, some residents, some visitors—and the romances and adventures and predicaments they get into.”

To Rome with Love has a cavalcade of stars including Jesse Eisenberg, Alec Baldwin, Ellen Page and Woody Allen himself. Penelope Cruz and Robert Benigni also are featured, with smaller roles coming from Greta Gerwig, and Alison Pill.

I’m not pleased with the trailer, it’s very lovey-dovey, and comes off a cliche and stupid. The tone feels off, and it’s like we’re getting a slightly younger, more dumbed-down version of the Owen Wilson led Paris.

To Rome with Love hits theaters on June 22nd, 2012.

Trailer: Free Samples

New trailer for the indie dramady Free Samples has arrived.

Not exactly what I pictured from the description a few months back, but it could be interesting.

Free Samples stars Jess Weixler, from the infamous Teeth, along with the great Jesse Eisenberg. Supporting roles by Jason Ritter, Matt Walsh and more, it’ll debut at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Synopsis:

Jillian is having a bad day. She’s got a raging hangover, she’s starting to think dropping out of Stanford Law to become an artist wasn’t the best career move, and things are weird with her faraway fiancé. Can spending the day parked in an ice cream truck doling out samples—and a good dose of sass—to oddball Angelenos shake her out of her quarter-life crisis?

Caine and Freeman Join Now You See Me

You may know these two best from all of Christopher Nolan’s Batman films, and rightfully so as they are an intricate part of the film, but now the two will be in a film together without a super hero.

One of the films I’m really excited about in the future is called Now You See Me. The film follows a team of FBI agents against the Four Horsemen, a squad of the world’s greatest illusionists who pull off a series of daring bank heists during their performances, then shower the profits on their audiences.

The initial cast is already impressive, and has gotten exponentially better with the additions of veterans Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine.

Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Isla Fisher, Melanie Laurent, Woody Harrelson and Dave Franco were already signed on to the film.

Caine is taking the role of Arthur Tressler who sponsors the team of Robin Hood-like magician thieves.

No word yet on what role Freeman will have.

I’m a big fan of magic and illusions and any film that involves the two with an exceptional cast, I’m all in.

 

Review: 30 Minutes or Less

Sorry, time’s up.

Wrap your head around this, two guys, a delivery boy and a teacher, rob a bank, and try not to blow up, cool right? And it’s based on true events, WHAT?

Jesse Eisenberg plays Nick, a dead beat 20-something year old, who does nothing but get high, and deliver pizza’s. He has to deliver them within 30 minutes of the order or else it’s free.

That’s as far as the movie title, and the actual movie tie in. The film has literally nothing to do with the pizza angle sub plot whatever you want to call it.

Nick gets jumped by two hoodlums, Dwayne and Travis played by Danny McBride and Nick Swardson, and is told he has 10 hours to get them $100,000 or else he will blow up.

The plot seems pretty straight forward, but the movie is sloppy in putting things together, which usually is okay with comedies since they have the laughter to balance things out with, but the lack of said laughter here, threw it all off.

Aziz Ansari who is slowly becoming a household name when it comes to comedy plays Chet, Nick’s best friend, who helps out with the bank robbery.

Ansari is easily the funniest of the main four in the film, but without any one else stepping up with consistent laughs, the movie relies too heavily on Chet and thus doesn’t fully utilize it’s potential.

You can actually blame the studios and cash cows behind the film for ruining it a bit. The marketing for 30 Minutes or Less was stupendous, you couldn’t walk a block without seeing a bus roll by with it’s poster, or go through a commercial without the trailer.

But that devalued the film by exposing too much of it, and on top of that, the run time was an astronomically short 83 minutes.

I know coming into this film a lot of people who enjoy dirty humor are big fans of McBride and Swardson but these two together are pretty dumb and unbearable. I guess that’s kind of the point, but their dimwitted comedy gets rather tiresome after the first two sex jokes.

Michael Pena plays a role here that is really odd. You have to wonder why he would do this.

Pena plays Chango, a hired hitman, who comes across as gay on screen, and does an absurd amount of screaming for no reason. But that’s not why I’m questioning Pena, he is a very talented actor, and does great in drama films, yet he resorts to this slap stick comedy that doesn’t suit him at all.

I’m a huge Jesse Eisenberg fan, I’ll go watch him in any film, so it was good to see him not play the dorky, anal retentive, shy character he’s played lately. Eisenberg can be really funny, he has shown that in Ruben Fleischer’s Zombieland, who also directed this film.

Eisenberg delivers some good lines, and has some really funny moments when pair with Ansari’s character, but there wasn’t enough of it.

I guess if we are talking about someone being typecast, then Danny McBride needs to be brought up. Here is a guy who has played the same exact dumb character every chance he gets. It’s getting really old, not to mention dry and unfunny.

You won’t be bored watching this film, but the lack of strong story line and character development doesn’t really make you leave the theater saying “I have to watch that again” or even want to rent it later on. Actually if I never see it again, I don’t think my life will be any different.

30 Minutes or Less was marketed as a big time comedy, and had four guys in it that you’d think could pull it off well, but a poor script delivered only a handful of really funny moments. The rest were either too dumb to laugh at, or a simple smirk and forget it. The lack of consistency, which is so vital in any comedy film, was completely off here.

This gets chalked up as a dud in my book.

Rating: 5/10

Jesse Eisenberg to Star in Adaptation of The Double

Richard Ayoade will be adapting Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Double and has chosen Jesse Eisenberg to be his leading man.

The Double, which is about a government clerk who starts to lose a grip on reality when a man who has the same physical appearance, name, and history starts to work at the same office as him.

The nature of the book and plot seems perfect for an actor like Eisenberg, this should be great.

 

Eisenberg and Gyllenhaal to Star in Magician Heist

 

Here is a fresh premise for a film with two of Hollywood’s talented young actors leading the way.

Jake Gyllenhaal, fresh off a very good performance in “Source Code” and Jesse Eisenberg, coming off “The Social Network” will now star in a film called “Now You See Me.”

The story follows “a group of the world’s greatest illusionists, who pull off daring bank heists during their performances, showering the profits on their audience. Eventually, the FBI gets involved, prompting a cat-and-mouse game between adversaries.”

Just the story alone has me hooked.

Eisenberg is one of my favorite actors and him playing a magician seems like a bit of a stretch, but that’s not a bad thing.

Gyllenhaal has a ton of talent, and I’m sure will pull this off well.

 

Jesse Eisenberg to Play Counterterrorism Expert

Jesse Eisenberg has been one of my favorite actors to watch for a couple years now.

Many call him a one trick pony but his range is rather wide if people look past a couple of films.

He was excellent in “Zombieland,” great in the dramatic “Holy Rollers,” and of course Oscar nominated for “The Social Network.”

Eisenberg will continue to expand his horizons by playing the role of Evan Kohlmann, one of the best counterterrorism agents we have had.

Based on the true story of Kohlmann, who was given the title of “the Doogie Howser of Terrorism,” at age 23 he he has helped convict 23 defendants in federal courts and Guantánamo Bay tribunals with his expert witness testimony.

It’s said that he’s so good at testifying, it has become his main source of income and earned a reputation in some circles as “working in the ‘guilty-verdict industry.'”

Eisenberg was stellar in “The Social Network“, during the litigation scenes, being sharp and witty and condesending so the testifying type of role could really fit him well.

Right now he’s waiting for a script before an official deal is made, but he will be teaming up with “The Social Network” producer Scott Rudin for this film.

Trailer: 30 Minutes or Less

Here is the RED BAND (NSFW) trailer for “30 Minutes or Less.”

Jesse Eisenberg stars in this film alongside Aziz Ansari, Danny McBride and Nick Swardson.

Probably the biggest and best thing I take from the trailer is the role Eisenberg is going to be playing, seems like a completely different one than he normally does, which is awesome.

This looks hilarious, check it out.

“30 Minutes or Less” hits theaters August 12, 2011.

First Look at 30 Minutes or Less

When I previewed my most anticipated films of 2011, this was on it.

Jesse Eisenberg stars in this comedy along side Danny McBride, Nick Swardson, and Aziz Ansari.

In the film, Eisenberg plays a pizza delivery boy who gets a bomb strapped to him and is forced to rob a bank for a pair of fledgling, idiotic criminals.

“30 Minutes or Less” seems like it’s going to be one of those stupid, funny films that has real potential to be a sleeping giant.

The cast sort of reminds me of a more experienced version of “Clerks.”

Eisenberg will play Nick, a small town pizza delivery guy whose mundane life collides with the big plans of two wanna-be criminal masterminds (McBride and Swardson).

The volatile duo kidnaps Nick and forces him to rob a bank.

With mere hours to pull off the impossible task, Nick enlists the help of his ex-best friend, Chet (Ansari).

As the clock ticks, the two must deal with the police, hired assassins, flamethrowers, and their own tumultuous relationship.

Sounds ridiculous, but it also sounds fun, sign me up.

“30 Minutes or Less” hits theaters August 12th, 2011.