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Jesse Eisenberg, John Lithgow and Jack McBrayer Audition for ‘Jersey Shore’

andPOP Staff — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 19:53:18 +0000

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With the current cast of Jersey Shore ending their reign of terror after the next season, this leaves the executives at MTV to recast for the show.

Conan O’Brien decided to help out by holding auditions with Jesse Eisenberg, John Lithgow and Jack McBrayer. The had each of the actors recite some classic Jersey Shore lines. It’s pretty hilarious stuff.

Movie Review: The Social Network

Lauren Treihaft — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 04:02:14 +0000

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David Fincher seems to have a knack for directing buzz worthy films. His previous, Fight Club and Se7en, have each gone on to attain cult status and he is set to direct the American remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo based off the tremendously popular Swedish book and film series. If that isn’t enough, his current film, The Social Network, is making worldwide headlines. Though it hasn’t been released yet, its notoriety has reached a colossal level.

The film traces the birth of Facebook from its initial concept to its rise to prominence. The narrative is centered on Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg), the creator of Facebook, and Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), the CFO. Mark and Eduardo met at Harvard and were best friends due to their computer hacking and programming abilities. After Mark is snubbed and called an asshole by his girlfriend, he decides to take revenge on all women by creating a site that compares pictures of female Harvard students side by side and judging which one is hotter. The site was called facemash.com. After the site is flooded with a gigantic amount of hits within an hour, the Harvard network shuts down and Mark is pin pointed as the culprit.

Although he is hated by the majority of women on campus after this ingenious stunt, he is also sought out by three upperclassmen who have noticed his expertise in programming. They propose that Mark help them set up a new kind of social network that is exclusive to Harvard students called Harvard Connect. He agrees to help them but soon develops his own ideas for a social network and this is where Facebook is conceived. He then approaches Eduardo to run the business side of the site. The two partner up and begin building and expanding facebook.

They face early challenges such as being accused of stealing the idea from the Winklevoss’s( the upperclassmen who proposed Harvard Connect). These obstacles are miniscule in size to the ones that lie in store for Mark. Mark also catches the attention of Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), the founder of Napster. Parker ends up owning seven percent of facebook and Eduardo is completely shut out of the picture. Eventually Mark faces two massive lawsuits, one from Eduardo and the other from the Winklevoss’s, that are both economically and emotionally taxing.

The acting in the film is superb. Eisenberg, who has been seen in Adventureland and Zombieland, again plays the self-deprecating dork who seeks acceptance from the outside world. However, this time his character has a much more serious edge and darker story to tell. It is arguable that Eisenberg is being typecast as a neurotic teen or underdog, but as far at The Social Network goes, we shouldn’t view this as a downfall. Garfield, who starred in last year’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, steals the show. He portrays Eduardo with true conviction and the audience is able to sympathize with his character to no end. Garlfield and Eisenbeg have exceptional onscreen chemistry. Their exchange of witty banter is sharp and enjoyable. Though many are skeptical of Timberlake’s acting abilities, he delivers well as Parker, the somewhat sleazy Napster party boy.

If the story itself and the cast are not enough to make you tempted to see this film, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails did the soundtrack which is a mix of LCD Soundsystem styled synth beats and suspenseful tracks that add to the high-strung and obsessive narrative. More over, Kevin Spacey produced the film. Spacey generally has good taste in projects and has won two Academy Awards for American Beauty and The Usual Suspects. Seeing that it garnered the attention of many crucial players in Hollywood, it is hard not to recognize The Social Network as an important film.

The film has received a substantial amount of backlash for its portrayal of the true facebook story. Many are claiming that the film is a work of fiction. This upheaval of criticism may hover over the film like a dark cloud but, despite the scrutiny, it is paramount that we critically approach the film on its own. The film will be successful regardless of the adversity. It is a return to form for Fincher and the cast is outstanding.

Movie Review: Zombieland

Eric Emin Wood — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 03:06:03 +0000

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Here’s an old-fashioned crowd-pleaser; albeit, a crowd-pleaser with lots of blood spewing, limb-chewing, and bone breaking – but really, why would you see a movie called Zombieland if you didn’t want to see that?

Here’s a horror film that acknowledges how ridiculous it is by depicting a group of eight-year-old zombie girls before the opening credits; and a comedy that, by casting Jesse Eisenberg in the lead role, quickly establishes an enjoyably quirky tone, and maintains it by adding Abigail Breslin as a shotgun-toting 12-year-old and Woody Harrelson (in a terrific performance) as the movie’s resident badass.

Here’s a genre movie with a coherent plot – Breslin and Emma Stone, playing nervy sisters, push the thin but logical story along – and which pays attention to its characters, giving each of them solid backstories and respectable screentime. (My biggest complaint with Zombieland is that while the sisters are much stronger than typical damsels in distress, they nonetheless wind up being damsels in distress).

Here’s an action movie with an extended, glorious climax at an amusement park, with all the standbys (roller coaster, tilt-a-whirl, drop mechanism) used in exactly the way you’d expect; plus characters using really big guns, and firing them with a generous helping of one-liners.

Zombieland is that rare film which knowingly (rather that ignorantly) prefers to play into its conventions rather than create new ones, parading its influences on both the front and back of its blood-splattered t-shirt (in one scene a pair of characters actually sit down to watch Ghostbusters). What is wrong with that? When it’s done this well, nothing.

Horror comedy is a tough sell with audiences, and even the gold standard of this decade, Shaun of the Dead, barely raked in $13 million at the North American box office. However, I must confess I did not particularly like Shaun of the Dead. It was a great movie, but the “happy” (of sorts) ending was so dark I had forgotten what I was laughing at by the end.

I had no such problems with Zombieland. While it has few genuine scares, and much of it coasts on warm-hearted good humour rather than laugh-out-loud laughter, I can’t remember the last time I consistently heard an audience gasp, laugh, or clap at the same moments during a film.
What a wonderful year we’re having when I can say Zombieland is the best pop entertainment to hit theatres since District 9.

Ryan Reynolds Joins ‘Adventureland’

andPOP Staff — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 13:29:26 +0000

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Ryan Reynolds will play an aspiring rock star in Superbad director Greg Mottola’s newest film, Adventureland.

The coming-of-age comedy, also written by Mottola, will star Jesse Eisenberg (The Squid and the Whale) as a recent college graduate in 1987 who has no choice but to work at a local amusement park. The uptight Eisenberg will learn to loosen up with the help of his love interest (Kristen Stewart, In The Land of Women) and Reynolds’ character, who is worshipped by all the kids at the park.

Reynolds is currently dating Hollywood darling Scarlett Johansson. Though the couple has not confirmed their status, they caused a tabloid frenzy last week when they were photographed walking hand in hand at LAX. They were returning from Vancouver, where Johansson was reportedly introduced to Reynolds’ family.

Reynolds was previously engaged to fellow Canadian Alanis Morissette.